Glenn, if the Neuropathy Assoc. did reveal how much of its funding came from big pharma, let's say 75% just for the sake of argument, how would that affect your perception of this organization?

Let's also assume that if they didn't have that 75%, they wouldn't exist any longer...

I agree 100% -- nonprofits and other associations should definitely be transparent and disclose their funding sources. But I find that once they do so, then the next argument becomes, "Well, how can we be less dependent upon those funding sources?"

I've been involved in organizations where they basically faced the same proposition -- scale back operations as other funding sources dry up, such as gov't and nonprofit grants, or expand operations with money that comes from big pharma with no direct strings attached (of course there are the indirect strings!).

John