Confronting Pseudoscience and
Threats from a Corporate Front
Group:
The American Council on Science
and Health
Martin Donohoe
Disclosure
• Regular column for Medscape
– Small payment per article
– While much of Medscape’s content is
supported by the pharmaceutical
industry, my columns have been free of
industry support
• No other funding sources or conflicts of
interest
Outline
• Background: Global Warming
• American Council on Science and
Health (ACSH) – history, staff, and
funding
• Corporate Front Groups
• ACSH – Pseudoscience and
Misinformation
Outline
• ACSH – Attacks on Scientists and the
Scientific Enterprise
• Implications for Science and Public
Health
• Other examples of obfuscation of
science by corporate interests
• Conclusions
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
– Crichton also received the American Association of
Petroleum Geologists’ journalism award
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”
ACSH Response
• Threatens litigation against Medscape
• Medscape briefly pulls article, then
publishes with comments removed,
then republishes with additional
material
• ?Loss of potential readership?
ACSH:
Dr Elizabeth Whelan
• Founded in 1978 by Drs. Elizabeth Whelan and
Frederick Stare
• Whelan’s early writing career included:
– Freelance writing assignment for Pfizer criticizing the
FDA
– “Consumer magazine” pieces for Harper’s Bazaar
and Glamour (fashion magazines)
– Books include Panic in the Pantry and Toxic Terror
• Whelan’s 2003 salary = $326,612
ACSH:
Dr Gilbert Ross
• Joined ACSH as staff assistant in
1997
• Became Coordinator of Medical
Projects in 1998
• Appointed Medical Director, then
Executive Director in 1999
ACSH:
Dr Gilbert Ross
• Spent 1996 in federal prison after being
sentenced to 46 months for
– Medicaid fraud
– Perjury
– Obstruction of justice
– Not mentioned on his bio on ACSH website
• Barred by the DHHS for 10 years from
participating in either Medicare or
Medicaid
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
• Now in charge of all scientific projects,
publications, and personnel issues
involving scientific staff at ACHS
ACSH
• ACHS Board of Directors includes antiregulatory Individuals (2001 Survey)
• George Lundberg, former editor of JAMA,
current editor of Medscape, on board of advisors
• Funding from right wing foundations,
corporations
• Accepted money to write and disseminate proindustry “studies
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
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]”
• Minimized the effects of environmental tobacco
smoke (ETS) on human health
– 38,000 deaths/yr in U.S.
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
• Claimed uncertainty regarding effects of
agricultural antibiotics
ACSH:
Pseudoscience and Misinformation
• Called warnings regarding tuna
consumption by pregnant women
“unfounded health scare”
• Critiqued 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.”
ACSH:
Pseudoscience and Misinformation
• Claimed “irradiated food is safe,
wholesome and nutritious” and “no
radioactive isotopes are involved”
• Denied link between dioxins and
pesticides and adverse health effects
• Supported use of human volunteers in
pesticide toxicity studies
Pesticides
• EPA: U.S. farm workers suffer up to
300,000 pesticide-related acute illnesses
and injuries per year
• NAS: Pesticides in food could cause up
to 1 million cancers in the current
generation of Americans
• WHO: 1,000,000 people killed by
pesticides over the last 6 years
“Phony Health Scares”
• Mercury in tuna and other fish
• Flame retardant traces found in blood and
breast milk
• PCBs in the Hudson River
• Diesel exhaust fumes from school busses
• Arsenic in drinking water
• Phthalates in medical devices and
children’s toys
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
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 selfserving financial opportunities
through litigation”
Barry Levy
• Expert in asbestos-related litigation
• Past president of APHA and winner of
Sedgwick Medal
• Career has included work with CDC and
USAID and the presidency of International
Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear
War
Erin Brokovich
• Received Harvard School of Public
Health’s highest honor, the Julius
Richmond Award
• Exposed Pacific Gas and Electric’s (PG
and E’s) pollution of California
groundwater with chromium-6 (linked to
stomach cancer)
Implications of Attacks on Science
and Scientists
• ACSH has broad media presence
• Web site attracts large numbers of individuals
– 100,000 hits per month for 2005
• Dr. Whelan has been featured on NBC’s Today
Show, CNN Live, and CNBC’s Business Insiders
• Editorials by Whelan and Ross have appeared
in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal
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
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
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
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
• Corporate-sponsored “educational
materials” replacing scientific syllabi
Would You Sign a Petition to
Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide?
