Citizens Medical Center, located in Victoria, Texas, has reportedly instituted a prohibition on hiring any employee with a body mass index (BMI) higher than 35, or 210 pounds for an individual 5 feet, 5 inches tall or 245 pounds for someone 5-foot-10. Apparently, the hiring policy is not based on the expense of health care for the obese or purported increased absenteeism, but linked to physical appearance. The center’s chief executive officer reportedly said in an interview, “The majority of our patients are over 65, and they have expectations that cannot be ignored in terms of personal appearance.” Because weight is not a protected category in Texas, some believe the policy is not illegal, but others claim the weight-based discrimination violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. In either event, while smokers have been subject to similar policies for some time, weight restrictions are apparently virtually unknown in the medical field. The…
Category Archives Issue 434
A New York University School of Medicine study claims that Body Mass Index (BMI), the traditional method used to measure obesity, may underestimate the number of Americans who actually qualify as obese. Nirav Shah and Eric Braverman, “Measuring Adiposity in Patients: The Utility of Body Mass Index (BMI), Percent Body Fat, and Leptin,” PLoS One, April 2, 2012. The researchers used BMI and a test called Dual- Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DXA), which provides simultaneous measurements of muscle, bone mass and body fat while measuring levels of leptin, a protein that regulates metabolism, on a cross section of 1,394 patients. According to the study, 48 percent of the women and 25 percent of the men were misclassified as non-obese based on BMI but were considered obese based on DXA testing. The researchers concluded that people who have lost a lot of muscle mass as they age, many of whom are women,…
Researchers studying 30,000 adult Mayo Clinic employees, retirees and dependents over a seven-year period have concluded that health care costs for the morbidly obese are far higher than those for smokers. James Moriarty, et al., “The Effects of Incremental Costs of Smoking and Obesity on Health Care Costs Among Adults,” Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, March 2012. The study found that health care costs for smokers exceed those for nonsmokers by $1,274 to $1,401 depending on retirement status, i.e., age, and health care costs for the overweight and obese (ranging from simply overweight to morbidly obese II) exceed those for individuals with normal body mass index by $382 to $5,530. The incremental costs are significantly higher at higher weight categories. While controlling for comorbidities, the researchers found lower incremental costs for obesity, but suggested that such controls “may lead to underestimation of the true incremental costs because obesity is…
Anti-sugar crusader Robert Lustig was among the scientists participating in an April 1, 2012, “60 Minutes” interview claiming that studies indicate that sugar is toxic, addictive and can lead to obesity, Type II diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Lustig, an endocrinologist at the University of California, San Francisco, has written extensively about the topic, including an article titled “The Toxic Truth About Sugar” featured in Issue 425 of this Update. Asserting that sugar is as “equally toxic” as high-fructose corn syrup, Ludwig recommended that men daily consume no more than 150 calories of added sugars and women no more than 100, which is less than the amount in one can of soda. “Ultimately this is a public health crisis,” Lustig said in reference to what he deems the excessive amount of sugar in many processed foods. “When it’s a public health crisis, you have to do big things and you…
Canadian researchers have reportedly halted the development of genetically engineered (GE) pigs after the hog producers association sponsoring the project decided to stop funding it. Created in 1999 by scientists at the University of Guelph and financed by Ontario Pork, the so-called Enviropig™ apparently contained genes from mice and an E. coli bacterium that enabled the animal to digest plant phosphorus “more efficiently than conventional Yorkshire pigs,” thereby lessening the environmental impact of the manure. Had a company been found to take the product to market, the Enviropig™ would have become the first GE animal to enter the food supply if approved by the U.S. and Canadian governments for human consumption. According to an April 2, 2012, New York Times report, however, the Enviropig™ met much resistance from environmental and consumer groups that oppose transgenic livestock for food purposes and feared the GE pig would make large-scale farming more profitable.…
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has issued a workshop summary examining the role of obesity in cancer survival and recurrence. Held October 31-November 1, 2011, by IOM’s National Cancer Policy Forum, the workshop included presentations from experts on “the latest laboratory and clinical evidence on the obesity-cancer link and the possible mechanisms underlying that link.” Participants also discussed clinical interventions to mitigate the purported effects of obesity on cancer, as well as “research and policy measures needed to counteract the expected rise of cancer incidence mortality due to an increasingly overweight and older population.” In particular, the workshop explored “the complex web of molecular mechanisms that underlie the obesity-cancer link and whether it is obesity itself, the energy imbalance that leads to obesity, or the molecular pathways that are deregulated due to obesity, that lead to increased risk of cancer initiation or progression.” The group also considered more policy-specific research…
French maize growers and seed companies have reportedly brought an appeal before the nation’s highest court seeking to overturn the French government’s temporary moratorium on a strain of genetically modified (GM) maize. The government action was taken in response to the court’s decision to annul a previous moratorium after finding that it lacked justification. In a joint statement, the plaintiffs said, “This restriction does not rely on any serious scientific element, and maize producers, hit by (insects), sustain real financial damage.” France has also reportedly requested that the European Commission suspend authorization to sow the GM maize, the only one approved for cultivation in the European Union, contending that scientific research shows that it poses “significant risks for the environment.” See Reuters, March 29, 2012.
A California superior court has dismissed with prejudice putative class claims filed against McDonald’s Corp. seeking to enjoin the company from advertising Happy Meals® to children featuring toys. Parham v. McDonald’s Corp., No. 10-506178 (Cal. Super. Ct., San Francisco Cty., decided April 4, 2012). Additional information about the case appears in Issues 375, 391 and 420 of this Update. While the court did not explain why it sustained the company’s demurrers to the plaintiff’s first, second and third causes of action, it did so without giving the plaintiff leave to amend her complaint. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), which was representing the plaintiff, consideration is being given to filing an appeal. In its memorandum of law in support of its demurrers, the company argued that the plaintiff failed to state a claim for relief under the state’s Unfair Competition Law, Consumers Legal Remedies Act…
Contending that snack maker Frito-Lay North America makes “improper nutrient content claims on products containing disqualifying levels of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol or sodium,” a new plaintiff has filed a putative class action against the company and its parent in a California federal court. Wilson v. Frito-Lay N. Am., Inc., No. 12-1586 (N.D. Cal., filed March 29, 2012). Several other cases have recently been filed against the company, challenging its “all natural” claims for products allegedly containing genetically modified ingredients. The new action targets the company’s “0 grams of trans fat” representations on its Lay’s Classic Chips® “despite disqualifying levels of fat that far exceed the 13g disclosure level.” The plaintiff reportedly cites Food and Drug Administration warnings to other companies “for the same type of improper 0 grams trans fat nutrient content claims at issue in this case.” See Foodnavigator-usa.com, April 4, 2012.
A federal court in Iowa has dismissed claims filed by a legal defense fund and a number of raw-milk producers challenging Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations prohibiting the shipment of raw milk for human consumption across state lines. Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund v. Sebelius, No. 10-4018 (N.D. Iowa, decided March 30, 2012). According to the court, none of the plaintiffs alleged that “the FDA has applied or sought to apply the challenged regulations to them, and Wagoner’s contentions are merely conclusory and based on speculation.” Raw milk producer Eric Wagoner had apparently alleged that a Georgia Department of Agriculture official “ordered an embargo of raw milk that he had transported from South Carolina, where it is legal to buy raw milk, to Georgia, where it is not” and claimed that “the embargo was ordered at the direction of the FDA.” There was no evidence of FDA involvement, and because…
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