john[_5_]
October 25th 09, 08:58 PM
Merck reveals which docs/nurses/etc it paid to speak
2009 Oct
http://www.merck.com/corporate-responsibility/business-ethics-transparency/ethics-financial-support-third-parties/payments-us-hcp/home.html
and find a link to here:
http://www.merck.com/corporate-responsibility/docs/business-ethics-transparency/3Q09-Transparency-Report.pdf
a.. Payments made in 3rd quarter ( PDF*)
http://www.merck.com/corporate-responsibility/docs/business-ethics-transparency/Merck-Statement-Speaker-Fees.pdf
Merck Statement on US Speaker Fees ( PDF*)
"Merck's top speaker in the last quarter, Dr. James Kemp, a former president
of the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology, sees it
differently.
"I'm not a salesman," said the retired San Diego pediatric asthma
specialist. "I feel clean and I feel Merck is clean."" (He made $22, 692.31)
"I'm not a salesman," said the retired San Diego pediatric asthma
specialist. "I feel clean and I feel Merck is clean.")
Drug maker reveals which docs it paid to speak
Merk paid $3.7 million to more than 1,000 health professionals this summer
The Associated Press
updated 3:24 p.m. ET, Mon., Oct . 19, 2009
TRENTON, N.J. - Merck & Co. paid doctors and nurses a total of $3.7 million
this summer to give talks to colleagues about the drug maker's products and
other health topics, Merck disclosed Monday.
Amid growing criticism of industry influence over which treatments doctors
choose for their patients, the company posted a database on its Web site
listing speaking fees paid to 1,078 doctors, researchers, nurses and other
health professionals. It covers July through September, and Merck - the
second major drug maker to disclose payments to doctors - plans to update it
regularly.
"There's been a tremendous amount of misunderstanding" about the
relationship between industry and doctors, said Dr. Richard Pasternak,
Merck's head of scientific affairs. "This shines a light on it."
The 1,078 speakers gave a total of 2,493 talks and were paid $1,548 on
average. The top earner got $22,693, and dozens of doctors received more
than $10,000.
"We think what we're doing is just fine," Pasternak told The Associated
Press in an exclusive interview.
He said Merck's programs are balanced and some cover strategies for
improving care, such as understanding patients from different cultures. Many
focus on new research or overall care for a particular disease for which
Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck sells a drug.
Some media and members of Congress have denounced what they see as excessive
influence by drug and device makers over doctors, who in the past were
openly wined and dined by companies trying to curry favor.
Guidelines bar expensive gifts, trips
Industry guidelines since January have barred providing expensive meals,
trips and gifts. They state that company-funded presentations to doctors
should include only a modest meal and limit speakers' payments to
"reasonable" compensation for their time and travel expenses. Major
universities and hospitals now are reviewing their own rules for what
industry payments staff doctors can accept and must disclose.
Meanwhile, the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, sponsored by Sens. Charles
Grassley and Herbert Kohl, would require drug and device makers each year to
report details of all payments to doctors on a public, government Web site.
The bill, which sets fines up to $1 million for knowingly not reporting
payments, was folded into the health reform bill approved last week by the
Senate Finance Committee.
Merck's disclosure comes after Eli Lilly & Co. on July 31 posted a "faculty
registry" of payments to doctors and others for doing medical lectures or
advising the company. Pfizer Inc. and Glaxo Smith Kline PLC have promised to
make similar disclosures.
"Steps taken toward greater transparency help to build public trust. The
fact that these initiatives are happening proves the reform movement has
gained real traction," said Grassley, R-Iowa.
Dr. Robert Califf, vice chancellor at the Duke Clinical Research Institute,
thinks industry must help teach doctors how to best use drugs or other
medical products. But Califf, who has given many talks over his career, said
industry has grabbed too much influence, partly by having high-profile
doctors give talks or pressuring younger doctors into giving talks "to say
certain things or not say certain things."
'A step in the right direction'
Califf said disclosing payments to physicians is "a step in the right
direction," but that medical schools and professional medical societies
should take a bigger role in teaching doctors about new products.
Dr. Steven Nissen, head of cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic and an
industry critic, said disclosures aren't enough.
"They don't pay this kind of money unless they're getting marketing out of
it," he said, adding that paid speakers "become an employee and an agent of
the pharmaceutical industry."
Merck's top speaker in the last quarter, Dr. James Kemp, a former president
of the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology, sees it
differently.
"I'm not a salesman," said the retired San Diego pediatric asthma
specialist. "I feel clean and I feel Merck is clean."
Kemp, who presented 11 talks for Merck and gives speeches for other drug
makers, said the presentations help doctors and the compensation is not
excessive, given that he's away from home for a couple days for each talk.
Kemp said sometimes he doesn't even mention Merck's drug, although the
slides he uses - provided by Merck - usually mention its drug and its risks.
