Center for Medicine in the Public Interest

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The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest (CMPI) claims to be a ‘nonprofit, non-partisan organization promoting innovative solutions that advance medical progress, reduce health disparities, extend life and make health care more affordable, preventive and patient-centered.’ It offers ‘the public, policymakers and the media a reliable source of independent scientific analysis on issues ranging from personalized medicine, food and drug safety, health care reform and comparative effectiveness. [1] The director of the Stockholm Network (SN), Helen Disney, used to sit on its now defunct advisory board along with representatives from two think tanks who are part of the SN: International Policy Network (Julian Morris) and Centre for the New Europe (Stephen Pollard).[2]

The CPMI has been accused of being an 'astroturf' organisation that receives its funding from pharmarceutical companies[3][4]. According to the Washington Post:

The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest (CMPI) is a New York-based think tank headed by Peter Pitts, a former Food and Drug Administration official who appears frequently on newscasts condemning Democratic health-care proposals. CMPI is an offshoot of the San Francisco-based Pacific Research Institute, which has received foundation grants over the years from Philip Morris, Pfizer and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, according to public records.
While serving as president of CMPI, Pitts also works as the global health-care chief at Porter Novelli, a New York public relations firm whose clients include Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, Wyeth and Pfizer. He acknowledges that CMPI also receives money from the pharmaceutical industry, which is supporting reform legislation in exchange for a White House promise to limit cuts.[5]



Funding and disambiguation

The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest is not to be confused with the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). The two are completely unrelated, despite their very similar sounding names.

They also have completely different funding policies. CSPI says it does not accept funding from corporations or government; instead it is funded by individual donors, foundation grants, and subscriptions to its newsletter.[6]

CMPI, on the other hand, stated on a 2005 version of its website that it accepted corporate funding:

Its contributors consist primarily of foundations and individuals, with some corporate support, as described in its 2004 annual report.
PRI solicits and accepts donations from corporations in the health care industry. In order to avoid conflicts of interest, PRI staff and external authors adhere to a Code of Practice.[7]

People

Board of Directors

  • Gad Berdugo, General Partner, Explorium Capital LLC
  • Fred Goodwin, M.D. Professor of Psychiatry, The George Washington University Medical Center.
  • Steven Sammut, Lecturer, Wharton School, the Law School and the School of Engineering and Applied Science of the University of Pennsylvania
  • Mark Thornton, M.D., Ph.D. Chairman and President, Sarcoma Foundation of America
  • Michael Weber, M.D. Professor of Medicine SUNY Downstate College of Medicine, Brooklyn, New York
  • Catherine Barr Windels, Principle, OnPoint Strategies, LLC[8]

Founders

CMPI Advisory Board (no longer in existence)

Publications and Affiliations

Contact

Headquarters:
Address:
308 East 38th Street
Suite 201
New York, New York 10016
Phone:(212) 417-9169
Fax: (212) 417-9170
email: info@cmpi.org
Paris Office
3 rue Primatice
75013 Paris
Phone: + 33 1 43 31 89 25



Notes

  1. CMPI. CMPI: Mission Statement Accessed 19 April 2010./
  2. Center for Medicine in the Public Interest. SourceWatch:CMPI Accessed 19 April 2010.
  3. Peter Hart, Fear & Favor 2008; Financial woes accelerate corporate pressure in the newsroom, Extra!, April 2009
  4. Shannon Brownlee and Jeanne Lenzer, Doctor's Fees, Slate Magazine, 21-November-2008
  5. Dan Eggen, Funding for health-care interest groups often fuzzy, Washington Post, 7-January-2010
  6. CSPI's Funding Sources, CSPI website, acc 21 Apr 2010
  7. About Center for Medicines in the Public Interest, CMPI website, archived version copyrighted 2005, accessed in web archive 21 Apr 2010
  8. CPMI Board of Directors, About Us, Centre for Medicine in the Public Interest, Accessed 24-May-2010
  9. Peter Pitts, Michael Tew and Alexandra Preate. 20 September 2005. 21ST CENTURY HEALTH CARE TERRORISM: THE PERILS OF INTERNATIONAL DRUG COUNTERFEITING Accessed 19 April 2010.