Drug companies are accused of using unsuitable doctors to promote their products

Hundreds of doctors who have been disciplined for ethical breaches or had their medical licences revoked are on drug companies’ payrolls as speakers and consultants, an investigative report released on 18 October says.

The wide ranging investigation took months and was the product of a collaboration between the investigative news organisation ProPublica, a non-profit group based in New York, and five other news outlets: National Public Radio, the Chicago Tribune, the Boston Globe, Consumer Reports, and the US Public Broadcasting Service’s Nightly Business Report.

Doctors cited in the report include a pain physician who had performed “unnecessary” …