Pro-Tobacco Writer Admits He Should Have Declared An Interest

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Pro-Tobacco Writer Admits He Should Have Declared An Interest

Date: 01 Feb 2002 (est.)
Length: 2 pages
2085783334A-2085783335
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Abstract

This article (estimated date 1 February 2002) exposes a British philosophy professor Roger Scruton for receiving pay from Japan Tobacco Incorporated (JTI) for writing pro-smoking articles and placing them in prestigious newspapers and international magazines. Mr. Scruton was known for writing articles that foretold the coming of "the nanny state" and criticized public health authorities for attempts to regulate tobacco. One 1998 article, A Snort of Derision At Society, claimed that laws requiring people to wear seat belts in cars also caused them to drive faster, thus nullifying any apparent boost in safety created by the law. http://tobaccodocuments.org/pm/2064822424-2426.html

In another article, Scruton extolled "the benefits of risk taking" and said,

"The average smoker gains mental relaxation, social confidence and an easy form of hospitality from his habit: are these not parts of health? And are we necessarily right to trade them for a few extra years of life, when most of us live too long in any case?" (Wall Street Journal, 9 Feb. 1998) http://tobaccodocuments.org/pm/2081322888.html

The relationship between Mr. Scruton (formerly a "professor of aesthetics" at Birkbeck College in London) and JTI was exposed when the English paper the Guardian published a leaked email Mr. Scruton wrote to the company. In the email, Mr. Scruton (who had been receiving a monthly retainer of 4500 British pounds, about $6,300 U.S. dollars) from JTI, asked for a pay increase to place more pro-tobacco articles in prominent publications like the Wall Street Journal, the Times, the Telegraph, the Spectator, the Financial Times, the Economist, the Independent, and the New Statesman. A search of the term "SCRUTON" in the industry databases reveals Scruton's publications supporting the tobacco industry.

Fields

Notes

Thanks to Professor James Katz of Rutgers University, New Jersey (USA) for bringing Doc-Alert's attention to the exploits of Mr. Scruton.

Quotes

Pro-tobacco writer admits he should have declared an interest

Zosia Kmictowicz, Annabel Ferriman, London

Writer and philospher Roger Scruton, who was discovered last week to be on the payroll of a large tobacco company, admitted that he should have "declared an interest" when he wrote a pamphlet attacking the World Health Organization for its campaign against tobacco.

He told the BMJ [British Medical Journal]: "Our firm had a consultancy [with Japan Tobacco Industries] at that time. I was asked independently to do this [write the pamphlet]. I did not want to mix it up with the consultancy, but looking back I should have declared an interest."

...In his pamphlet, "WHO, What and Why," Mr. Scruton attacked the WHO for tackling tobacco when in his view it should have been concentrating on vaccination campaigns and diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS. His attack was immediately repeated in articles in the Wall Street Journal, the Times, and the Scotsman, in what looked like a concerted pro-tobacco campaign...

...The news that Mr. Scruton, who used to be a professor of aesthetics at Birkbeck College, London, had been receiving a monthly fee from Japan Tobacco Industries, was revealed in the Guardian last week when it published a leaked email from him to the company (24 January, p.1).

In the email, Mr. Scuton, who had been receiving a monthly retainer fee of 4500 Pounds ($6300), asked for a 1,000 Pound a month pay rise to place more pro-smoking articles in prestigious newspapers and international magazines. He declared the amount to be "good value for money in a business largely conducted by shysters and sharks."

He said that he would aim to place an article every two months in one or other of the Wall Street Journal, the Times, the Telegraph, the Spectator, the Financial Times, the Economist, the Indepdendent, and the New Statesman.

The email, which was sent last October in the name of Sophie, Mr. Scruton's wife and business partner, reveals a far-reaching and ambitious public relations strategy to make smoking seem less harmful than it is and criticise government policies on advertising as an attack on civil liberties.

Company

Philip Morris

Author

Ferriman, A.

Kmietowicz, Z.

