Patient groups in Europe received €110m from drug companies in 2022

Drug companies gave €110m (£92m; €123m) to patient organisations in Europe in 2022, an analysis of financial disclosures has found, with the vast majority concentrated in a few countries.

Investigate Europe, an international non-profit investigative group, found that 33 companies—including the global giants Pfizer, Novo Nordisk, and AstraZeneca—made 11 000 payments to more than 3000 patient groups in 2022.1

Previously unpublished information shared with The BMJ showed that patient groups in the UK accepted €20.7m in donations, 45% more than the next highest country, Belgium. Experts told Investigate Europe that the funding could be causing a conflict of interest, as some patient organisations are lobbying for access to drugs and are majority funded by the drug’s producers. “This funding is used as a vehicle by pharmaceutical companies to achieve their aims,” said Margaret McCartney, a British GP studying conflict of interest issues in medicine. “There is a massive …