RightOnCanada.ca

February 10, 2012

Dr. David Eidelman, Vice-Principal (Health Affairs) and Dean of Medicine

McGill University

Dear Dr Eidelman:

In October 2002, Dr David Egilman made a complaint to McGill alleging scientific misconduct by Prof. J.C. McDonald. McGill dismissed the complaint in two brief paragraphs in a letter of January 2004 with no full, transparent investigation, such as is now required by McGill’s “Regulations Concerning Investigation of Research Misconduct” http://www.mcgill.ca/files/secretariat/Research-Misconduct-Regulations-Concerning-Investigation-of.pdf.

We hereby request that McGill carry out a thorough, independent and transparent investigation of the complaint below. Names of additional signers of the complaint will be forwarded to you in the coming days.

It is, in our opinion, critical, if McGill wishes to uphold a reputation for integrity, that this time, unlike the previous time, a proper, independent investigation be done. We wish to make no reflection on the personal ethics of Prof. Rebecca Fuhrer, but she is, in our opinion, in a conflict of interest situation and is not an appropriate appointment, because of her connection to those involved. Prof. McDonald is a Past Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and is still today a Prof. Emeritus of the Department of Epidemiology, of which Prof. Fuhrer is Chair. It is our understanding that colleagues of Prof. Fuhrer were involved in the research in question or are related to Prof. McDonald by family ties.

We are also concerned that your public statements show bias and misrepresent the issue in question, making an internal investigation suspect. You stated to media that complaints into McDonald’s research have been investigated by McGill in the past and those complaints were “found to be baseless”. That earlier investigation, however, as we have stated, was superficial and failed minimal standards of investigation. With regard to an enquiry by Prof. Fuhrer, you further stated that you expected that “we are unlikely to find anything this time either.” You also state that you expect Prof. Fuhrer’s review to be completed next week. Given the serious nature of the concerns raised, this does not indicate a credible review.

In your statement appointing Prof. Fuhrer, you state that “Without prejudicing the review of Prof. Fuhrer, I would like to provide some context on Prof. McDonald’s research.” You then provide an apologia for Prof. McDonald’s research. You state that Prof. McDonald “is widely considered a pioneer in the demonstration of the health hazards of asbestos”. With respect, Prof. McDonald is widely considered around the world to be a denier of the health hazards of chrysotile asbestos and a promoter of its use. It should be noted that chrysotile asbestos, the asbestos exported by Quebec, represents 95% of all asbestos ever sold in the world and 100% of the asbestos trade for the past two decades.

The Quebec asbestos industry, which funded McDonald’s research, stated in its minutes that it was seeking research that would show that while high levels of exposure to chrysotile asbestos caused harm to health, lower levels of exposure and “controlled use” of chrysotile asbestos posed no risk at all. This is what McDonald’s research showed and, using his research and his McGill title, Prof. McDonald gave critical political support to the asbestos industry, arguing before a Brazilian Parliamentary Commission against a Bill to ban asbestos; testifying at hearings of the US Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) that exposure to between 5 f/cc and 9 f/cc was safe for health (while categorically stating in his evidence that he had no association with the asbestos industry); and testifying at a World Trade Organization Tribunal that countries should not have the right to ban chrysotile asbestos. The Quebec asbestos lobby continues today to cite McDonald’s research as evidence that exposure to levels of chrysotile asbestos fibre, two hundred times higher than permitted in Europe, the US and most of Canada, will cause no harm to health.

We profoundly hope that you will accept our request for a thorough, independent and transparent investigation of the complaint below.

Sincerely,

Prof. Fernand Turcotte, Professor Emeritus of Public Health & Preventive Medicine; Prof. David Egliman, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine; Kathleen Ruff, Senior Human Rights Adviser, Rideau Institute

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February 10, 2012

COMPLAINT FILED WITH McGILL UNIVERSITY BY THE SIGNERS BELOW

We call on McGill University to carry out a thorough, independent and transparent investigation of the allegation that the Quebec asbestos industry had improper influence over the epidemiological research carried out by Prof. J. C. McDonald and his unit at McGill; that the research is flawed, lacks transparency and contains manipulated data; that requests for the study data to be released have been refused; that the research minimalized the threat to health posed by chrysotile asbestos; and that Prof. McDonald and others at times denied that the asbestos industry was funding the research.

