Strong Support for Surgeons in Patient Survey

Laura Miller, writing in Becker’s Spine Review, reports the encouraging news that only 6% of patients in the United States are concerned about the financial relationships that may exist between their surgeons and representatives of the medical device industry.

However, a study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, found that a majority of patients believed that surgeons should not accept gifts from representatives of industry.

The study questioned 251 patients in the United States, all of whom had undergone kip or knee arthroplasty, as to their attitudes toward the presumed relationships between orthopedists and representatives of the device industry. According to Miller, as reported in the Spine Review, the survey discovered that:

• 69% of patients thought it was appropriate for surgeons to receive royalties from device companies for their inventions
• 48% thought payment for consultancy was appropriate
• 63% thought it was not appropriate for surgeons to receive gifts from industry
• 76% felt their surgeon would hold the patients’ best interest in mind regardless of financial ties to a manufacturer
• 86% wanted professional organizations to ensure financial relationships were appropriate
• 26% supported government oversight of relationships between surgeons and device companies.”