By Kim Irish, BCAction Program Manager

What’s in that ice cream you’re eating? Or the cheese that’s on your sandwich? In fact, what’s in your milk? Ironically it’s not just milk, and that may surprise you. All over the country, we’re being exposed to recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), an artificial growth hormone given to dairy cows to stimulate milk production. All this exposure despite the fact that rBGH has been linked to increased risk of breast cancer, obesity, and diabetes, and that’s only what is does to humans.

rBGH also increases the development of mastitis in dairy cows which in turn leads to an increased use of antibiotics which also end up in our milk supply! My biggest beef about all of this (no pun intended)? You won’t find this information on the label of a single dairy product using milk treated with rBGH. We need to get this junk out of our food supply once and for all. rBGH is banned in the European Union, corporate giants like Starbucks refuse to use it, and Wal-Mart won’t put their brand label on dairy products sourced from rBGH cows.

Those in favor of keeping rBGH in in our food chain claim it’s not harmful. Yet the science proves that we have reasons for concern. rBGH increases the production of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) which circulates in cows’ blood and then enters their milk. Research shows that when it’s present in the human body at elevated levels, IGF-1 increases the risk of breast, colon, prostate and other cancers. In fact, one study indicates that women with the highest fifth of IGF-1 levels have a 28% higher risk of breast cancer than women in the lowest fifth.

There are numerous ways we could address this problem. We’ve tried the individual manufacturer-by-manufacturer approach (see our successful “Yoplait: Put a Lid on It” campaign). But approaching companies one by one takes a lot of time, and meanwhile millions of people are still being exposed to rBGH. It’s time we go straight to the source of the hormone itself.

Eli Lilly is the only company in the world that makes and distributes rBGH (under the drug name Posilac). Our efforts to get rBGH out of the food supply have to focus on them. We must protect everyone’s health, especially vulnerable groups like low-income communities who may not have the choice of whether to buy rBGH-free dairy products and children and pregnant women whose bodies are more susceptible to harmful environmental toxins.

And the more you know about Eli Lilly, the uglier it gets. Eli Lilly makes a lot of money from breast cancer all in the name of improving women’s health outcomes. At Breast Cancer Action we call that pinkwashing! In fact, Eli Lilly has a highly lucrative profit cycle in place that is going to keep making them money as long as breast cancer is around. They manufacture rBGH, which has been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer, they manufacture Evista to “prevent” breast cancer, and they produce Gemzar to treat the disease. Really? And they proudly assert their core values of “integrity, excellence, and respect for people.” How does manufacturing a growth hormone that may increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer demonstrate “integrity”? How does it show “excellence”? How is it a declaration of “respect for people”? 

We want Eli Lilly to sign our Pledge to Prevent Pinkwashing and commit to:

1. Taking all necessary action to ensure that the products they make do not put people at increased risk for breast cancer. 
2. Follow the precautionary principle and stop making rBGH and any other products that are suspected of harming human health.
3. Never engaging in pinkwashing by producing, selling, or endorsing products in the name of breast cancer that themselves are linked to the disease and put women at increased risk for developing breast cancer.

Help build on the momentum activists have been creating for years through direct corporate campaigning, national education efforts, media attention, and a Milking Cancer video (which was recently featured in the film Pink Ribbons, Inc.).

Demand that Eli Lilly stop making rBGH and sign BCAction’s Pledge to Prevent Pinkwashing.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Location: Laurent Studio, 470 Alabama St., San Francisco, CA 94110

We invite you to join Breast Cancer Action for a benefit sneak preview of the hard-hitting and timely documentary Pink Ribbons, Inc. featuring BCAction’s former Executive Director Barbara Brenner.

Pink Ribbons, Inc. tells the story of the ubiquitous pink ribbon campaigns and the commercialization of the breast cancer movement. Come and be empowered to Think Before You Pink®.  

