Nigel Hawkes London

Health professionals who are paid the most by UK drug companies for providing time and advice are the least likely to have voluntarily declared the payments, analysis of a new disclosure website indicates.

The data show that 70% of healthcare professionals in receipt of payments from companies required to register details on a website hosted by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) agreed to have the data disclosed. But the 30% who didn’t agree to disclosure received 52% of the payments registered (fig 1⇓). However, The BMJ has been unable so far to determine how many healthcare professionals are included in the website and how many are doctors.

Fig 1 Healthcare professionals agreeing to disclosure of data Will Stahl-Timmins

Mike Thomson, chief executive of the association, said that this meant that those receiving the largest payments were less likely to have agreed to have them disclosed. “I’m disappointed by that,” he said. “These are probably leading consultants whose services are highly valued by the companies. It’s understandable that we don’t want our neighbours to know how much we earn, but I hope that when they see this database published they may think …