GSK will cap payments to docs

GlaxoSmithKline is joining the queue of drugmakers that will unveil payments to doctors. The drugmaker said it will report the fees it pays to doctors and medical researchers. Plus, the company plans to cap payments to U.S. physicians and academics at $150,000 annually. CEO Andrew Witty (photo) told the Financial Times that the cap will be "without exception" and that all fees that change hands will be published.

As you know, there's been a groundswell of concern about Big Pharma's financial relationships with doctors and researchers. Congressional reps and patient advocates alike have been pushing for greater transparency about the amount of money drugmakers are shelling out. Anticipating federal legislation that would mandate disclosure, companies such as Eli Lilly and Merck have pledged to cough up the information voluntarily.

"It's appropriate that we have a limit on what we pay," Witty told the FT. "In the past, whatever has happened has happened, but in the future there will be strict adherence to these caps, which will be clearer to everybody."

- read the scoop in the FT
- see the Health Blog post

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