Women oncologists receive significantly lower general payments from industry than men
Key takeaways:
- Male medical oncologists received significantly higher general payments from industry than women between 2016 and 2020.
- Research payments did not differ dramatically between men and women.
An analysis of industry payments to medical oncologists showed men received significantly higher speaker fees, consulting fees and other general payments than women between 2016 and 2020.
Research funding from industry did not dramatically differ between men and women.
“I hope this is a launching point for more discussions. We have to be aware that there have been historical deficiencies and inequities,” Imraan Jan, DO, assistant professor of radiation oncology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University, told Healio. “As medicine continues to improve, that’s also an area we need to shed light on and improve.”
’Significant concern’
“Significant concern” persists within the health care community regarding disparities among men and women oncologists, according to study background. These include differences in career advancement and leadership opportunities, as well as compensation, researchers wrote.
Industry payments also are of note, as they can provide oncologists exposure and lead to professional development.
“There were prior reports that suggested payments differed based on sex,” Jan said. “Maybe men are receiving more payments, perhaps disproportionately. Those studies didn’t always include multiple covariates that could explain those differences, such as academic rank, coming from esteemed institutions or publishing a lot of papers. A lot of this research was trying to get to the truth. Even if you incorporate all these important variables that might influence payments, are there still going to be differences?”
Jan and colleagues used the Open Payments database to identify medical oncologists who received at least one research payment from industry between 2016 and 2020.
Their analysis included 7,285 oncologists (68.4% men; 84.8% no advanced degree).
Differences in industry payments to men and women served as the primary endpoint.
Results and next steps
Jan and colleagues observed no differences in research payments between men and women after univariate and multivariate analyses.
They did find researchers with advanced degrees (PhD or MS) received higher payments, as did those who had affiliations with top 50 NIH-funded institutions, practiced in the southern part of the United States or had higher h-index scores.
They also found industry paid men significantly higher general payments than women (coefficient = 2.16; 95% CI, 1.71-2.73). Men had an average general payment 116% higher than women.
Researchers observed those higher payments for all general payment subgroups: consulting fees (204% higher for men) speaker fees (194% higher), travel and lodging (162% higher), and food and beverage (114% higher).
Other factors associated with higher general payments included associate professor rank, higher h-index and primary practice location in the southern part of the U.S.
Jan and colleagues acknowledged study limitations, including only incorporating NIH grants and industry payments, and not differentiating between industry-sponsored trials and investigator-initiated trials.
Future studies could examine the same funding questions in other fields, such as radiation oncology. Additionally, because researchers stopped evaluating payments in 2020, another update would be “really important to see if those gaps are decreasing,” Jan said.
“Medicine 30 years ago is much different from medicine today, and medicine in 30 years is going to be much different from medicine today,” he added. “As women become more ingrained in leadership positions, I think this delta is going to decrease. More opportunities for women for career advancement, mentorship, and being involved in advisory boards and leadership positions, I think, is the best way to combat these disparities.”
For more information:
Imraan Jan, DO, can be reached at imraan@cinj.rutgers.edu.
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