Center for Science in the Public Interest Question AAAAI Mold Position Statement

[Guest guest]

March 31, 2006

Integrity in Science Watch -- Week of 3/31/2006

The prestigious Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI) last month

failed to disclose two physicians' roles as insurance company defense

experts in their scientific review " The Medical Effects of Mold Exposure, " which

downplayed risks to human health from household mold. According to court

documents obtained by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Dr. Abba I.

Terr, Stanford University School of Medicine, and Dr. Saxon, University

of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine, were paid up to $600 an hour

for testimony in cases brought by homeowners alleging their illnesses were

caused by mold. JACI, the journal of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma

and Immunology (AAAAI), requires authors to disclose conflicts of interest to

the editor, who then has discretion in publishing them. In a letter to editor

Leung, CSPI urged AAAAI to make disclosure mandatory and prevent

authors who fail to disclose conflicts of interest from publishing in the

journal

for three years.