Abstract
Drug company funding can create conflicts of interest that compromise the integrity of patient organizations, a problem studied primarily in Western Europe and North America. To address this research gap, we conducted a case study in Poland, a Central European country. Between 2012 and 2020, 33 companies reported payments worth €13 729 644 to 273 patient organizations in Poland. The funding was highly concentrated, with the top ten recipients amassing 46.2 percent of the total amount. Cancer patient organizations were the primary recipients, receiving 37.5 percent. The funding focused on patient organizations’ educational activities, constituting 40.4 percent of the total. For the ten companies reporting payments consistently from 2012 to 2020, we detected an increase in both the value of individual payments and the overall value of the funding. Additionally, some patient organizations formed exclusive, or nearly exclusive, ties with single companies. Overall, our study reveals important similarities between Poland and Western countries in the reported distribution of drug company payments to patient organizations. It also highlights priority areas for further research, including the evolution and structure of the financial connections.
Original language | English |
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Journal | International Journal of Social Determinants of Health and Health Services |
Early online date | 26 Dec 2024 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 26 Dec 2024 |
Data Availability Statement
The data underlying this article is available upon request from the authors.Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study (SM as PI and PO as Co-I) was supported by the grant “Following the Money: Cross-national Study of Pharmaceutical Industry Payments to Medical Associations and Patient Organizations,” awarded by The Swedish Research Council (VR), no. 2020-01822. The funder had no role in study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the articles; and in the decision to submit it for publication.
Keywords
- Conflict of interests
- NGO funding
- pharmaceuticals
- public trust
- transparency
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health Policy
- Health(social science)