Integrity in Science Watch - November 19, 2007

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From Center for Science in the Public Interest

Integrity in Science Watch

November 19, 2007

Occ-Docs Seek Retraction, Threaten Journal with Libel Suit

The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) is

threatening the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health

with a libel suit if it doesn’t retract a recent article accusing the ACOEM

of being a “professional group in service to industry.†The journal’s

publisher immediately fired back a letter accusing the ACOEM of refusing to

open

its files for fact-checking purposes, and noting that its article had passed

traditional peer review. “The editor and the publisher welcome information

that will correct any errors that may have been made,†wrote Lovegrove,

president of Abel Publication Services, publisher of the IJOEH. In a message

to ACOEM members that included a _link_

(http://www.acoem.org/ResponseToIJOEH.aspx) to a refutation of the article,

president F. McLellan said the

group “will explore all options, including legal action if necessary to set

the record straight in matters that are libelous or factually incorrect.â€

The original IJOEH _article_

(http://www.ijoeh.com/pfds/IJOEH_1304_LaDou02.pdf) describes the ACOEM's

membership as largely industry-employed doctors

and recounts its history of opposing government regulations on lead, beryllium,

and a number of other environmental toxins. The article’s authors, led by

ph LaDou of the University of California School of Medicine, accuse the

ACEOM of taking “industry positions on virtually all issues†and state that

its

journal, the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, is “

decidedly pro-industry in its editorial policy and publications.†The journal

has

published many studies funded by Dow, Lockheed, and other industry sponsors,

and has been implicated in several cases of scientific fraud.

Sharon

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