Duke Accepts Tobacco Research Grant from Philip Morris
Duke University has accepted a $15-million grant from tobacco giant
Philip Morris USA to research ways to help smokers quit, the Raleigh
News & Observer reported June 19.
"We were cautious in considering whether to accept this grant
or not. We would not want to be part of any whitewash effort,"
said R. Sanders Williams, dean of the Duke medical school.
The university accepted the funds despite pleas from the American
Medical Association and researchers to refuse grants from cigarette
makers because the money comes from the sales of addictive and deadly
products.
But officials with Duke said the money would allow expanded research
into an area that doesn't receive much funding. "The best way
I can contribute to reducing disease and death from smoking is to
devise new quitting methods. That's desperately needed," said
Duke scientist Jed Rose, who heads the new Center for Nicotine and
Smoking Cessation Research at Duke Medical Center.
The grant will support three smoking-cessation research areas in
Raleigh, Charlotte, and Winston-Salem, N.C.
Adam Goldstein, associate professor of family medicine at the University
of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, questions the intent of the grant.
"This cannot be ultimately good for public health, no matter
the legitimacy of any science," he said. "The industry
is not interested in science, only success in the marketplace." |
