1/16 CSPI Integrity in Science Watch Re: ACOEM Mold Statement & Expert Witnesses

[Guest guest]

Center for Science in the Public Interest

Integrity in Science Watch

January 16, 2007

The Integrity in Science Database of Scientists and

Organizations With Ties to Industry can be found at:

www.integrityinscience.org

ACOEM Mold Review Relied on Authors Paid to Testify in Mold

Suits

The American College of Occupational and Environmental

Medicine failed to disclose that its position paper on

mold, which downplays the risks to human health from the

minute fungi, was written by scientists who regularly

testify as expert witnesses for defendants in mold

lawsuits. According to an article in the Wall Street

Journal (subscription required), two of the paper's three

authors - Hardin and Bruce Kelman - are principals at

a law firm paid $375 to $500 an hour as defense counsel in

mold lawsuits.

[Note: The above needs a correction. Hardin and Bruce

Kelman are principals of an environmental financial risk

management company, Veritox. Law firms pay them $375 to

$500 per hour as defense experts in mold lawsuits.]

The third author, Saxon of the University of

California at Los Angeles School of Medicine, is paid $510

to $720 an hour for consulting and testifying in mold

litigation.

Two other medical societies have issued position papers on

mold written, in part, by legal defense experts. Last year,

Integrity in Science Watch uncovered that the American

Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology's scientific

review " The Medical Effects of Mold Exposure " failed to

disclose that two physician-authors, including Saxon, were

insurance company defense experts. The exposé led the

association's journal to strengthen its disclosure

requirements.