Doubt is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health,   ISBN:9780195300673

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Michaels shows that the same techniques used to successfully delay legislation and regulatory action on cigarettes have since been used on any number of other public-health problems, including today's major global warming concerns. A growing trend disingenuously demands proof over precaution, always disputing conclusions that might support regulation because industry has learned that debating the science is much easier and more effective than debating the policy. It also avoids being simply branded as 'anti-environmental,' etc.

Michaels material shows instances proving the hazards of working with some chemicals was well known long before lawsuits arose. For example, as early as 1918 life insurers declined asbestos workers. Certain dye components were found to cause 100% of bladder cancer in the original DuPont workers back in 1947 - again, before major suits. Reducing lead in paint and gasoline was accomplished relatively easily, despite industry efforts - thanks mainly to the EPA and the effect lead had on catalytic converters, adding auto-makers to those demanding lead's elimination from gasoline.

Industry obstructionists (often led by the public relations firm Hill and Knowlton) repeatedly use a strategy of insisting on proof - hard to accomplish because one rarely finds 100% affliction from toxins, even cigarette smoke. The author instead recommends a 'Sarbanes-Oxley' approach to science and toxins. 1)Require full disclosure of any sponsor involvement in scientific studies. 2)Manufacturers must disclose what they know regarding the toxicity of their products and the chemicals used. 3)Rigged data reanalysis should be stopped - creates false findings. 4)Hold people accountable. 5)Protect the independence of federal scientists and science advisory committees - eg. stop asking applicants who they voted for, using panel members with conflicts of interest. 6)Embrace 'as low as reasonably achievable' standards instead of becoming embroiled in endless debates over safe levels.

Bottom Line: "Doubt Is their Product" provides good documentation of industry's non-stop reactionary foot-dragging to any profit impediment vs. public health. However, that scientists can be bought ('fake science') is hardly news to anyone who has followed the global warming debate. Thus, Michaels should have made his book considerably shorter.

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Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RTRHV6LUR1IEE Hi, this is Joanne, a bioengineering instructor at the University of Illinois. I read science books and review them. See more at my youtube site http://www.youtube.com/user/joannelovesscience

Joanne discusses this important and infuriating book about how industry manipulates scientific data for their own interests.

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"Doubt is Their Product" is a well researched and scholarly book. It is also tells a very sad story. The government we trust to keep us safe has put the foxes in charge of the henhouses. OSHA, for example, has been so intimidated that it has quit trying to protect us. The nuclear weapons industry has contaminated the countryside and used security as an excuse to hide the fact. The FDA has little to no funding to protect us from drugs with serious side effects. If you vote, you must read this book. If you work near chemicals, you would be an idiot not to read it.
Ralph Hermansen 02/28/09

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Dr. Michaels' book reveals the motivations and follow-up actions of many industries who strive to protect their profits regardless of the impact on the nation's health. His story tells of the various industries' scientific and technical "whores" who sell their expertise to either create doubt about, or directly challenge the legitimate science that is produced for science sake - not profit.

However, the underlying tale is far more onerous than the title expresses. It is not much of a stretch to understand that the nature of science is being seriously subverted. Science builds upon itself. All future work in the medical sciences will have to be cautious when using data produced by these charlatans. Some of that data will, in fact, be totally false.

If this is allowed to continue, science will one day acquire the reputation now currently reserved for used-car salesmen, and streetwalkers. The problem is far greater than any of us would like to think about. Bravo Dr. Michaels.

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This book is an examination of campaigns by industry to thwart attempts of government, especially the United States government, to protect the health of workers and citizens. Michaels has had a long history in public health working in both the public and academic sectors. In this book, he traces the history of numerous cases of industries that have escaped safety regulations and the dire consequences of their actions.

Michaels observes that industries trying to escape regulation commonly do so by raising the flag of uncertainty. That is, they take advantage of the fact that it is logically impossible to prove an effect conclusively, but rather, all science can do is provide evidence that strongly suggests connections between cause and effect. This has allowed the tobacco industry to fight and delay warnings about the health risks of tobacco smoking. It also has also slowed down response to the climate change crisis, as contributing industries claim we must wait for more evidence before we take any action. He notes that industry often manages to establish doubt concerning the findings of scientific research through media reports that cite conflicting opinions on the topic. However, these media reports do not look into the sources and funding of the conflicting opinions; they contrast volumes of evidence found by independent and publicly funded research with "research" funded by industry or created by industry think tanks.

The text of the book is extremely dense, with extensive references cited in endnotes. Michaels does an admirable job of explaining how the efforts of industry to undermine sound science are made to sound credible, through trade supported "peer-reviewed" journals and think tanks. He argues that because industries have been so successful at evading regulation, litigation is often the only recourse in the present system, and thus, the ability of citizens to seek damages in the courts for injuries must be protected against the industry-led campaign for "tort reform". The book provides valuable information for those seeking a deeper understanding of the extent of the control industry has managed to wrest from the government and other agencies that are supposed to be looking out for public health. On disinformation provided by industry and the conservative politicians owned by them, Michaels quotes Lily Tomlin "No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up."