The hazards of asbestos. Access to vital data is denied

Our plain-English summary of The hazards of asbestos. Access to vital data is denied, by M. Greenberg (BMJ, 1993).

The study

• Author: M. Greenberg
• Journal: BMJ
• Published: 1993;307(6898):259
• Type of article: Comment, Letter
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

In plain English

This item is a short letter to the editor of the BMJ, not a research study. The author, Morris Greenberg of London, described evaluating why recognition of the health hazard of exposure to asbestos dust, and effective action against it, had been delayed. The author considered that this history required the working papers, correspondence and minutes of the British Occupational Hygiene Society's subcommittee on asbestos, which extend over a quarter of a century. In May 1990 the author asked the society's president for access to the committee's files. The reply said this was not possible because there was no central archive and because much of the material had been provided confidentially. A later request for access to the society's records kept elsewhere was also refused. The author argued that any commercial confidentiality must have lapsed after some 20 years, and that medical confidentiality would not apply where individuals could not be identified. The letter asked whether data behind a publication should be preserved and kept accessible, and whose responsibility that is: the author's or the editor's.

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 (opinion and personal account; no study data)
• Who was studied: No study population. The letter concerns the records (working papers, correspondence and minutes) of the British Occupational Hygiene Society's subcommittee on asbestos, spanning about a quarter of a century
• Exposure: Exposure to asbestos dust in general; the letter concerns the delay in recognising its health hazard. No specific fiber types, products or doses are discussed
• Main results:
  • In May 1990 the author wrote to the president of the British Occupational Hygiene Society asking for access to the asbestos committee's files
  • The society refused on two grounds: there was no central archive, and much of the material had been made available confidentially
  • A later request for access to the society's records preserved elsewhere was also refused
  • The author raised questions of principle, including whether data and analyses behind a publication should be preserved and kept accessible
• The authors' conclusion: The author argued that any commercial confidentiality must have lapsed after some 20 years, and that medical confidentiality would not apply to data in which individual subjects could not be identified

Topics

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

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