Disclosure of Conflict of Interest at a Professional Surgical Society Annual Meeting

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by nayy☆

The article evaluates how potential conflicts of interest (COI) are disclosed at a professional surgical society annual meeting and compares disclosure status with financial data from the OpenPayments database. Payment records for authors associated with the 2023 meeting were extracted and verified using OpenPayments and additional identity searches, with significant potential COI defined as total payments exceeding $10,000 over two years. Most authors appropriately disclosed potential COIs, yet some undisclosed authors still had substantial potential COI payments. The study recommends including dollar amounts in future disclosures to improve transparency.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Conflict of interest and disclosure requirements

Methods

Data source and identification of significant potential COI

Results

Disclosure rates and payment patterns

Conclusion

Recommendations for full financial transparency

Review began 11/11/2025 Review ended 11/19/2025 Published 12/03/2025 © Copyright 2025 Chhabra et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CCBY 4.0. , which permits unrestricted use , distribution , and reproduction in any medium , provided the original author and source are credited. DOI: 10.7759/cureus.98417 Open Access Original Article Disclosure of Conflict of Interest at a Professional Surgical Society Annual Meeting Brij R. Chhabra 1, Atul K. Madan 1, David S. Tichansky 2 1. Surgery, Southern California Bariatrics, Los Angeles, USA 2. Surgery, University of California Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, USA Corresponding author: David S. Tichansky, [dstichansky@gmail.com](dstichansky@gmail.com) Abstract Introduction Relationships with industry may create a potential conflict of interest (COI) . Disclosure of COI is essential for integrity of educational programming. In 2013, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) developed the OpenPayments™ database to facilitate reporting, visibility, and accountability for US physicians. While the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) and the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) mandate disclosing relationships with industry, we sought to investigate only significant potential COIs. We hypothesize that most authors disclose significant potential COIs appropriately and those that do not disclose only have minor potential COI. Methods Payment information for authors at the 2023 SAGES meeting was extracted from the OpenPayments™ database ([https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov](https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov)). Authors not initially found were additionally searched via Google, LinkedIn, affiliation websites, and/or state medical board websites. National Provider Identifier (NPI) numbers were utilized to verify identities as needed. We defined significant potential COI as total payments > $10,000 for two years prior to the meeting. Authors were divided as disclosing COI (Disclosed) versus not disclosing COI (Not Disclosed), the latter including those with no mention of COI, stated “no relevant COI”, or stated “no COI.” Results There were 792 authors in 2023 and 296 eligible authors. The proportion of disclosed authors in 2023 was 16%(47/296); the incidence of significant potential COI was 25%(73/296) . The average potential COI payment received was $104,284 but did not statistically differ between the Disclosed vs. Not Disclosed groups; however, only 49%(36/74) of authors that had potential COI were actually in the Disclosed group. The highest paid author in the Not Disclosed group received over $868,000. Conclusion The majority of authors appropriately disclosed potential COIs at the 2023 SAGES meeting. Contrary to our hypothesis, Not Disclosed authors may still have potential COIs. Disclosing the mere existence of a relationship seems insufficient as some authors received large sums of money. All presentations should include the dollar amounts for full disclosure of potential COI for future programs. Categories: Health Policy Keywords: conflict of interest, disclosure, industry payment, research, scientific presentations Introduction Bias continues to infiltrate every channel of information. Scientific literature and presentations at scientific meetings are not immune from the presence of information that may promote a personal interest as opposed to objective fact. Conflict of interest (COI) has been defined as occurring when “a primary interest tends tobe unduly influenced by a secondary interest” [1] . While non-financial COIs do exist [2], particular attention has been given to the potential COI created in the financial sphere by direct payments to providers from companies that manufacture and supply healthcare products. Unfortunately, these payments are pervasive and have been historically

FAQs

What was the study’s main goal regarding disclosures at the 2023 meeting?

To assess whether authors at the 2023 SAGES meeting disclosed significant potential conflicts of interest (COI) and to examine how disclosure status related to actual industry payment data.

How did the researchers identify significant potential COI?

They extracted payment information from the OpenPayments database and defined significant potential COI as total payments greater than $10,000 for two years prior to the meeting, using identifiers such as NPI to verify authors when needed.

What were the key findings about authors who did not disclose COI?

The majority appropriately disclosed potential COIs, but undisclosed authors could still have significant potential COIs. Only about half of authors with potential COI were in the disclosed group, and the highest paid undisclosed author received over $868,000.

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by nayy☆