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

Insufficient tobacco tax increase proposals undermine public health

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In response to proposed plans that inadequately increase Missouri’s lowest-in-the-nation tobacco tax, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, and several other local health groups called on the Missouri legislature to resist the tobacco industry proposals. “Tobacco products in Missouri are too cheap and the health costs are too high. Our state is long overdue for a tobacco tax increase…A meaningful tobacco tax increase – of $1.00 per pack or more – has proven time and again to be an effective way to reduce tobacco use, cut health care costs and generate state revenue.”

Food companies distort nutrition science. Here’s how to stop them.

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In Vox, Julia Belluz writes about Marion Nestle’s compilation of food industry research studies. About a year ago, Marion Nestle finally got sick of the rotten state of nutrition science. Everywhere she looked, she found glaring conflicts of interest. “Without any trouble, I could identify industry-funded nutrition studies by their titles,” says the New York University professor. “It was so obvious.” Nestle kept seeing studies with very specific names, like, “Concord grape juice, cognitive function, and driving performance,” or, “Walnut ingestion in adults at risk for diabetes.” These papers were funded by the food industry — a grape juice maker, walnut growers — and nearly always reached glowing conclusions about the food in question. Her findings so far are remarkable. Of the 152 industry-funded studies she has examined, 140 boast results that favor the funder. That’s more than 90 percent.

Does the FDA now belong to Big Pharma?

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In Salon, Martha Rosenberg writes that it is hard to believe only four senators opposed the confirmation of Robert Califf, who was approved today as the next FDA commissioner. Vocal opponent Bernie Sanders condemned the vote from the campaign trail. But where was Dick Durbin? Where were all the lawmakers who say they care about industry and Wall Street profiteers making money at the expense of public health? Califf, chancellor of clinical and translational research at Duke University until recently, received money from 23 drug companies including the giants like Johnson & Johnson, Lilly, Merck, Schering Plough and GSK according to a disclosure statement on the website of Duke Clinical Research Institute.

India introduces car sales tax to combat pollution

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The Guardian reports that India has introduced a new tax on car sales aimed at helping fight high levels of air pollution and congestion. The surprise move, announced by the finance minister, Arun Jaitley, is a victory for campaigners and a defeat for the powerful car industry. Commentators said the move showed how attitudes to car use had changed in India. “There are some things that are politically palatable now that were not before. Jaitley has seen there is political space and public support. Once Indians owning cars was seen as a sign of economic success. Now this sort of tax is seen as Indians being responsible,” said Samir Saran, of the Observer Research Foundation, a Delhi-based think tank.

Carbonating the World

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A new report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest shows how two major global soft-drink producers, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, have sought to maintain their profits in the face of declining sales in wealthier countries by, like the tobacco industry, investing heavily in low- and middle-income countries. Thus, both companies, as well as other multinational and local beverage producers, are spending several billion dollars a year in such countries as Brazil, China, India, and Mexico to build bottling plants, create distribution networks, and advertise their products to maximize sales.

Trading Down: Unemployment, Inequality and Other Risks of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement

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Adverse impacts of the Trans Pacific Partnership on public health have been well documented but how might the pact affect regional and global economies? A new report “Trading Down: Unemployment, Inequality and Other Risks of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement,”  on the Trans Pacific Partnership by investigators at Tufts University asks that question. It concludes that “the benefits to economic growth are even smaller than those projected with full-employment models, and are negative for Japan and the United States. More important, we find that the TPP will likely lead to losses in employment and increases in inequality.”

Judge Criticizes Cigarette Makers, Adopts New Warning Statements

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The Wall Street Journal reports that the federal judge presiding over government litigation against tobacco companies in a Monday opinion blasted cigarette makers for continuing to fight her court order requiring them to warn the public about the dangers of smoking. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler, based in Washington, adopted revised language Monday for the product warnings and rejected as “ridiculous” the latest legal arguments being made by the tobacco companies. She said the defendants were trying to further delay the resolution of a case that began in 1999.

Theranos Lab Practices Pose Risk to Patient Health, Regulators Say

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Federal inspectors found “deficient practices” at a Theranos Inc. laboratory that “pose immediate jeopardy to patient health and safety,” according a letter released last week, reports the Wall Street Journal. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said an inspection completed in November at the company’s lab in Newark, Calif., uncovered five major infractions that violate the federal law governing clinical labs. Theranos, valued at $9 billion, has been under fire since an October Wall Street Journal report revealed that the company’s inventions were only used on a small number of tests sold to patients. A follow-up report said that Theranos had actively hidden its proprietary technology from lab inspectors during previous inspections.