HOW INDUSTRY HID TRUTH ABOUT SECONDHAND SMOKE [05/11]

Newly-revealed secret documents show just how far the tobacco industry went to try to conceal from the public the dangers of secondhand tobacco smoke.

Here are excerpts from a recent report by the Washington Post:

Tobacco giant Philip Morris systematically wooed scientists who might help the company counter the growing consensus on the health risks of secondhand tobacco smoke and "keep the controversy alive," according to a 1988 internal tobacco company document.

The British American Tobacco Company memo, obtained by The Washington Post, laid out in great detail Philip Morris's presentation at a February 1988 conference of its global strategy for dealing with environmental tobacco smoke. The company was "spending vast sums of money" to find scientists amenable to its cause and funding research by them, the memo said.

According to the memo, Philip Morris said the company vetted the resumes of scientists with "no previous connection with tobacco companies" to ensure that "obvious 'anti-smokers' or those with 'unsuitable backgrounds' are filtered out." Scientists who agreed to review material on secondhand smoke and seemed promising were contacted by a Philip Morris scientist about the company funding their research; proposals "apparently would be 'filtered' by lawyers to eliminate areas of sensitivity," the memo said.

The chosen scientists "should be able to produce research or stimulate controversy" that could be used to advantage by "public affairs people in the relevant countries," the memo said. The global campaign was coordinated by the Washington law firm Covington & Burling.

The British American Tobacco representative expressed misgivings about the "somewhat questionable" Philip Morris strategy, saying the "excessive involvement of external lawyers at this very basic scientific level" is "likely to frighten off a number of scientists."

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