RI Doctors Paid Over $9 Million by Drug Companies

RI Doctors Paid Over $9 Million by Drug Companies

Over 2,700 doctors in Rhode Island received $9.6 million in payments from pharmaceutical and medical device companies between August 2013 and December 2014 - with the top twenty five getting over $3.5 million.

New data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) -- and compiled by nonprofit ProPublica.org -- shows that across the country, thousands of doctors, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists and chiropractors received at least one industry payment for consulting, promotional speaking, travel and lodging expenses, and and royalties.

SLIDES:  See the Top Paid RI Doctors by Drug and Medical Device Companies BELOW

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In RI, the top five doctors each recorded over $200,000 in payments, whose specialties are orthopedic surgery, and psychiatry and neurology.  Nationally, the top five doctors reported payments of over $20 million each. 

Data in Context

Upon release of the data, the American Medical Association weighed in on the disclosure of the information, which was required under the Physician Payment Sunshine Act, a part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, mandating that all drug and device companies publicly report payments to doctors.

"The AMA strongly opposes inappropriate, unethical interactions between physicians and industry. However, some relationships with industry can help drive innovation in patient care, contribute to the economic well-being of communities, and provide significant resources for professional medical education, to the ultimate benefit of patients, "said the AMA in a statement. "An urgent challenge for both physicians and industry is to preserve strong, productive collaborations for the benefit of patients and the public and at the same time take clear, effective action to avoid conflicts of interest and relationships that would undermine trust."

In Rhode Island, the top paid doctors reported payments by companies including such activities as promotional speaking for AbbVie, Inc. for rheumatoid arthritis treatment Humira and Sunovia Pharmaceuticals for bipolar medication Latuda, among hundreds of activities paid for by drug and medical device companies.  

Amgen ranked thirty third in the country for payments made to doctors, at $27.7 million.  The top drug company -- biotechnology corporation Genentech, doled out over $388 million during the year and a half period.  

Pro Publica's Charles Ornstein and Ryann Grochowski Jones commented on the average amount paid to doctors nationally -- and variations between specialties. 

"ProPublica's analysis turned up big differences in the number of industry interactions among physicians in different specialties. On average, doctors who received payments interacted with drug and device companies on 14 days last year, receiving an average of $3,325 in total," wrote the authors.

"The nation's 3,900 rheumatologists in the data averaged 40 days of interactions with drug and device companies, more than doctors in any other large specialty. They were followed closely by endocrinologists, electrophysiologists and interventional cardiologists. On the other end of the spectrum, dentists, chiropractors, neonatologists and pathologists had among the fewest interactions with drug and device makers."

In Rhode Island, 20 doctors reported receiving less than $10 over the time frame.  

Addressing Inconsistencies

The AMA said that the ability for doctors to contest erroneous information was hampered by communications from the CMS

"For the 600,000 physicians affected by the Sunshine Act, CMS provided a short, 45 day window to review and correct any inaccurate data. Unfortunately, several factors hindered participation by many of the physicians impacted," said the AMA, citing "inadequate notification inadequate notification to the physician community about key implementation deadlines for the program" and a "time-consuming, non-user friendly and complicated registration process."

ProPublica however cited that inconsistencies in data reporting had been address. 

"The government initially released some data last fall, covering the period of August to December 2013, but it was significantly redacted because of data inconsistencies," wrote Ornstein and Grochowski. "The data released Tuesday covers the period of August 2013 to December 2014. The data inconsistencies have been resolved."