Corporate Money Silences Critics And Makes Friends

"Corporate cash has pervaded the health nonprofit world, raising new concerns about medical groups' independence," MSNBC reports. The Center for Science in the Public Interest released a new study that looks at how corporate money co-opts nonprofit organizations. "Organizations that receive substantial funding from companies don't want to offend their supporters. It's natural," CSPI's Michael Jacobson says. iThese affiliations can stifle criticism and that, I think, is an important point because the public perceives independent nonprofit groups as being public-service oriented." MSBN notes that the report "also questions the growth of official-sounding nonprofits that are what Jacobson calls 'corporate creations.' Founders of the Council for Biotechnology Information include chemical firms BASF, Dow, DuPont and Monsanto. Many members of the American Council for Fitness and Nutrition are food industry giants, such as McDonalds, and trade groups like the Snack Food Association."