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Presenter Disclosures

Presenter Disclosures. Martin Donohoe. N/A. (1) The following personal financial relationships with commercial interests relevant to this presentation existed during the past 12 months:. Presenter Disclosures. Martin Donohoe. N/A. (2) My presentation will include discussion of

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Presenter Disclosures

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  1. Presenter Disclosures Martin Donohoe N/A (1) The following personal financial relationships with commercial interests relevant to this presentation existed during the past 12 months:

  2. Presenter Disclosures Martin Donohoe N/A (2) My presentation will include discussion of “off-label” use of the following:

  3. Confronting Pseudoscience and Threats from a Corporate Front Group:The American Council on Science and Health Martin Donohoe

  4. Outline • Corporate Front Groups • American Council on Science and Health • Corporate PR Tactics • Conclusions

  5. Corporate Front Groups Promote corporate agendas Strong financial and advisory links with corporations Disseminate misinformation/lies under guise of “science” Non-peer reviewed, cherry-picked/out of context Promote pro-business, conservative ideology

  6. Background • Essay describing health and environmental consequences of global warming for Medscape • Described ACSH as a corporate front group and criticized its selection of author Michael Crichton as recipient of its 2005 Sound Science Medal • Crichton’s State of Fear questions existence of human-caused global warming

  7. ACSH and Global Warming • Leader referred to “belief” that burning fossil fuels has caused global warming as pseudoscience • Criticized environmental scientists as “doomsayers” and “fearmongers”

  8. ACSH Response • Threatened litigation against Medscape • Article pulled, then republished with additional material • ?Loss of potential readership?

  9. Dr Elizabeth Whelan • Co-founder of ACSH • Early writing career: • Freelance writing assignment for Pfizer criticizing the FDA • Articles for Harper’s Bazaar and Glamour (fashion magazines) • Books: Panic in the Pantry and Toxic Terror

  10. Dr Gilbert Ross - Medical /Executive Director • Spent 1996 in federal prison after being sentenced to 46 months for • Medicaid fraud • Perjury • Obstruction of justice • Barred by the DHHS for 10 years from participating in either Medicare or Medicaid • Not mentioned on his bio on ACSH website

  11. Dr Gilbert Ross’ Career • Defended Wood Preservative Science Council against health claims regarding arsenic in pressure-treated wood • Wrote on behalf of the farmed salmon industry that PCBs in fish do not cause any health problems

  12. ACSH • Annual turnover of under $2 million • Initial funding from right wing foundations, corporations • Accepted money to write and disseminate pro-industry “studies • Now: ?1/3 of funds from private foundations, 1/3 from individuals, 1/3 from corporations? • Finances secret since early 1990s

  13. ACSHSound Science • Has spoken out re dangers of tobacco smoking • Supported IOM recommendation re coverage of contraception as a preventive health service • Criticized Oprah for pseudoscientific claims (“The Secret,” anti-vaccination promulgations, nutritional supplement promotions, etc.)

  14. ACSH:Pseudoscience and Misinformation • Attacked the precautionary principle • “anti-science and anti-technology phobia” • “fundamentally reactionary and elitist” • “more on the order of theology [than science]”

  15. ACSH:Pseudoscience and Misinformation • Minimized the effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) on human health • 38,000 deaths/yr in U.S. • Opposed FDA regulation of e-cigarettes

  16. ACSH:Pseudoscience and Misinformation • Promoted smokeless tobacco, snus, and e-cigarettes as smoking cessation aids • Opposed graphic tobacco package warnings

  17. ACSH:Pseudoscience and Misinformation • Denied many of the adverse neurological effects of lead exposure • Denied endocrine-disrupting effects of PCBs • Claimed court ordered-cleanup of Hudson River by GE based on false claims of PCBs causing cancer

  18. ACSH:Pseudoscience and Misinformation • Minimized health concerns of 9-11 responders • Opposed EPA attempts to strengthen clean air standards • Opposed TSCA reforms • Denied health risks of certain cosmetics

