Docs on Pharma Payroll Have Blemished Records, Limited Credentials

[cory777]

Source: ProPublica

The Ohio medical board concluded <1> that pain physician William D. Leak had performed “unnecessary” nerve tests on 20 patients and subjected some to “an excessive number of invasive procedures,” including injections of agents that destroy nerve tissue.

Yet the finding, posted on the board’s public website, didn’t prevent Eli Lilly and Co. from using him as a promotional speaker and adviser. The company has paid him $85,450 since 2009.

In 2001, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered <2> Pennsylvania doctor James I. McMillen to stop “false or misleading” promotions of the painkiller Celebrex, saying he minimized risks and touted it for unapproved uses.

Still, three other leading drug makers paid the rheumatologist $224,163 over 18 months to deliver talks to other physicians about their drugs.

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

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Hard Hitting News http://activistnews.blogspot.com/

[StandingInLeftField]

1. NPR had a story on Big Pharma payments to physicians this a.m.

Unfortunately, I arrived at work before they aired the segment. Anyone hear it?

It's no wonder that the pharma industry must pay to shill their latest and greatest. The wonder is who they are paying.

[HuckleB]

11. Here's a link to it. I think it covers the story much better than the OP article.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130644774&ps=cprs

[StandingInLeftField]

13. Great! Thanks HuckleB

[Scuba]

2. During my 30+ years as a healthcare executive....

...I saw numerous examples of physicians taking non-practicing positions. These were common in hospital administration, pharmacy retailing, information systems vendors, etc.

Well some were forced out of practice by health reasons (imagine a surgeon with early-stage Parkinsons), many (most?) took such positions to leverage the title "Doctor" when they were unfit to practice.


That's probably better then having them treating patients.


As spokesmen for vendors, other experienced healthcare professionals can sniff this out.

It's the unsuspecting public that worships "doctors" and is prime to get snookered.

[BlueIris]

4. And again, I wish we had recs for individual posts. nt

[Scuba]

5. Thanks.

[BlueIris]

6. You should...um...share more.

Without violating any confidentiality laws or ethical guidelines, of course. I think your insight into the FUBARed nature of healthcare could teacher posters here a lot.

[Scuba]

8. Perhaps after the election....

...if we win we can lobby for Medicare for All. If we lose, we'll be lucky to save what we have.


In the meantime, you can help...

Volunteer down at Democratic HQ. They need people to make phone calls, knock on doors, compile lists of local events, do data entry, etc.

Help others get their early ballots in case they can't get out on election day.

Get a yard sign.

Talk to your cousin/nephew/aunt etc.

We need to focus on this or the next two years of DU will be not about how to improve the country, but about limiting damage.

thanks,

Scuba

[BlueIris]

12. Been there, done that. I was one of those who completely destroyed

my own financial, personal and professional life to volunteer for Democratic campaigns and other progressive efforts between '03 and '07. I simply cannot justify tearing my whole life apart again for yet another campaign. The work I did, which was more like the work of fifty people, not only did irreparable harm to my own safety and security, it validated what other people were doing in not helping. So, I'm done with that part of it. I will still be voting Democrat this year, but that is all. And frankly, that is all my elected officials and my so-called community deserve from me.

[ensho]

7. kick

nt

[BlueIris]

3. Shocker.

Not.

[sabra]

9. Doctors draw payments from drug companies

Source: Chicago Trib

Physicians say presentations they make are educational, but critics say the practice puts financial rewards ahead of patient care

Follow drug company money in Illinois, and it leads to the psychiatry department at Rush University Medical Center, a prominent headache clinic on the North Side of Chicago, a busy suburban urology practice and a psychiatric hospital accused of overmedicating kids.

In each of these settings, doctors are drawing an extra paycheck — worth tens of thousands of dollars a year or more — for speaking to other medical professionals about pharmaceutical products at company-sponsored, company-scripted events in Illinois and across the country.

The extent of these activities is only now coming to light as drug companies start publicly releasing data about their relationships with physicians, information that until now has been a closely guarded secret.

The pharmaceutical data show that 11 Illinois physicians each earned more than $100,000 between January 2009 and June 2010 from seven companies, according to a new database compiled by the national investigative news organization ProPublica. An additional 13 medical providers earned between $75,000 and $100,000, primarily for participating in speakers' bureaus and educational forums. Most doctors received far lesser sums.

This medical moonlighting is perfectly legal but highly controversial.

Doctors and drug companies say their collaborations provide time-pressed medical professionals with much-needed education about how best to treat illnesses and how various drugs work. But other medical and policy experts say physicians involved in the activities have crossed an important line, straying into the realm of product promotion and potentially compromising their independence and patient care.


Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/docdollars/ct-met-doctors-drug-dollars-20101018,0,2745754.story

[herbm]

10. A very high end restaurant I worked in Austin used to have these events.

Educational, my butt - though very lucerative for the house and the waiter. And for the drug companies. I doubt the effiacy of a seminar where all the "students" are thwacked on high end wines. The physicians would walk out with a very expensive meal, all sorts of swag and plenty of samples.