BACKGROUND Disclosure of financial conflicts of interest (COI) is intended to help reviewers assess the impact of potential bias on the validity of research results; however, there have been no empiric assessments of how reviewers understand and use disclosures in article evaluation. We investigate reviewers' perceptions of potential bias introduced by particular author disclosures, and whether...

Anecdotal evidence suggests that innovative medical devices often arise from physicians' inventive activity, but no studies have documented the extent of such physician-engaged innovation. This paper uses patent data and the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile to provide evidence that physicians contribute to medical device innovation, accounting for almost 20 percent of approxima...

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS In response to concerns regarding physician-industry relationships, the Physician Sunshine Act of 2010 was passed in an effort to increase transparency and accountability. Our objective was to determine whether there is an association between industry support and scholarly impact among academic otolaryngologists. METHODS Faculty listings, academic rank, and fellowship tr...

Executive Summary It is the obligation of every physician to put the best interest of the patient above all other considerations. Patients seeking care from orthopaedic surgeons are often vulnerable; their clarity, judgment, and decision-making capacity are skewed by pain and suffering. The invasive nature of surgery—combined with the urgent and potentially life-threatening nature of many ortho...

The hip replacement is a surgical procedure to replace the femoral head and acetabulum with prosthetic implants to improve function, increase mobility, and relieve pain caused by damage from disorders such as osteoarthritis and fractures. In recent years, we have seen several recalls of poorly functioning implant systems, most recently, the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) Articular Surface Replacemen...

Incentives for vertical integration in the health care industry have led many hospitals to consolidate into health systems and profess a desire for closer alignment with affiliated physicians. In this study of fourteen organized delivery systems and their 11,000 physicians in sixty-nine medical groups, we found that many health systems did not align well with physicians. Even systems ostensibly...