Jake X. Checketts, from Oklahoma State University in Tulsa, and colleagues retrieved three American Academy of Dermatology guidelines published from 2013 to 2016. The Open Payments database was used to identify financial payments received by 49 guideline authors.
The researchers found that 40 of the 49 authors received at least one reported industry payment; 31, 25, and 18 accepted more than $1,000, more than $10,000, and more than $50,000, respectively. Per author, financial payments amounted to a mean of $157,177. Among the 49 authors, the total reimbursement was $7,701,681 from 2013 to 2015. Twenty-two of the 40 authors who received payments did not accurately disclose industry relationships. The authors received payments from companies with products directly related to the guideline topics. There were violations to the administrative regulations.
“Dermatology clinical practice guideline authors received sizable industry payments and did not completely disclose these payments,” the authors write. “The American Academy of Dermatology policies may benefit from stricter enforcement or the adoption of new standards.”
