J Epidemiol Community Health 2001;55:588-594 ( August )

Theory and methods

Tobacco industry efforts at discrediting scientific knowledge of environmental tobacco smoke: a review of internal industry documents J Drope, S Chapman

Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Sydney 2006, Australia

Correspondence to: Jacqui Drope (jacquidrope{at}hotmail.com)

Accepted for publication 21 February 2001

STUDY OBJECTIVEUsing tobacco industry internal documents to investigate the use of tobacco industry consulting scientists to discredit scientific knowledge of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS).
DESIGNBasic and advanced searches were performed on the Philip Morris, Tobacco Institute, R J Reynolds, Brown and Williamson, Lorillard, and the Council for Tobacco Research document web sites, with a concentration on the years 1985-1995. Guildford depository files located on the Canadian Council on Tobacco Control website were also searched. The documents were found in searches undertaken between 1 March and 30 June 2000.
MAIN RESULTSThe industry built up networks of scientists sympathetic to its position that ETS is an insignificant health risk. Industry lawyers had a large role in determining what science would be pursued. The industry funded independent organisations to produce research that appeared separate from the industry and would boost its credibility. Industry organised symposiums were used to publish non-peer reviewed research. Unfavourable research conducted or proposed by industry scientists was prevented from becoming public.
CONCLUSIONSIndustry documents illustrate a deliberate strategy to use scientific consultants to discredit the science on ETS.

---

© 2001 by Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• McDaniel, P. A., Malone, R. E. (2009). The Role of Corporate Credibility in Legitimizing Disease Promotion. AJPH 99: 452-461 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Alberg, A. J., Ford, J. G., Samet, J. M. (2007). Epidemiology of Lung Cancer: ACCP Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines (2nd Edition). Chest 132: 29S-55S [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Smith, E. A. (2007). 'It's interesting how few people die from smoking': Tobacco industry efforts to minimize risk and discredit health promotion. Eur J Public Health 17: 162-170 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Barnoya, J., Glantz, S. A. (2006). The tobacco industry's worldwide ETS consultants project: European and Asian components. Eur J Public Health 16: 69-77 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gruning, T., Gilmore, A. B., McKee, M. (2006). Tobacco Industry Influence on Science and Scientists in Germany. AJPH 96: 20-32 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Chapman, S (2005). The most important and influential papers in tobacco control: results of an online poll. Tobacco Control 14: e1-e1 [Full Text]  
• Barbeau, E M, Kelder, G, Ahmed, S, Mantuefel, V, Balbach, E D (2005). From strange bedfellows to natural allies: the shifting allegiance of fire service organisations in the push for federal fire-safe cigarette legislation. Tobacco Control 14: 338-345 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Champion, D., Chapman, S. (2005). Framing pub smoking bans: an analysis of Australian print news media coverage, March 1996-March 2003. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 59: 679-684 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Barnoya, J., Bialous, S. A., Glantz, S. A. (2005). Effective Interventions to Reduce Smoking-Induced Heart Disease Around the World: Time to Act. Circulation 112: 456-458 [Full Text]  
• Friedman, L. C., Daynard, R. A., Banthin, C. N. (2005). How Tobacco-Friendly Science Escapes Scrutiny in the Courtroom. AJPH 95: S16-S20 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pilkington, P, Gilmore, A B (2004). The Living Tomorrow Project: how Philip Morris has used a Belgian tourist attraction to promote ventilation approaches to the control of second hand smoke. Tobacco Control 13: 375-378 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Assunta, M, Fields, N, Knight, J, Chapman, S (2004). "Care and feeding": the Asian environmental tobacco smoke consultants programme. Tobacco Control 13: ii4-ii12 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Mandel, L L, Glantz, S A (2004). Hedging their bets: tobacco and gambling industries work against smoke-free policies. Tobacco Control 13: 268-276 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Chapman, S (2004). "Half-pregnant" occupational health policy on environmental tobacco smoke. Occup. Environ. Med. 61: 383-384 [Full Text]  
• Neilsen, K, Glantz, S A (2004). A tobacco industry study of airline cabin air quality: dropping inconvenient findings. Tobacco Control 13: i20-29 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Drope, J, Bialous, S A, Glantz, S A (2004). Tobacco industry efforts to present ventilation as an alternative to smoke-free environments in North America. Tobacco Control 13: i41-47 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Trotter, L, Chapman, S (2003). "Conclusions about exposure to ETS and health that will be unhelpful to us": How the tobacco industry attempted to delay and discredit the 1997 Australian National Health and Medical Research Council report on passive smoking. Tobacco Control 12: iii102-106 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Drope, J, Glantz, S (2003). British Columbia capital regional district 100% smokefree bylaw: a successful public health campaign despite industry opposition. Tobacco Control 12: 264-268 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Muggli, M E, Hurt, R D (2003). Tobacco industry strategies to undermine the 8th World Conference on Tobacco or Health. Tobacco Control 12: 195-202 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bryan-Jones, K., Bero, L. A. (2003). Tobacco Industry Efforts to Defeat the Occupational Safety and Health Administration Indoor Air Quality Rule. AJPH 93: 585-592 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hong, M.-K., Bero, L. A (2002). How the tobacco industry responded to an influential study of the health effects of secondhand smoke. BMJ 325: 1413-1416 [Full Text]  
• Barnoya, J, Glantz, S (2002). Tobacco industry success in preventing regulation of secondhand smoke in Latin America: the "Latin Project". Tobacco Control 11: 305-314 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bialous, S A., Glantz, S A (2002). ASHRAE Standard 62: tobacco industry's influence over national ventilation standards. Tobacco Control 11: 315-328 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Dearlove, J V, Bialous, S A, Glantz, S A (2002). Tobacco industry manipulation of the hospitality industry to maintain smoking in public places. Tobacco Control 11: 94-104 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hirschhorn, N., Bialous, S. A. (2001). Second hand smoke and risk assessment: what was in it for the tobacco industry?. Tobacco Control 10: 375-382 [Abstract] [Full Text]