AP Reports: Another Secret of the Pharmaceutical World to be Revealed: The Drs. Who Take Money and Trips from Big Pharma

The Associated Press reported yesterday that most of the Big Pharmaceutical companies have decided to begin to disclose information regarding the members of the medical community they pay to do presentations at educational conferences. What you may not know is that virtually all the major pharmaceutical companies pay doctors throughout the country to travel to exotic locations i.e. Paris, Rome, the Virgin Islands to name a few, and to give presentations at “educational conferences” that other doctors attend. In the medical world these are known as CMEs (continuing medical education). In the past, the drug companies did not have to disclose who the doctors were they were paying to do these CME’s and what perks they were being provided i.e. free trips, gifts, money and the like. The concern is that this could effect medical care because these doctors would tend to promote the drugs for the companies that provide them all these “favors.”
Having friends of mine who are Drs. that have been taking part in this ritual, I have to admit that there is a part of me that’s jealous. The best I’ve received from different groups who have requested me to give seminars on trying pharmaceutical cases or addressing legal issues like production of electronic evidence (alot of good stuff is kept on company computers as you can imagine), has been an umbrella. Now granted, it was the biggest umbrella that I have ever seen and there are days in Alabama when I am truly happy I have it. But I have yet to receive an offer for an all expense paid trip to some exotic location, as well as payment for my time, just for me to speak about an issue I know alot about. My mom always did want me to be a doctor.
I digress. Anyway, Congress has been looking out for us and are in the process of trying to pass legislation that will require drug and medical device makers to disclose anything of value given to physicians. When told this was coming, most of the major pharmaceutical companies agreed that they would proceed to begin to provide such information. Just to get an idea of how big this issue is, Eli Lilly, who voluntarily started reporting this type of information last year (thank you Eli Lilly), gave almost $19 million in one quarter of 2007 for these “grants” as they refer to them. Over a year, that could come to almost $80 million dollars….and that’s just from one company!!! Knew I should have listened to my mother! (Good thing she doesn’t use the internet!)