Healthy Skepticism Library item: 1110

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Some News Anchors Paid by Drug Companies
New York Times 2003 May 7

Full text:

Some broadcast journalists, including Aaron Brown of CNN and Walter Cronkite, are hired to host videos that resemble news programs but are actually paid for by drug manufacturers and other health care companies.

The journalists are paid to provide an introduction to the programs, which feature health care companies and products.

Along these lines, some drug marketing companies hire local television and radio journalists to appear in video Webcasts that can be viewed through the Web sites of many large newspapers, such as The Los Angeles Times and The Miami Herald.

In the Webcasts, which are paid for by drug companies, the journalists interview doctors and patients about their products and viewers often have the option of clicking on links to go to the supporting drug company’s Web site or choosing to be sent additional information about the drug.

Federal drug regulations prohibit drug companies from advertising experimental drugs or promoting drugs for certain illnesses that have not been approved for such treatments. According to government officials, the programs might violate such regulations.

Additionally, the programs might violate public broadcasting rules, which require that corporate sponsors be disclosed.

Moreover, the programs can be misleading because promotional footage is made to look like news.

According to the programs’ makers, the videos are educational rather than promotional, and the drug companies do not control the content of the programs.

DR. MERCOLA’S COMMENT:

One of the reasons I write this newsletter is to provide you, the reader, with the truth so you can weed through much of the nonsense that the media throws at you.

The first step to finding the truth about any matter, whether it is health-related or otherwise, is to realize that everything you read or hear may not be true. It is up to you to “do your homework” and make sure that the information you are hearing is from a reliable, independent source.

As you all know, the drug industry is one of the largest and most powerful industries on the planet. They will use everything in their power to maintain and expand their control and economic prominence; this includes continuing to deceive you by creating the illusion of “fixing” your health so they can extract even more of your money.

Don’t be fooled by their illusions: what they typically provide you is just a symptomatic Band-Aid that will only further accelerate your path toward degeneration, allowing them to sell you even more Band-Aids down the line. What you should be addressing—and what they won’t address because it is not profitable—are the underlying causes of your health issues.

And, in my new book The No-Grain Diet I discuss these underlying health issues and give practical advice on how to implement healthy strategies in your life.

If you want to regain control of your health, if you believe the above is true—even in part—you can help change the medical paradigm by passing this message, or any Mercola.com article of interest, on to your family and friends. Just use the simple “E-mail a Friend” feature in the upper-right corner of the articles. Including a personal letter of encouragement is often more effective than simply passing it along, but that’s up to you.

This may be one of the best gifts you can give someone this year: A practical resource to help them recapture their health.

Finally, if you want to further understand how corporations and government manipulate science and the media by preying upon the public trust—and you want to know how to protect yourself—I highly recommend the book Trust Us, We’re Experts. It is truly one of those books that all Americans should read, and would make an important gift for any young adult who wants to maintain control over him or herself as they enter “the real world.”