Healthy Skepticism Library item: 10745

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Goldstein J.
Drug Industry Showers Greenbacks on Vermont Docs
The Wall Street Journal Health Blog 2007 Jun 27
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2007/06/27/drug-industry-showers-greenbacks-on-vermont-docs/?mod=yahoo_hs

Full text:

Drug makers gave more than $2 million in cash, checks and food to doctors and other prescribers of drugs in Vermont during fiscal-year 2006, according to a report published yesterday by the state.

The largest chunk of money – more than $1 million – was for speaking fees. Education and marketing expenses also figured prominently. Vermont law requires drug companies to report the payments but doesn’t cover many marketing costs, such as the expense of drug samples.

Eli Lilly led the spending pack, followed by Sanofi-Aventis, Pfizer, Forest Laboratories and Novartis. Among the top 100 recipients of drug money, psychiatrists stood out, appearing 11 times and collecting a total of more then $500,000, or 22% of the overall amount reported.

The Vermont report, brought to our attention by the blog Pharmalot, comes as the Senate scrutinizes ties between doctors and the drug industry.

The idea of a national reporting law similar to Vermont’s may be gaining traction. “A federal law requiring public disclosure of payments to doctors could be very effective if it was carefully monitored and consistently applied,” Senator Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, told the New York Times.