Respiratory physicians who print ads for treatments on their sleep study reports should “reflect upon” their clinical independence, the Medicare watchdog has warned.

The Professional Services Review (PSR) says it is aware of sleep doctors who work for, or are contracted to, subsidiaries of device manufacturers who are promoting the parent company’s products on their reports.

“The sleep medicine profession might like to reflect upon whether such associations are in the interest of the philosophy of medical independence,” PSR director Professor Julie Quinlivan wrote in the organisation’s annual report.

However, she said no doctors had been found guilty of inappropriate practice because of the ads.