Tobacco industry ownership of pharmaceutical companies: an international survey of people with respiratory disease

Thorax. 2022 Oct;77(10):1045-1047. doi: 10.1136/thorax-2022-219142. Epub 2022 Aug 15.

Abstract

The 2021 purchase of the respiratory pharmaceutical company Vectura by Phillip Morris International has been criticised by the public health and medical community, as a conflict of interest, with little input to date, from the patient community or the public. To address this gap, the COPD Foundation, along with global partners, surveyed 1196 people with chronic respiratory disease. 70% were bothered by a tobacco company making an inhaler to treat lung conditions and 48% reported that they would want to switch inhalers if they knew that a tobacco company made or sold their inhaler devices. Patients care about who makes the therapies used to treat their diseases.

Keywords: Asthma; Bronchiectasis; COPD epidemiology; Inhaler devices; Tobacco and the lung; Tobacco control.

MeSH terms

  • Administration, Inhalation
  • Humans
  • Nebulizers and Vaporizers
  • Ownership
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations
  • Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive* / drug therapy
  • Respiration Disorders*
  • Respiratory Tract Diseases* / drug therapy
  • Tobacco Industry*

Substances

  • Pharmaceutical Preparations