Martin Donohoe
Am I Stoned?A 1999 Utah anti-drug pamphlet warns:
“Danger signs that your child may be smoking marijuana include excessive preoccupation with social causes, race relations, and environmental issues”
Corporations“The [only] social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.”
- Milton Friedman
Corporations“Corporations [have] no moral conscience. [They] are designed by law, to be concerned only for their stockholders, and not, say, what are sometimes called their stakeholders, like the community or the work force…”
-Noam Chomsky
OutlineCorporate Domination of World
EconomyCorporate TaxationCorporate CrimeCorporations and EducationCorporations and the Media
OutlineInternational Non-Cooperation and
IsolationismCase StudiesSolutionsDiscussion
Corporations Dominate the Global EconomyAlmost 6 million corporations90% of transnational corporations headquartered in Northern Hemisphere
500 companies control 70% of world trade
148 corporations control 40% of world’s wealth (most are financial institutions)
Corporations Dominate the Global Economy53 of the world’s 100 largest economies are private corporations; 47 are countriesWal-Mart is larger than Israel and Greece
Apple is larger than Poland
The Stock MarketThe top 1% of Americans owns 51% of all
stocks, bonds, and mutual fund assetsConsequences of Differential Stock
OwnershipCorporations are answerable to their
shareholdersGovernments are answerable (at least in
theory) to their citizens (either through elections or revolutions)
The Stock MarketInteresting Fact: As a group, U.S. Senators
beat the market by an average of 12% from 1993-98 (study published 2004)The best fund managers average 3%
STOCK (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) Act passes Congress (2012):Removes loophole exempting Congressional
lawmakers and staff members from being prosecuted for “insider trading” for using knowledge gained in their work (political intelligence)
Congressional Wealth and Influence½ of legislators are millionaires (vs. 1% of U.S. citizens)
Average personal fortune:Senator = $13 millionRepresentative = $5 million
CorporationsInternalize profits
Externalize health and environmental costs
Corporate TaxationCorporations shouldered over 30% of the nation’s tax burden in 1950 vs. 8% today
Nearly 1/3 of all large U.S. corporations pay no annual tax
Corporate TaxationBig business claims that U.S.
corporations pay the highest corporate taxes in the world (35%)
FALSE: The rate actually paid, after foreign governments get their cuts, money sent to foreign subsidiaries, loopholes, etc. = 2.3% (U.S. Treasury Department)
Corporate Taxation2004: Bush administration offered
temporary tax holiday on foreign earnings$300 billion in profit repatriated
92% went to dividend payouts, stock buybacks, and corporate coffers
Only 8% went to R and D, new factories, and hiring
Reasons for Inadequate Corporate TaxationTax breaks, corporate welfare,
corporation-friendly tax laws, loopholes, transferring assets overseas
Cities and states offer incentives to companies to locate in their communities, in exchange for the promise of jobsCompanies often leave when a better offer becomes available
Reasons for Inadequate Corporate TaxationIncentives:
Cash grants and loansSales tax breaksIncome tax credits and exemptionsFree servicesProperty tax abatementsHighway and school construction
$80 billion in 2011Income tax breaks - $18 billionSales tax relief - $52 billion
Reasons for Inadequate Corporate TaxationCheating and under-payment commonAuditing program understaffed and underfunded
1/3 high school students admits to stealing something from a store in the past year
Reasons for Inadequate Corporate TaxationOffshore tax havens shelter capital
Estimated 1/3 of global assets$11.5 trillion in individual wealth alone
83 of the largest 100 US companies have subsidiaries in tax havens
Lost annual tax revenue:
$250 billion worldwide$100 billion in US
Ugland House, Cayman Islands18,000 Corporations Registered Here
Job Creators?
