Who Paid You to Say That, Doc?

Guest post by Armando Alvarez. Armando is a 2nd year MD/MPH student at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He is passionate about childhood obesity prevention and increasing the access to care through telemedicine and telehealth services. See more about Armando here. Who paid you to say that, doc? That question, that highly inappropriate question is what will get you the truth, if they answer it. Major medical associations have been drawing conclusions and taking stances for the general well being of patients, but who is paying for those stances? In September of 2015, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) dropped its allegiance to Coca-Cola after taking 3 million dollars to start the AAP's website healthychildren.org.1,2 In other words, the sugary beverage company whose major products have been associated with the increasing childhood obesity epidemic has stopped giving money to the association who is in charge of making unbiased opinions towards our children's health. It is somewhat unsettling once that sinks in, but that's not all, not by a long shot. Coca-Cola also funds researchers to study the effects, causes, and health impacts of childhood obesity, arguably the largest epidemic of our generation. Rephrased, the researchers who publish scientific, peer-reviewed studies which are featured in medical journals where clinicians, dietitians, and policy makers make decisions and guidelines concerning the well-being of our children are paid for by the com...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news