Region

United Kingdom

Named Organization

Action on Smoking and Health, US

Plaintiff

Birkbeck College

BMJ, British Medical Journal

Economist

Financial Times

Guardian

Independent

Inst of Economic Affairs

Japan Tobacco Industries

Mcdonalds

New Statesman

Scotsman

Spectator

Telegraph

Times

Univ of Surrey

Wall Street Journal

World Health Organization (Concerned with global public health)

International organization concered with public health worldwide

Named Person

Bates, Clive (ASH UK Director )

Hurwitz, E.

Robinson, C.

Scruton, R.

Xxsophie

Type

COMP, COMPUTER PRINTOUT

NEWS, NEWS ARTICLE

Litigation

FEDA/Produced

Subject

Document Images

Page 1: rce20c00

Pro-tobacco writer admits he should have declared an interest Zosia Kmietowicz, Annabel Ferriman, London Writer and philosopher Roger Scruton, who was discovered last week to be on the payroll of a large tobacco company, has adniitted that he should have "declared an interest" when he wrote a pamphlet attacking the World Health Organization for its campaign against tobacco. He told the BMJ: "Our firm had a consultancy [with Japan Tobacco Industries] at that time. I was asked independently to do this [write the pamphlet]. I did not want to mix it up with the consultancy, but looking back I should have declared an interest." As a result of Mr Scruton's fall from grace last week, when his financial connections to Japan Tobacco Industries were revealed, the Institute of Economic Affairs the free- market think tank that published the pamphlet attacking the WHO has conceded that it nceds an author's declaration policy. Colin Robinson, the institute's editorial director and a professor of economics at the University of Surrey, said that the past few days had represented something of a steep learning curve for those in the field of social science academia. "In the past we have relied on our authors to come forward with any competing interests, but that is going to change," said Professor Robinson. "In scientific publishing I suppose this sort of thing has been a problem before, but the news of Roger Scruton has made us realise that this kind of thing can happen to us too, and we are developing a policy to ensure it doesn't happen again." In his pamphlet, WHO, What and WAy, Mr Scruton attacked the WHO for tackling tobacco when in his view it should have been concentrating on vaccination campaigns and diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS. His attack was immediately repeated in articles in the Wall Street Journal, the Times, and the Scotsman, in what looked like a concerted pro-tobacco campaign (BMJ2000;320:1482[Full Text] </cg / jlink? linkType=FULL&iournalCode=bmj&resid=320/7247/ 1482>). Clive Bates, director of the antismoking campaign group Action on Smoking and Health, criticised the institute over its poor track record and said that a policy for authors to declare their financial and other interests was long overdue.

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2085783335 The news that Mr Scruton, who used to be a professor of aesthetics at Birkbeck College, London, had been receiving a monthly fee from Japan Tobacco Industries was revealed in the Guardian last week when it published a leaked email from him to the company (24 January, p 1). In the email, Mr Scruton, who had been receiving a monthly retainer fee of £4500 ($6300; 7300), asked for a£ 1000 a month pay rise to place more pro- smoking articles in prestigious newspapers and international magazines. He declared the amount to be "good value for money in a business largely conducted by shysters and sharks." He said that he would aim to place an article every two months in one or other of the Wall Street Journal, the Times, the Telegraph, the Spectator, the Financial Times, the Economist, the Independent, and the New Statesman. The email, which was sent last October in the name of Sophie, Mr Scruton's wife and business partner, reveals a far-reaching and ambitious public relations strategy to make smoking seem less harmful than it is and criticise government policies on advertising as an attack on civil liberties. It says: "I personally would like to see more explicit mention of other products open to the same criticisms as tobacco and which ought to be of equal concern to the WHO. For example, fast-food of the McDonald's variety, which seems to be addictive, is aimed at the young, is a serious risk to health, with a worse effect on life- expectancy than cigarettes, and unlike cigarettes, has a seriously corrosive effect on social relations and family life." Last week, following the revelations, the Financial Times ended Scruton's contract as a columnist. Mr Scruton told the BMJ "The pamphlet for the Institute of Economic Affairs arose out of my longstanding concerns about the way in which legislative powers are being transferred from sovereign bodies to unaccountable transnational institutions. "The pamphlet is a review of arguments and not concerned to exonerate tobacco from the accusation that it is a risky product. In retrospect, however, I now see that I should have declared an interest." Tracking: Recipient Read Hurwitz, Even Read: 2/1l2002 10:24 AM 2

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