Skepticism and Facts

Re “Beware the Truth About the Facts,” Ventura County Perspective, June 6.

While advising the public to read the news carefully, Bruce Roland appears to be playing fast and loose with some “facts.” While not naming him, Mr. Roland refers to the work of Dr. Stanton Glantz of UC San Francisco. Mr. Roland characterizes Dr. Glantz’s research on the tobacco industry as a “vendetta.”

As a UC professor, Dr. Glantz is paid to conduct research and to teach (he teaches biostatistics and lectures in the cardiology department of the medical school). Because of his research into the scientific and political practices of the tobacco industry, Dr. Glantz has been a frequent target of that industry. Dr. Glantz should be admired both for his research, which has been called “impeccable” by an editor of the Journal of the American Medical Assn., and his courage in confronting the power of the tobacco industry.

Mr. Roland next refers to a report by the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) as questionable, even though he has evidently not seen the report. The report to which he refers is, I assume, “Disrupting the Balance: Ecological Impacts of Pesticides in California.” It is a 100-page report published by Californians for Pesticide Reform and is available at PAN’s Web site (https://www.igc.apc.org/panna). I cannot comment on the scientific merits of the report but it appears to be a well-written and well-documented publication.

I agree with Mr. Roland that we need a healthy dose of skepticism when reading, listening to or watching the news, but we also need to do our homework. A true skeptic expresses doubt but examines the evidence; it is the cynic who expresses doubt and then doesn’t bother to do any research.

KENNETH LONG, Associate Professor, Biology, Cal Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks