Subject: Re NCI Release New Powerline Study (R) Date: Thu, 3 Jul 1997 103138 -0500 (CDT) From: Jan Hoekstra <yankee@cyburban.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <emf-l@mail.llion.org> -------------------------------------------------- Dear Michelle This the last one, I won't bother you . It's just to show that I had some incling of the absurdity of the NYtimes article... Jan At 10:49 PM 7/2/97 -0500, you wrote: >Emrall@aol.com wrote: > >> A new childhood leukemia/powerline study, to be published July 3rd in The >> New England Journal of Medicine, rather than spelling the death knell to EMF >> research that the editorial accompanying the study demands, acknowledges in >> no less than four places, a statistically significant increase in acute >> lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children exposed to powerline magnetic fields >> in excess of 3 mG. > > Wasn't it about a year ago that the New England Journal of Medicine >revealed to us that there was no indication that silicone breast >implants could rightly be implicated in the health problems experienced >by numerous women who had undergone silicone breast implant surgery? >When courts essentially rejected this claim of no fault and awarded >damages to plaintiffs, a representative of New England Journal expressed >outrage that, essentially, the position of this journal was not taken as >the final word in that matter. Those statements were documented in a >film made for Frontline by Jon Palfreman, who also produced the infamous >"Currents of Fear". Briefly, it is my view that the New England Journal >is not deserving of the status which it appears to demand for the simple >reason that its editorial position seems altogether too responsive to >political considerations and is clearly prepared to present the kinds of >half-truths and distortions commonly referred to as propaganda. > Capsule reviews which mislead are quite commonly found in materials >of appeal to physicians as they are quite busy and tend to take these >things typically at face value. For an excellent example of such >sleight-of-pen red herring techniques IMO, see the compilation of >research critiques assembled by biologist Dr. John Moulder of the >Medical College of Wisconsin. This is distributed to physicians who >express an interest in the EMF/health issues. A casual glance at this >document will assure them that there is nothing of concern in any of the >research which would suggest health risks! >> >> RESIDENTIAL EXPOSURE TO MAGNETIC FIELDS AND ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA >> IN CHILDREN is a positive study showing an increase in the development of >> ALL in children exposed to powerline magnetic fields, masquerading as a >> negative study as a result of the National Cancer Institute's negative spin >> on the study's findings. The National Cancer Institute's mantra of "EMF >> research should stop here" does a disservice to the public who look to it for >> honest reporting of research findings, not slanted editorializing. > >> The authors have chosen to declare their findings negative when in fact, >> the study shows a doubling of ALL in children exposed to 3 mG powerline >> magnetic fields. > > This is all very curious. Who funds the National Cancer Institute? As >Roy says, follow the money! When politics and medicine mix, the >resulting brew truly stinks. Remember that cancer treatment and research >represent a multi-billion dollar industry. In comparison, the well-being >of people is of little apparent concern and we've seen this demonstrated >with regularity across a broad spectrum of issues. > > > Archive provided courtesy of WaveGuide, http://www.wave-guide.org Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.feb.se/EMF-L/EMF-L.html