Documents Ruff, Kathleen 6 results

"Less than a decade ago, the Quebec asbestos industry enjoyed support from all the political parties in the Canadian House of Commons and the Quebec National Assembly, as well as from business and union organizations. Two lobby organizations (Chrysotile Institute and International Chrysotile Association) had significant global impact in promoting asbestos use and defeating asbestos ban efforts in developing countries. Quebec's two asbestos mines planned to expand operations and make Quebec the second biggest global asbestos exporter. With the aid of lobbyists, public relations consultants, and government financing, the asbestos industry came close to succeeding. The article examines how a campaign of international solidarity, involving scientific experts, asbestos victims, and health activists in Quebec, Canada, and overseas, succeeded in closing the two mines and defeating the political and social power that the Quebec asbestos industry had wielded for a century. This victory ended Canada's destructive role as global propagandist for the asbestos industry."

"Clinical and public health research, education, and medical practice are vulnerable to influence by corporate interests driven by the for-profit motive. Developments over the last 10 years have shown that transparency and self-reporting of corporate ties do not always mitigate bias. In this article, we provide examples of how sound scientific reasoning and evidence-gathering are undermined through compromised scientific enquiry resulting in misleading science, decision-making, and policy intervention. Various medical disciplines provide reference literature essential for informing public, environmental, and occupational health policy. Published literature impacts clinical and laboratory methods, the validity of respective clinical guidelines, and the development and implementation of public health regulations. Said literature is also used in expert testimony related to resolving tort actions on work-related illnesses and environmental risks. We call for increased sensitivity, full transparency, and the implementation of effective ethical and professional praxis rules at all relevant regulatory levels to rout out inappropriate corporate influence in science. This is needed because influencing the integrity of scientists who engage in such activities cannot be depended upon."

"Recent revelations have raised concerns on how conflicts of interest may involve even leading scientists and prestigious institutions and lead to bias in reporting and assessing scientific evidence. These have highlighted the need for action to safeguard scientific integrity and public health. The Italian Epidemiology Association has declared that the "biased and deliberately tailored use of the scientific evidence" by scientists with a conflict of interest serves to delay needed measures to prevent harm to public health from a polluting Italian steel plant's continuing chemical emissions. In France, unresolved concerns over conflict of interest forced the Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Public Health to cancel its imminent appointment of a prominent scientist as its Director. These negative events demonstrate the necessity for scientific institutions and journals to implement rigorous measures regarding conflict of interest and the safeguarding of scientific integrity and public health."

"Many people are shocked when they learn that the asbestos trade is thriving today. It's true of course, that we in the privileged world no longer use asbestos. In the global South however, particularly in Asia, asbestos use is increasing. For the past 20 years, two million tons of asbestos a year is being put in homes and schools to cause a public health catastrophe for decades to come. Many people would perhaps be shocked to know that Canada, and in particular, McGill University, deserve a good part of the credit for the continued survival of the asbestos industry in spite of the overwhelming scientific evidence of its deadly nature. Quebec was the centre of asbestos mining in Canada and one of the biggest asbestos exporters in the world. In September 2012, the newly elected Parti Québécois government cancelled a government loan to the Jeffrey mine, which had mined and exported asbestos for over a century, and the industry is now shut down. In every country where asbestos has been used, it has left behind epidemics of asbestos-related deaths. Asbestos continues in Canada to be the biggest cause of death from occupational disease. In Quebec, over 70% of such deaths are due to asbestos."

"For decades asbestos was considered an ideal substance and therefore was called 'the mineral of the twentieth century'. Even though the fiber had already proven much earlier to cause various ailments, a real boom began in the 1950s and prospered everywhere in Europe.
This book retraces the history of the Swiss asbestos cement company Eternit, investigating the strategy it developed – together with other asbestos industrialists – to prevent this carcinogen from being outlawed until, in 1999, an EU Directive was finally adopted to this end. The book also reviews the struggle of the asbestos workers and their families to gain official recognition of, and compensation for, the harm suffered."