The sentencing of Doug Dowie and John Stodder, former staff of Fleishman-Hillard's Los Angeles office who were convicted of fraud last year, has been delayed pending further evidence on prosecution calculations of how long they should serve in federal prison. In 2002 it was revealed that the PR firm had been overbilling the Los Angeles Power and Water Department. In April 2005, Fleishman-Hillard agreed to pay $5.7 million to settle a lawsuit brought against it by the city of Los Angeles. Dowie's lawyer, Thomas E. Holliday, argued that others at F-H should have also been tried in addition to Dowie. "I'd be very interested to see people above [Dowie and Stodder] in court," U.S. District Judge Gary Feess said, but indicated Holliday's suggestion was irrelevant to the current case.

A survey of 39,090 patients and 335 primary-care physicians reveals the power of direct-to-consumer advertising of drugs. "Seventy-eight percent of doctors said patients asked them at least occasionally to prescribe drugs they had seen advertised on television, and 67 percent said they sometimes did so," Consumer Reports reveals. While a majority of patients rated their doctors highly, approximately one-third "failed to discuss side effects of prescribed drugs, and two-thirds never brought up costs of treatments and tests." Of the doctors surveyed, 40% considered direct-to-consumer ads by the drug industry were a disservice to the public. The report authors urge consumers to "ignore drug ads."

In 2004, Oregon health officials began investigating whether perchlorate, a rocket fuel chemical present in some of the state's water wells, "might be creeping into the breadbasket region's produce and dairy milk." Their conclusion, based on "limited food sampling," is that "perchlorate doesn't pose a health danger to area residents." But records obtained by The Oregonian reveal that the Northwest Food Processors Association "urged top state health administrators to kill the food study," claiming it might "put the agriculture and food processing industry in the region at risk of severe and unwarranted economic loss." Agricultural groups also raised concerns. State officials "acknowledged that [such] pressure ... changed their process, but they said they did not compromise on results." Yet, to reach their "safe" conclusion, state officials discarded early test results showing high levels of contamination. In an internal email, the head of the state testing project admitted, "My scientific conscience is saying that conclusions cannot be drawn about the data ... since two labs have conflicting results."

Image from the Lincoln Group's website

Newsweek reports on "a draft report recently produced by the Baghdad [U.S.] embassy's director of strategic communications Ginger Cruz" that the publication obtained. The report warns, "Without popular support from the US population, there is the risk that troops will be pulled back ... Thus there is a vital need to save popular support via message." It suggests "16 themes to reinforce with the American public," including "vitally important we succeed," "actively working on new approaches," and "there are no quick or easy answers." Newsweek comments, "What's even more telling is that the IRAQI MESSAGES -- the very next section -- are still 'TBD,' to be determined." The Cruz report also states, "Inadequate message control in Iraq is feeding the escalating cycle of violence." In contrast, "The sophistication of the way the enemy is using the news media is huge," said Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the former commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. A U.S. Embassy spokesperson told Newsweek that "the document reflects Cruz's personal views, not official policy."

Wal-Mart is launching a massive PR blitz to try to staunch the criticism it receives from concerned consumers and activists working on issues like labor, the environment, healthcare and human rights. The TV broadcast ads on network and cable channels will focus on "Sam's Dream," referring to founder Sam Walton. "It all began with a big dream in a small town, Sam Walton's dream," a narrator says as one ad starts with a black-and-white photo of Sam Walton and a grainy shot of Walton's first five-and-dime store in what is now the chain's headquarters town of Bentonville, Ark. "Sam's dream. Your neighborhood Wal-Mart," the ad ends. While Wal-Mart spokesperson David Tovar asserts that "This campaign is part of a long-term effort to inform the public about the company's positive impact on communities, including some of our core values like affordable health care, customer savings and charitable contributions," WakeUpWalMart.com spokesman Chris Kofinis assesses the 30- and 60-second spots as "Wal-Mart ... living in a bizarre state of denial, where no matter how bad their public reputation is, they still believe that a tired ad campaign can fool the American public into believing it is OK to exploit millions of working families."

Studies of the health benefits of beverages are four to eight times more likely to support the studied drink if industry fully paid for the research than if it didn't, according to a newly-published article in the science journal PLoS Medicine. The study reviewed 206 journal articles that drew conclusions about the health effects of a beverage. About half of those revealed their funding sources. "We found evidence that's strongly suggestive of bias," said obesity specialist Dr. David Ludwig of Children's Hospital Boston. American Beverage Association president Susan Neely slammed the study, saying, "This is yet another attack on industry by activists who demonstrate their own biases in their review by...not judging the research on its merits." The study looked at health claims for beverages including milk, juice and soda, among others. A consumer advocacy group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, also participated in the study.