Eye and heart at mortal war: coronaries and controversy in a smoke-free Scotland

Abstract

Evaluation of: Pell JP, Haw S, Cobbe S et al. Smoke-free legislation and hospitalizations for acute coronary syndrome. N. Engl. J. Med. 359, 482–491 (2008).

A study is published in one of the world’s most reputable medical journals and is rated a “must read” by the prestigious Faculty of 1000 , yet described in the BBC News Magazine – even before it is published – as looking like “over-hasty, over confident research” and ranked among “the worst junk stats” of the year by a Pro Vice Chancellor of Oxford University. Amid scenes reminiscent of the AIDS conferences of the 1980s, researchers on their way to hear the initial presentation were forced to cross a line of angry pickets waving “Junk Science” placards. The issue is controversial enough to provoke the ‘First World Congress on Smoking Bans and Lies’ in January 2009, and it is precisely the rapidly growing weight of evidence, rather than the lack of it, that has made it a battleground in an emerging clash between the public health community and those who deny that secondhand smoke kills.

Keywords::

• acute coronary syndrome
• conspiracy
• environmental tobacco smoke
• junk science
• policy
• smoke-free

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The author considers that his employment with Action on Smoking & Health does not constitute a conflict of interest as their goal of minimizing the harm from smoking is served best by even-handedly assessing the effectiveness of public health interventions. The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.