NONPROFIT HEALTH GROUPS

Some advocacy groups are concerned that people who go to health charities for impartial advice on new drugs may not know that many of the drug companies that produced the new treatments are big donors to groups like the American Diabetes Association and the National Osteoporosis Foundation, reports The Washington Post. That financial role could lead some charities to play down the negative effects of new drugs, the newspaper says. A spokesman for the National Health Council, an advocacy group for charities and drug companies, says that nonprofit health groups are working with companies to spread the word about new medication because their constituents care about effective drugs that could carry health risks as well as drug safety information.