Known Pieces of the Medical Science Puzzle - Part 1

We have already seen three pieces of the medical science puzzle, which points us to a problem in funding and fudging scientific results. So the next place to look for pieces are the foundations that fund medical research.

1. The American Heart Association - The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to reduce disability and death from cardiovascular diseases and stroke.The mission statement was affirmed by the Delegate Assembly at its meetings of June 1993, June 1996 and June 1999. The mission statement undergoes a formal review process every third year.
   

   The following is the current mission statement of the American Heart Association. [Mission statement from the website.]
   

   1. A brief history
   
   
   
   
   1. A pioneering group of physicians and social workers formed the first Association for the Prevention and Relief of Heart Disease in New York City in 1915. They were concerned about the lack of heart disease information. At that time, heart disease patients were considered doomed, limited to complete bed rest. So these physicians conducted studies in New York City and Boston to find out whether heart disease patients could safely return to work. Similar groups in Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago evolved into heart associations in the 1920s.
   
   
   2. interest spread widely in other cities across the United States and Canada. Recognizing the need for a national organization to share research findings and promote further study, six cardiologists representing several groups founded the American Heart Association in 1924. The founding members were Drs. Lewis A. Conner and Robert H. Halsey of New York; Paul D. White of Boston; Joseph Sailer of Philadelphia; Robert B. Preble of Chicago; and Hugh D. McCulloch of St. Louis. Drs. James B. Herrick of Chicago and William S. Thayer of Baltimore were also instrumental in the early planning.
   
   
   
   3. The American Heart Association made its public debut in late 1948 during a network radio contest, "The Walking Man," on the "Truth or Consequences" program hosted by Ralph Edwards. Millions of Americans sent contributions to the AHA along with guesses on the walking man's identity. The effort netted $1.75 million before Jack Benny was identified as the "Walking Man."
      

      A small national staff in New York City then began to organize American Heart Association divisions across the country. They launched the first national fund-raising campaign the following year in February 1949, raising $2.7 million.

   4. The mid-1990s were a time of great change in the American Heart Association. The association's scientific findings began to move more quickly from laboratories and clinics to physician's offices and American households. The AHA took positions on important issues and made clear, simple statements about controlling risk factors. Volunteers and staff agreed on a strategy for improving affiliate research programs, and the national organization created new divisions dealing with stroke and emergency cardiac care. To reduce costs and increase international circulation, the association outsourced the publication of its scientific journals and began publishing them online.
   
   
   5. Finally, and most profoundly, AHA volunteers and staff began transforming the organization into an enterprise that could be vibrant and relevant in the 21st century. The change was deeper than anything since 1948, when the AHA transformed itself from a scientific society into a voluntary health agency.
   
   
   
   
   2. 
      Lippincott Williams & Wilkins publishes Circulation for the American Heart Association
   
   
   3. Stanford University Libraries' HighWire Press® assists in the publication of Circulation Online
   
   
   4. Journals are restricted access via subscription only.
   5. 2004 Annual Report [Final]
   1. Only 20.3 cents is spent on research for every dollar earned. [from piece(i).e. - the AHA is no longer a scientific organization] So
      they no longer actually do any research.
   
   
   2. Pharmaceutical Sponsors
   1. Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc.
   2. Eli Lilly and Company
   3. Pfizer
   4. Kos Pharmaceutical
   5. Guidant Corporation
   6. Bristol-Myers Squibb
   7. AstraZeneca
   8. GlaxoSmithKline
   9. Merck
   10. Novartis
   11. Sanofi-Aventis