On July 21, 2000, BCAM sent this letter to Dr. Peter J. George, President of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

Dear Dr. George:

As an organization which is very much concerned with and involved in women’s health issues, Breast Cancer Action Montreal was pleased to learn that a chair in women’s health is being established at McMaster University. We were also pleased about the recognition accorded to May Cohen and her work. But our pleasure in this news was severely compromised by the information that Eli Lilly Canada is the source of funding for this chair.

Our concern about Eli Lilly stems from their manufacturing and marketing of DES in spite of data-based questions about the carcinogenic nature of the drug and its failure to prevent the miscarriages for which it was widely prescribed. We are even more concerned because this pharmaceutical company has refused to acknowledge the adverse effects suffered by the women who took this drug and by their daughters and sons. The company has also been strongly resistant to any form of recompense, whether to individuals harmed by the drug or, more broadly, to the community of those at risk because of the drug.

We cannot help feeling cynical about Eli Lilly’s claim of being committed to the pursuit of women’s health. McMaster’s acceptance of the funding for the new chair lends support to their claim, in spite of the company’s record. This is not what we expect from a university that has built a reputation for being innovative and progressive in health care-specifically in the education and training of health care professionals and in the provision of health care services.

There is enormous pressure on our universities to use “partnerships” with business and industry to compensate for the shortfalls in funding from other sources. It is extremely important that such partners be carefully chosen and that the lure of a formidable source of funds not be allowed to compromise that choice.

We ask you to reconsider this relationship with Eli Lilly Canada. We are loath to see one of our major universities provide this pharmaceutical company with the opportunity to whitewash its past without any acknowledgment of, or compensation for, the harm it has caused. Such a partnership damages the reputation of the university even as it enhances that of Eli Lilly Canada.

Thanks to Joan Stelling for writing such an excellent letter on behalf of BCAM. Joan Stelling is past Treasurer of BCAM.