Carey,, I'm with you 100% that shaming or even making public the downfalls of PD orgs won't answer any of our questions. By law the ogs have to make available to the public their annual budget (you ave to dig for it, but it's at each website).

You can tell a lot about an org by seeing how large its reserve is - if there are millions sitting there for "emergencies" or whatever, I feel that org is not living up to its potential. but that's MYU summation. Maybe the organization (for you Canadian's - organisation) has an explanation, and we should be open to listening.

So my suggestion is that 2-3 groups (not too large) with key contacts as membership, choose a not-for-profit and scrutinize its innermost workings. You could have a set of key questions and information to research, then come back together to share the strengths and weaknesses of each org. This should include the main focus of each org, which would be useful information in itself.

In my opinion we need to approach this not as "Let's see how much dirt we can dig up," but as to "What positives do each of the orgs offer." I think the fact that we are doing this and why should be told up front. Actually, it would be useful information for the administration of the orgs, also, and they would be more willing to provide such info.

I am not going to get into the big pharma money philosophy, but let me leave you with this thought. Just because I got paid state money to teach didn't mean that the state owned me, nor the Board of Education where I once worked. To be a non-profit takes a lot of red tape (government rules), and the orgs can't just "take" money from big pharma. Pharma has rules they must follow, also; like giving an org $20,000 for a grant for patient education. We need to be able to tap into the resources big pharma provides. That's where we can really make headway. If we get our act together and with the contacts we have made over the years, we can make more solid requests -- even demands - as to where that money is going. Big pharma money isn't evil, it just has never had anyone but its board and shareholders to hold it accountable.

My dad used to have the best advice that always rung true - "You have to spend money to make money," and most of us aren't having to pay the government back at the end of the year - if you catch my drift.

This is windy and being composed before my morning meds have kicked on big time, but I think we are onto something here. The plan should be not to criticize, but "share, learn,, and propose" (acronym SLAP lol - NOT serious) in an organized way, non-threatening manner - keeping friendly contacts.

Now who has the time and expertise to head up this effort and see what needs fixing and how we can help.