Case studies of INEP’s impact

Arising from our capstone project, INEP issued a position statement in 2020 on conflict-of-interest (COI) and disclosure in epidemiology because such conflicts have been associated with the misuse of epidemiological science, which included examples of how COI may be managed using strategies of identification, avoidance, disclosure, and recusal. The statement was expanded on in the 2021 BMC Enviornmental Health publication, “Toolkit for detecting misused epidemiological methods”, led by Former INEP Chair, Colin L. Soskolne.

The Toolkit contains 33 items to assess use/misuse of the epidemiological method, categorised as epidemiology-specific methods/techniques used to foment uncertainty and cast doubt about cause-and-effect; arguments used to delay action, maintain the status quo, and create division among scientists; and, tactics invoked to misdirect policy priorities through influence.

A case study of the application of the toolkit was recently published by Toshihide Tsuda1, Yumiko Miyano, and Eiji Yamamoto in BMC Environmental Health. As stated in the article, “the Toolkit was used to examine the misinformation provided by the SHAMISEN consortium on the causal relationship of childhood thyroid cancer in Fukushima Prefercture, Japan, after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident.”.

Applying the toolkit to evaluate the SHAMISEN review, which aimed to synthesise lessons learned from past nuclear accidents regarding thyroid cancer and screening, the authors’ aimed to highlight the misinformation provided in the review paper and provide a framework for readers and policy-makers to reach evidence-based decisions.