Third Party Technique

A Letter Writer's Imagination

by Bob Burton — December 14, 2006 - 4:16am

A doctor who featured in the PR plans of the drug company GlaxoSmithKline has been appointed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to a committee reviewing possible links between anti-depressant drugs and suicidality. In December 2004, internal GlaxoSmithKline documents revealed that Dr.

Main Source: 
BioEthics, December 12, 2006

Front Groups Lobbying Spurs Thoughts of Non-Profit Reform

by Bob Burton — December 13, 2006 - 1:24am

Citing instances where groups like Citizens Against Government Waste and Americans for Tax Reform have accepted corporate funding to lobby for their donors' causes, journalist Bill Adair explores whether greater disclosure by non-profit groups is warranted.

Main Source: 
St Petersburg Times, December 11, 2006

Hyping Heart Attacks

by Bob Burton — November 3, 2006 - 3:34am

Alan Cassels notes that disease mongering advertisements for cholesterol-lowering drugs, such as for Pfizer's Lipitor, hype the risk of heart attacks for those people with 'high' cholesterol.

Main Source: 
Common Ground (Canada), November 2006

Nuclear Public Radio

by Diane Farsetta — October 2, 2006 - 10:15am

On its "Weekend Edition Saturday" show, NPR aired a segment titled, "Environmentalists Rethink Stance on Nuclear Power." Who was their one example of an environmentalist turned nuclear power proponent? None other than Greenpeace co-founder turned industry flack Patrick Moore.

Main Source: 
National Public Radio (U.S.), September 30, 2006

Pharma PR Tries to Spin Gold From Yawn

by Jonathan Rosenblum — September 6, 2006 - 2:06pm

Americans may tire quickly of some pharmaceutical PR, but they've got nowhere to turn (certainly not in bed) when it comes to a new campaign sponsored by the makers of a sleep-fighting medication, Provigil. Drug-maker Cephalon hired Dorland Global Public Relations, which has spun consumers' disinterest in "sleepiness" into a Homeland Security-like campaign for "alertness." The trick: target employers.

Main Source: 
PRWeek, August 28, 2006 (sub req'd)

Restless Drug Promotion

by Bob Burton — August 11, 2006 - 2:10am

GlaxoSmithKline breached the British drug industry's own self-regulatory code of conduct by promoting ropinirole to treat restless legs syndrome before the drug had been approved for that use.

Main Source: 
The Sunday Times (UK), August 6, 2006

Who's Afraid of Eric Schlosser?

by Jonathan Rosenblum — August 7, 2006 - 3:23pm

"Who made the edit?" asks Evan Hessel in his Forbes "OutFront" column. "The edit" in Wikipedia's entry on McDonald's Corporation erased a link to Eric Schlosser's highly critical assessment of McDonald's in Fast Food Nation, and replaced it with a link to a more academic tome.

Main Source: 
Forbes, June 19, 2006
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