Patient Activist, Pharma Links Identified

January 21, 2011

31 Jan – (HAI Europe Research) - A relationship was found between the receipt of corporate sponsorship from the pharmaceutical industry and support given by sponsored patient and consumer groups for an expanded role for the industry as an information provider.  This suggests that such sponsorship could be associated with greater difficulty in impartially representing the views of patients, consumers or citizens. Overall, a financial relationship between commercial and civil society groups could threaten the uniqueness of the citizen perspective in the policy process. It is imperative to maintain the distinct view of each stakeholder in order to make balanced decisions about medicines regulation.  (see FULL REPORT)