Baby Formula Industry Slammed for Manipulative Social Media Marketing
In 1981, the World Health Assembly released a public health strategy known as The International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes to protect breastfeeding and “stop the aggressive and inappropriate marketing of breast-milk substitutes.”1 This initiative came after years of unethical formula marketing specifically to mothers in low-income parts of the world, which led to “dramatic […]
FDA Did Not Promptly Investigate Formula Plant Contamination Reports
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is under fire after failing to promptly investigate whistleblower safety complaints at the Abbott Nutrition formula plant. Whistleblower complaints were filed in October 2021, but the FDA did not close down the plant until February after four babies contracted serious bacterial infections, two of whom died. Closure of […]
Robert Califf Heads FDA Again Despite Financial Ties to Pharma
Robert M. Califf, MD was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by a vote of 50-46 on Feb. 15, 2022. Dr. Califf’s financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry was cited by some Senators as a reason they could not support his appointment. Similar concerns were expressed […]
Moderna CEO Was Paid $18.2 Million in 2021
As COVID-19 vaccine sales continue to soar, Moderna Chief Executive Stephane Bancel’s total personal financial compensation increased by 41 percent in 2021, reaching $18.2 million. The company’s total revenue rose 2,200 percent in 2021, jumping from $803 million to $18.5 billion.1 2 Moderna partnered with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), headed […]
Pfizer CEO Received $24.3 Million in Total Compensation for 2021
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, who recently announced that a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose will be necessary for everyone who has already gotten three doses, was awarded $24.3 million in personal financial compensation in 2021. In addition to his $1.69 million salary, which increased by 15 percent, Bourla took home a cash incentive of $8 million, […]
Harvard Study’s Goal: Identifying Messages That ‘Break Through’ to Vaccine Skeptics
“If only there were a message that could break through skepticism and persuade unvaccinated people to get their shots. What a world that would be. But over the past year, this really did happen,” reads a February 2022 Vox article1 that continues on to describe a Harvard Business School publication2 which offers new evidence on […]