AHF: Abbott Censors AIDS Activists on YouTube?AHF's 60 Second Video Parody Blasting Abbott Laboratories Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) is a diversified pharmaceuticals and health care company. It has over 65,000 employees and operates in 130 countries. The corporate headquarters are in Abbott Park, Illinois, a neighborhood of North Chicago, Illinois. Inc. Was Mysteriously Removed From YouTube After 36 Hours and 902 views Video--and Protest Actions This Week in Mexico, Colombia and the US--Slam Abbott For High Prices That Keeps Its Lifesaving AIDS Drugs Out of Reach for People Living with HIV/AIDS HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Around the Globe LOS ANGELES -- A video parody criticizing Abbott Laboratories Inc. for its AIDS drug pricing mysteriously disappeared from YouTube today after 36 hours and 902 views. Parody: AHF AHF antihemophilic factor (coagulation factor VIII). AHF abbr. antihemophilic factor AHF, n the abbreviation for antihemophilic factor. See also factor VIII. Slams Abbott AIDS Drug Pricing, (http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1090089613040) created and distributed by AIDS Healthcare Foundation The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is a non profit, Los Angeles-based AIDS treatment and advocacy center. Their official founding pledge is to "provide cutting-edge medicine and advocacy, regardless of ability to pay. (AHF), is a scathing indictment of Abbott's outrageous global drug pricing tactics that keep its AIDS drugs--including its key lifesaving drug Kaletra--out of reach for people living with HIV/AIDS around the world. The video features a mock interview with an Abbott executive and utilizes a publicly-available image of Abbott CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Miles D. White Miles D. White is an American businessman. He is currently chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Abbott. He is also chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. . By contrast, video content deemed "appropriate" by YouTube this week (as evidenced by the fact that it remains on the site) includes the PETA Quadrillion (10 to the 15th power). See space/time. commercial recently banned from appearing on network television during the Super Bowl due to its strong sexual content. In conjunction with the release of the parody video, AIDS advocates from three countries--Colombia, Mexico and the United States--held simultaneous protests yesterday in each of the three countries targeting Chicago-based pharmaceutical giant Abbott Laboratories over the pricing of its key AIDS drug, Kaletra. Abbott charges $1,000 per patient per year for Kaletra in most middle-income countries and $500 per patient per year in low-income countries. In Mexico and Colombia, Abbott charges $5,400 and $3,500 per patient per year, respectively, keeping it far out of reach for people living with HIV/AIDS in those countries. AHF's Abbott video parody premiered publicly for the first time on YouTube this past Tuesday and will air on select Chicago-area television stations. |
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