Arie’s question “Should patient groups be more transparent about their funding?” is flawed.(1)
Why rely and how do you rely on patient groups’ professionalism? Do we rely on pharmaceutical industry’s code of practice? Eg. The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations adopted a " Patient Organisation Code of Practice" on 14 June 2011. Article 5 “Transparency” states: “Each company must make publicly available a list of patient organisations to which it provides financial support and/or significant indirect/non-financial support…”(https://www.pfizer.fr/Portals/0/standard/responsabilite/dons-subventions...) These can neither be easy to use nor free from doubt.
In France, disclosure of financial support to patients organizations is a legal obligation since 2009 (LOI n° 2009-879 du 21 juillet 2009 portant réforme de l'hôpital et relative aux patients, à la santé et aux territoires. NOR: SASX0822640L). Data are freely and conveniently available on High Authority for Health’s website (Haute Autorité de Santé) http://www.has-sante.fr/portail/jcms/c_1702246/fr/declarations-des-aides...
1 Arie S. Competing Interests. Should patient groups be more transparent about their funding? BMJ 2014;349:g5892.
Rapid Response:
Arie’s question “Should patient groups be more transparent about their funding?” is flawed.(1)
Why rely and how do you rely on patient groups’ professionalism? Do we rely on pharmaceutical industry’s code of practice? Eg. The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations adopted a " Patient Organisation Code of Practice" on 14 June 2011. Article 5 “Transparency” states: “Each company must make publicly available a list of patient organisations to which it provides financial support and/or significant indirect/non-financial support…”(https://www.pfizer.fr/Portals/0/standard/responsabilite/dons-subventions...) These can neither be easy to use nor free from doubt.
In France, disclosure of financial support to patients organizations is a legal obligation since 2009 (LOI n° 2009-879 du 21 juillet 2009 portant réforme de l'hôpital et relative aux patients, à la santé et aux territoires. NOR: SASX0822640L). Data are freely and conveniently available on High Authority for Health’s website (Haute Autorité de Santé) http://www.has-sante.fr/portail/jcms/c_1702246/fr/declarations-des-aides...
1 Arie S. Competing Interests. Should patient groups be more transparent about their funding? BMJ 2014;349:g5892.
Competing interests: No competing interests