1. It can cause excessive sweating and vomiting
2. It is a major component in acid rain
3. It can cause severe burns in its gaseous state
4. It can kill you if accidentally inhaled
5. It contributes to erosion
6. It decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes
7. It has been found in tumors of terminal cancer
patients
Geographic Ignorance
• Percent of US teens unable to locate the
following on a map:
– United States – 11%
– Pacific Ocean – 29%
– Japan – 58%
– United Kingdom – 68%
Pseudoscientific Beliefs
Percentage of Americans who believe “at
least to some degree” in these “phenomena”
•
•
•
•
Astrology
UFOs
Reincarnation
Fortune-Telling
1976
17%
24%
9%
4%
1997
37%
30%
25%
14%
Ignorance/Pseudoscientific
Beliefs
• Half of US citizens do not believe in
evolution and do believe that humans
and dinosaurs coexisted (2007)
–40% think scientists still generally
disagree about evolution
Pseudoscientific Beliefs
• 37% believe places can be haunted
(2007)
• 25% believe in UFOs (2007)
• 24% believe in astrology (2009)
• 16% believe that people with the “evil
eye” can cast curses or harmful spells
Ignorance/Pseudoscientific
Beliefs
• 22% of Americans don’t know whether an
atomic bomb has ever been dropped
(2000)
• 20% of Americans don’t know the earth
revolves around the sun (1999)
• 18% believe in Bigfoot and the Loch Ness
Monster (2007)
• 8% of men / 18% of women believe in
astrology and fortune tellers (2007)
Corporate Influence
• Greenwash: Public relations/ad
campaigns
– Chevron’s “People Do” Campaign,
butterflies/refinery
– British Petroleum (BP) invests $100 million
annually in clean energy = amt. it spends
annually to market its new name and
environmentally-friendly image of moving
“Beyond Petroleum”
Corporate Influence
• Astroturf: artificially-created grassroots
coalitions
• Other corporate front groups
– The Alliance for Responsible CFC
Policy
– National Wilderness Institute
– The Foundation for Clean Air Progress
Corporate PR tactics
• Invoke poor people as beneficiaries
• Characterize opposition as
“technophobic,” anti-science,” and
“against progress”
• Portray their products as
environmentally beneficial in the
absence of (or despite the) evidence
Sponsored Environmental
Educational Materials
• Corporate-sponsored and
supported by a loose
coalition of antiregulatory
zealots, corporate polluters,
lapdog scientists and
misguided parents
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”
Sponsored Environmental
Educational Materials - Examples
• American Nuclear Society’s
“Activities with the Atoms Family”
• Dow’s “Chemipalooza”
Environment of AntiScience/Pseudoscience
• Erosion of science under the current
administration:
– Appointments to key scientific bodies based
on corporate connections and political or
religious ideology, rather than scientific
expertise
– Excessive corporate influence over legislation
– The rewriting and even suppression of
scientific policy statements
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
Papers/References
• Donohoe MT. Corporate front groups and the abuse of science: the
saga of the American Council on Science and Health. Z Magazine
2007 (October):42-6. Available at
http://zmagsite.zmag.org/Oct2007/donohoe_print.html. Referenced
version available at http://phsj.org/wpcontent/uploads/2007/11/corporate-front-groups-abuse-of-sciencewith-background-and-refs.doc
• Donohoe MT. Global warming: a public health crisis demanding
immediate action. World Affairs Journal 2007;11(2):44-58 (adapted
from Global warming: a public health crisis demanding immediate
action (Part I). Medscape Public Health and Prevention (1/12/07).
Available at http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/548985 and
Global warming: a public health crisis demanding immediate action
(Part II). Medscape Public Health and Prevention (1/16/07).
Available at http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/549292)
Contact Info
Martin T Donohoe
http://www.publichealthandsocialjustice.org
http://www.phsj.org
martindonohoe@phsj.org