Science

Warning: Industry PR Smears Good Science As "Junk Science"

by John Stauber — November 7, 2001 - 10:43am

Public health scientists Samet and Burke issue a strong warning in the current American Journal of Public Health about "the tobacco industry's attempt to discredit the scientific evidence on passive smoking, particularly the industry's use of the label 'junk science.' ... Unfortunately, 'junk science' has now become an ingrained pejorative. The public health community will need to be watchful in other arenas where the "junk science" gambit will be used. ... Trust Us We're Experts offer(s) a popular and cautionary account.... The lessons learned from this episode ...

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American Journal of Public Health

Tobacco Industry Sponsors "Sound Science"

by Sheldon Rampton — November 6, 2001 - 3:17pm

Doctors Elisa Ong and Stanton A. Glantz have published a study documenting the tobacco industry's attack on so-called "junk science" to discredit the evidence that secondhand smoke -- among other environmental toxins -- causes disease. "Philip Morris used public relations firms and lawyers to develop a 'sound science' program in the United States and Europe that involved recruiting other industries and issues to obscure the tobacco industry's role," they write.

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America Journal of Public Health, November 2001

Improper Lab Partners

by Sheldon Rampton — October 3, 2001 - 11:04am

In the last 20 years, corporate funding in the fields of information technology and biotechnology has grown faster than support from any other source, and there is growing concern over possible corporate interference and industrial pressures that could inappropriately influence the direction, interpretation, and outcome of research. This past summer, several organizations took measures to examine and address this situation.

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http://news.bmn.com/hmsbeagle/111/notes/feature2

Sponsorship, Authorship and Accountability

by Sheldon Rampton — September 12, 2001 - 11:00pm

The New England Journal of Medicine has issued an editorial describing its new policy designed to guarantee the independence of scientists who publish papers in medical journals.

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New England Journal of Medicine, September 13, 2001

Independent Scientists An Endangered Species

by Laura Miller — September 3, 2001 - 11:00pm

Independent scientists worldwide are finding it harded to exist in institutions increasing funded by corporate dollars. In a Institute of Science in Society report, Dr. Mae-Wan Ho tells the stories of scientists who have lost their livelihoods for going against the grain, calling on civil society and government to take concrete measures to protect independent scientists, and to support independent science that benefit society as a whole rather than big corporations.

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Institute of Science in Society, September 4, 2001

Junkman Seeks Human Guinea Pigs

by Sheldon Rampton — August 30, 2001 - 1:11pm

Steven Milloy, the industry lobbyist and Cato Institute staffer who calls himself "the junkman" at www.junkscience.com, is going to be getting a lot of publicity in the coming months. He has a book coming out in September titled Junk Science Judo: Self-Defense Against Health Scares and Scams, which he is already promoting on the radio talk show circuit.

Journalism for Hire?

by Sheldon Rampton — August 24, 2001 - 12:14pm

The National Association of Science Writers (NASW) is debating the ethics of a job advertisement sent to its members from Chicco Chandler, a PR firm that "works exclusively with the pharmaceutical/biotech industry" and boasts of past involvement in PR for Viagra, Celebrex and Zoloft, with clients including Agouron, Amgen, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Novo Nordisk and Pfizer.

Nature Takes a Step in the Right Direction

by Sheldon Rampton — August 22, 2001 - 11:00pm

Nature, England's leading scientific journal, has announced a new policy. Beginning in October, it will "be encouraging authors to declare any competing financial interests in relation to research papers." This is "a welcome and probably inevitable decision," reports the Guardian of London, noting that science has become "intimately linked with industry. ...

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Nature, August 23, 2001

Voodoo Science and Injured Workers

by Sheldon Rampton — August 16, 2001 - 9:10am

Ever wondered who makes up those claims that "asbestos isn't dangerous" and "repetitive stress injuries are in your mind"? Vernon Mogensen looks at the dangerous business of corporate spin and unearths science fiction masquerading as science fact as industry battles against legislation to protect workers from on-the-job injuries.

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Hazards magazine (UK)

Spinning Science Into Gold

by Sheldon Rampton — August 15, 2001 - 9:52pm

Traditionally, universities have been reservoirs of independent thinking where tenured faculty had the academic freedom to analyze and interpret science and its implications for society without pressure from financially interested parties. But as funding ties between private industry and universities grow, the pool of independent research is shrinking. Karen Charman examines the growing sense of intimidation felt by academic critics of the biotechnology industry in particular.

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Sierra, July/August 2001
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