Briana Elome

Writing for the Sciences

Professor Brian Brennan

March 11, 2020

ProPublica “Dollar for Docs” Paper

      Gary Carr is a dentist who specializes in Endodontics. He is located in San Diego, California. In 2018, Carr received 5 payments from two companies of $6,253,930. The types of payments he received were in the areas of ownership/investment interest, charitable contribution, education, and food and beverage. He made the most profit from ownership/investment interest, making about $6.13 million dollars. He made the least profit in food and beverages, making a total of $17. A medical device that Carr mentioned often is the gentle wave root canal therapy console and handpiece. The company that made this product made the payment of $6.21 million dollars to Carr. These payments have a reasonable explanation because he made the most money from interest and from sponsoring a device that is not a drug, but for people with root canal issues. Therefore, he is not doing what is considered a “scam”, as some doctors are often accused of when promoting drugs. He is simply doing what is rightly profitable to him. For that reason, I would see this doctor as a patient.

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