GlaxoSmithKline made a bit of a wave when it announced in December that it would no longer pay doctors to promote its drugs or to attend medical conferences.
Now comes part two: While Glaxo will not pay external doctors to talk up its drugs, it will hire doctor employees who will then go out into the field to discuss the company’s drugs, reports Bloomberg.
Bloomberg reports that the new strategy will result in fewer doctors talking on GSK’s behalf, and that this new crew has an added benefit: no need to report these payments under the Sunshine Act because these physicians work for GSK and are not presented as a disinterested party. Bloomberg posits this may knock GSK PhDs into being equated with medical science liaisons because these doctors will not be able to offer medical advice and are not practicing physicians.
