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NIH Disbands Alcohol Clinical Trial Because of Scientific and Ethical Breaches
In a decision that I applaud, NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins announced yesterday that based on the recommendation of his Advisory Committee after an extensive investigation, he is discontinuing the MACH15 (Moderate Alcohol and Cardiovascular Health) clinical trial of moderate alcohol consumption (see original news reportshere andhere).In itsreport, the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director concluded as follows:" To understand the context that led NIAAA to embark on the MACH trial, the ACD WG considered the nature and extent of interactions among NIAAA staff, select extramural investigators, and industry representatives ...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - June 16, 2018 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Alcohol Clinical Trial Continues to Crumble: Anheuser-Busch Pulls Its Funding
In another setback for the NIAAA ' s and alcohol industry ' s study of the " health benefits " of encouraging people to drink, Anheuser-Busch has pulled its funding from the clinical trial because recent controversy over how the research funding was solicited has undermined the study ' s credibility.According to anarticle by Roni Caryn Rabin in theNew York Times:" Brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, one of five alcohol companies underwriting a $100 million federal trial on the health benefits of a daily drink, is pulling its funding from the project, saying controversy about the sponsorship threatens to undermine the study...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - June 10, 2018 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Johns Hopkins Public Health Researchers Claim that Smoking May Be No More Hazardous than Vaping
In anarticle published in the Summer 2018 issue of theHopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine, two researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health are denying that smoking is known to be any more hazardous than vaping.According to the article, Dr. Ana Maria Rule, an assistant professor in the the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, argued that: " Even if vaping proves safer than smoking, that ' s still a long way from a gold stamp for their safety. " This of course implies that we don ' t currently know that vaping is any safer than smoking. In turn, this means the professor ' s claim is...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - June 10, 2018 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

E-Cigarette Opponents Still Making Up False " Facts " to Demonize Vaping
We ' re well into 2018 and there is now substantial research on the health effects of vaping as well as a decade of experience with large numbers of vapers, yet e-cigarette opponents are still making up false claims to buttress their demonization of vaping.In anarticle by Jia Tolentino published yesterday in theNew Yorker, a Harvard professor was quoted as claiming that: " vaping can cause something called bronchiolitis obliterans, or popcorn lung. "He also stated that Juul is " a massive public-health disaster, " likened e-cigarettes to “bioterrorism,” and " predicted that, eventually, a state ’s attorney general wo...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - May 8, 2018 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

NIH Director Grilled at Appropriations Hearing About NIAAA Collusion with Alcohol Industry
At the House Appropriations Committee hearing on the NIH Budget, NIH director Dr. Frances Collins was grilled about the collusion between the NIAAA and the alcohol industry in planning a clinical trial to study the health benefits of alcohol use. Congresswomen Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) expressed concern about the fact that NIAAA violated NIH policy by soliciting funding from the alcohol companies and asked Dr. Collins who authorized the solicitation of funding. While Dr. Collins did not answer the question, he did say that his office is conducting an investigation and will provide the Inspector General with any uncovere...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - April 12, 2018 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Principal Investigator of Alcohol Clinical Trial is Hiding its Industry Funding from the Public and Potential Research Subjects
I have already explained why I think the Moderate Alcohol and Cardiovascular Health (MACH15) clinical trial should beimmediately halted because of both scientific and ethical breaches in the way the research was planned. Today, I reveal what I believe is misconduct in the actual conduct of the trial: namely, in the communication of the research sponsors to the public.I believe that the public -- and especially research subjects -- have the right to know who is funding a clinical trial that is seeking their participation. In fact, there are rules requiring the sponsors of such studies to be revealed to the public. However, ...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - April 8, 2018 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

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 ...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - April 1, 2018 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Congressional Investigation Needed into Scientific and Ethical Corruption at NIAAA
I used to think of the National Institutes of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) as a highly-reputed, objective, science-based agency whose primary goal was to reduce alcohol consumption to improve the public ’s health. The scientific integrity of the NIAAA is critical, as itdescribes itself as “the largest funder of alcohol research in the world.” The agency is funded by taxpayers to the tune of$480 million a year.But then one day, all of that changed. On January 16, 2015, I was called into the office of the Director of NIAAA and was essentially reprimanded for conducting NIAAA-funded research that was detrimental...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - March 25, 2018 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

Correspondence Between NIAAA and the Alcohol Industry
Correspondence obtained as the result of my FOIA request to the NIAAA. (Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary)
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - March 17, 2018 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

New Study Concludes that Vaping Causes Heart Attacks
This study is a perfect demonstration of that phenomenon.Because this is a cross-sectional study, and because respondents were asked whether they hadever had a heart attack, one cannot determine whether the heart attacks followed e-cigarette use or preceded it. In other words, we do not know that vaping preceded the heart attack for any of the subjects. It is entirely possible that in most of these cases, the smokers suffered a heart attack and then started vaping in an attempt to quit smoking. In fact, I believe that is the most likely explanation for the observed study findings.It is not even biologically plausible that ...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - February 27, 2018 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

My Op-Ed in U.S. News & World Report on the National Academy of Sciences Report on E-Cigarettes
Here is thelink to my op-ed on the National Academy of Sciences report. (Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary)
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - January 26, 2018 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

WBUR Interview Regarding National Academy of Sciences E-Cigarette Report
Here is thelink to an article on WBUR that includes edited excerpts from an interview I did regarding the new National Academy of Sciences report on electronic cigarettes. (Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary)
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - January 24, 2018 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

National Academy of Sciences Report on Electronic Cigarettes Confirms that Vaping is Much Safer than Smoking and Has No Known Long-Term Health Effects
My commentary on the conclusions and implications of the National Academy of Sciences report on electronic cigarettes was just accepted as an op-ed piece in U.S. News& World Report. I expect it to be published tomorrow. For this reason, I have had to take down the original commentary. However, below I have posted the parts of the original blog post that had to be cut from the op-ed because of length concerns. Also, I will post a link to the op-ed as soon as it appears.The key findings of the report are:1. " There is substantial evidence that except for nicotine, under typical conditions of use, exposure to potentially ...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - January 24, 2018 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

National Academy of Sciences Report on E-Cigarettes Confirms that Vaping is Much Safer than Smoking and Has No Known Long-Term Health Effects
Areport released this morning by the National Academy of Sciences confirms that despite the demonization of vaping by many anti-tobacco groups and health departments, use of these products is much safer than smoking, and there are no known long-term health effects associated with vaping.This does not mean, of course, that vaping is safe. It just means that we don ' t know what the long-term effects may be. But it is important to stress that at this time, we don ' t know of any long-term adverse health effects.The report also concludes that the " second-hand " aerosol produced by vaping is safer than secondhand tobacco smok...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - January 23, 2018 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs

International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research (ISFAR) is Still Hiding Conflicts of Interest of Its Members
The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research (ISFAR)claims to be " anindependent organization of scientists that prepares critiques of emerging research reports on alcohol and health. " The Forumdescribes itself as " an international group of invited physicians and scientists who are specialists in their fields and committed to balanced and well researched analysis regarding alcohol and health. " It is " a joint undertaking of Boston University School of Medicine in the United States and Alcohol in Moderation (AIM) of the United Kingdom. Its Co-Directors are R. Curtis Ellison, MD, Professor of Medicine& ...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - January 7, 2018 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs