Conflicts of Interest for Patient-Advocacy Organizations

Abstract

Patient-advocacy organizations are nonprofit groups whose primary mission is to combat a particular disease or disability or to work toward improving the health and well-being of a particular patient population.¹ As political actors, such organizations play an influential role in shaping health policy, pursuing agendas that include expanding coverage for drugs, devices, and diagnostic procedures; increasing support for medical research; and streamlining approval of experimental therapies.^2-5