He's on your side of the pond, I'll buy you a pint if you go over and smack him on the head, Ophi
But on
Junk Science, I have to agree that it is problematic for society. I'm not convinced that the issue with the drug industry is a simple one, however, since there's definately a certain amount of culpability with the FDA. After all, the drug industry is comprised of private corporations and these are quite predictable in how they'll operate. By nature, they wan't to make money and will maintain the best profit margin they can, skirting whatever limitations they can (since these will, invariably, cut into their profits). In order to keep them under control, the FDA must operate with a heavier hand. If price controls, advertising controls, objective research controls, etc. are needed, it shouldn't be the responsibility of the drug companies to set these - it should be the government.
Still, there's a lot more "Junk Science" out there beyond the drug companies that should concern us, particularly with regard to the Bush Administration's influence on the scientific process. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. wrote a piece in
The Nation (Feb. 2004) in which he stated: "[T]he Bush White House is purging, censoring and blacklisting scientists and engineers whose work threatens the profits of the Administration's corporate paymasters or challenges the ideological underpinnings of their radical anti-environmental agenda."
Then there's the
Junk-Junk Science! There's also a lot of criticism of various scientific thought that has merit and supporting research. An example that I noted recently was Fox News' so-called "junk science" response to the Harvard University study (Schulze, 2004) that noted a significant risk of Type II Diabetes among young and middle-aged women who consume soft drinks. At least I
think this was the study Milloy was referring to. A
t any rate, it was picked up by many news outlets and is heralded as gospel on the junk-junk science site that calles itself
Junk Science. They do have some interesting information and its good to see a balance to the environmental naysayers, but overall JunkScience.com is an obvious political arm of right-wing conservatism. Objective thought isn't their goal, furthering the cause of neo-conservatism is. That's one thing they have in common with Fux News.
References:
Kennedy, Robert F., Jr. (Feb. 2004).
The Junk Science of George W. Bush.The Nation, found at:
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040308&s=kennedy
Milloy, Steven (Jan. 27, 2005)
Scientists Stonewall on Spurious Soda ScareFox News, found at:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145644,00.html
Schulze, Matthias B., et al (2004).
Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, Weight Gain, and Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in Young and Middle-Aged Women JAMA 292:927-934.