Outraged Scientists Protest Asbestos Industry Influence
Here at Kazan Law, we obtain justice for our clients who have been exposed to asbestos and have developed mesothelioma. Just last week we again were able to win a big verdict for clients against a big corporation called Pneumo Abex. We win against the asbestos industry because we are good at what we do and have decades of experience. But we are able to successfully argue our case and obtain justice because there are law recognizes the dangers that occur when corporation knowingly expose people to asbestos. These legal rules are made based on scrupulous and thorough scientific research proving the link between asbestos exposure and the development of malignant mesothelioma and asbestosis.
But what if the asbestos industry was able to bribe scientists to publish research falsely claiming that asbestos did not cause harm? And what if these false research articles denying the harmful effects of asbestos for corporate profit became the basis for weakening the laws against asbestos exposure and blocking criminal convictions against corporate offenders? What if the asbestos industry could call the shots?
This is what seems to be what is happening in Europe. You may think, oh Europe, that’s not the U.S. so who cares? But we need to be vigilant and watch very carefully what happens there. Because today more than ever, corporations are multinational entities. So are scientific journals. Influential medical research articles published in Europe or other countries can become the basis for changes in medical issues here.
So it is with keen interest we note a letter of outraged protest against the asbestos industry from over 130 scientists, health advocates and organizations to the European Cancer Prevention Organization. The letter charges that there are serious scientific and ethical improprieties in an article on asbestos published by the organization’s official scientific journal, the European Journal of Cancer Prevention .
The letter calls for the termination of Dr. Carlo La Vecchia as an associate editor of the journal and a member of the organization’s International Advisory Board. Dr. La Vecchia co-authored the article in question with Dr. Paolo Boffetta. Both men co-own a consulting company that provides services for asbestos companies trying to beat criminal charges for causing the deaths of their employees from mesothelioma.
We are dismayed that pseudo-scientific stooges for asbestos interests have been able to get this far and hope for all of our sakes that this courageous letter is heeded.