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How To Win Doctors And Influence Prescriptions

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NPR NEWS INVESTIGATION: Drugmakers systematically select physicians to speak on behalf of their products. The doctors believe they are being recruited to persuade other doctors to use a drug, but the primary target of the speaking is the doctor himself. And the resulting sales can be huge.

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AstraZeneca

Drugmaker Practices Deliver Sales, But At A Cost

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

Pfizer Headquarters in New York City

Drug Companies Hire Troubled Doctors As Experts

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

Pharmaceutical Company Disclosures

Pharma sales were more than $300 billion in 2009. See how the top companies stack up.

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About The Data

Drug companies have long kept the names of their speakers — and how much they pay them — secret. But last year, seven companies began posting doctors’ names and compensation on their web sites, some as the result of legal settlements with the federal government.

ProPublica took these disclosures, totaling $257.8 million to about 17,700 providers, and assembled them into a single, comprehensive database that allows patients to search for their physician.

Use the database widget at the left to search by doctor name or state, or head over to ProPublica's site to use the complete database.

Notes About The 'Dollars For Docs' Data()  

October 19, 2010 Drug companies have long kept the names of their speakers — and how much they pay them — secret. But last year, seven companies began posting doctors’ names and compensation on their web sites, some as the result of legal settlements with the federal government.

Summary

Shots - Health News

'Dollars for Docs' Series Shines Light On Drug Company, Physician Ties()  

October 19, 2010 A new Consumer Reports survey shows most people don't think drug companies should pay doctors to speak, but many of them don't think their own doctors would be negatively influenced.

Summary

On PBS's 'Nightly Business Report'

 

heard on air

Doctors Often Receive Payments From Drug Companies

12:57
from Talk of the Nation
 

Pharmaceutical Company Disclosures


Pharmaceutical sales in the United States totaled $300 billion in 2009. Below is a summary of the top pharmaceutical companies ranked by U.S. drug sales and their status for disclosing payments made to physicians and other health practitioners for marketing and promotion.

Company 2009 Sales Disclosure Status Notes
Pfizer $27.8 billion Began posting information (including payments for clinical research) in March 2010. The company also posts information about grants for medical education, lobbying and contributions. Agreed to release the information as part of a September 2009 settlement with the U.S. Justice Department.
Merck & Co. $19.8 billion

Began releasing information in October 2009.

The company also posts grants, political contributions and charitable contributions.
AstraZeneca $19.8 billion

Began releasing information in August 2010.

Agreed to release the information as part of an April 2010 settlement  with the U.S. Justice Department.
GlaxoSmithKline $15 billion Began releasing information in December 2009.

The company also posts grants and charitable contributions and plans to disclose grants for clinical trials starting in 2010.
Roche $14.3 billion

Does not post physician payments.

Began posting grants for medical education in August.
Novartis $13.4 billion  

Agreed to release the information by March 2011 as part of a September 2010 settlement with the U.S. Justice Department.

Eli Lilly $13.2 billion

Began releasing information in July 2009.

The company also posts grants and charitable contributions. Agreed to release the information as part of a January 2009 settlement with the U.S. Justice Department.
Johnson & Johnson $12.8 billion Began posting information in June 2010 by division, not centrally.

The divisions also post grants for medical education and charitable contributions.
Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Centocor Ortho Biotech Inc.
Tibotec Therapeutics
Scios Inc.
Patriot Pharmaceuticals
The company’s Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals division agreed to release payment information as part of an April 2010 settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice.
Amgen Corp. $12.5 billion

Does not post physician payments.

  
Teva Pharmaceuticals USA

$12.1 billion

  

Has not responded to requests for comment.
Sanofi-Aventis $11.1 billion

Does not post physician payments.

  
Abbott Laboratories $9.5 billion

Does not post physician payments.

From a company statement: “Abbott began voluntarily disclosing grants and donations greater than $200 to U.S. medical organizations beginning with the third quarter of 2008.”
Bristol-Myers Squibb $8.9 billion

Does not post physician payments.

From a company statement: “We also are preparing to publish information about our payments to physicians in all states as required by the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. I am unable to provide a specific date for publishing the information, but we will do so by March 1, 2012, as the law requires.”
The company posts grants to independent medical education providers, patient groups, medical societies and charitable organizations on its website.
Takeda $7.9 billion  

Declined to comment on whether it would post payments.
Boehringer Ingel $7.6 billion  

Has not responded to requests for comment.

Source: Companies, IMS Health (for sales figures) Credit: Charles Ornstein/ProPublica

 

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