Breast Cancer Awareness Month is Upon Us

[Joe]

And with it comes the marketing of breast cancer to increase sales. Although some campaigns such as AVON, breast cancer stampa and Yoplait yougurt do help breast cancer research, there are many others out there just for personal gain. Choose carefully what you purchase

There are also several breast cancer "non-profit" web sites that more resemble EBAY. These websites must sell merchandise to cover their administrative expenses and the high salaries of their directors and in some cases over $200,000 per year:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/ Search for your favorite cancer "non-profit" We are not listed because we seek only enough funds to cover our needs less than $100,000 per year.
The HER2 Support Group is run entirely by volunteers that receive no direct compensation.

We fully support Breast Cancer Action's "Think Before You Pink" program: http://www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org/
A new twist: The HER2 Gene is now being marketed www.her2genes.com (http://www.her2genes.com)


Regards
Joe

[madubois63]

Actually - It is still Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month (which doesn't get anywhere near as much coverage as breast cancer).
Cancer Awareness Calendar (http://www.huntsmancancer.org/cancerInformation/awareness/september_multi_leukemia.jsp)
http://www.huntsmancancer.org/cancerInformation/awareness/september_multi_leukemia.jsp (http://www.huntsmancancer.org/cancerInformation/awareness/september_multi_leukemia.jsp)

and it is also Gynecologic Cancer (http://www.huntsmancancer.org/cancerInformation/awareness/current.jsp) and Prostate Cancer (http://www.huntsmancancer.org/cancerInformation/awareness/current.jsp?multi=prostate) awareness month...

Joe - Thanks for all you do...

[StillHere]

I think maybe Joe was thinking ahead to October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

[weezie1053]

Joe,

Our shopping mall will be working with the ACS on a Breast Cancer Awareness promotion. I read your thread about organizations that misrepresent that their proceeds benefit BC Awareness. Can you guide me from where we should look to purchase items for the promotion of breast cancer, such as the pink bracelents.

Thanks.

Louise

[Joe]

Louise,
I would recommend Komen, ACS and AVON. They all have magnificent track records.

There are also many wholesalers who sell bc support items. You can purchase these and donate the proceeds to Komen or ACS.

Regards
Joe

[StephN]

That link in Joe's post takes you to a site "owned or controlled" by Genentech. If you click the link on how to buy a pair of those Frankie B Her2 jeans, it takes you to the Frankie B web site and I could not find the jeans - not yet anyway. All their clothes cost between $100 and $300 so no wonder they say they can donate $107 for each pair sold. (I think the other clothes are created for STICK PEOPLE and not real people ...)

I knew it was "that time" as I have seen a couple of new BC support doozies! First was the Reidel wine glass ware with the pink ribbon on the box. Don't know how much or to where they give some percentage. Then I saw some food items in the grocery store.

YIKES!

[Joe]

Last years shocker was pink Campbell's Tomato Soup cans.

Regards
Joe

[Joanne S]

www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org (http://www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org)

Thanks Joe!!!
Very informative and very interesting----a must read for all to spread the word!

http://www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org/PDF/NYTimesAd.pdf

[Sheila]

That was an old promotion from last year....Frankie B did these jeans and they were sold for a couple months, a limited supply....and yes, quite pricey. not to mention slim fitting...obviously not designed for the woman undergoing Herceptin or chemo who has added a few pounds! Don't know if she will do it again this year....I emailed a question about these jeans when they first came out, and Frankie B , (Daniella) called me personally to answer my question. She is famous for notoriously LOW rise jeans, although this pair was somewhat higher in the waist.

[Sandy in Silicon Valley]

Joe - thanks for the link to BCA's Think Before You Pink consumer awareness campaign...

I've got a suggestion for an antidote to the exploitive merchandizing that goes on during the month of October.

I think that it's time that people with breast cancer raise our voices in protest about the insufficiency of government spending on health-related research in general, and breast cancer research in particular.

Experimental research to find more/better treatments, diagnostic tests, and understanding of the complexities of breast cancer has, in the last decade or more, been left mainly to pharmaceutical companies, which have vested interests in the results. So they are motivated to design studies, and publish results, only in order to show that their own products are effective. This is NOT objective, unbiased research, and often, if the results are negative, we, the public, don't get the information - or if we do, it's only after outside testing or data collection has "spilled the beans" (e.g. Vioxx, bone marrow transplants for late stage breast cancer).

Plus, in the rush to get drugs to market & profitability, the FDA's rigorous independence has been compromised. Even Herceptin, if I understand correctly, was rushed to Stage IV breast cancer patients BEFORE it was documented that along with, or swiftly following, Adriamycin chemo tx, the risk of left ventricle heart wall damage was dangerously high, and folks were dying of CHF!

IMO, we need to get back to a place where Principle Investigators are NOT employees of one or another pharmaceutical companies! There's too much incentive to turn "research" into a marketing tool, when one's paycheck is coming from corporations (and indirectly, stockholders) wanting to see a profit, and quickly...

Thanks for the opp'ty to start off my week with a fave rant!

(((hugs)))
Sandy in Silicon Valley

[Joe]

Ironicly, it was patient advocate groups which pressured for the release of Herceptin. This is documented in Robert Bezel's book: "HER2-The Making of Herceptin" . I highly recommend this book to everyone.
It is available at Amazon.com. A good used copy of the book is less than $5.00

Regards
Joe