Hall of Shame
Last updated March 3, 2004 by F.W. Grannis Jr. MD. 2004 Winner Ragnar Rylander PhD.This researcher at the University of Geneva conducted research beneficial to the tobacco industry while concealing his financial relationship (as much as $150,000/year as a "consultant") to Philip Morris and other tobacco companies. The affaire Rylander has been a major scandal in Europe for a number of years. For more information on this issue, visit L'affaire Rylander courtesy of Gene Borio's Tobacco News There is a complete chronology of the affair available at L'affaire Rylander PHILIP MORRIS Faculté de Médecine de Genève Prof. Ragnar Rylander including dozens of documents, newspaper articles and court and tobacco industry documents. This scandal exposes the difficult problem of Universities that accept research funding from the tobacco industry. University professors who take this type of money often produce research results that support tobacco company legal positions, influence politicians or attack the work of other scientists who produce studies documenting the health dangers of tobacco products. Some prestigious American universities, including Harvard University, Harvard University School of Health, Duke University and the University of California fall into the the group of institutions that take the highest amounts of money i.e. millions of dollars, from tobacco industry sources. 2003 2001
Tommy Thompson, has been nominated by President-Appointee George W. Bush to be the next Cabinet secretary for Health and Human Services (HHS). As HHS secretary, Thompson would boss the U.S. Public Health Service including the Surgeon General, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Each of these agencies has important responsibilities in tobacco control and public health. It is hard to imagine anyone more ill fitted than Tommy Thompson for this vital cabinet post. The Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco has revealed that Thompson has taken more than $60,000 from direct tobacco industry sources, and many thousands of dollars more indirectly, including $16,000 in travel to Australia, South Africa and England, paid for by Philip Morris Co. The governor maintains “close personal contact” with Philip Morris VP Andrew Whist. One of the trips in question had the New York Society for International Affairs as chief sponsor. This group is actually "a dummy operation funded by Philip Morris." The president of NYSIA is Andrew Whist, who is a vice president at Philip Morris who "recently told the Wall Street Journal that the New York Society's office is "a chair in my apartment."" The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported these trips between 1992-6. "In an interview at the governors' association convention, Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson said he couldn't have known who was paying for the trips. Two were funded by the New York Society for International Affairs and the America-European Community Association, both primarily funded by Philip Morris, the paper said. A trip to London was largely paid for by a nonprofit group Libertad, also backed by Philip Morris, and by the association. "There was nothing wrong" with his traveling at the partial expense of Philip Morris, Thompson said, even though, as the state's largest employer, the giant company is affected by state government." " if he had known the tobacco company was financing "a disproportionate share" of the trip, he probably wouldn't have gone, he said. He noted that he included a 5-cent cigarette tax in his budget bill recently." Actually all Thompson had to do was to ask one of the four Philip Morris executives on the plane with him who was paying for the trip. Thompson also denied that any lobbying took place on any of these tobacco junkets even though the chief Midwestern lobbyist for PM was on the flight. If lobbying had taken place, Tommy would have had to report the money, which of course he did not, until confronted by enterprising newspaper reporters. Thompson also forgot to tell reporters that the tax increase on Wisconsin cigarettes would have been $1.00, but his good friends from Philip Morris convinced him to try to lower the tax to a nickel. Thompson is a good friend to lobbyists, although he prefers to call them "corporate fellows" just as long as they fork over $12,000 to the the National Governors' Association" which "allows a firm to designate a "corporate fellow" to work on social and economic policies at the association's Center for Best Practices. Tommy defended the center, saying the donations improve the environment, the economy and ``help the governors do their job better.'' Reference: Corporate Gifts Open Door to Governors' Inner Sanctum New York Times, May 17, 1997 By JOHN H. CUSHMAN Jr. