After Receiving Millions in Drug Company Payments, Pain Doctor Settles Federal Kickback Allegations

Dr. Gerald M. Sacks, who was named in a 2010 ProPublica investigation, will pay more than $270,000 to resolve allegations of taking kickbacks, though he denies taking them.

Doctors Prescribe More of a Drug If They Receive Money from a Pharma Company Tied to It

Pharmaceutical companies have paid doctors billions of dollars for consulting, promotional talks, meals and more. A new ProPublica analysis finds doctors who received payments linked to specific drugs prescribed more of those drugs.

How Much Money Has Your Doctor Received From Drug Companies?

Use ProPublica’s Dollars for Docs database to find out. I did.

We Found Over 700 Doctors Who Were Paid More Than a Million Dollars by Drug and Medical Device Companies

ProPublica has been tracking drug company spending on doctors since 2010. We just updated our database and found that companies are still paying private doctors huge sums for promotional talks and consulting.

Opioid Makers, Blamed for Overdose Epidemic, Cut Back on Marketing Payments to Doctors

As ProPublica updates Dollars for Docs, we found that drugmakers spent less money to market opioids to doctors in 2016 than in prior years. Studies have shown that payments to doctors by opioid makers are linked to more prescribing of the drugs.

With Drug Reps Kept At Bay, Doctors Prescribe More Judiciously

A new study shows that doctors prescribed fewer marketed brand-name drugs when teaching hospitals restricted access to pharmaceutical sales representatives.

Pharma Money Reaches Guideline Writers, Patient Groups, Even Doctors on Twitter

A series of studies published today documents the vast conflicts of interest in medicine. The way we think about disease “is being subtly distorted” by financial ties, the authors of an editorial write.

We’ve Updated Dollars for Docs. Here’s What’s New.

ProPublica has been publishing data on conflicts of interest in medicine since 2010. We’ve updated our Dollars for Docs database with billions of dollars in payments made last year.

Illinois Sues Controversial Drug Maker Over Deceptive Marketing Practices

Insys, which has come under fire before for using doctors with troubled histories to promote or consult on its products, faces new claims from Illinois’ attorney general.

Drug and Device Makers Pay Thousands of Docs with Disciplinary Records

Physicians whose state boards have sanctioned them for harming patients, unnecessarily prescribing addictive drugs, bilking federal insurance programs and even sexual misconduct nonetheless continue to receive payments for consulting, giving talks about products, and more.

Drug and Device Makers Find Receptive Audience at For-profit, Southern Hospitals

A ProPublica analysis shows that where a hospital is located and who owns it make a big difference in what share of its doctors take industry payments.

How We Compiled the Dollars for Docs Hospital Data

Feed Me, Pharma: More Evidence That Industry Meals Are Linked to Costlier Prescribing

A third study shows an association between physician drug choices and their interactions with the pharmaceutical industry.

Another Study Finds Link Between Pharma Money and Brand-name Prescribing

The findings, by researchers at Harvard Medical School, are in line with a similar analysis done by ProPublica in March.

Now There’s Proof: Docs Who Get Company Cash Tend to Prescribe More Brand-Name Meds

The more money doctors receive from drug and medical device companies, the more brand-name drugs they tend to prescribe, a new ProPublica analysis shows. Even a meal can make a difference.

ProPublica Adds Teaching Hospitals to Dollars for Docs

All told, more than 1,100 teaching hospitals received nearly $780 million from August 2013 to December 2014, not including research.