And a year ago, for example, a representative for the National Psoriasis Foundation did not disclose<br />that her group receives at least 40 percent of its annual revenues from drug companies when she testified before the North Carolina state legislature on an unsuccessful measure supported by the pharmaceutical industry that would have limited insurers’ ability to block coverage of certain drugs.<br />“I think that is not well known — I think that is a shock.”<br />Dr. Emanuel, who previously advised President Obama on health care, said patient groups were far less transparent about conflicts of interest than medical researchers, who are now pushed to disclose ties to the drug<br />and device industries when they write articles and make public appearances.<br />The American Diabetes Association, by contrast, reported receiving more than $28 million in industry funding in 2014, or about 15 percent of its budget,<br />but provided detailed disclosures of which companies donated, and how much, the study authors said.<br />“I think sunshine is an excellent disinfectant,” said David Mitchell, the founder of a new group, Patients for Affordable Drugs,<br />that seeks to lower drug prices, and does not take funding from industry groups.<br />Drug makers contributed a range from $8.5 million to $14 million of the group’s $16.8 million annual budget in 2014, the year researchers studied.<br />Many have also been silent on the issue of rising drug prices, even as the issue has enraged patients, who have been increasingly exposed to the prices<br />that pharmaceutical companies set as insurers have asked them to pay a greater share of their drug costs.
