Inaccuracies in editorial by Babor & Miller.

Abstract

I would like to correct some inaccurate statements in a recent editorial in Addiction related to potential conflicts of interest in medical research 1. I serve as Director of the Institute on Lifestyle and Health at Boston University School of Medicine, which was established in 1994 to provide scientifically sound and unbiased evaluations of emerging research related to alcohol consumption. Since 2010, the Institute has also served to coordinate the preparation of critiques of emerging papers on alcohol and health by members of the International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research (the Forum), on which I serve as a Co-Director. The Forum currently consists of 41 international scientists with expertise in varying aspects of alcohol and health (e.g. epidemiology, medicine, biostatistics, basic science, nutrition) who volunteer their services to review and comment on new reports on the topic. Both the Institute and the Forum have been very open about their funding, and disclosure statements accompanying their critiques and other publications have always been straightforward and not ‘convoluted’. Since its establishment, the Institute at Boston University has been funded by unrestricted, educational donations from more than 100 organizations, including companies in the alcoholic beverage industry and associations of grape growers, wine growers and wineries. As for a comment in the editorial on the establishment of the Forum in 2010 being a ‘joint venture’ with the alcohol industry, the industry had no role in (or even prior knowledge about) its formation. As is clearly outlined on the Boston University website, the Institute now receives some support from the beverage industry for assistance in the development of critiques (assimilating the views of its 41 Forum members) and operating the website. Donors of funds for these operations specifically have no control over, or knowledge of: (i) which papers are reviewed by the Forum; (ii) discussions among Forum members regarding the papers; or (iii) the final conclusions of the critiques. Donors first see reports produced by the Forum when they are published on http://www.bu.edu/alcohol-forum, at the time that they are released to the public. The Forum was established primarily to provide sound, balanced and unbiased evaluation of emerging reports; this was deemed necessary in part to counter inaccurate and biased reporting on alcohol and health, including instances where ‘political correctness’ by national or international organizations has obscured scientific findings 2-4. It strongly supports transparency in reporting potential conflicts of interest (as is spelled out in the latest Forum critique of 11 February 2014, available at http://www.bu.edu/alcohol-forum/critique-134). The goal of the Forum is to provide scientifically accurate and unbiased critiques, regardless of whether or not the conclusions suggest findings that are ‘favorable’ or ‘unfavorable’ to industry. As has been well described by Rothman et al. 5, 6, there are real dangers of labeling any paper as biased based on the source of funding without reviewing the scientific results themselves. We note that the editorial in Addiction does not cite evidence of bias in any of the 134 published critiques by the Forum, but focuses upon individuals (the messengers, not the message). Rothman states: ‘Papers should be reviewed based on their scientific merits. Overemphasizing disclosures encourages readers to make ad hominem judgments instead of judging a work on its merits. Thus, I support disclosures, but I believe that they should be handled completely matter-of-fact, rather than making the disclosure a cause célébre’ 6. The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research consists of scientists of many disciplines who have research interests in the health risks and benefits of alcohol consumption. Their common goal is to provide unbiased, scientifically accurate, up-to-date and balanced critiques of emerging research reports and other publications related to alcohol consumption. Members receive no remuneration for their contributions to the Forum. Of the current 41 members, three are from institutes that are partly supported by the wine industry. The preparation of critiques of published papers is coordinated by the Institute on Lifestyle and Health at Boston University School of Medicine in Boston, MA, USA, with funds provided by various organizations, including several in the alcoholic beverage industry. Such funds are provided as unrestricted donations to Boston University, and the donors have no knowledge of which scientific publications the Forum will review or what their comments will be on these papers; they only learn of the results of these deliberations upon publication of critiques on the Forum's website, http://www.bu.edu/alcohol-forum, when the reports are made available to the public.