  19. ACSH:Pseudoscience and Misinformation • Claimed uncertainty regarding effects of agricultural antibiotics • Denied health and environmental risks of GM crops • Turned Alar concerns into manufactured “cautionary tale” of overzealous regulators run amok

  20. ACSH:Pseudoscience and Misinformation • Criticized health concerns re trans fatty acids • “There is no such thing as junk food” • “There is insufficient evidence of a relationship between diet and any disease.” • Rejected AAP recommendation for fast food television advertising ban • Opposed ban on sales of energy drinks to minors

  21. ACSH:Pseudoscience and Misinformation • Claimed “irradiated food is safe, wholesome and nutritious” and “no radioactive isotopes are involved” • Promoted nuclear power and benefits of low dose radiation hormesis

  22. ACSH:Pseudoscience and Misinformation • Denied link between dioxins and pesticides and adverse health effects • “Pesticides are not toxic to humans of any age” • Supported use of human volunteers in pesticide toxicity studies • Denied health consequences of PBDEs (fire retardants) and PFOA (Teflon)

  23. “Phony Health Scares” • Mercury in tuna and other fish • “Enjoy it without worry” • Diesel exhaust fumes from school busses • Arsenic in drinking water • Phthalates in medical devices and children’s toys

  24. ACSH: Attacks on Scientists and the Scientific Enterprise • Threat of litigation against Medscape antithetical to the rules of science • require the free exchange of information and opinion in pursuit of the truth

  25. ACSH: Attacks on Scientists and the Scientific Enterprise • ad hominem attacks • environmentalists = “toxic terrorists” • Whelan criticized Dr. Barry Levy and citizen-activist Erin Brockovich as “individuals who…pursued self-serving financial opportunities through litigation” • Called HSPH a “hotbed of pseudoscience and political agitation”

  26. Implications of Attacks on Science and Scientists • ACSH has broad media presence • Most major networks, newspapers • Web site popular

  27. Implications of Attacks on Science and Scientists • Mislead public / may cause alterations in lifestyle and/or purchasing habits • adverse consequences to health • Threats of litigation and SLAPP suits distract, intimidate, and deplete the scientific, legal, and financial resources of individuals and groups committed to public health

  28. Implications of Attacks on Science and Scientists • Faulty pronouncements influence elected officials • Threats of litigation divert the valuable time of health care providers, editors, and legal departments away from their more productive missions of research, teaching, writing, and patient care

  29. Implications of Attacks on Science and Scientists • Scientists and health care advocates may decide it is wiser to avoid conflict than publish content to which ACSH and other such groups might object

  30. Educational Deficits Impede Public’s Understanding of Science • Inadequate funding of science and health education means individuals may lack background necessary to recognize sound science vs. ideological bunk

  31. Corporate Influence • Greenwash: Public relations/ad campaigns • Astroturf: artificially-created grassroots coalitions

  32. Corporate PR tactics • Invoke poor people as beneficiaries • Characterize opposition as “technophobic,” anti-science,” “anti-business,” and “against progress” • Portray their products as environmentally beneficial in the absence of (or despite the) evidence

  33. Sponsored Environmental Educational Materials • Corporate-sponsored and supported by a loose coalition of antiregulatory zealots, corporate polluters, lapdog scientists and misguided parents

  34. Sponsored Environmental Educational Materials - Examples • Exxon’s “Energy Cube” -“Gasoline is simply solar power hidden in decayed matter” -“Offshore drilling creates reefs for fish” • Pacific Lumber Company -“The Great American Forest is. . . renewable forever”

  35. Sponsored Environmental Educational Materials - Examples • American Nuclear Society’s “Activities with the Atoms Family” • Dow’s “Chemipalooza”

  36. Conclusions • Professional and lay publications should expose the workings of groups like ACSH • Scientists should fight back against harassment • Improve quality of public education; get corporations out of the classroom

  37. Martin T Donohoehttp://www.publichealthandsocialjustice.orghttp://www.phsj.orgmartindonohoe@phsj.org

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