Drugs & money: Tailing top prescribers
ProPublica and NPR teamed up in an analysis of Medicare data to investigate prescribing habits for nebivolol (Bystolic), a treatment for hypertension. They reported that 17 of the top prescribers in 2010 accepted $283,450 in fees for promotional talks and more than $20,000 for meals from the drugmaker, Forest Laboratories. Most of the same names appeared again in results for 2011, the most recent year that data were available.