The Accuracy of Conflict-of-Interest Disclosures Reported by Plastic Surgeons and Industry

Lopez, Joseph; Samaha, Georges; Purvis, Taylor E.; Siegel, Gabriel; Jabbari, Javaneh; Ahmed, Rizwan; Milton, Jacqueline N.; Tufaro, Anthony P.; May, James W.; Dorafshar, Amir H.

doi:10.1097/prs.0000000000004380

Cited by 24 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Our finding that many guidelines either did not report or accurately report funding sources for the sponsoring organization and conflicts of interest for individuals is consistent with other studies and media reports [53,[76][77][78][79][80]. A recent ProPublica and New York Times investigation found that a top cancer researcher consistently failed to disclose millions in payments [81].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Drivers of the opioid crisis: An appraisal of financial conflicts of interest in clinical practice guideline panels at the peak of opioid prescribing

et al. 2020

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BackgroundStarting in the late 1990s, the pharmaceutical industry sought to increase prescribing of opioids for chronic non-cancer pain. Influencing the content of clinical practice guidelines may have been one strategy industry employed. In this study we assessed potential risk of bias from financial conflicts of interest with the pharmaceutical industry in guidelines for opioid prescribing for chronic non-cancer pain published between 2007 and 2013, the peak of opioid prescribing. MethodsWe used the Guideline Panel Review (GPR) to appraise the guidelines included in the 2014 systematic review and critical appraisal by Nuckols et al. These were English language opioid prescribing guidelines for adults with chronic non-cancer pain published between July 2007 and July 2013, the peak of opioid prescribing. The GPR assigns red flags to items known to introduce potential bias from financial conflicts of interest. We operationalized the GPR by creating specific definitions for each red flag. Two reviewers independently evaluated each guideline. Disagreements were resolved with discussion. We also compared our score to the critical appraisal scores for overall quality from the study by Nuckols et al. ResultsWe appraised 13 guidelines, which received 43 red flags in total. Guidelines had 3.3 red flags on average (out of a possible seven) with range from one to six. Four guidelines had missing information, so red flags may be higher than reported. The guidelines with the

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Drivers of the opioid crisis: An appraisal of financial conflicts of interest in clinical practice guideline panels at the peak of opioid prescribing

et al. 2020

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“…Six studies reported on the association of the value of payments that were not disclosed. 11 13 14 28 35 37 Five found that authors who received smaller total payments or individual payments of lesser value were associated with discrepant reporting 11 13 14 28 37 Studies differed in what was reported to be considered 'significant' amounts, from US$500, 14 US$10 000, 11 28 US$100 000 11 13 to US$500 000. 37 The sixth study was the only one to report no statistically significant association between discrepant reporting and the value of the payments involved.…”

Section: Proportion Of Funds Discrepantmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discrepancies in self-reported financial conflicts of interest disclosures by physicians: a systematic review

Taheri

Kirubarajan

et al. 2021

BMJ Open

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BackgroundThere is a high prevalence of financial conflicts of interest (COI) between physicians and industry.ObjectivesTo conduct a systematic review with meta-analysis examining the completeness of self-reported financial COI disclosures by physicians, and identify factors associated with non-disclosure.Data sourcesMEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO were searched for eligible studies up to April 2020 and supplemented with material identified in the references and citing articles.Data extraction and synthesisData were independently abstracted by two authors. Data synthesis was performed via systematic review of eligible studies and random-effects meta-analysis.Main outcomes and measuresThe proportion of discrepancies between physician self-reported disclosures and objective payment data was the main outcome. The proportion of discrepant funds and factors associated with non-disclosure were also examined.Results40 studies were included. The pooled proportion of COI discrepancies at the article level was 81% (range: 54%–98%; 95% CI 72% to 89%), 79% at the payment level (range: 71%–89%; 95% CI 67% to 89%), 93% at the authorship level (range: 71%–100%; 95% CI 79% to 100%) and 66% at the author level (range: 8%–99%; 95% CI 48% to 78%). The proportion of funds discrepant was 33% (range: 2%–77%; 95% CI 12% to 58%). There was high heterogeneity between studies across all five analyses (I2=94%–99%). Most undisclosed COI were related to food and beverage, or travel and lodging. While the most common explanation for failure to disclose was perceived irrelevance, a median of 45% of non-disclosed payments were directly or indirectly related to the work. A smaller monetary amount was the most common factor associated with nondisclosure.ConclusionsPhysician self-reports of financial COI are highly discrepant with objective data sources reporting payments from industry. Stronger policies are required to reduce reliance on physician self-reporting of financial COI and address non-compliance.

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“…18 A recent study in plastic surgery found much discordance between COI self-reported by authors and that which was recorded in the "Open Payments" database. 12 It is apparent from our study, as well as the literature, that self-reporting of financial COI without validation is insufficient to ensure transparency of potential biases. Furthermore, and even more worrying, is the fact that past ethical studies have depended on the accuracy of self-reporting and have possibly underappreciated the incidence and prevalence of true COI based on the results demonstrated here.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Conflicts of Interest in Studies Related to Mesh Use in Ventral Hernia Repair and Abdominal Wall Reconstruction

et al. 2021

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Objective: To examine the accuracy of the reporting of conflicts of interest (COI) among studies related to mesh use in ventral hernia repair and abdominal wall reconstruction. Summary Background Data: Accurate declaration of COI is integral to ensuring transparency of study results. Multiple studies have demonstrated undeclared COI are prevalent in surgical literature. Methods: Studies with at least 1 American author accepted between 2014 and 2018 in 12 major, peer-reviewed general surgery and plastic surgery journals were included. Declared COI were compared with payments listed in the “Open Payments” database [maintained by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)] during the year of acceptance and 1 year prior. Studies and authors were considered to have a COI if they received payments from any of 8 major mesh companies totaling >$100.00 from each company. Risk factors for undeclared COI were determined at the study and author levels. Results: One hundred twenty-six studies (553 authors) were included. One hundred two studies (81.0%) had one or more authors who received payments from industry and inaccurately declared their COI. Two hundred forty-eight authors (44.8%) did not declare their COI accurately. On multivariate analysis, last authors were found to be at highest risk for undeclared payments (OR 3.59, 95%CI 2.02–6.20), whereas middle authors were at significantly higher risk for undeclared payments than first authors (OR 1.64, 95%CI 1.04-2.56). Conclusions: The majority of studies investigating the use of mesh in ventral hernia repairs and abdominal wall reconstructions did not accurately declare COI. Last authors are at highest risk of undisclosed payments. Current policies on disclosing COI seem to be insufficient to ensure transparency of publications.

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The Accuracy of Conflict-of-Interest Disclosures Reported by Plastic Surgeons and Industry

Cited by 24 publications

References 26 publications

Drivers of the opioid crisis: An appraisal of financial conflicts of interest in clinical practice guideline panels at the peak of opioid prescribing

Drivers of the opioid crisis: An appraisal of financial conflicts of interest in clinical practice guideline panels at the peak of opioid prescribing

Discrepancies in self-reported financial conflicts of interest disclosures by physicians: a systematic review

Conflicts of Interest in Studies Related to Mesh Use in Ventral Hernia Repair and Abdominal Wall Reconstruction

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