Trends in enforcement of National Comprehensive Cancer Network financial conflict of interest policy Journal Article


Authors: Saririan, N.; Bhamidipati, D.; Dey, P.; Persaud, S.; Chakraborty, N.; Tabatabai, S.; Gallagher, G.; Trivedi, N. U.; Mitchell, A. P.
Article Title: Trends in enforcement of National Comprehensive Cancer Network financial conflict of interest policy
Abstract: Background The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) financial conflict of interest (FCOI) policy sets dollar maximums for panelists, but violations may occur.Methods We studied NCCN Guidelines panelists for the 20 most prevalent cancers, 2013-2022. We included panelists with at least 1 full calendar year of service ("current panelists") and those who began service during the study period ("new panelists"); NCCN FCOI policy limits ($20 000 from any single company or $50 000 across all companies) apply to both groups. Industry payments were obtained from Open Payments and mapped manually via National Provider Identifier. We calculated industry payments received, excluding the same payment categories as does NCCN (research, meals, travel and lodging). We estimated whether panelists received payments exceeding NCCN limits ("violation"). As a proxy for whether panelists were subsequently disqualified as stipulated, we measured continued service for at least 1 full calendar year ("retention") subsequent to an estimated violation. We analyzed retention before and after 2016, due to increased scrutiny on NCCN FCOI in 2016.Results The annual proportion of current panelists with estimated violations ranged between 0.5% (2020) and 5.8% (2016). Among panelists who did vs did not have violations, retention was 83.6% vs 88.5% during 2014-2015 (odds ratio [OR] = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.26 to 1.31) and 46.6% vs 89.4% during 2017-2020 (OR = 0.10, 95% CI = 0.06 to 0.17). Among new panelists, 2.7% (5/185) had prior-year violations during 2014-2015, as did 5.5% (18/330) during 2017-2021.Conclusions Each year, a small portion of panelists receive industry payments exceeding NCCN limits. Since 2016, the likelihood that such panelists will continue to serve has decreased substantially.
Keywords: industry; payments; sunshine act
Journal Title: JNCI Cancer Spectrum
Volume: 8
Issue: 6
ISSN: 2515-5091
Publisher: Oxford University Press  
Date Published: 2024-12-01
Start Page: pkae120
Language: English
ACCESSION: WOS:001383385900001
DOI: 10.1093/jncics/pkae120
PROVIDER: wos
PMCID: PMC11671141
PUBMED: 39589914
Notes: The MSK Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CA008748) is acknowledged in the PDF. Corresponding MSK author is Aaron P. Mitchell -- Source: Wos
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  1. Sonia Persaud
    21 Persaud