“White Collar” (Corporate) Crime vs. “Blue Collar” (Street) Crime”
Each year in America, we lose;$3.8 billion to burglary and robbery
Hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars to white collar crime
Why So Much Corporate CrimeFines meager, often considered a cost of
doing businessCorporate crime under-prosecuted,
prosecutors under-fundedConfidential legal settlements keep
important public health and safety information secretMay delay governmental intervention,
cause unnecessary morbidity and mortality
Corporate CrimeCorporate CrimeCompanies mandating forced Companies mandating forced
arbitrationarbitrationSCOTUS allows corporate binding SCOTUS allows corporate binding
arbitration contracts, limiting class arbitration contracts, limiting class action lawsuits (action lawsuits (AT&T v. ConcepcionAT&T v. Concepcion, , 2011)2011)
Arbitration Fairness Act would Arbitration Fairness Act would counteract rulingcounteract ruling
Consequences of CorporatizationIncreasing industry consolidation/mergers
Inflation
Rising unemployment
Consequences of CorporatizationRise of the “permatemp”Expatriation of jobs
2000-2011: U.S.-based multinational corporations cut 2.9 million jobs in U.S. while increasing foreign employment by 2.4 million
Overseas factories often lack adequate occupational health and safety and environmental standards
Decline in labor union membership
Exorbitant CEO PayCEO salaries up 759% since 1978
Average worker pay up 6%The average CEO makes 350-400X the salary
of the average U.S. worker (1960 - 41X)Mexico 45:1Britain 25:1Japan 10:1US Military: 15-20:1 (top rank : lowest rank)
CEO Personality CharacterisiticsSome data suggest certain traits common
among psychopaths are also commonly found in CEOs (and politicians, world leaders, and serial killers):Grandiose sense of self worthPersuasivenessSuperficial charmRuthlessnessLack of remorseManipulation of others
The Mega-RichWorried / Investing in personal security
BodyguardsArmored carsBullet-proof windows; machine gun proof doorsHome security fogsPanic roomsFully-stocked home medical suitesYachts with escape submarinesIslands
Corporate Involvement in
Education
Would You Sign a Petition to Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide?
1. It can cause excessive sweating and vomiting
2. It is a major component in acid rain
3. It can cause severe burns in its gaseous state
4. It can kill you if accidentally inhaled
5. It contributes to erosion
6. It decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes
7. It has been found in tumors of terminal cancer
patients
Geographic/Scientific Ignorance, PseudosciencePercent of US teens unable to locate the following on a map:United States – 11%Pacific Ocean – 29%Japan – 58%
Pseudoscientific BeliefsPercentage of Americans who believe “at least to some degree” in these “phenomena”
1997 1976Astrology 37% 17%UFOs 30% 24%Reincarnation 25% 9%Fortune-Telling 14% 4%
Ignorance/Pseudoscientific BeliefsHalf of US citizens do not believe in evolution and do believe that humans and dinosaurs coexisted (2007)40% think scientists still generally disagree about evolution
Only 12% of U.S. Protestant pastors believe in evolution
70% believe in global warming
Pseudoscientific Beliefs37% believe places can be haunted
(2007)25% believe in UFOs (2007)24% believe in astrology (2009)16% believe that people with the “evil
eye” can cast curses or harmful spells14% have consulted a psychic or
fortune teller (2009
Ignorance/Pseudoscientific Beliefs22% of Americans don’t know whether an
atomic bomb has ever been dropped (2000)20% of Americans don’t know the earth
revolves around the sun (1999)18% believe in Bigfoot and the Loch Ness
Monster (2007)8% of men / 18% of women believe in
astrology and fortune tellers (2007)
Public Education in DisarrayU.S. Schools ranked lowest among
western nationsSome states require instructors to teach
“creation science,” “intelligent design,” and “climate change skepticism”Despite politicians’ statements, 72% of Republicans believe global warming is occurring (92% of Democrats)
Public Education in DisarrayInadequate funding, decaying
infrastructureNational HS graduation rate 65-70%
No change from 1970sLower incomes youths 6X as likely to drop out
College tuition costs risingIncreasingly marginalizes poor, minorities
Legislative MandatesBills allowing teaching of creationism or “intelligent design” alongside evolution
Bills requiring global warming to be taught as a “theory”
Anti-Science LegislatorsMembers of the House Science Committee
(2012)Paul Broun (R-GA): Evolution, embryology, and
the Big Bang Theory are “lies straight from the pit of hell;” climate change is a “hoax”
Ralph Hall (R-TX): Agrees with TX Governor Rick Perry that climate scientists are involved in a conspiracy to receive research funding.
Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI): The science on global warming is “inconclusive”
Anti-Science LegislatorsMembers of the House Science Committee
(2012)Todd Akin (R-MO): “If it’s legitimate rape,”
women will not get pregnant (lost 2012 election)
Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA): Claimed an earlier period of global warming may have been caused by “dinosaur flatulence,” suggested that if global warming is real it could be addressed by cutting down trees, does not believe that CO2 is a cause of global warming
Nation’s Schoolchildren Call For Cuts in Math/Science Funding
Benefits of EducationFor every $1 spent on early childhood education, up to $17 are saved from increased school achievement, improved health, reduced crime, and reduced reliance on public assistance
Income increases 11% for every year of education
Benefits of EducationCollege graduates live 5 years longer than high school dropouts
Eliminating educational inequities would have saved 8X as many lives as medical advances from 1996-2002
Television and the MediaThe average American youth spends 900 hrs/yr in school, 1,500 hrs/yr watching TV
By age 65, the average American will have spent 9 yrs watching TV
Corporate PR TacticsAdvertisingAstroturf - artificially-created grassroots coalitions
Corporate front groupsInvoke poor people as beneficiaries
Corporate PR tacticsCharacterize opposition as “technophobic,” anti-science,” and “against progress”
Portray their products as environmentally beneficial despite evidence to the contrary
Corporate espionage: spying, bribes
Greenwash
Public relations / ad campaignsBP invests $100 million
annually in clean energy = amt. it spends annually to market itself as moving “Beyond Petroleum”
Sponsored Environmental Education Materials (Examples)International Paper
-“Clearcutting promotes growth of trees that require full sunlight and allows efficient site preparation for the next crop”
Exxon’s “Energy Cube”-“Gasoline is simply solar power hidden in decayed matter”-“Offshore drilling creates reefs for fish”
Textbook Publishers Facilitate Corporate MessagingScholastic, Inc.
World’s largest publisher of children’s educational materials Found in 90% of U.S. classrooms
Has taken money from Big Coal, Disney, Microsoft, Nestlé, and Shell to produce books and lesson plans
2011: Announces plan to terminate some industry contracts, set up quasi-independent review board to review corporate materials
Academics/Professional Organizations AffectedIncreasing corporatization of academia↑Private commercial funding of university research
Secrecy/Gag Clauses
Academics/Professional Organizations AffectedFor-profit colleges growing, marked by corruption, high interest rates on loans to the un- and under-qualifiedBenefit largely from taxpayer money
Dramatic decrease in tenured faculty, rise in administrators
Academics/Professional Organizations AffectedGagging of researchers at federal
agencies demoralizing, can affect recruitment of quality scientists
2001 – 2011: Number of published papers increased by 44%; number of retracted articles increased 15-fold (3/4 for errors, ¼ for fraud)
The Media5 corporations control majority of US media (down from 50 in 1983)
Extensive corporate-media links
Global Warming: Controversial?Of 928 articles in peer-reviewed scientific
journals, none were in doubt as to the existence or cause of global warming
Of 636 articles in the popular press (NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times, WSJ), 53% expressed doubt as to the existence (and primary cause) of global warming
Science 2004;306:1686-7(Study covers 1993-2003)
LobbyingApproximately 40,000 lobbyists (12,600 full-time)
Estimates of return on lobbying range from $28 to $100 for every $1 spent
LobbyingRevolving door between lobbyists and CongressBetween 2001 and 2011, 5,400 former Congressional staffers have left to become lobbyists, and 605 lobbyists have left their positions to work for Congress
LobbyingFederal lobbying groups spent 3.5
billion in 2010 (3.3 billion in 2011)All single issue ideological groups
