STAT+: Many patient, consumer reps on FDA advisory panels have ties to groups funded by pharma, analysis finds

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Nearly 40% of Food and Drug Administration advisory committee meetings held over a recent 20-year period included either a patient or consumer representative with active ties to an advocacy group funded by pharmaceutical companies, according to a new analysis. And for several committees, the number of such reps exceeded 50%.

In addition, more than one in 10 advisory committee meetings included a rep who was affiliated with an organization that received funding from the drugmaker whose medicine was being reviewed by the committees. Yet most of these organizational ties were not disclosed at the meetings, raising questions about voting behavior.

The analysis, which was published in Health Affairs Scholar, noted the FDA has well-established conflict-of-interest policies for its scientific advisory committee members, but policies concerning patient and consumer reps are not as well developed, especially concerning industry funding of advocacy groups whose members appear on committees.