This article gets quite a few things wrong, but it's definitely worth talking about the fact that wego health is funded by pharmaceutical companies.

I've never received money this way, so I haven't had to think through the ethical implications, but I think it's complicated. https://twitter.com/m_serenity/status/1285687850474889218

Mostly, I hate that we live in a healthcare environment where some patients who say, rely on expensive infusions, get better support and advocacy from pharmaceutical reps than they do from anybody else on their healthcare team.

I hate that we live in that world.

But in that world, I do think it makes sense for some patient advocates to transparently accept money from pharmaceutical companies for their expertise.

And I definitely don't think patient advocates should promote anything without disclosure.

So the health awards are in this weird space, because wego has really actively & effectively built a community for patient advocates across diagnostic categories (many of whom don't take money from pharma but are trying to monetize their knowledge in other ways).

And I don't know if anybody else has tried to do that? Build a community for patient advocates across diagnosis?

Anyway. So the awards are the only formal way that patient knowledge is really celebrated like a serious pursuit. And also, it's transparently a marketing campaign.

It is so nice to be nominated, because patient advocacy is not recognized as real work by people who are not full-time patients. And the nominations come with little messages about why you've been nominated, with praise that some people might never get otherwise. You get thanks.

And then if you promote it a lot, you are promoting wego, which is definitely pharma funded.

And if you win, you are taking some of that money, and some kind of temporary advisory role? That I certainly would have more questions about as a finalist.

So anyway, if you've been nominated and you're excited then I think that's awesome because you deserve recognition for your work!

And if at any point anyone wants to develop a less ethically perilous way to celebrate each other, I'd love to support that.

(also, to be clear, I cannot imagine a scenario in which I would have any kind of conversation with any kind of pharmaceutical person, but please know that if anybody ever offers me money for my knowledge (outside patreon/medium) I intend to do many polls about ethical conflicts)

Also x2, this thread is so long bc this has been on my mind for a while and the QT helped me articulate. I'm so open to feedback & also open to planning independent awards because I previously coerced my friends into holiday award ceremonies and I think those went quite well.

what an intriguingly quiet thread.

is this more niche than I thought or more laden with controversy than I thought?