DOJ Settlement Echoes in Reduced Industry Research Funding
BY LAUREN UZDIENSKI, AUGUST 4, 2008
Orthopedics Today is reporting that following the DOJ investigation, research institutions are seeing a slowdown in industry funding (with one unnamed Big-Five company withdrawing "nearly all" of its funding) that could decline even further in 2009. This reduction in funding is one of the ways that the DOJ settlement is impacting product development, and how the companies will proceed in supporting future research remains to be seen. As Dr. Richard Iorio comments in the article, "We are in a state of flux."
The article did not attach a dollar figure to the assessment of reduced funding, but it is clear that companies are not entirely certain how to navigate physician-industry relationships in a post-settlement era. Surgeons too are facing unprecedented scrutiny. In addition to the high-profile settlement, recipients of industry payments are now publicly identified on company websites, and just last week a new lawsuit was filed against surgeons accused of defrauding Medicare and accepting kickbacks. Eliminating bias, real or perceived, is one of the elements companies and investigators will have to resolve in the wake of the settlement.
The decreased funding is expected to impact not only ongoing research projects, but the surgeon population as well. Historically, companies have helped to fund fellowships, an important component in drawing young surgeons to the field. Dr. Iorio says, "We have a coming shortage of orthopedic surgeons who perform complex total joint replacement procedures and the lack of fellowship funding will continue to negatively impact this problem." The Orthopedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF) has also been affected by the lack of funding, saying that while 2007 and most of 2008's funding was secured prior to the settlement, 2009 remains in question. One of OREF's primary aims is the support of young investigators, so as with the limited fellowship funding, reduced industry contributions to the organization can ultimately impact the surgeon supply.
However, in calling this time one of "flux," Dr. Iorio suggests that this period of uncertainty is temporary. "Industry wants innovation to continue, surgeons want innovation to continue and patients want innovation to continue," Dr. Iorio adds. "And innovation doesn't happen in a vacuum."