"Of course, doctors feel more favorable to a sponsor's drug," he said.
2009 Oct
http://www.merck.com/corporate-responsibility/business-ethics-transparency/ethics-financial-support-third-parties/payments-us-hcp/home.html
and find a link to here:
http://www.merck.com/corporate-responsibility/docs/business-ethics-transparency/3Q09-Transparency-Report.pdf
a.. Payments made in 3rd quarter ( PDF*)
http://www.merck.com/corporate-responsibility/docs/business-ethics-transparency/Merck-Statement-Speaker-Fees.pdf
Merck Statement on US Speaker Fees ( PDF*)
"Merck's top speaker in the last quarter, Dr. James Kemp, a former president
of the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology, sees it
differently.
"I'm not a salesman," said the retired San Diego pediatric asthma
specialist. "I feel clean and I feel Merck is clean."" (He made $22, 692.31)
"I'm not a salesman," said the retired San Diego pediatric asthma
specialist. "I feel clean and I feel Merck is clean.")
Drug maker reveals which docs it paid to speak
Merk paid $3.7 million to more than 1,000 health professionals this summer
The Associated Press
updated 3:24 p.m. ET, Mon., Oct . 19, 2009
TRENTON, N.J. - Merck & Co. paid doctors and nurses a total of $3.7 million
this summer to give talks to colleagues about the drug maker's products and
other health topics, Merck disclosed Monday.
Amid growing criticism of industry influence over which treatments doctors
choose for their patients, the company posted a database on its Web site
listing speaking fees paid to 1,078 doctors, researchers, nurses and other
health professionals. It covers July through September, and Merck - the
second major drug maker to disclose payments to doctors - plans to update it
regularly.
"There's been a tremendous amount of misunderstanding" about the
relationship between industry and doctors, said Dr. Richard Pasternak,
Merck's head of scientific affairs. "This shines a light on it."
The 1,078 speakers gave a total of 2,493 talks and were paid $1,548 on
average. The top earner got $22,693, and dozens of doctors received more
than $10,000.
"We think what we're doing is just fine," Pasternak told The Associated
Press in an exclusive interview.
He said Merck's programs are balanced and some cover strategies for
improving care, such as understanding patients from different cultures. Many
focus on new research or overall care for a particular disease for which
Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck sells a drug.
Some media and members of Congress have denounced what they see as excessive
influence by drug and device makers over doctors, who in the past were
openly wined and dined by companies trying to curry favor.
Guidelines bar expensive gifts, trips
Industry guidelines since January have barred providing expensive meals,
trips and gifts. They state that company-funded presentations to doctors
should include only a modest meal and limit speakers' payments to
"reasonable" compensation for their time and travel expenses. Major
universities and hospitals now are reviewing their own rules for what
industry payments staff doctors can accept and must disclose.
Meanwhile, the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, sponsored by Sens. Charles
Grassley and Herbert Kohl, would require drug and device makers each year to
report details of all payments to doctors on a public, government Web site.
The bill, which sets fines up to $1 million for knowingly not reporting
payments, was folded into the health reform bill approved last week by the
Senate Finance Committee.
Merck's disclosure comes after Eli Lilly & Co. on July 31 posted a "faculty
registry" of payments to doctors and others for doing medical lectures or
advising the company. Pfizer Inc. and Glaxo Smith Kline PLC have promised to
make similar disclosures.
"Steps taken toward greater transparency help to build public trust. The
fact that these initiatives are happening proves the reform movement has
gained real traction," said Grassley, R-Iowa.
Dr. Robert Califf, vice chancellor at the Duke Clinical Research Institute,
thinks industry must help teach doctors how to best use drugs or other
medical products. But Califf, who has given many talks over his career, said
industry has grabbed too much influence, partly by having high-profile
doctors give talks or pressuring younger doctors into giving talks "to say
certain things or not say certain things."
'A step in the right direction'
Califf said disclosing payments to physicians is "a step in the right
direction," but that medical schools and professional medical societies
should take a bigger role in teaching doctors about new products.
Dr. Steven Nissen, head of cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic and an
industry critic, said disclosures aren't enough.
"They don't pay this kind of money unless they're getting marketing out of
it," he said, adding that paid speakers "become an employee and an agent of
the pharmaceutical industry."
Merck's top speaker in the last quarter, Dr. James Kemp, a former president
of the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology, sees it
differently.
"I'm not a salesman," said the retired San Diego pediatric asthma
specialist. "I feel clean and I feel Merck is clean."
Kemp, who presented 11 talks for Merck and gives speeches for other drug
makers, said the presentations help doctors and the compensation is not
excessive, given that he's away from home for a couple days for each talk.
Kemp said sometimes he doesn't even mention Merck's drug, although the
slides he uses - provided by Merck - usually mention its drug and its risks.
"Of course, doctors feel more favorable to a sponsor's drug," he said.