Merck & Co. (MRK) and Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP), makers of the controversial cholesterol drug Vytorin, spent roughly $60 million over four years on classes to help doctors learn the latest practices and treatment options for heart disease.

The payments, disclosed in a report released by the Senate Special Committee on Aging, were given to a host of top medical schools such as Harvard University and leading health groups like the American Heart Association. The practice, under review in Congress, raises questions about how pharmaceutical industry money is directed in a way that could influence doctors' prescribing habits. A handful of payments, which spanned January 2004 to January 2008, were over $1 million.

Merck, Schering-Plough and some recipients of the money say the payments are essential to helping doctors keep up with new and evolving sciences. In a practice called Continuing Medical Education, or CME, doctors take classes and training courses to stay current on the best ways to treat patients. Many states and hospitals require doctors to take such classes.

Ronald Rogers, a spokesman for Merck, said the company believes funding these education courses is "about helping physicians take better care of their patients and achieving improved health outcomes whether using our therapies, other companies' therapies or no therapies at all."

He said the company has no control over the content of the courses or the speakers.

Still, Congress is drafting legislation to get companies to disclose the payments routinely amid concerns pharmaceutical money for continuing medical education is being used to promote particular products.

"These documents remove any doubt that, at least in this case, when drug companies fund continuing medical education, they see it as money well spent on marketing their latest blockbuster drug," said Sen. Herb Kohl, D.-Wis., chairman of the Special Committee on Aging.

Kohl, along with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R.-Iowa, has been trying to garner support for getting language in Senate health-care legislation to require companies to disclose these payments. Kohl is hopeful health care legislation scheduled to be released this week by the Senate Finance Committee will include such requirements. Bills in the House would require the disclosures.

Lawmakers haven't found evidence that the payments influence doctors' prescribing habits or views of a particular drug or company.

The American College of Cardiology, for instance, received $85,000 in late 2007 and early 2008 from Schering-Plough to support educating doctors about cardiovascular diseases and obesity. At the group's annual meeting in March 2008, a panel of cardiologists came out against the company's drug Vytorin, telling doctors to sharply reduce their use of the medicine. The company took issue with the panel's recommendation but the cardiologists' opinion stands.

Vytorin is a combination of Merck's Zocor and Zetia, which was developed by Schering-Plough. The companies market the drug through a joint venture and have agreed to merge.

Amy Murphy, a spokeswoman for the American College of Cardiology, a 36,000-member nonprofit medical society, said it has received $309,000 from Merck/Schering-Plough to educate cardiologists since the beginning of 2009. She noted that companies that give money don't have control over what is discussed.

The payments Merck and Schering-Plough disclosed to Congress included the amount given, dates and a brief description of what the money was for, making it hard to determine exactly what the money was spent on. The data only included payments for continuing medical education related to Vytorin and cholesterol and cardiovascular risk management. Continuing medical education payments for other products or diseases weren't included.

Most payments went to a clearly identifiable entity, such as the George Washington University Medical Office, which received $884,650 from Merck in 2004 and 2005 as part of a "3rd Party" continuing medical education initiative. The largest payment by either companies was $5,029,723, given from 2004 to 2005 to the "Health Science Center." The entity is a third-party, accredited provider of education services to doctors, and the companies don't have any control over what specific education courses the money is used for, Merck's Rogers said.

Congress has said Vytorin, a cholesterol drug with sales of $2.36 billion in 2008, is a prime example of why there needs to be more transparency on payments from the pharmaceutical industry to doctors, universities and advocacy groups. Several committees in the House and Senate have been investigating Vytorin's safety and marketing.

The two pharmaceuticals earlier this month agreed to pay $41.5 million to settle lawsuits accusing them of marketing their cholesterol drugs Vytorin and Zetia in a misleading manner and failing to disclose the results of a negative clinical trial in a timely fashion.

-By Jared A. Favole, Dow Jones Newswires; 202.862.9207; jared.favole@dowjones.com