Asbestos: the turbulent interface between science and policy

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos: the turbulent interface between science and policy, by K. Morgan (CMAJ, 1992).

The study

• Author: K. Morgan
• Journal: CMAJ
• Published: 1992;146(1):15-6
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Free full text

In plain English

This item is a letter to the editor, not a research study, and it reports no medical or exposure data on asbestos. The author, Keith Morgan of the Chest Diseases Unit, University Hospital, London, Ontario, was answering Dr. Bates, who had replied to the author's earlier letter about an editorial by Dr. Bates. Dr. Bates had stated an understanding that a Collegium Ramazzini conference was partly funded by a US district court. The author disputed this by citing a memorandum and order filed by US Federal Judge J.M. Kelly on June 17, 1991. According to the letter, Judge Kelly wrote that a $50,000 cheque from a settlement fund went to Dr. Selikoff and the Collegium Ramazzini. A footnote said the money belonged to the plaintiff and was not part of any court fund, and that a further $22 500 came from private donations by the plaintiff's executive committee. The author also wrote that judges were invited to the conference as guests, with the $250 fee waived and free hotel accommodation. The author closed with "Need I say more?"

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Letter to the editor (correspondence) replying to Dr. Bates; not a research study
• Main results:
  • The author reported that Dr. Bates had stated an understanding that the Collegium Ramazzini conference was partly funded by a US district court, and disputed this.
  • The author cited a memorandum and order by US Federal Judge J.M. Kelly, filed June 17, 1991.
  • According to the quoted memorandum, a cheque for $50,000 from the settlement fund was issued to Dr. Selikoff and the Collegium Ramazzini.
  • A footnote in the memorandum, as reported by the author, said the money belonged to the plaintiff and was not part of any court fund.
  • The footnote also stated that a further $22 500 came from private donations from the plaintiff's executive committee.
  • The author wrote that Mr. Westbrook, a member of the plaintiff's executive committee, forwarded to Dr. Selikoff a list of federal and state judges who had been invited to the conference.
  • The author wrote that co-organizer Dr. Landrigan invited numerous judges and magistrates as guests of the Collegium, with the $250 registration fee waived and hotel accommodation provided free.
• The authors' conclusion: The author stated no explicit conclusion. The letter ended with the rhetorical question "Need I say more?"

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis.

Related studies

• Asbestos: the turbulent interface between science and policy — K. Morgan (1992)
• Asbestos: the turbulent interface between science and policy — K. Morgan (1991)
• Asbestos: the turbulent interface between science and policy — D.V. Bates (1991)
• Asbestos: the turbulent interface between science and policy — J.B. Gee (1992)
• Asbestos-associated diseases. Science, public policy, and litigation — H. Weill (1983)
• The Public Health Value of Opioid Litigation — R.L. Haffajee (2020)

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