The Research Phillip Morris Didn't Want You To See - The Lancet

February 18, 2005

SSRI-Research@

Thu, 17 Feb 2005 21:53:24 -0500

[sSRI-Research] The Research Phillip Morris Didn't Want You

To See - The Lancet

publication.32268.1

Articles

The whole truth and nothing but the truth? The research

that Philip Morris did not want you to see

Pascal A Diethelm, Jean-Charles Rielle, Martin McKee

Summary

The tobacco industry maintained, for many years, that it was

unaware of research about the toxic effects of smoking. By the 1970s,

however, the industry decided that it needed this information but they

were unwilling to seek it in a way that was open to public scrutiny.

By means of material from internal industry documents it can be

revealed that one company, Philip Morris, acquired a research

facility, INBIFO, in Germany and created a complex mechanism seeking

to ensure that the work done in the facility could not be linked to

Philip Morris. In particular it involved the appointment of a Swedish

professor as a 'co-ordinator', who would synthesise reports for onward

transmission to the USA. Various arrangements were made to conceal

this process, not only from the wider public, but also from many

within Philip Morris, although it was known to some senior executives.

INBIFO appears to have published only a small amount of its research

and what was published appears to differ considerably from what was

not. In particular, the unpublished reports provided evidence of the

greater toxicity of sidestream than mainstream smoke, a finding of

particular relevance given the industry's continuing denial of the

harmful effects of passive smoking. By contrast, much of its published

work comprises papers that convey a message that could be considered

useful to the industry, in particular casting doubt on methods used to

assess the effects of passive smoking.

Published online November 11, 2004.

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