First Joe Camel;
now Susan Ivey! Susan Ivey, Chairman, CEO, and President of Reynolds American has announced her Feb 28th 2011 retirement. Ivey was the vision behind Camel SNUS. Will the vision change once she rides Joe Camel off into the sunset? Too early to tell now but I’d guess no at least in 2011. Daniel Delen, Ivey’s replacement as CEO, has been riding her coat-tails for years and appears to be on the same page. Delen will not have the power that Ivey did, however. RAI’s Board has decided to separate the Chairman position and has given it to Thomas C. Wajnert. How Delen and Wajnert will share power is something which remains to be seen. On a personal note, I’ve written about Susan Ivey for about 5 years now. I admit to having a bizarre crush on her professionally, much to my wife’s amusement. I wish Ms. Ivey all the best as she enjoys a cigarette on a very expensive beach somewhere. I’m sorry we never met. I had hoped for an autographed photo one day, but I guess it’s time to move on. Read the Announcement….. More FDA Stupidity The latest example of hypocrisy at FDA is a stunner. FDA last week approved Botox injections for use against migraine headaches. There were no clinical trials. In fact prior to this FDA had forbidden Botox to be used for anything other than cosmetic use. Enough doctors and others were using botox injections as an off-label migraine treatment that FDA issued fines in the $500MM range. Incredibly, immediately after the fines were levied, FDA turned around and approved Botox migraine treatment! FDA’s rational was that so many migraine sufferers had been illegally treated with Botox injections for so long, they now considered it safe. Funny that thought didn’t occur before the half billion dollars in fines were issued. Swedish Snus has been government regulated by Sweden for 40 years. A significant number of studies and the living laboratory of Scandinavia clearly demonstrate that real snus use is between 95% to 99% less harmful to smokers than cigarettes. This 40 year history also strongly demonstrates that Swedish snus is effective in smoking cessation programs; MUCH more effective than nicotine gum and patches. Unlike the FDA approved Chantix pill, real snus not cause depression and suicides. Yet while blindly signing off in allowing injections of the very toxic botulism into people’s heads based on how many times Botox was misused, real snus still must carry the false warning labels that it causes mouth cancer, gum disease, tooth loss and is not a safe alternative to cigarettes. Do we have to wait until half a billion dollars in fines add up before FDA will acknowledge the truth about real snus? How many smokers will sicken and die while we’re waiting? How many billions of dollars in unnecessary health-care will be saved? Too bad Botox doesn’t come in Extra Stark……..  | 
