DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Amid efforts to become more transparent in doing business, Merck & Co. is one of several big drug companies that have decided to disclose physician-payment data in recent years.

Last year, drug maker Merck & Co. paid out $24.4 million to more than 2,000 U.S. doctors and health care professionals to discuss their products and specific health care topics with other professionals. These figures do not include speaker programs tied to Schering-Plough, which Merck purchased in 2009. Merck previously disclosed data for the second half of 2009, reporting that they paid $9.4 million to nearly 1,700 professionals.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC reported $85 million in payments to US doctors and institutions for clinical trials, consulting, speaking and other services.

Some companies, including Pfizer Inc., Eli Lilly & Co. and Cephalon Inc. were required by the government to post payment data due to previous allegations of illicit marketing practices. Pfizer Inc. recently released data that showed $177 million in 2010 payments to physicians and other healthcare professionals in return for speeches, research, and other promotions.

Some lawmakers and critics have been strong proponents of this type of transparency from drug companies for years, arguing that patients should be aware of any relationships between their doctors and manufacturers.

Although Merck’s disclosures are on a voluntary basis for now, drug makers will soon be required to publish this data beginning in 2013. Under last year’s U.S. health care overhaul legislation, drug companies will need to begin collecting uniform data on payments in 2012 to report the following year. The data will be available in a publicly searchable database.