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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: TAMMINGA, CAROL
  • Amount paid: $466
  • Company paying: Eli Lilly
  • Payment for: Business Travel and Other Value

  • Listed practitioner: CAROL TAMMINGA
  • Location: DALLAS, Texas
  • Reported: Jan. to Dec. 2013

Send this link to your doctor

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

Eli Lilly produces the following notable drugs:

  • Alimta (lung cancer, mesothelioma)
  • Cialis (erectile dysfunction, benign prostatic hyperplasia)
  • Cymbalta (depression, generalized anxiety disorder, diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, chronic osteoarthritis pain, chronic low back pain)
  • Effient (prevents strokes and heart attacks in patients who need to have a heart procedure called percutaneous coronary intervention)
  • Erbitux (colon cancer, advanced head and neck cancer)
  • Evista (osteoporosis, lowering risk of invasive breast cancer)
  • Forteo (osteoporosis)
  • Glucagon (hypoglycemia, diabetes)
  • Humalog (diabetes)
  • Humulin (diabetes)
  • Strattera (ADHD)

Important notes

ProPublica received this record from Pharmashine.

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 Eli Lilly's notable drugs

Eli Lilly provides a list of all of its drugs at http://lilly.com/PRODUCTS/HUMAN/Pages/human.aspx. To read how Eli Lilly describes its relationship with healthcare professionals, read more at: http://www.lillyphysicianpaymentregistry.com/.