A newly discovered cache of internal documents reveals that the sugar industry downplayed the risks of sugar in the 1960s. – Luis Ascui/Getty Images
Fifty years of misleading and dishonest research. Imagine how different things might be with public health and education if these bogus research papers weren’t given the credibility they received.
The second to last paragraph from the NPR article below says it all. Funding sources need to be screened for industry research projects and then governed for access to leading journals for publication. It wasn’t done fifty years ago, and it still isn’t done today. Why not? Why don’t leading journal publishers recognize the possibilty of crossing ethically gray territory, and simply refuse to print studies from researchers that are funded from the same industries they are writing about?
The same goes for the researchers. Why do they as individuals fail to exercise any restraint in turning down these projects, based on ethical grounds, even though it’s often so easy to anticipate the dubious results? Are the researchers just too stupid and naiive? I don’t think so. There’s a lot of people who just want to get paid, or make more money, publicize their name on a byline, pad their research dossier, or protect their power, or market position. They may be professionals, but their ethical boundaries often become vague if it means choosing a large research grant. I’m tired of describing this type of human failure. Feel free to draw your own conclusions.
Read the full article> 50 Years Ago, Sugar Industry Quietly Paid Scientists To Point Blame At Fat