Shedding Sunshine on Gender Inequities in Industry Compensation to Physicians: a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payment Analysis

The purpose of this study is to compare payments reported in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payments Database according to gender. The authors hypothesized that women physicians would have fewer payments and lower total compensation from pharmaceutical and medical device companies as compared with men. A higher proportion of males received > $1,000,000 in compensation from industry, and a higher proportion of females received < $1,000 in compensation from industry. The largest discrepancy in compensation between genders was seen in royalties/licensing, faculty/speaking, and consulting. Review of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payment Database found that gender inequality exists in compensation from pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Female physicians receive less total compensation from industry. It is important to highlight this disparity between genders so that changes can be made to ensure that equal opportunities exist. (Journal of Surgical Orthopaedic Advances 34(2):102-107, 2025)

Key words: industry compensation, gender, inequity, inequality