From Polly Mortimer
I agree that there is huge cause for concern in drug companies cosying up to patients’ groups (28 October, p 18). Such small charities, especially those supporting people with mental illnesses, are often naive, well-intentioned and penniless – leaving them vulnerable to the smooth operations of the drugs companies.
When I edited an in-house magazine for a small mental-health charity I rejected copy that was, to all intents and purposes, advertising for a drug company that “supported” the charity. The firm wanted a place in the mag for information about its product, in exchange for funding the magazine to the tune of £11,000.
Scratch the surface of most mental-health charities in the UK and you’ll find drug company money. I can’t help feeling that he who pays the piper… There are so many other treatment options than drugs, with far fewer risks and better outcomes – but drugs dominate. I wonder why?
From Susan Resko, Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation
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Had your article on disease-mongering among patient advocacy groups focused its lens on toenail fungus or erectile dysfunction, you might have had a compelling argument. But brain illnesses such as bipolar disorder have peer-reviewed, evidence-based treatments, and this is not new science. To call it disease-mongering is to perpetuate stigma and prevent patients from receiving life-saving treatment.
Why criticise the pharmaceutical industry for attempting to assist the very people from whom they make billions? Industry has an ethical obligation to support those who suffer from illnesses they treat, and to support patient groups because it’s the right thing to do.
I am extremely grateful to the pharmaceutical industry; without it, I would have lost a son, a mother and a husband to suicide, stroke and heart disease respectively. Patients and their families value the easy access to information their foundations provide them.
Wilmette, Illinois, US
From Georgianna Bell, Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation
The Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation vehemently denies the accusation that non-profit groups like us that accept monies from pharmaceutical companies are actually puppets for these same companies – extensions of their mission instead of dedicated to achieving our own. Our publications are carefully scrutinised and approved by our medical advisory board, which is made up of leading healthcare providers and researchers.
Rochester, Minnesota
The editor writes:
We did not choose to focus on any disorder. We took a random sample of patient groups, and added groups with revenue of at least $100,000 that focus on conditions dealt with in the Public Library of Science Medicine issue on disease-mongering. Many patient groups, like the RLS Foundation, stress that the information they provide is vetted by a medical advisory board. But these boards may also have financial ties with drug companies. A Google search reveals that a majority of members of the RLS Foundation’s medical advisory board have served as consultants to GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Requip, used to treat RLS.
London, UK
