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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Richard Clapp, DSc, School of Public Health, Boston University, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118, 6176384731, rclapp@bu.edu

Background: Workers in a large computer manufacturing company filed a lawsuit claiming that cancer and other illnesses were caused by exposures at their jobs. The company maintained a computerized mortality file that could be analyzed to see if there were unusual patterns of death in the company as a whole and in specific plants and types of jobs. Company attorneys initially denied the existence of mortality files, but the records were obtained through court discovery. Methods: The computerized corporate mortality file (CMF) and work history files on those receiving death benefits were provided under a Court order; individual records were coded with a unique identifier, but no names or other confidential information were provided. The Occupational Cohort Mortality Analysis Program (OCMAP) was used to compare the observed deaths in the CMF to the expected numbers based on U.S. or state/county data. Results: Significant excess mortality due to brain cancer and kidney cancer was found, especially in manufacturing workers. Attempts to introduce these results in court were denied, and the company attorneys subsequently attempted to prevent publication of a manuscript in scientific journals. A parallel study by company consultants has been published, using different methods, but with some similar results. Conclusion: Analysis of company mortality records has been carried out for years and many examples exist in the literature. Some companies resist analyzing their data and must be compelled to release it. Difficulties in bringing the results to public attention will be described.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will learn about occupational health from analyzing data contained in a corporate mortality file.
• Participants will learn about how such data be obtained in order to evaluate it.
• Participants will learn about the challenges of publishing health data when a large corporation tried to resist the publication.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation