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Pfizer to disclose payments to U.S. physicians, health care professionals, clinical investigators
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NEW YORK — Pfizer has announced plans to make its compensation of U.S. health care professionals for consulting, speaking engagements, clinical trials, meals and non-monetary items available to the public by early next year.
These disclosures will include payments made to practicing physicians and other health care providers who can prescribe medicines in the United States, as well as to principal investigators for phase 1 through phase 4 clinical trials sponsored by Pfizer beginning after July 1, major academic institutions and clinical research facilities, according to a press release from the company.
As part of the initiative, Pfizer has pledged to post payments made beginning July 1 in a manner that clearly demonstrates the recipient name or institution, the payment made and the service provided. The first annual online update is slated for publication on www.pfizer.com early next year.
Pfizer is considering specific limitations for these proposed disclosures, such as reporting payments to recipients whose aggregate amount exceeds $500 during a calendar year, including the value of non-monetary items — such as meals — exceeding $25 in value, the release said.
This follows Pfizer's September launch of its unbranded Medicine Safety Web site. In a separate effort to increase transparency, Pfizer began reporting its non-clinical grants and charitable contributions to patient, medical and scientific organizations on www.pfizer.com in May.
"Pfizer has made an important step forward with this extensive disclosure policy. The release of financial information about consulting, education and clinical research activities sets a standard for transparency in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries," Andrew F. Leuchter, MD, professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences and associate dean of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said in the release. "I believe policies such as these will help restore public confidence in the relationships physicians and academic medical centers have with the industry."
These disclosures will make Pfizer the first biopharmaceutical company to pledge to report payments for phase 1 through phase 4 clinical trials in addition to disclosing payments for speaking and consulting fees, according to the release.