Follow the money.
Our esteemed friends at ProPublica have added to their Dollars for Docs database, putting even more information in the hands of the public about what drug companies have made payments to which doctors.
“When Dollars for Docs first launched in 2010, ProPublica spoke with several of the dozens of doctors who had earned more than $200,000 from their speaking and consulting work for drug companies,” the nonprofit investigative news organization reported today with its newly updated data “Now, with records from more companies and more years of data, we’ve identified 22 doctors who’ve earned at least $500,000 since 2009 — including one, Jon Draud, who was paid more than $1 million.”
Four of these docs are from New York, and four are from Texas. Want to look up your doc? The widget and other tools are on their project page here.
So why does this matter?
Well, if your doctor is on this list, and is also prescribing a drug whose manufacturer paid sums of money for “consulting,” or “research” or anything else, how unbiased is that doctor?
And also, wouldn’t this be a kickback in any other business?
Follow the money.
