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by Jane Akre & Steve
Wilson
The
report that Monsanto and Fox TV didn't want you to see.
Published for the first time.
Jane Akre and
Steve Wilson, a respected reporting team at WTTV, a Fox
Network Station in Tampa, Florida, were
fired from their jobs
after refusing to broadcast what they
knew and documented to be false and distorted information
about Monsanto's bovine growth hormone (BGH) -- a genetically
engineered product that has been linked to the proliferation
of breast, prostate, and colon cancer cells in humans.
On August 28,
2000, a Florida jury unanimously decided that Akre had been
fired for threatening to blow the whistle on Fox for pressuring
her and Wilson to broadcast a false, distorted and slanted
news report and awarded her $425,000 for lost wages and
damages. Fox is appealing.
This is the
first time that the script that got the reporters in trouble
has appeared in print. This important document has been
edited for length but not censored. For the full version,
go to the website: http://www.foxbghsuit.com
Reporters'
Version - Part I
"Nature's
most nearly perfect food" - that's how most of us have
always thought of milkSwholesome, nutritious and pure just
like it says on some of the trucks that deliver it. But
down on the farm where most of us never see? Some Florida
farmers have been quietly squeezing more cash from their
cows by injecting them with an artificial growth hormone
so they'll produce more milk than nature intended.
Thurman
Hattan, Florida Dairy Farmer:
"Yes I would say, people in Florida are using it. (Reporter
Jane Akre) And you yourself? (Hatten) Ahh ...
Narration:
Hatten is one of many Florida dairymen reluctant to admit
that they're injecting their cows every two weeks ...
Hattan continues:
" ... it's possible I could be using it."
Narration:
The drug some Florida farmers don't want you to know they're
using is a Monsanto laboratory version of bovine growth
hormone known as BGH.
Here's how it
works: when the cow gets injected with extra BGH, it stimulates
the production of another hormone called IGF-1. That's really
the stuff that speeds up the cow's metabolism, causing her
to produce up to 30
percent more milk.
But some scientists
like Dr. Samuel Epstein are warning what might be good for
the farmers' bottom line might be big trouble down the line
for people drinking the milk from treated cows.
Samuel Epstein,
Scientist, University of Illinois:
" ... there
are highly suggestive if not persuasive lines of evidence
showing that consumption of this milk poses risks of breast
and colon cancer."
Narration:
Dr. Epstein is a scientist at the University of Illinois
School of Public Health. He's earned three medical degrees,
written eight books, and is frequently called upon to advise
Congress about things in our environment which may cause
cancer. He and others like Dr. William von Meyer point to
what they say is a growing body of scientific evidence of
a link between IGF-1 and human cancers which might not show
up for years to come.
William
Von Meyer, Research Scientist:
"We're going to save some lives if we review this now.
If we allow BGH to go on, I'm sure we're taking excessive
risks with society."
Narration:
Dr. Von Meyer has spent 30 years studying chemical products
and testing their effects on humans. He's supervised many
such tests on thousands of animals at schools such as the
University of London and UCLA. He's headed agricultural,
chemical and genetic research at some of America's most
prestigious companies.
Monsanto is
the giant chemical company which sells the synthetic hormone
under the brand name PosilacSand Monsanto has consistently
rejected the concerns of scientists around the world.
Dr. Robert
Collier, Chief Monsanto BGH Scientist:
"In fact, the FDA has commented several times on this
issue after there were concerns raised. They have publicly
restated human safety confidence ... this is not something
knowledgeable people have concerns about."
Narration:
While other companies have dropped by the wayside, Monsanto
has invested a mountain of money into Bovine Growth Hormone.
Company
sales tapes encourage farmers to use it as a tool to milk
more profits out of every cow.
Video Clip
of Monsanto sales tape:
"Of course you'll want to inject Posilac into every
eligible cow, as each cow not treated is a lost income opportunity."
Narration:
A number
of critics, including at least one state agriculture commissioner,
have called it "crack for cows" for the way it
speeds up the cow's milk production ... but despite its
promise of profit, some dairymen say the product doesn't
always lead to happy trails for the cows or for those who
tend them.
