U.S. Government

Democracy Now! Looks at Pro-War PR, From Freedom's Watch to Petraeus

Democracy Now! reports: "President Bush's prime time address before the nation tonight culminates a carefully orchestrated public relations campaign to win support for the continuation of the war in Iraq.

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Lobbying for Babykillers

Babies that are not breast fed suffer higher rates of health problems including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), diabetes, lymphoma, leukemia, Hodgkin's disease, obesity, high cholesterol and asthma. Unfortunately, many parents are still unaware of these risks, thanks to the infant formula industry.

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Afghanistan Lobbying Now "Critical Work"

"DLA Piper, which has repped Afghanistan on a pro bono basis for the past five years, wants some cash from its client to cover the 'critical work that lies ahead,'" reports O'Dwyers. The Afghan government will pay the law and lobby firm $10,000 per month; expenses over that amount will be waived by the firm. The document (PDF file) that Piper filed with the U.S.

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Bush's Surgeon General of Industry-Friendly Spin

dandelion"White House officials viewed former surgeon general Richard H. Carmona as a public relations tool, pushing him to make political appearances and promote the Bush administration's agenda while he was in office, according to a series of executive branch e-mails released yesterday by Sen.

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The Untold Story of How & Why Philip Morris is Pushing for FDA Regulation

Congrats Philip MorrisIt may seem incongruous to the average person why Philip Morris (PM) would back legislation to restrict its business, yet that is what PM seems to be is doing by supporting S. 625, the "Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act," the bill that would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over tobacco products. After all, PM has a corporate mandate to increase profits for its shareholders, so PM would not support this legislation if it wasn't going to benefit its bottom line, and it is practically an axiom in public health that whatever benefits PM's bottom line is going to be bad for public health. That's what makes this bill especially troubling to people who study tobacco industry documents; it is clear that PM had a hand in crafting it. That alone sounds like a lot, but PM's efforts to enact it are clearly delivering the company a hefty side-benefit of causing dissent within the tobacco control community over its passage.

When Drug Industry Flacks Attack

Following Dr. Steven Nissen's publication of a study warning that "GlaxoSmithKline's diabetes drug Avandia increased the risk of heart attacks by 43% and death from cardiovascular events by possibly 64%," he was publicly pilloried. "More than one story from ostensibly different sources" derisively referred to him as "St Steven," the "Patron Saint of Drug Safety," and "Saint Steven the Pure," reports Evelyn Pringle. Among the attackers was FDA spokesman Douglas Arbesfeld.

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