Publishing research supported by the tobacco industry

Abstract

Tobacco accounts for a third of deaths in the developed world3 and about 10% of medical costs in the United States result directly from tobacco use. More perniciously tobacco advertising has been shown to be aimed successfully at young people.4 In Washington, the industry spends millions to maintain its own livelihood by being, according to one congressman, “the most pervasive lobbyist in politics today.”5 The tobacco industry also promotes itself through research grants. In 1994 in the United States it distributed $19.5 million for research, which resulted in 375 scientific papers. Nearly 1100 …