{"id":96984,"date":"2017-08-14T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-14T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=96984"},"modified":"2017-08-13T13:49:27","modified_gmt":"2017-08-13T12:49:27","slug":"new-documents-prove-mainstream-pro-monsanto-article-was-actually-written-by-monsanto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/08\/new-documents-prove-mainstream-pro-monsanto-article-was-actually-written-by-monsanto\/","title":{"rendered":"New Documents Prove Mainstream Pro-Monsanto Article Was Actually Written by Monsanto"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

10 Aug 2017<\/em>\u2014 According to documents recently released amid a lawsuit against Monsanto regarding the safety of glyphosate, a widely used herbicide, a prominent academic from Stanford University allowed the agrochemical giant to pen an op-ed in his name. It was subsequently published in\u00a0Forbes\u00a0<\/em>magazine.<\/p>\n

Henry I. Miller,\u00a0a Robert Wesson Fellow in Scientific Philosophy and Public Policy at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, has\u00a0long been an ally<\/a>\u00a0of large agricultural companies, as well as the tobacco industry.<\/p>\n

In 2015, shortly after the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a branch of the World Health Organization, ruled that glyphosate was a \u201cprobable carcinogen,\u201d an\u00a0email<\/a>\u00a0sent to Miller by\u00a0Eric Sachs<\/a>, a Science, Technology & Outreach Lead at Monsanto, invited him to write about the decision:<\/p>\n

\u201cHenry,<\/em><\/p>\n

Are you interested in writing more on the topic of the IARC panel, its process and controversial decision? I have background and can provide information if needed. The outcome is embargoed but will be communicated as early as next week.<\/em><\/p>\n

Eric<\/em>\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This brief email not only established that Miller and Sachs had previously interacted, but that the company was directly asking Miller to comment on the IARC decision.<\/p>\n

Miller\u2019s response reveals his complicity and willingness to let Monsanto control the narrative:<\/p>\n

\u201cI would be if I could start from a high-quality draft<\/em>,\u201d he responded, adding that he was \u201cinundated with projects<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a draft nearly done and will send to you by tomorrow,\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sachs responded, and just hours later, sends over a draft.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHere is our draft\u2026It\u2019s still quite rough\u2026 but a good start for your magic<\/em>\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

he wrote.<\/p>\n

Miller eventually passed this draft on to\u00a0Forbes<\/em>\u00a0without disclosing that Monsanto had written the bulk of it. When\u00a0Forbes<\/em>\u00a0learned of his 2015 arrangement this month, they removed the article, though\u00a0CBS\u00a0<\/em>published<\/a>\u00a0a\u00a0PDF version<\/a>\u00a0of most of its contents.<\/p>\n

In the article, Miller cautioned against trusting any U.N. agency. He argued that the EPA and ECHA (European Chemical Agency) had\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0previously found these active ingredients to be likely carcinogens (unsurprisingly, the agrochemical has\u00a0influenced<\/a>\u00a0these agencies and, in the case of the EPA, Monsanto\u2019s own research has been\u00a0used to approve<\/a>\u00a0glyphosate products).<\/p>\n

After discussing the difference between \u201chazard\u201d and \u201charm,\u201d Miller argued that<\/p>\n

\u201cthe reality is that glyphosate is not a human health risk even at levels of exposure that are even 100 times higher than the human exposures that occur under conditions consistent with the product\u2019s labeling<\/em>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, mounting\u00a0research<\/a>\u00a0disputes his assertion, as do\u00a0plaintiffs<\/a>\u00a0in multiple suits of\u00a0workers exposed<\/a>\u00a0to the chemical who eventually developed cancer.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time Monsanto has\u00a0attempted to influence<\/a>\u00a0the media and scientific research.<\/p>\n

According to other leaked internal emails exchanged about a month before the IARC decision in 2015, Monsanto\u00a0Product Safety Assessment Strategy Lead\u00a0William Heydens<\/a>\u00a0discussed ghost-writing research and having academics put their names on it. Addressing toxicologist\u00a0Donna Farmer<\/a>\u00a0in an\u00a0email<\/a>\u00a0titled \u201cIARC planning,\u201d Heydens wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cAn option would be to add Greim and Kier or Kirkland to have their names on the publication, but we would be keeping the cost down by us doing the writing and they would just edit & sign their names so to speak. Recall that is how we handled Williams Kroes & Munro, 2000<\/em>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Monsanto has vehemently\u00a0denied<\/a>\u00a0that this email proves they ghost-wrote the Williams, Kroes, and Munro article, claiming it was taken out of context.<\/p>\n

But that email is far from their only indicator that they have\u00a0attempted<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0influence<\/a>\u00a0the conversation surrounding their products. Even so,\u00a0Monsanto is far from the only powerful conglomerate to attempt to exert control over narratives, scientific research, and government agencies. Companies like\u00a0Coca Cola<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Pepsi<\/a>\u00a0have also backed academic studies and \u201chealth groups<\/a>,\u201d and pharmaceutical companies also\u00a0influence<\/a>\u00a0research, which governmental agencies often use to approve their products.<\/p>\n

All the while, as their misleading practices are exposed, they continue to suspend reality in the hopes of convincing others their backroom dealings are legitimate. As Monsanto VP of global strategy Scott Partridge\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0after Miller was exposed:<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a collaborative effort, a function of the outrage we were hearing from many people on the attacks on glyphosate. This is not a scientific, peer-reviewed journal. It\u2019s an op-ed we collaborated with him on<\/em>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

__________________________________________<\/p>\n

Creative Commons<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 theantimedia.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

10 Aug 2017\u2014 According to documents recently released amid a lawsuit against Monsanto regarding the safety of glyphosate, a widely used herbicide, a prominent academic from Stanford University allowed the agrochemical giant to pen an op-ed in his name. It was subsequently published in Forbes magazine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-organic-gmo-genetic-engineering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96984\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}