Charles
Knight, Florida Dairy Farmer:
"It's a tool that can be used, but you better be careful,
'cause it can burn you..."
Narration:
Near Wachula, Charles Knight won't use Monsanto's synthetic
BGH anymore. He is one of many farmers who say they've watched
Posilac burn their cows out sooner,
shortening their lives
by maybe two years.
Narration:
Knight says he had to replace 75 percent of his herd due
to hoof problems and serious udder infections. Those are
two of more than 20 potential troubles listed right on the
product warning label. But apart from potential suffering
for the animals, the major concern is how the hormone injected
into the cow changes the milk that ends up on our tables.
Robert Collier:
" ... this is the most studied molecule certainly
in the history of domestic animal science."
Narration:
While that claim may be open to dispute, Monsanto ... did
put the product through a decade's worth of testing before
it was approved by the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine
as an animal drug. But that's part of the problem, according
to many scientists who say since BGH alters the milk we
drink, it should meet the higher safety standards required
of human drugs. The critics say tests on BGH milk that could
have answered these concerns about long-term risk to humans
were just never done.
Dr. William
Von Meyer, Research Scientist:
"A human drug requires two years of carcinogenic testing
and extensive birth-defect testing. BGH was tested for 90
days on 30 rats at any dose before it was approved."
Robert Collier:"But
suffice it to say the cancer experts don't see the health
issue and it's unfortunate the public is being scared by
an issue that shouldn't be of concern."
Narration:
Monsanto's dairy research director points to what the FDA
has repeatedly said since the day it approved BGH back in
1993: "The public can be confident that milk and meat
from BGH-treated cows is safe to consume." ...
Part II
Narration:
You won't find Ol' Flossie and Bossie on Fred Gore's dairy
farm in Zephyrhills. On Fred's farm, all the cows have numbers
instead of names - and they're watched by electronic eyes
24 hours a day.
Farmer Gore,
Florida Dairy Farmer:
"They help tell me if proper procedures are being followed."
Narration:
At a modern dairy farm, cows wear transponders that even
tell a computer how much milk she gave today.
Farmer Gore:
"She's giving 121 pounds a day."
Narration:
In the competitive business of dairy farming these days,
productivity is paramount. That's why Fred Gore and others
like him were all ears when the giant Monsanto chemical
company started promoting its new product called Posilac.
Video Clip
from Monsanto sales tape:
"Posilac is the single most-tested product in history
and it helps increase your profit potential."
Narration:
Monsanto promised that Posilac - a laboratory version of
the cow's natural growth hormone - could get Ol' 2356 and
her friends to produce up to 30 percent more milk. That
was good news to Florida farmers who need all the help they
can get in a state where high heat, humidity and little
local grain make dairy farming a struggle.
The "promise
of Posilac" sounded great to dairyman Charles Knight ... but
he says it didn't turn out that way.
Charles
Knight, Florida Dairy Farmer:
"About
the same time we began having a lot of foot problems with
our cows because they got so crippled they couldn't walk."
Narration:
Right after he started using the drug on his herd near Wachula
three years ago, Knight says his animals were plagued with
those problems and serious infections of his cows' udders.
Troubles he attributes to Posilac eventually caused him
to replace the majority of his herd. He says when he called
dairy experts at the University of Florida and at Monsanto,
they both had the same response.
Farmer Knight:
"[T]hey said you're the only person having this problem
so it must be what you're doing here. You must be having
management problems."
Narration:
The University of Florida, by the way, did much of the research
on BGH and has received millions in gifts and grants from
Monsanto. Knight says neither the university nor the company
ever mentioned Monsanto research that showed hundreds of
other cows on other farms were also suffering hoof problems
and mastitis, a painful infection of the cow's udders.
Farmer Knight:
If untreated, the infection can get into the cow's milk
so farmers try to cure it by giving the cow shots of antibiotics ... more
drugs that can find their way into the milk on your table,
which could make your own body more resistant to antibiotics.
Dr. Michael
Hanson, Consumers Union Scientist:
"In fact, there is over 60 drugs that they believe
can be used on farms and they test for a very small percentage
of them.