combined (e.g., pro-choice, anti-abortion, feminist and consumer organizations, senior citizens, etc.) = $76 million (2010)
Lobbying promotes international non-cooperation/isolationism
Top-Spending Industries, 2011(Low Estimates)Pharmaceutical industry - $236 million
Insurance industry - $158 million
Oil and gas industry - $146 million
Electric utilities - $144 million
LobbyingSCOTUS’ Citizens United decision has opened the floodgates for unlimited corporate contributions
196 donors contributed nearly 80% of money raised by super-PACs in 2011
The Decline of DemocracyTrue democracy demands an informed citizenry (education), freedom of the press (media), and involvement (will, time, money)
Democracy is critical to the success of public health
Corporations and International AgreementsCorporations attempt to influence
writing and acceptance/rejection of international agreementsThrough misinformation, lobbyists, revolving door between industry and government
Large behind the scenes role
International Non-Cooperation/IsolationismFailure to sign or approve:
Kyoto Protocol on Climate ChangeInternational Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Land Mines
International Non-Cooperation/IsolationismFailure to sign or approve:
Treaty to ban cluster bombs Convention on the Rights of the Child
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
International Non-Cooperation/IsolationismFailure to sign or approve:
WHO Code of Conduct for Marketing Breast Milk Substitutes
Convention for the Suppression of Traffic in Persons
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
Worldwide Health and Social Justice: Can Aid Help?In total dollars: U.S. #1In total dollars: U.S. #1As a % of GDP, U.S. ranks 21As a % of GDP, U.S. ranks 21stst
among the world’s wealthiest among the world’s wealthiest nationsnations
U.S. Aid: Over 1/3 military, 1/4 U.S. Aid: Over 1/3 military, 1/4 economic, 1/3 for food and economic, 1/3 for food and developmentdevelopment
Most U.S. aid benefits U.S. Most U.S. aid benefits U.S. corporationscorporations
Foreign Aid0.9% of the total federal budget, 1.6% of the U.S. discretionary budget
Americans think that 24% of the federal budget goes toward foreign aid
Case Studies
The alliance between GE Medical Systems and NY-
Presbyterian Hospital
Martin Donohoe
The PartnersNY-Presbyterian Hospital
one of the largest academic health care institutions in the U.S.
GE Medical Systems (now GE HealthCare)Subsidiary of General Electric$9 billion annual revenues
The Agreement (2003)10-year, $500 million agreement requires NYP to purchase products and services from GEMS in exchange for purported discounts on medical supplies and the promise of enhanced technological standardization and simplification
General ElectricRanked by Forbes as world’s largest
company (based on equal weighting of sales, profits, assets, and market value)
2011 revenues of $148 billionClose to the GDP of more than 2/3 of U.N. member states2011 net after-tax profits of $14 billion
Just over 1/3 from U.S. operations
General ElectricMakes household appliances, lighting,
and medical equipmentPlastics division, which produced bisphenol A, spun off in 2008
Has built 91 nuclear power plants in 11 countries (including Japan’s troubled Fukushima Daishii reactors)
Produces jet engines and military hardware
General ElectricOperates coal-burning power plants
Major releasers of toxic mercury
Produces nearly 40 technologies used in fracking
General ElectricOperates a large financial services group
Lending accounts for > 30% of revenue, vs. < 6% of revenue from consumer appliances
Responsible for over 50% of company’s profits in recent years
Owns a multi-billion dollar media empireIncluding NBC (49%, Comcast – 51%),
Telemundo, and Universal Studios
GE’s HistoryCharles Wilson (CEO of GE pre- and post-WW
II; helped oversee U.S. military production during WW II):“The revulsion against war…will be an almost
insuperable obstacle for us to overcome. For that reason, I am convinced that we must begin now to set the machinery in motion for a permanent wartime economy.”
