Diabetes Groups Struggle Over Industry Ties

With drug manufacturers and the makers of high-calorie snack foods among its most generous contributors, the American Diabetes Association has struggled to make sure its charitable mission is not compromised, reports The New York Times.

The organization has difficulty raising money because diabetes sufferers are often seen as responsible for their own plight, the article says. It has therefore turned to corporate sponsors, usually drug companies or food businesses seeking to be associated with fighting diabetes and obesity.

But concerns about conflicts of interest have caused the association to strengthen its internal guidelines for accepting corporate sponsorships. In the past year, the group has allowed several existing arrangements to expire and turned down other deals.

Still, drug and food groups contributed $23-million in 2005, 11 percent of the association’s budget. Some activists are especially critical of a $1.5-million deal the group made with Cadbury-Schweppes, a manufacturer of candy and soda. “Maybe the American Diabetes Association should rename itself the American Junk Food Association,” Gary Ruskin, director of Consumer Alert, an advocacy group, told the newspaper.

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