Dr. Levick A. Bagdasarian MD

This feature shows the financial relationships between doctors and pharmaceutical and medical device companies. The U.S. government collects extensive records about these relationships. Some examples include:

• Consulting fees that companies pay to doctors, to get their input about their products and research
• Companies paying doctors to speak about their products at conferences
• Companies taking doctors out to dinner to tell them about a new drug or medical device
• Companies paying for travel, hotel rooms, and food at medical conferences

The U.S. government collects and publishes these records due to concerns about conflicts of interest. However, CareDash does not believe that these transfers of value necessarily mean a doctor is ethically compromised. Eating sponsored food at conferences and speaking on behalf of pharmaceutical companies are not the same thing. Further, we believe that there are doctors who have success with companies' products, get paid to speak about them, and are still foremost devoted to successful patient outcomes.

Therefore, in addition to showing the payments information, we provide some context, such as the median amount for doctors of that specialty, to help users assess potential conflicts of interest. We encourage users to discuss this information with their doctors.

Data in this section is calculated using Open Payments data, collected by Medicare as part of the Affordable Care Act. This data contains detailed records about payments and other transfers of value from pharmaceutical and medical device companies to doctors.

Although the Open Payments program is administered by Medicare, it covers almost all doctors in the United States, including those who do not accept Medicare insurance.