Doctors in Britain were paid £38.5m by drug-makers last year, slightly less than 2012, according to new data underscoring the links between the pharmaceutical industry and prescribers. [s]Business Report[/s] writes that industry payments to doctors have come under increased scrutiny following a number of scandals over sales practices, notably in the US, and concerns that such ties could put commercial interests ahead of the best outcome for patients. And criticism of the close relationship between doctors and drug firms has prompted some companies to rethink how they operate. [b]GlaxoSmithKline[/b] has said it will stop paying doctors to promote its drugs, though it will still pay fees for clinical research and advisory work. A number of other firms have also taken more limited steps to curb physician-related marketing practices, including [b]AstraZeneca[/b], which said in 2011 it was scrapping payments for doctors to attend international congresses. Under US healthcare law, drug companies are now forced to disclose payments to doctors, while in Europe firms will be required to make public the names of individual doctors they have paid from 2016.
Nearly every large drug maker based in the US had at least one academic medical centre official on its board, raising questions about independence, reports [s]Pro Publica[/s], citing a study in the [s]Journal of the American Medical Association[/s].
[link url=http://www.iol.co.za/business/international/uk-doctors-paid-38-5m-by-drugmakers-1.1670723#.Uz1XKqiSzE0]Full report in Business Report[/link]
[link url=http://www.propublica.org/article/leaders-of-teaching-hospitals-have-close-ties-to-drug-companies-study-shows]Full Pro Publica study[/link]
[link url=http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1853147]JAMA abstract[/link]