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Financial conflicts of interest between pharmaceutical companies and the authors of urology clinical practice guidelines in Japan

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International Urogynecology Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction and hypothesis

In Japan, the authors of urology clinical practice guidelines (UCPG) used in patient-centered care are often targeted by pharmaceutical companies with financial payments. However, the financial relationship between UCPG authors and pharmaceutical companies remains unclear. This study aimed to determine the characteristics of industry payments to physicians that may influence recommendations in UCPG and to assess the transparency of payment disclosure.

Methods

We considered 193 UCPG authors receiving payments from 79 companies between 2016 and 2017 and the 13 UCPG published by the Japanese Urological Association between 2015 and 2018. We determined 2-year combined mean and median payments to authors, total company payments, and associations between author attributes and payment values using multivariate negative binomial regression. Also, we assessed the extent of the financial disclosure policies among the 13 UCPG.

Results

Overall, 171 (88.6%) authors received payments with a combined value of $6,169,333. Median and mean payments were $7147 (interquartile range, $1512–$44,807) and $31,965 (standard deviation, $51,684), respectively. University professors working on multiple UCPG with new drug approvals were associated with higher payments. Twelve (92.3%) UCPG failed to disclose financial conflicts.

Conclusions

While it remains unclear whether financial entanglements improperly influence the contents of UCPG, most Japanese authors received substantial payments from pharmaceutical companies with little or no disclosure. Because insufficient transparency in disclosure of these financial entanglements may compromise the integrity of UCPG, more rigorous regulation and greater disclosure of financial conflicts of interest are needed.

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Abbreviations

AUA:

American Urological Association

FCOI:

financial conflicts of interest

GI:

Gini index

IQR:

interquartile range

JPMA:

Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association

JUA:

Japanese Urological Association

UCPG:

Urology Clinical Practice Guidelines

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Acknowledgments

Authors thank Dr. Derek Hagman for providing constructive opinion and English language editing.

Funding

This study was funded in part by the Medical Governance Research Institute, a non-profit enterprise that receives donations from pharmaceutical companies, including Ain Pharmaciez, Inc., other organizations, and private individuals. This study also received support from the Waseda Chronicle, an independent non-profit news organization dedicated to investigative journalism. None of the entities providing financial support for this study contributed in any way to the design, execution, data analyses, or interpretation of study findings and the drafting of this manuscript.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Kana Yamamoto and Anju Murayama contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Governance Research Institute, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 1087505, Japan

    Kana Yamamoto, Anju Murayama, Akihiko Ozaki & Tetsuya Tanimoto

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Navitas Clinic, Tachikawa, Tokyo, Japan

    Kana Yamamoto

  3. Department of Breast Surgery, Jyoban Hospital of Tokiwa Foundation, Iwaki, Fukushima, Japan

    Akihiko Ozaki

  4. Department of Gastroenterology, Sendai Kousei Hospital, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

    Hiroaki Saito

  5. Department of Surgery, Sendai City Medical Center, Sendai, Japan

    Toyoaki Sawano

Authors
  1. Kana Yamamoto
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  2. Anju Murayama
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  3. Akihiko Ozaki
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  4. Hiroaki Saito
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Contributions

K Yamamoto: Project development, Data collection, Data analysis, and Manuscript writing.

A Murayama: Project development, Data collection, Data analysis, and Manuscript writing.

A Ozaki: Project development, Data collection, Data analysis, and Manuscript writing.

H Saito: Project development, Data collection, and Data analysis.

T Sawano: Project development, Data collection, and Data analysis.

T Tanimoto: Project development, Data collection, Data analysis, and Manuscript writing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anju Murayama.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

Dr. Saito received personal fees from TAIHO Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., outside the scope of the submitted work. Drs. Ozaki and Tanimoto received personal fees from Medical Network Systems outside the scope of the submitted work.

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Yamamoto, K., Murayama, A., Ozaki, A. et al. Financial conflicts of interest between pharmaceutical companies and the authors of urology clinical practice guidelines in Japan. Int Urogynecol J 32, 443–451 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-020-04547-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-020-04547-3

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