Earlier this week, the Archives of Internal Medicine reported findings from a group of researchers indicating that approximately 50% of surgeons earning more than $1 million from orthopedic device manufacturers did not disclose this information to medical journals when they published articles related to the manufacturer’s products.
The researchers, led by David Rothman of the Institute on Medicine as a Profession, evaluated the records from five orthopedic device manufacturers: Biomet; DePuy Orthopedics, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary; Smith & Nephew; Stryker; and Zimmer. Major omissions were found in the reporting of compensation provided to medical journals.
In 2007, the five medical device manufacturers evaluated in this study made 1,654 payments totaling $248 million for consulting, honoraria, and other services. Many of these payments went directly to surgeons. In fact, 41 orthopedic surgeons each received compensation ranging from $1 million to $8.8 million.
The study also found that of the 95 articles published regarding devices produced by these manufacturers, less than half revealed the financial contributions received by the researcher from the manufacturer. Furthermore, of those that did disclose this financial relationship, none discussed the size of the payments.
These findings certainly raise important concerns regarding the potential bias of the conclusions drawn in these articles. Consumers and medical professionals should be made aware of any financial relationship between the author of an article and the company manufacturing the product being discussed in the article. This information is crucial to our ability to accurately assess the validity of these articles, and it may help prevent many injuries caused by defective medical devices.
If you have a defective medical device claim, please contact the nationwide pharmaceutical injury attorneys at Schlichter, Bogard & Denton today to schedule your initial consultation.
