This 2016 ProPublica article found that doctors who received money from drugmakers and device manufacturers were two to three times more likely to prescribe brand-name drugs at high rates than others in their specialty. In general, doctors who received any money were found to prescribe a higher percentage of brand-name drugs than doctors who did not. ProPublica’s research found that nine out of 10 cardiologists who wrote at least 1,000 prescriptions for Medicare patients received a payment from a drug or device company in 2014, as did seven out of 10 internists and family practitioners. Dr. Richard Baron of the American Board of Internal Medicine notes doctors “almost have to go out of their way to avoid taking payments from companies.”