 

 

 

$75 – Action Speaks Louder Than Pink Reception

5:30 – 6:30pm Meet and mingle over hors d’oeuvres and wine. Includes one General Admission ticket

 

$35 – General Admission 

6:30 – 9:30pm Film screening, light snacks and silent auction

Take action to get cancer-linked rBGH out of our food supply

Across the United States, we’re exposed to the artificial growth hormone rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone) in many common dairy products. rBGH has been linked to increased risk of breast cancer, obesity, and diabetes, and it’s used in 1/3 of all dairy cows in the United States. 

Breast Cancer Action wants this hormone out of our food supply completely.

Eli Lilly is the only company in the world making and distributing rBGH. In recent years, you’ve helped us achieve success in getting brands like Yoplait yogurt to stop using milk sourced from rBGH-treated cows. But rBGH is still on the market. Some people may be able to avoid rBGH by buying organic dairy products, but we need system-wide change to protect everyone.

In addition to producing and selling breast cancer-linked rBGH, Eli Lilly manufactures Evista to “prevent” breast cancer, and Gemzar to treat it. That’s a highly lucrative profit cycle around breast cancer, all from a company that proudly declares core corporate values of “integrity, excellence, and respect for people.” At Breast Cancer Action, we call this pinkwashing because by manufacturing rBGH, Eli Lilly clearly puts profits before women’s health.

We need your help – tell Eli Lilly to stop Milking Cancer. Send BCAction’s Pledge to Prevent Pinkwashing to Lilly’s CEO today.

Keep the pressure on Eli Lilly. Join the thousands of BCAction activists who have already committed to stop Eli Lilly from Milking Cancer. rBGH puts our health at risk and we need your help to get it out of our food supply.

Campaign Materials

Pledge to Prevent Pinkwashing

Campaign Brief

If the study findings are in reference to lung cancer, why do they make the connection to breast cancer when there doesn’t seem to be the evidence to support this claim?  

Studies that focus on breast cancer and the Hispanic Paradox are few and far between. We desperately need more studies that explored issues of breast cancer and survival in the Latina community.

The ACS still shows that 1) Hispanic women are still more likely to be diagnosed with a more advanced stage of breast cancer, 2) Incidence rates are decreasing slower in Hispanic women as compared to white women and 3) Hispanic women are 20% more likely to die of breast cancer then white women (when diagnosed at a similar age and stage).  There are still inequities in breast cancer for Hispanic women, it is just not quite as clear as it is for some populations like African American women and we need a more evidence-based understanding of these disparities. For more information from the university that conducted the study, click here.

By Sahru Keiser, BCAction Program Associate of Education & Mobilization

Register for Tuesday, May 15th at 2pm PDT/5pm EST

Register for Wednesday, May 16th at 11am PDT/2pm EST

Why are white women more likely to develop breast cancer, yet African American, Latina and Samoan women are more likely to die from the disease? Why do women of color tend to develop more aggressive breast cancers at earlier ages than white women? Why are we seeing the sharpest rise in breast cancer rates in Japanese women in Los Angeles?

Race and ethnicity plays a huge role in the answers to these questions because so often where we live, work and play is tightly bound to our racial make-up.

Please join us on Tuesday, May 15th and Wednesday, May 16th for this important free webinar: Inequities in Breast Cancer: Race and Place Matter, where we will examine the racial and socio-economic factors that influence the health of individuals and communities.

Inequities in breast cancer risk and outcomes vary among different racial and ethnic communities and are well documented. In our efforts to address and end this disease, health activists, practitioners, and legislators must focus on the social and economic context in which the disease arises. As a society, we can affect and potentially avoid these unjust inequities in breast cancer.

I will be presenting the webinar with Irene Yen, Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate Director of the Experiential Learning, Health & Society Pathway at University of California, San Francisco. You will learn about:

• How where we live, work and play defines our access to good health
• Breast cancer inequities in underserved communities
• How breast cancer research acknowledges race
• Inequities in breast cancer clinical trials
• How you can work for health equity

Join us on Tuesday May 15th at 2pm PDT/5pm EST or Wednesday, May 16th at 11am PDT/2pm EST for this free one-hour webinar to learn about what you can do to help achieve health equity – the highest level of health – for everyone!

For your convenience, we are offering the webinar at two different times. Click on the links above to register for the time and day that works for you.

