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reports and research
Scientific Knowledge on Breast Cancer Distorted
In a case the New York Times labeled “an egregious distortion of the evidence,”1 information suggesting a link between abortion and breast cancer was posted on the National Cancer Institute website despite objections from Centers for Disease Control (CDC) staff, who noted that substantial scientific study has long refuted the connection. After public outcry on the matter, the information on the website was revised and no longer implies a connection.2
While the correct information is currently available on the website, it is troubling that public pressure was necessary to halt this promotion of scientifically inaccurate information to the public.
This page is an excerpt from the 2004 UCS report Scientific Integrity in Policymaking.
1. “Abortion and Breast Cancer,” New York Times, January 6, 2003. For a detailed account of this issue, see K. Malek, “The abortion-breast cancer link: how politics trumped science and informed consent,” Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Summer 2003. Online at www.abortionno.org/pdf/breastcancer.pdf.
2. “Summary Report: Early Reproductive Events and Breast Cancer Workshop,” National Cancer Institute, March 2003. Online at www.cancer.gov/cancerinfo/ere-workshop-report.
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© Union of Concerned Scientists
Page Last Revised: 09/27/07 |
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