Posted on 06/17/2004 5:32:51 AM PDT by CSM
2004
The Campaign To Make Obesity A 'Disease' According to recent statements by a top official at the CDC, the governmental institutions responsible for our nation's health are currently debating whether obesity is somehow its own disease, just like cancer or tuberculosis. This development is due in large part to the corrupting influence of pharmaceutical companies, which see their revenues swelling along with growing panic over the so-called "obesity epidemic." If obesity is a disease, government and private insurance will cover their products. At the same time, if obesity is a disease, Draconian policies restricting our food choices are just over the horizon.
At a congressional briefing last week, George Mensah, acting director of CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, was asked what efforts the federal government is taking to deem "obesity as a disease so that it can then be looked at in terms of reimbursement and payment." His troubling response:
This is being considered this very minute by several health and human services agencies. As you might know, the CDC has requested that this issue be revisited and it's definitely being discussed between CDC and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, but certainly NIH [the National Institutes of Health] and several HHS [Department of Health and Human Services] agencies.
The issue of obesity-as-disease also came up at an annual American Medical Association (AMA) meeting yesterday. Delegates vo! ted to table for one year a resolution that would have urged the government "to recognize that obesity is a disease unto itself." The AMA's decision to postpone its resolution on the obesity-as-disease question shouldn't confuse anyone about the power of food cops in doctor smocks. Blame-the-food themes infest the AMA's guidelines to help doctors treat obese patients. They pin weight gain on "an overabundance of energy-dense food choices," "easy access to an abundance of calorie-dense, high-fat foods," and "societal pressures that expose individuals to high-calorie convenience foods." Not surprisingly, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), an eight-billion-dollar food cop, funded the AMA's obesity guidelines. RWJF, which recently announced that obesity "is our highest priority as a foundation and ! will be [our] highest priority for the next ten years," has given more than $50 million to the AMA.
Interestingly, the woman who asked the CDC's Mensah about government programs reimbursing for obesity treatment works at Johnson & Johnson in "Federal Affairs." And Johnson & Johnson has a huge stake in seeing obesity classified as a disease. The company has invested significant resources in multiple attempts to develop an anti-obesity drug (see here, here, and here). One of its subsidiaries "markets lines of medical instruments for use in bariatric, or weight reduction, surgery for the morbidly obese." And the company reports that "a number of other affiliate comp! anies offer products to help promote weight management and the treatment of weight-related conditions such as diabetes."
Two Johnson & Johnson's subsidiaries are "Sponsors" of the American Obesity Association (AOA). Funded primarily by pharmaceutical companies, the mission of the Washington, DC-based AOA is to push for "reimbursement for obesity treatment and prevention." Along the way, AOA hypes obesity fears at every opportunity. It even called for new "fat taxes" to support anti-obesity programs.
To achieve this goal of classifying obesity as a disease, Johnson & Johnson may also be working through the food cops at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The chairman of RWJF is the former vice president and general counsel of J&J. Of the remaining 15 board members, three more are retired executives of J&J, and one is the heir of the Johnson & Johnson fortune. RWJF hyping obesity could certainly contribute to their bottom line. And since about 60 percent of RWJF's assets are in Johnson & Johnson stock, having obesity classified as a disease would only grow the foundation's assets.
The potential conflicts of interest reviewed above are just the beginning. Stay tuned for more about the troubling connections between the pharmaceutical industry and research that exaggerates the health risks of being overweight.
With the decrease in tobacco revenues the government needs to find a new ox to gore.
Let's just tax fat.
As soon as it's regulated, you can be sure that the problem will get worse.
At the same time, these vultures are looming to take away caffeine, which is one of the four major food groups,(okay, I know that's not true, but you would be annoyed with me in no small part if I didn't get it). It does promotes a sense of well being and serves as an appetite suppressant. Yes, I know I should have less of it, but that is not anyone else's financial or legal responsibiltiy.
I am not going to affect someone else's insurance if I otherwise take care of myself and also make sure that I am not a 2 pot per day coffee drinker.
But we really will see an effort to curb/outlaw caffeine.
It sounds like lawyers run amok. The government should open up an extended hunting season on members of the American Bar. Perhaps we can find a way to force the Bar to trim its ranks by 10% per year over the next 8 years.
Only in it's natural forms.
You can be sure that NO-DOZTM will still be available.
Perhaps obsession with obesity should be classified as a mental disease? (Note: I'm a hefty SOB in my own right:-)
The government is much like an old girlfriend of mine. First I quit smoking for her, then she started working on alcohol. When she started nagging about drinking, I asked her what was next. Her very fast response was coffee. She answered so quickly that it was clear that she had a list of "improvements". I asked her what was next and she answered with diet improvements. I then asked what was next, she said "I haven't figured that out yet."
I said don't let the door hit ya on the way out! I wish I could say the same thing to the government.
True. :)
Since we can't refer to the Almighty, we can't talk about consuming coffee as He intended.
Good thing you sent her packing!
Tell me, what improvements was she making on herself? Oh, wait! Silly me!
What these nattering food nannies don't realize is that *every* food is potentially fattening (even lentils and vegetables) for those of the right genetic makeup.
First it's a war on food; then it's a war on fat people themselves. Wait for the prenatal testing that will identify "fat genes," so parents can abort their potentially-obese children.
It's all about the pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies who strive to keep us all paying for disease. I wonder if any of the "wellness" programs that were hyped years ago have worked. Oh wait, there is no payback from insurance companies who are in bed with pharm companies. And we get to pay the price(s).
Right on.
Remember "Demolition Man", which depicted a future in which Arnie was a high-ranking politican and dining at Taco Bell was a rare privilege? Who knew a Stallone action flick could be so prescient?
Just pass a law requiring all insurance companies and Medicare/Medicaid to have a minimum monthly premium hike of $20 per month for every 5 extra pounds. I guarantee you'd see pounds go way down.
Actually, I think it's a government plot to enable folks into an early super-sized grave and take some of the strain off of the Social Security system.
I hate to say I told you so................but...............
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