GE’s HistoryConducted unethical human subject
experiments on prisoners, involving testicular irradiation, from 1940s to 1960s
Intentionally-released excessive radiation from its Hanford, WA nuclear reactor in the 1980s, to determine how far it would travelMay have contributed to increased thyroid
cancers, hypothyroidism, and spontaneous abortions in “Downwinders”
GE’s RecordSued radiologist who brought to light
dangers of GE’s contrast agent, OmniscanCauses nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (FDA
black box warning)Ordered to pay $11.4 million to Bracco
Diagnositcs for falsely/misleadingly claiming that its x-ray contrast agent Visipaque was superior to BD’s Isovue
GE’s RecordAmerica’s largest corporate polluter
116 Superfund sites nationwide
Approximately 13 in NY
GE’s RecordBetween 1947 and 1977, two of its
capacitor manufacturing plants dumped 1.3 million pounds of PCBs into the Hudson RiverProbable human carcinogens with adverse effects on liver, kidney, nervous system, and reproductive organs (EPA)
200 mi of Hudson = Superfund site
GE’s RecordHas spent millions to avoid Hudson
cleanup and to weaken or eliminate Superfund Law
Contributes to corporate front groupsPromulgate an anti-scientific and pseudo-scientific agenda
Conduct media disinformation campaigns in an attempt to weaken health and environmental regulations
GE’s RecordTremendous influence of environmental,
energy, and health policySpent over $26 million on federal
government lobbying in 2011 (#2 after U.S. Chamber of Commerce)More than $200 million over last decade
Many members of board of directors have government ties; others have insurance and pharmaceutical industry ties
GE’s RecordEliminated 150,000 jobs in last 15 years
While receiving billions in federal contracts and millions in state and local subsidies
One of nation’s top out-sourcers of jobs1/5 of U.S. workforce eliminated since 2002 (while overseas workforce increased)
GE’s RecordEliminated 34,000 US jobs between 2000 and 2010
Added 25,000 overseas jobs over same period
GE’s RecordExecutive pension plan far more generous than for other employees
Continues to shift health care costs onto workers, despite growing profits
GE’s RecordCited by Human Rights Watch for “systematic workers’ rights violations” in the U.S. and abroad
858 OSHA workplace citations from 1990-2001
Investments include for-profit prison enterprises
GE’s RecordGE has sponsored PGA Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf ClubClub excludes womenCEO Immelt a member
GE’s RecordTopped 2002 Project on Government
Oversight’s list of repeat offenders for defrauding U.S. taxpayersPaid more than $982 million in fines,
judgments, and out-of-court settlements between 1990 and 2002
Financial services division fined $100 million for unfair debt collection practices and bankruptcy court malfeasance
GE and Corporate TaxesGE topped the list of corporate tax break
recipients from 2001-2003:$9.5 billion in tax breaks
Claimed tax benefits of $3.5 billion in 2010 ($4.1 billion tax benefits on $26 billion in American profits between 2006 and 2010)
Under investigation for tax evasion in BrazilTax department has almost 1,000
employees (known as the “world’s best tax law firm”)
GE’s RecordIn 1990s, Pentagon’s Defense Contract Management Agency created special investigations office specifically for GE
Nevertheless, company has been awarded increasingly costly reconstruction contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan
GE’s RecordThe Patient Channel
Shown in hospital rooms throughout country
Advertising vehicle for drug companies
Criticized by JCAHO for manipulative marketing practices
GE’s RecordProduces an electronic medical record, Centricity EMR
Is hoping to receive some of the $19 billion earmarked for health care information technology in the current economic stimulus package.
GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt2011 total compensation = $21.6 million
Named “World’s Best CEO” in 3 separate Barron’s polls
2006 - 2011 - On Board of NY Federal Reserve Bank
GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt2008 – Named one of the “100 Most
Influential People in the World” by TIME Magazine
2009 - Appointed by President Obama to his Economic Recovery BoardGE then became eligible, via a loophole,
for ¼ of the $340 billion Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (debt support)
GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt2011 - Appointed by Obama as Chair of his outside panel of Economic Advisors and of his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt
Charitable works include membership on the board of directors of “The Robin Hood Foundation”!
