Tobacco company should have manipulated study data

The US tobacco producer Philip Morris is said to have manipulated studies

12/21/2011

For years, critics have accused the tobacco lobby of manipulating studies to downplay the health hazards of tobacco. While the hazards of the neurotoxin nicotine, tar, arsenic, lead, cadmium and formaldehyde are clearly proven, manufacturers claim again and again that in the case of additives such as e.g. Menthol, moisturizers or preservatives are relatively non-hazardous and refer to self-initiated studies. But scientists throw among other things, the corporation „Philip Morris“ to positively reinterpret negative study data to downplay consumer dangers.

Add additives to toxicity?
A cigarette contains far more substances than nicotine or tar. Depending on the make and type, additional substances are mixed in, for example, to change the taste or to make the product more durable. It is with these additives that a sharp discussion has developed between lobbyists and opponents. In the debate, the tobacco opponents now accuse the tobacco company of deliberately downplaying negative study results in public.

What are the health risks of additives such as menthol or moisturizers in tobacco products? The lobby claims that the dangers are negligible or nonexistent. The substances would not contribute significantly to the toxicity of the cigarette, so the main argument of the industry. But a scientific research team from several countries says the opposite: in truth, the substances contribute greatly to the toxicity of the ingredients. In contrast, the tobacco lobby says the allegations are factually wrong and refers to some student research in this area. The answer of the scientists in the journal "PLoS Medicine": The company Philip Morris had manipulated data targeted and downplayed the health hazards.

Additional danger to health
Scientific authors have evaluated in the journal "PLoS Medicine" the study data of formerly secret data of the tobacco industry. Because several people suffering from lung disease, liability claims against the manufacturer in the US started, the Group had to disclose the documents. The researchers analyzed the paper and the results of Philip Morris' analysis of exactly 333 additives. The tests showed that the substances themselves numerous „negative biological consequences“ produce, as the authors of the new data evaluation write. The added substances increase the proportion of cancerous substances in 15 chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and formaldehyde by at least one fifth, as Stanton Glantz of the University of California writes in San Francisco. This refutes that the conclusion of the tobacco lobby is wrong, the substances would not contribute significantly to the toxicity of the smoke.

Content of chemical substances is increased
The evaluations of the researchers have shown that the added additives have an extremely toxic effect and further endanger the health of the consumer. Thus, the content of chemical substances such as cadmium, lead, formaldehyde and lead is often increased by a fifth, depending on the amount and substance added. For some substances, the increase in content was even higher.

Have scientific standards been disregarded?
The further allegations mean in the truest sense of the word „hard tobacco“: The intragroup titled study called „Project MIX“ On behalf of the company many scientific standards have been handled, as the doctor and researcher Thomas Kyriss writes. Kyriss is also one of the study authors and participated in the evaluation. As an example, the doctor mentioned that the number of laboratory animals in the test series was considered too low. In addition, be „subsequent changes to the analysis protocols“ been made. The physician is a specialist in lung surgery and works at the Clinic Schillerhöhe near Stuttgart. In addition, the subsequent statistical analysis of the study was critical.

„Conscious manipulations and deceptions“
The physician also accuses the manufacturer Philip Morris to have deliberately manipulated and deceived. For the first time, it has now been succeeded, the charge that has been made by critics for years to corroborate through the study evaluation in the context of additives. According to the expert, the tobacco company downplayed the dangerous effects of the additional additives added to influence public opinion, especially in the US.

Another critical circumstance is the publication medium in which the results of the study of the company were published. The researchers of the current evaluation accuse the journal an indirect proximity to the tobacco industry. A publisher of the magazine as well as 11 members of the editorial advisory board would have contacts to the tobacco manufacturers, according to the research team. Therefore, according to critics independent experts, health and regulatory authorities should publish published studies on this topic „do not take so seriously what researchers of the tobacco industry present as research results.“

Data are limited
However, the research consortium points out that the current study should also be viewed in a limited way. Because in the current analysis, only the data could be used, which had to be disclosed by the lawsuits. Experts face further questions in this context. For example: „Why were only these additives investigated and others left out??“ And: „Why was the sample size chosen so low??“ The critics are calling on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use all legal options as quickly as possible in order to claim more documents from the industry.

German cancer researchers call for amendment of the Tobacco Ordinance
Health experts were pleased with the outcome of the study. The data would help to change the tobacco regulation. So stressed Dr. Martina Pötschke-Langer of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg that the study evaluation has now proven that the manufacturers "conscious changes in the data analysis and evaluation of the study results“ make. Already the scientific logic of „Toxicology says the added additives are harmful to health when burned. The tobacco regulation must therefore be fundamentally changed. "The debate has also spurred politics for some time now: a few weeks ago, health expert Johannes Singhammer (CSU) announced after a meeting with EU Health Commissioner John Dalli that the additives and their effects had to be re-examined Thus, smokers should be made aware of the far greater dangers and be encouraged to quit smoking.

Data was found on the internet?
The attacked tobacco company Philip Morris rejected in a statement all allegations. The researchers had only incomplete data available that they had found on the Internet. Finally, the original investigation has shown that additional substances in tobacco do not increase the harmful effects. The recent study could not refute this result. The group additionally claims that other experts „comprehensive studies“ arrived at the same result.

Heavy health effects from tobacco consumption
The most common consequence of years of cigarette habit is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (smoker's lung). According to estimates of the Hannover Medical School (MHH) around five million people in Germany suffer from the severe lung disease, which manifests itself at the beginning with smoker's cough and breathing difficulties. One in eight German over 40 years of age suffers from the MHH at the COPD. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is the fourth highest death rate worldwide. At the end of the disease there is a painful suffocation due to the lack of function of the lungs. (Sb)

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Picture credits: Thorsten Freyer