Pfizer joined the ranks of GlaxoSmithKline, Merck and Eli Lilly, announcing that beginning this year, they are going to disclose their payments to physicians.
Pfizer’s plans reflect the spirit of recent proposed legislation regarding payments to physicians, in that, it includes payments to practicing physicians and other healthcare providers as well as to principal investigators and institutions for Phase I-IV clinical trials sponsored by Pfizer.
Pfizer plans to publish its first annual online update on www.pfizer.com in early 2010. The report will include payments made on or after July 1, 2009 going forward.
Parameters under consideration include reporting payments to recipients whose aggregate amount exceeds $500 in a calendar year, including the value of non-monetary items, such as meals, that exceed $25 in value.
Specifically, this includes disclosing all payments to:
- All practicing healthcare providers who can prescribe medicines;
- Major institutions for ongoing clinical trials; and
- All principal investigators and other entities for Phase I-IV clinical trials sponsored by Pfizer beginning after July 1, 2009.
The payments include those for:
- Clinical development and commercial consulting;
- Promotional speaking;
- Phase I-IV clinical trials;
- Investigator-initiated research; and
- Meals and other non-monetary items.
“Pfizer has made an important step forward with this extensive disclosure policy. The release of financial information about consulting, education, and clinical research activities sets a standard for transparency in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries,” said Andrew F. Leuchter, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Associate Dean, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. “I believe policies such as these will help restore public confidence in the relationships physicians and academic medical centers have with the industry.”
“We are committed to taking the steps necessary to achieve greater transparency in our interactions with U.S. healthcare professionals,” Mr. Kindler said. “By disclosing payments to physicians, we are breaking down a major barrier and increasing the trust that healthcare providers must have when prescribing our medicines. To be viewed as an open, candid, and transparent company, we must address the concerns of our customers and take action. This new initiative does just that.”
These are important steps in waylaying the pent-up fear that physicians are somehow doing something wrong working with industry to develop drugs. The reports will give patients and policymakers a better understanding of where these payments are going and, perhaps, they will be less likely to be fearful of benign activities such as research, education, and consulting.