I've worked since December together with "60 Minutes" on an undercover investigation of the anti-aging industry and abuse of growth hormone. Genotropin (growth hormone) was the key product I managed during my time as Vice President for Pharmacia/Pfizer.
"60 Minutes" is sending their report tonight. Andy Court, the producer, called me Friday afternoon to tell me that my interview, however, ended up on the cutting room floor, since they decided to focus on the medical story.
Quite frankly, I'm just happy they are running this segment. No television show I've worked with spends as much time getting their stories together as "60 Minutes." And this report probably wasn't quite the outcome Pfizer expected when they called "60 Minutes" in December to tell them I was fired.
Then again, tonight's show is the last thing Pfizer is worried about. The New York Times appears to have appreciated my blog about the New Robber Barons, and today picks up my story line about the Pfizer CEO's pay vs. his lack of performance:
"If outsized executive pay has indeed become a source of outrage to American shareholders, then the contest this week between Pfizer Inc.'s investors and its board could prove the most compelling of the year. On one side stands Hank McKinnell, Pfizer's chief executive and chairman, recipient of $65 million in pay since he took the top job at the company in January 2001 and beneficiary of an $83 million pension when he retires. On the other are Pfizer shareholders, angry over the 46 percent decline in market value since Mr. McKinnell took the reins. Some shareholders are threatening to withhold votes for several Pfizer directors over Mr. McKinnell's pay. Pfizer, meanwhile, is fighting back in the proxy contest, working overtime to convince shareholders that its directors deserve support."
You can read more about the anti-aging story in BusinessWeek and BrandWeek.
Here's the CBS teaser for tonight's show:
Aging In The 21st Century
April 20, 2006
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(CBS)
Quote
"This is not about the fountain of youth ... It's about staying in charge of my life and being productive."
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Dr. Alan Mintz
(CBS) Dr. Alan Mintz, 67, says he feels great. He should. He's a leading doctor in the new multi-billion-dollar field known as anti-aging medicine. But besides good diet and exercise, Dr. Mintz and a number of his patients take small doses of human growth hormone - a drug whose distribution or marketing for anti-aging uses is illegal, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Dr. Mintz says his practice is entirely legal because he only prescribes for patients who are deficient in that hormone.
A leading expert on HGH tells 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft that Mintz and others who take it may be putting themselves at risk for cancer or heart disease.
Kroft reports on the burgeoning new field of anti-aging medicine this Sunday, April 23 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Mintz says taking HGH and other hormones, such as testosterone, build muscle mass, reduce fat and fight osteoporosis. That's because they replenish those same compounds that are produced by the human body but diminish with age. They also promote a good sex life, mental acuity and increase energy, he says.
"This is not about the fountain of youth ... It's about staying in charge of my life and being productive," says Mintz, who says his patients include movie stars, CEOs and the president of a foreign country.
"People are looking to feel better," Mintz tells Kroft. "They're tired of hearing, 'I'm getting old. There's nothing you can do. Just live with it.' "
In nine years, he says, his practice has grown to a $20 million-per-year enterprise. The products these patients take, including nutritional supplements, generate an estimated $30 billion to $50 billion in worldwide sales each year.
Dr. Shlomo Melmed, one of the top endocrinologists in the world, is an expert on the pituitary gland, which produces growth hormone. He is skeptical of Mintz' claims. He says the effects of HGH and testosterone are often temporary and mostly cosmetic and there can be side effects that include high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease, among others.
"It bothers me that people are prepared to spend so much money on a molecule which may be unsafe for them," says Melmed. Even more dangerous, says Melmed, is a cancer risk. A latent cancer might be encouraged by such hormones, he says.
"I would be very reluctant to pour fuel onto the fire of a cancer by adding a very powerful growth factor," Melmed tells Kroft. "It may well be that it's beneficial for us to have low growth hormones as we age."
Mintz insists he's careful about screening for cancers and says only 7 percent of his patients take HGH: those who need it because they have low levels of the compound. His patients consider the risk part of a new lifestyle they're perfectly happy with.
"You have to weigh risks and rewards. You do that every day in life. You do it when you get up in the morning," says one of Mintz' female patients.
Mintz says he has taken low doses of HGH for a decade and experiences no side effects, but acknowledges there's a slim possibility there may be some down the line.
"No, I'm not absolutely sure (HGH is entirely safe). Only a fool is absolutely sure. Am I confident? Do I sleep well at night? Yes," he tells Kroft.
Produced by Andy Court
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