Researchers used physician payment information from five orthopedic device companies from 2007 to analyze the frequency of disclosure when orthopedic physicians wrote articles in medical journals. Payment data came from companies Biomet, DePuy, Stryker, Zimmer and Smith & Nephew. Researchers also assessed rates of disclosure by authorship position, payment-article relatedness and journal disclosure policies.
After comparing corporate payment information for recipients of $1 million or more to the frequency of disclosures in those recipients’ journal articles, researchers found of the 41 individuals who received at least $1 million in 2007, 32 had published orthopedics-related articles between Jan. 1, 2008, and Jan. 15, 2009.
Of those, 46 percent of articles where a physician with payments of over $1 million was the first-, sole-, and/or senior-author lacked a complete disclosure, and a 50 percent nondisclosure rate was found among articles directly or indirectly related to payments. The study also found the accuracy of disclosures did not vary by the strength of the journals’ disclosure policies.
Read the Archives of Internal Medicine article From Disclosure to Transparency: The Use of Company Payment Data.
Read other coverage on recent studies:
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– Study Finds Patient Transfers Could Be Reduced, Resulting in Cost Savings
– Study: Hospitalists With Lower Base Salaries Are More Productive
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