In Minnesota, Drug Company Reports of Payments to Doctors Arrive Riddled With Mistakes - ProPublica

To vet Minnesota’s reports, ProPublica compared them to its Dollars for Docs [3] database, a compilation of speaking fees and consulting payments to physicians and other health providers nationwide by seven drug companies since 2009.

Cases like that of St. Paul pain specialist Todd Hess turned up.

Minnesota’s website shows that Hess received $364,828 last year from four companies—far more money than any of the state’s other physicians.

But those fees understated what at least one of the companies reported on its own website (and on Dollars for Docs). Eli Lilly and Co. told Minnesota [4] it had paid Hess $67,353 in 2009 to give speeches in favor of its pain pill Cymbalta. The company reported [5] Hess made $74,050 during the same period.

The Minnesota official charged with overseeing the drug company data said he hadn’t known about the discrepancy—and wouldn’t unless someone flagged him. The law requiring the disclosures provided no resources to audit their accuracy, said Cody Wiberg, executive director of the state’s pharmacy board, which collects the information.

via propublica.org

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