Caregivers pocket extra €2,600 from drug companies annually

With reporting by Demid Getik.

Pharmaceutical firms paid out over 38 million euros to caregivers in 2014, for services like providing counsel, sitting on advisory boards, conducting research, presenting lectures and writing academic articles, according to the Transparency Register. The amount is 15 percent higher than in 2013, with doctors and dentists receiving an average of about 2,600 euros last year, they published in a report on Tuesday.

Pharmacists and midwives also received an average of over 2,000, according to the NRC. Institutions received an average of about 28,000 euros, up ten percent from a year earlier, the non-profit registry said in a statement.

Set up in April 2013, the registry provides information to the public about all 7,800 relationships between drug companies and caregivers. Next year, the registry will expand to include data regarding medical device supplier relationships.

The registry was visited by 11,000 unique people last year looking for information about their caregivers. Drug companies must report payments of over 500 euros.