554 



tji^U^i^ JU) 



A W S T R A C I 



docQmcntmg (be hsztrdBoi optrette 

 SDokiDg, the tobaooo izidustty denies 

 thu smoking hu beea pnweo to 

 cause disease. Tbe indusuy pro- 

 foaes a deaie to dear up ifae oDok- 

 ing asd beahh "quexooD" md oAea 

 points lo its suppon o( the Qxsval for 

 Tobacco Research (CTR) as evi- 

 deocs of its inieresi is investigaliiig 

 the beahb dasgen of siaoldng. This 

 paper presents results dl a survey of 

 CTR-funded scientists regarding 

 their bebefs about the beahh daogen 

 posed by siiK>king cigarettes. The 

 vast majonty of sdeotiss funded by 

 the CTR believe that cigarette smok- 

 ing is an addiction that causes a wide 

 range of serious, often fatal, diseases. 

 This result suggests that tbe tobacco 

 indistiy is unwilling to accept even 

 the opinions of scientists it has 

 deemed worthy of fun<fing. Scientists 

 should coQSider tbe ethical implio- 

 tions of accepting funds fnm tbe 

 CTR and other tobacco industry .sup- 

 ported institutions. (/4m / Public 

 Heabh. 1991;81:894-896) 



What Scientists Funded by the 

 Tobacco Industry Believe About the 

 Hazards of Cigarette Smoking 



K. Michad Curvnings. PhD, MPH, Ruisd/ Sciandra, MA, Amy Cir^mss, 

 and Ronald Davis, MD 



Introduction 



Tbe US Surgeon General has suied 

 that "smokmg represents the most exier>- 

 sively documented cause of disease ever 

 investigated in the history of biomedical 

 researdi."' Despne overwhelming scien- 

 tific evidence against agarenes, ihe to- 

 bacco industry continues to assert thai 

 controversy, debate, and uncertainty ex- 

 ist among scientists concerning smoking 

 as an imponani cause of illness.'^ 



Id 1972, a confidential memorandum 

 frtMn a Tobacco Institute (TI) vice-pres- 

 ident described TI policy as "creating 

 doubt about the health charge without de- 

 nying n, advocating the public's nghi to 

 smoke without actually urging them to 

 take up the practice, and encouraging ob- 

 jective soentdk research as the only way 

 lo resolve the question of the health haz- 

 ard."' Industry spokespersons often 

 pouit to the mdustry's support of the 

 Cound) for Tobacco Research (CTR) as 

 evidence of corporate inieresi in obtaui- 

 ing saentific evidence on the "alleged" 

 relationship between tobacco use and 

 disease.' 



The CTR, formed in 1954 by cigarette 

 manufacturers, describes its primary mis- 

 sion as support of research mto questions 

 of tobacco use and health.' The council 

 awards peer-reviewed research grants to 

 independent scientists who are assured 

 complete scientific freedom m conducting 

 and pubiishing their studies. Since 1954, 

 the couDCi] has provided more than S150 

 million for 1,108 original studies by more 

 Chan 700 scientisu.' In 1989, the CTR 

 listed 204 active projects. 



We present results of a survey of 

 CTR -funded mvestigaiots, which charac- 

 terizes what the investigaiots believe re- 

 garding the health effects of tobacco. 



Methods and Mataials 



The study population included the 

 principal investigators of research 

 projects funded by the CTR in 1989.' Of 

 204 mvestigatois Usted, 179 were kxated 

 at univeisities or institutions in the United 



Sutes. This survey was rearided lo those 

 working m the United StJKs. 



Eligible survey participants were 

 mailed a one-page questnnnaire assess- 

 uig their belieb about the relation be- 

 tween cigarette smoking and various 

 health complications and asking them to 

 rank the importance of 10 different areas 

 of tobacco research. Respondents were 

 asked about their currea and past re- 

 search on tobacco and their cigarette 

 smoking suttis. A cover later suted that 

 we were surveying "socnpsts who had 

 ubiished studies on smobng and health 

 and/or have received research support 

 from organizations interested in the to- 

 bacco and health issue." 



Of 179 questionnaues mailed to eli- 

 gible scientists in July 1990, 13 were re- 

 turned with an inoorrea mailing address. 

 .\ total of 77 completed questionnaires 

 were returned, which represents a re- 

 sponse rate of 46*1 (77A66). No further 

 anempt was made to elitx response. A 

 comparison of responders and nonre. 

 sponders revealed no significani differ- 

 ences in academic credeocials (PhD vs 

 MD), tnstiTutional affUiatioo (university vs 

 other), or the nature of tie CTR-funded 

 prriject (i.e., a tobacco sody vs a nooto- 

 bacco study). 



Results 



Respondents were asked to "indi- 

 cate the (iepee to which you beUeve tbe 

 scientific evidence suggests a causal re- 

 lationship with cigarette smoking" for 



K. MichaeJ Curanuogs, RisKfi Saandra, and 

 Amy Gingrass are wnh the Depamueni of Can- 

 cer Cooiral and Eptdemnioc. RoswcO Park 

 Cancer Institute, arid Ronald Dwis s with the 

 Othce on Smokmg and Health. Onicr tor 

 Outxuc Disease PrrveDOOD and Hcaiili Prt>- 

 modoo. Centers for Dtseax Conmil. 



Requests for reprmis saould be sent to fC 

 Michael Cummin^ PhD. 4<PR Depanmeni 

 of Caocer Control and Efrt-Buningy. RoswcO 

 ParkCaoccr IiBnrme. EbnaadCartionSixeets, 

 BuSak), tn 14263. 



This paper was subnmed lo the jounal 

 Ocusber 29, 1990, and KxrT«n1 wall levtsians 

 MaFdi6, 1991. 



MyI«n.VnL8UNo.7 



