> ... but the unnamed people who reported the arthritis are more believable than all those public servants? And you can be sure that millions are going to die,

> ... but the unnamed people who reported the arthritis are more believable than all those public servants? And you can be sure that millions are going to die, not because they are stupid, but because the authorities are reluctant to crack down on the minority among their number that are corrupt. IF one or two politicians are found to break the law, but get away on a technicality, the people will simply assume that all politicians are crooks. If a couple of scientists sell their integrity to corporate interests and the whole of the scientific community does not respond publicly and in full force, at least ruining the careers of the crooked scientist and suing the corporation for the undermining of the scientific method, people will simply assume that Science(TM) is just another racket to keep them down. What you are seeing is a crisis of legitimacy. I agree that it is a very unfortunate event, but blaming the messenger is not going to fix it.