Healthy Skepticism Library item: 14461

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Dutch advisory body hit by funding scandal
Radio Netherlands/ Expatica 2008 Oct 19
http://www.expatica.com/nl/articles/news/Dutch-advisory-body-hit-by-funding-scandal.html#send

Full text:

Doctors and researchers at the Health Council of the Netherlands received research funding from pharmaceutical companies.

Current affairs programme Zembla reports that doctors and researchers at the Health Council of the Netherlands received research funding from pharmaceutical companies.

The Health Council is an independent body that advises the Dutch government and parliament on public health issues.

It recently advised Health Minister Ab Klink that girls should be vaccinated against cervical cancer. At the same time, its members were receiving funding from the vaccines’ manufacturers.

Today, the Health Inspectorate raided the offices of two manufacturers, Sanofi Pasteur MSD and GlaxoSmithKline. They seized documents and correspondence.

The Socialist Party is demanding a parliamentary debate on the issue. The party’s chairperson Agnes Kant accuses the companies of being far too aggressive in their marketing and their efforts to influence decision-making.