Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Dr. Stephen H. Landy
More than 40 physicians have earned at least $200,000 since 2009 by moonlighting for the pharmaceutical industry, giving speeches to doctors about the wonders of a company’s drugs. These findings come from ProPublica, which gathered disclosure documents from seven pharmaceutical manufacturers: GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Cephalon, Merck & Co. and Johnson & Johnson.
The list of 43 physicians is led by Firhaad Ismail, a Las Vegas endocrinologist, who racked in $303,558 from Glaxo, Lilly and Merck; Stephen H. Landy, a headache specialist from Memphis, with $302,125 from Glazo, Cephalon and Merck; and Memphis endocrinologist Samuel Dagogo-Jack at $257,012 from Glaxo, Lilly and Merck. Eleven of the 43 are endocrinologists, reflecting the growing competition for diabetes-related drugs.
ProPublica’s database, Dollars for Docs, represents just a snapshot of the true picture of how many doctors are selling their expertise to help market drugs. This is due to the fact that more than 70 companies have not publicly reported all their speakers and consultants, the investigative journalism website points out.
-David Wallechinsky
Dollars for Docs: Who’s on Pharma’s Top-Paid List? (by Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein, ProPublica)
Top Earners (ProPublica)
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