Several times this year, I’ve had flashbacks to January 1970 when I was part of a group of activists in the audience at the Senate hearings on birth control pills.

One male witness after another described to the all-male senate committee the serious health risks of taking the Pill–health risks that women were not told about. Finally, when one expert said “Estrogen is to cancer what fertilizer is to wheat,” we erupted. We interrupted the hearings asking why women were being used as guinea pigs, and why drug companies were allowed to jeopardize our health for their profit and convenience.

BCAction has insisted time and again women’s health must come before profits.

Among breast cancer organizations, BCAction distinctly understands this disease from a feminist and social justice perspective. The implications of their work extend far beyond breast cancer. They understand that the breast cancer epidemic is a systemic problem requiring large-scale political and legislative change. In this time of sustained attacks on women’s health, we need fearless organizations that are looking out for my health and yours.

I hope you’ll join me in protecting women’s health at this critical time. Make a donation to Breast Cancer Action today.

Women’s bodies continue to be a battleground for religious, sexual, political and legislative attacks. The ongoing assaults on maternity coverage, contraception, abortion, and preventative care have made this all too clear. Now, more than ever, breast cancer is a political issue. I thought we had come a long way but the events of recent months show that we can never let down our guard. Our work is by no means done.

BCAction was the first national breast cancer organization to refuse funding from big Pharma or corporations that profit from or contribute to cancer. Their independence depends on supporters like you and me. Join me in supporting an organization you can trust.

Put women’s health first by making a donation to
Breast Cancer Action today.

We cannot sit back and let others put their agendas and their profits before our health. We must all continue to join together to protect women’s rights.

By Kim Irish, Program Manager

On April 10, 2012 by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control released a report showing how some nail care products sold in Northern California – despite claims to be free of one or more of the “toxic trio” ingredients (toluene, formaldehyde, and dibutyl phthalate or DBP) – actually contain high levels of toluene and DBP.

We’re outraged by this report that shows nail care manufacturers are blatantly lying about what’s in their products. 

As Julia Liou, Director of the Health Nail Salon Collaborative (which we’ve been a part of for years), says, misrepresenting ingredients on product labels is a major public health issue. How can salon owners and workers know what’s in the products that they are exposed to daily for long periods of time (8 hour shifts) if the labeling is incorrect?

Manufacturers who misrepresent the ingredients in their products should face fines and the Department of Toxic Substances Control should get the support it needs to conduct random sampling and enforce this type of misconduct. We appreciate that the Department of Toxic Substances Control conducted this study—regulatory enforcement! what a novelty!–and urge more funding and support for the department to be able to do random sampling of nail products and other cosmetics. As this report clearly shows, random sampling is needed to encourage manufacturers to be honest in their claims.

Nail salon workers in California (and there are approximately 121,000 licensed technicians in CA alone) are overwhelmingly Vietnamese immigrant women of reproductive age, and chronic exposure to chemicals like toluene and DBP has been associated with birth defects, asthma and other poor health outcomes.

No one should be exposed to chemicals like toluene and DBP, particularly in everyday cosmetics like nail products. But it’s especially unfair for nail salon workers to have to choose between their health and making a living.

This report shows, in stark terms, just how desperately we need meaningful health protections – like the federal Safe Cosmetics Act  – that prioritize the health of vulnerable people like children, teenagers, and women of reproductive age.

By Angela Wall, BCAction Communications Manager

A new study by British and Canadian researchers identifies breast cancer as not one, but ten diseases. Researchers analyzed the way genes and tumor cells changed when cells became cancerous and concluded that all the different types of genetic changes could be grouped into 10 categories. This means the disease currently understood as “breast cancer” is in actual fact 10 different diseases.

This is important information for women with and at risk of breast cancer and underscores our work to challenge the way mainstream medical practitioners, researchers, breast health establishments and advocacy groups currently think about this disease. However, the degree to which this new study impacts current practices in breast cancer will determine just how groundbreaking the new findings turn out to be.

