Philip Morris Worldwide Scientific Affairs

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The WSA (Wordwide Scientific Affairs) was created at Philip Morris in February 1995 as a key structural change implemented by CEO Geoffrey C Bible in order to combine the operations of PM USA (the domestic company) and Philip Morris International (PMI). At the same time Bible created [[Worldwide Regulatory Affairs[[ (WRA) and redefined the role of [[Corporate Affairs[[ (CA). These three divisions were the primary vehicles for scientific disinformation, regulatory lobbying, and dealing with the media and public propaganda. The WSA division had only a minor role in real scientific research, or in product research and development.

The WSA division managed scientific studies funded by Philip Morris on smoke or smoking. Their publicized intention was to assure consistency in the company's scientific positions around the world; building a cache of "credible" scientific information about tobacco; contributing to the advancement of PM's Accommodation Program; and coordinating scientific consultants, such as those utilized in PM's Latin American ETS Consultants Program and PM's Whitecoat Project.

WSA took over most of the role previously played by Science & Technology (S&T) which had previously maintained a degree of independence between regional divisions (ie USA under Tom Borelli versus Switzerland under Helmut Gaisch -- which looked after Europe). WSA also managed the Philip Morris External Research Program, which replaced the industry's research front group, the Center for Indoor Air Research (CIAR), after it was forced to disband under the terms of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement.

Personnel

In February 1995 the WSA was led by [[Cathy L Ellis[[ and Richard Carchman who were effectively co-directors. Both had been real scientists working at the Richmond NY laboratories, although both had effectively graduated into the field of propaganda and scientific misinformation. Ellis looked after the financial side of the operations, while Carchman left the staff, became self-employed, and contracted back into the same position. Helmut Reif and Edward Sanders played essentially similar roles in PM European Union (EU) and East Europe/Middle East/ Africa (EEMA) division based in Switzerland. The WSA also had one to three staffers in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and a few other locations. One of their main jobs was to attend various conferences to check and report on scientific findings that may influence the tobacco business.

In September 1999, Bruce D. Davies became Manager of Philip Morris Scientific Affairs. That same year, Dr. Richard P. Solana served as Vice President of PM's WSA department. Cathy Lynn Ellis also served as a senior vice president of WSA.