Comparison of competing interest disclosure with information from internal tobacco industry documents and other sources
| Disclosure published in BMJ that met BMJ’s standards | Findings from tobacco industry documents and other sources that go beyond what was required by BMJ |
|---|---|
| “The American Cancer Society (ACS) initiated CPS-I in 1959, conducted follow up until 1972, and has maintained the original database” | ACS epidemiologists repeatedly cautioned Enstrom before he began the study that the CPS-I dataset was not appropriate to investigate the effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS)21 |
| “Extended follow up until 1997 was conducted at the University of California at Los Angeles with initial support from the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, a University of California research organisation funded by the Proposition 99 cigarette surtax. After continuing support from the Tobacco-Related Disease Research program was denied, | Dr Enstrom’s application for continued funding from the California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program was not funded because it had inadequate scientific merit in a year when the program’s budget was drastically reduced.22 |
| follow up through 1999 and data analysis were conducted at University of California at Los Angeles with support from the Center for Indoor Air Research, a 1988–99 research organisation that receive funding primarily from US tobacco companies” | The Center for Indoor Air Research funded grants that were peer reviewed by scientists and “special projects” that were reviewed by tobacco industry lawyers and executives.38 The CPS-I analysis was funded through the same mechanism as the special projects |
| “In recent years JEE has received funds originating from the tobacco industry for his tobacco related epidemiological research because it has been impossible for him to obtain equivalent funds from other sources” | JEE sought research funding from the tobacco industry beginning in 1975 and received his first funding in 1992. He has also received funding for serving as an expert witness, reviewing dissertation and grant proposals |
| “GCK never received funds originating from the tobacco industry until last year, when he conducted an epidemiological review for a law firm which has several tobacco companies as clients. He has served as a consultant to the University of California at Los Angeles for this paper” | GCK has had an ongoing indirect relationship with the tobacco industry since at least 1981 though his collaborations with Ernst Wynder whose American Health Foundation was funded by Philip Morris. |
| “JEE and GCK have no other competing interests. They are both lifelong non-smokers whose primary interest is an accurate determination of the health effects of tobacco.” | The analysis of the CPS-I dataset was also funded by Philip Morris tobacco company and this was not disclosed |