Results
Of the 3,943 board-certified allergists, 2,398 (60.8%) received
non-research payments totaling $43.4 million over five years. Lecturing
fees comprised 85.7% ($37.2 million) of the total payment amounts. For
allergists who received at least one payment, the median amount per
allergist was $3,106 (interquartile range: $966 – $12,124), in
contrast to a mean of $18,092 (standard deviation: $49,233) over the
five-year span. The top 1% and 10% of these allergists accounted for
20.8% and 68.8% of all non-research payments, respectively. The annual
payment amounts significantly increased by 7.2% annual increase (95%
CI: 4.4% – 10.0%, p<0.001) each year until 2019, but saw a
significant decrease in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.