Sequestered Science
cmonforton | November 12, 2013My jaw continues to drop when I think about the scathing reports this month from the Center for Public Integrity about the law firm Jackson Kelly and their scheming with clients to screw coal miners out of black lung benefits. In “Coal industry's go-to law firm withheld evidence of black lung, at expense of sick miners,” Chris Hamby explains the deceitful and devious manner in which Jackson Kelly attorneys intentionally withheld medical reports that validate diagnoses of serious respiratory disease in coal miners.
The irony---the disgusting irony---is how coal operators insist that their…
cmonforton | September 12, 2013The Environmental Defense Fund and the Environmental Working Group (EWG) both reported last week (here, here) on the Obama Administration’s decision to withdraw two actions being proposed under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Chemical manufacturers strongly opposed the measures. Now, advocates of environmental protection, public health and chemical right-to-know really are exasperated with the sheepish manner the Obama Administration behaves when pressed by powerful interests.
“It seems like a lifetime ago that the Obama Administration came to power and immediately ramped up the…
cmonforton | May 27, 2011[June 3, 2011: Update below]
[May 31, 2011: Update below]
The West Virginia Supreme Court has taken up the case by Massey Energy shareholders to block the $8.5 Billon sale of the firm to Alpha Natural Resources. The Charleston Gazette's Ken Ward Jr., and National Public Radio's (NPR) Howard Berkes have followed the day-to-day event on the suits (here, here, here, here.) Now, their organizations are part of the action.
The two news outlets filed a motion today before the WV Supreme Court, urging the judges to reject the request by the California State Teachers Retirement System (a…
sb admin | January 22, 2009By David Egilman
On September 15, 2008 pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly pleaded guilty to committing the crime of off-label marketing of Zyprexa, an antipsychotic. Lilly has profited handsomely from the marketing of this drug, making over $30 billion. The Department of Justice (DOJ) claims that the $1.42 billion dollar fine agreed to by Lilly as part of its guilty plea is the largest ever paid to settle such a violation, but it represents only 3.5% of the companyâs Zyprexa sales.  DOJ's willingness to accept a misdemeanor plea and a trivial fine is troubling given Lilly's two prior…
sb admin | June 9, 2008An attorney representing a large group of PFOA-exposed individuals sent a letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson and ATSDR Director Howard Frumkin, urging them not to delay any further the release of hazard information and risk assessments on the contaminant perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA, a.k.a. C8). Mr. Bilott was writing on behalf of residents who live near DuPont's Washington Works plant near Parkersburg, WV andÂ
"who continue to be exposed to this poison in their residential drinking water on a daily basis."  Â
In a 2005 legal settlement with the residents, DuPont agreed…
sb admin | March 26, 2008The Palm Beach (Florida) Post is reporting that Ag-Mart has settled a civil suit filed by a migrant farmworker family who alleged their son's serious birth defects were associated with the company's improper handling of pesticides. Earlier reporting in March 2005 by the PB Post exposed the working and living conditions of this family and other farmworkers, and birth defects among some of their children. Â
At the same time this settlement was reported, another Florida newspaper wrote that violations against Ag-Mart for failure to comply with the State's pesticide use rules had…
sb admin | September 11, 2007The following post is by Dr. David Egilman, a familiar figure to those who have been following the case of Eli Lillyâs schizophrenia drug Zyprexa. See Alex Berensonâs New York Times articles on the case for more background, or read David Michaelsâs post about Zyprexa and sequestered science. -- Editor
âThe Truth is Not Freeâ
By David Egilman
September 11, 2007
All that is needed for the forces of evil to succeed is for enough good people to remain silent.
-- Edmund Burke
The consequences of silence can be devastating. My father spent WWII in a German concentration camp largely as a…
sb admin | July 3, 2007At first, the FOIA request for workplace inspection data seemed straight forward.  The requester asked for all records contained in OSHA's database of industrial hygiene samples for the contaminant beryllium during the period 1979 to 2005.  Previously, OSHA had provided on numerous ocassions comparable information to other requesters, and in some cases, even without requiring a formal FOIA request. Moreover, OSHA's sister agency, MSHA, already provides full access to this kind of data right on its website.Â
But in this case, the requester was Adam M. Finkel, ScD CIH, a former…
sb admin | April 19, 2007By David Michaels
An editorial in the latest issue of Nature takes up a problem that public health advocates have been battling for years: confidentiality orders that keep important scientific data hidden from the public, scientists, and even regulatory agencies.
One recent case of such data being kept secret, which Nature reporter Jim Giles covers in an accompanying article, is Eli Lillyâs schizophrenia drug Zyprexa. David Egilman, a physician who had access to confidential documents about Zyprexaâs dangers, is being threatened with jail time for his role in the release of the papers to,…
sb admin | March 3, 2007By David Michaels
The state of Pennsylvania has filed lawsuits against three drug manufacturers, claiming the firms fraudulently marketed antipsychotic drugs. According to Bloomberg News, the state alleges that Eli Lilly & Co. âhid the risks and exaggerated the benefits of its antipsychotic medication Zyprexa while persuading doctors to prescribe it for unapproved uses.â AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceutical are accused of doing the same for other drugs:
The defendants cost Pennsylvania's Medicaid and drug assistance for the elderly program millions of dollars for…