Big Pharma still not very trusted by patients' groups, but European drugmakers viewed more favorably than others

A just-released study of patients' groups' opinions of the global pharmaceutical industry shows that Big Pharma is still largely untrusted, despite the sector's attempts to improve its image through transparency and providing more information on clinical trials, as well as funding of researchers and consumer organizations.

The PatientView 2009 annual review asked patient groups how good or bad pharmaceutical companies were at the nine activities. Responses were mixed, with only two exceptions: the majority of patient groups in Latin America, and patient groups that specialize in rare cancers, believed that pharmaceutical companies had (in many cases) been effective at helping the patient group community. As many as 71% of groups from Latin America thought Pharma good at providing informational events for patients/other audiences (by contrast, only 21% of groups from Australasia said the same).

Also, 62% of groups specializing in rare cancers considered Pharma good at partnering with patient groups in specific activities (by contrast, only 26% of groups specializing in mental health said the same). Groups least satisfied that Pharma was offering support were those in Australasia (this might be because of tough codes of conduct governing pharma/patient group relations there), and groups specializing in mental health or HIV/AIDS.