News Website Listing Us Doctors For Taking Kickbacks From Drug Companies

[Justmehere]

This is a website to check and see how money doctors get from pharmaceutical company in the United States.

https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/

I heard about this website from this Last Week Tonight with John Oliver clip: Marketing to Doctors

I found this to be quite enlightening.

Almost every doctor I have ever seen, including those that have prescribed medications for PTSD symptoms, is listed on this site. Some took a lot, some accepted very little. The very best doctor I have seen accepted only $11 goods or money from any pharmaceutical companies in 2014 - and that was the lowest amount.

I believe all advertising of medications to the general public and to doctors should be stopped in the US. Doctors should prescribe what works and all the marketing money could go to better research and development. I want pharmaceutical companies to make money when they develop great medications, not when they have flashy sales campaigns. My aunt is a pharmaceutical rep, and to some extent, even she agrees.

I am discouraged because big pharma has some powerful lobbyists in Washington D.C. and it is unlikely that this marketing mess will end anytime soon.

At least there is a way to find out what companies my doctor is getting kickbacks from, and how much.

 

[StellaBlue]

believe all advertising of medications to the general public and to doctors should be stopped in the US.

To be clear - I agree with you about DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) advertising. I have been in the pharmaceutical industry for decades (Research and Development) and remember when pharmaceutical companies were allowed to begin this type of advertising.

Stopping advertising to doctors? Well, I'm not 100% in agreement there.

It gets a little complicated. Drug companies are...well, companies...they pay for the research, develop the drugs, etc. They are regulated by the government, but really, as companies, their first "responsibility" is to their shareholders (although most claim to be beholden to the patient). Unless the entire system changes, this is not going to change.

At least there is a way to find out what companies my doctor is getting kickbacks from, and how much.

I would be very careful using the term "kickback". The Open Payments data is part of the Open Payments Sunshine Act. It is relatively new. Pharmaceutical Companies are now required to report ALL payments to health care providers (before there were exceptions) - this includes payments to clinical investigators who are running a drug study, consulting fees, educational grants, "gifts" (which are now regulated to be limited to service-related items and under a certain value), etc. These are not "kickbacks".

For example, if Company A is running a study for diabetes, they need patients to participate. They contact a number of doctors (and if it's a large study, we're talking 100s of study sites). Each of those doctors is paid - all of this is reported in the Open Payment data. So if your doctor participated in a clinical study, payments in the 1000's of dollars are going to show up.

Another example - a salesperson for Company A shows up at the doctor's office with a copy of the DSM as a gift. The doctor must now sign a form that lists the value of the book and this is then reported to the government.

I agree that drug companies, historically, have a bad reputation...but until the system changes to make them "not profit" companies, this isn't going to change.