[e-drug] Dollars for Docs: How Pharma Money Influences Physician Prescriptions

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E-DRUG: DOLLARS FOR DOCS: How Pharma Money Influences Physician Prescriptions
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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130598927

Pharma sales in the USA were more than $300 billion in 2009. In this News Investigation NPR joined forces with Pro-Publica to reveal how 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. 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. In the same series, 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.

This 3-part series is freely available on-line both as text and audio podcast at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130598927
Also on the same page are links to the various "Dollars for Docs" partner coverage.

Each of the 3 NPR programs can also be accessed individually:
How To Win Doctors And Influence Prescriptions: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130730104
Drugmaker Practices Deliver Sales, But At A Cost: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130644778
Drug Companies Hire Troubled Doctors As Experts: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130644774

The Pro-Publica investigation (including the searchable database of more than 17,000 US doctors who received money from pharma and an "explainer" on how patients can use this data) can be accessed at: http://www.propublica.org/topic/dollars-for-doctors

Best regards,
Ciprian Jauca
Program Coordinator
Therapeutics Initiative
University of British Columbia
jauca@ti.ubc.ca
+1-604-822-0700
www.ti.ubc.ca