Further on the spinning of the Interphone cellphone studies
The following from Frans van Velden on the latest German Interphone ‘glioma’ study (not to be confused with the British study, mentioned previously) again illustrates what can happen when the cell phone industry has a ‘guiding’ hand in research funding. It doesn’t necessarily mean outright fraudulent research but it does mean the Telcos have a strong influence on the researcher’s wording of the press releases that are then used by the industry PR flaks , such as Angus TeleManagement Group Inc., who spun up: “STUDY SEES NO CELLPHONE CANCER RISK: A study published in the British Medical Journal finds no link between cellphone use and increased frequency of brain tumours.”
As long as the Telcos hold the purse strings for cell phone research, researchers (and universities) know that if they want further feeding at the industry’s research $$$$ trough, they must ‘play the game’ and discount any positive findings that they may find. It’s okay to have the truth buried in the body of the published report, as the media never bothers to read all that stuff anyway, but any positive findings must be countered by dismissive wording in abstracts / press releases. By the time the limitations of the studies and actual findings are apparent, the world media has already run with the story – using the dismissive versions previously circulated to the media by the doctors of spin – effectively ‘keeping the lid’ on the issue. Note for example the dismissive statement below by the Bielefeld University which states: “mobile phone use does not increase the risk of brain tumours.” Manna from heaven for the Mobile Manufacturer’s Forum and their partners in crime!
Don
From Frans van Velden:
Here is the link to the press release (in German)
http://idw-online.de/pages/de/news144621
Regards, Frans
German Interphone study finds increased risk after ten years of mobile phone use
The Interphone study in Germany has found a double risk of glioma after more than ten years of mobile phone use. The group of long-term users was relatively small and part of them has been using the 450 MHz analogue system too. The elevated risk can be the result of a statistical deficiency or an unknown cause. Therefore a press release of Bielefeld University says, mobile phone use does not increase the risk of brain tumours. However, the elevated risk is remarkable, because it is most plausible in the group of long-term users, according to the press release.
Two Interphone studies in Great Britain found elevated risks of acoustic neuroma and glioma. In both cases press releases did not mention an elevated risk. The European Interphone studies are done in 13 countries. The studies are financed partially by the Mobile Manufacturer’s Forum and the GSM Association. The German study was partially paid by the Mobilfunkforschungsprogramm of the Bundesregierung, two ministries and Mainz University. The German study was conducted by J. Schüz of the Institute of Cancer Epidemiology in Copenhagen, Denmarkt. He was also involved in the Danish Interphone study.
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