Skip to main content
Last July, McDonalds’ Happy Meals became a little less happy. Kids in pursuit of culinary happiness will have to be satisfied with fewer French fries and some added fruit. Surprisingly, the calorie count only decreased by 20%. McDonalds held firm on the request to discontinue toys in the Happy Meals, despite opponents’ arguments that these trinkets emit an encrypted electronic signal that lure kids to the golden arches.


The Enemy of Mankind



An Indiana billboard offers this announcement along with a graphic photograph that depicts innocent hot dogs masquerading as cigarettes in a cigarette package.

“WARNING: HOT DOGS CAN WRECK YOUR HEALTH.”

This publicity effort was spearheaded by the carniphobic group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). This organization advocates that all of us restrict ourselves to the pleasure of an all plant diet. The billboard was a shrewd move. Beforehand, none of us had ever heard of these guys. Now, for a few hundred bucks, they achieved national exposure.

I’m for folks making informed choices. I don’t like it when the government or other organizations try to impose their views and practices on the rest of us. If I want to start and end my days with a Big Mac or two, then I should be free to do so without interference from others. Just as I would not lean on my vegan friends to savor some barbecued chicken wings, I don’t want to cajoled or shamed into giving up burgers for some kind of seaweed surprise.

Veggie enthusiasts point to research that concludes that carnivorous humans have higher cancer rates. If you can’t easily separate a man from his steak, then bring cancer into the conversation. This research is murky and there are enough conflicting results to satisfy all points of view on this issue. Indeed, if we eliminated all foods that have been linked to cancer, we might all be nourished by total parenteral nutrition (TPN) infused intravenously, as we do for hospitalized patients who cannot tolerate an oral diet. Of course, TPN would have to be chemically analyzed by an independent group, commissioned by the PCRM, to verify that no nano-traces of animal products were present.

I’m not in favor of obesity. As a physician and a citizen, I counsel folks to make wise food and beverage choices. But, it is their choice to make, not my mandate to impose. If more calories and girth make folks happier, and they are informed of the potential consequences, then they should be permitted to live without interference. Is it society’s responsibility to inform the citizenry of dietary risks, or does the individual have a responsibility to exercise due diligence? In 1890, an article in the Harvard Law Review (Do they still eat meat at Harvard?) penned by Louis Brandeis and Samuel Warren opined that we have a right to be left alone, although this language does not appear in the Constitution. Indeed, doesn’t this ‘right’ define the relationship that we have with our government?  It would have been more fun on this post if the 'right to be left alone' was written by Felix 'Frankfurter', who was as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

What’s your definition of a ‘Happy Meal’? A greasy burger smothered with onions and coated with melted cheese? Kentucky Fried Chicken? Sugarless granola with 6.5 oz of skim milk? A carrot smoothie with probiotics? TPN?

The PCRM argues that hot dogs and similar products should carry warning labels, such as appear on cigarette packages. My response? Where would the warning labels stop? Ice cream? Chocolate? White bread?

The American Meat Institute has challenged the PCRM’s assertions, as we would expect. Both sides likely spin stuff to serve their agendas. One side eats Big Macs with relish. But, one side is telling Whoppers.







Comments

  1. Up here in America's Dairyland, PCRM felt it necessary to put up a prominent billboard depicting an evil-appearing Grim Reaper wearing a cheesehead, with a warning about the deadliness of cheese. Shock and awe doesn't work well in these parts.

    With the number of lawsuits PCRM is currently involved in, one would suppose they have taken their own version of The Hippocratic Oath.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The response to speech we don't like is more speech. It does seem from your comment that PCRM picked the wrong place to show its face. I admit I was not familiar with the PCRM until I wrote the post. What lawsuits are you referring to? Would like to be enlightened.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dr. Kirsch,

    Granted, I don't have time to keep up with these things, but when The Spectre appeared in my backyard, I wanted to know who was behind it.

    Google 'PCRM lawsuit'. They're suing the USDA, HHS, EPA, fast food restaurants, major food companies, the dairy industry, and more. One could say they are staging their own 'Occupation' of the federal court system.

    An interesting - but questionable - way to get their point across.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Most Doctors Choose Employment

Increasingly, physicians today are employed and most of them willingly so.  The advantages of this employment model, which I will highlight below, appeal to the current and emerging generations of physicians and medical professionals.  In addition, the alternatives to direct employment are scarce, although they do exist.  Private practice gastroenterology practices in Cleveland, for example, are increasingly rare sightings.  Another practice model is gaining ground rapidly on the medical landscape.   Private equity (PE) firms have   been purchasing medical practices who are in need of capital and management oversight.   PE can provide services efficiently as they may be serving multiple practices and have economies of scale.   While these physicians technically have authority over all medical decisions, the PE partners can exert behavioral influences on physicians which can be ethically problematic. For example, if the PE folks reduce non-medical overhead, this may very directly affe

Should Doctors Wear White Coats?

Many professions can be easily identified by their uniforms or state of dress. Consider how easy it is for us to identify a policeman, a judge, a baseball player, a housekeeper, a chef, or a soldier.  There must be a reason why so many professions require a uniform.  Presumably, it is to create team spirit among colleagues and to communicate a message to the clientele.  It certainly doesn’t enhance professional performance.  For instance, do we think if a judge ditches the robe and is wearing jeans and a T-shirt, that he or she cannot issue sage rulings?  If members of a baseball team showed up dressed in comfortable street clothes, would they commit more errors or achieve fewer hits?  The medical profession for most of its existence has had its own uniform.   Male doctors donned a shirt and tie and all doctors wore the iconic white coat.   The stated reason was that this created an aura of professionalism that inspired confidence in patients and their families.   Indeed, even today

Electronic Medical Records vs Physicians: Not a Fair Fight!

Each work day, I enter the chamber of horrors also known as the electronic medical record (EMR).  I’ve endured several versions of this torture over the years, monstrosities that were designed more to appeal to the needs of billers and coders than physicians. Make sense? I will admit that my current EMR, called Epic, is more physician-friendly than prior competitors, but it remains a formidable adversary.  And it’s not a fair fight.  You might be a great chess player, but odds are that you will not vanquish a computer adversary armed with artificial intelligence. I have a competitive advantage over many other physician contestants in the battle of Man vs Machine.   I can type well and can do so while maintaining eye contact with the patient.   You must think I am a magician or a savant.   While this may be true, the birth of my advanced digital skills started decades ago.   (As an aside, digital competence is essential for gastroenterologists.) During college, I worked as a secretary