The American Medical Association has denied co-founding the “Exercise is Medicine” initiative, contradicting the American College of Sports Medicine’s repeated claims. The AMA has also fully cut ties with Exercise is Medicine.
On January 13 of this year, CrossFit Founder and CEO Greg Glassman sent a letter to AMA President Steven J. Stack. Glassman described Coca-Cola’s history of corrupting health science through organizations such as the Global Energy Balance Network and Exercise is Medicine. His letter then asked that the AMA,
… clarify its current stance on Coca-Cola campaigns such as EIM and the GEBN. Has the AMA formally cut ties with EIM? And will the AMA continue to advance the medical profession by publicly declaring its stance on EIM?
Stack responded directly to Glassman’s letter, unlike many organizations CrossFit has contacted. The AMA President confirmed that the AMA cut its ties with Exercise is Medicine. Furthermore, Stack explains,
… the AMA was not a co-founder of EIM, as your letter states, but a supporter, and is no longer associated with this initiative.
The ACSM has a duty to publicly correct its apparently false claims regarding Exercise is Medicine. The AMA President’s statement directly contradicts the picture that ACSM has repeatedly put forth regarding the initiative. For example, the ACSM purports here that Exercise is Medicine was “co founded by the American Medical Association and ACSM.” Elsewhere ACSM has claimed that the AMA “launched” or “co-launched” Exercise is Medicine. Even the LA Times, normally an astute observer of Big Soda, fell victim to the ACSM’s deception.
While ACSM can no longer claim that the AMA co-founded this initiative, it will forever live with the fact that Coca-Cola was Exercise is Medicine’s “first founding partner.” Coca-Cola’s relationship with Exercise is Medicine has also ended, but its founding position remains. No amount of deleting webpages will change that.
P.S. For new readers, here is a summary of Exercise is Medicine:
Exercise is Medicine is a Coca-Cola-founded plan to implement the Global Energy Balance Network concept by Obamacare mandate, and to require other people to pay for it. Exercise is Medicine serves the joint interests of Coca-Cola and the American College of Sports Medicine. It helps Coca-Cola fight against soda regulation, combat the idea that soda has contributed to the global epidemics of diabetes and obesity, and blame physical inactivity and soda taxes instead. As for the ACSM, it plans to get physicians to refer clients to ACSM-credentialed trainers and mandate full insurance coverage for this training while excluding CrossFit-credentialed trainers.
For more info, see my article, Lon Kilgore’s analysis, and Russell Berger’s firsthand write-up of our Exercise is Medicine seminar experience.