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Is there a quid pro quo? What does Philip Morris get out the money it lavishes on Tommy? Ann Landman reports that a Philip Morris internal document shows that Governor Thompson attended a PM Board of Directors dinner in 1992, and while there assured PM CEO (Michael Miles) that he would have direct access to the Governor for "items of mutual interest" Reference: http://www.pmdocs.com/getallimg.asp?DOCID=2023014313/4314 In 1993 PM actually went so far as to directly raise money for Thompson. Why? Here's what another PM document has to say on the subject. "FAST FACTS: ...Smoking restrictions have been estimated this year alone to have decreased PM profits by $40 million. ... ...Goals for 1994: Promote and pass preemption language in targeted states. Educate hospitality industry, business leaders.." (By preemption, PM means that the state will pass a weak smoking restriction law that will invalidate stronger laws passed by cities and townships.) "Expand involvement of Corporate in making grants to public policy organizations and continue identifying grants that are special interest to key elected officials." This tobacco document information service is provided by the American Lung Association of Colorado (http://www.alacolo.org/) and Smokescreen ( http://www.smokescreen.org) In the final analysis, Thompson's record as governor suggests that he has been a loyal retainer of Philip Morris. Greg Gordon of the Star Tribune reports that "he has done too little to combat smoking during 14 years in office. a recent St. Louis University study that ranked Wisconsin 49th in a state-by-state comparison of laws in force in 1996 to limit youths' access to cigarettes." Bonnie Sumner, president of the Wisconsin Initiative on Smoking and Health, notes that as governor, Thompson vetoed legislation to allow municipalities to adopt stricter rules on youth access to tobacco than those in a state law (i.e. preemption, remember the PM memorandum above?). Thompson also signed a "Smokers' Rights Bill." ("Smokers Rights" is a buzz word used by tobacco industry to oppose laws protecting citizens from involuntary smoking.) Although Wisconsin had a $0.15/pack cigarette tax under Thompson, the governor favored a nickel/pack raise and opposed an effective $1/pack increase that would have resulted in a substantial decrease in smoking by children and adolescents. Thompson's administration also was criticized by the National Cancer Institute for "failing to make efficient use of a $10 million, eight-year federal grant to help set up antismoking programs across the state" and that "state officials were working in an environment which does not support aggressive tobacco control policies." The financial and personal ties described above create an intolerable conflict of interest between a HHS secretary and the industry responsible for more than 400,000 annual deaths caused by tobacco products and an annual cost to Medicare of more than $22 billion. Although disease and death caused by tobacco products represent the number one preventable health problem in the United States, this problem was not addressed by either of the candidates during the recent presidential campaign. This critically important public health issue should receive close attention during the Senate’s consideration of Thompson’s confirmation. The Senate should reject this thoughtless nomination. Help your senator decide on his/her vote by writing and demanding a vote against this shameful nomination. You can reach your Senator by E-mail through Senate Perennial Hall of Shame Award nominee Bill Frist MD, senator from Tennessee, won reelection this year and will assuredly be voting in favor of Thompson's appointment to the Cabinet and to the Tobacco Hall of Shame.2000 The first Hall of Shame nominee for the year 2000 is former tennis great Billie Jean King. King has recently taken a job on the Board of Directors of Philip Morris Co.. King is personally responsible for introducing million of young girls to cigarettes through her role in marketing Virginia Slims via tennis tournaments. The percentage of young women who smoke cigarettes went up dramatically following the Virginia Slims ad campaign. The result has been that lung cancer, formerly uncommon in women, in now the number one cancer killer of women, surpassing the number of deaths caused by breast and cervical cancer. As the Virginia Slims ad stated, "You've come a long way baby", and you have Billie Jean to thank for it. Does King feel any remorse for her betrayal of women? I will let her answer