2 Memphis physicians top national list for speaking fees from drug companies
Commercial Appeal
By Toby Sells
December 12, 2010Two Memphis doctors rank second and third on a national list of doctors who have taken the most money from pharmaceutical companies to give talks about their drugs to other doctors. Wesley Neurology Clinic neurologist Stephen H. Landy ranked second on the "Dollars for Docs" list compiled by ProPublica, a nonprofit journalism organization, with $302,125 earned in 2009 and 2010 by speaking to doctor groups about drugs developed by GlaxoSmithKline, Cephalon and Merck. UT Medical Group endocrinologist Samuel Dagogo-Jack ranked third on ProPublica’s list with $257,012 in two years from GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly and Merck.
The only doctor in America who out-earned Landy and Dagogo-Jack in speaker fees from drug companies was Nevada endocrinologist Firhaad Ismail, who took $303,558 from drug companies, according to ProPublica’s "Top Earners" list. Seven drug companies have begun posting what they pay to doctors for speaking and educational engagements, according to ProPublica. The organization said nearly 70 more companies have yet to report but they will have to by 2013 under a mandate in health reform legislation.
The Physician Payments Sunshine provisions in health reform won’t ban gifts to doctors but will require full, public disclosure of them. Any company that sells drugs, medical devices, biologics and medical supplies covered by Medicaid, Medicare or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program will have to file an annual report to the federal government listing each gift they’ve given to doctors…
When asked how he felt about ranking so high on ProPublica’s list, Landy said, "It’s kind of surprising that it would even be written about." Public perception of the practice is "very negative," he said, adding that the drugs are "good drugs and they benefit patients." He said ProPublica’s information has been taken out of context. While he has been paid for his time, travel and work by drug companies, he said he does a lot of free work in his field, like teaching at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, editing a professional journal and publishing neurology research papers.
He said ProPublica’s research makes it look like pharmaceutical companies and doctors are taking advantage of patients and that’s "just totally wrong. These programs are not about encouraging doctors to write drugs in the wrong way but rather to write drugs in the right way," Landy said. "I don’t think any physician is going to go to an educational program and start writing a drug that isn’t what he or she feels is right for their patients"…
Nashville doctor Hal Roseman [cardiologist] got the highest single nonresearch payment. He received $131,250 in speaker fees from GlaxoSmithKline.
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