He who pays the piper calls the tune.We live in a bizarre world of previously only imagined "Newspeak newspeak official speech of Oceania; language of contradictions. [Br. Lit.: 1984] See : Hypocrisy Newspeak - A language inspired by Scratchpad. [J.K. Foderaro. "The Design of a Language for Algebraic Computation", Ph.D. Thesis, UC Berkeley, 1983]. " (Orwell 1949) in which the meaning of concepts can be redefined into their antonyms under the eyes of an editor--when a scientist who is employed by a large multinational nuclear technology corporation (BNFL BNFL British Nuclear Fuels LTD ) claims in all seriousness to have no conflict of interest when expressing his opinion in an exchange of letters (Wakeford 2003). The contested issue is what constitutes a valid scientific basis for estimates of radiation risk, which establishes legal rights to compensation for possibly radiation-related detriment among nuclear workers, lf the nuclear workers are BNFL (British Nuclear Fuels, Ltd.) employees, the decision whether or not such compensation should be paid by the company would likely be based on scientific advice from the in-house expert, Richard Wakeford
Richard Wakeford VC (23 July1921-27 August 1972) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross during World War II, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy . In a creative twist of logic, this clear conflict of interest is purportedly erased by the fact that the author published a paper in which he "argues for a non-zero risk of cancer at low doses of radiation." Who pays whom to avoid paying whom? The author declares he has no competing financial interests. REFERENCES Orwell G. 1949. Nineteen Eighty-Four This article is about the Orwell novel. For the year, see 1984. For other uses, see 1984 (disambiguation). Nineteen Eighty-Four (or 1984) is an English dystopian novel by George Orwell, published in 1949. . Reprint reprint An individually bound copy of an article in a journal or science communication , New York-London:Chelsea House, 1987. Wakeford R 2003. Use of A-Bomb Survivor Studies as a Basis for Nuclear Worker Compensation [Letter]. Environ Health Perspect 111:A268-A269. Rudi H. Nussbaum Professor Emeritus of Physics and Environmental Sciences Portland State University Portland, Oregon E-mail: d4rn@pdx.edu Does "he who pays the piper" really call the tune: Wakeford's response I respect Nussbaum's right to an opinion, but his letter is misleading. First, I clearly used the address of my employer in my letter and provided a statement addressing what might be considered a conflict of interest. Second, my letter (Wakeford 2003) was in response to one by Wing and Richardson (2002) that incorrectly claimed that an excess risk of childhood cancer was not experienced by the Japanese atomic bomb atomic bomb or A-bomb, weapon deriving its explosive force from the release of atomic energy through the fission (splitting) of heavy nuclei (see nuclear energy). The first atomic bomb was produced at the Los Alamos, N.Mex. survivors who were irradiated in utero in utero (in u´ter-o) [L.] within the uterus. in u·ter·o adj. In the uterus. in utero adv. , citing in support a paper that I coauthored (Doll and Wakeford 1997). Third, if Nussbaum contests the conclusions my academic coauthors and I have published in the scientific literature (Doll and Wakeford 1997; Wakeford and Little 2003), he should explain why. Fourth, BNFL (British Nuclear Fuels) and almost all of the other major employers in the U.K. nuclear industry operate a voluntary compensation program jointly with the relevant labor unions labor union: see union, labor. (Wakeford et at. 1998). The technical basis of this program is agreed upon Adj. 1. agreed upon - constituted or contracted by stipulation or agreement; "stipulatory obligations" stipulatory noncontroversial, uncontroversial - not likely to arouse controversy between the employer and employee representatives, both advised by their respective experts, lf Nussbaum's views were accepted by the scientific community, undoubtedly, they would be seriously considered by these experts. Nussbaum would better serve science by engaging the issues addressed in my papers. The author declares a competing financial interest because he is an employee of BNFL, but the views he expresses here are not necessarily those of his employer. REFERENCES Doll R, Wakeford R. 1997 Risk of childhood cancer from fetal irradiation irradiation /ir·ra·di·a·tion/ (i-ra?de-a´shun) 1. radiotherapy. 2. the dispersion of nervous impulse beyond the normal path of conduction. 3. Br J Radiol 70:130-139. Wakeford R. 2003. Re: "Use of A-bomb survivor studies as a basis for nuclear worker compensation" [Letter]. Environ Health Perspect 111:A268-A269. Wakeford R, Little MP. 2003. Risk coefficients for childhood cancer after intrauterine intrauterine /in·tra·uter·ine/ (-u´ter-in) within the uterus. in·tra·u·ter·ine adj. Within the uterus. Intrauterine Situated or occuring in the uterus. irradiation: a review. Int J Radiat Biol 79:293-309. Wakeford R, Antell BA, Leigh WJ. 1998. A review of probability of causation and its use in a compensation scheme for nuclear industry workers in the United Kingdom. Health Phys 74:1-9. Wing S, Richardson D. 2002. Use of A-bomb survivor studies as a basis for nuclear worker compensation [Letter]. Environ Health Perspect 110:A739. Richard Wakeford BNFL Daresbury, Warrington, United Kingdom E-mail: R.Wakeford@bnfl.com |
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