Health

Sierra Club Bleaches Dissent on Clorox Deal

by Diane Farsetta — March 28, 2008 - 9:24am

In an unprecedented move by one of the Big Green environmental groups, the "Sierra Club's national board voted March 25 to remove the leaders of the Club's 35,000-member Florida chapter, and to suspend the Chapter for four years." What did the chapter do?

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Rachel's Democracy & Health News, March 27, 2008

Imaging Study Leaves Tobacco Funding Out of the Picture

by Anne Landman — March 26, 2008 - 3:12pm

The lead author of the largest lung cancer screening study ever performed has come under fire for accepting cigarette company funding for the study. Dr.

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New York Times, March 26, 2008

Lobbying Wine in a PR Bottle?

by Diane Farsetta — March 26, 2008 - 11:48am

According to the Tennessee Ethics Commission's staff, a public relations firm that set up a front group that's encouraging people to contact legislators needs to register as a lobbyist. At issue is a proposal to allow Tennesseans to order wine over the Internet. The Tennessee Wine and Spirits Wholesalers, which opposes the bill, hired the prominent Nashville firm Seigenthaler Public Relations.

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Knoxville News Sentinel (Tennessee), March 25, 2008

Congress Discovers Independent Studies Ignored in Favor of Industry Findings

by Judith Siers-Poisson — March 26, 2008 - 11:05am

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration determined that a particular chemical in plastic was not harmful, they used scientific studies to prove it.

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Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, March 21, 2008

Pricing Doctors

by Bob Burton — March 25, 2008 - 1:39pm

A proposal before the Massachusetts state Senate to ban drug company gifts to doctors is generating controversy. "To imply that doctors who have invested years and tens of thousands of dollars in their profession can be bought with a dinner or a package of Post-its is beneath contempt," wrote the husband of one doctor. But Dr. Daniel J.

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Boston Globe, March 19, 2008

Telling It Like It Is

by Bob Burton — March 25, 2008 - 12:27am

The director of external relations for Procter & Gamble, Mark Chakravarty, recently told a UK healthcare PR conference that the drug industry is less than popular with the public. "There is a high suspicion of the pharma industry. Greed, dishonesty and fraud are some of its associations. The clinical trial press this week and an increased number of drug scandals add to this image," he said.

Main Source:

PR Week (UK), March 13, 2008

Playing for the "Green" in Las Vegas

by Anne Landman — March 24, 2008 - 4:41pm

MGM Mirage's new $8 billion CityCenter project is a massive 75 acre, 4,000-room hotel-casino complex with condos and retail space currently under construction in Las Vegas.

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In Business Las Vegas, Tourism and Gaming, March 21-27, 2008

Think Tank Citations Sink

by Diane Farsetta — March 24, 2008 - 3:29pm

"The 25 most media-prominent think tanks were cited 17 percent less in 2007 than they were the year before," according to an annual survey by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). "The overall ideological breakdown was the same ...

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Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, March / April 2008

Big Pharma's Health Care Reform Playbook

by Sheldon Rampton — March 19, 2008 - 12:37am

"Congress' ability to curb the explosive rise in drug costs is a bellwether of the political prospects for health care reform," writes Merrill Goozner.

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Gooz News, March 13, 2008

No-Bid PR Contract Bugs California Officials

by Diane Farsetta — March 13, 2008 - 4:41pm

"State officials struggling to convince critics about the safety of aerial spraying to control an invasive moth awarded a $500,000 no-bid contract to a prominent public relations firm with ties to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger," reports Associated Press.

Main Source:

Associated Press, March 13, 2008