Thank you for your letter of 24 January and for sending me the PA annual report and other publications. You will know I've also heard from Claire Rayner and I'm enclosing a copy of the letter I'm sending her.

I'll look forward to hearing from you again once your Council has been able to consider the Association's position on Direct to Consumer (DTC) advertising - though it seems late in the day to be considering a policy on this, particularly as an item of 'any other business'. Ditto corporate sponsorship: your determination to establish Patients Association as "the independent voice of the patient" might seem that much more convincing if you had developed some policy which took account of the risks of sponsorship, before dishing out platinum, gold and silver corporate awards. Implicitly, the Association's strong policy on product endorsement does acknowledge the risks of sponsorship, even with a broad base of support. You will recognise also the risk of the Association being seen to be associated with specific products, in situations where company and product are strongly linked; such is the case with Detrusitol and perhaps Denplan too. Clearly, financial ties may also encourage an organisation not to focus on particular issues, or not to speak up, when criticism of a sponsor or product might be due.

The tone of your President's letters to me suggests she believes that transparency has its limits - hers to be precise - but I did appreciate your candid and prompt response.

 

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