In a second report which sent shock waves through the epidemiology community in December, the French newspaper Le Monde published an investigation detailing questionable activities of Paolo Boffetta. The questionable behavior has aroused the opposition of consumer groups opposed to the selection of Boffetta to fill the directorship of the government’s Center for Epidemiology and Public Health. In at least one instance, Le Monde also reported that Boffetta and a colleague Carlo La Vecchia failed to disclose a potential conflict of interest in an article published in the European Journal of Cancer Prevention.

List of Practices

Boffetta’s critics, according to Le Monde, accuse him of consulting for industry and of “reletavizing” or “contesting” the risks linked to various products when there is a large consensus about the risks in the scientific community. Furthermore, Boffetta is accused of changing his position on risks associated with various chemicals after he left his post at the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Among the stances which have been questioned are those Boffetta has taken on dioxin, acrylamide, berylium, formaldehyde, and others.

Irregularities

The episode with the European Journal of Cancer Prevention occurred when Boffetta and La Vecchia published a literature review in the journal while a court appeals process was underway.  The literature review, according to Le Monde, reached conclusions that were supportive of the strategy being used by the company defending itself against the role of asbestos in causing the deaths of aseveral workers. Boffetta had also previously appeared in court on behalf of the company’s defense.

Further suspicion was raised when it was learned that the literature review article was published in only a matter of days after submission, and that La Vecchia was one of the co-editors of the journal. Also, the co-authors declared they had no conflict of interest.

Letter to Journal

In January, an ad hoc group of scientists and activists wrote to the International Agency for Research on Cancer to complain to the agency that while Boffetta was co-authoring the paper on behalf of IARC he was employed by the company defending itself. They called for a retraction of the no conflict of interest statement. IARC has responded to the complainants that it has informed the editor of the British Journal of Cancer about a non-declared potential conflict of interest of one of the co-authors.

Stakeholders

In another January development, the National Association for the Defense of Asbestos Victims has written to the directors of the agencies of the agencies responsible for France’s Center for Epidemiology and Public Health calling on them to firmly reject Boffetta’s application for the open Director’s position. They allege that his candidature for the position is associated with major conflicts of interest “totally incompatible with carrying out the directorship of the largest French epidemiology center.” The assertions are based on Boffetta’s role as a founder and vice-president of the International Prevention Research Institute, a consulting company which has done work for industry.

Reactions

Reactions to the revelations about Boffetta and La Vecchia have not been the same as those surrounding the Pat Buffler revelations. For example, colleagues interviewed by Le Monde expressed no surprise and shock, but rather appeared to take them as further evidence of problems in the field. Other colleagues reacted by citing multiple other examples of questionable practices always favorable to industry.

Tip of the Iceberg

In statements given to Le Monde, Paoli Vineis, at the Imperial College of London, said that this work is only the tip of the iceberg. All of this is taking place in the context where industry seeks in many domains to contest solid results by creating confusion, for example, by supporting the idea that epidemiology is a weak science in which we should not have confidence, he told Le Monde

Coming at approximately the same time as the revelations about Buffler, which appear to be of a different nature, the revelations about Boffetta and La Vecchia may prompt a response from epidemiology professional groups. For now, the reaction of one epidemiology colleague sums up the situation. He told Le Monde, “It is a huge mess, because Paolo is a magnificent researcher. For sure, he has the right to do what he does. And we, we have the right to no longer have confidence in him.”  ■
 

Reader Comments:
Have a thought or comment on this story ?  Fill out the information below and we'll post it on this page once it's been reviewed by our editors.