Doctor’s Presentations Slides Come under Tight Scrutiny by Pharma Companies as Drugs for Dollars Gets Criticized

• Date: December 29, 2010
• Source: Admin

Drug companies are not far behind tightening their control of faculty speakers, even as academic medical centers are facing the pressure to do the same.

Pharmaceutical companies have come under severe criticism as whistleblowers have launched lawsuits accusing them of using doctors to thrust their drugs/pills for non approved use over dinner conversations. The past three years has seen at least 10 companies settling lawsuits to the tune of approximately $7 billion. These companies have vowed to reform their ways as the threat of further punishment looms portentously.

Given this scenario, firms are now rigidly monitoring speakers. Seven companies are listed in ProPublica’s Dollars for Docs database – all of them are insisting that physicians use slide provided by the firm. This constraint is so designed as to fall in compliance with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, necessitating speakers to discuss the approved uses of drugs only.

The contradiction comes with speakers violating universities’ policies if they follow the rules of the drug companies.

Dollars for docs

ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

For many years, drug companies kept payment made to doctors to promote their drugs a secret. However, seven companies began to post the details of the same (name + compensation) on the internet, primarily due to legal issues/settlements. Ethical issues of the same rise even though receiving payment isn’t necessarily a wrongdoing.

A ProPublica investigation revealed that many doctors were paid speakers despite university bans, thus violating its policies. Compiled from disclosures by these seven companies, the discovery amounted to around $257.8 million in payouts since 2009 for speaking, consulting and other duties

A conflict of interest arises as academic medical institutions raise the issue of credibility of both the physicians and the institution they represent.

The new healthcare law

All drug companies will be required to publicly disclose payments to doctors as part of the new healthcare law by 2013.
 

Source

http://www.propublica.org/article/drug-companies-retain-tight-control-of-physicians-presentations

http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/features/special/archives/pharmaceutical_companies/professors_violate_rules_accept_paid_speaking_roles_101220/

http://projects.propublica.org/docdollars/

http://www.propublica.org/article/dollars-to-doctors-physician-disciplinary-records