$33 Million Transferred From Big Pharma to Doctors in Australia

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Pharmaceutical companies paid doctors more than $33 million (US$21.9 million) over three years in Australia to promote their products.

More than 6,500 doctors across the country received at least one payment from a pharmaceutical company between November 2019 and October 2022.

The findings were revealed in a peer-reviewed paper published in the Medical Journal of Australia on May 6.

The highest payments were in haematology or oncology, followed by cardiology and endocrinology.

Rheumatology was the specialty where the greatest number of doctors were recipients of payments.

“A total of 6,504 doctors (4.9 percent of all medical practitioners registered in Australia; 4,086 men, 63 percent) had received at least one payment or transfer of value from pharmaceutical companies for registration fees, travel costs, or fees for service during November 2019–October 2022,” the paper stated.

“A total $33.44 million was paid or transferred; payments ranged from $36 to $299,161 and the median payment was $1,500 (interquartile range, $727 to $4,000).”

Public Awareness ‘Limited’

The paper noted that within the community, the knowledge that corporations provide payments to doctors that influence prescribing is scarce.

“Public awareness that pharmaceutical companies make payments to doctors to influence their prescribing is limited, and public disclosure of industry payments could reduce trust in the medical profession,” the researchers observed.

“Australian doctors should reflect on their relationship with the pharmaceutical industry, considering whether they need to accept payments for continuing professional education, travel, and consultancy work, and whether it is consistent with public expectations.”

More Transparency Needed: Authors

Researchers suggested more transparency is needed in relation to the reporting of pharmaceutical payments to healthcare professionals.

The authors recommended these payments should be linked to AHPRA numbers to help identify each recipient.

The authors of the paper also noted until recently, disclosure of payments from pharmaceutical companies to doctors was limited.

However, in 2016, Medicines Australia published a new code of conduct that required members to provide lists of all doctors they made payments to and how much was paid.

Researchers Malcolm Forbes, Yeshna Bhowon and Barbara Mintzes examined three years of published data from Nov. 1, 2019 to 31 Oct, 2022, and matched each doctor with their Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) listing.

“To promote their products, pharmaceutical companies make payments to doctors and other health care professionals, typically as consultancy fees, sponsorship to attend educational events, and the coverage of travel, accommodation, and other hospitality expenses,” the paper stated.

“A searchable centralised repository that enables finding information about individual doctors, proposed in 2017, has been available on the Medicines Australia website since 2019.”

Payments From Pharmaceutical Companies ‘Underestimated’

The authors noted they had probably underestimated pharmaceutical company payments to doctors, since Medicines Australia doesn’t represent all pharmaceutical companies active in Australia.

“Further, payments for food and beverages, excluded by Medicines Australia reporting requirements, were offered at more than 90 percent of industry‐sponsored events in Australia during 2011–2015,” the authors said.

“In the United States, where these payments are included in pharmaceutical company transparency reports, clear relationships have been noted between the numbers of meals provided and the prescribing of a sponsor’s products for four drug classes, as well as the volume of opioid prescribing.”