Examining A Questionable Big Pharma Influence in Connecticut Law and Politics

Exploring the individuals, and individual entities, that are really behind the actions taken by government, whether local, state, federal, or global, is a constant theme here at TheGoodmanChronicle.com, and one such organization that will continue to come up, when researching events taking place in Connecticut, as well as across the country, is the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

The RWJF is one of the largest private foundations in the country, with a stated goal to "improve the health and health care of all Americans."  Important to note, as we trace the RWJF's involvement in Connecticut legislative policy, is that the RWJF was established with a bequest of shares of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) from its late chief executive, Robert Wood Johnson.  Johnson & Johnson is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies.  This connection is important because many legislative actions, and programs, supported, and funded, by the RWJF, would seemingly benefit the pharmaceutical industry.  Let us explore some of these programs, and legislation, supported by the RWJF, in the state of Connecticut.

In March 2014, I published an article titled Forced Mental Health Assessments Being Proposed For All Children In Connecticut, which discussed legislation that was being presented in the state legislature of Connecticut, which would have required "each pupil enrolled in public school at grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 and each home-schooled child at ages 12, 14 and 17 to have a confidential behavioral health assessment."  This legislation was lobbied for by the president of the board of directors for the CT Association of School
Based Health Centers, JoAnn Eaccarino.  The CT Association of School Based Health Centers receives funding and support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

There is also a program in operation in Connecticut, that has received millions of dollars from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, called "Child First", which is an "evidence-based model that uses home visits and a network of community services to prevent the devastating effects of early childhood adversity."  The founder of Child First, Darcy Lowell, regularly submits testimony to the state legislature, usually in favor of legislation that would use the state to increase the number of children being examined for "mental health".

In a presentation to the state Commission on Children, Lowell discussed the Child First program, where she listed situations that her organization deems "environmental risks" to children.  The list includes obvious risks to children, such as physical abuse, and lack of food, but it also includes questionable risks such as "single parenthood", and "unemployment".  The DCF, or Department of Children and Families, is listed as the leading agency of the Child First program.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation connection to these type of programs should be scrutinized.  It is important to understand how these home-visitation programs and behavioral mental health assessments can be used to increase the number of children on pharmaceutical drugs, thus profiting big pharmaceutical companies like Johnson & Johnson.  Former veteran Congressman Dr. Ron Paul, in 2011, was speaking out against this push for mandatory health screenings, calling it "a persistent lobbying effort, funded by pharmaceutical companies, to increase the number of these (drug) prescriptions to even more children."  If you are thinking that you have nothing to worry about, because neither you, or your children, have a mental illness, keep in mind that the list of mental disorders is ever-growing, and includes illness' such as "Oppositional Defiant Disorder", which you can be labeled with for "disagreeing with someone in a position of authority".  Also, some studies, like the one put out by the Children’s Services Working Group, suggest that the number of people that have a mental illness, many of whom unknowingly, may be as high as 20%, in a state like Connecticut.

President Obama's 23 Executive Actions; Federal Spy Doctors, Forced Medication & Involuntary Commitment

On Wednesday, President Obama announced the creation of 23 'executive actions' pertaining to 'gun violence reduction', in response to the Sandy Hook school shooting.  He even brought children on stage with him, high-fived, and hugged the kids before signing the actions, which to some, resembled tyrants in the past who used children as props in their propaganda campaigns.




There was talk in the media of a possible federal ban on certain types of assault rifles, and/or ammunition, however none of the twenty-three executive actions call for a physical ban of anything.  There are orders dealing with background checks, information evaluation, new federal programs, and even five orders dealing with 'health care', in relation to gun violence.

Surely these orders will make it slightly more difficult for some Americans, in the future, to obtain firearm protection, but, in my opinion, the main purpose of these executive orders is to further the federal governments involvement into your life through the health care system.

Of the twenty three executive orders, the one that seems the most disturbing to me is number sixteen, which states, "Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes."  There was already concern that the Affordable Care Act intruded on doctor/patient confidentiality, and this new executive order furthers those concerns. Essentially, the federal government will spy on you through your medical doctor.  Last month, I reported on a federal program to also turn your local religious leaders (priests, pastors, reverends, etc.), into spies for the federal government.

I believe these executive orders are an indication on how the interests that control Barack Obama, plan to handle their opposition.  Instead of direct bans or restrictions on liberties, you could be labeled with a 'mental illness', and from there, your liberties restricted.

After Writing ObamaCare Legislation, Elizabeth Fowler Goes To Work For Largest Pharmaceutical Company In The World

Elizabeth Fowler

Big corporations have given Capitalism a bad name.  While the idea of looking for new ways to generate profit, and cut expenses, is noble to most small business owners, big business has been taking this goal of bigger profits to a different, immoral, and often illegal, level.  Governments are often used by big business to help pass rules and regulations that are favorable to one group, and harmful to others.  Instead of an actual free-market capitalist system, where everyone is on equal ground competing with each other, we have a system of pay-offs, lobbyists, and revolving doors, often referred to as crony-Capitalism.

The best modern-day case of crony-Capitalism is probably the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), or as it is commonly referred to as, ObamaCare, a bill that penalizes people who choose not to buy insurance from a private provider.  This act essentially creates millions of new customers for the insurance companies.  On June 28, 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that the Federal government does not have the Constitutional right to mandate that people must buy health insurance from a private company. However, it does have the right to tax those that don't, according to the Supreme Court. Therefore, it upheld the Act.

The poster child for this immoral merger of big business and government would have to be the "architect" of ObamaCare, Elizabeth Fowler.  In 2001, Fowler was working as chief health policy counsel under Montana Sentator Max Baucus, until 2006, when she departed for a two-year stint at health insurance company WellPoint, only to return to the Senate in 2008, again working on health policy for Senator Baucus, where she would end up being a main player in the Senate health care negotiations that would eventually bring us Obamacare.  Senator Baucus had even singled out Fowler as the person who layed the "foundation" and the "blueprint" of what eventually became ObamaCare.

(Sidenote: WellPoint, Inc. is the largest managed health care, for-profit company in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, a federation of 38 separate health insurance organizations and companies in the United States. Combined, they directly or indirectly provide health insurance to over 99 million Americans.)