Posted on 04/02/2010 12:59:03 PM PDT by TennesseeGirl
Pfizer, the largest drug maker in the world, disclosed 35 million in payments during the second half of 2009 to doctors who consulted or spoke on behalf of drugs and to the medical centers that tested them, The New York Times reports. This is Pfizer's first disclosure of this nature. "While other pharmaceutical companies have disclosed payments to doctors, Pfizer is the first to disclose payments for the clinical trials. The disclosure does not include payments outside the United States" (Wilson, 3/31).
"The drugmaker made the disclosure as part of a government settlement after it pleaded guilty last year to illegally promoting more than a dozen of its own drugs. It also paid a record $2.3bn fine in connection to the deal," the Financial Times reports. "Pfizer said the disclosures were in line with healthcare reporting provisions included in the new healthcare reform law that was signed by US President Barack Obama, last week" (Kirchgaessner, 4/1).
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalnewstoday.com ...
MOST docs (apologies to those who are not) ARE drug pushers....BUT...that’s what they are TRAINED to do!
I work in an outpatient clinic at a large rural medical center. It’s been at least 5 years since we’ve had samples, and the docs consistently prescribe meds that are most appropriate, rather than ones that the drug rep was just in selling. As a matter of fact, we rarely get any drug reps in anymore.
“$35 Mil in Payments To Doctors, Hospitals For Research And Promotion”
$35 Million is nothing. No big deal.
Huh? Yeah, those evil doctors and bigger evil drug companies! You DO know you’re on FreeRepublic, right?
If you had a clue as to what pharma companies MUST go through to get patients and physicians to test (i.e., phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials) new drugs, you would not begrudge them this effort or these monies.
FWIW, I do NOT work for a pharma.
Docs tend to prescribe what they have always prescribed, and what other docs recommend. Less than 50% even see a drug rep anymore. Many teaching hospitals are officially “pharma free” except for paid ‘scientific leaders.’
They (pharma) are in business to make money by discovering AND MARKETING compounds that preserve and improve human health. They do NOT owe their value to us for free.
Just my opinion
A very large fraction of recent pharmaceutical products seem to be more dangerous via side-effects than the problems they are supposed to address.
You don't have any idea why you leave the doctors office with a handful of prescription medicine. When was the last time a doc gave you more than one sample (yes, it's a sample and not a prescription) of different drugs for whatever it is that ails you? Yeah, I thought so. You're gonna love what Obama has in store for you and big, bad pharma.
Everyone seemed to miss my entire point in posting this article, didn’t they, Expatpat? I wasn’t slamming Pfizer or their model of business. I am bothered, however, by the possibility the physicians taking payment from the company and NOT disclosing this information to their patients as they write out prescriptions for Pfizer products to their patients.
I really don’t like the big pharma gang. Spent to much time dealing with them to trust them much.
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