More than one in 10 FDA advisory committee meetings from 2013 to 2022 included a patient or consumer representative affiliated with an organization that received money from the drugmaker whose product was under review. The finding comes from a study by University of Southern California researchers published Oct. 7 in Health Affairs Scholar.
A broader pattern appeared as well. Nearly 40% of meetings included a patient or consumer representative with active ties to an advocacy group funded by pharmaceutical companies, and on several committees the share topped 50%. According to STAT's report on the study, "most of these organizational ties were not disclosed at the meetings."
