Amazing that an organization ostensibly dedicated to improving the health of women should undermine health care delivery to those needing it most.
By cutting funds to Planned Parenthood the Koman “Foundation” opened itself to criticism and exam of it’s own actions and credibility.
I was astounded to read:
Yet this is an organization that has repeatedly come under fire for its extravagant promotion of itself as an organization dedicated to a “cure,” when only a small portion of its expenses go to, you know, curing cancer. Komen itself cops to portioning just 24 percent of its funds to research – and 20 percent to fundraising and administration.
And:
according to Komen’s own financial records, it spends almost “a million dollars a year in donor funds” aggressively going after other organizations that dare to use the phrase “for the cure” – including small charities like Kites for a Cure, Par for the Cure, Surfing for a Cure, Cupcakes for a Cure, and even a dog-sledding event called Mush for the Cure. Let me just give you that number again. A million bucks a year.
And that top management takes home salaries in the range of $500,000/year.
Medicynical Note: It’s apparent that Komen is far more interested in promoting itself than conquering cancer. That is not to say that there hasn’t been some good done by it. Some funds have actually gone to cancer research (as noted a small minority of that raised) and there has been an effort to raise public awareness of the disease.
But the most ironic comment in this brouhaha was when one board member a noted:
that the decision to cut off money to 17 of the 19 Planned Parenthood affiliates it had supported was made because of the fear that an investigation of Planned Parenthood by Representative Cliff Stearns, Republican of Florida, would damage Komen’s credibility with donors.
Ouch!
Medicynic 