martin donohoe
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Confronting Pseudoscience and Threats from a Corporate Front Group: The American Council on Science and Health. Martin Donohoe. Outline. Corporate Front Groups American Council on Science and Health Corporate PR Tactics Conclusions. Corporate Front Groups. Promote corporate agendas - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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Confronting Pseudoscience and Threats from a Corporate Front
Group:The American Council on Science
and Health
Martin Donohoe
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Outline
• Corporate Front Groups
• American Council on Science and Health
• Corporate PR Tactics
• Conclusions
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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
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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
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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”
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ACSH Response
• Threatened litigation against Medscape
• Article pulled, then republished with additional material
• ?Loss of potential readership?
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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
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ACSH:
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
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ACSH: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
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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
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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.)
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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]”
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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
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ACSH:Pseudoscience and Misinformation
• Promoted smokeless tobacco, snus, and e-cigarettes as smoking cessation aids
• Opposed graphic tobacco package warnings
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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)
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“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
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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
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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”
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Implications of Attacks on Science and Scientists
• ACSH has broad media presence
–Most major networks, newspapers
• Web site popular
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Corporate Influence
• Greenwash: Public relations/ad campaigns
• Astroturf: artificially-created grassroots coalitions
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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
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Sponsored Environmental Educational Materials
• Corporate-sponsored and supported by a loose coalition of antiregulatory zealots, corporate polluters, lapdog scientists and misguided parents
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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”
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Sponsored Environmental Educational Materials - Examples
• American Nuclear Society’s “Activities with the Atoms Family”
• Dow’s “Chemipalooza”
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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