In two recent articles in the New York Review of Books, Marcia Angell, former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, reviews several new books on psychiatry, mental illness and the pharmaceutical industry. In the first, she asks why there is an epidemic of mental illness and describes three books that show how the “profession has allied itself with, and is manipulated by, the pharmaceutical industry.” In the second, she describes another four volumes that examine the history of the pharmaceutical industry’s support for psychiatrists and its role in promoting unneeded or risky prescriptions for their products.
Advertisers, Tobacco Industry and Convenience Stores Charge New Cigarette Warning Labels Infringe on Free Speech
In response to the new warning labels on cigarette packs proposed last week by the US Food and Drug Administration, Dan Jaffe, the Association of National Advertisers’ exec VP for government relations, told Ad Age that the ANA thinks the proposal is unconstitutional because “the government on its own … can’t put words in the mouths of advertisers.” The second, third and fourth largest tobacco companies in the United States, Reynolds American Inc, Lorillard Inc. and Commonwealth Brands are part of a federal lawsuit that challenges the legality of the new labels. Also joining the opposition is the National Association of Convenience Stores, a group representing an industry that interacts with 160 million Americans a day. “You’re going to run into people that will not necessarily like this,” said Jeff Lenard, an NACS spokesman. “When somebody’s hungry, they get something to eat. When somebody’s thirsty, they get something to drink, and we just want to make sure that when they go in, they still want to get that.”
Jack in the Box Pulls Toys from its Kids’ Meals
Jack in the Box has eliminated toys from children’s meals, winning the approval of consumer advocates who claim fast food corporations use the toys to attract kids to unhealthy meals. “We hope that McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell are paying attention to Jack in the Box, which has decided to stop using toys to market fast-food meals to children,” the Center for Science in the Public Interest said in a statement. “It’s too bad that McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, and Taco Bell think they can’t compete on the basis of quality, value, taste, or nutrition, but instead must resort to such a discredited marketing tactic to lure families to their businesses.” However, Ad Age notes that Jack in the Box rarely markets to kids and is a fraction of the size of McDonald’s.
Flacking for Big Pharma
In an in depth report in a recent issue of the American Scholar, Harriet Washington, author of Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, describes how the pharmaceutical industry uses doctors, medical organizations and medical journals to promote its products.
Fast Food and Soda Companies Strive to Improve Image
Fast food and soda companies are attempting to make their products seem sleeker and healthier, according to a series of articles in Advertising Age.
McDonald’s, Burger King and Subway are all building redesigned stores, aiming to look more like restaurants and cafes than fast food joints. Meanwhile, PepsiCo is planning to lauch a mid-calorie beverage called “Pepsi Next.” The new drink is likely going to be marketed as a reduced sugar beverage, and the goal is for it to taste better to some consumers than diet soda. According to John Sicher, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest, “This is an attempt by Pepsi to come up with another tool to keep consumers in their cola franchise.”
What Makes a Corporation Socially Responsible?
Jantzi-Sustainalytics, a Canadian-based company that rates companies on social responsibility recently identified Canada’s top 50 socially responsible corporations.
Winners were selected on the basis of their performance across a range of environmental, social, and governance areas on such outcomes as environmental initiatives, impact on local communities, treatment of employees, sustainability and supply-chain management. Notably absent, however, was any assessment of companies contribution to the rise of non-communicable diseases. (See this week’s Commentary on NCDs). Among the winners were McDonalds, Campbell’s Soup, Ford Motor Company, HJ Heinz, Kellogg’s, PepsiCo, and Starbucks, companies whose practices and products are leading contributors to diabetes, cancer, heart disease, hypertension and stroke.
The Smoke-Filled Revolving Door
Last week, Lorillard, the third largest tobacco company in the United States, named Neil Wilcox, a former Food and Drug Administration science policy analyst, as senior vice president and chief compliance officer. Prior to his 13 years at the FDA, Wilcox was director of global regulatory affairs at The Gillette Company and vice president of global regulatory and scientific affairs at the Kimberly Clark Corporation. At Lorillard, Wilcox will oversee compliance with the federal Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Lorillard is market leader in menthol cigarettes with an estimated 35 percent market share. FDA is expected to rule soon on how to regulate menthol.
Docs Threaten Lawsuit Against New Florida Law that Bars them from Asking Patients about Firearms
On June 2nd, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed the “Docs versus Glocks” bill that requires doctors, emergency medical personnel and other health-care providers not to enter information about a patient’s gun practices into a database and refrain from asking about gun ownership unless they “in good faith [believe] that this information is relevant to the patient’s medical care or safety, or the safety of others.” In response, Bruce S. Manheim, Jr. and Douglas H. Hallward-Driemeier, the Washington lawyers for the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians, and Florida Chapter of the American College of Physicians, wrote: “In violation of the U.S. Constitution, the law would … deprive patients of potentially life-saving information regarding safety measures they can take to protect their children, families and others from injury or death resulting from unsafe storage or handling of firearms,” “For these reasons, we intend to file a lawsuit” against this law.
New England Journal of Medicine to Supremes: Uphold Vermont Ban on Selling MD Prescription Data to Big Pharma
An editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine calls on the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the Vermont law that requires pharmaceutical data mining companies to obtain physician’s consent before selling their prescription data to drug companies. “This undesirable practice is nothing more than commercial conduct—not speech,” the editors wrote, “and it is not in the best interests of the American people.”
Sweet Battles: Sugar Companies Sue Corn Processors
Last month, five more sugar companies and two trade associations joined the lawsuit the sugar industry had filed against the Corn Refiners Association to block its move to change the name of high fructose corn syrup to “corn sugar.” Meanwhile, the corn processors have launched an ad campaign that includes TV spots featuring a mom walking through cornfields declaring that whether corn sugar or cane sugar, “your body can’t tell the difference.” A recent study published in the medical journal Obesity found significantly higher levels of fructose in sweetened beverages than the amount listed on the label, leading the authors to conclude that actual fructose consumption may be higher than assumed.
Corporations and Health Watch 