Pfizer Speaks Out On $20 Million In Payments To Physicians
The world’s largest drug manufacturer, Pfizer, tried really hard to make friends in the medical community last year. Wednesday the company said it had paid $20 million to 4,500 physicians and other medical professionals to consult and speak on its behalf the last half of 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/business/01payments.html
In Pfizer’s first public accounting of this kinds, the company also said that it had shelled out $15.3 million to 250 medical centers and research groups for clinical trials during that same time span.
According to The New York Times, Pfizer is the first drug maker to disclose payouts for clinical trials. A number of pharmaceutical companies – namely Eli Lilly, Merck and GlaxoSmithKline — have fessed up to making payments to physicians.
Pfizer made its disclosures as part of an “integrity agreement” it signed to settle a probe into the illegal promotion of pharmaceuticals for off-label uses.
Some critics told The Times that they were skeptical that drug companies such as Pfizer would be totally forthcoming with the unaudited numbers they were disclosing.
