Pfizer paid $35 mln to doctors over 6 months

Pfizer Inc on Wednesday said it paid $35 million to some 4,500 doctors and researchers from July through December 2009 for a variety of services, including speaking fees, expert advise and work on clinical trials of its medicines.

The world’s largest drugmaker last year agreed to pay a record $2.3 billion fine and plead guilty to a criminal charge related to improper promotions of 13 of its medicines, but said the new disclosures were already in the works before that widely publicized settlement.

Moreover, Pfizer said the disclosures are in line with, and exceed, payment reporting provisions included in recently passed U.S. healthcare reform legislation.

About $15.3 million, or some 44 percent of Pfizer’s reported payments over the last six months of 2009, went to about 250 research organizations for clinical trials that began after July 1, or for payments made between July 1 and Dec. 31 for clinical studies.

Some 1,500 healthcare professionals were paid an average $5,000 each for expert advice, while 2,800 doctors were paid an average of $3,400 in speaking fees to lecture peers about Pfizer’s drugs, the company said. The most highly compensated doctor received about $150,000 during the period, Pfizer said.

The disclosures, which are posted on its website, http://www.pfizer.com/WorkingWithHCP, involve those who received payments, meals or non-monetary educational items worth $25 or more, according to Pfizer.

“This information tells what our relationships are, so patients can put in the name of their physician (in the website) and see the doctor had a meal which cost this much, or a speaking engagement for that much,” said Pfizer spokeswoman Kristen Neese.

Neese said all types of payments mentioned in its report are legitimate means of fostering development of drugs and getting “real world” information from the medical community about the products.

She said the disclosures are part of an eight-year effort by Pfizer to become more transparent in how it conducts clinical trials, pays for them and interacts with doctors.

Other large drugmakers, including Eli Lilly and Co , have recently begun publishing payments to doctors on their websites. But Neese said its disclosures go beyond those recently established by other companies, in that they include payments for clinical trial research, Neese said.

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By Ransdell Pierson and Bill Berkrot

NEW YORK (Reuters)