Shrestha Rajeev, Saito Hiroaki, Yamashita Erika, Shrestha Sunil, Tanimoto Tetsuya, Ozaki Akihiko
Palliative Care and Chronic Disease, Green Pastures Hospital, Pokhara, NPL.
Gastroenterology, Soma Central Hospital, Soma, JPN.
Cureus. 2024 Feb 8;16(2):e53848. doi: 10.7759/cureus.53848. eCollection 2024 Feb.
There is insufficient data on the financial relationships between Japanese neurologists and pharmaceutical companies prior to the advent of new-generation Alzheimer's disease drugs. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the magnitude, prevalence, and trend of the financial relationship between Japanese neurologists and pharmaceutical companies between 2016 and 2019.
A cross-sectional study was undertaken to evaluate the financial relationships between all board-certified neurology specialists and pharmaceutical companies in Japan from 2016 and 2019. Descriptive statistics were applied to measure the magnitude and prevalence of payments among specialists, as well as their trends during the study periods.
In a four-year analysis, 77 pharmaceutical companies disbursed a total of USD 36,869,204 across 50,050 payments to 2,696 neurologists in Japan, revealing a mean payment of USD 10,809 per specialist. Notably, the Gini index of 0.997 indicated a high inequality in payment distribution, with a minority of specialists receiving a substantial proportion of payments. Trends displayed irregularities, but an overall increase in total payments from 2016 to 2019, with a significant contribution from the top 10 pharmaceutical companies accounting for 74.2% of total payments, with Takeda Pharmaceutical and Eisai Company notably increasing payments in 2019. There were notable geographical variations in neurologist and payment distribution across 47 prefectures.
Our analysis of neurologist payments from pharmaceutical companies in Japan showed a substantial financial relationship with overall increases, yearly varied increments, and payment inequality. Caution is warranted as financial ties may intensify with the continued development of next-generation Alzheimer's disease drugs.
在新一代阿尔茨海默病药物出现之前，关于日本神经科医生与制药公司之间财务关系的数据不足。本研究的目的是评估2016年至2019年期间日本神经科医生与制药公司之间财务关系的规模、普遍性和趋势。
进行了一项横断面研究，以评估2016年至2019年期间日本所有获得董事会认证的神经科专科医生与制药公司之间的财务关系。应用描述性统计来衡量专科医生之间付款的规模和普遍性，以及研究期间的趋势。
在为期四年的分析中，77家制药公司向日本的2696名神经科医生支付了总计36869204美元，共50050笔款项，显示每位专科医生的平均付款为10809美元。值得注意的是，基尼系数为0.997表明付款分配高度不平等，少数专科医生获得了大部分付款。趋势显示不规则，但从2016年到2019年付款总额总体增加，前10大制药公司贡献显著，占付款总额的74.2%，其中武田制药和卫材公司在2019年付款显著增加。在47个都道府县，神经科医生和付款分布存在显著的地域差异。
我们对日本制药公司向神经科医生付款的分析表明，存在大量财务关系，总体呈增长趋势，年度增量不同，且付款不平等。随着下一代阿尔茨海默病药物的持续开发，财务关系可能会加剧，因此需要谨慎对待。
