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Article: Under the influence: is industry an inside player at the leading carcinogen research center?(International Agency for Research on Cancer)
- Article from:
- OnEarth
- Article date:
- September 22, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IN 1993, AN OFFICER OF THE PHILIP MORRIS CORPORATION WROTE A MEMO THAT LAID OUT, IN elaborate detail, a plan to influence a prestigious cancer research center. IARC--the International Agency for Research on Cancer--had undertaken a study on the health effects of secondhand smoke, and the memo prescribed ways to get the study delayed, diluted, or shelved. But there was a problem: IARC's reputation was extremely solid. "Our scientists go as far as to state that IARC is virtually unassailable," the author noted gloomily.
Today, according to some scientists, that reputation is no longer so strong. These critics charge that IARC, an arm of the World Health ...