Re: WSJ, Mold ACOEM & AAAAI Conflicts of Interest!!!!!

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On 1/09/07, Sharon wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Wish I could post the entire story from today's front page
> of the Wall Street Journal, but that would not be nice
> since they write to sell papers. So....just some key
> highlights:
>
> Court of Opinion
> Amid Suits Over Mold,
> Experts Wear Two Hats
> Authors of Science Paper
> Often Cited by Defense
> Also Help in Litigation
> By DAVID ARMSTRONG
> January 9, 2007; Page A1
>
>>
>> ..."We should have published their [disclosure]
statements
> with the paper," says the official, Thomas Platts-Mills.
>
>
> A third author of the academy's paper, Jay Portnoy, chief
> of allergy, asthma and immunology at the Children's Mercy
> Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., says he "felt that there was
> an agenda" -- the effort "seemed very biased toward
denying
> the possibility of there being harmful effects from mold
on
> human health." He says he considered removing his name
from
> the paper, but it was published before he could decide.
>
> Dr. Portnoy says a section he contributed was rewritten by
> Dr. Saxon to be "a lot more negative." He says the paper
> wrongly says mold isn't proven to cause allergic rhinitis,
> with symptoms like wheezing, sore throat and sneezing. Dr.
> Saxon denies the authors had a bias but says they applied
a
> high standard for proving mold causes a particular effect.
> He says he didn't skew the content of Dr. Portnoy's
section
> but rewrote it because it was "too diffuse." Dr. Terr in
> San Francisco didn't return a call seeking comment.
>
>"What
> you have here is defense experts authoring papers under an
> official guise," says their attorney, Elizabeth Eilender.
> Justice Kornreich declined to comment.
>
> Write to David Armstrong at david.armstrong@wsj.com
>
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