Pharmaceutical Industry Funding to Patient-Advocacy Organizations: A Cross-National Comparison of Disclosure Codes and Regulation

33 Pages Posted: 9 May 2023

See all articles by Laura Karas

Laura Karas

Harvard University, Law School

Robin Feldman

UC Law, San Francisco

Ge Bai

Johns Hopkins University - Carey Business School

So-Yeon Kang

Johns Hopkins University - Bloomberg School of Public Health

Gerard F. Anderson

Johns Hopkins University - Department of Health Policy and Management; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: April 17, 2019

Abstract

Transparency has become one of the primary themes in health care reform efforts in the United States and across the world. In the face of exorbitant drug prices, high levels of patient cost-sharing, and pharmaceutical expenditures that consume a growing proportion of public sector budgets, much attention has been drawn to the pharmaceutical industry. Congressional investigations, academic publications, and news articles have endeavored to reveal the extent of drug and device industry influence on health care actors. In response, several nations, including the United States, have passed legislation mandating disclosure of drug company payments to physicians. In the United States, there are currently no legal requirements for disclosure of pharmaceutical industry sponsorship to patient-advocacy organizations by either party to the transaction. An ongoing concern is that drug industry payments could interfere with the objectivity of patient-advocacy groups and may induce them to take public positions favorable to the drug industry but at odds with the interests of patients. This article provides a comparative analysis of industry codes of practice and regulation that govern relationships between pharmaceutical companies and patient-advocacy organizations in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia and Canada, with an emphasis on disclosure policies for industry sponsorship. The article draws upon the practices of other nations and the Physician Payments Sunshine Act to make a case for an expansion of the Sunshine Act to patient-advocacy groups.

Keywords: Pharmaceutical industry, patient advocacy groups, Physician Payments Sunshine Act, disclosure, regulation

JEL Classification: I18, K23

Suggested Citation

Karas, Laura and Feldman, Robin and Bai, Ge and Kang, So-Yeon and Anderson, Gerard F., Pharmaceutical Industry Funding to Patient-Advocacy Organizations: A Cross-National Comparison of Disclosure Codes and Regulation (April 17, 2019). Hastings International and Comparative Law Review, Vol. 42, No. 2, UC San Francisco Research Paper Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4441787

Laura Karas (Contact Author)

Harvard University, Law School ( email )

1563 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Robin Feldman

UC Law, San Francisco ( email )

200 McAllister Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.uchastings.edu/people/robin-feldman/

Ge Bai

Johns Hopkins University - Carey Business School ( email )

100 International Drive
Baltimore, MD 21202
United States

So-Yeon Kang

Johns Hopkins University - Bloomberg School of Public Health ( email )

615 North Wolfe Street
Baltimore, MD 21205
United States

Gerard F. Anderson

Johns Hopkins University - Department of Health Policy and Management ( email )

624 North Broadway
Baltimore, MD 21205

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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