New Institute Charts Murky Waters
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
The multinational law firm Hunton & Williams -- whose clients include Altria, DTE Energy, General Dynamics and Pfizer -- has launched The
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Health
Shipshape Spin for Japan
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
Concerns about safety and the impact on the local fishing industry have led residents to protest the U.S. Navy's stationing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in Yokosuka, Japan.
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Pinkwashing: Can Shopping Cure Breast Cancer?
You've heard the term "greenwashing." It refers to corporations that try to appear "green" without reducing their negative impact on the environment.
Since 2002, the group Breast Cancer Action has promoted its "Think Before You Pink" campaign. It's fighting "pinkwashing," which is when corporations try to boost sales by associating their products with the fight against breast cancer. Pinkwashing is a form of slacktivism -- a campaign that makes people feel like they're helping solve a problem, while they're actually doing more to boost corporate profits. Pinkwashing has been around for a while, but is now reaching almost unbelievable levels.
Mixed Reports on FDA Efficacy
Submitted by Judith Siers-Poisson on
The number of warning letters sent by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to corporations has dropped by 50% in the last decade. In 2002, the regulatory agency decided that all warning letters should go through the office of its chief counsel, a move "designed to strengthen the letters and make them legally consistent and credible." But the change may have just succeeded in slowing the process to a crawl.
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Most Med Schools Not Making the Grade
Submitted by Judith Siers-Poisson on
The American Medical Students' Association (AMSA) graded 150 medical schools on their conflict-of-interest policies and the influence that drug companies have with faculty and students. Only seven of the schools surveyed received an "A"; 60 got a failing grade, for not having sufficient policies or for not participating in the survey. AMSA president Dr. Brian Hurley called strong conflict-of-interest policies "incredibly important to protect the educational experience." Dr.
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More Than You Bargained for in Your Chicken
Submitted by Judith Siers-Poisson on
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has found that Tyson Foods routinely gave antibiotics to chicken it raised to sell as meat, and labeled it as antibiotic free.
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Shifting Focus, Anti-Abortion Groups Oppose Contraception
Submitted by Anne Landman on
On June 7, the anti-abortion groups American Life League (ALL) and Pharmacists for Life launched a new national campaign called "Protest the Pill Day 08: The Pill Kills Babies." Their goal is to convince American women to stop using oral contraceptives, which they believe kill people.
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Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Tries to Explain "Menthol Loophole" in FDA Bill
Submitted by Anne Landman on
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, who negotiated with Philip Morris to draft the bill to allow the
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Corporate-Sponsored "Slacktivism": Bigger and More Dangerous than the Urban Dictionary Realizes
Recently while browsing the Web I came across UrbanDictionary.com, which is sort of a wiki of contemporary slang. I found some of the newer words listed there amusing, like "hobosexual" (the opposite of metrosexual; someone who cares little about their looks), "consumerican," ("a particularly American brand of consumerism"), and "wikidemia" ("an academic work passed off as scholarly yet researched entirely on Wikipedia").
Citing Menthol Exemption, Black Group Pulls Support for FDA Tobacco Bill
Submitted by Anne Landman on
The National African American Tobacco Prevention Network (NAATPN) has withdrawn its support for a bill allowing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products.
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