Glaxo To Stop Paying Doctors To Promote Drugs

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with new rules for Glaxo.

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WERTHEIMER: The head of British - the British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline, told The New York Times yesterday that the company will stop paying doctors to promote its drugs. Pharmaceutical firms commonly pay physicians to speak at medical conferences - a practice criticized as a conflict of interest.

Glaxo's CEO told the company - told the paper - the company would also stop paying all its sales reps based on how many prescriptions doctors write. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.