Pharma first: fessing up about fees - September 24, 2008
A new first for Pharma; Eli Lilly, Indianapolis-based pharmaceuticals company, will be the first among its industry stable-mates to publicly disclose how much it pays in fees and royalties to doctors who give talks for it or advise it about patients. (press release, AP story)
This step will probably see names and home towns of doctors disclosed, says this Indystar report.
Over at Pharmalot, there’s a good run down on the back story, and the Physicians Payments Sunshine Act, which would set up a US-wide registry of cash going to medical practitioners from pharma companies. The story is getting lots of pick up in the US (New York Times, Wall Street Journal)
It’s not clear whether this is going to spill over to academic researchers as well, but the US Senate Finance Committee is still continuing its probe into conflict of interest in academic research. This report from Brown University mentions Martin Keller, embroiled in a controversial antidepressant drug trial of Paxil, made by GlaxoSmithKline. Keller faces accusations that some of his reports were ghost-written.
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