GE’s RecordNamed “America’s Most Admired Company” by Forbes
Named one of the “World’s Most Respected Companies” in polls conducted by Barron’s and The Financial Times
Concerns About the AgreementProvides GE with financial incentives to promote high technology purchases
Hospital prohibited from purchasing more effective equipment from other companies
Concerns About the AgreementAugments trend in academic
medical centers to promote the use of expensive, high-technology care at expense of preventive care and public health measuresHighly reimbursableServices may be redundant in certain locations
Concerns About the AgreementOccurs at time 51 million Americans uninsured
Academic medical centers promoting luxury primary care clinics and seeking wealthy overseas patients while cutting back on services to the un- and under-insured
Concerns About the AgreementAcademic medical centers becoming increasingly corporatizedResearch exclusivity contracts
Secrecygag clausesskewing of research agenda
Concerns About the AgreementI contacted the CEO of New York Presbyterian Hospital and the head of the Ethics Department to obtain more information re the agreement and the nature of the discussion preceding the agreementNo Response
Concerns About the AgreementPatients with developmental anomalies and cancers caused by GE’s pollution diagnosed with GE scanners and treated with GE-manufactured therapeutic devices, increasing GE’s profit
A macabre twist on “cradle to grave care”
SolutionsNY-P should cancel agreementHealth care providers and organizations should condemn this alliance
Medical and ethical organizations should develop standards regarding future agreements
Background2007: Essay describing health and environmental consequences of global warming for Medscape
Described ACSH as a corporate front group and criticized its selection of author Michael Crichton as recipient of its 2005 Sound Science Medal
ACSH and Global WarmingLeader referred to “belief” that burning fossil fuels has caused global warming as pseudoscience
Criticized environmental scientists as “doomsayers” and “fearmongers”
ACSH ResponseThreatened litigation against Medscape
Medscape briefly pulled article, then published with comments removed, then republished with additional material
?Loss of potential readership?
Dr Elizabeth Whelan:President and co-founderEarly writing career included:
Freelance writing assignment for Pfizer criticizing the FDA
Consumer magazine piecesBooks include Panic in the Pantry and Toxic Terror
Whelan’s 2003 salary = $326,612
Dr Gilbert Ross:Medical/Executive DirectorSpent 1996 in federal prison after being sentenced to 46 months forMedicaid fraudPerjuryObstruction of justiceNot mentioned on his bio on ACSH website
ACSH:Dr Gilbert Ross’ CareerBarred by the DHHS for 10 years from participating in either Medicare or Medicaid
Now in charge of all scientific projects, publications, and personnel issues involving scientific staff at ACHS
ACSHACHS Board of Directors includes
anti-regulatory Individuals (2001 Survey)
George Lundberg, former editor of JAMA, current editor of Medscape, on board of advisors
Funding from right wing foundations, corporations
Accepted money to write and disseminate pro-industry “studies”
Corporate Front GroupsPromote corporate agendasStrong financial and advisory links with corporations
Disseminate misinformation/lies under guise of “science”
Promote pro-business, conservative ideology
ACSH:Pseudoscience and MisinformationAttacked the precautionary principle“anti-science,” “elitist,” and “theology”
Minimized the effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) on human health40,000 deaths/yr in U.S.
ACSH:Pseudoscience and MisinformationDenied many of the adverse neurological
effects of lead exposureDenied endocrine-disrupting effects of
PCBsClaimed court ordered-cleanup of Hudson
River by GE based on false claims of PCBs causing cancer
Claimed uncertainty regarding effects of agricultural antibiotics on food-borne, antibiotic-resistant human infections
ACSH:Pseudoscience and MisinformationCalled warnings regarding tuna
consumption by pregnant women “unfounded health scare”
Critiqued health concerns re trans fatty acids“There is no such thing as junk food”“There is insufficient evidence of a
relationship between diet and any disease.”
