Amgen reveals physician payments ahead of Sunshine Act deadline

Effective Jul 25, 2013

Published Jul 25, 2013

Last Reviewed Jul 24, 2013

With more than a week to spare, embattled Amgen, Inc. biotechnology manufacturing company released records of how much money it doled out to doctors.

Per the Sunshine Act, device manufacturers must start reporting to CMS any payments or “transfers of value” made to physicians worth at least $10 starting Aug. 1. CMS will then publicly list that information on site starting next year.

Amgen’s nearly 2,000-page document lists more than 10 doctors having received at least $20,000 in “transfers of value,” which can include meals and hotel lodging for events.

But this disclosure wasn’t one of proactivity. ModernHealthcare reports that Amgen, which recently paid $25 million in a Medicaid fraud settlement, released the records as part of a corporate integrity agreement with the DOJ.

At least 10 physicians received more than $20,000 in payments and other transfers of value from biotechnology giant Amgen in the first quarter of this year, according to newly public data published by the company.

“The majority of the payments went to physicians for less than $100 in food costs,” ModernHealthcare reported. “But some doctors received thousands of dollars in consulting fees.”

For example, Amgen paid Jeffrey Crowley, M.D., a Bakersfield, Calif.-based dermatologist, $12,726 in total, $10,600 of which was for consulting on psoriasis.

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