Pharmaceutical Companies React to "Dollars for Docs"

In their reporting on drug company speakers, ProPublica's Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein found five of the seven companies that disclose payments to physicians -- AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Lilly, Merck, and Pfizer do not check state medical boards to see if doctors who speak for the companies have been sanctioned. This information is publicly available in many of the nation's largest states.

Here are some of the comments I received back from the companies on the "Dollars for Docs" series:

AstraZeneca:

"As is part of our routine annual processes, AstraZeneca is currently reviewing contracts for the coming year. This review includes ensuring that all health care providers meet the company's eligibility criteria to participate in our speaking program."

GSK:
"We do have criteria in place to evaluate potential speakers. However you have raised some issues to our attention that we are investigating further. We will also use this information as we continue to improve the processes by which our speakers are evaluated."

Source: http://www.pbs.org/nbr/blog/2010/10/pharmaceutical_companies_react.html

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