Glaxo to stop paying docs worldwide for drug advocacy

The pharmaceutical giant ended the practice in the U.S. in 2011.

The New York Times: Glaxo Says It Will Stop Paying Doctors to Promote Drugs
The British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline will no longer pay doctors to promote its products and will stop tying compensation of sales representatives to the number of prescriptions doctors write, its chief executive said Monday, effectively ending two common industry practices that critics have long assailed as troublesome conflicts of interest (Thomas, 12/16).

The Wall Street Journal: GlaxoSmithKline To End Payments To Doctors For Drug Promotion
The company said sales representatives' pay would now be tied to the quality of services sales reps provide to doctors, their technical knowledge and the overall performance of GSK's business, rather than to prescriptions. The changes will apply throughout GSK's global operations, following similar moves in its U.S. business in 2011. The company said the changes weren't linked to a continuing investigation into the company in China (Plumridge and Rockoff, 12/17).