ACSH:Pseudoscience and MisinformationClaimed “irradiated food is safe,
wholesome and nutritious” and “no radioactive isotopes are involved”
Denied link between dioxins and pesticides and adverse health effects
Supported use of human volunteers in pesticide toxicity studies
“Phony Health Scares”Flame retardant traces found in blood and breast milk
Diesel exhaust fumes from school busses
Arsenic in drinking waterPhthalates in medical devices and children’s toys
ACSH: Attacks on Scientists and the Scientific EnterpriseThreat of litigation against Medscape antithetical to the rules of sciencerequires the free exchange of information and opinion in pursuit of the truth
ACSH: Attacks on Scientists and the Scientific Enterprisead hominem attacks
environmentalists = “toxic terrorists”
Whelan criticized Dr. Barry Levy and citizen-activist Erin Brockovich
Implications of Attacks on Science and ScientistsACSH has broad media presenceWeb site attracts large numbers of individuals100,000 hits per month for 2005
Dr. Whelan has been featured on NBC’s Today Show, CNN Live, and CNBC’s Business Insiders
Implications of Attacks on Science and ScientistsEditorials by Whelan and Ross have appeared in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal
Publications in Medscape, other journals
Implications of Attacks on Science and ScientistsMislead publicMay cause alterations in lifestyle and/or
purchasing habitsAdverse health consequences
Threats of litigation distract, intimidate, and deplete the scientific, legal, and financial resources of individuals and groups committed to public health
Implications of Attacks on Science and ScientistsFaulty pronouncements influence elected officials
Threats of litigation divert the valuable time of health care providers, editors, and legal departments away from more productive missions of research, teaching, writing, and patient care
Implications of Attacks on Science and ScientistsScientists and health care advocates may decide it is wiser to avoid conflict than publish content to which ACSH and other such groups might object
Other Examples of Corporate
Meddling in Public Health
WHO Tobacco TreatyU.S. attempted to undermine treaty through Bush administration appointees with strong ties to tobacco industry
Medical Technologies IndustrySuccessful lobbying effort against Medicare physician payment policies relevant to unproven imaging studiesWhole body CT scans (scams)
Drug TestingDrug Testing2011: Florida Governor Rick Scott (R)
issues executive order requiring drug tests on current state workers and new applicants
2011: Scott signs bill requiring drug tests for TANF programpositive test allows parent to choose
another individual to receive benefits on behalf of children
Aid recipients responsible for cost of tests
Drug TestingDrug TestingFlorida Governor Rick Scott
Former CEO of Columbia/HCAFired after presiding over massive
Medicare fraud that cost corporation $1.7 billion federal fine
Then set up Solantic (FL chain of emergency care clinics); transferred ownership to his wife upon entering statehouseSolantic is in the drug-testing business!
Corporate AgribusinessSuccessful campaign against Oregon’s Proposition 27 (labeling of GM foods)
Lobbying for pre-emptive labeling laws re GMOs, rBGH
Corporate AgribusinessSupports spread of GMOs to developing world
Keeps GM seeds from non-corporate academic researchers
Promoting agriculture bills which provide large subsidies to large industrial farms
Corporate Agreements with Medical AssociationsAAP – Abbott Nutrition
(manufacturers of Similac)AAP – Babies “R” UsAAFP – Coca Cola, Inc.AMA – Sunbeam
AMA – sells access to Physician Masterfile
Medical CareSponsor luxury care consortiums, clinics
Facilitate medical tourismNiche in “medical transfer market,” facilitating medical repatriations of undocumented immigrants (e.g., MexCare)
Health Insurance IndustryDubious practices:
DelistingCherry pickingPre-existing conditions
Often lower quality of careHigh administrative costs
15-30% (vs. 2-3% for Medicare and Medicaid)
Health Insurance IndustryLarge profit margins
Loyalty: shareholders (not patients)
Corruption
Prison-Industrial ComplexConstruction and management of prisons
Providing (substandard) health care to inmates
Pharmaceutical IndustryInfluence over physicians through control
of CME, gifts, research fundingConduct seeding trials to alter prescribing
patternsSecrecy, statistical torturing of data sets,
selective publicationData mining of prescribing practices
Ok’d by SCOTUS in Sorrell v. IMS Health
Drug Company MalfeasanceThe pharmaceutical industry is the biggest
defrauder of the federal government, as determined by payments made for violations of the federal False Claims Act (FCA)Accounted for 25% of all FCA payouts
between 2000 and 2010Defense industry – 11%
Has paid out almost $20 billion in civil and criminal penalties over the last 20 years
Pharmaceutical Industry$240 million dollars spent on lobbying in 20111,228 lobbyists (2.3 for every member of Congress)
