Mold-Help.org - The world's largest TOXIC MOLD website
  • Mold Basics
    • Mold Overview
    • Mold Symptoms
    • Mold Types & Images
    • Fungal Infections
  • Resources and Tools
    • Home Care
    • Health & Diet
    • Tips for Parents
    • Coping with Loss
    • Private Research
    • Legal Suggestions
    • Mold in the Bible
  • Mold News
    • Current Headlines
    • “Sick Buildings”
    • The Environment
    • Construction Industry
    • Govt. & Politics
    • The Workplace
    • Landlords & Tenants
    • Insurance Companies
    • Schools & Institutions
    • Strange Fungal Tales
    • Personal Mold Stories
    • Additional Articles
  • Agencies & Experts
  • About Mold-Help
    • Mold-Help News
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

The Ultimate Powers Altering Science to Their Standards

October 12, 2005/in Additional Articles /by Carolyn Willbanks

San Francisco, CA – Devious defense ‘experts’ and ruthless lawyers around the country often term plaintiffs who suffer from pathogenic mold as opportunists and the evidence, although quite well researched, call it ‘junk science’.

Sounding almost like a broken record, these dubious characters who are posting this ‘junk science’ hogwash campaign on their websites and in courtrooms as if it were a new trend, but the public doesn’t seem to be buying in to it anymore. Sometimes, even inept journalists echo these words as they try to play the role of scientific ‘intellect’ in hopes of salvaging an exhausted occupation. But as you will see, just as incompetent builders have learned in this industry, cutting corners never pays off in the end.

In the past, this somewhat brainwashed society, but with the recent hurricanes and floods, and the fact that so many people have been denied insurance benefits when they file a claim, the public has become less ignorant.  The catch phrase, ‘junk science’, has lost its effectiveness and the insurance and building bullies (among the other usual suspects) are coming up with new tactics to stack the deck of a falling house of cards.

This has been quite obvious down in New Orleans as many so called experts contradict modern medical science and claim that mold is not hazardous.  But the ‘junk science’ campaign was the launching pad that started the ignorance in the first place.

If defense ‘experts’ hadn’t used this term in high profile environmental cases the public would know the truth.  The term ‘junk science’ has a catchy title, and even sounds familiar.  That’s because it has been used before by the same ‘expert’ defense witnesses, many of whom have had no experience treating patients with such disease, just non-related PhD’s that probably failed in their given trades, or became easily led astray by the greed of selling out their ethics and values.

The History of the Term ‘Junk Science’

Philip Morris Tobacco Company launched a hidden campaign in the 1990’s to change the standards of scientific proof needed to demonstrate that secondhand smoke was dangerous, according to an analysis of internal tobacco industry documents by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

The tobacco industry strategy involved calling for ‘sound science,’ while rejecting so-called ‘junk science’ on secondhand smoke that actually threatened the industry’s business interests. Essentially, Philip Morris appropriated the ‘sound science’ concept to shape the standards of epidemiology and to prevent increased smoking restrictions, the authors state.

“Phillip Morris has gone beyond ‘creating doubt’ and ‘controversy’ about the scientific evidence to attempting to change the scientific standards of proof,” they write. The standards they promoted through a variety of industry groups would have made proving the hazards of secondhand smoke virtually impossible, according to the study.

Working through lawyers and public relations firms, Philip Morris sought to organize other industries to participate in the ‘sound science’ movement, masking its own involvement. If you have been reading this website, there is plenty of evidence of a very familiar scenario involving fungal exposure.  It sounds just like a broken record.

It also hired public relations and marketing firms to help form The Advancement for Sound Science Coalition (TASSC), developed to look like a grassroots organization of scientists and policymakers. Phillip Morris hoped TASSC would seem like an independent body rejecting evidence that secondhand smoke caused significant lung cancer and heart disease risk, according to the analysis of the documents. This sounds very familiar to fungal exposure in many respects, but of course, many would like you to think this is all ‘junk science.’

