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At Oregon’s Teaching Hospitals, Doctors Accept Millions From Big Pharma, Medical Device Companies

Dollars for Docs database reveals which hospitals and physicians accept the most, with OHSU doctors taking $3.2 million in cash and $5.1 million in in-kind items and services
February 24, 2017

Doctors at Oregon teaching hospitals have accepted more than $11 million in cash, gifts and services from pharmaceutical companies and medical device makers since mid-2013, according to a massive dataset The Lund Report is using to shed light on Big Pharma's efforts to influence medical spending.

The data, compiled by investigative journalists at nonprofit ProPublica, and analyzed by The Lund Report with the assistance of software developer Sarah Fullmers, sheds light on more than $42.8 million spent in Oregon by drug companies and device makers. In our first look at the data, we named the companies that were spending these funds, and identified which products they were trying to promote. Click here to read that story

This week we are looking at how much the industry is spending on doctors based at teaching hospitals, where a quarter of the funds spent on Oregon doctors are distributed.

Industry officials defend the money they spend, telling ProPublica that meetings with doctors allow them to keep in touch with the needs of local communities, and that other funds compensate medical providers for assisting with research, or for providing or attending training. But extensive research has documented the subtle and direct ways this spending leads physicians to prescribe more of a company’s drugs after they receive free lunch, food, samples or cash from that business.

Many healthcare organizations place limits on what their physicians can accept. For example, OHSU says on its website that its integrity officers review the business relationships between OHSU care providers and drug, device or other companies. OHSU also notes that payments made by pharmaceutical companies to compensate for the costs of a drug trial at the hospital could show up in payment databases.

Here’s how much doctors at Oregon’s teaching hospitals received in cash from mid-2013 through 2016:

  • OHSU: $3,186,502.25
  • Kaiser Sunnyside: $1,398,013.36.
  • Legacy Emanuel Hospital and Health Center: $455,465.13
  • Providence Portland Medical Center: $325,453.56
  • Providence – hospital not specified in data: $95,754.46
  • Providence St. Vincent: $92,047.99
  • St. Charles Medical Center in Bend: $74,830.95
  • Providence Milwaukie Hospital: $26,980.65
  • Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital: $23,170.06
  • Good Samaritan Hospital Corvallis: $11,038.09
  • Sky Lakes Medical Center: $4,195.95

In addition to receiving $5.7 million in cash from the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, doctors at these teaching hospitals also accepted $5.4 million in in-kind items or services, such as free medication for patients. These hand-outs from industry can be lifesavers when they allow patients access to costly treatments that might otherwise be out of reach – but they also highlight the perverse incentives of the U.S. medical system, as a free sample today could lead a patient to opt for a more costly treatment down the road when a cheaper alternative would be just as effective.

Here’s how much doctors at Oregon’s teaching hospitals received in in-kind items and services from mid-2013 through 2016:

  • OHSU: $5,139,900.55
  • Providence Portland Medical Center: $70,638.97
  •  Providence St. Vincent: $39,554.46
  • Kaiser Sunnyside: $33,401.09
  • St. Charles Medical Center: $32,216.85
  • Good Samaritan Hospital Corvallis: $21,427.81
  • Legacy Emanuel Hospital and Health Center: $18,787.69
  • Sky Lakes Medical Center: $15,250.90
  • Kaiser Foundation Hospitals: $11,461.49
  • Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital: $5,084.12
  • Providence – hospital not specified in data: $547.71

Also noteworthy: The drugs and medical devices being promoted to doctors associated with teaching hospitals are not the same as those being promoted to doctors overall. The ten medications or devices linked to the highest industry spending in Oregon’s teaching hospitals are:

  • Isovue, used in imaging on CT scans and other radiologic exams: $100,000
  • Exjade, use to treat iron overload due to blood transfusions: $81,226
  • Lipiodol Ethiodized Oil Injection, used in imaging for medical scans: $73,000
  • Morphine, an opiate painkiller: $50,565.62
  • Soliris, used to prevent breakdown of red blood cells in people with a rare blood disease: $40,530
  • Omnipod, an insulin pump: $16800
  • Eliquis, an anticoagulant used to reduce stroke risk: $15,700
  • Abilify, an anti-psychotic used in treatment of many mental health conditions: $15,000
  • Herceptin, a chemotherapy drug: $11,400
  • Xenazine, used in treatment of Huntington’s disease: $8,500

By comparison, as reported in The Lund Report’s first look at the Dollars for Docs database, the ten medications linked to the highest industry spending in Oregon are:

  • Invokana, used in treatment of type 2 diabetes: $467,781.67
  • Bydureon, used in treatment of type 2 diabetes: $372,005.26
  • Copaxone, used in treatment of forms of multiple sclerosis: $326,878.88
  • Tecfidera, used in treatment of some forms of multiple sclerosis: $283,439.26
  • Symbicort, used in treatment of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder: $274,318.66
  • Xeljanz, used in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: $252,557.44
  • Oncaspar, used in treatment of leukemia: $225,573.19
  • Eliquis, an anticoagulant: $203,814.36
  • Seroquel XR, an anti-psychotic used to treat several mental health conditions: $202,535.01
  • Plegridy, used in treatment of multiple sclerosis: $198,804.61

In future stories, The Lund Report will continue to dig into the data, with stories about how Big PhRMA and medical device company spending varies across different areas of the state, and a look at the individual doctors who have accepted the most cash, and the most in other gifts, from these companies.

Courtney Sherwood is on vacation. Email her at [email protected], and she will respond when she returns on Feb. 28.

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