ProPublica, the "independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest," has created a searchable database of payments made by pharmaceutical companies to doctors - usually as compensation for presentations the doctors make that discuss the companies' drugs. While this information is not part of the public record, some pharmaceutical companies have begun posting this information on their own Web sites. ProPublica has gathered this information from these various sources to create its searchable database. The database is searchable by doctor's name. It can also be filtered by state.

Knowing whether the opposition's expert witness (or one you're considering) has received payments from a particular drug manufacturer could be invaluable.

Beginning in 2013, Federal law requires pharmaceutical companies to report this payment information. It will then be listed on a government sponsored Web site. Until then, ProPublica will update its database periodically.