The board, advisory board, consultants and volunteers of the Pharmaceutical Accountability Foundation (PAF) were saddened to learn of the passing, on 8 May 2026, of the former chair of our Advisory Board, Prof. Brigit Toebes. On 16 May, together with 500 others, we paid our last respects to her in a dignified ceremony at the Martinikerk in Groningen.
Brigit was a life-long advocate for access to healthcare as a human right, winning a Dutch royal honour in recognition of her exceptional contributions to the field on 20 April 2026.
She was instrumental in the creation of PAF. Together with lawyer Jan Koen Sluijs, Brigit Toebes conceived the ‘exorbitantly priced pills’ project, which would become the precursor to the debate on excessively priced medicines in the Netherlands. She believed that pharmaceutical companies had a duty to protect human rights (such as the right to life and the right to access essential medicines), and that they also had a social duty of care.
When – inspired by the duty of care idea – PAF was established in July 2018, Brigit immediately agreed to become chair of the Advisory Board. For eight years, she was a tremendous support to our Foundation, providing the board with invaluable advice on policy matters and legal procedures. She provided swift and incisive feedback on draft scientific articles and legal documents. She offered methodological support in the design of the Fair Pharma Scorecards for Covid-19 vaccines (2022) and those for essential cancer medicines (in which pharmaceutical companies were assessed against a human rights yardstick). She continued serving PAF until her health no longer allowed her to do so.
In addition to a passionate commitment to affordable medicines, Brigit was a passionate advocate for healthier habits, seeking regulation on products like cigarettes, alcohol and unhealthy foods.
At the end of April, Brigit published her book, “Dat maak ik zelf wel uit – reflecties over gezondheid, vrijheid en recht” (I’ll Decide That for Myself – Reflections on Health, Freedom and Law), which explores the question of freedom in health decision-making from a human rights law perspective, asking where government should step in to protect the public health and where the freedom of the individual should be safeguarded.
Outside of her advocacy work, Brigit was a beloved professor at the University of Groningen, known for her mentorship and her eye for young researchers keen to join the movement for health as a human right. Several promising students in Brigit’s classes later came to work for the Foundation.
Brigit will be remembered in our hearts, and we commit to continue her fight for justice in access to healthcare.
Brigit’s university signature listed these journals and books:
- LLM track health and technology law (since 2024-2025)
- Journal of Global Health Law (since 2024)
- Intersentia Health and Human Rights (2022, 2nd ed.)
- Elgar Human Rights and Tobacco Control (2020, open access)
- Elgar Research Handbook on Global Health Law (2018)
- Brigit Toebes awarded a Royal Decoration (2026)
- Dat maak ik zelf wel uit – reflecties over gezondheid, vrijheid en recht (Boom Juridisch, 2026, ISBN: 9789047302995)
- Beloved, celebrated, missed: tributes following the death of Brigit Toebes (2026)