Database: Calif. Received More Drugmaker Payouts Than Any Other State

In recent years, physicians, researchers and health care organizations in California have received more money from drugmakers than such groups in any other state, according to a database developed by ProPublica, the Contra Costa Times reports.

Pharmaceutical companies often pay physicians and other health care or research personnel for speaking engagements and consulting duties, as well as for travel and meals.

Next year, every drugmaker and medical device manufacturer that pays physicians will have to report such spending to a federal database, as part of a provision in the Affordable Care Act.

Database Findings

According to the ProPublica database, drugmakers paid California doctors, researchers and health care groups more than $241 million from 2009 to 2012. The figure represents more than 10% of the $2 billion that drugmakers paid out nationally.

California's payouts listed in the database came from 15 drugmakers, such as:

• AstraZeneca;
• GlaxoSmithKline;
• Johnson & Johnson; and
• Merck.

Critics Cite Conflict of Interest Concerns

Critics of the payments say they raise conflict of interest issues.

They question whether the payouts prompt physicians to prescribe certain drugs or affect researchers' study results.