Monday 27 January 2014

the Pfizer links of Dr Sarah Jarvis, the Sky News E-cig Liar

Sky News viewers were hoodwinked into thinking that they were watching the views and opinions of a medical expert acting in her capacity as an impartial Doctor explaining concerns about electronic cigarettes - when, in fact, they were watching a Pfizer spokesperson attack a competitor product.
 





On Sunday afternoon (26th Jan), I was having a relaxing day off. I had heard that the news was full of articles covering the Governments decision to restrict the sales of electronic cigarette products to people over the age of 18.

I poured myself a drink and turned on the Sky News channel to watch what was going on, and sure enough, it wasn't long before the e-cig news item appeared.

You can watch it HERE. - Although, if you do watch it for the first time, then my advice is not to make the same mistake as I did and watch it whilst pouring a drink because there is every likelihood that the drink will end up all over the screen.

It all seemed to be pretty much the usual sort of e-cig coverage, until they cut to the clip of Dr Sarah Jarvis for a medical opinion. - I say medical, but really it should have been pharmaceutical company opinion.

You see, Dr Sarah Jarvis, Pfizer spokesperson, now dubbed 'The Sky News E-cig Liar', came on to the screen to declare that :

1 - There are huge variations in the level of nicotine in e-cigs
2 - They contain antifreeze and 'cancer causing chemicals'

Now, we seem to be going over old ground with this, but lets just repeat it again.

Of course there are variations in the level of nicotine, people want different strengths depending on their personal preference, so the implication that Dr Sarah Jarvis is making is that there is a variation of the declared amount of nicotine, in other words the labels are not accurate.

This is false, not only is she accusing sellers of committing an offence by having inaccurate labels, she must be unaware that e-liquids (both imported and UK made) are regularly tested for compliance in Government approved laboratories and the nicotine concentration is always very accurate. All of the e-liquids that I use have been tested, companies will usually email you a test certificate if you ask them, and many even publish their certificates online. Indeed, liquid testing is a condition of membership for companies that are members of ECITA, the Electronic Cigarette Industry Trade Association - but almost all large e-liquid companies do this, regardless of membership.

Next, we move on to the issue of antifreeze and 'cancer causing chemicals'

So much has previously been written about this, that all I need to mention is that exactly the same chemicals are found in approved nicotine replacement therapy products, such as Quickmist.

Propylene Glycol has been extensively tested for over 40 years and is regarded as safe. It is the propellant used in asthma inhalers, amongst many other things and yes, it is sometimes used in antifreeze for products such as drinking water.

The 'cancer causing chemicals', TSNAs, have been detected in such very low levels that the trace levels are considered to be harmless - and they are at the same levels as those found in Nicotine Replacement Therapy.


So why the scare tactics from Dr Sarah Jarvis ?

Why mention 'huge variations' in nicotine, if it wasn't to cast doubt in the public mind over the quality ? - lying

Why mention the antifreeze and 'cancer causing chemicals', if it wasn't to imply contamination and chemicals that are present at a level that might actually cause cancer ? - lying

You would have thought that Dr Sarah Jarvis might actually know about the subject but she is either supremely ignorant on this matter, or she has a deceitful agenda - it must be one or the other.

The thing is, she does actually know about this subject








You see, Sky News didn't actually mention that Dr Sarah Jarvis is sponsored by Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company that produces Champix and other drugs like Nicotine Replacement Therapy
- a company that is in direct competition with electronic cigarettes.


In this Pfizer video, she urges the message, "don't go cold turkey"


This is just a screenshot, to save you from accidently pressing play, but if you want to you can see the video HERE.



And on Pfizer's own 'Don't go cold turkey' website, there is a pic of e-cig hater, Dr Sarah Jarvis.



 
 
 
 
She is featured on Pfizer's very own website HERE.
 
 
 
AND don't take my word for it
when I say that she is a spokesperson for Pfizer,


Pfizer themselves call her a Pfizer spokesperson - HERE

 
UPDATE :

And more news coverage here, confirms Dr Sarah Jarvis as a "spokesperson for Pfizer"
 
 
 
 
 
 
In summary, Sky News viewers were hoodwinked into thinking that they were watching the views and opinions of a medical expert acting in her capacity as an impartial Doctor explaining concerns about electronic cigarettes.
 
When in fact they were watching a Pfizer spokesperson and Champix vendor attack and smear a competitor product.
 
Figures from Professor Wests 'Smoking Toolkit Study' show that products such as NRTs are suffering from a drastic loss in sales directly due to electronic cigarettes.
 
One thing is for sure, with her Pfizer links, Dr Sarah Jarvis certainly has a conflict of interest when making statements on the subject of e-cigs.
 
 
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7 comments:

  1. I wish I had known this before my complaint to OFCOM!

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  2. Are u guys in UK going to complain to Sky News? This is blatant BS.

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  3. Sky News should respond, there's was the worst kind of reporting.

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  4. I guess all toothpaste contains antifreeze also.....

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  5. "huge variation on nicotine" erm i think you will find 6mg 12mg 18mg 24mg 34mg and everything in between is intentional and there for a reason you doughnut , and water is also in anti freeze so im guessing she will stay clear of that also and warn people of that too then? silly cow , if i take her advice i guess i should just stick to smoking cigarettes and take my chances with cancer then ?? Muppet

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  6. If you read the excerpt from the "Of Vapors and Vapors" chapter in the "Selections" area of http://TobakkoNacht.com you'll see an analysis of the FDA study that made the antifreeze claim and you'll see how bogus it was. The same people who've been attacking smokers for the last 30 years are now attacking vapers, and they're using many of the same techniques, tricks, and lies.

    - <K<

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  7. Just emailed Sky to complain about this...
    Will let you know if/when I get a reply

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