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Dollars for Docs

How Industry Dollars Reach Your Doctors

Talking With Your Doctor About Pharmaceutical Company Payments

Preparing for Your Conversation

ProPublica's Dollars for Docs database lets people search for payments to healthcare professionals made by 15 pharmaceutical companies, which account for about 47 percent of U.S. drug sales. The database includes the following payment record:

  • Payee: EDWARD HALLOWELL
  • Amount paid: $2,000
  • Company paying: Novartis
  • Payment for: Speaking

  • Location: ARLINGTON, Mass.
  • Reported: 2010 Oct. to 2011 Sept.

Send this link to your doctor

If your doctor would like a link to this payment information in our database, send them to .

Novartis produces the following notable drugs:

Important notes

ProPublica last downloaded this record on Oct. 17, 2012, and includes the name of the health provider who performed the service and, when reported, the entity paid. They may be different.

Things to keep in mind before speaking to your doctor

  • Many healthcare professionals in our database have similar names, so you should start by asking your doctor if the person mentioned in this payment record is really him/her.
  • Pharmaceutical companies make payments for many reasons, from research to speaking to consulting. They payments are legal, but studies show they can influence a doctor's prescribing decisions.
  • Your doctor may not know he or she is listed in Dollars for Docs, especially if the payments are small.

Questions to Ask

Questions you might want to ask your healthcare professional

  • What are the specific circumstances of this payment?
  • What is your current relationship with this drug company?
  • What drugs have you prescribed me that are manufactured by companies you've taken payments from?
  • Are there non-drug alternatives that I may want to consider first?
  • Are there less expensive generic alternatives to the drugs you have prescribed?

For additional information on Novartis's notable drugs

Novartis provides a list of all of its drugs at http://www.pharma.us.novartis.com/products/index.shtml. To read how Novartis describes its relationship with healthcare professionals, read more at: http://www.pharma.us.novartis.com/corporate-responsibility/paymenttoHCP.shtml.