Posts Tagged ‘Drug Companies’

Controversy is building over a lucrative side job for many university doctors and medical professions: giving speeches at events funded by prescription drug manufacturers. Across the country, university doctors are receiving over 20,000 dollars per promotional talk to “educate” other doctors on proper use of drugs. But some watchdogs are concerned that these promotional talks could pressure doctors into prescribing particular drugs, negatively affecting patient care in the process. Moreover, as the university doctors often work at publicly-funded institutions, these critics believe that taxpayer dollars are being used to aid doctors in promoting drug firms.

Although the Senate has considered a bill to track and publish payments made by pharmaceutical companies to doctors, intermediary entities called “medical education and communication companies” complicate the investigatory process. These middleman firms, funded by prescription corporations, organize training events at restaurants and lecture halls and pay doctors to give speeches. Because the go-between firms directly pay university doctors, the doctors do not have to disclose that the money may have ultimately come from prescription drug manufacturers. University doctors never report these top-dollar deals as a conflict of interest.

Other medical professionals are beginning to criticize these promotional and educational events. Some academic doctors who are veterans of the promotional-talk circuit claim that lecturers use slides provided by pharmaceutical companies. These talking points are intended to persuade doctors to begin prescribing certain drugs in order to boost sales. Because of the risks associated with inaccurately prescribed pharmaceuticals, medical school administrators are beginning to ban doctors from giving promotional talks, or from using the university’s name or logo during speeches. This policy is aimed at ending any unseemly relationship between state medical schools and private drug corporations.

Anyone with knowledge of fraud committed against the United States government, specifically the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), could have a whistleblower lawsuit. Contact us for more information about pharmaceutical corporations, whistleblower lawsuits, or to file a claim.