The Culture of Fear (48 page)

11
Moehringer, “Legacy of Worry.” For another example see Christopher Cook and Nancy Ann Jeffrey, “Gulf War Veterans Can’t Escape Strange Diseases, Nightmares,”
Knight-Ridder Newspapers,
16 December 1993.

12
David Cowan et al., “The Risk of Birth Defects Among Children of Persian Gulf War Veterans,”
New England Journal of Medicine
336 (1997): 1650-56; Terence Monmaney, “Study Finds No Gulf War Link to Birth Defect Risk,”
Los Angeles Times,
5 June 1997, pp. A1, 27; J. R. Moehringer, “Gulf War Syndrome Feared to Be Contagious,” 9 March 1997, pp. A1, 24, 25.

13
Moehringer, “Gulf War Syndrome.”

14
CNN, “Defense Chief: ‘No Evidence’ Gulf War Illness Is Contagious,” 10 March 1997; “Medical Professionals Say Gulf War Illness Contagious,” Associated Press, 10 March 1997; “Gulf War Ills May Be Contagious,”
Roanoke Times,
10 March 1997, pp. A1, 2. On the transmissibility of GWS see also Showalter,
Hystories;
PBS, “Frontline: Last Battle of the Gulf War,” 20 January 1998.

15
See also L. A. McKeown, “A ‘Disease’ with No Conclusive Evidence,” MSNBC, 1997 (Web posted).

16
MacArthur,
Lapdogs for the Pentagon
(contains Rather quotes); Michelle Kendrick, “Kicking the Vietnam Syndrome,” in Rabinovitz and Jeffords, eds.,
Seeing Through the Media,
pp. 59-76. For an example of an article highly suspicious and critical of the Pentagon see Dennis Bernstein and Thea Kelley, “The Gulf War Comes Home,” Progressive, March 1995, pp. 30-34.

17
Showalter,
Hystories,
p. 142.

18
For examples in the
New York Times
see Eric Schmitt, “No Proof Is Found Of Chemical Cause For Gulf Illness,” 8 January 1997, pp. A1 and C23; Philip Shenon, “Oversight Suggested for Study of Gulf War Ills,” 14 November 1996, p. A10; Gina Kolata, “No Rise Found in Death Rates After Gulf War,” 14 November 1996, pp. A1, 10 (“leading critics” quotes); Philip Hilts, “Panel Doubts Gulf War ‘Syndrome’ Is New,” 1 January 1996. See also John Ritter, “Report: Military Knew Risks of Gulf War Drugs,”
USA Today,
8 December 1994, p. A3 (includes gas chamber example); and Bernstein and Kelley, “Gulf War Comes Home.”

19
See John Kennedy, “The Last Campaign,”
George,
April 1997, pp. 108-11; Haley et al., “Is There a Gulf War Syndrome?” and “Self Reported Exposure.” For a summary iof the refutations, see PBS, “Frontline: Last Battle.”

20
Kate McKenna, “Missed Story Syndrome,”
American Journalism Review
(May 1997): 22-30; Dana Priest, “The Gulf War’s Credibility Fallout,”
Washington Post
National Edition, 24 November 1996, pp. 8-10; Philip Shenon, “Powell Says He Had No Evidence of Toxic Chemicals in Gulf War,”
New
York Times, 3 December 1996, p. A1.

21
Kolata, “No Rise Found”; Joyce Lashof and Joseph Cassells, “Illness Among Gulf War Veterans,”
Journal of the American Medical Association
280 (1998): 1010-11.

22
David Brown, “The Gulf Between ‘Syndrome’ and Poison Gas,”
Washington Post,
2 January 1997, p. A1.

23
Hersh,
Against All Enemies;
Philip Shenon, “Study Links Memory Loss to Nerve Gas, as in Gulf,”
New York Times,
14 May 1997, p. A12; idem, “On Gulf-Illness Panel, Outlook Begins to Shift,”
New York Times,
19 August 1997, p. A11; idem, “Investigators Find Excerpts of Gulf War Chemical Logs,”
New York Times,
24 October 1997, p. A12; dem, “Bombing Gas Sites May Pose Risk of Gulf War Syndrome,”
New York Times,
11, February 1998, p. A6. “Thanks of a Grateful Nation” first aired 31 May 1998 on Show-time; John Sacret Young, “This Is the ‘Thanks’ They Get,”
Los Angeles Times
television section, 31 May 1998, p. 3; Philip Shenon, “Another Televised Strike Against the Pentagon,”
New York Times,
31 May 1998, p. 34.

24
Gina Kolata, “Stress Study May Hold Clues to Gulf War Illness, Scientists Say,”
New York Times,
28 May 1998, p. A25; PBS, “Frontline: Last Battle.” See also Lashof and Cassells, “Illness Among Gulf War Veterans.”

