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Friday, February 06, 2009

Vatican Radio Pulls The Plug On Dan Vasella

File this one under 'preventive measure.' The Vatican had invited the Novartis ceo to be its 'Commentator of the Week' this month, but yesterday did an about face after learning the drugmaker's Hexal subsidiary makes....drum roll...contraceptives.

"The approach of the Vatican to artificial contraception cannot be subject to the smallest doubt," Vatican Radio said on its website, according to Reuters. "We ask Mr Vasella and our listeners to understand this decision. We have only just learnt from the press that Novartis also produces contraceptives...There can be no doubt as to the Vatican's position regarding artificial contraception."
Dan, by the way, was supposed to have held his fireside chats each Saturday about different themes from an "ethical perspective," but was under no obligation to express the Vatican's viewpoint, according to Swissinfo. Perhaps he can start a blog instead.
image from flickr user Katie Dureault used under a creative commons license.

1 comment:

PharmaGuy said...

"learnt"? Is that an exact quote?