Eli Lilly said it contributes money to the American Diabetes Association because the two share a “common goal” of helping diabetes patients.
“We provide funding for a wide variety of educational programs and opportunities at ADA, and they design and implement those programs in ways that are aligned with their goals,” Eli Lilly said in a statement. “We’re proud to support the ADA on important work that helps millions of people living with diabetes.”
Most patient groups say that funders have little or no influence in shaping their programs and policies, but their agreements are private.
They weren’t always backed by Pharma
Into the ’80s and early ’90s, patient lobbying was generally limited and self-funded with only one or two affluent patients from an organization traveling to Washington on a given day, said Diana Zuckerman, PhD, president of the nonprofit National Center for Health Research.