Philly doctors earn more than $1 million from Big Pharma on the side; Michael White takes responsibility for Rittenhouse slaying | Morning Newsletter

The payments aren’t illegal. And they’re not new, either. And, recently, the names of doctors and how much they’re getting paid by pharmaceutical companies have become accessible. But those payments may not mean much to patients. Also, this weekend, Michael White, the man found not guilty of voluntary manslaughter stemming from a slaying in Rittenhouse Square, spoke at a South Philly church. He expressed remorse over the slaying of Sean Schellenger, saying, “I never wanted that to happen.” And finally, the Eagles weren’t competitive in a huge loss last night to the Cowboys.

— Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

In five years, pharmaceutical and medical device companies paid more than $500,000 to 76 doctors in the Philadelphia region, an analysis of federal data by The Inquirer and ProPublica has found. The doctors were paid to consult on or promote their products. Nearly two-dozen area doctors, among them some of the region’s most prominent health-care leaders, received more than $1 million in such industry payments.

These payments have been in practice for a long time, and they’re not illegal. But the individual arrangements and the amount of money involved have been kept fairly secret until recently. While the transparency is a positive step, a medical ethicist said, “I don’t think it is much of an antidote to the influence that the private sector has over medicine.”

White spoke publicly for the first time since he was found not guilty last week of voluntary manslaughter in a fatal stabbing near Rittenhouse Square. The 22-year-old addressed the congregation of Gospel Tabernacle Family Church in South Philly.

“Me being free is kinda bittersweet because on the other side of this someone lost their life,” White said. “I never wanted that to happen. I’m the person who is technically responsible for that.”

Can long-standing laws be applied to jobs and industries that have changed astronomically? A New Jersey woman asked Pennsylvania’s highest court to figure it out last month.

A North Jersey resident was forced to shut down her vacation-home property management business in the Poconos in 2017. She filed a lawsuit against several Pennsylvania Department of State agencies, alleging that the state shutting down her business was unconstitutional.

You really had to do what it takes to stay dry yesterday. Great shot, @ninthdayofmarch.

Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and we’ll pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out.

“But now when neighbors sense trouble, they don’t go into their homes and draw the shades. Empowered, they put in the work themselves. And if they need backup, they know they can always call on the guys.” — columnist Helen Ubiñas writes about a group in West Philly working to help neighborhoods in West Philly.

Serving hundreds of meals a week, the Sunday Love Project has a mission to “share food amongst the homeless, while simultaneously building community.” To keep the project going, the woman who runs the project “decided to be broke all the time."