25
Michael Haederle, “He Fights So Your Next Breath Won’t Make You Sick,”
Los Angeles Times,
5 May 1996, p. E3. Stories connecting Gulf War Syndrome and MCS: Ed Timms and Steve McGonigle, “Gulf War Vets’ Ailments Still Stymie Experts,”
Dallas
Morning News, 12 December 1993, p. A1; Bernstein and Kelley, “Gulf War Comes Home”; Associated Press, “Medical Professionals”; Jerome Marmorstein, “Getting at the Real Cause of Vets’ Ills,” op-ed on MSNBC, 1997 (Web posted).

26
“Common Chemicals Sicken Some,” Associated Press, 10 February 1995.

27
Michael Castleman, “This Place Makes Me Sick,”
Sierra
78 (1993): 106-19.

28
Terr, “Clinical Ecology,” and idem, “Multiple Chemical Sensitivities,”
Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
94 (1994): 362-66; American College of Physicians, “Clinical Ecology,”
Annals of Internal Medicine
111 (1989): 168-78; Donald Black et al., “Environmental Illness,”
Journal of the American Medical Association
264 (1990): 3166-71; A. Kay and M. Lessoff, “Allergy: Conventional and Alternative Concepts,”
Clinical and Experimental Allergy
22, Suppl. 3 (1992): 1-44; Council on Scientific Affairs, “Clinical Ecology,”
Journal of the American Medical Association
268 (1992): 3465—67; John Salvaggio, “Psychological Aspects of ‘Environmental Illness’,”
Journal of Allergy and
Clinical Immunology 94 (1994): 366-70. Minnesota story: William Souder, “A Fragrant Violation,”
Washington Post,
11 December 1994, pp. F1, 4.

29
Environmental illness: Steve Kroll-Smith and Anthony Ladd, “Environmental Illness and Biomedicine,”
Sociological Spectrum
13 (1993): 7-33; Associated Press, “Common Chemicals.”

30
Linda and Bill Bonvie, “Gulf War’s Toxic Truth,”
Cleveland Plain Dealer,
27 November 1994.

31
Showalter,
Hystories,
p. 6. See also John Selner et al., “Double-Blind Provocation Chamber Challenges in 20 Patients Presenting with ‘MCS’,”
Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology
18 (1993): 44-53.

32
Pamela Reed Gibson, “Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, Culture and Delegitimization,”
Feminism and Psychology
7 (1997): 475-93; Steve Kroll-Smith and H. Hugh Floyd,
Bodies in
Protest (New York: New York University Press, 1997), p. 5.

33
Kroll-Smith and Ladd, “Environmental Illness.” Research evidence: see, e.g., Terr, “Clinical Ecology”; Black et al., “Environmental Illness”; Ronald Gots, “Multiple Chemical Sensitivities,”
Journal of Toxicology: Clinical Toxicology
33 (1995): 111-14.

34
“Oprah,” October 1995.

35
Among the more influential broadcasts prior to the FDA ban was CBS, “Face to Face with Connie Chung,” 10 March 1990. See Marcia Angell,
Science on Trial
(New York: W W Norton, 1996), pp. 45-57.

36
FAA actions and criticism thereof: Shari Roan, “Journal Criticizes FDA for Breast Implant Restrictions,”
Los Angeles Times,
18 June 1992, p. A40; Philip Hilts, “AMA Urges Full Availability of Breast Implants,”
New York Times,
1 December 1993, p. A20. Question as unresolved: Sheryl Fragin, “Flawed Science at the
Times,” Brill’s Content,
October 1998, pp. 104-15. Epidemiological comparisons: Angell,
Science on Trial,
ch. 5; C. H. Hennekens et al., “Self Reported Breast Implants and Connective-Tissue Diseases ...”
Journal of the American Medical Association
275 (28 February 1996): 616-21. Quotes from NPR, “All Things Considered,” 27 February 1996.

37
ABC News, “Nightline,” 17 August 1995; Susan Zimmermann,
Silicone Survivors: Women’s Experiences with Breast Implants
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998); idem, “The Medicalization of Female Breasts,” paper presented at the meetings of the Eastern Sociological Society, March 1995 (contains quote).

38
Jennifer Washburn, “Reality Check: Can 400,000 Women Be Wrong?”
Ms.,
March 1996, pp. 51-57. For statements from other feminists see, e.g., Naomi Wolf,
The Beauty Myth
(New York: Morrow, 1991); Leslie Laurence and Beth Weinhouse,
Outrageous Practices
(New York: Fawcett, 1994); Sharon Lieberman, “Business as Usual,”
Women’s Review ofBooks
13 (February 1996): 8-9.

39
PBS, “Frontline,” 27 February 1996.

40
Marcia Angell, “Breast Implants,”
New England Journal of Medicine
326 (1992): 1695-96; Angela Bonavoglia, “Freedom of Choice,”
Ms.,
March 1996, pp. 60-63; Shari Roan, “Data May Renew Debate over Silicone Implants,” Los Angeles Times, 26 June 1997, pp. El, 4.

