Prevalence of ties to industry-funded organizations among patient and consumer representatives on FDA advisory committees.
- 1Department of Health Policy and Management, Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California, VPD 512-J, 635 Downey Way, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
- 2Leonard D. Schaeffer Institute for Public Policy and Government Service, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
Abstract
Introduction
FDA advisory committees are primarily composed of scientific experts, but also include a patient representative and a consumer representative providing public perspectives. Although the FDA has enacted policies to curb conflicts of interest common among its scientific members, it has paid less attention to potential conflicts arising from patient and consumer representatives who have ties to organizations financially supported by pharmaceutical companies.Methods
We analyzed the prevalence of industry funding of advocacy organizations in which patient and consumer representatives were actively involved in the year they attended FDA advisory committee meetings between 2013 and 2022.Results
Between 2013 and 2022, nearly 2 in 5 (38%) FDA advisory committee meetings included either a patient or consumer representative with active ties to a pharmaceutical-funded advocacy organization. For several FDA committees, this share was greater than 50%. More than 1 in 10 (11%) advisory committee meetings included a representative affiliated with an organization receiving funds from the sponsor of the drug under review.Conclusion
These prevalence rates show that these organizational relationships extend beyond isolated cases and signal a broader problem warranting FDA policy attention.
Related
- Medical Device Industry Payments to Healthcare Professionals and Organizations in Japan: An Evaluation of Scale, Distribution, and Transparency Practices, 2019-2022
- Knowledge, attitudes and practices on sex and gender in Swiss research ethics committees
- Implementation of clinical grading committees in internal medicine sub-internships: implications for assessment accuracy and standardization
- Studies of US Department of Health and Human Services Agency Advisory Committees
- Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Operational Efficiency and Cost Reduction in U.S. Healthcare Organizations
BibTeX
@article{kanter2026prevalence,
title = {{Prevalence of ties to industry-funded organizations among patient and consumer representatives on FDA advisory committees.}},
author = {Genevieve P Kanter and Toni Mankowitz},
journal = {Health affairs scholar},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/haschl/qxag269},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898543},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Prevalence of ties to industry-funded organizations among patient and consumer representatives on FDA advisory committees.
AU - Genevieve P Kanter
AU - Toni Mankowitz
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
JO - Health affairs scholar
DO - 10.1093/haschl/qxag269
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42898543
AB - Introduction FDA advisory committees are primarily composed of scientific experts, but also include a patient representative and a consumer representative providing public perspectives. Although the FDA has enacted policies to curb conflicts of interest common among its scientific members, it has paid less attention to potential conflicts arising from patient and consumer representatives who have ties to organizations financially supported by pharmaceutical companies.Methods We analyzed the prevalence of industry funding of advocacy organizations in which patient and consumer representatives were actively involved in the year they attended FDA advisory committee meetings between 2013 and 2022.Results Between 2013 and 2022, nearly 2 in 5 (38%) FDA advisory committee meetings included either a patient or consumer representative with active ties to a pharmaceutical-funded advocacy organization. For several FDA committees, this share was greater than 50%. More than 1 in 10 (11%) advisory committee meetings included a representative affiliated with an organization receiving funds from the sponsor of the drug under review.Conclusion These prevalence rates show that these organizational relationships extend beyond isolated cases and signal a broader problem warranting FDA policy attention.
SN - 2976-5390
ER -