Science

Beware Industry-Funded Researchers on Drugs

by Diane Farsetta — April 12, 2006 - 9:05am

"Whichever company sponsors the trial produces the better antipsychotic drug," researchers concluded in an American Journal of Psychiatry article.

Main Source: 
Washington Post, April 12, 2006

Bad Data, and Compromised Limits, on Chromium

by Diane Farsetta — February 28, 2006 - 1:15pm

"This was a 10-year campaign to shape the science to fit the industry's agenda rather than shape the regulation to fit the science," Professor David Michaels said of industry attempts to avoid lower exposure limits for hexavalent chromium. In 2004, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed reducing the exposure limit set in 1943 more than fifty-fold.

Main Source: 
Los Angeles Times, February 24, 2006

Finding a Chemical Harmless, For a Fee

by Bob Burton — February 23, 2006 - 2:58am

In a April 2003 pitch to DuPont, The Weinberg Group proposed a strategy to help defuse the growing controversy over the health impacts of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a compound used to make Teflon.

Main Source: 
Environmental Science and Technology, February 22, 2006

The Fishy Funder That Almost Got Away

by Bob Burton — February 18, 2006 - 3:15pm

In October 2005 the American Journal of Preventive Medicine published an article by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis assessing the relative risks and benefits of changes in fish consumption. The U.S.

Main Source: 
New York Times, February 15, 2006

WHO Rejects Corporate-Funded Research Institute

by Diane Farsetta — January 30, 2006 - 11:02am

The United Nations' World Health Organization (WHO) barred the U.S.-based International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) from taking part in "WHO activities setting microbiological or chemical standards for food and water." The decision followed warnings from health, environmental and union groups, including the

Main Source: 
Associated Press, January 27, 2006

Army Biometrics Scanning PR Firms

by Diane Farsetta — January 27, 2006 - 6:16pm

The U.S. Army is looking for "guiding PR" for its biometrics operations in Virginia and West Virginia. "Biometrics encompasses technology like iris, face and hand scanning and voice recognition, along with traditional fingerprint identification, usually for security applications.

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily (sub req'd), January 27, 2006

Phantom Patients

by Bob Burton — January 19, 2006 - 7:25pm

A study published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet, which concluded that taking painkillers could protect against oral cancer, has been exposed as being based entirely on fabricated data. "He faked everything: names, diagnosis, gender, weight, age, drug use. There is no real data whatsoever, just figures he made up himself. Every patient in this paper is a fake," Stein Vaaler, the director of strategy at the hospital, told the Guardian.

Main Source: 
Guardian, January 16, 2006

Skeptical Journalism?

by Bob Burton — January 17, 2006 - 3:49am

"Take a step back and get the science right first, writes a special correspondent," is the teaser for a 920-word feature on climate change in The Australian's Inquirer section.

Main Source: 
The Australian, January 14-15, 2006

Science Agency Staff Criticise Spin Strategy

by Bob Burton — January 9, 2006 - 2:04am

Dr. Michael Borgas, the staff association president at CSIRO, the Australian government-funded science agency, harshly criticized the agency's censorious approach to journalists. "A business model, or even the appearance of a compliant, unquestioning propaganda-driven organisation, is not an acceptable strategy for CSIRO," he wrote. After Dr.

Main Source: 
Australasian Science, January/February 2006
Syndicate content