Tobacco giants funding MA universities' research

It's discomforting--the more you look, the more you find tobacco companies funding medical research. Last week, we learn that a 2006 study concluding that 80 percent of lung cancer deaths could be prevented by CT scan use was paid for by cigarette-maker Liggett Group. Now, a Boston Globe article reports that cigarette giant Philip Morris USA has been funding scientific research for at least four Massachusetts universities for several years. Philip Morris has been providing grants to Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University and the University of Massachusetts. Research supported by the company included studies on conditions like heart disease and cancer, which have been linked to smoking by other research. While researchers accepting the grants disclosed the source of their funding when publishing results in journals, and Philip Morris, in turn, promised to keep its hand out of things, critics contend that cigarette-maker influence taints such research beyond repair.

To learn more about Philip Morris's grant program:
- read this article in The Boston Globe

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