You wanted it you got it the hottest band in the World….Piss I meant you wanted it you got…..Neurologists feeding from the Pharma trough. You may have noted that the costs of MS drugs in the USA, are particularly high. Well if you want your want to know where your money is going? Some of it is scrimmed off to fund the activities of neuros to keep them sweet. For example companies may take neurologists to ECTRIMS and so pay for the trip on the understanding that they will attend commercial events run by the companies. These activities cost pharma and this is passed onto the people buying the drugs. They may pay neuros to give talks to other neuros as part of the marketing, they may pay neuros to do questionaires for market research or to find out who are the opinion leaders so that they know who to ask to do the talks. Gone are the days of wining and dining in the ways I have seen it happen. I would think that if your neuro isn’t involved with this, maybe they are not as good as you may think. The amounts can be eye-watering.
But it is a business and if it wasn’t worth it they wouldn’t do it. There are differences in the rules in the US versus Europe so when you have an ECTRIMS/ACTRIMS joint meeting there are two corporate areas, the American areas seem to be a more shaker-(frugle) Style. But you can increasing see where the more goes
Garman TS, Hammadeh Z, Han M, Kang JY. Trends in Industry-Sponsored Research Payments and General Payments to Neurologists: Open Payments Program 2015-2023. Neurol Clin Pract. 2026; 16:e200595.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to characterize trends in industry-sponsored research payments (ISRPs) and general payments to neurologists.
Methods: Payments to neurologists from 2015 to 2023 were examined using the Open Payments Program database. Primary outcomes were ISRPs and general payments to covered entities (defined as physicians and teaching hospitals) and noncovered entities (NCEs-such as nonteaching hospitals, research institutes, universities, and independent medical practices), with a neurologist principal investigator (PI) adjusted to 2023 USD. Payments to multiple PIs were attributed to the primary PI. Trends were tested using linear models.
Results: From 2015 to 2023, there were $2.8 billion of ISRPs, around 80% of which went to NCEs where a neurologist was a PI, and $1 billion of general payments. The median general payment value per physician has decreased by $26 per year (95% CI -$42 to -$10; p < 0.01), and the maximum payment per physician has increased by $1.57 million per year (95% CI $0.69-$2.43 million; p < 0.01).
Discussion: This study found that most of the ISRPs are paid to NCEs where a neurologist was a PI instead of a covered entity, which opacifies the industry-neurology relationship and highlights the need for increased transparency. The median general payment to a neurologist decreased over time; however, the maximum payment increased, suggesting a consolidation of funding to fewer neurologists who are paid the most by industry.
Disclaimer. My views
Source: multiple-sclerosis-research.org