Medical journal Archives of Internal Medicine has published a study, according to which current journal disclosure practices do not yield complete or consistent information regarding authors' industry ties. It has become standard practice in medical journals to require authors to disclose their relationships with industry. However, these requirements vary among journals and often lack specificity. As a result, disclosures may not consistently reveal author-industry ties, says the study.
For the study, the journal examined the 2007 physician payment information from five orthopaedic device companies to evaluate the current journal disclosure system. Payment information for recipients of $1 million or more with disclosures in the recipients' journal articles were compared. Disclosures were obtained in the acknowledgments section, conflict of interest statements and financial disclosures of recipients' published articles. The study also assessed variations in disclosure by authorship position, payment-article relatedness and journal disclosure policies.
The study noted that of the 41 individuals who received $1 million or more in 2007, 32 had published articles relating to orthopaedics between January 1, 2008, and January 15, 2009. Disclosures of company payments varied considerably. Prominent authorship position and article-payment relatedness were associated with greater disclosure, although nondisclosure rates remained high - 46 percent among first-, sole-, and senior-authored articles and 50 percent among articles directly or indirectly related to payments. The accuracy of disclosures did not vary with the strength of journals' disclosure policies.
The study is seen to come at a time of increased transparency in the health sector. The US' healthcare reform law requires drug and medical device manufacturers to report payments to physicians in a searchable public database by 2013. The public is also seen to have become increasingly skeptical about drugs prescribed by their doctors. A recent study by Consumer Reports reveled that half of patients suspected that the choice of drugs their doctors recommended was influenced by corporate gifts.
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