Background
Industry payments made to health care providers can create competing interests. The
purpose of this study was to define the overall financial relationships between industry
and academic endodontics faculty members, detail any variation in such payment data
as related to individual faculty member characteristics and leadership position by
institution type, and comment on the potential impacts from conflicts of interest
(COIs) created by such relationships.
Methods
The author identified and characterized academic endodontists from information on
their institutional websites. The author obtained reported industry payments from
2013 through 2019 from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Open Payments
database. The author also noted the distributions of academic endodontists and industry
payments by institution, academic rank, sex, and residency program director position.
The author subjected the data to descriptive and nonparametric analyses.
Results
Of the 302 academic endodontists included, 240 (80%) accepted reported industry payments
totaling $4,260,316.97. Overall, the median of total industry payments for all 302
faculty members was $217.89 (interquartile range [IQR], $34.06-$3,070.00). Among those
accepting payments, the median amount was $382.80 (IQR, $110.40-$6,234.00). The top
decile of paid academic endodontists received $3,669,291.47 in industry payments (86%
of the total), with a median payment of $24,013 (IQR, $17,043-$91,190). Significant
sex-associated industry payment differences were seen among the overall faculty and
among those with the residency program director position.
Conclusions
Most academic endodontists accept industry payments. Significant sex differences exist
in overall faculty member academic rank distribution, leadership role, and accepted
median industry payment amounts. COI issues have the potential to arise among academic
endodontists when such industry payments are accepted.
Practical Implications
Existing sex disparities in academic endodontics within the United States ideally
should be acknowledged. COI issues can arise when academic faculty members accept
industry payments. Public knowledge of these conflicts could negatively affect individual
faculty members, their institutions, and related areas such as academic publishing.
Appropriate faculty member COI disclosure, attestation, annual updates, and transparency
are important mitigation measures.
