Alcohol Clinical Trial Should be Halted Because It Was Designed to Promote Drinking, Not to Answer a Research Question

Digging Deeper into the Harvard/NIAAA Solicitation of Alcohol Company FundingIn a previouspost, I noted that I had reviewed materials obtained by theNew York Times and shared with me for thearticle revealing that the NIAAA solicited funding from alcohol companies for the clinical trial of potential benefits of alcohol. A deeper examination of those materials allows me to now reveal that the real purpose of the clinical trial is not to conduct research to answer a question, but to help the alcohol industry sell beer, wine, and liquor by producing newspaper headlines to get doctors to start recommending moderate drinking to their patients.The document I reviewed is a slide presentation and accompanying summary information apparently intended for a sales pitch to alcohol companies to fund this clinical trial. According to theNew York Times: " two prominent scientists and a senior federal health officialpitched the project during a presentation at the luxurious Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Fla., in 2014. " The lead scientist on the " presentation team " was Dr. Kenneth Mukamal, who is now the Principal Investigator of the clinical trial. The senior federal health official on the " presentation team " was Dr. Lorraine Gunzerath, the Senior Advisor to the Director of the NIAAA.Importantly, according to theNew York Times, Dr. Gunzerath stated that this research would not have been conducted without the support of the alcohol companies because " We were supposed to be preventing alc...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs