Furious Seasons

August 31, 2009

Florida Neurologist Earns Tens Of Thousands Speaking For Eli Lilly

Remember that list Eli Lilly recently released detailing what doctors it's paying $22 million in consulting fees to? Well, the St. Petersburg Times had a great piece the other day on one of Lilly's top doctors in the Tampa Bay area, who is making oodles speaking on behalf of Lilly's drugs.

"Lilly's top earner in the Tampa Bay area was Dr. Maria-Carmen Wilson, a neurologist who is director of Tampa General Hospital's Headache & Pain Center and a professor at USF College of Medicine. She also is director of USF's headache medicine fellowship program, co-director of the division of pain medicine and associate director of both the neurology residency program and pain medicine fellowship program. Her annual salary from USF is $195,410.95.
"Despite her busy schedule at the university, Wilson found time to moonlight for Lilly, which paid her $54,400 in the first quarter. That put Wilson, 53, among the company's most highly compensated doctors nationwide. In Florida, Wilson ranked second only to Miami internist Manuel Suarez-Barcelo, who received $65,100 from Lilly."

That those amounts were only for the first quarter of the year astonishes me.

Wilson was hocking--I mean was speaking to her valued and no doubt awestruck colleagues about--Cymbalta, Lilly's anti-depressant which is also approved for fibromyalgia and peripheral neuropathy in diabetics. Wilson didn't return the paper's request for comment and only reported her outside work for Lilly to USF earlier this month, according to the paper.

Considering how weak the evidence is for Cymbalta's analgesic effect, you've got to wonder what it is Wilson tells other doctors.

I'm not a big fan of bans or restrictions on people making outside income, regardless of their profession, but when it's doctors who are alleged scientists doing this kind of thing then the public needs to know what's up. So do the doctors' patients. While I'm glad Lilly made its payouts public, I really wish that there much less payola in the medical system in this country.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at August 31, 2009 01:38 PM

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Comments

Sure, the funding makes you wonder whether a professor is sticking to an honest academic agenda, or is in any way compromised. But it is not illegal or out-of-line to get paid by a company to be a consultant. The real sticking point is going to be whether these people followed the disclosure policies of their academic homes, and whether they have provided appropriate info when submitting grants, manuscripts, and CME-type info.

Posted by: MedsVsTherapy at September 1, 2009 05:49 AM

$54,400?
Dr. Maria-Carmen Wilson, shame on you.
Cymbalta is being prescribed for headache in Brazil.
"Her annual salary from USF is $195,410.95"
I see. She needs an extra money to pay her holidays.
It's not illegal but I know physicians that would never make such a work especially being the director of Tampa General hospital's Headache & Pain.
I think that $54,400 is nothing to have your name linked to any industry that deals with your own work and you consider prescribing it.
I don't understand conflict of interests any longer.

Posted by: Ana at September 1, 2009 11:33 PM