Health

Stifled by the Menopause Industry

"From oral contraceptives to estrogen therapy, Barbara Seaman has been exposing pharmaceutical industry cover-ups of drug health risks for 30 years," writes Linda Nathan. In response, pharmaceutical companies have exerted influence to get her fired from three different women's magazines -- Ladies Home Journal, Family Circle, and Hadassah -- where she wrote columns criticizing their products.

No

A Spoonful of PR to Make For-Profit Medicine Seem Good

Rising healthcare costs, drug recalls and a low public opinion of the healthcare industry mean that there will be "less money in [direct-to-consumer advertising]" and "more money in PR" in the future, predicts Chandler Chicco's Jeff

No

We Confuse, You Decide

Women seeking abortions in Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana and Kansas are told that "abortion can increase their risk of breast cancer," and "legislation to require such notification has been introduced in 14 other states." But "a panel of scientists convened by the National Cancer Institute reviewed available data and concluded there is no link.

No

We're Here, We're Peers, Get Used to It

"More than 20 chemical companies," including Monsanto and Dow Chemical, "have taken the unusual step of issuing subpoenas to five peer reviewers of a scholarly book." The book, "Deceit and Denial: The Deadly Politics of Industrial Pollution," presents evidence that, "in the late 1960s and early '70s, chemical-industry leaders failed to inform the government about a link that had been found in experiments with rats between e

No

Modify the Apples Without Upsetting the Cart

The debate around genetically modified organisms "is fragmenting global food markets and putting political pressure on food exporters to choose between producing natural" or GMO crops. As "big biotech companies ... are looking for growth opportunities in Asia to compensate for the problems they have encountered in European markets," Thailand developed "a seven-year plan to ... [become] a regional biotech hub." The Thai government "commissioned a team of U.S.

No

Fast Food Companies Are Bad for Your Health Care

"California's initiative laws, initially passed to thwart corporate influence in politics, now facilitate just the opposite," writes Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser. Proposition 72, "an initiative that would require large and medium-sized business owners to give health benefits to their workers," is opposed by McDonald's, Burger King, Best Buy, Target and other fast food and big box companies.

No

Comparing Coke and Carrots (on Coke's Tab)

At a conference on sugar and other sweeteners, medicine and epidemiology professor Adam Drewnowski challenged the World Health Organization's characterization of soft drinks as "energy-dense foods." He said that soft drinks' "high water content gives them the energy density of fresh carrots." Oldways Preservation & Exchange Trust, a think tank on food issues, organized the conference, which was sponsored by Coca-Cola's

No

Pages

Subscribe to Health