Health

A New Name for High Fructose Corn Syrup?

by Anne Landman — September 14, 2010 - 1:42pm

Philip Morris tried to escape its tarnished reputation by re-branding itself "Altria" and the private military contractor Blackwater tried to ditch its bad image by re-naming itself "

Main Source: 
New York Times, September 14, 2010

San Francisco's Free "Organic Biosolids Compost" is Toxic Sludge, and Not Good For You!

by John Stauber — August 17, 2010 - 3:01pm
  • Topics: Food Safety, Activism, Sludge, Environment, Health, Science

    • Independent testing commissioned by the Food Rights Network found toxic contaminants in San Francisco's sewage sludge "compost." In the sludge product given away free to gardeners from 2007 to March 4, 2010, are contaminants with endocrine-disruptive properties including PBDE flame retardants, nonylphenol detergent breakdown products, and the antibacterial agent triclosan. The independent tests were conducted for the Food Rights Network by Dr. Robert C. Hale of the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences.

    Watch a CBS 5 KPIX August 10, 2010 report providing a startling story of how San Francisco is violating its own precautionary principle law by dumping toxic sludge on city gardens.

    Will the NAIC Be a Hero for Consumers, or Insurers?

    by Anne Landman — August 17, 2010 - 11:25am

    Wendell Potter is a former health insurance company executive, and he knows exactly how health insurance companies maximize profits at the expense of policyholders. Now Wendell is putting his inside knowledge of the industry to work -- for policyholders.

    Main Source: 
    Life and Health National Underwriter Insurance News, August 16, 2010

    AMC's "Mad Men" Atones for Ubiquitous Smoking

    by Anne Landman — August 12, 2010 - 4:13pm

    AMC's Emmy-award winning TV show "Mad Men" depicts advertising executives in the 1960s, including their ubiquitous smoking, which occurs in practically every scene in every show. Now "Mad Men" is holding a celebrity auction on E-Bay in which it will sell off a walk-on role in the show to benefit lung cancer research and treatment at the City of Hope National Medical Center.

    Main Source: 
    TV Squad, August 11, 2010

    Health Insurance Executives Rake in Cash, Hike Premiums Higher

    by Anne Landman — August 12, 2010 - 3:17pm

    Health insurance companies are continuing to charge double-digit increases in premium rates, even though profits are already skyrocketing and executives are raking in generous pay packages.

    Main Source: 
    Los Angeles Times, August 11, 2010

    The Struggle Behind the Scenes Over Health Care Reform

    by Anne Landman — August 6, 2010 - 11:07am
  • Topics: Corporations, Health

    • CMD's Senior Fellow on Health Care, Wendell Potter, spoke at the Armand Hammer Museum in Los Angeles about the ongoing struggle over the implementation of the new health care legislation. Coverage of the new law has been minimal lately, pushed off the front pages by the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, but a lot has been going on behind the scenes. Even though Congress passed, and the president signed the new healthcare legislation, we still don't know how it's going to be implemented, because the legislation only lays out Congressional intent. Numerous regulations must now be written to govern the business of healthcare in America. Parts of the new law could still be invalidated by the courts, or repealed by future members of Congress. So what is going on behind the scenes, anyway? Big insurers are quietly working very hard to preserve the status quo, just as the big banks are doing with financial reform.

    Here's Your Change, Have a Nice BPA Day

    by Anne Landman — July 28, 2010 - 12:36pm

    The Environmental Working Group (EWG) performed laboratory tests on cash register receipts from major U.S. businesses and found bisphenol A (BPA) present on 40% of them, some at levels higher than those found in canned foods, baby bottles and infant formula.

    Main Source: 
    U.S. News and World Report, Science News, July 28, 2010

    Health Insurers Leaning on State Insurance Commissioners to “Reform” Reform

    by Wendell Potter — July 27, 2010 - 3:46pm
  • Topics: Corporations, Health, Lobbying

    • The nation's biggest insurers -- not happy with provisions of the four-month-old health care reform law that would force many of them to spend more of the money they collect in premiums for their policyholders' medical care -- are pressuring regulators to disregard what members of Congress intended when they wrote the law, so that they can keep raking in huge profits for their Wall Street owners. If they are successful, many policyholders will soon be shelling out even more than they do today to enrich insurance company shareholders and CEOs. Billions of dollars are at stake, which is why the insurers and their symbiotic allies are pulling out all the stops to gut a key part of the law that would require them to spend at least 80 cents of every premium dollar they take in for medical care.

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