Understanding breast cancer as many diseases rather than one disease means that we can no longer continue with a business as usual approach—for a start, there is no one cure to be found. The findings of this study open the door to a possibility for real change. For example, we cannot continue to insist on standardized screening and diagnostic technologies, and we have to begin to address over-treatment so that countless women aren’t forced to go through the painful rigors of unnecessary surgery and treatments. And we must continue to demand regulatory changes that prevent women from getting sick in the first place.

We need individualized treatment plans that correspond to the type of cancer diagnosed rather than the systemically prescribed one-treatment-fits-all approach. And we need to put as much energy into prevention as we put into the search for a cure.

However, this study raises so many questions: are all subtypes of cancer fatal?  For those types of cancer that aren’t fatal, how do we stop them from developing in the first place rather than turning breast cancer into a ‘manageable’ disease? How will this affect women currently in treatment? How will this impact a woman currently in the midst of a diagnosis? If this research opens the door to personalized medicine as researchers claim it will —will personalized medicine be available to everyone or only those who can afford it? How will insurance companies work to accommodate personalized medicine? And will our government stop allowing patents on our genes so it’s actually possible to have information about our own genetic makeup? And these are just the tip of the iceberg.

Without question BCAction welcomes the findings of this study; however, of greater importance to all of us are the changes they can create.  And we so desperately need change for those currently living with breast cancer and we need change to prevent future generations from developing the disease in the first place.

Across the U.S. and the world, people are taking a critical look at the mainstream breast cancer industry and this is what they see: pinkwashers who exploit this disease to make a buck at any cost; corporate agendas that put politics and profits before patients; an overemphasis on mammography despite its demonstrated failure to reduce the death rate; poor and underserved communities and women of color repeatedly left to fend for themselves.

Women need Breast Cancer Action now. And we need you at this critical time.

Breast Cancer Action’s legacy has deep roots in changing the status quo. For over 21 years, we’ve been telling the truth because of supporters like you—and because our funding doesn’t come from big Pharma or pinkwashing corporations.

We take action to stop harmful corporate practices, demand the removal of toxins from everyday products, and insist that patient needs are always put first. Our agenda can’t be bought. And we won’t shy away from the truth, even when the truth is hard to hear.

Join us. We are an independent organization and we always put patients first.
Make your donation of $25 to Breast Cancer Action today.

Stand with us at this pivotal time. Together, we will change the status quo in breast cancer. Together, we can meet the needs of women living with and at risk of breast cancer. Make your gift count. Give to Breast Cancer Action.

Thank you for your investment in women’s health.

Warm regards,

Karuna Jaggar

Executive Director

This will be my first year as a donor to Breast Cancer Action.

After I was diagnosed with stage II invasive ductal carcinoma, I wanted to do something to make a difference in breast cancer. So, like many others, I turned to my family and friends and asked them to join me and support the largest breast cancer organization in the world, Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

To be perfectly honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of the pink ribbon. But I turned a blind eye to the pinkwashing partnerships: the pink buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken for the cure, the pink ribbon handguns, the Promise Me perfume. I swallowed my discomfort because I trusted Komen. And because they were the ones offering me a free massage in my oncologist’s office right after my diagnosis. I needed that massage back then but now, six years later, I need real progress. I need this epidemic to stop.

I support Breast Cancer Action because I want real change.

Komen’s decision to cut funding to Planned Parenthood opened up my eyes to the current state of affairs in breast cancer. Too many breast cancer organizations are pinkwashers who exploit this disease to make a buck at any cost; have agendas that put politics and profits before patients; place too much emphasis on mammograms despite their demonstrated failure to reduce the death rate; and, repeatedly leave poor and underserved communities and women of color to fend for themselves.

This year, I opened my eyes and I am not going to ignore what I see. I stand firm in my decision to sever my ties with Komen for the Cure because I need to make a difference.

Join me. Make a donation to Breast Cancer Action today.

Breast Cancer Action doesn’t take funding from organizations or corporations who make money from this disease, so BCAction needs the support of individuals like you and me. This year, I choose to stand with the thousands of people at Breast Cancer Action who will work together to make the changes that will address and end this epidemic.

I really hope you’ll join me,

Nancy Speir, Former Komen Support & BCAction Member