File video
of protesters chanting:
"Boycott BGH. Boycott BGHS"
Collier:
"There
are no human or animal safety issues that would prevent
approval in Canada once they've completed their review,
not that I'm aware of."
Narration:
But long-term human safety is exactly the concern expressed
by a Canadian House committee on health. Here are the minutes
of a 1995 meeting where members voted to ask Canada's Health
Minister to try and keep BGH off the market for at least
two more years. Why? " ... to allow members of Parliament
to further examine the human health implications" of
the drug.
It's still not
legal to sell the unlicensed product north of the border,
despite the company's efforts to gain the approval of government
regulators.
Narration:
In the Fall of 1994, Canadian television quoted a Canadian
health official as reporting Monsanto offered $1-2 million
if her government committee would recommend BGH approval
in Canada without further data or studies of the drug. Another
member of her committee who was present when Monsanto made
the offer was asked: "Was that a bribe?"
File Video
Clip of CBC documentary - CBC Correspondent to committee
member:
"Is that how it struck you? (Dr. Edwards) Certainly!"
Reporter
Jane Akre on camera:
"Monsanto said the report alleging bribery was "a
blatant untruth," that Canadian regulators just didn't
understand the offer of the money was for research. Monsanto
demanded a retraction. The Canadian Broadcasting Company
stands by its story..."
Hansen:
"Monsanto has a very checkered history with some of
its other products ... "
Narration:
Dr. Michael Hansen of Consumers Union is another American
scientist still very skeptical about BGH. He says Monsanto
was wrong years ago when it convinced the government PCB's
were safe. Those were put inside electrical conductors for
years ... until researchers in Japan and Sweden showed
serious hazards to human health and the environment.
And you've heard
of Agent Orange, 2-4-5-T, the defoliant used in Vietnam?
Monsanto convinced the government it, too, was safe. It
was later proven to be extremely harmful to humans ... and
a government investigator found what she said was "a
clear pattern of fraudulent content in Monsanto's research"
which led to approval.
In the case
of BGH, Monsanto was required to promptly report all complaints
from farmers. Florida dairyman Charles Knight says he was
complaining loud and clear that Posilac was decimating his
herd ... but four months later he
found the company had not passed one of his complaints to
the FDA as required.
Charles
Knight, Florida Dairyman:
" ... so how many more hundreds of complaints out
there sat and were not registered with FDA?"
Narration:
Monsanto admits a long delay in reporting Knight's complaints.
A company spokesman claims despite a series of on-farm visits
and telephone conversations with Knight, it took four months
for them to understand he was complaining about BGH. As
for those safety claims for previous Monsanto products that
turned out to be dangerous, the company offered no comment.
Part III
Narration:
Whether you know it or not, by the time it's bottled, chances
are milk from treated cows ends up in the jug you carry
home. It's made the milk on your table one of the first
genetically engineered foods ever to be fed to your family ...
and the population at large.
Jeff
LeMaster, Consumer/Dad: "And for her, now
that she's eating people food, we want to give her as much
good stuff without the chemical additives as possible."
Narration:
Grocers and the dairy industry know synthetic BGH in milk
worries consumers like Jeff and Janet LeMaster. A whopping
74 percent of those questioned in this University of Wisconsin
study released just last year expressed concern about unknown
harmful human health effects which might show up later.
Robert Collier,
Chief Monsanto BGH Scientist:
"What they need to know is that the milk hasn't changed...."
Narration:
That's the assurance of Monsanto ... It's the company
position, despite scientific studies which show the milk
we're getting from BGH-treated cows has a higher level of
something called IGF-1, a hormone believed to promote cancer.
Narration:
Government
regulators in Canada, New Zealand and all of Europe have
expressed similar concerns and refused to license the drug
for sale in all those countries.
File Video,
consumer protesters chanting:
"Boycott BGH!"
Narration:
So three years ago when the drug was approved in America
and protesters started dumping milk that contained the synthetic
hormone, your grocer and your milkman decided something
had to be done to protect sales.
Riley Hogan,
Tampa Dairy Co-op:
"For good business reasons, Publix [a marketing chain]
and I both wanted to avoid the use of the product until
there was public acceptance."
