Come 2013, drug companies in the $200 billion-plus pharmaceutical industry must start publicly disclosing gifts and payments to physicians.
That's a requirement of one of the most pro-consumer provisions of the federal health care legislation signed by President Barack Obama earlier this year.
Drug companies spend $30 billion annually on marketing, much of it directly aimed at physicians.
Patients have a right to know whether their physicians accept those payments -- not all do ---- and how much they get.
A preview of that information has been appearing at the investigative journalism website ProPublica.org. It's worth a visit for any consumer of medical services. The database is readily searchable by physician name, by city and more.
The New York-based ProPublica has identified 43 physicians who have earned more than $200,000 since 2009 in speaking and consulting fees from drug and medical device companies that are disclosing payments.
Three Californians are in the $200,000-plus club. Another 36 California doctors received payments of between $100,000 and $200,000. Scores of others have collected thousands or tens of thousands in payments.
The disclosures represent a fraction of drug company payments made to physicians. Only seven of the 70 pharmaceutical companies operating in the United States are making their payments public.
To read the complete editorial, visit www.fresnobee.com.
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