Some of you may recall Mike Caseyâs compelling exposé in the Kansas City Star (Wayback Machine version here) regarding OSHAâs outrageously low fines for safety violations– even those directly responsible for serious injuries to or even deaths of unsuspecting workers. While OSHA is supposedly committed to levy fines âsufficient to serve as an effective deterrent […]
by Revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure The University of California Regents (their Board of Trustees) is facing a thorny issue: should researchers in the University of California system be banned from taking research support from the tobacco industry? Two conflicting imperatives, one, unfettered freedom to pursue research wherever it leads; the other, the need for […]
Mining companies opposed to a health standard to protect underground miners from diesel particulate matter (DPM) finally had their day in court. The morning proceeding featured remarks about tail-wagging dogs and coal-mine canaries, presented before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Industry attorneys urged the Court to vacate […]
By Sheldon Krimsky ExxonMobil has already come under scrutiny for funding global warming deniers, but the company has also funded research that raises concerns about conflict of interest in litigation research. The company began funding litigation research after being hit with punitive damages for the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill, and then cited that research […]
If you’ve got a long weekend coming up, what better way to spend it than by reading the best science blog posts? Coturnix of A Blog Around the Clock has links to the 50 posts chosen for the Science Blogging Anthology. Elsewhere in the blogosphere …
By David Michaels âRisk assessment data can be like a captured spy: if you torture it long enough, it will tell you anything you want to know.â – William Ruckelshaus, first EPA Administrator, Risk assessment, explicit and implicit, is the motor that drives regulation. It can be a valuable tool for assisting regulatory agencies in […]
By David Michaels In todayâs Wall Street Journal (sub required), Jeffrey Ball reports that ExxonMobil has decided to stop funding several of the groups that have been in the forefront of attacking the scientific evidence on global warming. The campaign to shame ExxonMobil appears to be working. Earlier this week, the Union of Concerned Scientists […]
by David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz Mr. Milkey (for the State of Massachusetts): Respectfully, Your Honor. It is not the stratosphere. Itâs the troposphere. Justice Scalia: Troposphere, whatever. I told you before Iâm not a scientist. (Laughter) Justice Scalia: Thatâs why I donât want to deal with global warming, to tell you the truth. [PDF […]
Scientific Integrity & Ethics
Rush to Judgement : industry consultant too quick to give IBM a clean bill of health
by Dick Clapp The latest issue of Occupational and Environmental Medicine contains a commentary from Ken Mundt, a consultant with ENVIRON International Corporation, on âCancer incidence among semiconductor and electronic storage device workers,â an IBM-funded study by Bender et al appearing in the same issue. Mundt says that âthe study offers some reassurance that at this […]
Scientific Integrity & Ethics
Look out kid, theyâre keepinâ it all hid: deceit in the epidemiology establishment
By Dick Clapp On December 1, NPRâs Living on Earth aired a segment on conflicts of interest in medical research. Host Bruce Gellerman interviewed Dr. Lennart Hardell, lead author of a recent article on conflicts of interest in cancer research published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, Catherine DeAngelis, editor-in-chief of the Journal of […]