Columbia's investment deals, he felt, gave doctors "the implicit understanding that the more patients there were, the more the return on your little piece would be."

Proponents of a delay say it will give doctors time to understand how drugs work before patients begin asking for them, sometimes based on inflated claims.

The insurance department's action should give Oxford's New York consumers and doctors some comfort, however.

They added that giving doctors only 45 days to file compensation claims "is simply too short for many medical offices and billing companies."

Several states now insist that drug makers report the gifts they give doctors.

In addition, some company sales officials gave doctors misleading scientific charts to support such fraudulent claims.

Texas recently passed a law to give self-employed doctors more bargaining leverage.

Working unsupervised at night also gave junior doctors less opportunity to learn from more senior colleagues, according to the report.

They also gave doctors 45 days, instead of 180, to submit claims for treatment.

Last year, the federal government gave doctors who work with heroin addicts a new tool when it approved a drug that blocks withdrawal symptoms.