Health

Hot Flash, Cold Cash

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"Last April, several hundred black-tie and couture-clad worthies crowded into the ornate ballroom of the Washington Ritz-Carlton for one more dinner on the spring charity circuit," writes Alicia Mundy - namely, the annual gala of the once-respected Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR), a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization whose stated mission is "to improve the health of women through research." In recent years, however, SWHR has become increasingly dependent on corporation contributions from pharmaceutical companies.

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Main Source: 
Washington Monthly, February/March 2003
Topics: 
Corporations
Health
Women

Pentagon Denies That Depleted Uranium Keeps On Killing

Submitted by John Stauber on

"If war again comes to Iraq, depleted uranium munitions will be a mainstay of the American arsenal. For years, the Pentagon has discounted reports that the shells and bullets, made of solid nuclear-waste byproduct and used for the first time on a large scale in the Iraq war, bore calamity. ... 'There just isn't any scientific foundation to draw a connection between exposure and the incidents of leukemia, other cancers or birth defects,' said Michael Kilpatrick, deputy director of deployment health support at the Pentagon. ...

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Main Source: 
San Jose Mercury News, February 25, 2003
Topics: 
Nuclear Power
Health
U.S. Government
War / Peace

Bogus "Consumer Group" Stripped of Domain Names

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

The Center for Consumer Freedom, a front group for the restaurant, alcohol and tobacco industries, has been forced to give up the domain names of two web sites used to attack the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), in what CSPI called an "Orwellian" effort to create confusion among Internet users looking for CSPI's websites.

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Main Source: 
CSPI news release, February 20, 2003
Topics: 
Food Safety
Internet
Front Groups

WHO "Infiltrated by Food Industry"

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

According to a confidential report prepared by a consultant to the World Health Organization, the food industry has followed the example of the tobacco industry, infiltrating the WHO and exerting "undue influence" over policies intended to safeguard public health by limiting the amount of fat, sugar and salt we consume. "The easy movement of experts - toxicologists in particular - between private firms, universities, tobacco and food industries and international agencies creates the conditions for conflict of interest," says the report by Norbert Hirschhorn.

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Main Source: 
Guardian (UK), February 6, 2003
Topics: 
Food Safety
Corporations
International

PR-Inflicted Nightmare Hits Cell Therapeutics

Submitted by John Stauber on

"A public-relations firm is dealing with a public-relations nightmare
after unintentionally e-mailing journalists and others documents about
one of its clients, Seattle-based Cell Therapeutics.
The mass e-mail from Shepardson Stern + Kaminsky on Wednesday revealed
the candid views of Cell Therapeutics managers and outside analysts on
the strengths and weaknesses of the biotechnology company. SS+K asserts

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Main Source: 
Seattle Times, February 1, 2003
Topics: 
Crisis Management
Health

Real Girls Have Hamburger Buns

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Responding to reports of rising vegetarianism among teenagers, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association "responded to the looming vegetarian crisis by launching a website, Cool 2B Real, in an attempt to link meat consumption with some degree of hipness. The site, which looks like a cross between a Barbie fan page and a Taco Bell ad (beef-filled tacos and gigantic hamburgers dot the screen), extols teenage girls to 'Keep it Real' - 'real' as in a person who eats beef, preferably three or four times a day.

No
Main Source: 
Time, January 30, 2003
Topics: 
Food Safety
Internet
Corporations
Marketing

Astroturf Ethics

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

After a recent article in the British Medical Journal detailed drug company sponsorship of medical meetings on "female sexual dysfunction," a PR firm with clients in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry has launched a global campaign to "counter" the BMJ report. Michelle Lerner of the HCC De Facto PR firm said it would "violate ethical guidelines" to disclose the identity of her client.

No
Main Source: 
British Medical Journal, January 18, 2003
Topics: 
Astroturf
Ethics
Health

Spin Doctors Prescribe the Wrong Medicine

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"It's no easy job to save market share for expensive antihypertensive drugs when headlines read 'When Cheaper Is Also Better,'" writes Jeanne Lenzer. A major new study shows that the expensive drugs used to treat hypertension "were no better than a diuretic.

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Main Source: 
British Medical Journal, January 18, 2003
Topics: 
Ethics
Health
Marketing

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