Lisa A. Bero, PhD, Institute for Health Policy Studies, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, and Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, University of California, San Francisco, 530 Parnassus Avenue, Suite 366, Box 1390, Library, San Francisco, CA 94143, 415-476-1067, bero@medicine.ucsf.EDU

The tobacco industry’s efforts to manipulate research about the harmful effects of tobacco have been well described. Previous research has also shown how the industry was involved in the development of standards for epidemiological research, the basis for much of the data on the harms of tobacco. In this session, we describe new findings from analyses of internal tobacco industry documents. We show that the industry’s involvement in research and the methods for research was not limited to health effects of tobacco. We describe how tobacco companies were involved in clinical trials on a variety of topics, including the effects of pesticide exposure. We also explore the ethics of these trials. We describe industry efforts to discredit and criticize the technique of meta-analysis. Finally, we show how the tobacco industry has been involved in the Data Access and Data Quality Acts. These new pieces of legislation facilitate industry efforts to obtain data and reanalyze it. The tobacco industry’s efforts to shape science are of benefit to a wide variety of corporate interests.

Moderator: Lisa Bero, Ph.D.

Session Papers (In Suggested Order of Appearance):

Tobacco industry clinical trials: Questionable treatment of human subjects Jenny White, MSc, MPH; Mark Parascandola, PhD; Lisa A. Bero, PhD

Toxic taste test: Tobacco companies’ use of human subjects Patricia A. McDaniel, Ph.D.; Gina Solomon, M.D., M.P.H.; Ruth E. Malone, R.N., Ph.D.

The tobacco industry’s critique of meta-analysis: powerful science or flawed tool? Miki Hong, M.P.H.; Lisa Bero, Ph.D.

Tobacco industry efforts to shape the legislative standards of scientific research Annamaria Baba, M.P.H.; Daniel Cook, Ph.D.; Lisa Bero, Ph.D.

Learning Objectives: