Corporations

Tobacco Companies Secretly Added Appetite Suppressants to Cigarettes

by Anne Landman — May 6, 2011 - 3:11pm

A recent study of tobacco industry documents reveals that cigarette makers added appetite-suppressing substances to cigarettes and strategized on how to enhance the appetite-suppressing and weight-reducing effects of smoking. In the 1960s, Philip Morris (PM) added tartaric acid to its cigarettes to reduce smokers' appetite. British American Tobacco (BAT) added the same substance to its cigarettes. Another known tobacco additive with appetite-reducing characteristics, 2-acetylepyridine, was referred to in industry documents using code-names and was used as a cigarette ingredient by PM, Brown & Williamson, R.J. Reynolds and BAT. The companies also considered adding ephedrine and amphetamine to cigarettes, but these chemicals were not found in their ingredients lists. Cigarette makers strategized that they could get away with adding appetite-suppressing chemicals to cigarettes as long as they made no overt health claims about their effects to the public. In a 1969 memo, Helmut Wakeham, PM's scientific director, in response to a question about introducing specific substances into cigarettes, explained that "FDA [has] no requirements until a health claim is made. Then there must be studies on safety, efficacy, mechanism of action, metabolism, etc. If a substance is simply added to a product and no claims are made there is not need for FDA approval.

Main Source: 
European Journal of Public Health, April 7, 2011

Skin Care Company Tries to Get "Newsvertising"

by Anne Landman — May 6, 2011 - 1:28pm

A skin care company that claims to have a cure for acne, psoriasis, folliculitis and other disorders is contacting Virginia media outlets and offering to pay them $100 for each person who sees the company's press release and signs up to get treatment. The company asks editors to "consider running our press release as a win-win project." The only problem? Taking kickbacks violates the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, which dictates that journalists should "refuse gifts, favors, fees, free travel and special treatment ..." and "be wary of sources offering information for favors or money." One editor who noted the corrupting significance of the company's bird-dogging offer to media outlets forwarded the release to the Poynter Institute, a school whose mission is to "ensure that Americans have access to excellent journalism" and to help Americans understand how to tell which journalism is credible. The Institute posted a blog alerting the public to the press release.

Main Source: 
Boingboing.net, May 5, 2011
News

Are Health Insurers Writing Health Reform Regulations?

by Wendell Potter — May 5, 2011 - 10:16am
  • Topics: Corporations, Health, Lobbying

    • One of the reasons I wanted to return to journalism after a long career as an insurance company PR man was to keep an eye on the implementation of the new health reform law. Many journalists who covered the reform debate have moved on, and some consider the writing of regulations to implement the legislation boring and of little interest to the public.

    But insurance company lobbyists know the media are not paying much attention. And so they are able to influence what the regulations actually look like -- and how the law will be enforced -- with little scrutiny, much less awareness.

    News

    Another Big Business Win in the U.S. Supreme Court

    by Brendan Fischer — May 5, 2011 - 9:00am
  • Topics: Corporations, Ethics

    • The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority granted big business another win on April 27 by granting corporations the "right" to suppress class actions challenging unfair practices. In a decision that has serious implications for consumer and employment rights, Justice Scalia's majority decision ignores traditionally-conservative judicial principles to get to the pro-business end it seeks.

    Blackwater (Xe) Hires John Ashcroft as an Ethics Adviser

    by Anne Landman — May 4, 2011 - 5:53pm

    Xe, the private security firm formerly known as Blackwater, has hired former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft as an ethics adviser. Blackwater gained notoriety after five of its contract security guards were indicted in the 2007 machine gun massacre in Baghdad's Nisour Square that took the lives of 17 Iraqi civilians. In the wake of that controversy, the company changed its name to Xe to try to escape its bad image. Ashcroft has faced his own ethical challenges, too, and he served as attorney general during many of the constitutional abuses conducted during the Bush Administration. In 2004, he refused to comply with Senate Judiciary Committee demands to produce copies of legal memos that lawyers in Bush administration had prepared that reportedly stated that as commander-in-chief, the president had the right  to order torture. Ashcroft was also instrumental in advancing so-called federal "charitable choice" initiatives that funneled taxpayer money to religious groups amid charges that such government-funded programs violate the constitutional separation of church and state. Ashcroft also signed off on the Bush Administration's unconstitutional warrantless wiretapping programs until 2004, when he finally refused to reauthorize them and was subsequently pushed out of the administration.

    Main Source: 
    Politico.com, May 4, 2011

    Big Money Behind Push for "School Choice" in Pennsylvania

    by Anne Landman — May 3, 2011 - 10:45pm

    FreedomWorks, the Washington, D.C.-based group chaired by Dick Armey that does not disclose its corporate funders, has been aggressively promoting a measure in Pennsylvania that would divert taxpayer funds to support religious and private schools. FreedomWorks has hosted town hall meetings, run a state-wide radio ad campaign and organized phone call and letter writing campaigns to support SB1, a measure to phase in a new educational system that would give parents taxpayer-funded vouchers to pay for their children to attend private and religious schools. The bill would also increase funding for an existing state program that gives businesses tax credits if they donate to private and religious schools. In addition to FreedomWorks, industry lobbying groups like the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association support the "school choice" measures. A group called Students First, which draws membership from FreedomWorks, recently conducted a "school choice" rally at the state capitol that revealed the group has access to cash and professional organizers. The rally included T-shirts, lunches and posters for hundreds of attendees, and the group uses a professional media adviser and veteran political ad man from Pittsburgh to help organize its events. The Students First PAC, funded by wealthy Philadelphia-area businessmen, first drew media attention after it poured millions of dollars into the campaign of Pennsylvania state senator Anthony Williams, who was running for governor. Williams made school vouchers a cornerstone of his campaign. Williams also co-authored the school voucher bill now before the state Senate.

    Main Source: 
    The (Allentown, Pennsylvania) Morning Call, April 12, 2011
    News

    Protests in Benton Harbor follow Martial Law Enforcement

    by Jennifer Page — May 3, 2011 - 5:35pm
  • Topics: Activism, Corporations, Democracy, Economy, Labor, Politics

    • The stripping of all power of the local government in Benton Harbor, Michigan has brought the national spotlight to the tiny town on the shores of Lake Michigan. The first city to be declared in a "financial emergency" by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, CMD reported that Emergency Financial Manager (EFM) Joseph Harris was assigned to the city back in 2010 by then-Governor Jennifer Granholm. But it wasn't until March of this year that Harris essentially disbanded the local government and boards.

    The Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. responded to this takeover while on a tour of the state, calling for a rainbow coalition to organize against the EFM bill and others that Snyder and the Republican-led Senate has passed. At a protest in Benton Harbor, Jackson said that he, along with Michigan Congressman John Conyers, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero and Benton Harbor Mayor Wilce Cook will file a lawsuit to challenge the law's constitutionality.

    News

    Blue Cross, Blue Shield Getting Richer, Like Corporate Insurers

    by Wendell Potter — May 2, 2011 - 12:19pm
  • Topics: Corporations, Ethics, Health

    • I've written frequently in recent weeks about the eye-popping profits the big, publicly-traded health companies have been reporting. Last year -- as the number of Americans without health insurance grew to nearly 51 million -- the five largest for-profit insurers (Aetna, CIGNA, Humana, UnitedHealth and WellPoint) had combined profits of $11.7 billion.

    But that was so 2010.

    If the profits those companies made during the first three months of this year are an indication of things to come, 2011 will more than likely be the most profitable year ever for these new darlings of Wall Street.

    But lest you think only those big New York Stock Exchange-listed corporations have figured out how to make money hand over fist while their base of policyholders is shrinking, take a look at the so-called nonprofit Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans.

    Op-Ed

    Colvin on Comparing the Constitutional Amendments Proposed after Citizens United

    by PRW Staff — April 28, 2011 - 12:55pm
  • Topics: Third Party Technique, Corporations, Democracy

    • By Greg Colvin

    Among those who feel the only way to overcome the Citizens United decision, which opened the door to unlimited corporate spending on elections, is to amend the U.S. Constitution, the question on everyone's mind is: "So what's the language?"

    I offered a version of my own, the Citizens Election Amendment, posted three months ago at this site. It got a pretty good response (over 400 people "liked" it on Facebook) and last week I was in Washington, DC, talking to several members of Congress about it.

    The main approach I take is to build upon the individual citizen's constitutional RIGHT TO VOTE (a right that Americans have shed blood and died for), protecting and expanding it to give citizen human beings the right to be the sole source of funding for election campaigns.

    News

    Could Michigan-style "Martial Law" Be On Its Way to Wisconsin?

    by Jennifer Page — April 27, 2011 - 12:30pm
  • Topics: Corporations, Democracy, Lobbying, Wisconsin Protests

    • Rumors have been circulating about a little-known initiative to subject Wisconsin local governments to "stress tests" and other new constraints. Many believe the proposal resembles the "martial law" bill that was recently passed in Michigan, which allows the state government to dissolve local governments in a "fiscal emergency," and worry that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker or his friends in the legislature could be cooking up a similar plan.

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