Access to speaker payment data is coming

Partial disclosure of amounts is currently available from companies that have started to voluntarily collect and report that data.

Starting in 2012, pharma will be required to collect data regarding payments, whether cash or in-kind transfers to all covered recipients (physicians and teaching hospitals - PhDs are safe for now) including: (See #1 Sunshine Act)
  • Compensation
  • Food
  • Entertainment
  • Gifts
  • Travel
  • Consulting fees
  • Honoraria
  • Research funding or grants
  • Education or conference funding 
  • Stocks or stock options
  • Ownership or investment interest
  • Royalties or licenses
  • Charitable contributions
  • Any other transfer of value
Soon (Sept 2013) anyone will be able to go online and see who is paying the speaker (aka cab driver) and how much.
  • Are we still more likely to end up at the restaurant that paid the cab driver?
  • Does knowing the amount of compensation change the learner's perception?
  • Does financial disclosure resolve the prior issues? 
There is still no plan for a requirement that speakers will provide this data prior to giving a talk. In other words, imagine a talk starting--
  • Hi, I'm John, and I receive $20,000 in speaker fees from Pharma #1 and travel benefits of $5600 from Device Manufacturer #2.
They won't, but you will be able to go online and find it out yourself.

Unfortunately, disclosure may not have the intended effect (Cain 2011, Loewenstein 2011). "While transparency is essential, disclosing financial relationships is necessary but not sufficient to mitigate the potential for influence in CME" (McMahon 2011).

In the (more distant) future, perhaps we'll pay for the trip and the cab driver will get money from only our fares (or our organization), and we will decide where we go for dinner.
References
  1. Physician Payment Sunshine provisions included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009 (H.R. 3590, section 6002)
  2. Cain, Daylian M., George Loewenstein, Don A. Moore, When Sunlight Fails to Disinfect: Understanding the Perverse Effects of Disclosing Conflicts of Interest. Journal of Consumer Research, Inc., Vol. 37, February 2011. Electronically published August 27, 2011 https://apps.olin.wustl.edu/cres/research/calendar/files/LoewensteinG.pdf
  3. Loewenstein, George, Daylian M. Cain, and Sunita Sah. 2011. "The Limits of Transparency: Pitfalls and Potential of Disclosing Conflicts of Interest." American Economic Review, 101(3): 423–28. http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/aer.101.3.423
  4. McMahon, Sr., MD, John W., Chair, Financial Relationships with Industry in Continuing Medical Education, REPORT OF THE COUNCIL ON ETHICAL AND JUDICIAL AFFAIRS, CEJA Report 1-A-11, 2011 (http://www.acme-assn.org/imis15/aCME/PDFs/Advocacy/2011_AMA_CEJA_Report_1-A-11.pdf) 
Copyright 2011, Bradley Tanner