Report documents industry fees to high-prescribing docs

NPR's “Morning Edition” contained a long report from ProPublica noting that many of the physicians listed as top prescribers for specific drugs also took in large speaking fees from the drug manufacturers. The investigative non-profit news operation compared Medicare claims data from 2010 to drug company reports on their physician payments—about 16 have had to make such disclosures to settle government fraud investigations.

Starting in 2014, patients and anyone else in healthcare with an interest in these financial dealings won't have to comb through court-ordered documents to get information about specific physicians. The Physician Payments Sunshine Act, included in the healthcare reform law, requires universal disclosure of industry payments to doctors and other healthcare professionals.

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