DR FERNAND TURCOTTE, MD, MPH, FRCPC, Professor Emeritus of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Québec

DR DAVID EGILMAN, MD, MPH, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Brown University; President, Global Health Through Education Service & Training, Massachusetts, USA

KATHLEEN RUFF, Senior Human Rights Adviser, Rideau Institute; Recipient of National Public Health Hero award 2011 by Canadian Public Health Association for exposing the continuing deceptive misinformation of the asbestos industry

DR SANJAY CHATURVEDI, MD, FAMS, FIPHA, FIAPSM, Professor & Head, Dept. of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Delhi, India

DR ANNIE J SASCO, MD, MPH, SM, DrPH, Epidemiology for Cancer Prevention, Team of HIV, Cancer and Global Health; prior Unit Chief, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC); prior Acting Chief, Programme for Cancer Control, World Health Organization (WHO); Fellow, Collegium Ramazzini; Directrice de Recherche, Institut National de le Santé et de La Recherche Médicale U 897, Bordeaux Segalen University, France

RICHARD A. LEMEN, Ph.D., Assistant Surgeon General, U. S. (ret.) & Former Deputy and Acting Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, USA

DR YV BONNIER VIGER, MD, MSc, MM, FRCPC; Directeur du Département de médecine sociale et préventive de l’Université Laval; Président de l’Association des médecins spécialistes en santé communautaire du Québec

DR JEAN ZIGBY, MD, Family Physician, Palliative Care Specialist; President, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

DR PIERRE GOSSELIN, MD, MPH, Professeur adjoint de clinique, Département de médecine sociale et préventive, Faculté de médecine, Université Laval, Québec

DR TUSHAR KANT JOSHI, BSc. MBBS, MSc. Occ. Medicine; DLSHTM Occ. Health; FFOM; Fellow Collegium Ramazzini; Director, Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi; formerly National Consultant Occupational Health, WHO India

EDWARD W. KEYSERLINGK, LLM, PhD, Professor of Medical Ethics & Health Law (retired), Faculty of Medicine, McGill University; former member, Law Reform Commission of Canada; formerly the Public Service Integrity Officer, Government of Canada

DR KAPIL KHATTER, MD, CCFP, MES, Past President, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Ottawa, Canada

DR BRUCE P. LANPHEAR, MD, MPH, Clinician Scientist, Child & Family Research Institute, BC Children’s Hospital and Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC

PROFESSOR MOHAMED F. JEEBHAY, MBChB PhD, Occupational Medicine Specialist; Associate Director – Occupational Health Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health Research, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa

FERNANDA GIANNASI, Civil and Health and Safety Engineer; Labour Inspector, Brazilian Federal Ministry of Labor and Employment; General Manager, State Program on Asbestos of the Regional Superintendence of Labor and Employment, State of São Paulo, Brazil

DR DONNA E. MAZIAK, MDCM, MSc, FRCSC, FACS, Professor, University of Ottawa, Program Director, Division of Thoracic Surgery, Ottawa Hospital – General Division, Ontario

DR DAVID OZONOFF, MD, MPH, Professor of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, USA

DR HELENO RODRIGUES CORRÊA FILHO, MD, DrPH, Epidemiologist; Professor, UNICAMP, Faculty Of Medical Sciences, Department Of Collective Health, Brazil

DR JOHN CHO, MD, PhD, FRCP(C), Radiation Oncologist, Radiation Medicine Program, University Health Network; Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Ontario

CELESTE MONFORTON, DrPH, MPH, Professorial Lecturer, Dept of Environmental & Occupational Health, School of Public Health & Health Services, George Washington University, USA

DR. FRANCO BERRINO, Department of Preventive & Predictive Medicine, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy

JERRY M. SPIEGEL, MA, MSc, PhD, Director, Global Health Research Program, Liu Institute for Global Issues, Associate Professor, School of Population & Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

DR ANNALEE YASSI, MD, MSc, FRCPC, Canada Research Chair, Professor, School of Population & Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

DR TIM K. TAKARO, MD, MPH, MS, Associate Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia

PROFESSOR JONNY MYERS, Director, Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health Research, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, Health Science Faculty, University of Cape Town, South Africa

DR ROBERT D. WINSTON, MD, FRCPC, FACP, Clinical Assistant Professor, UBC Division of Medical Oncology, British Columbia Cancer Agency

MICHELINE BEAUDRY, Ph.D., Professeure retraitée (Université Laval); Responsable, Commission santé, conditions de vie et services sociaux, Québec Solidaire, Québec

PROFESSOR CRAIG SLATIN, Sc.D., MPH, Department of Community Health and Sustainability, University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA

GUADALUPE AGUILAR MADRID, PhD, Unidad de Investigación en Salud en el Trabajo, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI.IMSS, México

MICHAEL BYERS, LLB, PhD, Professor & Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law, University of British Columbia

STEPHEN RICHER, PhD, Professor Emeritus Sociology, Carlteon University, Ottawa

DR LIAM A. MULROY, MD, FRCPC, Radiation Oncologist, Nova Scotia Cancer Center; Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia

DR JOHN R. KEYSERLINGK, MD, MSc, FRCS , FACS, Surgical Oncologist, St Mary’s Hospital & Hôpital du Sacré Coeur; Director, Ville Marie Oncology Center, Montréal

DR ÉRIC NOTEBAERT, MD, MSc, Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Montreal, Quebec; Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment

DR THOMAS H. GASSERT, MD, Visiting Scientist in Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Harvard School of Public Health; Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA

PROFESSOR MOHAMED F. JEEBHAY, MBChB PhD, Occupational Medicine Specialist; Associate Director – Occupational Health Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health Research, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa

NOTE: Institutions named for identification purposes only