On August 12, 1997 the Executive Vice President of the American Medical Association (AMA) announced a five-year deal to endorse Sunbeam’s health-related products.

The AMA had agreed to endorse Sunbeam’s Health@Home product line by putting their serpent-on-the-staff  logo on the products.

After word of the announcement got out the AMA immediately caught heat for product endorsements. Criticism from MDs and ethicists erupted; an effort by the AMA to wriggle out of the deal and a law suit by Sunbeam to recover $20 million in estimated losses ensued.

The New York Times reported the AMA’s agreement with Sunbeam as “The AMA’s Appliance Sale, and the deal “reeks of conflict of interest” and “casts suspicion on the AMA’s credibility.” The Times called on the AMA to evaluate the effectiveness of health products, instead of trying to collect lucrative royalties under an exclusive arrangement with a single manufacturer. Times said the incident caused the AMA’s word to descend to that of any other celebrity huckster.

SOURCE: Dynamic Chiropractic, November 17, 1997, Vol. 15, Number 24,. The New York Times.