Physicians & Pharmaceuticals: Public Information Including How Much Doctors are Paid by Drug Companies and Medical Device Manufacturers Now Available to Consumers

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid's Open Payments Website: "Sometimes, doctors and hospitals have financial relationships with health care manufacturing companies. These relationships can include money for research activities, gifts, speaking fees, meals, or travel. The Affordable Care Act requires CMS to collect information from applicable manufacturers and group purchasing organizations (GPOs) in order to report information about their financial relationships with physicians and hospitals. Open Payments is the federally run program that collects the information about these financial relationships and makes it available to you." In other words, if you've ever wondered whether or not a physician caring for your loved elder is the recipient of payments from a specific type of medical device, or a specific medication, you can now research that information online through the Open Payment website. In addition to the Open Payments website, ProPublica, a non-profit newsroom has created Dollars for Docs (which incidentally shows that 3 of the top 20 highest paid physicians are based in San Diego.) Consumer advocates who fought for such public disclosures had argued that physicians' relationships with various drug companies affected their prescribing practices. If you're interested to find out what payments your physician or a physician caring for a loved elder in California has received from various companies, you may search for this data by clicking here. Christopher C. Walton was named to the 2014 Southern California Super Lawyer List, and also named a 2014 Top Attorney in San Diego, California. Walton Law, APC focuses its practice on nursing home abuse, elder abuse & neglect. If you believe you or somebody you know has been subjected to abuse or neglect while residing in a Southern California nursing home, contact Chris at (866) 338-7079 for a free and confidential consultation.