A clear picture of Big Pharma’s largesse
Doctors will soon have to disclose gifts and payments they receive from pharmaceutical companies.
Doctors will soon have to disclose gifts and payments they receive from pharmaceutical companies. Under the Sunshine Act, a provision of the Affordable Care Act, pharmaceutical and medical-device companies will have to record nearly every financial interaction they have with doctors, whether it’s paying them for research consultation, paying them for speeches, or sending a pizza to their office. That information will then be published on a searchable, public website from September 2014 onward. Many physicians make considerable income from consulting and speaking fees they receive from drug companies; last year alone the biggest drugmaker, Pfizer, paid $173.2 million to health-care professionals.
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