in this brief quote from USA TODAY cover story (Sports, 9/20/99). "Q: One thing people haven't understood all these years is your association with Virginia Slims. Why maintain that relationship? A: Because they never asked me to smoke. Phillip Morris people have probably done more charitable things for people than anybody. As long as cigarettes are legal - if they're illegal, then there's a problem. Again, it gets back to responsibility, a freedom of choice. If we start blaming them for our smoking problem, then we're going to start blaming other people for ''I'm too heavy with my weight,'' or ''I'm too fat, so I'm going to blame the mayonnaise company.'' No one holds a gun up to my head to make me smoke. We all know they've had a warning on the box since 1966. So anybody who's been alive since 1966 and kept smoking, it's their responsibility. Q: But if this was a child's first contact with sports, an association with tennis and Virginia Slims would have been made. A: I guess I thought about tennis. I didn't think about smoking. In my mind, it's more about, ''They're our sponsor, and that's it.'' I don't think you ever heard one of us say, ''We think you guys should smoke.'' They made it very clear not to do that. They did that before they had to do that. I think they've gotten a bad rap, because they're the biggest. Phillip Morris does probably more charity work than anybody else. And also, they're not just a tobacco company. They're Kraft. People have no idea. But if I took my child to a Virginia Slims tournament and they said, ''Mommy, what's Virginia Slims?'' I'd say, ''It's a cigarette, but I don't want you to smoke, it's not good for you.'' I think your family is very important to take care of responsibility." 1997, 1998 and 1999 Bill Frist, the Republican Senator from the State of Tennessee. He takes money from the tobacco industry. $23,000 so far (Source Center for Responsive Politics at URL http://www.crp.org/tob96/tobacco91-96.htm) . He gives good return to the industry for their investment in him, by voting in their interests in most instances. Public Citizen gives Frist a rating of 13% on tobacco issues. That is, Frist voted in the interests of his benefactors on 87% of bills. When Republican Senators killed the McCain Bill (S1415) which, properly amended, would have been a powerful force to reduce the damage tobacco does to our society, Frist voted in favor of the tobacco industry on 12 out of 14 votes, for a cumulative score of 14%. That's a failing grade in any school! Check it out for yourself at Public Citizen http://www.citizen.org/tobacco/mcpac.htm#List So what's the big deal? 75% of senators, Republican and Democrat, take money from tobacco companies? The big deal is that Frist is a doctor! Not only is he a doctor, he is a thoracic surgeon! Thoracic surgeons have more personal experience with the suffering of patients with tobacco caused diseases than most other physicians. They are the best, and often the only, hope of cure for patients suffering from tobacco caused diseases, including coronary artery disease, lung cancer, stroke, aortic aneurysm, peripheral artery disease and emphysema. Frist was actually a super-specialist who transplanted new lungs into emphysema sufferers. The senator is a very bright man; a Harvard man. He can't claim ignorance of the fact that cigarettes cause 480,000 premature deaths in our society each year. Ann Landman reports that Frist sought the endorsement of his "fellow physicians" in the American College of Chest Physicians for his re-election. The ACCP refused to endorse him based on his egregious voting records on tobacco--and gun control. Frist takes tobacco money under the guise of donations from agriculture and retail associations. Well, maybe he's a poor boy who would like to do the right thing, but he just can't afford to? Nope. Frist is a member of the Frist family, who control the Columbia Hospital system. As such, Frist is worth millions. Columbia is a notorious company that is changing the face of American medicine, for the worse. But that is another story. For more information about Columbia, visit the Hall of Shame at INFACT Among other things, this web site reveals the following information. "$13.9 million Columbia/HCA stock held in 1995 by US Senator Bill Frist (TN), brother of Thomas Frist. ""Bill Frist told me to tell you he is a candidate for U.S. Senate, not Doctor of the Year," said State Rep. Tommy Haun at a tobacco growers rally. Source: "A Limited Prescription," WASHINGTON POST, October18, 1994, p. A12. (sdb 10/18/94) During his victorious Tennessee senatorial campaign, when asked about his stance on smoking and tobacco taxes, Frist replied, "The