Science

Exxon Mobil Partnership Proves Costly for Stanford

by Diane Farsetta — March 12, 2007 - 11:02am

"Exxon Mobil has teamed up with Stanford University to find breakthrough technologies that deliver more energy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions," enthuses a TV commercial by the oil giant.

Main Source: 
Mercury News (San Jose, CA), March 11, 2007

Government Health Agencies and Their Chemical Brothers

by Diane Farsetta — March 5, 2007 - 12:33pm

The U.S. Center for the Evaluation of Risks to Human Reproduction "was established within the National Institutes of Health to assess the dangers of chemicals and help determine which ones should be regulated," reports Marla Cone. "But much of the agency's work has been conducted by a private consulting company ...

Main Source: 
Los Angeles Times, March 4, 2007

Industry Funding Skews Breast Cancer Research

by Diane Farsetta — February 28, 2007 - 6:29pm

As had previously been shown with "heart, stroke and bone marrow cancer research," a review by medical researchers found that "breast cancer studies funded by drug companies are more likely to yield positive findings than those without pharmaceutical industry backing." Researchers at the University of North Carolina "looked at 140 studies published in 2003, 1998 and 1993 in 10 medical journals on breast cancer therapies, nearly half of which were deemed to have had drug company involvement in the form of

Main Source: 
Reuters, February 26, 2007

Appetite for Profit: An Interview with Michele Simon

by Judith Siers-Poisson — February 28, 2007 - 11:16am
  • Topics: Advertising, Corporate Campaigns, Obesity, Front Groups, Corporations, Health, Marketing, Media, Politics, Public Relations, Science

    • In December 2006, I interviewed author Michele Simon about her book, "Appetite for Profit: How the Food Industry Undermines our Health and How to Fight Back." The excerpts below are from that original interview, which took place on WORT, community radio in Madison, Wisconsin. For more information on Michele and her work, please visit her website.

    Judith Siers-Poisson (JSP): How did you personally become so involved and interested in food politics?

    Michele Simon (MS): It started about 10 years ago when I was struggling with my own weight and turned to a vegetarian diet and, lo and behold, I lost the weight I was struggling with. And then, from there, I started to learn all of the other ways our diet impacts our own health, in addition to the environment, animal welfare, and labor, and so many aspects of society -- I was just amazed at how much was impacted by those food choices.

    University of Virginia Gets an "F" in Tobacco Industry Studies

    by Anne Landman — February 27, 2007 - 1:33pm
  • Topics: Public Relations, Science, Tobacco

    • On February 9, 2007, the University of Virginia (UVa) announced its acceptance of a $25 million gift from cigarette maker Philip Morris, to support biomedical research and "business leadership." In its press release, UVa said the gift created a partnership between PM and the university "in a number of key areas in which they share a common interest."

    That a medical school would find common interests with a company whose products kill 440,000 Americans annually is troubling, to say the least. Moreover, an analysis of tobacco industry documents published by the medical journal Academic Medicine in October 2004 clearly shows that the tobacco industry seeks to buy legitimacy by funding research -- biomedical research, in particular. Study author Nathaniel Wander said that he found "PM wanted to be seen to contribute to medical research to counter the image of harm caused by its cigarettes." Such grantmaking has long been a centerpiece of the tobacco industry's decades-long propaganda campaign to keep the public confused about the health hazards of smoking and, more recently, the hazardous effects of secondhand smoke on nonsmokers. In addition, the covert influence of the tobacco industry on academic research is well established.

    The Gori Truth: Tobacco Industry Payments to Toxicologist Undisclosed

    by Anne Landman — February 12, 2007 - 5:27pm

    As part of a program to give voice to a select group of think tanks, on January 30 the Washington Post printed an article by toxicologist and epidemiologist Gio Batta Gori, titled "The Bogus 'Science' of Secondhand Smoke." Gori claims that many published studies on the health hazards of secondhand smoke are based on

    Main Source: 
    Washington Post, January 30, 2007

    Bush, ExxonMobil Finally Feeling the Heat

    by Diane Farsetta — February 12, 2007 - 3:22pm

    "In recent days, White House officials have made a special effort to argue that [President] Bush has always been concerned about climate change," reports the Los Angeles Times.

    Main Source: 
    Los Angeles Times, February 11, 2007

    Censorship of Climate Scientists Heats Up

    by Diane Farsetta — January 31, 2007 - 6:37pm

    "Prompted by reports that [Bush] administration appointees, including a former oil industry lobbyist who was chief of staff at the [White House] Council on Environmental Quality, edited climate change reports or pressured scientists to tone down statements about the dangers of global warming," the U.S.

    Main Source: 
    Los Angeles Times, January 31, 2007
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