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AJPH First Look, published online ahead of print Jan 13, 2011
April 2011, Vol 101, No. 4 | American Journal of Public Health 602-609
© 2011
American Public Health Association
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2010.300027
GOVERNMENT, POLITICS, AND LAW |
Health Advocacy Organizations and the Pharmaceutical Industry: An Analysis of Disclosure Practices
Sheila M. Rothman, PhD, Victoria H. Raveis, PhD, Anne Friedman, BA and David J. Rothman, PhD
Sheila M. Rothman is with the Division of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, and the Center for the Study of Society and Medicine,
College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. Victoria H. Raveis is with the Psychosocial Unit on Health, Ageing, and Community, New York University College of Dentistry, New
York. At the time of the study Anne Friedman was with the Center on Medicine as a Profession, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. David J. Rothman is with the College
of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University.
Correspondence: Correspondence should be sent to Sheila M. Rothman, Center for the Study of Society and Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University,
630 West 168th St, PH 15-25, New York, NY 10032 (e-mail:
smr4@columbia.edu). Reprints can be ordered at
http://www.ajph.org by clicking the "Reprints/Eprints" button.
Health advocacy organizations (HAOs) are influential stakeholders
in health policy. Although their advocacy tends to closely correspond
with the pharmaceutical industry's
marketing aims, the financial
relationships between HAOs and the pharmaceutical industry have
rarely been analyzed.
We used Eli Lilly and Company's grant registry to examine its
grant-giving policies. We also examined HAO Web sites to determine
their grant-disclosure patterns.
Only 25% of HAOs that received
Lilly grants acknowledged Lilly's contributions on their Web
sites, and only 10% acknowledged Lilly as a grant event sponsor.
No HAO disclosed the exact amount of a Lilly grant.
As highly trusted organizations, HAOs should disclose all corporate
grants, including the purpose and the amount. Absent this disclosure,
legislators, regulators,
and the public cannot evaluate possible
conflicts of interest or biases in HAO advocacy.
This article has been cited by other articles:
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M. Weinberg
Patient Advocacy Organizations and Corporate Relationships
Am J Public Health, April 1, 2011; 101(4): 582 - 583.
[Full Text] [PDF]
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eLetters:
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- Health Advocacy Organizations: Transparency is important and so is evidence
- Frances M Visco
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- Re: Health Advocacy Organizations and the Pharmaceutical Industry: An Analysis
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