Industry Payments Common for Physician Peer Reviewers of Top Journals

FRIDAY, Oct. 11, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- More than half of U.S. physician peer reviewers for the most influential medical journals receive industry payments, according to a research letter published online Oct. 10 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

David-Dan Nguyen, M.P.H., from the University of Toronto, and colleagues characterized payments by drug and medical device manufacturers to U.S. peer reviewers of major medical journals. The analysis included 1,962 U.S.-based physician peer reviewers (2020 to 2022) for The BMJ, JAMA, The Lancet, and the New England Journal of Medicine.

The researchers found that 58.9 percent of identified peer reviewers received at least one industry payment, including general payments (54.0 percent) and research payments (31.8 percent). Overall, reviewers received $1.06 billion in industry payments during the study period, including $1.00 billion (94.0 percent) to individuals or their institutions and $64.18 million (6.0 percent) in general payments. Consulting fees accounted for $34.31 million, and speaking compensation unrelated to continuing medical education programs accounted for $11.80 million. Among reviewers receiving such payments, the median general payment was $7,614 and the median research payment was $153,173. There were significant payment differences seen by sex and specialty.

"Additional research and transparency regarding industry payments in the peer review process are needed," the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.

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