Glaxo Publishes List Of Fees Paid To Doctors
10 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // December 14th, 2009 // 1:36 pm
Yet another drugmaker is uttering the ‘T’ word - transparency. This time around, GlaxoSmithKline has published a list of fees paid between April 1 and June 30 to US healthcare professionals for speaking and consulting services. The drugmaker plans to update the list quarterly, although there was no word on disclosing this info for previous periods (see if you can find anyone you know on the list).
By its own tally, Glaxo paid $14.6 million to approximately 3,700 US docs and other healthcare professionals during those six months for speaking or consulting services. And the average amount spent per healthcare professional in the report was $3,909. Take a look and tell us what else you would like to see disclosed.
In recent months, Merck and Lilly have taken similar steps (see here and here). These moves come amid growing controversy over the influence such payments may have over medical treatment. The Physician Sunshine Payment Act, which is included in the health care reform bill before Congress, requires drug and device makers to publicly reveal payments to docs.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Kassirer
patrons99
We will know that they are really serious about sunshine, if pharma disclosed payments made over the last 20 years, to universities, CRO’s, IRB’s, KOL’s, high-enrollers of research studies, universities, CME companies, AMA, specialty medical societies, medical journals, WHO, CDC, EMEA, FDA, etc, etc, etc.
patrons99
Let’s not overlook disclosure of “payments” by pharma to the mainstream media to finance their DTCA campaigns.
patrons99
We shouldn’t neglect pharma’s payments to law firms and lobbyists. They need their place in the sun, too!
Lisa Van Syckel
patrons99,.. Couldnt agree with you more.
Carey
I couldn’t find Nemeroff. What is GSK without Charlie Nemeroff!!!!????
Former Pharma Marketing Director
Just think of the money that could be saved and how much cheaper the drugs would cost if this unethical practice were stopped.
It is unethical because of course it brings bias. The doctors say what the companies pay them to say.
I hope the patients learn to stay away from the “top Feeders”
Justice in MI
Perhaps I haven’t spent enough time with it, but I’ve been struck about how these “revelations” still do not make it easy to find anything in particular–unless someone creates a companion search engine.
Part of the issue is the division by quarters, which makes fiscal year sense but ends up fragmenting the info into not easily searchable bits.
Justice in MI
p.s That’s probably why Nemeroff didn’t show…wrong quarter.
Elaine
Center for Integrity Science had a good start at it back when:
http://www.cspinet.org/integrity/
Expharma
Remember - this is ONE QUARTER. Many of the speakers max out at 150K/year. It used to be 300K until recently. This is nice, but it hardly tells the whole story. There are consulting fees as well.