The sunshine act and medical publications: Guidance from professional medical associations

Abstract

Objective. To review guidance from professional medical associations to physicians on the Sunshine Act, with a focus on industry support for medical publications. Methods. Using ‘Sunshine Act’ as a search term, we searched PubMed (dates February 2013 to November 2014) and the ‘grey literature’ using Google and Google Scholar. Online information was extracted from websites of pre-identified professional medical associations. Results. Some professional medical associations have published peer-reviewed recommendations, position statements or general advice on their websites and in journals around the Sunshine Act. Associations also provided broad online educational resources for physicians. There was universal agreement between peer-reviewed publications, including guidelines, for the need for full transparency and disclosure of industry support. Surveys by some professional associations showed variance in opinion on the forecasted impact of the Sunshine Act on physician–industry relationships. There was scarce information specifically related to reporting requirements for industry-supported medical publications. Conclusions. There is a shortage of information for physicians from professional associations regarding the Sunshine Act and support for medical publications. Due to the lack of clear guidance regarding support for publications, there are presently varying interpretations of the Sunshine Act. The literature debates the potential impact of the Sunshine Act and expresses some concerns that physician-enabled innovation in drug development may be hindered.

Keywords:

• Sunshine Act
• professional associations
• transparency

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP) for their technical support with respect to housing our data.

Disclaimer

The information and opinions presented here reflect those of the authors and do not represent the position of ISMPP, Amgen, Hofstra University, Ashfield Healthcare Communications, MedImmune, Excerpta Medica BV, or Cactus Communications.

Declaration of interest

D Toroser is an employee of Amgen Inc. K Pepitone is a contracted consultant for Cactus Communications. A Cairns is an employee of Ashfield Healthcare Communications. R Juneja is an employee of MedImmune. A Georgieva is an employee of Excerpta Medica BV. A Weigel is an employee of ISMPP. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.