The Times ran a letter Jan. 6 from Syngenta CEO Erik Fyrwald protesting recent articles that exposed how the Swiss-based agrichemical manufacturer, pressured scientists to find their products blameless with respect to Parkinson’s and the collapse of bee colonies. Fyrwald played his ace in the hole: papers in certain journals are guaranteed to contain The Truth.
“…The article tries to link the herbicide paraquat, used for half a century, with Parkinson’s disease. Syngenta’s studies, based on the most widely used experimental mouse model, show unequivocally that paraquat does not cause Parkinson’s-like pathology. These findings are published in science journals requiring peer review by scientists with no connection to Syngenta.”
Peer review is the last refuge of a marketer.
The Times also ran a letter from an obsequious. self-promoting LA shrink named Procci, who applauded their Jan. 1 paean to electroconvulsion. .
“Kudos to Kitty Dukakis for her courageous championing of the inestimable benefits that she has received from electroconvulsive therapy, and to The New York Times for bringing it to our attention. While this treatment has long been shrouded in controversy, it remains, when used selectively and judiciously, a very effective treatment for some cases of serious depression…”
The Anderson Valley Advertiser online had much more informative comments.
