April 5, 2015
A March 31, 2015 “policy analysis,” E-cigarettes Poised to Save Medicaid Billions, prepared by J. Scott Moody, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief economist at the organization State Budget Solutions, has started popping up state legislatures all over the country.
The basic argument in this “policy analysis” is that
April 4, 2015
On March 23, 2015, Dr Richard Cottrell, the Director General of the World Sugar Research Organisation, published comment criticising of the paper, "Sugar Industry Influence on the Scientific Agenda of the National Institute of Dental Research’s 1971 National Caries Program: A Historical Analysis of Internal Documents" Cristin Kearns, Laura Schmidt and I published in PLoS Medicine.
The most interesting thing about Dr. Cottrell's criticisms is that they are all contrdicted by the sugar industry's own internal documents. Here is our response to what he wrote:
The World Sugar Research Organization’s (WSRO) response [1] to our paper Sugar Industry Influence on the Scientific Agenda of the National Institute of Dental Research’s 1971 National Caries Program: A Historical Analysis of Internal Documents [2] illustrates how the sugar industry continues to try to protect itself from potentially damaging research.
None of the criticisms in the WSRO letter contest the substantive results of our analysis of internal sugar industry documents.
March 29, 2015
Julia Belluz of Vox Media published an excellent story summing up the hyper-aggressive social media presence that e-cigarette advocates have mounted against anyone with the temerity to question the unrestricted use of e-cigarettes.
She did a particularly nice job of describing attacks on the California Department of Public Health’s new educational campaign.
No doubt they will be going after the CDC next, as it launches ads warning against dual use of e-cigs and cigarettes.
You can read her story here.
March 29, 2015
E-cigarette enthusiasts, particularly from the UK, have consistently minimized the possibility that e-cigarette use was increasing among kids and that e-cigarette use would predict later smoking.
Graham Moore and colleagues recently published “E-cigarette use and intentions to smoke among 10-11-year-old never-smokers in Wales,” a carefully done survey of 1500 youth that found that
March 25, 2015
From Public Citizen c/o Ellen Shaffer at CPATH:
This leak of TPP investment provisions appears as negotiators report that they are close to an agreement. The chapter includes provisions regarding corporate rights to file trade challenges against sovereign nations' laws and regulations, including a wide range of public health protections. The Obama Administration is grasping at a PR campaign to convince progressives that the TPP fulfills candidate Obama's pledge in 2008 to re-negotiate NAFTA - !! Best, Ellen Shaffer
For Immediate Release: Contact: Symone Sanders (202) 454-5108
March 25, 2015 Lori Wallach (202) 454-5107, [email protected]
TPP Leak Reveals Extraordinary New Powers for Thousands of Foreign Firms to Challenge U.S. Policies and Demand Taxpayer Compensation
Unveiling of Parallel Legal System for Foreign Corporations Will Fuel TPP Controversy, Further Complicate Obama’s Push for Fast Track