Changing Corporate Practices to Reduce Non-Communicable Diseases and Injuries: A Promising Strategy for Improving Global Public Health?

Posted on by Corporations and Health Watch

In presentations on “Changing Corporate Practices to Reduce Non-Communicable Diseases and Injuries: A Promising Strategy for Improving Global Public Health?” at Edinburgh University and University of Glasgow, Nicholas Freudenberg, Distinguished Professor of Public Health at City University of New York School of Public Health, described the role of corporate business and political practices on the growing global burden of non-communicable diseases and injuries. He also analyzed what roles public health professionals can play in countering the adverse health effects of these practices. View the presentation.

More than 100 medical groups urge Congress to fund CDC research on gun violence

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The Guardian reports that a coalition of more than 100 medical groups is asking Congress to fund research on gun violence at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to end a decades-long drought of federal public health research on the subject. The groups sent a letter requesting that Congress “end the dramatic chilling effect of the current rider language restricting gun violence research and to fund this critical work”.

From new Lethal but Legal Afterword: The World That Is Possible

Posted on by Corporations and Health Watch

This week Oxford University Press releases a new paperback edition of Lethal but Legal Corporations, Consumption and Protecting Public Health with a new Afterword by the author. An excerpt is below.

Nicholas Freudenberg

New York City, October 2034.

I wrote Lethal but Legal more than 20 years ago because I was worried about humanity’s survival. Growing epidemics of chronic diseases and injuries, escalating environmental damage, increasing concentration of corporate power and wealth, and declining democracy and government protection of health were converging towards a dangerous tipping point. After the book’s release, I had many conversations about these fears with readers, researchers, activists, health professionals and students. What struck me most was that although most agreed that the rise of the corporate consumption complex and its relentless marketing of hyperconsumption threatened public health and democracy, even those persuaded by the book’s arguments were pessimistic that another future was possible. Corporations were too powerful, they said, opposition too weak. Acquiescence was more popular than resistance and any possibility of a real alternative seemed hopelessly naïve.

Continue reading From new Lethal but Legal Afterword: The World That Is Possible

Survey claims most gun owners would buy smart guns

Posted on by Corporations and Health Watch

The gun industry is at odds with what they term an editorial piece by the Bloomberg School of Public Health on personalized firearms that use technology to prevent unauthorized access, writes Guns.com. The findings, published in the American Journal of Public Health last month, suggest there is a genuine interest in firearms with authorized-user technology, commonly referred to as smart guns, should it be available for sale. In a web-based survey of 3,949 individuals performed in January 2015, 59 percent said they would be willing to consider a childproof gun if they were to purchase a new weapon

Lawsuit Filed Against Oregon Dealer That Transferred Gun Used in Murder Through Straw Purchase

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The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence announced that the family of Kirsten Englund is filing a lawsuit against World Pawn Exchange for transferring multiple firearms to a straw purchaser, which were then used by her mentally ill son, to murder Kirsten Englund and carjack and kidnap another victim during a crime spree stretching from Oregon to California.  The suit also seeks to hold Diane Boyce and J&G Sales, the company which originally sold the guns online, accountable.  The suit was filed in the Multnomah County Circuit Court by Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, PLLC, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence’s Legal Action Project, and the D’Amore Law Group, P.C.

Time to repeal gun industry’s exceptional legal immunity

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Gun violence has been a problem for a long time, writes Allen Rostron in The Conversation, but recent shootings in Paris and San Bernardino have focused attention on the issue.  A key way to ensure that gun companies operate safely and responsibly would be to repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. Enacted in 2005, this federal law gave gun sellers a special immunity from legal responsibilities that is not enjoyed by any other industry.

California ballot measure will bypass NRA on gun control

Posted on by Corporations and Health Watch

An op ed in the Sacramento Bee notes that year after year, Americans are horrified by the relentless gun violence in this country – and feel despair that it can’t be stopped. Now California’s Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking the issue directly to the people, with his proposal of a state ballot measure to advance gun safety. The measure would make California the first in the nation to implement point-of-sale background checks for ammunition purchases.

Badger Gun Trial Decision Has Firearm Industry On Edge

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A landmark lawsuit ruling in Wisconsin holding a gun shop liable for the shooting of two Milwaukee police officers could have national implications, reports NewsChannel 6 in Wisconsin. This ruling comes as tensions in Washington continue to brew over gun control. Some gun experts believe this decision is only going to add fuel to an already contentious debate.