scholarly journals A ‘patient–industry complex’? Investigating the financial dependency of UK patient organisations on drug company funding

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Ozieranski ◽  
Janos Gyorgy Pitter ◽  
Emily Rickard ◽  
Shai Mulinari ◽  
Marcell Csanadi
Keyword(s):  
Drug Company ◽  
Patient Organisations ◽  
Financial Dependency

scholarly journals Drug company payments to General Practices in England: Cross-sectional and social network analysis

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0261077
Author(s):  
Eszter Saghy ◽  
Shai Mulinari ◽  
Piotr Ozieranski
Keyword(s):  
Pharmaceutical Industry ◽  
Drug Company ◽  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
Conflicts Of Interests ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Practice Characteristics ◽  
Important Target ◽  
General Practices ◽  
Financial Dependency

Although there has been extensive research on pharmaceutical industry payments to healthcare professionals, healthcare organisations with key roles in health systems have received little attention. We seek to contribute to addressing this gap in research by examining drug company payments to General Practices in England in 2015. We combine a publicly available payments database managed by the pharmaceutical industry with datasets covering key practice characteristics. We find that practices were an important target of company payments, receiving £2,726,018, equivalent to 6.5% of the value of payments to all healthcare organisations in England. Payments to practices were highly concentrated and specific companies were also highly dominant. The top 10 donors and the top 10 recipients amassed 87.9% and 13.6% of the value of payments, respectively. Practices with more patients, a greater proportion of elderly patients, and those in more affluent areas received significantly more payments on average. However, the patterns of payments were similar across England’s regions. We also found that company networks–established by making payments to the same practices–were largely dominated by a single company, which was also by far the biggest donor. Greater policy attention is required to the risk of financial dependency and conflicts of interests that might arise from payments to practices and to organisational conflicts of interests more broadly. Our research also demonstrates that the comprehensiveness and quality of payment data disclosed via industry self-regulatory arrangements needs improvement. More interconnectivity between payment data and other datasets is needed to capture company marketing strategies systematically.

scholarly journals Cancer care during COVID-19: Data from 157 patient organisations

2021 ◽  
Vol 79 ◽  
pp. S259
Author(s):  
R. Giles ◽  
E. Baugh ◽  
F. Cordoso ◽  
A. Filicevas ◽  
J. Fox ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Care ◽  
Patient Organisations

scholarly journals Beyond the high: Mapping patterns of use and motives for use of cannabis as medicine

2021 ◽  
pp. 145507252098596
Author(s):  
Sinikka L. Kvamme ◽  
Michael M. Pedersen ◽  
Sagi Alagem-Iversen ◽  
Birgitte Thylstrup
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Side Effects ◽  
Sleep Disturbances ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Cannabis Use ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Convenience Sample ◽  
Mental Health Conditions ◽  
Patient Organisations ◽  
Patterns Of Use

Background: In Denmark the boundaries between cannabis as an illicit drug and licit medicine have shifted rapidly in recent years, affecting also policy. However, the vast majority of Danes, who use cannabis as medicine (CaM) continue to rely on the unregulated market for supply. This study explores patterns of use and motives for use of CaM in Denmark. Methods: An anonymous online survey was made available to a convenience sample of users of CaM from July 14, 2018 to November 1, 2018. Participants were recruited through patient organisations, social and public media, and the illegal open cannabis market. Results: Of the final sample ( n = 3,021), a majority were women (62.6%) and the mean age was 49 years. Most had no prescription for CaM (90.9%), a majority had no or limited previous experience with recreational cannabis use (63.9%), and had used CaM for two years or less (65.0%). The most common form of intake was oil (56.8%) followed by smoke (24.0%). CBD oil (65.0%) was used more than hash, pot or skunk (36.2%). Most frequent conditions treated were chronic pain (32.0%), sleep disturbances (27.5%), stress (23.7%), osteoarthritis (22.7%), anxiety (19.6%), and depression (19.6%). Overall, users experienced CaM to be effective in managing somatic and mental health conditions and reported relatively few side-effects. CBD oil only users were more likely to be women, older, have limited recreational experience and have initiated use recently. Conclusions: A new user group has emerged in Denmark that, for the most part, use illegally sourced CaM to treat a broad range of somatic and mental health conditions, often with experienced effect and relatively low level of side-effects. The prevalent use of low-potency CBD oil indicates an interest in effects beyond the high normally associated with cannabis use. More clinical research into the effects and side-effects of CaM is needed to draw the boundaries of the medical utility of cannabis.

scholarly journals Exposing drug industry funding of UK patient organisations

BMJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. l1806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Ozieranski ◽  
Emily Rickard ◽  
Shai Mulinari,
Keyword(s):  
Drug Industry ◽  
Industry Funding ◽  
Patient Organisations

scholarly journals Whistleblower charges drug company with deceptive practices

BMJ ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 326 (7390) ◽  
pp. 620-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Lenzer
Keyword(s):  
Drug Company

Drug company bosses jailed for selling HIV infected products

BMJ ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 320 (7235) ◽  
pp. 601-601 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Lamar
Keyword(s):  
Drug Company

Out of Compassion of Out of Rights? A Story about an Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Human Clinical Trial

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Hedva Eyal
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Compassionate Use ◽  
Human Clinical Trial ◽  
Biotech Company ◽  
Patient Organisations ◽  
Informed Consent Form ◽  
Trial Treatment ◽  
Post Trial ◽  
The Right ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

This article examines the intersection of compassion and rights, and how the two concepts are constituted and wielded in the context of human clinical trials. Doron, an ALS patient who was recruited to a clinical trial, believed that he had the right to post-trial treatment according to the wording of an informed consent form he signed before joining the trial. However, the biotech company sponsoring the trial instead offered him ‘compassionate use’ access, i.e., access at its discretion rather than as a legal obligation on its part. I argue that under a ‘bioeconomy of value’, the human clinical trial regime has been subordinated to two competing discourses: that of compassion and that of patients’ rights. Both are interpreted and deployed differently by the different stakeholders, namely the patient, the biotech company, and the medical establishment. I argue that the adoption, by bioeconomy actors, of a social value discourse of compassion is designed to preserve a hierarchy that deprives the patient of their power and their rights. Simultaneously, this practice highlights the power of the biotech industry as a moral partner and ‘saviour’ in its relationship with patient organisations and its role as a medical–scientific actor in the Israeli healthcare system.

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