Late last month, reports the Center for Public Integrity, two advocacy groups, the Medicare Rights Center and Social Security Works, released a report suggesting that Congress could save taxpayers $141 billion over 10 years just by reauthorizing a program that was eliminated at the behest of drug makers in 2003. The groups noted that while the prescription drug benefit helped Medicare beneficiaries afford their medications, “the law also severely limited the government’s ability to control Medicare drug prices.”
Why the Drug Industry Hasn’t Come Up with an Ebola Cure
The lack of an Ebola cure amid the deadliest outbreak in the disease’s history is highlighting a significant challenge in the public health world: developing life-saving cures to those who need them the most. In many cases, the Washington Post reports, drug manufacturers don’t have strong enough economic incentives to devote resources to making drugs for populations that would have trouble affording them.
Gunwars Report on Gun Rights and Regulations After Newtown
Gunwars, a new report on gun rights and regulations by the Carnegie-Knight News21 program reports that twenty months after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, some would say little has changed when it comes to guns in America. Others would say everything has.
Critic of Artificial Sweeteners Pilloried by Industry-backed Scientists
Susan Swithers is no stranger to food industry criticism, writes Chris Young for the Center for Public Integrity. Still, even Swithers was surprised by the way in which the diet food industry attacked a paper she published last summer that raised health concerns about popular sugar substitutes used in snack foods and diet drinks. Perhaps the strongest, most wide-ranging attacks came from the Calorie Control Council, a lesser-known industry group with a penchant for stealthy public relations tactics.
How Wall Street Tobacco Deals Left States with Billions in Toxic Debt
In November 1998, attorneys general from across the country sealed a historic deal with the tobacco industry to pay for the health care costs of smoking. Then, Wall Street came knocking with an offer many state and local politicians found irresistible: Cash upfront for those governments willing to trade investors the right to some or all of their tobacco payments. Things haven’t exactly worked out as planned, finds Pro Publica in an analysis of more than 100 of these deals.
After Deadly Blast in China, GM Doesn’t Plan to Change Supply-Chain Safety Process
General Motors Co said it has no immediate plans to review how it manages safety standards further down its supply chain, three days after a deadly blast at a supplier’s contractor in China, reports the Wall Street Journal. The auto maker will continue the prevailing industry practice in which car makers rely on their direct component suppliers to monitor the safety standards of indirect suppliers further down the chain, the company’s president said.
Children See, Children Do: Will Mexican Kids Slim Down by Watching Fewer Candy Ads?
Just a week after Mexico banned commercials for soda, snacks and confectionery products during cinema showings of children’s movies and during children’s TV programming, reports Food Navigator, Mexican authorities say ads for Nestlé, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Hershey´s and Holanda products are already out of line with the new rules.
Sysco to Pay $20 Million to Settle Unsafe Food Handling Charges
Sysco Corporation, the largest U.S. food distribution company will pay almost $20 million dollars in restitution, costs and penalties for the company’s illegal practice of holding perishable foods – such as seafood, milk and raw meat – in unrefrigerated sheds, reports Corporate Crime Reporter. Sysco food trucks would deliver some small food orders to unrefrigerated and unsanitary sheds. Sysco employees would then use their personal vehicles to deliver the unsafely held food to restaurants, hotels, hospitals and schools.
Uruguay’s New Law Leads to Full Compliance With WHO Tobacco Control Guidance
Uruguay has introduced stringent new bans on all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS), including cigarette displays at point of sale, reports the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. When this legislative upgrade comes into force in August, Uruguay will be fully implementing the World Health Organization’s MPOWER guidelines – which assist countries to build and manage tobacco control.
New Legislation Would Allow Criminal Penalties Against Corporate Officers Who Hide Information on Dangerous Products
Consumer safety, public health, environmental and other groups in the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards lauded a new bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), co-sponsored by Sens. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). The “Hide No Harm” bill would hold corporate officers criminally accountable if they knowingly conceal serious dangers that lead to consumer or worker deaths or injuries. Penalties could include jail time. Read more from the Consumer Federation of America.
Corporations and Health Watch 