Mosey on over to the New York Times today and check out Gardiner Harris’ article about cigarettes, cancer, cancer studies, donated research funds, foundations, and a whole mess of vested interest and rotten bologna (smoked, rotten bologna, that is): Cigarette Company Paid for Lung Cancer Study.

Better than the article, perhaps, is the one sentence overview of th article that appeared on the front page of the New York Times:

“The revelation that a researcher’s study was underwritten by a tobacco company has caused an appearance of bias.”

You think? Really? How could a study about lung cancer, receiving funding from a massive cigarette company, possibly have any bias? Deeper into the article, Dr. Jerome Kassirer sums up the issue nicely:

“Dr. Jerome Kassirer, a former editor of The New England Journal of Medicine and the author of a book about conflicts of interest, said he believed that Weill Cornell had created the foundation to hide its receipt of money from a cigarette company. ‘You have to ask yourself the question, “Why did the tobacco company want to support her research?” ‘Dr. Kassirer said. ‘They want to show that lung cancer is not so bad as everybody thinks because screening can save people; and that’s outrageous.’”

The latter part feels like a bit of conjecture, though I do not disagree in the slightest. Further down, Harris notes:

“Corporate financing can have subtle effects on research and lead to unconscious bias. Studies have shown that sponsored research tends to reach conclusions that favor the sponsor, which is why disclosure is encouraged. The tobacco industry has a long history of underwriting research — sometimes through independent-sounding foundations — to make cigarettes seem less dangerous.” (emphasis mine)

Interesting stuff.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 8:15 am and is filed under Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.