A non-profit investigative journalism organization, Pro Publica, has identified 719 Missouri doctors who have taken more than 7.7-million dollars from seven pharmaceutical companies.  Pro Publica says more than 70 other drug companies have not disclosed similar payments.  They are required under the new federal healthcare reform law require companies to publicize the data. 

There is nothing illegal about the payments and the receipt of them does not mean the person receiving the funds has done anything wrong.  .  A spokesman for Pro Publica says it’s releasing the information to prompt discussion between patients and their doctors about whether the medications being prescribed are the best medications to use.

One of the biggest beneficiaries of the program is Washington University anesthesiology professor  Anthony Guarino, who is listed as getting more than 255-thousand dollars in the last 18 months to speak to other doctors about the products of three companies.  Guarino has told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he lets his patients know about his relationships with the companies and says he mostly prescribes generics despite those relationships.

The information is available on the Pro Publica website under the “Dollars for Docs” database:

http://projects.propublica.org/docdollars/states/missouri

The site lists amounts paid and the purposes of the payments.

Most of the doctors listed are in the St. Louis area.  But a quick run through the list turns up high payments to some outstate doctors:

Joplin: Christopher Andrew, four payments $67,882.

           Steven Kory, four payments $155,745

Kansas City:  Mark Box  three payments  $77,249

                     Deborah Manning, two payments  104,435

                     James O’Keefe, three payments $186,150

Excelsior Springs: James LaSalle, three payments $166,380

Springfield: Debra Brown, three payments  $90,969

                  Gregory Lux, three payments  $29,950

Bolivar:  Greg Zolkowski,three payments $64,707

Jefferson City:  Mark Vandewalker, three payments  43,701

Poplar Bluff: Dennis Daniels, three payments  $84,885

Columbia:  James Fairlamb, three payments, $42,900

                 David Gardner, four payments  $49,399

Pro Publica also provides a list of which doctors received payments from each of the seven companies.  The seven companies and the amounts given Missouri doctors are:

Eli Lilly   $3,635,532

Glaxo Smith Klein  2,111,295

Pfizer    $660,966

AstraZeneca   $614,930

Cephalon    $330,380

Merck    $193,295

J&J        $165,039

The comprehensive list is found at Pro Publica’s website.  Readers might have to add up payments for totals.