Disclosure Woes

A new analysis published in the Archives of Internal Medicine says that the medical journal disclosure policy that requires a note at the end of papers listing any relationships the authors have with industry isn't working all that well, writes Katherine Hobson in the Wall Street Journal's Health Blog. The authors looked at physician payment data from five different orthopedic device companies and compared them to the disclosures in the articles. They followed 41 clinicians who received at least $1 million in 2007. "Researchers found that even with articles where a physician was listed as a prominent author, 46 percent of the papers didn't disclose the industry relationship," Hobson says. "For articles with a subject matter directly or indirectly related to the company paying the author, only half disclosed the relationship." The researchers say it may be time for journals to start doing spot checks in order to verify the information they're getting — something that's going to get easier soon. In 2013, Hobson says, a provision of the new health care law will require industry to report all physician payments over $10 to a central database.