Are some patient groups close to being extensions of pharmaceutical companies' marketing departments?
Some patient groups are said to be perilously close to becoming extensions of pharmaceutical companies' marketing departments. See this article and judge for yourself.
I agree: There's a definite correlation between the support groups that get pharmaceutical funding and those that don't. Those that get the funding most often recommend that their members take the drugs from the companies that fund them. (And those that don't get pharmaceutical funding, as the article points out, usually don't have problems that can be treated by these companies' drugs.)
For lots of articles that point to the ties between pharmaceutical companies and doctors, patients and organizations, please go to my website, http://www.honestmedicine.typepad.com. The links on the left (Cancer, Pharmaceutical Companies, especially) and my 3-part article, "The JAMA Controversy," are particularly relevant.
Thanks much. Julia Schopick http://www.honestmedicine.typepad.com
I agree: There's a definite correlation between the support groups that get pharmaceutical funding and those that don't. Those that get the funding most often recommend that their members take the drugs from the companies that fund them. (And those that don't get pharmaceutical funding, as the article points out, usually don't have problems that can be treated by these companies' drugs.)
ReplyDeleteFor lots of articles that point to the ties between pharmaceutical companies and doctors, patients and organizations, please go to my website, http://www.honestmedicine.typepad.com. The links on the left (Cancer, Pharmaceutical Companies, especially) and my 3-part article, "The JAMA Controversy," are particularly relevant.
Thanks much.
Julia Schopick
http://www.honestmedicine.typepad.com