Healthy Skepticism Library item: 19123

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Voelker R
Study: Few Advocacy Groups Disclose Grants From Drug Companies
JAMA 2011 Feb 16; 305:(7):662
http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/305/7/662.extract

Abstract:

Influential disease-specific advocacy organizations that call for more research and access to treatment often do not disclose funding they receive from pharmaceutical companies that make the very medications they may encourage their members to use.

Researchers arrived at that conclusion after they analyzed $3.2 million in grants that Eli Lilly and Company of Indianapolis, Ind, gave to 161 health advocacy organizations in the first 2 quarters of 2007. Their findings showed that only 25% of the advocacy groups disclosed the Lilly grants on their Web sites and only 10% acknowledged Lilly as a grant event sponsor (Rothman SM et al. Am J Public Health. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2010.300027 [published online ahead of print January 13, 2011]). None of the organizations disclosed the specific grant amount they received.

The analysis also showed that Lilly’s grants mirrored its therapeutic areas with the strongest sales. Of Lilly’s $10.1 billion in US net sales in …

Keywords:
conflict of interest, disclosure, drug industry, financial support, patient advocacy, private sector.