|
Epi Wit & Wisdom Articles
Pro and Con Opinions Expressed
About the Involvement of Scientists in Public Policy Making
“Scientists Have No Business
Trying To Sway Public Policy” is the headline of a recent opinion
piece published in the October 2, 1989 issue of The Scientist, a
newspaper for the science professional. Written by Frank Resnik, a
research chemist and chairman of Philip Morris USA, the article was
written in response to a press release by cancer researcher K. Michael
Cummings who stated that passage of a proposed Clean Indoor Air Act,
then under consideration in the state of New York, would reduce
exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in non-smokers. The Act was
passed and Resnik accused Cummings of a “breach of science” for
releasing the findings of his study (which detected trace amounts of
cotinine in the urine of non-smokers) without peer review and prior to
publication.
According to Resnik, “All too
often, epidemiologic science is held up to be incontrovertible fact,
synonymous with immutable truth, and then to make matters worse, it’s
accepted blindly by the popular press and reported as such. Later, if
the conclusions or editorial comments by researchers are found by peer
review to be deceptive, conceptually flawed or distorted, it is too
late to correct original perceptions. First impressions are lasting
impressions, regardless of whether they’re inaccurate, invalid or
based on hyped scientific findings.
Scientists should be alarmed at
what some suspect was the ulterior motive in releasing the study:
using the news media and what I call ‘science by press release’ to
influence public policy...A scientist’s job is neither to push
political or social goals nor tailor research to be used to that
end...
Different View
In an accompanying editorial
entitled “Public Policy Involvement Is The Duty Of All Scientists,”
Cummings asks “Does science have a role to play in affecting public
policy decisions?” Of course it does!
To think otherwise is naive and
suggests that science should have no utility. Many scientific findings
have important public policy implications. It is not the duty of the
scientist to make policy decisions. However, it is the scientist’s
duty to make sure that the information necessary for intelligent
public policy-making is available to those who do.”
Published October 1989 v
|
