- Email: [email protected]
Conspiracy theories of cancer
Perspectives
Book Conspiracy theories of cancer Devotees of conspiracy theories and aficionados of gossip and innuendo will be drawn towards this book like wasps to a juicy piece of meat. It has many of the necessary ingredients: Big Industry cover-ups, hidden consultancies, secret documents exposed, tittle-tattle, and accusations about the conduct of famous names. It only lacks the steamy sex section, but perhaps this is being held back for a further volume. Surely then, Devra Davis’s The Secret History of the War on Cancer should be a mustread? This book, unfortunately, does not live up to its intriguing title. Instead, Davis presents a wide kaleidoscope of observations about her family and friends, the history of chemical carcinogenesis, some insights into ground and water pollution of the environment, a series of individual anecdotes, criticisms, and attacks about the ethical conduct of several senior figures in cancer epidemiology. Davis’s account of early research findings on cancer causation and epidemiology seems highly selective, especially when compared to such comprehensive works as Johannes Clemmesen’s Statistical Studies in Malignant Neoplasms (1965). Similarly, her analysis of war-time medical research in Germany lacks the focus and detail of the harrowing report published by Leo J Alexander after the Nuremberg Trials (Alexander LJ. Medical Science under Dictatorship. NEJM, 1949; 241: 39–47). Davis’s statements about Hitler’s motivation to make Germany cancer-free are debatable and there are obvious inconsistencies in how Davis accepts some research material from Nazi Germany and dismisses other work. A reasonable starting point when trying to assess the accuracy and validity of an exposé such as this one would be to verify quoted www.thelancet.com Vol 370 November 24, 2007
information with facts: this would then allow the reader to assess how much weight to place on material quoted outwith one’s own sphere of knowledge. Unfortunately, Davis does not adopt this approach and so her thesis is somewhat undermined by a lack of evidence. I found Davis’s account of two events at the International Agency
“The premise that enemies of tobacco are friends of the chemical industry seems naive and oversimplistic.” for Research on Cancer (IARC), which I have directed since 2004, curious. She is wrong to say that the late Lorenzo Tomatis was escorted from IARC premises by security guards in 2004. This unfortunate episode happened some time earlier, in 2002, and at that time Tomatis was a most welcome figure at the Agency. In considering the delay in publication of the entire Interphone study, due in 2006 and as yet unpublished, one reflects on Davis’s observation in the book when she states that “scientific papers can take years to complete”. Davis is repeatedly critical of Sir Richard Doll, one of the key figures in cancer epidemiology and prevention. One could imagine that Doll’s lifetime work on tobacco and the risk it posed to cancer would have alienated him from the tobacco industry. But Davis subtly argues that if you believe that tobacco smoking is a major cause of cancer then ipso facto industrial and environmental exposures are not. The premise that enemies of tobacco are friends of the chemical industry seems naive and oversimplistic. Davis suggests that Doll could have received US$1500 dollars per day from Monsanto since 1979, leaving the reader with the impression that he could have received the (absurd)
total of more than $12 million dollars. Davis apparently “knew” of this consulting for some time and it begs the question as to why she waited until Doll was dead to make this charge in an open forum. Apart from anything else, the criticisms of Doll are not new or “secret”. Moreover, Davis’s critical treatment of Doll is in marked contrast to her more sympathetic portrayal of Ernst Wynder, who admitted to have taken tobacco industry money for research on passive smoking during the 1980s. Similarly, Davis adopts a forgiving attitude towards Nathan Mantel, but is distinctly cool in her treatment of Ronald A Fisher when both men were consulting simultaneously for the tobacco industry. A general theme that runs through the book is that it seems to be somewhat acceptable in Davis’s eyes to consult for the tobacco industry, whereas anyone who consults for the chemical industry is a nasty person taking part in an enormous cover up. In a book with such a title I would have expected a strong focus on the tobacco industry whose products are the major causes of cancer and premature mortality in society at the present time. And yet this is not the case. With so many important factual inconsistencies in dealing with areas with which I have some familiarity, I start to have concerns about the factual accuracy in the areas I do not know so well. Accuracy with the facts is a sine qua non in investigative journalism and raises the issue to a level beyond gossip and tittle-tattle. At the end of the story, I was left wishing that Davis had been able to do justice to the topic she had selected.
The Secret History of the War on Cancer Devra Davis. Basic Book, 2007. Pp 505. US$27·95. ISBN 0-465-01566-2.
