--- title: Investigation Shows Drug Companies Pay Bad Doctors Big Bucks to Consult description: In a sweeping investigation of doctors paid by leading pharmaceutical companies to promote their drugs, the nonprofit ProPublica has found that hundreds have been accused... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7143825/investigation-shows-drug-companies-pay-bad-doctors-big-bucks-to-consult/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2010-10-19T20:50:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-16T11:29:50.433Z article:section: Health og:title: Investigation Shows Drug Companies Pay Bad Doctors Big Bucks to Consult og:description: In a sweeping investigation of doctors paid by leading pharmaceutical companies to promote their drugs, the nonprofit ProPublica has found that hundreds have been accused... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7143825/investigation-shows-drug-companies-pay-bad-doctors-big-bucks-to-consult/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt78944c670044d1bd/698a9540929fad6e85c02e35/crookeddocscropped.jpg?branch=production&width=640&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 102350269 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Investigation Shows Drug Companies Pay Bad Doctors Big Bucks to Consult twitter:description: In a sweeping investigation of doctors paid by leading pharmaceutical companies to promote their drugs, the nonprofit ProPublica has found that hundreds have been accused... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt78944c670044d1bd/698a9540929fad6e85c02e35/crookeddocscropped.jpg?branch=production&width=640&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) # Investigation Shows Drug Companies Pay Bad Doctors Big Bucks to Consult by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Oct 19, 2010 8:50 PM UTC  Doctors and medical sales representatives in a hospital Doctors and medical sales representatives in a hospitalGetty Images/photosindia by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Oct 19, 2010 8:50 PM UTC In a [sweeping investigation](http://www.propublica.org/article/dollars-to-doctors-physician-disciplinary-records) of doctors paid by leading pharmaceutical companies to promote their drugs, the nonprofit ProPublica has found that hundreds have been accused of professional misconduct, lacked credentials or have been disciplined by state boards. moreSome lost their jobs or their license to practice. Yet many were paid up to several hundred thousand dollars to educate other physicians. (**More on Time.com:** [In Illinois, Sex-Offending Doctors Continue Practicing With No Oversight](http://healthland.time.com/2010/10/07/in-illinois-sex-offending-doctors-continue-practicing-with-no-oversight/)). It’s not news that doctors and other specialists are hired by pharmaceutical companies to teach their peers about the uses and benefits of various drugs — for one thing, they tend to be better trusted than the average [drug sales rep](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/28/business/28cheer.html), and a single successful drug can bring in hundreds of millions of dollars for its maker. Doctor-consultants speak at conferences, give lectures in hospitals or confer with their peers over industry-funded dinners. Many take their role as teacher very seriously, interviews by _ProPublica_ reporters reveal, and often their service is a boon: in rural communities, where primary-care physicians are expected to give specialized care but haven’t got the time to keep up with the latest research, educational tours by industry-paid specialists can be key to good care. Many of these educators, however, have questionable histories. _ProPublica_ senior reporter Charles Ornstein and his investigative team compiled data from seven drug companies — Merck & Co., GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Lilly, Cephalon and Pfizer — which disclosed on their websites doctor-payment information from 2009 and 2010\. _ProPublica_ then did a background check of the credentials and licensing records of the highest-paid physicians — which is something, the organization observes, the drug companies don’t make a habit of doing. (**More on Time.com:** [The Hispanic Mortality Paradox: Why Do Latinos Outlive Other Americans?](http://healthland.time.com/2010/10/13/the-hispanic-mortality-paradox-why-do-latinos-outlive-other%c2%a0americans/)). Since 2009, a total of $257.8 million has been paid out to 17,700 individuals by the seven companies. (It should be noted that more than 70 drug companies have not disclosed doctor-payment data, so these figures are likely underreported.) Among them, Ornstein and his colleagues found that 384 — most were doctors, but some pharmacists, nurse-practitioners and the like were included — earned more than $100,000; 43 doctors earned more than $200,000, including two who pocketed more than $300,000\. [Also](http://www.propublica.org/article/dollars-to-doctors-physician-disciplinary-records): --- > “” --- [On NPR](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130644774), Ornstein described a few of the disciplinary cases his team found; among them, he said: --- > “” --- By 2013, the health-care reform law will require all drug companies to report doctor-payment information to the federal government, which will make the data public. The real question is what impact these payouts have on the delivery of care to the American public — are doctors pushing expensive brand-name drugs instead of generics? Are they prescribing drugs inappropriately? If it’s any indication, the federal whistleblower lawsuits against several companies, which resulted in much of the payment data being released, claim that they paid doctor-consultants highly as a reward for prescribing their drugs. (**More on Time.com:**[ Top 10 Product Recalls](http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1908719%5F1908717%5F1974910,00.html)) For now, the ProPublica team has created a searchable and interactive database of the 17,700 individuals who have accepted consulting fees from the seven pharmaceutical companies. This is useful information for patients to know, especially if they are being prescribed medication. “If you see your doctor as receiving money from a company that makes your drug, it’s good to ask if there are alternatives that are less expensive. If there are alternatives that have fewer side effects, ” Ornstein said [on NPR](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130644774). “And to just exercise a degree of caution — not necessarily to distrust your doctor at all, but to ask questions to make sure that this is the drug that’s best for you.” The ProPublica investigation fairly overflows with insight and some astounding accounts of misconduct among the rolls of physicians paid by the pharmaceutical industry. We would encourage you to read the full story [here](http://www.propublica.org/article/dollars-to-doctors-physician-disciplinary-records). \[[Via NPR](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130644774)\] **More on Time.com:**[](http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1975068,00.html) [5 Keys to Health Reform’s Success or Failure](http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1975068,00.html) [Why Medical Malpractice Suits Have Little to Do with Doctor Performance](http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/13/how-to-choose-a-doctor/) [Health Checkup: How to Live to 100 Years Old](http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1963392,00.html) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7143825/investigation-shows-drug-companies-pay-bad-doctors-big-bucks-to-consult/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7143825/investigation-shows-drug-companies-pay-bad-doctors-big-bucks-to-consult/"},"headline":"Investigation Shows Drug Companies Pay Bad Doctors Big Bucks to Consult","datePublished":"2010-10-19T20:50:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-16T11:29:50.433Z","description":"In a sweeping investigation of doctors paid by leading pharmaceutical companies to promote their drugs, the nonprofit ProPublica has found that hundreds have been accused...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7143825/investigation-shows-drug-companies-pay-bad-doctors-big-bucks-to-consult/","keywords":["doctors","Pfizer"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt78944c670044d1bd/698a9540929fad6e85c02e35/crookeddocscropped.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt78944c670044d1bd/698a9540929fad6e85c02e35/crookeddocscropped.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"102350269","caption":"102350269","creditText":"Getty Images/photosindia","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7143825/investigation-shows-drug-companies-pay-bad-doctors-big-bucks-to-consult/","name":"Investigation Shows Drug Companies Pay Bad Doctors Big Bucks to Consult"}}]}] ```