Subject: Liburdy case. the AP version (DePippo)....
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999 030127 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Roy L. Beavers" <rbeavers@llion.org>
To: emfguru <rbeavers@llion.org>
--------------------------------------------------
......Here is the Associated Press version of the Liburdy story.
They appear to have copied it right out of the San Francisco Chronical.
Again, no "balance" about the fact that: (1) the research in question
had no effect upon the government's findings, which were made with the
full knowledge of these events that had preceded the findings, nor
(2) that the government nevertheless concludes that there is a "weak"
causal relationship.....
We seem destined NOT to get any reporter (or editor) with enough
depth to do a full story about the total picture, showing that literally
scores of other scientists contributed to the government's -- very
reluctant -- "causal" judgment.... That reluctance (more of a
determination to exonerate EMF) is very much a part of this story:
The fact that, in spite of governmental reluctance and in spite of
Liburdy's "improperly explained" graphs, the 'total picture' of
the OTHER research nevertheless compels a governmental admittance of the
EMF association. THAT is the real story....!!!
The AP article above says that Liburdy's graphs were "tangential" to the
whole matter. Indeed, they were less than that! They were IRRELEVANT to
any of the epidemiology or the other biological effects found --
including Liburdy's melatonin research (FAR more important) and confirmed
by two other laboratories.....
.....Keep shining the light!!!! Nobody
else seems to have the courage to do so.....
Roy Beavers (EMFguru)......
rbeavers@llion.org.......
.....It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.....
EMF-L web-site can be found at:
EMF-L archives can be found at:
..................PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN PROFITS..................
.........DO YOU KNOW OF OTHERS WHO SHOULD BE ON THIS LIST???????..........
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 23:09:57 EDT
From: PDepippo@aol.com
To: rbeavers@llion.org
Subject: Govt: Researcher Faked Cancer Data
FYI
Peter
Govt: Researcher Faked Cancer Data
.c The Associated Press
By JESSIE SEYFER
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A scientist whose 1992 study linking high-voltage power
lines to cancer contributed to public fears was found to have faked his data
and has left the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the government said
Friday.
Richard P. Liburdy had claimed to have found a link between the
electromagnetic fields around power lines and certain cellular changes in the
body.
After a whistle-blower complained, the federal Office of Research Integrity
investigated and concluded that Liburdy had committed scientific misconduct
by tossing out data that did not support his conclusions, said the agency's
director, Chris Pascal.
``The evidence demonstrates Liburdy knew his data manipulations were
significant to the conclusions of the paper,'' the agency said.
Liburdy, a 51-year-old cellular biologist who lives in Tiburon, outside San
Francisco, resigned his 15-year position in March after losing his funding,
the San Francisco Chronicle said.
In May, he agreed to ask the scientific journals that published his work to
retract three key graphs. Liburdy, who had received $3.3 million in federal
grants for his research, also agreed to a three-year ban on receiving federal
funds.
However, in a letter in last month's issue of the journal Science, he denied
doing anything wrong other than failing to explain his graphing procedures.
``My scientific conclusions stand as published,'' Liburdy wrote. ``I admit no
scientific wrongdoing. I could not afford a protracted legal battle with the
ORI, and a settlement was reached by which I admit no liability.''
Three independent scientists who evaluated the facts at Liburdy's request
supported him, the Chronicle reported.
Liburdy did not respond Friday to a request for comment faxed to his home by
The Associated Press.
The possibility that electromagnetic fields can cause childhood leukemia and
other illnesses has raised fears among people living near high-tension power
lines.
The theory had been raised well before Liburdy's study, but he found what was
thought to be the first plausible biological explanation for such a
connection. However, at least 20 subsequent studies failed to find any
conclusive link of the sort he described.
Some statistical studies that looked at the rate of cancer among people
living near power lines have indicated that it is more common among those
exposed to electromagnetic fields.
But according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Science,
virtually all of the laboratory studies of animals and humans ``fail to
support a causal relationship.'' At the same time, the agency has said that
invisible fields created by power lines ``cannot be recognized as entirely
safe.''
Liburdy's studies, published in the Annals of the New York Academy of
Sciences and FEBS Letters, a publication of the Federation of European
Biochemical Societies, tied electric and magnetic radiation to calcium
signaling, a process responsible for a number of cellular functions,
including cell division and the turning of genes on and off.
ORI examined Liburdy's raw data and found that in one graph, he had used only
7.1 percent of his data. The ORI also said he fabricated data.
``In contrast to the data shown in the figure, the full set of primary data
does not show that exposure to low-strength electromagnetic fields results in
an inhibition or in a lower level of calcium ions in the cells,'' the ORI
reported.
Raymond Neutra, chief of California's Division of Environmental and
Occupational Disease, said Liburdy's 1992 research was important, but the
epidemiological studies that followed are more so.
``His research was not the keystone in the arch,'' Neutra said. ``That
particular piece of research is only tangentially related. The extent we're
concerned comes from epidemiological research, not lab research like
Liburdy's.''
AP-NY-07-23-99 1843EDT
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP
news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise
distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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