Tampa Bay doctors with disciplinary records speak for drug companies

[seafan]

It just gets worse and worse in the public perception department for Big Pharmaceutical and those willingly under its influence.


Tampa Bay doctors with disciplinary records speak for drug companies

By Kris Hundley and Connie Humburg, Times Staff Writers
March 1, 2010

Drug companies pay doctors millions each year to promote products to their peers over meals at pricey restaurants.
The drugmakers have found that doctors are more likely to prescribe a new medication if they've heard about it from a colleague instead of a sales rep.

So who are some of the doctors telling other doctors what drugs to prescribe? Patients might want to know.

Drug companies say they choose "leading clinicians" for paid speaking engagements. Among these speakers, according to Florida public records:

• Two Tampa surgeons involved in a botched robotic procedure that killed a Plant High School teacher.
• A St. Petersburg doctor who was put on probation by a local hospital and received a warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after he broke several FDA rules while running a drug study.
• A surgeon in Jacksonville who mistakenly removed brain tissue during sinus surgery, leaving the patient paralyzed, blind and brain-damaged.

.....

Tampa's David G. Eaton was attorney for the families in the latter two lawsuits against Fusia.
"Having been sued for two deaths should definitely keep you from speaking for drug companies, or at least they should have to disclose some biographical data," he said.
Referring to doctors being paid as drug company speakers, Eaton said, "It's the business of medicine and I'm not sure that makes for the best patient care. It certainly doesn't lead to objectivity with drug companies."

.....

Fugh-Berman said that regardless of the speaker's competence as a medical professional, physicians should consider it unethical to speak for drug companies. She noted that several major medical universities and related practices now ban their doctors from acting as drug company speakers.

This very helpful tip was posted at the end of this article:

To search a physician's disciplinary records, go to the Florida Department of Health's Web site (www.FLHealthSource.com) for license verification. If the Medical Board has sanctioned a physician, more details may be available on the Web or may be requested from the state.

To see which doctors are on speakers bureaus, search the Web sites of Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline and Merck for "physician payments." Pfizer is expected to publish its data in March.