ultimate decision is up to them." "Even children?" he was asked. "Even children, yeah." Frist answered. "The ultimate decision is a family's. . . . I don't want to put punitive taxes on that industry to fund health care." (Source: Gail Kerr, "Frist Calls Smoking a Family's Decision," TENNESSEAN, October 14, 1994, p. A3 The same paper went on to characterize Frist's statement as follows "the statement can only be labeled as blatant pandering to the state's tobacco farmers. Groveling for voters at the expense of common sense and the health of children would be unseemly for any politician --but for a physician, it is unbelievable. .." I agree. There is no possible excuse for Frist's actions. It is just a pure and simple betrayal, not only of the public health of his constituents, but of his former patients as well. That's why I have made him the 1997 Hall of Shame Award winner. I'm hoping that the prize will be a resounding defeat in the next Tennessee senatorial election. Frist is at it again in 2001, helping out his ruthless pals in the tobacco industry. The National Youth Smoking Reduction Act (S.190), sponsored by Senator Bill Frist (R-TN), has no cosponsors. The bill was introduced on January 25th, 2001 and no major action has been taken. It contains loopholes and hurdles that would prevent the FDA from protecting the public health. Runners up for this year's Hall of Shame Award were two other doctor-politicians, who take money from the tobacco industry, Dave Weldon MD Representative Florida ($1000) and Ronald Paul MD Representative Texas ($2500). Just to prove that there is not a killer industry Frist is unwilling to take money from, Public Campaign reports that Frist has received $186,619 in gun lobby largess.Take a minute of your time, and send E-mail to Frist and his fellow award winners Weldon and Paul to congratulate them on their selection to receive this prestigious award. If you prefer non-E-mail contact, here are a number of other ways you can contact Senator Frist. Bill Frist (R-TN) 416 Russel Senate Office Building United States Senate Washington, DC 20510-4205 e-mail: senator_frist@frist.senate.gov Phone: 202-224-3344 Fax: 202-228-1264 District phone: Phone: 615-352-9411 1997, 1998 and 1999 The Lung Cancer and Cigarette Smoking Web Page Hall of Shame proudly announces the nomination of Senators Orin Hatch and Diane Feinstein for consideration for the 1998 Hall of Shame Award. Although the Mormon Church forbids the use of tobacco products by its members, Senator Hatch has emerged as one of the most outspoken supporters of the tobacco industry, as exemplified in his "sweetheart deal" Hatch bill. Just perhaps the $11,400 he has taken from tobacco industry PACs plays a roll in his behavior. Feinstein has joined Hatch as co-sponsor of his bill and spoken out against high taxes on cigarettes as fostering a "black market" in tobacco in her state of California and smuggling across the Mexican border. Feinstein did not mention that fact that the U.S. tobacco industry has recently purchased Mexican tobacco companies, and that U.S. companies have been implicated in tobacco smuggling in Canada and Europe. 1997, 1998 and 1999 Althought Lungren was badly trounced by the voters of the State of California during his recent gubernatorial campaign, his recent behavior has been so outrageously shameful that made a late sprint to catch up to tie Senator Hatch, and perennial Hall of Shame regular Bill Frist for the 1998 Hall of Shame Award. Lungren is the leading force in the eight state Attorneys-General who sold out their souls and their constituents to the tobacco industry in a cynical back-room, sellout. Although Lungren is proudest of his "three strikes and you're out" law that sends Californians to jail for life after a third crime, he cut a plea bargain for everyone in the tobacco industry that will mean that they will never be tried for any past or future crime in California. This is akin to releasing a child molester, serial killer on his own recognizance in return for a promise not to do it again. Although Lungren is now out of politics, look for him to get a lucrative job with a tobacco industry affiliate as soon as his term is completed. Good riddance. Nominations of other prominent individuals who violate their public health responsibilities are welcome here at the Hall of Shame. ASH in British Columbia has recently conferred their prestigious Bedfellows Award on a Canadian politician.To visit some other "Hall of Shamers" browse the fine site of Jack Cannon at http://www.gate.net/~jcannon/tobacco.html to learn more about Bob Dole, California Governor Pete Wilson and actor Sylvester Stallone.
Frederic W. Grannis Jr. M.D |
