Lilly details $22M in doc payments

Eli Lilly has made good on its disclosure promise. The company released its new "faculty registry," a compendium of consulting payments to doctors for the first quarter of this year. Grand total: $22 million, according to Dow Jones. The list includes the doctors' names, payment amounts, and services provided.

Lilly says the average doctor on the list received $1,000. On the high end, we saw Dr. Manoj V. Waikar of San Jose, CA, with $70,050, close to Lilly's $75,000 annual compensation limit. Close behind: Dr. Roueen Rafeyan of Kenilworth, IL, with $68,400.

As you know, Lilly pledged last year to begin detailing its doc payments; it was among the first drugmakers to make that promise. (Since then, several others--including Merck and GlaxoSmithKline--did so, too.) Lilly says the new registry is part of its push to reveal more information about its financial relationships. In 2007, the company started reporting all its grants and charitable contributions; now, it's doc payments. "This registry is consistent with Lilly's efforts to increase transparency," Jack Harris, M.D., Lilly's vice president of its U.S. medical division, said in a statement. "We see greater transparency as integral to rebuilding trust in our industry."

But there was an added impetus as well. After its September 2008 promise to tell all, Lilly struck a deal in February 2009 with the HHS Inspector General that required disclosure. 

- see Lilly's release
- check out the registry
- read the Wall Street Journal Health Blog post

Related Articles:
Arms twisted, pharma promises disclosure
Eli Lilly makes transparency vow
Lilly tops VT's doc-marketing list
Lilly backs doc-payment disclosure law