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The “pharma shill” gambit – Respectful Insolence’s classic analogue of Argumentum ad Monsantium
Respectful Insolence:
Over the last couple of days, I’ve been discussing How “They” See “Us,” which is basically that “they” see “us” as pure evil. Well, maybe not always sheer evil, but certainly not good, and even more certainly as having ulterior motives, the most common of which is filthy pharma lucre. So it seemed appropriate, as a grant deadline fast approaches and constrains my time, to revisit a topic that comes up here from time to time. Basically, every so often, my day job intrudes on my blogging hobby, preventing the creation of fresh Insolence, at least Insolence of the quality that you’ve come to expect. This is one of those times, thanks to a grant deadline. So enjoy this bit of Classic Insolence from way back near the beginning of this blog, when I first coined the term “pharma shill gambit” to describe a very common gambit used by quacks. At least, I think I was the first to coin this term. I haven’t been able to find a reference to the “pharma shill gambit” dating before I wrote the original version of this post way back in 2005. In any case, if there are any really “classic” posts on this blog (which, I’ll concede, is debatable, this is one, IMHO, and I haven’t reposted it here in over five years; so it’s time. If some of the verbiage seems a little dated, that’s because the original post is well over seven years old, and I’ve only touched it up.. Maybe I should do a more substantial revision and update it. When I have the time. You know what that means.
More @ The “pharma shill” gambit – Respectful Insolence:
See also +B J Murphy’s quote:
“I come from the land of Cargill an incredibly secret private corporation who Norman Borlaug was on the payroll for. Tell me if GMO cotton has benefitted or harmed the peasants of India who can no longer save the seeds that they have genetically modified over several centuries because Cargill parented their work and genetically modified them with a terminator gene making the seeds offspring infertile. All science has a class stamp. Just because it may be possible to some day use GMO’s for good does not mean they are good now. It’s like a headline and article I saw recently, Local Organic Food Not Healthier. The article was, organic food does not have different vitamins than other food. Of course it doesn’t I am not dumb. I eat organic food to avoid hormones and chemical residue and to support local sustainable environmentally sound economies. Likewise it is not so much the fish gene in my tomato I object to, it is the inferior flavor, machine based carbon intensive agriculture, increased use of pesticides and the possibility of unforeseen consequences in the long term that I object to. GMO’s are obviously not the same as selective breeding, there is no way to selectively breed in fish genes.”
2013-02-16 05:53:04
Source: http://gmopundit.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-pharma-shill-gambit-respectful.html
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