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Four separate groups have filed complaints with the Office of ResearchIntegrity, Health and Human Services against Ex-Surgeon General Carmona's 2006Report.
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Opponents of Ohio Bans filed a complaint against the scientific misconduct(manipulation of research) of the economic assessment/impact of smoking bans.According to Carmona's report, smokefree policies do not harm business. Twothirds of the studies in Carmona's report were either authored or co-authoredby Stanton Glantz, Director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research andEducation at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine,who is not an economist. He and his university have profited heavily byanti-tobacco funding and grants. Absolutely no studies or reports conductedby economists or trade organizations were cited in Carmona's report, althoughmany sources were available at the time. For example, the highly regardedDeloitte and Touche reported a study for the National Restaurant Associationstudy (2004), the Ridgeway Economic Associates New York NightlifeAssociation/Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association Study (05/12/2004),and Terry L. Clower, Ph.D. & Bernard L. Weinstein, Ph.D. completed a study forDallas Restaurant Association Study (10/01/2004). "This is a glaring andobvious attempt to stack the deck in favor of anti-tobacco versus the realdamage done to the hospitality industry. How was it even possible that thehighest medical authority in this country got away with this?" asks Pam Parkerof Opponents of Ohio Bans.
The Hawaii Smokers Alliance filed a complaint against the public statement"there is no safe level of exposure". In addition to violating the basictenets of toxicology, this actually crosses the line of fabricating resultsbecause the SG is the highest healthcare authority in the United States ofAmerica and his press release to announce the results of his meta-analysistruly is his report to the American public. "We are committed to holdingthose who have chosen to misinform or misrepresent information to the generalpublic accountable for such reckless and egregious behavior. Suchmisrepresentations are solely responsible for the destruction and incalculablefinancial harm to businesses both large and small across the nation," statesJolyn Tenn of Hawaii Smokers Alliance.
Ban the Ban Wisconsin's complaint cites the haphazard use of RRs or"relative risks". Coupled with the fact that the larger studies not includedin Carmona's report would have diminished the already unacceptably low RRs,questionable studies inflated the appearance of RRs. Moreover, the relativerisks don't appear to be discussed with respect to absolute risks. In theORI's terms, this is a significant departure from accepted practice in therelevant field. Early in Carmona's report, a brief subsection stated that,"The quantitative results of the meta-analyses, however, were not determinatein making causal inferences in this Surgeon General's report." Clearly, inthe absence of hard evidence, the Surgeon General chose to pontificateaccording to his pre-determined results. Carmona couldn't have deviated anyfurther from accepted practice in the relevant field without stepping insomething.
Citizens Freedom Alliance's complaint is centered on "changing andomitting data". The data for a meta-analysis is the studies collected fromthe body of research, but the SG's meta-analysis omits relevant studies suchas the Enstrom/Kabat study, belittles other large relevant studies, includeshighly questionable studies, and relies heavily on the thoroughly discredited1992 EPA report (which was not only discredited by a Federal Judge, but bythree congressional committees). By omitting relevant long-term, largestudies as well as relying heavily on discredited reports, the Surgeon Generalboth changed and omitted data in his meta-analysis of research on secondhandsmoke (SHS)/environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), which did indeed ensure thatthe research is not accurately represented in the research record. He,therefore, committed "research misconduct" as defined by the "falsification"according to the "Public Health Service Policies on Research Misconduct".According to Gary Nolan, U.S. Regional Director for Citizens Freedom Alliance,"Americans should be angry about this waste of tax payer dollars. I trulybelieve this study was released for purely political reasons and is an insultto every honorable scientist in the world. The result of Carmona's ETS studywas to needlessly ruin business, cost jobs and harm the economies of localcommunities and states across the country. He should be ashamed of hisactions."
Dr. Michael Siegel is a prominent doctor specializing in PreventativeMedicine and Public Health. From his commentary on Carmona's 2006 report, heis quoted as saying, "The Surgeon General is publicly claiming that briefexposure to secondhand smoke increases risk for heart disease and lung cancer.But there is absolutely no evidence to support this claim. Certainly, noevidence is presented in the Surgeon General's report to support this claim.And certainly, the Surgeon General's report draws no such conclusion."http://tinyurl.com/5fq7r6
Many researchers and prominent organizations have written about thepowerful influences of the anti-tobacco activists. Dr. Carl Phillips,University of Alberta School of Public Health, Edmonton, Canada wrote"Warning: Anti-Tobacco Activism May Be Hazardous to Epidemiological Science".http://www.epi-perspectives.com/content/pdf/1742-5573-4-13.pdf . Otherarticles such as "Science and Secondhand Smoke: the Need for a Good Puff ofSkepticism" by Sidney Zion (Skeptic, Volume 13, Number 3, 2007), "Where's theConsensus on Second Hand Smoke?" by Joseph Bast of Heartland Institute, and"Did Carmona Read His Own Report?" by Jacob Scullum with Reason Magazine06/29/2006 http://www.reason.com/blog/show/114497.html are but a smallrepresentation of the articles that give a glimpse of how damaging theepidemic of anti-smoking is.
The fact is, the Surgeon General title is one that is held in highestesteem. It is the medical authority in this country. When, for whateverreason, that position is compromised into producing a report that wreaks thedamage his report has had on this country, that authority should be heldaccountable. Carmona's 2006 report is the sole reason given for severalsmoking bans, Ohio's ban for one. These bans have had devastating financialimpacts on businesses. The worst offense is the offense against the AmericanPeople and the Scientific Community. People will no longer be able to trustthe word of the person holding the Surgeon General title. The damage to thescience of Epidemiology is irreversible. The good news is many ethicaldoctors and scientists can no longer remain silent about the abuses ofEpidemiology and are starting to speak out. "Because they've committed a hugefraud on the American public. And because they should be held accountable forthat. They should be held accountable to the same rules of corporate andindividual behavior as everybody else. It's very simple." This is a quote byStanton Glantz during a PBS interview about Big Tobacco. Shouldn't the sameapply to the Surgeon General?
Related Web site: www.opponentsofohiobans.com
SOURCE Opponents of Ohio Bans
