The European Court of Auditors (ECA) has sent a highly critical message to four of the EU agencies in a report published today, condemning their failure to manage conflicts of interest adequately. The Court has carried out an investigation into conflict of interests policies at the European aviation safety agency (EASA), European chemicals agency (ECHA), European food safety agency (EFSA) and the European Medicines agency (EMA). The EASA came out worst in the score report, but significant shortcomings were identified at EMA and EFSA as well.
Meningitis for sale: US pharmacists point to sketchy corporate practices
In its continuing coverage of the meningitis outbreak Reuters reports that workers from a Massachusetts company owned by the drug manufacturer linked a recent US meningitis outbreak claimed they helped prepare dangerous narcotics in unsafe conditions. A series of emails revealed the connection between the two firms. Technicians and pharmacists at Ameridose, a drug manufacturing company neighboring the New England Compounding Center (NECC), which shares owners with Ameridose, told the New York Times they had safety concerns about the drugs they were producing.
Chicago Mayor Asks Coke, Pepsi and Dr Pepper to pay for worker health
The Chicago Tribune reports that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel hopes to take millions of dollars from soft-drink companies to pay for government worker health care. On Monday, he stood with executives from three giant soda-makers to announce the city will compete against San Antonio for a $5 million national beverage lobbying group grant that will reward city workers for being healthy rather than making it tougher or more expensive for them to guzzle sugary pop.
New video discourages sugary drink consumption
USA Today reports that the Center for Science in the Public Interest has released a new anti-sugary-drink video designed to show the ill effects of drinking too many sugary beverages. The papa bear in the animated video, The Real Bears, not only suffers from erectile dysfunction, but also contracts type 2 diabetes, which forces him to have a “grizzly” leg amputation. The video ends with the polar bear family pouring their cola into the ocean. The video is available online.
Half of gun dealers report it’s too easy for criminals to get guns
The first study to survey owners and senior executives of federally licensed firearms dealers and pawnbrokers, published online in the Journal of Urban Health, found that 54.9 % believed that “it is too easy for criminals to get guns in this country. Garen Wintemute, director of the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program, and author of the study said that these groups are “valuable sources of information on retail commerce in firearms, links between legal and illegal gun sales, and policies designed to prevent the firearms that they sell from being used in crimes.”
Auto rental companies agree not to rent recalled cars
The four largest U.S. rental car companies have agreed to park vehicles facing a recall until the defect has been repaired, and lent their support to legislation to make such a policy the law, reports the Los Angeles Times. The move by Hertz Corp., Avis Budget Group Inc., Enterprise Holdings Inc. and Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc., which represent 93% of the market, followed a years-long quest by the mother of two victims of a fatal crash and auto safety advocates to keep rental cars with known problems off the road.
Alcohol industry in Australia grooming children to drink by marketing booze-flavored snacks, AMA claims
Australia’s Brisbane Courier Mail reports that a new report by the Australian Medical Association describes how the alcohol industry is using online games that feature alcohol brands, secret parties with online invitations and Facebook to market alcohol to young people. The AMA report says alcohol-sponsored mobile phone apps that provide cocktail recipes, conversation topics or use geolocation technology to recommend nearby bars and clubs are aimed at the young. The industry has also encouraged children to develop a taste for alcohol by marketing Tim Tams flavored with Tia Maria, chocolates flavored with Malibu, vodka flavored lip gloss and fudge and potato chips flavored with Jim Beam whisky, the report says.
A Call for Caution on Antipsychotic Drugs
The number of annual prescriptions for atypical antipsychotics rose to 54 million in 2011 from 28 million in 2001, a 93 percent increase, according to IMS Health. One study found that the use of these drugs for indications without federal approval more than doubled from 1995 to 2008. In a column in The New York Times, Dr. Richard Bernstein notes that originally experts believed the new drugs were more effective than the older antipsychotics against such symptoms of schizophrenia. However, several recent large randomized studies failed to show that the new antipsychotics were any more effective or better tolerated than the older drugs.
Food makers hook kids on mobile games
U.S. food companies are reaching children by embedding their products in simple and enticing games for touch-screen phones and tablets, reports the Wall Street Journal. The new medium is far cheaper than Saturday morning TV commercials and could prove as effective. The mobile games demonstrate how new technology is changing U.S. commerce, drawing tighter bonds between marketers and young consumers. “The apps are certainly targeted at kids,” said Melinda Champion, vice president of marketing at J&J Snack Foods Corp. in New Jersey, which makes SuperPretzel and Icee drinks. “If you get the kids saying, ‘Mom, I would love a SuperPretzel,’ mom will often buy it for them.”
Norway rules in favor of tobacco display ban
Reuters reports that a Norwegian court has upheld a ban on displaying tobacco products in stores, in a closely-watched ruling as governments across the world look to crack down on smoking to improve public health and cut medical costs. The court on Friday rejected a complaint by Philip Morris, maker of Marlboro cigarettes, which argued the ban violates a free trade agreement linking non-EU member Norway to the European Union’s market rules.
Corporations and Health Watch 