by Loren Berlin
9 Sep 11
...You say you didn't know your doctor was on a pharmaceutical company's payroll? Neither did I -- until this morning, when I searched a new database created by ProPublica, a nonprofit journalism organization, and discovered that one of mine has received money from two drug companies.
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Tracy Weber, one of the ProPublica reporters leading the organization's investigation, explains. "A lot of brand name drugs are not only super-expensive, but also have more severe side effects than older drugs. So it's important to ask if there is something safer or cheaper? Another drug I should be using? Or non-drug alternatives? Especially with devices. It's good to know if your physician is speaking on behalf of the company that makes a hip implant or heart device. Are they prescribing it based more on their relationship with the manufacturer rather than what's best for you?"
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So what are consumers to make of ProPublica's database of doctors and the payments they've received? Well, its a straightforward search engine, so if you're at all curious, you should check it out: Simply enter your doctor's last name and state....As Weber says: "If your doctor doesn't want to talk to you about it, I think that's something worth noting."
Loren Berlin is a reporter with the AOL Huffington Post Media Group. She can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter at @LorenBerlin, and on Facebook.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/09/...armas-payroll/
