School of Medicine, Tohoku University, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba ward, Sendai City, Miyagi, 980-0872, Japan.
Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, NY, USA.
BMC Med Ethics. 2024 Feb 20;25(1):22. doi: 10.1186/s12910-024-01014-2.
Financial interactions between pharmaceutical companies and physicians lead to conflicts of interest. This study examines the extent and trends of non-research payments made by pharmaceutical companies to board-certified allergists in Japan between 2016 and 2020.
A retrospective analysis of disclosed payment data from pharmaceutical companies affiliated with the Japanese Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association was conducted. The study focused on non-research payments for lecturing, consulting, and manuscript drafting made to board-certified allergists from 2016 to 2020. We performed descriptive analyses on payment data. Trends were analyzed using generalized estimating equation models.
Of the 3,943 board-certified allergists, 2,398 (60.8%) received non-research payments totaling $43.4 million over five years. Lecturing fees comprised 85.7% ($37.2 million) of the total payment amounts. For allergists who received at least one payment, the median amount per allergist was $3,106 (interquartile range: $966 - $12,124), in contrast to a mean of $18,092 (standard deviation: $49,233) over the five-year span. The top 1% and 10% of these allergists accounted for 20.8% and 68.8% of all non-research payments, respectively. The annual payment amounts significantly increased by 7.2% annual increase (95% CI: 4.4 - 10.0%, p < 0.001) each year until 2019, but saw a significant decrease in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The majority of allergists received non-research payments, with a notable concentration among a small group. Payments increased annually until the pandemic's onset, which coincided with a substantial decrease. Further research is needed to explore the implications of these financial interactions on clinical practice and patient care in Japan.
制药公司与医生之间的财务往来会导致利益冲突。本研究旨在调查 2016 年至 2020 年期间，制药公司向日本认证过敏专家支付非研究性报酬的程度和趋势。
对日本制药制造商协会附属制药公司披露的支付数据进行回顾性分析。本研究重点关注 2016 年至 2020 年期间，制药公司向认证过敏专家支付的讲课、咨询和手稿撰写等非研究性报酬。我们对支付数据进行描述性分析。使用广义估计方程模型分析趋势。
在 3943 名认证过敏专家中，有 2398 名（60.8%）在五年内共收到 4340 万美元的非研究性报酬。讲课费占总报酬的 85.7%（3720 万美元）。对于至少收到一笔报酬的过敏专家，每位过敏专家的中位数金额为 3106 美元（四分位距：966 美元至 12124 美元），而五年期间的平均金额为 18092 美元（标准差：49233 美元）。这些过敏专家中，前 1%和 10%的人分别占所有非研究性报酬的 20.8%和 68.8%。每年的支付金额以 7.2%的年增长率（95%置信区间：4.4%至 10.0%，p<0.001）显著增加，直到 2019 年疫情爆发，随后在 2020 年显著下降。
大多数过敏专家都收到了非研究性报酬，其中一小部分人收到的报酬特别集中。在疫情爆发之前，这些报酬每年都在增加，而疫情的爆发导致报酬大幅减少。需要进一步研究这些财务往来对日本临床实践和患者护理的影响。
