Drug company payments to doctors are public. Under the federal Sunshine Act, drug and medical-device makers report almost every payment or gift they give to physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other clinicians, and CMS publishes them each year in Open Payments. Most payments are small (meals at educational events), but consulting, speaking and royalty payments can be large. A payment is not evidence of wrongdoing.
Drug company payments to doctors: who paid the most
| # | Company | Paid to clinicians |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | AbbVie Inc. | $126.7M |
| 2 | Medtronic, Inc. | $59.7M |
| 3 | Intuitive Surgical, Inc. | $56.3M |
| 4 | AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP | $51.1M |
| 5 | Boston Scientific Corporation | $50.5M |
| 6 | Lilly USA, LLC | $48.0M |
| 7 | Stryker Corporation | $44.1M |
| 8 | Janssen Biotech, Inc. | $41.1M |
| 9 | Genzyme Corporation | $40.3M |
| 10 | Amgen Inc. | $38.2M |
| 11 | Pfizer Inc. | $35.8M |
| 12 | Novo Nordisk Inc | $35.5M |
| 13 | Abbott Laboratories | $34.2M |
| 14 | Arthrex, Inc. | $33.4M |
| 15 | E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.l.c. | $30.7M |
Select a company to rank the clinicians it paid, by state, county or specialty.
What the payments are for
- Food and beverage: by far the most common, usually under $50.
- Consulting and speaking fees for advisory boards and talks about a product.
- Royalties and licenses to inventors, often surgeons who designed a device.
- Travel and lodging, education, honoraria, gifts and grants.
Each doctor’s page on contact.doctor now lists their individual payments other than meals: the date, the company, the type and the product named, with the company’s own description.
How to look up your doctor
- Search for your doctor by name and place.
- Open their page and scroll to “Payments from drug and device companies”.
- Or rank everyone in your state or specialty on payments by doctor, and see the state and county payments map.
How to think about drug company payments to doctors
Research has found that even small meals are associated with more prescribing of the promoted drug, which is why the data is public. But a payment alone says nothing about a clinician’s honesty or quality of care: many are for genuine expertise, teaching or inventions. Ask your clinician if you have questions.
Sources
CMS Open Payments (opens in a new tab), program year 2025, general payments to physicians and other clinicians. Clinicians can review and dispute their records with CMS. Related: how doctors are paid.