Revolving door between legislators, lobbyists, executives and government officials
Pharmaceutical IndustryEffectively lobbied and threatened trade sanctions against developing countries in order to prevent production and importation of much cheaper, generic versions of life-saving anti-AIDS drugs
Sneaky patent extensions, carve-outs
Pharmaceutical Industry2011 NIH rules require reporting of
over $5000 financial largesse from industry (database not public)
Opposes legislation aimed at limiting pharmaceutical industry influence by publicizing gifts to providers
Pharmaceutical IndustryOpposes Federal Research Public
Access Act, which would require federal agencies that fund over $100 million in external research per year to make their study results publicly available online
Poor compliance with Clinical Trials Registry rules
Breast Milk Substitute ManufacturersMarketed to women in developing world
Nestlé, othersDiscourage (and make more difficult) breast
feedingWHO International Code of Conduct
U.S. has not signed91% of U.S. hospitals distribute formula
packs (which would violate WHO code)
Chemicals IndustryChisso Corporation
Methylmercury poisoning
Minimata Disease
Minimata DiseaseW Eugene Smith
Energy IndustryOil and gas, coal, fracking, nuclear power
Sponsorship of faculty, training programs
Funding research and policy papers
Lobbying
SolutionsRestructure tax system
Decrease taxes on work and savings
Increase taxes on wealthyMaximum income (France, England considering)
SolutionsRestructure tax system
Increase capital gains tax from 15% to (at least) prior 25% rate
Resume transaction tax on stock sales/purchases
Increase taxes on destructive activities (e.g., carbon emissions, toxic waste generation)
SolutionsPunish corporate scofflaws with large
fines and jail timeIncrease enforcement budgets to
combat corporate crimeEliminate confidential legal
settlements relevant to public health and safety
SolutionsLiving wage lawsWork with corporations
Healthy PRShareholder activismRisks/benefits
Solutions: Fair, Representative ElectionsPublicly financed campaigns and
campaign finance reformMembers of Congress spend between 30% and 70% of their time fundraising
50% of Senators and 42% of Representatives become lobbyists after leaving office
Solutions: Fair, Representative ElectionsOpen debates, free air time for candidates
Proportional representation
Instant runoff voting/cumulative voting/range (rating) voting
Halt disenfranchisement, overturn voter restriction laws
Solutions: VoteUS voter turnout low
Wealthy vote at almost twice rate of poor
Whites > Blacks > HispanicsOld > YoungProperty owners > RentersPhysicians < general population
Voter Turnout
SolutionsActivism / Letter writing / Protesting / WhistleblowingSCOTUS sharply restricted public employees’ whistleblowing rights in Garcetti v. Ceballos (2006)
But, Congress passed Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (2011)
SolutionsJoin community groups – become involved in local as well as national issues
Lobby legislatorsRun for office
SolutionsIncrease funding of public education
Independent scientific review of school curricula
Prohibit use of sponsored curricula
SolutionsEstablish safeguards re corporate involvement in academic research
Higher standards of journalism
Support alternative media
Solutions: EducationMedical ethics overemphasizes
fascinating dilemmas involving expensive technologies (e.g., gene therapy, cloning, face transplants)
Medical ethics underemphasizes the psychological, cultural, socioeconomic, occupational, and environmental contributors to health
Solutions: EducationIOM recommends ¼ to ½ of medical students earn the equivalent of an MPHOnly 10% of students at US public health schools are physicians, down from 60% in the 1960s
SolutionsAugment and improve international aid package
Sign, ratify, and adhere to major international treaties
Support Millenium Development Goals
Air Pollution
Factory Farming
Global Warming
Famine
2009 Federal Budget$2.65 trillion
SolutionsBased on Precautionary Principle
Recognize nature’s net worthCalculate prosperity based on Genuine Progress Index or Global Happiness Index, rather than Gross Domestic Product
“All men are created equal”Declaration of Independence
“Some people are more equal than others”George Orwell
Voltaire
“The comfort of the rich rests upon an abundance of the poor”
Hudson River, 2009
Primo Levi“A country is considered the more civilized the more the wisdom and efficiency of its laws hinder a weak man from becoming too weak or a powerful one too powerful.”
Günter Grass
“The first job of a citizen is to keep your mouth open.”
Alice Walker
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any”
African ProverbIf you think you are too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in your tent
Contact Information and References
Public Health and Social Justice Website
http://www.publichealthandsocialjustice.org
http://[email protected]