Patient Views on Financial Relationships between Orthopaedic Surgeons and Orthopaedic Device Manufacturers

• Main Author: Camp, Mark
• Other Authors: McKneally, Martin
• Language: en_ca
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Surgery; Bioethics; Conflicts of Interest; 0564
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/30531

Revelations of kickbacks from surgical device manufacturers to surgeons raise the question whether surgeons can continue to collaborate with industry and maintain public trust. Using qualitative and quantitative methodology, this thesis explores surgical patients’ views on financial relationships between surgeons and manufacturers and patients’ recommendations for managing these conflicts of interest. A majority of patients approve of surgeon’s relationships with manufacturers that can benefit patients but disapprove of those that primarily benefit the surgeon and the manufacturer. The majority of patients do not endorse disclosure as a sole method of managing these relationships. The majority of patients trust the surgical profession to self-regulate and favour professional oversight rather than by government to ensure financial relationships between surgeons and manufacturers are appropriate. My data supports my argument that there should be professional oversight of financial relationships between surgeons and manufacturers, which may allow continued collaboration with manufacturers while maintaining public trust.