Laurie Bennett of Muckety looks at John Mackey, CEO and co-founder of Whole Foods, author of op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that criticized the Obama health care plan, in light of his connections to the health and drug industries.
Mackey’s op-ed argued against “a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system.”
Bennett found that four members of Whole Foods’ board of directors also are or have been partners or directors of companies that include Insight Health Services Corp., Rite Aid Corporation and CNS pharmaceutical company.
The op-ed led to calls from bloggers and unions for people to stop shopping at Whole Foods.
Mackey, on his blog on the Whole Foods Web site, says the op-ed is his personal opinion, not the company’s position. He also says that an editor at The Wall Street Journal changed the title he had submitted, causing “antagonistic feelings.”
