On Tuesday, medical device maker Medtronic Inc. announced that they will begin disclosing their consulting fees to doctors in 2011, says the Minneapolis Star. Slow down there, Speed Racer! Don’t go disclosing those dollar figures too quickly now! You wouldn’t want to allow your company a whole two years to change your consulting amounts as to allow your company time to appear as though you didn’t previously give massive amounts of cash to physicians who used and implanted your medical devices over those who did not, would you?

Call me cynical, but any company really committed to making these disclosures would do so immediately and open their books now and put them out into the sunshine for all to see. Others might say, “Better late than never.” But I’m not so sure. It seems like a tactic to buy time and to create the appearance of not buying off doctors to me.

It’s as though they said, “We planned to be come ethical….later.” Way to go, Medtronic, you really are a leader in ethics.

Summer Johnson, PhD