Thanks to the BMJ for covering the story of how six years on from the Cumberlege Review, and over a decade of advocacy from #slingthemesh and we’re still waiting for meaningful action on transparency around pharma and device payments to the health sector.

Industry payments reached £540 million in the UK in 2025 from the pharmaceutical industry alone – declared voluntarily. Around 70% of that was research payments. We have no idea how much from the medical device sector as there is no logging.

That’s a lot of money.

Baroness Cumberlege called for improved transparency as a key recommendation yet a recent series of government workshops led to no commitment to mandatory reporting.

More worryingly there was heavy pushback from pharma (ABPI) who do NOT TO WISH TO DISCLOSE research payments.

Do not be fooled. This money is not philanthropic funding. It can be clever marketing / key opinion leader funding and was a key issue underpinning the #pelvicmesh scandal.

Transparency shouldn’t be controversial. It’s fundamental to trust in healthcare. Patients, journalists and politicians have a right to know about financial relationships that can influence treatment decisions.