Peter Boyle [email protected]
1751
Book Conspiracy theories of cancer Devotees of conspiracy theories and aficionados of gossip and innuendo will be drawn towards this book like wasps to a juicy piece of meat. It has many of the necessary ingredients: Big Industry cover-ups, hidden consultancies, secret documents exposed, tittle-tattle, and accusations about the conduct of famous names. It only lacks the steamy sex section, but perhaps this is being held back for a further volume. Surely then, Devra Davis’s The Secret History of the War on Cancer should be a mustread? This book, unfortunately, does not live up to its intriguing title. Instead, Davis presents a wide kaleidoscope of observations about her family and friends, the history of chemical carcinogenesis, some insights into ground and water pollution of the environment, a series of individual anecdotes, criticisms, and attacks about the ethical conduct of several senior figures in cancer epidemiology. Davis’s account of early research findings on cancer causation and epidemiology seems highly selective, especially when compared to such comprehensive works as Johannes Clemmesen’s Statistical Studies in Malignant Neoplasms (1965). Similarly, her analysis of war-time medical research in Germany lacks the focus and detail of the harrowing report published by Leo J Alexander after the Nuremberg Trials (Alexander LJ. Medical Science under Dictatorship. NEJM, 1949; 241: 39–47). Davis’s statements about Hitler’s motivation to make Germany cancer-free are debatable and there are obvious inconsistencies in how Davis accepts some research material from Nazi Germany and dismisses other work. A reasonable starting point when trying to assess the accuracy and validity of an exposé such as this one would be to verify quoted www.thelancet.com Vol 370 November 24, 2007
information with facts: this would then allow the reader to assess how much weight to place on material quoted outwith one’s own sphere of knowledge. Unfortunately, Davis does not adopt this approach and so her thesis is somewhat undermined by a lack of evidence. I found Davis’s account of two events at the International Agency
“The premise that enemies of tobacco are friends of the chemical industry seems naive and oversimplistic.” for Research on Cancer (IARC), which I have directed since 2004, curious. She is wrong to say that the late Lorenzo Tomatis was escorted from IARC premises by security guards in 2004. This unfortunate episode happened some time earlier, in 2002, and at that time Tomatis was a most welcome figure at the Agency. In considering the delay in publication of the entire Interphone study, due in 2006 and as yet unpublished, one reflects on Davis’s observation in the book when she states that “scientific papers can take years to complete”. Davis is repeatedly critical of Sir Richard Doll, one of the key figures in cancer epidemiology and prevention. One could imagine that Doll’s lifetime work on tobacco and the risk it posed to cancer would have alienated him from the tobacco industry. But Davis subtly argues that if you believe that tobacco smoking is a major cause of cancer then ipso facto industrial and environmental exposures are not. The premise that enemies of tobacco are friends of the chemical industry seems naive and oversimplistic. Davis suggests that Doll could have received US$1500 dollars per day from Monsanto since 1979, leaving the reader with the impression that he could have received the (absurd)
total of more than $12 million dollars. Davis apparently “knew” of this consulting for some time and it begs the question as to why she waited until Doll was dead to make this charge in an open forum. Apart from anything else, the criticisms of Doll are not new or “secret”. Moreover, Davis’s critical treatment of Doll is in marked contrast to her more sympathetic portrayal of Ernst Wynder, who admitted to have taken tobacco industry money for research on passive smoking during the 1980s. Similarly, Davis adopts a forgiving attitude towards Nathan Mantel, but is distinctly cool in her treatment of Ronald A Fisher when both men were consulting simultaneously for the tobacco industry. A general theme that runs through the book is that it seems to be somewhat acceptable in Davis’s eyes to consult for the tobacco industry, whereas anyone who consults for the chemical industry is a nasty person taking part in an enormous cover up. In a book with such a title I would have expected a strong focus on the tobacco industry whose products are the major causes of cancer and premature mortality in society at the present time. And yet this is not the case. With so many important factual inconsistencies in dealing with areas with which I have some familiarity, I start to have concerns about the factual accuracy in the areas I do not know so well. Accuracy with the facts is a sine qua non in investigative journalism and raises the issue to a level beyond gossip and tittle-tattle. At the end of the story, I was left wishing that Davis had been able to do justice to the topic she had selected.
The Secret History of the War on Cancer Devra Davis. Basic Book, 2007. Pp 505. US$27·95. ISBN 0-465-01566-2.
Peter Boyle [email protected]
1751