41
Elinor Brecher, telephone interview with author, 1 December 1994. Among her articles see esp. “No Reason to Panic, Doctors Tell Implant Patients,”
Miami Herald,
21 March 1992, p. El; “Critics of Implants on Hot Seat,”
Miami Herald,
22 June 1992.

42
Elinor Brecher and Linda Monroe, “Call for Moratorium Divides Patients, Activists, Surgeons,”
Miami Herald,
7 January 1992; Angell,
Science
on
Trial,
pp. 84-86.

43
Claire Spiegel, “Self-Surgery on Breast Implants Stirs Warning,” Los
Angeles Times,
18 April 1992, p. A18; Jeanne A. Heaton and Nona L. Wilson,
Tuning in Trouble
(San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995), pp. 177-82; “Talked to Death,” Home Box Office documentary, April 1997.

44
Heaton and Wilson,
Tuning in Trouble.

45
Implant settlements: Barry Meier, “What Accord Would Mean for Women with Implants,”
New York Times,
24 March 1994, p. B10; “Court Upholds Implant Award,”
USA Today,
12 December 1994.

46
“Dow Corning Reaches Deal on Breast Implant Claims,” Reuters, 9 November 1998; Louise Brinton and S. L. Brown, “Breast Implants and Cancer,”
Journal of
the
National Cancer Institute
89 (1997): 1341-49; Olof Nyren et al., “Risk of Connective Tissue Disease and Related Disorders Among Women with Breast Implants,” British
Medical Journal
316 (1998): 417-22; Cyrus Cooper, “Do Silicone Breast Implants Cause Connective Tissue Disease?”
British Medical Journal
316 (1998): 403-4; Linda Cook et al., “Characteristics of Women with and without Breast Augmentation,”
Journal of the American Medical Association
277 (1997): 1612—17.

47
Marcia Angell, “Do Breast Implants Cause Systemic Disease?”
New England Journal
of
Medicine
330 (1994): 1748-49; ABC News, “Junk Science,” 7 January 1997. See also Marcia Angell, “Trial by Science,“
New York Times,
9 December 1998, p. A31.

48
Joseph Nocera, “Fatal Litigation“ (Parts I and II),
Fortune,
16 October and 30 October 1995; PBS, “Frontline: Breast Implants“; Alan Abrahamson, “Payments Raise Questions over Lawyers’ Fees,”
Los Angeles Times,
22 October 1995, pp. B1, 3.

49
Gina Kolata and Barry Meier, “Implant Lawsuits Create a Medical Rush to Cash In,”
New York Times,
18 September 1995, pp. Al, 8. See also Jack Fisher, “Stop Scaring Women,”
USA Today,
17 May 1995, p. A12.

50
Gina Kolata, “Legal System and Science Come to Differing Conclusions on Silicone,”
New York Times,
16 May 1995, p. C6.

51
Laura Flanders, “Beware: P.R. Implants in News Coverage,”
Extra,
January 1996, pp. 8-11. For other rebukes of Kolata see Fragin, “Flawed Science at the Times”; Mark Dowie, “What’s Wrong with the
New York Times’s
Science Reporting?“
Nation,
6 July 1998, pp. 13-19.

52
Many perceptive critiques by Laura Flanders are collected in her book
Real Majority, Media Minority
(Monroe, ME: Common Courage, 1997). But see a critique of Flanders’s coverage of Gulf War Syndrome in Showalter,
Hystories,
pp. 138-39.

53
See Angell,
Science on Trial,
ch. 10; Carl Hempel,
Philosophy ofNaturalScience
(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1966).

54
Lawrence Altman, “Drug Firm, Relenting, Allows Unflattering Study to Appear,“
New York Times,
16 April 1997, pp. A1, 12; and idem, “Experts See Bias in Drug Data,“
New York Times,
29 April 1997, pp. B1, 12.

55
Daniel Zalewski, “Ties That Bind,“
Lingua Franca
, June 1997, pp. 51-59.

56
Gina Kolata, “Safeguards Urged for Researchers,“
New
York Times, 17 April 1997, p. A13; Richard Deyo et al., “The Messenger Under Attack: Intimidation of Researchers by Special-Interest Groups,“
New England Journal ofMedicine
336 (1997): 1176-81.

57
In a twelve-page critique of Kolata, Sheryl Fragin (”Flawed Science at the
Times”)
paints a picture of a journalist who deserves the criticisms that have been leveled at her. Yet the only implant study Fragin reproaches Kolata for failing to report is one showing a high rupture and complication rate—a well-known fact, and one that does not establish a link between implants and the diseases they are said to cause. One of Fragin’s bottom lines praises Kolata with faint damnation: “If Kolata can be accused of any allegiance at all, it is to a narrow and traditional view of scientific evidence, where nothing is real until documented by large epidemiological studies or lab experiments” (p. 107).

58
Bob Dole, “Ignore the Lawyers, Help the People,”
Los Angeles Times,
27 April 1995, p. B7 (contains quote).