5 ms·

Just to make super explicit why this isn't even a little bit okay, there's a very sordid history of corporations influencing research (even federal research).

Just to make super explicit why this isn't even a little bit okay, there's a very sordid history of corporations influencing research (even federal research). Before lead was put into gasoline two health studies were conducted by the government, but the relevant industries (including DuPont) had influence over the research. Both studies found leaded gasoline was totally safe. Low and behold it reduced the IQ of an entire generation around 3 points (best estimate). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraethyllead https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraethyllead --- Obviously alcohol isn't as damning as lead, but if funded research can declare lead safe it seems like it could conclude anything.

Mononokay 9y ago
Don't forget about Coke funding the cancer scare research on diet drinks last century! A brilliant and disgustingly immoral scare tactic. http://mentalfloss.com/article/76881/tragic-history-rc-cola http://mentalfloss.com/article/76881/tragic-history-rc-cola
- gruez 9y ago
  wait why? didn't they also produce diet drinks?
  - bdcravens 9y ago
    Perhaps corn syrup/sugar is cheaper than low-calorie alternatives, with the assumption people won't eliminate sodas, only whether they pick diet/non-diet
    - Mononokay 9y ago
      Because RC Cola was beating them by a tonne in the market because of their sugar-alternative. The article I linked has a tonne of info on it if you read down a bit.
  - Mononokay 9y ago
    Because RC Cola was beating them by a tonne in the market because of their sugar-alternative. The article I linked has a tonne of info on it if you read down a bit.
dominotw 9y ago
So none of these studies can be read and reviewed on their own without knowing who is behind the study. How can a supplement company ever do a study on it's efficacy if it's going to get shot down because they sponsored it.
- jstarfish 9y ago
  They don't. It's a conflict of interest. You don't get to have a stake in your own investigation.
  - md224 9y ago
    But then what do they do? Cross their fingers and wait for some random researchers to take an interest in their product? Sure, if the product becomes popular then it might attract research, but what if barely anyone tries your product because there's no research on it? Am I missing something or is this a catch-22? I used to think it was corrupt for companies to sponsor research on their own products. Then one day it occurred to me: who else is going to care about a product (especially one that's relatively unknown) more than the company trying to sell it?
    - RandomInteger4 9y ago
      What was the last supplement you saw that was patentable? Supplements in general are vaguely effective and mostly unpatented, meaning that the only incentive for a supplement company to perform "research" is for the purpose of marketing that they have some sort of research, but it's against the law for them to say that their supplements do anything specific outside the vague "bone health" etc. claims. Don't get me wrong, I take various supplements daily, but I'm also fully aware of how sketchy this industry is, especially where there are herbal supplements that were out there found not to contain any genetic material of the herbs the bottle was advertising.
      - md224 9y ago
        That's true, but I intended my comment to apply more generally to products of any kind. I'll reword it.

Mononokay 9y ago

Don't forget about Coke funding the cancer scare research on diet drinks last century! A brilliant and disgustingly immoral scare tactic. http://mentalfloss.com/article/76881/tragic-history-rc-cola http://mentalfloss.com/article/76881/tragic-history-rc-cola

gruez 9y ago
wait why? didn't they also produce diet drinks?
- bdcravens 9y ago
  Perhaps corn syrup/sugar is cheaper than low-calorie alternatives, with the assumption people won't eliminate sodas, only whether they pick diet/non-diet
  - Mononokay 9y ago
    Because RC Cola was beating them by a tonne in the market because of their sugar-alternative. The article I linked has a tonne of info on it if you read down a bit.
- Mononokay 9y ago
  Because RC Cola was beating them by a tonne in the market because of their sugar-alternative. The article I linked has a tonne of info on it if you read down a bit.

dominotw 9y ago

So none of these studies can be read and reviewed on their own without knowing who is behind the study. How can a supplement company ever do a study on it's efficacy if it's going to get shot down because they sponsored it.

jstarfish 9y ago
They don't. It's a conflict of interest. You don't get to have a stake in your own investigation.
- md224 9y ago
  But then what do they do? Cross their fingers and wait for some random researchers to take an interest in their product? Sure, if the product becomes popular then it might attract research, but what if barely anyone tries your product because there's no research on it? Am I missing something or is this a catch-22? I used to think it was corrupt for companies to sponsor research on their own products. Then one day it occurred to me: who else is going to care about a product (especially one that's relatively unknown) more than the company trying to sell it?
  - RandomInteger4 9y ago
    What was the last supplement you saw that was patentable? Supplements in general are vaguely effective and mostly unpatented, meaning that the only incentive for a supplement company to perform "research" is for the purpose of marketing that they have some sort of research, but it's against the law for them to say that their supplements do anything specific outside the vague "bone health" etc. claims. Don't get me wrong, I take various supplements daily, but I'm also fully aware of how sketchy this industry is, especially where there are herbal supplements that were out there found not to contain any genetic material of the herbs the bottle was advertising.
    - md224 9y ago
      That's true, but I intended my comment to apply more generally to products of any kind. I'll reword it.