Drugmakers vow to disclose physician payments
Eli Lilly made the first move, with CEO John Lechleiter telling the Economic Club of Indiana in a speech that the firm would become the first pharmaceutical research company to disclose its payments.
Merck swiftly followed suit, issuing a statement noting that it is “committed to begin disclosure in 2009 of payments to physicians who speak on behalf of our company or our products.”
Earlier this year, Lilly broke ranks with other drugmakers by becoming the first research-based company to endorse federal legislation, the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, that would establish a national registry of payments to physicians by medical device, medical supply and pharmaceutical companies.
Dr Lechleiter announced the physician registry as a part of a broader outline of the company's transformation efforts. He said: "with each of our industry firsts, from launching our clinical trials registry to the public reporting of educational grants, Lilly is striving to be a leader in improving transparency across our industry."
Introduced by US Senators Charles Grassley (Rep., Iowa) and Herb Kohl (Dem., Wisconsin), the Act has been held up in Congress.
Lechleiter said that Lilly “remains hopeful that the Sunshine Act will be passed by Congress at some point,” but in the meantime is “taking action independently.”
Merck echoed that sentiment, noting that: “even in the absence of a legislative requirement …we are committed to begin disclosure in 2009 of payments to physicians who speak on behalf of our company or our products.”
From next month, said Merck, grants to patient groups, professional medical societies and other organisations will be posted, with payments to doctors who serve as speakers posted from 2009.
Under the Lilly registry plan, the public will have access to an Internet database listing its payments to physicians in the second half of 2009. Initially, it will record payments made in that year to doctors who serve the company as speakers and advisors.
By 2011, Lilly plans to expand the reporting capabilities of the registry to resemble the Sunshine Act legislation. The registry will be updated annually to reflect the previous year's payment information.
Merck also said it will post study results on the ClinicalTrials.gov site starting this month.
Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and Pfizer all said they were also looking into their disclosure policies in light of the Sunshine Act.
