CNN to Reveal When Guests Promote Drugs for Companies ~ Inamed

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> Subject: CNN to Reveal When Guests Promote Drugs for Companies ~ Inamed

> Furtively Hypes Product

>

> http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/23/business/media/23DRUG.html

>

> CNN to Reveal When Guests Promote Drugs for Companies

>

> By MELODY PETERSEN

>

>

> fter learning that some celebrities who talked on its news programs

> about their health problems were being paid by drug companies, CNN has

> issued a new policy and will tell viewers about the stars' financial

> ties to corporations.

>

> CNN will ask celebrities who want to talk about a medical issue

> whether they are being paid by a company, the network said. If so, the

> financial tie will be disclosed during the interview, CNN said.

>

>

> Other news programs & #8212; including the " Today " show on NBC, " Good

> Morning America " on ABC and " The Early Show " on CBS & #8212; say that

> they have also become more careful after they learned that some

> Hollywood celebrities they had interviewed, including stars like

> Bacall and Kathleen , had been paid to help promote drugs

> or other medical products on their programs.

>

> Even a Hollywood agent who has benefited by working to link

> celebrities with drug companies says some of the practices have gone

> too far.

>

> " The television networks and media people are not letting the public

> know what the connections are, which I don't think is great

> journalism, " said Barry M. Greenberg, the president of Celebrity

> Connection in Los Angeles. " I think we all need to be clearer. "

>

> In the last year or so, dozens of movie, television and music stars,

> as well as sports celebrities, who are paid by drug and medical device

> companies, have appeared on talk shows and morning news programs to

> discuss ailments they or people close to them have. They often mention

> the drugs or other medical products by brand name without disclosing

> their ties to the company.

>

> On Aug. 11, the same day that The New York Times published a report

> about the practice, CNN broadcast an interview with Ms. , one of

> the company-paid celebrities, who discussed her battle with rheumatoid

> arthritis.

>

> Ms. is being paid by Amgen and Wyeth, the two companies that

> sell the drug Enbrel, to talk about her condition. She did not mention

> the drug by name in the CNN interview.

>

> The two drug companies say they are trying to raise awareness about

> the disease and persuade people to see their doctors.

>

> CNN issued its new policy the day after its interview with Ms. .

>

> " In light of recent attention involving paid celebrity endorsements,

> CNN became aware that some celebrities we interviewed about their

> health problems might be paid, " said Cohn, a CNN spokeswoman.

> " We decided it was important for our viewers to be aware of that as

> part of any future interviews or features about a celebrity. "

>

> Executives at CBS say they also may have overlooked some celebrities'

> ties to medical companies.

>

> " This is a brand new thing, " said Marcy McGinnis, the senior vice

> president in charge of news coverage at CBS News.

>

> Ms. McGinnis said producers at CBS had not looked into the financial

> ties of the rock singer Ann of the band Heart, to Inamed, a

> company that makes a medical device for the obese. A July 18 segment

> on " The Early Show " featured the musician and her doctor, B.

> Quebbemann.

>

> " The Early Show " ran part of a taped interview with Ms. where

> she said Inamed's Lap-band, a silicon band that is fastened around the

> stomach during surgery, was " a beautifully simple idea. " Dr.

> Quebbemann performed the Lap-band surgery on Ms. in January.

>

> Inamed, through Spotlight Health, a firm that specializes in creating

> celebrity marketing campaigns for medical companies, paid Ms.

> to promote the Lap-band.

>

> Dr. Quebbemann promotes the Lap-band on his Web site and issued a news

> release on the day he appeared on " The Early Show, " saying he hoped to

> perform the procedure on " many other patients. "

>

> At the time, Ms. McGinnis said, " it would not have occurred to us to

> even ask " about the singer's ties to Inamed.

>

> From now on, she said, CBS will ask celebrities before the interview

> about their corporate connections and disclose them in the interview.

>

> " It is another thing to add to the policy guide, " Ms. McGinnis said.

>

> Trigg, a spokesman for Inamed, said the company used Ms.

> in the campaign because " she wanted to talk about her

> struggle. " Ms. and Dr. Quebbemann could not be reached for

> comment.

>

> At ABC, Finkel, a spokeswoman for " Good Morning America, " said

> that more than one producer was now asking the celebrities or the

> people representing them about any corporate ties before each

> interview.

>

> " We've become much more vigilant, " Ms. Finkel said.

>

> One ABC official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that

> after Ms. promoted a Web site used by Amgen and Wyeth to market

> Enbrel during a Feb. 19 interview with Diane Sawyer on " Good Morning

> America, " producers began giving the show's hosts more information

> about medications before any interview. In that way, if a celebrity

> they were interviewing began promoting a product, the host could

> provide a more balanced point of view for viewers, the official said.

>

> In recent months, some drug companies and their advertising agencies

> have developed new tactics, the executive said.

>

> About a month after the interview with Ms. , people representing

> Peggy Fleming, the Olympic gold medal skater, asked ABC whether she

> could appear on the show to talk about cholesterol and heart disease.

>

> " Our producers asked if this was a drug pitch, " the official said, and

> were told that it was not.

>

> But near the beginning of the interview, Ms. Fleming said, " My doctor

> has put me on Lipitor and my cholesterol has dropped dramatically. "

>

> The show's co-host, Vargas, quickly responded, saying there

> were " plenty of drugs that you can use besides Lipitor, " including

> Zocor and Pravachol. But by then Lipitor, which is made by Pfizer, had

> received an effective marketing plug.

>

> Ms. Fleming told the audience she was working with a pharmaceutical

> company but did not say specifically that it was Pfizer.

>

> Pfizer said it had made it clear to ABC that Ms. Fleming was working

> to promote Lipitor. " It was clearly stated to a producer, " said

> McGowan, a Pfizer spokeswoman.

>

> Lipton, Ms. Fleming's agent, said the skater wanted to tell

> people how to lower cholesterol because heart disease had killed her

> father and sister.

>

> " It is something that is near and dear to her, " Ms. Lipton said.

> " Peggy would never endorse a product that she does not take. "