Fw: Science for Sale ~ Conscious Choice

[Guest guest]

From: " Ilena Rose " <ilena@...>

Sent: Monday, July 23, 2001 2:45 PM

Subject: Science for Sale ~ Conscious Choice

> http://www.consciouschoice.com/hightower/hightower1407.html

>

> Science for Sale

>

> by Jim Hightower

>

> Conscious Choice, July 2001

>

> Whenever citizens dare challenge some corporation that's polluting their

> community, or dare question the safety of some chemical, drug, or

> food-manufacturing process -- the corporation always reacts by asserting

that

> the citizens are dealing in more politics or emotion, but that the

" science " of

> the issue is on the corporation's side.

>

> Is it ever! That's because corporations increasingly buy the science, then

they

> plant their purchased " scientific " findings in various media outlets,

which

> then unquestioningly report the findings as though they were the pure

product

> of independent research. In a new book entitled Trust Us, We're Experts,

> authors Sheldon Rampton and Stauber rip the scientific veil from the

> corporate face of this deception, revealing in case after case that much

of the

> science in news reports is tainted with corporate funding.

>

> Technically, these academic scientists are not on the company payroll.

Instead

> corporate money is funneled to them in the form of research grants,

consulting

> contracts, lucrative speaking fees...or, outright cash for services

rendered.

> For example, Rampton and Stauber report that in the early 1990s, tobacco

> companies paid $156,000 to thirteen academic scientists to write letters

to

> influential medical journals arguing the tobacco industry's case. One

> biostatistician was paid $10,000 for an eight-paragraph letter published

in the

> Journal of the American Medical Association. None of the journals

mentioned the

> money.

>

> In fact, no law requires these scientists to disclose their conflicts of

> interest. Luckily, however, the Center for Science in the Public Interest

has

> stepped into the breach with a new Web site that discloses the corporate

money

> behind more than 1,100 scientists and various scientific organizations.

This

> invaluable data base will be expanded and updated, helping us -- and the

media

> -- know who's who in the corporate-scientific complex.

>

> Check it out for yourself: www.integrityinscience.org.

>

> Jim Hightower is a columnist and author. To subscribe to The Hightower

Lowdown,

> send $15, and your name, and address to: Lowdown, P.O. Box 20596, New

York, NY

> 10011. Visit his web site for more info.

>

>

>