BMJ  2003;326:1211 (31 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7400.1211-a

Letter

Charities and patient groups should declare interests

EDITOR—Lenzer's news item on lay campaigners for prostate screening being funded by industry is timely.¹ This serious issue of undeclared interests in commercial funding of charitable and lay organisations without apparent conflicts has recently been highlighted by both the Insulin Dependent Diabetes Trust and the Consumers Association.^{2 3}

The pharmaceutical industry does not donate money to charities for altruistic reasons. It is not allowed to advertise prescription drugs to consumers, but it knows that patient groups are often a strong lobby and have power to influence government and the NHS.

Consumers trust medical charities and expect their information to be unbiased and uninfluenced by the charity's funding sources. Charities accepting industry funding should declare it as a conflict of interest to enable consumers to question their independence and that of the information they provide and seek further information from more independent sources.

Arthritis Care launched a campaign for the wider prescribing of a new COX-2 inhibitor based on misleading positive results six months into a 12 month study. It did not declare that their campaign was funded by the drug manufacturers Pharmacia and Pfizer.

The Impotence Association campaigns for wider prescription of Viagra and receives funding from Pfizer, whose logo appears on the association's website. Diabetes UK received around £1m from 11 pharmaceutical companies manufacturing diabetes drugs but this is not mentioned in the annual report.

The lack of acknowledgement of sums of this magnitude leads people to be suspicious. Why not simply declare the true figures to the public? What is there to hide?

Insulin Dependent Diabetes Trust, PO Box 294, Northampton NN1 4XS jennyhirst{at}jennyhirst.co.uk

---

Competing interests: None declared.

References

1. Lenzer J. Lay campaigners for prostate screening are funded by industry. BMJ 2003;326: 680. (29 March.)[Free Full Text]
2. Hirst J. Medical charities and patient groups should declare a conflict of interest. Insulin Dependent Diabetes Trust Newsletter 2003 Jan: 7.
3. Who's injecting the cash? Which? 2003 Apr: 24-5.

Related Articles

Industry funding of patients' support groups: Declaration of competing interests is rare in Italian breast cancer associations

Paola Mosconi
BMJ 2003 327: 344. [Extract] [Full Text]

Interests of charities: Arthritis care sets facts straight

William Butler, David Doyle, and Richard Hull
BMJ 2003 327: 344. [Extract] [Full Text]

Interests of charities: Diabetes UK has long recognised importance of transparency in funding

Benet Middleton
BMJ 2003 327: 344-345. [Extract] [Full Text]

Lay campaigners for prostate screening are funded by industry

Jeanne Lenzer
BMJ 2003 326: 680. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Mosconi, P. (2003). Industry funding of patients' support groups: Declaration of competing interests is rare in Italian breast cancer associations. BMJ 327: 344-344 [Full text]  
• Butler, W., Doyle, D., Hull, R. (2003). Interests of charities: Arthritis care sets facts straight. BMJ 327: 344-344 [Full text]  
• Middleton, B. (2003). Interests of charities: Diabetes UK has long recognised importance of transparency in funding. BMJ 327: 344-345 [Full text]  

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Transparency in charity funding

Benet Middleton
bmj.com, 3 Jun 2003 [Full text]

Charities and industry: Setting a few facts straight

William Butler, et al.
bmj.com, 4 Jun 2003 [Full text]

STARTING AT THE TOP

Rita Pal
bmj.com, 5 Jun 2003 [Full text]