ABC Doctor Is Out - For One Week

http://www.nydailynews.com/2002-04-30/New_York_Now/Television/a-149255.asp

ABC Doctor Is Out
— for One Week
 Snyderman suspended over paid ad

By STEPHEN BATTAGLIO
Daily News Staff Writer

BC News medical correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman won't be making any house calls this week on "Good Morning America."

Snyderman has been suspended for a week without pay because she violated ABC News policy by making a radio commercial for Tylenol, said insiders at the network.

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Headache for Correspondent: Dr. Nancy Snyderman was suspended by 'GMA' after she appeared in a radio commercial for Tylenol.

An ABC News spokesman refused to comment on the situation, saying the division did not discuss personnel matters.

But ABC News has a longstanding policy that does not permit employees to endorse products or perform in paid advertisements. ABC News officials decided on Snyderman's punishment last week, sources said.

Snyderman is a surgeon who regularly reports on medical issues for "GMA" and ABC's prime-time newsmagazine "20/20." She also has been an occasional fill-in for the morning program's anchors.

Snyderman has publicly acknowledged that the commercial was a mistake, and she issued an apology.

ABC News executives learned of the spot, which she recorded in January, when it was brought to their attention by The News earlier this month.

Snyderman asked McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals, the makers of Tylenol, to pull the commercials from the air as quickly as possible and the company obliged.

In the ad, Snyderman is introduced and reads a "health update" on how acetaminophen, the generic name for Tylenol, does not interfere with the effects of certain prescription drugs.

Her portion of the spot was followed by an announcer's product plug. Snyderman was paid for her role in the commercial, ABC News executives have said.


 

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