UMEM Educational Pearls

Title: Who's paying for EM research

Category: Administration

Keywords: industry sponsored, money, research, PI (PubMed Search)

Posted: 12/27/2025 by Robert Flint, MD (Updated: 12/31/2025)
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This study looked at industry sponsored payments to EM physician through non-covered entities (ie not directly to physician or through an academic institution). It found a $100 million increase from 2015-23 in this payment model. It appears that private equity is not the only money entering emergency medicine in the past decade. 

Total value of Industry-Sponsored Research Payments (ISRPs) by company. The 20 companies with highest total ISRPs awarded to emergency physician PIs.

References

Trends in Industry-Sponsored Research Payments to Emergency Medicine Principal Investigators

Rizer, Nicholas W et al.

Journal of Emergency Medicine, Volume 79, 21 - 30