Submitted by Anne Landman on
Facing a massive lawsuit brought against it by the Nigerian government, cigarette maker British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) knows exactly what to do: roll out the Corporate Social
Submitted by Bob Burton on
The United States Senate Committee on Finance has released a damning staff report titled The Intimidation of Dr. John Buse and the Diabetes Drug Avandia.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Human rights, environmental, health and labor campaigns around the Beijing 2008 Olympics that seek to change China's behavior are increasingly targeting Olympic sponsors.
Submitted by Anne Landman on
Most people don't know it, but cigarettes sold in some states are now more dangerous than ones sold in other states. Deaths and damage from cigarette-caused fires have motivated New York, Vermont, California and other states to enact laws in recent years requiring that only fire-safe cigarettes be sold in their states.
An extract from Bob Burton's Inside Spin: The Dark Underbelly of the PR Industry.
Brian Page, a 42-year-old railway worker, had been busy before Easter 1992 buying furniture for a house he had just moved into at Mt Pritchard, a south-western Sydney suburb. On their way home, his daughter Melissa wanted to stop at McDonald's in Fairfield for lunch. Shortly after returning home, Brian Page began vomiting and had diarrhoea. As Page's symptoms were initially indistinguishable from a bout of the flu, his doctor gave him a medical certificate and sent him home. Page took to bed for the next three days but on the fourth day went back to work, even though he wasn't feeling well. His boss noticed that Page was unable to write properly and seemed disoriented and confused by his work. He was so concerned about Page that he called a taxi and sent him home, but by then Page recognised something was seriously wrong and went straight to Liverpool Hospital. What was unknown to Page and his doctor was that he had been exposed to Legionella bacteria. If detected early, Legionnaires disease can be treated with antibiotics. Untreated, it can be a killer. Two days after being admitted to the intensive care unit of Liverpool Hospital, Page died. On what would have been his 43rd birthday, more than 100 family and friends attended his funeral.14
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
David Case reports on Rick Ness, an employee of the Colorado-based Newmont Mining Corporation who the Indonesian government has accused of dumping dangerous waste into a shallow bay in Sulawesi.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
In May of this year, the drug company Eli Lilly announced that it would post details of "all educational grant funding and other monetary contributions provided to U.S.-based organizations" into an online database. Tucked away amongst the numerous grants made in the first six months of 2007 are details of funds provided to patient groups, various research centres and a sprinkling of political groups.
Philip Morris (PM) has long been a past master at funding front groups and organizing scientists to deny the obvious. Now it is apparent that someone at PM tried puffing the entry in Wikipedia on the Marlboro cigarette.
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Thanks to WikiScanner, more PR firms are coming under fire for making anonymous edits to Wikipedia that favored their clients. "Freud Communications' London office was caught making edits" on articles about Pizza Hut and Carphone Warehouse, reports PR Week.
Submitted by Bob Burton on
The Australian supermarket company Woolworths has withdrawn a range of tissue products after being outed by an anonymous blogger for using a "Sustainable Forest Fibre" logo on products sourced from a notorious Indonesian forestry company.
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