Cigarette Company Paid for Lung Cancer Study

In 2006, cancer researchers were jolted by a controversial new study claiming that 80 percent of lung cancer deaths could be prevented through widespread use of CT scans.
Small print in the study noted that it had been financed in part by a little-known charity called “The Foundation for Lung Cancer: Early Detection, Prevention & Treatment.” But a recent review of tax records showed that the foundation was underwritten almost entirely by $3.6 million in grants from the makers of the Liggett Select, Eve, Grand Prix, Quest and Pyramid cigarette brands.

Prominent cancer researchers and journal editors were stunned to learn of the association. Critics are now questioning the validity of the study, including its survival projections and its assumption that all lung cancer patients who were diagnosed by screening would have died without it.


Sources:

* New York Times March 26, 2008