Cigarette Company Provided Grants For Lung Cancer Study

In a recent report it has been published that the researchers of Weill Cornell Medical College had financial ties with cigarette manufacturer, the Liggett Group.

In a study published in October 2006, Dr. Claudia I. Henschke and Dr. David F. Yankelevitz, of Weill Cornell Medical College had stunned the research world by suggesting that CT scanners were effective in detecting early lung cancer among smokers and former smokers. Thus, CT scans can be used to save nearly 80% of lung cancer deaths.

A recent report published in New York Times says that the study was partially funded by a small charity, the Foundation for Lung Cancer: Early Detection and Treatment.

However, the entire charity money of $3.6 million was given in grants by the parent company of the Liggett Group, maker of Liggett Select, Eve, Grand Prix, Quest and Pyramid cigarette brands.

Since the research was released, the use of CT scans has increased all around the globe, thus benefiting many CT scanner manufacturers.

It has also been revealed that the researchers received royalty payments on imaging patents Cornell licensed to General Electric, a maker of CT scanners.

However Cornell's dean, Dr. Antonio Gotto denied any such reports and said, "The claim that we set this foundation up in order to cover up the money just isn't true. We made a public announcement that we were taking the money from the tobacco company."

The Boston-based New England Journal, which published the research, said that it is now reviewing both the grants received by the researchers.

"We have recently become aware of the source of the funding, which was not disclosed by the authors at the time of publication, and are reviewing both matters," spokeswoman Karen Pederson said.

Some experts are suggesting that this information was intentionally kept away from the public.

However, an obvious question arises here. What will a tobacco company gain by funding such a research?

One probable explanation to this can be that they want people to believe that lung cancer is not as bad as everybody thinks. And that, it can be cured in large number of cases by scanning process, so the smokers need not worry about cancer. This increases or at least stops the decline in the sales of cigarettes.

Dr. John Niederhuber, Director of the National Cancer Institute, commenting on the case said that the scientists must maintain the trust of patients in research studies, and "any breach of that trust is not simply disappointing but, unacceptable.