In Europe, where secondhand smoke restrictions had not yet been fully put in place (in every country), Philip Morris promoted a set of standards originally proposed by the Chemical Manufacturers Association called ‘Good Epidemiology Practices’. By modifying the proposal and developing new opportunities to introduce it, Philip Morris sought to establish an arbitrary threshold for identifying health risk from secondhand smoke — a threshold higher than what scientists had found for secondhand smoke.

The proposal would have revoked conclusions that an environmental toxin such as secondhand smoke was a public health problem. This effort was particularly focused on undermining a large European epidemiological study of passive smoking and lung cancer being conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer at the time, the researchers found.

Between 1994 and 2000, seemingly independent seminars involving other industries and issues on the so-called ‘Good Epidemiology Practices’ (GEP) were conducted in the United States, United Kingdom, European Union and China. Philip Morris was connected to all of these events, the documents show. The same marketing campaign has been done with fungal exposure.

Next time you hear anyone use mold and ‘junk science’ in the same sentence, think about who began the original ‘junk science’ campaign and you then you may realize how deadly fungal exposure really is, that is if there really are any skeptics out there anymore.

By Susan Roberts

Carolyn Willbanks
Author: Carolyn Willbanks

Tags: mold, lawsuit, junk science, expert witness, Veritox, insurance industry
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://www.mold-help.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/moldhelp-654x300.png 0 0 Carolyn Willbanks https://www.mold-help.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/moldhelp-654x300.png Carolyn Willbanks2005-10-12 21:21:392019-03-08 19:13:18The Ultimate Powers Altering Science to Their Standards
You might also like
Mold-Help logo Contractors Must Minimize Hazards To Hospital Patients
Mold-Help logo Chronic Sinusitis Sufferers Have Enhanced Immune Responses to Fungi According to NIH
Mold-Help logo Trinity Homes and Beazer Homes, Its Parent, Agree to Fix About 2,000 Houses
Mold-Help logo Fungal Meningitis
A person's eye infected with Mucor mold Rhizopus
Mold-Help logo Apt Complex Suffers Water Damage/Mold

Mold News

  • Current Headlines
  • "Sick Buildings"
  • The Environment
  • Construction Industry
  • Govt. & Politics
  • The Workplace
  • Landlords & Tenants
  • Insurance Companies
  • Schools & Institutions
  • Personal Mold Stories
  • Strange Fungal Tales
  • Additional Articles

Latest Posts

  • Michigan Family Finds Toxic Mold Inside Home
  • California Winter Storms: Water Damage and Mold Exposure Concerns in California
  • Office and Commercial Buildings at Risk for Mold after COVID-19 Closings
  • COVID-19 Symptoms May Include Loss of Taste and Smell
  • New Mold Detox Information on the Horizon
  • COVID-19 Courses of Action
  • Stachybotrys
  • Simple and Easy Ways to Prevent the Coronavirus
  • Your Air Conditioning Unit Helps Eliminate Mold
  • Construction Workers Are Learning to Control Dust and Debris

Search Our Site:

Need Help with Mold?

Are you being affected by mold or other mycotoxins in your environment? Our team and community has over 15 years experience and can provide guidance. You can reach us by submitting your contact or through our Facebook page.

Have a Story to Share?

We're looking for stories and input to expand our database and to add to the personal experiences we've received from the thousands of victims over the last 15. If mold has impacted your life, please take the time to share your story. Your information is confidential and will only be shared with your permission.

Seeking Mold Experts

Are you an expert in the treatment of mold-affected health illnesses, or a provider of services to victims of mycotoxin exposure? Submit your information for listing consideration in our Agencies & Experts resource database.

Additional Resources

  • Contact Us
  • Sitemap
  • Glossary of Terms
  • Survivor Resources
  • General Inquiries
  • Legal Disclaimer

© Copyright - Mold-Help Organization
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Mold Basics
  • Resources and Tools
  • Agencies & Experts
  • Mold News
  • About Mold-Help
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OKLearn more

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Accept settingsHide notification only