Drug, Device Companies Paid $3.5 Billion to U.S. Doctors

U.S. doctors and teaching hospitals were paid $3.5 billion by drug and device makers over five months in 2013, according to the first comprehensive disclosure of the companies’ financial ties to the medical professionals that prescribe and use their products.

The payments, released yesterday by the U.S. government, are listed in two categories: money to fund research and payments to doctors for consulting and other non-research services. They cover everything from the royalties paid to hospitals to help develop products to fees provided to medical opinion leaders to speak at a dinner with colleagues.