In his recent California speech on the environment, President Barack Obama said, “At the time when we passed the Clean Air Act, to try to get rid of some of this smog, some of the same doomsayers were saying, ‘New pollution standards will decimate the auto industry.’ Guess what? It didn’t happen. Our air got cleaner.” PoliticFact.com rates his claim.
Top Medicare Prescribers Rake in Speaking Fees From Drug Makers
An investigation by Pro Publica’s Charles Ornstein, Tracy Weber and Jennifer LaFleur found that at least 17 of the top 20 prescribers of Bystolic, a blood pressure medicine, in Medicare’s prescription drug program in 2010 have been paid by the drug maker Forest Laboratories to deliver promotional talks. In 2012, they together received $283,450 for speeches and more than $20,000 in meals. Pay-to-prescribe is illegal, but these doctors say they haven’t been influenced by the money they get for promoting drugs they also prescribe to large numbers of their patients. Read More.
European Union to Ban Menthol Cigarettes
The Independent reports that the European Union has agreed to ban menthol cigarettes and radically alter the packaging of so-called “slim” cigarettes as part of an overhaul of its tobacco rules. Currently slim cigarettes are sold in packaging that may attract young people, particularly girls. Under the new rules, slims will have to be sold in traditional cigarette boxes. Read More.
Pharmaceutical Industry’s Principles for Ethical Direct-to-Consumer Advertising as a Deceptive Strategy
A new study in Journal of Health, Politics, Policy and Law shows how five leading drug companies violated industry-developed standards for ethical advertising in the United States. The authors demonstrate a consistent failure by companies that market erectile dysfunction drugs to comply with the industry’s guiding principles for ethical DTCA despite pledges of compliance by company leaders. They recommend policy responses to prevent deceptive practices, protect children from adult content, and promote genuine health care education.
Alcohol Concern Calls for Major Shakeup of Alcohol Advertising
In a new report called Stick to the Facts, Alcohol Concern, a United Kingdom charity working on alcohol issues, calls for a ban on alcohol advertising at music and sporting events in an effort to protect young people from such promotional messages. The report concludes that “advertising self-regulation is insufficient. Regulation needs to be independent of interested industries and given real teeth” in order to offer a “ framework of effective regulatory controls that balances commercial with public interest.”
Altria Enters Nicotine Delivery Market
The Daily News reports that, Altria Group, the nation’s No. 1 tobacco company and owner of Marlboro maker Philip Morris USA, on Tuesday became the latest major player to enter the fledgling but potentially lucrative electronic cigarette business. The Richmond, Va.-base company unveiled its new MarkTen e-cigarette brand at its annual investors day conference in New York City. Altria said it will begin distributing MarkTen in August through its Nu Mark subsidiary, which also sells Verve chewable nicotine discs.
WHO Director Condemns Business Influences on Health Promotion
In a speech last week at the 8th Global Conference on Health Promotion, held in Helsinki, Finland, WHO Director Margaret Chan observed that “efforts to prevent non-communicable diseases go against the business interests of powerful economic operators…It is not just Big Tobacco anymore. Public health must also contend with Big Food, Big Soda, and Big Alcohol. All of these industries fear regulation, and protect themselves by using the same tactics.”
Food Industry Creates New Group to “Balance” Public Debate
More than 50 food and biotechnology trade groups including Monsanto have a new coalition called Alliance to Feed the Future. Coordinated by the International Food Information Council, the alliance was created to “balance the public dialogue” on modern agriculture and large-scale food production and technology. According to the group’s website, “there is insufficient focus in today’s public discussion regarding the benefits that our modern, efficient food system provides to consumers and society. This unbalanced public debate is negatively influencing public policy and consumers’ choices.”
Nutrition Labels on Alcohol? It’s the Company’s Choice
Alcohol beverages soon could have nutritional labels like those on food packaging, but only if the producers want to put them there. The Associated Press reports that the Treasury Department, which regulates alcohol, said last week that beer, wine and spirits companies can use labels that include serving size, servings per container, calories, carbohydrates, protein and fat per serving. Such package labels have never before been approved. The labels are voluntary, so it will be up to beverage companies to decide whether to use them on their products. The decision is a temporary, first step while the Alcohol and Tobacco Trade and Tax Bureau continues to consider final rules on alcohol labels. Rules proposed in 2007 would have made labels mandatory, but the agency never made the rules final.
Gun Makers Saw No Role in Curbing Improper Sales
In a review of court documents from earlier lawsuits against the gun industry, The New York Times found that the industry’s leaders argued, often with detachment and defiance, that their companies bear little responsibility, beyond what the law requires, for monitoring the distributors and dealers who sell their guns to the public. The executives claimed not to know if their guns had ever been used in a crime. They eschewed voluntary measures to lessen the risk of them falling into the wrong hands. And they denied that common danger signs — like a single person buying many guns at once or numerous “crime guns” that are traced to the same dealer — necessarily meant anything at all.
Corporations and Health Watch 