The American Cancer Society (ACS), “More Interested In Accumulating Wealth Than Saving Lives,” Warns Samuel S. Epstein, M.D….(And We’re Surprised?…)
report on the American Cancer Society (ACS), “More Interested In Accumulating Wealth Than Saving Lives” was released today. This report is authored by Dr. Samuel Epstein, chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, and Emeritus professor of Environmental and Occupational Medicine at the University of Illinois School of Public Health, and endorsed by Congressman John Conyers Jr., Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Quentin Young M.D., Chairman of the Health and Medicine Policy research Group, and Past President of the American Public Health Association.
The report traces the track record of the ACS, since its founding in 1913 by a group of oncologists and wealthy business men until this year. It documents the virtually exclusive priority of the ACS to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, with indifference to prevention, other than that due to faulty personal lifestyle. Commonly known as “blame the victim,” this excludes the very wide range of scientifically well-documented avoidable causes of cancer.
The ACS track record also clearly reflects frank conflicts of interest. About half the ACS board are clinicians, oncologists, surgeons, and radiologists, mostly with close ties to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Many board members and their institutional colleagues apply to and obtain funding from both the ACS and the NCI. Substantial NCI funds also go to ACS directors who sit on key NCI committees. Although the ACS asks its board members to leave the room when others review their funding proposals, this is just a token formality. In this private club, easy access to funding is one of the perks, as the board routinely rubber-stamps approvals. A significant amount of ACS funding also goes to this extended membership. Frank conflicts of interest are also evident in many ACS priorities. These include policies on mammography, the National Breast Cancer Awareness campaign, and the pesticide and cancer drug industries. These conflicts extend to the virtual privatization of national cancer policy.
For instance the ACS has close connections to the mammography industry. Five radiologists have served as ACS presidents. In its every move, the ACS reflects the interests of the major manufacturers of mammography, films and machines. These include Siemens, DuPont, General Electric, Eastman Kodak, and Piker, which allocate considerable funds to the ACS.
The Rest…HERE
