Junk science

To the list of junk mail and junk food, add one other offering of the modern world, one more thing that has form but lacks substance: junk science.

But where junk mail may be irritating and junk food may offer empty calories, junk science is impacting public policy and costing society in incalculable ways, according to a panel that discussed the topic at a conference sponsored by the National Consumers League recently in Orlando, Fla.We are bombarded almost daily with new claims, new reports, new studies, sometimes even conflicting evidence, said Mary Heslin, former director of public policy for the Association of Food and Drug Officials who now works as a business consultant. A lot of it is couched in terms that sound very scientific, she says, but a lot of it is not based on sound scientific principles.

So, what is junk science?

Jerod Loeb, vice president of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and an adjunct professor of physiology at Northwestern University Medical School, calls it "the mirror image of real science."

Steven J. Milloy, executive director of The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition and publisher of the Junk Science Home Page, has an even stronger definition: "Junk science is bad science used by personal injury lawyers to shake down deep-pocket businesses; the `food police' and environmental Chicken Littles to fuel wacky social agendas; power-drunk regulators; cutthroat businesses to attack competitors; and slick politicians and overly ambitious scientists to gain personal fame and fortune."

Consider, for example:

- Headlines and studies compiled by Milloy on his Web site (www.junkscience.com): "Bath ducks face ban in sex change scare," a story about the fact that the toys contain a tiny amount of the chemical phthalate, which some "experts" say could be linked to cancer and sex changes witnessed in fish. "Smog spreading to South Pacific?," a story based on a press release; supporting studies have not been published. "Study says diet pill Redux is less dangerous than believed," an odd study that looks at Redux and heart valve disease when it is fen-phen, not Redux, that was associated with heart valve disease. Redux was reportedly linked with pulmonary hypertension.