Revealed: drug firms funding UK patient groups that lobby for NHS approval of medicines

Funding of patient groups was a ‘longstanding concern’, according to one public health expert. Illustration: Philip Lay/Observer Design

Drug companies are systematically funding grassroots patient groups that lobby the NHS medicines watchdog to approve the rollout of their drugs, the Observer can reveal.

An investigation by the Observer has found that of 173 drug appraisals conducted by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) since April 2021, 138 involved patient groups that had a financial link to the maker of the drug being assessed, or have since received funding.