What drug companies paid the psychiatrists near you
since 2013 a federal law has made drug and device companies report nearly every payment they make to a doctor, down to a sandwich. the file is public, but almost nobody opens it. type a ZIP code and this page asks the federal database for the psychiatrists in that area, what they were paid in 2024, by which companies, and for which products. open any name and a second federal database answers the other half: what that doctor prescribed to medicare patients the same year, with the drugs that appear on both records marked, and how many prescriptions per patient they write compared with every other psychiatrist in the state, next to the risk score of the patients they see. two public facts side by side. a match is not proof of anything; it is a reason to ask.
this page is part of veisund (formerly Resolv Social), a free, anonymous peer-support community with a sourced library on psychiatric medications.
your ZIP goes from your browser to the federal Open Payments database and nowhere else. we do not store it or log it.
how to look up whether your psychiatrist is paid by drug companies
the short answer: type your ZIP code into the box above, open your psychiatrist’s name, and you will see every payment a drug or device company reported for them in 2024, which company, for which product, and what they prescribed to medicare patients the same year. it is free, it is the federal record, and nothing you type is stored.
- enter your ZIP code. five digits. leave the wider-area box ticked to see every psychiatrist whose ZIP starts with the same three digits.
- find the name. the list is sorted by total payments. a doctor with no reported payment in 2024 does not appear at all; that is the most common result and it is good news.
- open the record. who paid, for which product, what the payment was for (a meal, a speaking fee, consulting), and beside it what the doctor prescribed to medicare patients that year, with any drug that appears on both records marked.
- ask, do not conclude. the payments are legal and most are a meal. take the record to your appointment and ask the question further down this page.
if you would rather use the government’s own site, search the doctor’s name at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov; every name here links to that profile. in minnesota, the city pages open with this lookup already filled in for your city, beside the county crisis links and the area prescribing table.
read this before you read a name
- these payments are legal. most doctors in most specialties have some.
- a payment is not proof that a doctor prescribes a drug, or that the drug is wrong for you. the prescribing panel is medicare part d only, and a drug on both records is two facts side by side, not a verdict.
- most entries are small. a drug rep bringing lunch to a clinic is recorded against every doctor who ate.
- the specialty is the one written on the federal record, and it is sometimes wrong. we have seen a neurologist filed as a child psychiatrist. if a name or a product looks out of place, that is the likely reason.
- the address is the one on the payment record. a doctor who works near you may be filed under a hospital or a home somewhere else.
- never stop or change a medication because of something on this page. if a number here matters to you, it is a fair question to bring to the appointment.
why look at all
because the pattern is real even though no single payment proves anything. across the country a small share of psychiatrists receive most of the money, and the companies that pay the most are the ones with a newer branded drug to establish. we laid that out in how psychiatric drug marketing feeds itself and in what the best-paid psychiatrists publish. this page is the local version. it lets you see where the person across the desk sits in that picture, which is usually nowhere near the top.
a question you can ask
“i saw that you have done some work with the company that makes this. can you tell me why this one is right for me, and what the older or cheaper options are?” a good prescriber will have a good answer. most will respect the question.
how this works
your browser sends the ZIP code to the federal Open Payments database and asks for 2024 general payments to doctors whose listed specialty is psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, addiction psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, forensic psychiatry or psychosomatic medicine. we add up the rows per doctor, per company and per product. a small area answers in a few seconds. a dense one, such as central Manhattan, can take most of a minute. research payments and ownership stakes are separate federal files and are not included. the product shown is the first product the company named on the payment record, when it named one. the bands are ours: low is under $1,000, medium is $1,000 to $24,999, high is $25,000 or more.
questions people ask
How can I look up whether my psychiatrist is paid by drug companies?
Type your ZIP code into the tool on this page and open your psychiatrist’s name: it shows every general payment a drug or device company reported for them in 2024, which company, for which product, and what they prescribed to Medicare patients the same year. The records come from the federal Open Payments database, which the Sunshine Act has required since 2013, and from CMS Medicare Part D. You can also search the federal site directly at openpaymentsdata.cms.gov by the doctor’s name.
Is there a free tool that shows drug company payments to psychiatrists by ZIP code?
Yes. veisund’s ZIP lookup, on this page, is free and needs no account. It queries the federal Open Payments database in your browser for psychiatrists with a payment address in your ZIP code, groups the payments by doctor, company and product, and links each name to the federal profile. Nothing is stored and the ZIP is not sent to analytics.
What does the Sunshine Act require companies to report?
Nearly every payment or transfer of value to a licensed physician: meals, travel, speaking and consulting fees, honoraria, gifts, grants, and research payments, with the product the payment related to where there is one. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services publish it every year as Open Payments, roughly six months after the year ends.
Is it legal for a psychiatrist to take money from a drug company?
Yes. Meals, speaking fees, consulting fees, travel and research payments are legal. Federal law requires the companies to report them, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services publishes the reports every year.
Does a payment mean my psychiatrist prescribes that company’s drug?
No. A payment record says that a company gave a doctor something of value. It does not say why a doctor chose any medication for any patient. The prescribing panel beside it is Medicare Part D only, and a drug that appears on both records is two facts side by side, not evidence that one caused the other.
What do low, medium and high mean?
They are our bands, not a federal category. Low is under $1,000 in the year, medium is $1,000 to $24,999, and high is $25,000 or more. Under a thousand dollars is almost always meals. Twenty five thousand dollars and up is almost always paid speaking or consulting.
Why is my psychiatrist not listed?
Only doctors with at least one general payment in 2024 appear, and the file uses the address on the payment record, which can be a hospital, an old office or a home in another ZIP code. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants who prescribe psychiatric medication are in the federal file too, but this page searches psychiatrists only.
What if a record is wrong?
Doctors can review and dispute records with the company through the federal system before and after publication. Each name here links to the federal profile, which is the record of truth.
sources
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Open Payments: search tool and program description. https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. General Payment Data, Detailed Dataset, 2024 Reporting Year (the file this page queries). https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/dataset/e6b17c6a-2534-4207-a4a1-6746a14911ff
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Open Payments: natures of payment and the review and dispute process. https://www.cms.gov/priorities/key-initiatives/open-payments
- U.S. Census Bureau. 2020 ZIP Code Tabulation Area to County relationship file (used only to find the state for a ZIP code). https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_county20_natl.txt
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