Narration:
Maybe
you recall these media reports from 1994 when Albertsons
reassured Florida consumers "Swe will do our utmost
to ensure that (people) don't get it" in their milk.
Publix issued similar assurances ...
The
truth is, nobody ever did anything but go through the motions
of asking farmers to keep BGH out of the milk supply ...
And when we visited
seven Central Florida dairy operations chosen at random,
how many were heeding the grocers' request? Not
a one.
Albertsons
acknowledged: "It is widely accepted in
the industry that most all dairy farmers now use BGH"
but "we do not know which or how many dairies use it." ...
But not everybody's
using it. Ben and Jerry, America's icons of ice cream, don't
want anything to do with it ... and they're leading the
fight to give you a choice at the grocer's dairy case.
Part IV
Ben Cohen,
Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream:
"A big part of the issue is that consumers are well
aware that what the FDA said was fine and healthy 10 and
20 years ago, the FDA is saying is really bad for you today ...
Narration:
It's one of the big reasons Ben and Jerry, makers of some
of America's favorite ice cream, are so opposed to farmers
injecting their dairy cows with Bovine Growth Hormone genetically
engineered in a Monsanto chemical lab ...
Narration:
Our
investigation has found only one dairy in Florida which
produces milk from cows not treated with BGH and what happened
when the folks at the Golden Fleece dairy in Central Florida
wanted to label their products as synthetic BGH-free?
Well, first
they say Commissioner Crawford's people strongly discouraged
it, but what really deterred them was a fear Monsanto -
the company which makes the hormone - would come after them
in court.
Glen Norton,
Golden Fleece Dairy:
"From the information I heard and read, I was afraid
at some point that if we tried to do extra labeling, that
Monsanto could cause damage to my small, fragile business."
Narration:
Norton and others like him may have reason to be scared.
Right after Monsanto started marketing its BGH three years
ago, a number of dairies that didn't use it began to label
their products so consumers would know.
Robert Collier:
"In
fact, there are quite a few co-ops that do just that and
we have not opposed that at all."
Narration:
But that's not true. Monsanto did file lawsuits against
two small dairies, forcing them to stop labeling. Then the
company spread the news with follow-up letters to other
dairies that apparently saw the writing on the wall ... and
they also stopped ...
The labels on
Ben and Jerry's ice cream will soon be different, too ...
The label will also carry wording that says the FDA has
said there is no significant difference between milk from
treated and untreated cows - a claim some scientists sharply
question. That wording, by the way, was written by Michael
Taylor, an attorney who worked for Monsanto both before
and after his time as an FDA official.
Some dairy people
say Ben and Jerry have jumped on the anti-BGH bandwagon
as just a way to sell more of their ice cream.
Ben Cohen:
"The tremendous amount of chemicals that's used in
conventional agriculture is having a horrible effect on
the environment and on the health of our citizens and our
customers and you know, (laugh), if you want to say is it
our self-interest? Yeah! We want to keep our customers alive.
They eat more ice cream when they're alive!"
Narration:
As part of an effort to influence these reports, a lawyer
hired by Monsanto wrote a Fox television executive saying
the discussion of any possible link between the use of synthetic
BGH and cancer is " ... the most blatant form of scaremongering."
In a second
letter, he said Monsanto critics are in all probability
"scientifically incompetent." He is referring
to critics such as Dr. Samuel Epstein at the University
of Illinois School of Public Health. Epstein has three medical
degrees, he's the author of eight books, and is frequently
called to testify before Congress about the environmental
causes of cancer.
Like other BGH
critics, Epstein contends it's just wrong to introduce a
product into the marketplace when there are so many important
and still-unresolved human health questions.
Samuel Epstein,
Research Scientist: "We're
living in the greatest democracy in the world in many ways
but in other ways were in a corporate dictatorship in which
big government and big industry decide what information
the consumer can and should have and it's the objective
of me and the Cancer
Prevention Coalition to assure that this information
be made available and let the public decide ... and let
grassroot citizens take over where government and industry
has failed."
This is the
first time that the script that got the reporters in trouble
has appeared in print. This important document has been
edited for length but not censored. For the full version,
go to the website: http://www.foxbghsuit.com
Earth
Island Journal - Summer 2001 Vol. 16 #2
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