Patient groups provide information, advice, and support; represent patients on governmental committees; and speak in the media on behalf of patients. They can be a voice for someone who faces pain, invasive procedures, isolation, disability, and at times discrimination and poor medical care. However, a different view emerges in the pharmaceutical marketing literature, of “allies to help advance brand objectives”.1

Can patient groups provide impartial information and represent people who are ill if they are funded by companies that sell products to treat those illnesses? I believe that the conflict of interest inherent in such a relationship makes this difficult. For patients there are three key risks:

• Disguised promotion channelled through a seemingly neutral third party

• Confusion between patients' and sponsors' interests in policy of patient groups

• Inadequate representation when those interests diverge.