How much do Pharma pay Scientists and/or Neurologists?

Should scientists and/or neurologists receive payments from Pharma? #MSBlog #MSResearch

"For those of you who have raised the issue of scientists and/or neurologists consulting for Pharma will find this paper interesting."

Andrew Jack (BMJ pharmaceuticals correspondent). Bring me sunshine: EU drug companies make payments to doctors public. BMJ 2013;347:f4342.

Excerpts:

...... The European pharmaceutical industry has pledged to release details of the payments it makes to doctors and healthcare organisations by 2016, in the latest move towards bringing “sunshine” to funding arrangements that critics argue distort prescribing practices......

..... It comes at a time of growing debate and research suggesting that even modest payments and incentives to doctors can influence their choice of medicines......

..... It also follows a surge in voluntary and legislative efforts around the world to boost transparency in links between drug manufacturers and doctors, partly driven by substantial fines for aggressive marketing, including GlaxoSmithKline’s record $3bn (£2bn; €2.3bn) penalty agreed in the US last year.....

...... Under the Affordable Care Act in the US, companies will from this autumn be required to release information on payments to doctors. Ad hoc disclosures forced by individual settlements in recent years show the scale of payments: a dozen companies in 2012 alone paid more than $1bn.....

...... In the UK, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) has this year begun releasing aggregated information, which showed £40m in payments during 2012....

..... There is also a broader debate about the interpretation of the findings. Many of the systems include not only payments to individual prescribers but also research funding to their institutions, such as for clinical trials, none of which may end up in individuals’ pockets.......

...... While transparency should largely be welcomed, some doctors raise the concern that exposure or fear of misinterpretation of funding may deter some of the best medical “thought leaders” from contact with industry. If that weakens access to the best thinking, research, and clinical experience, it could set back drug development and prove counterproductive. But with so few data currently available, the fresh efforts around the world at bringing sunshine will at least allow a more serious informed debate about the implications than was possible in the past......


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