Funding conundrum

Rivers of pharmaceutical industry cash are keeping U.S. patient groups afloat, but in the absence of widely adopted transparency and governance principles, the funding flows could erode the perceived integrity, independence and reputations of the recipients.

Confidence in the integrity of patient groups is important because regulators, research funders, politicians and many drug companies have coalesced around the idea that the patients who are represented by advocacy groups should play a central role in shaping the criteria for assessing drugs, priorities for publicly funded translational research and financial incentives for meeting public health objectives. ...