Health

Big Dose Of PR For Pfizer

by Bob Burton — June 14, 2006 - 3:56am

Pfizer has hired Clark & Weinstock, a New York and Washington D.C.

Main Source: 
O'Dwyers PR Daily, June 13, 2006. (Sub req'd.)

Big Tobacco's Covert Witness Program

by Bob Burton — June 13, 2006 - 6:55pm

In a February 1989 speech to the Executive Committee of the now-defunct Tobacco Institute, the group's Senior Vice President, Charles Powers, sought to save the industry's covert "Scientific Witness" program from impending budget cuts.

Main Source: 
Anne Landman's Collection, June 11, 2006

Antibiotic Trial Continues Despite Reported Threat to Children

by Jonathan Rosenblum — June 9, 2006 - 12:01pm

A new antibiotic that has been found to cause four times the average rate of acute liver failure in adults continues in a trial for more than 900 children worldwide, despite criticism from a U.S. Food and Drug Administration official and a study consultant. The drug, Ketek (internationally known as Telithromycin) is manufactured by Sanofi-Aventis, a French pharmaceutical firm with U.S.

Main Source: 
The New York Times, June 8, 2006 (reg req'd)

Burson-Marsteller Lands Tuna Account

by Bob Burton — June 9, 2006 - 5:30am

The PR firm Ruder Finn has lost the account working for the U.S. Tuna Foundation to defend human consumption of canned tuna containing high levels of mercury. Burson-Marsteller has landed the account.

Main Source: 
O'Dwyers PR Daily (sub req'd), June 8, 2006

Not a PR Job for the Faint of Heart

by Diane Farsetta — May 31, 2006 - 10:36am

"APCO Worldwide is supporting Merck's PR efforts for the controversial" -- and deadly -- "arthritis drug Vioxx, which was found to increase heart attack risk in patients," reports O'Dwyer's.

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), May 31, 2006

Donations Tie Drug Firms and Nonprofits

by Sheldon Rampton — May 30, 2006 - 7:19pm

"The American Diabetes Association, a leading patient health group, privately enlisted an Eli Lilly & Co. executive to chart its growth strategy and write its slogan. The National Alliance on Mental Illness, an outspoken patient advocate, lobbies for treatment programs that also benefit its drug-company donors. ...

Main Source: 
Philadelphia Inquirer, May 28, 2006

Ex-Prez Rapped as Flack for Soda Jerks

by Jonathan Rosenblum — May 18, 2006 - 9:15am

The deal already looks suspiciously sweetened. On May 3, 2006, U.S. beverage firms announced an agreement with the Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association gradually to pull most sweetened soft drinks from U.S. schools.

Main Source: 
Informed Eating, May, 2006

Hill and Knowlton: Staring Down Consumer Advocates?

by Jonathan Rosenblum — May 16, 2006 - 9:49am

While even Wall Street was getting edgy about increasing reports of a fungal infection pointing to a Bausch and Lomb contact lens solution, the company's PR firm dryly glared at consumer advocates. "Bausch and Lomb has not yet recalled ANY of its products. Rather, its Renu MoistureLoc has been taken off the shelves. Who can I speak to about this inaccuracy?" asked Hill and Knowlton's Grace Healy in an email to Consumeraffairs.com.

Main Source: 
Consumeraffairs.com, May 5, 2006

Spinning (and Unspinning) Nuclear Power Worldwide

by Diane Farsetta — May 11, 2006 - 12:53pm

"The nuclear industry took steps ... to head off a growing public relations -- if not health -- problem, promising to closely monitor leaks of slightly radioactive groundwater at power plants," reports AP. "Water containing tritium has been released into groundwater at half a dozen plants over the past decade," including in Illinois, Arizona and New York.

Main Source: 
Associated Press, May 10, 2006
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