Why patient support groups favour drugs over alternative remedies

Patient support groups are influenced by Big Pharma donations and will often recommend a drug over alternative remedies.

A recent study revealed that 83 percent of the largest support groups in the US were receiving substantial contributions from drug companies, often without revealing the donations.  From 2010 to 2022, drug companies donated over $6 bn to the groups.

AbbVie, which makes the immunosuppressant drug Humira for rheumatoid arthritis, donated $1 m to the Arthritis Foundation, while Merck, which makes the anti-cancer agent Keytruda, gave a similar sum to the American Cancer Society.

But one of the biggest donors was Novo Nordisk, maker of the weight loss drug Ozempic, which has given around $25 m to weight-loss specialists over the past decade.

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