2,354
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
==Ties Some of the products ACSH has defended over the years include [[DDT]], [[asbestos]], and [[Monsanto and Agent Orange|Agent Orange]], as well as common pesticides. ACSH has often called environmentalists and consumer groups "terrorists," arguing that their criticisms and concerns about potential health and environmental risks are threats to the Koch Brothers==society.<ref>''See, e.g.'' Gilbert Ross, [http://business.financialpost.com/fp-comment/toxic-terrorists-ignore-organic-food-threat Junk Science Week: Toxic terrorists ignore organic food threat], ''Financial Post'', June 15, 2011.</ref>
{{DT_recipient===Acting President Gilbert Ross=== |amount [[Gilbert Ross]] was acting president and executive director of ASCH as of April 2015.<ref name="staff"/> Ross's medical license was revoked for professional misconduct in 1995, after it was revealed that he had been involved in a scheme that defrauded the New York State Medicaid system of $8 million. Ross was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison and barred from participating in Medicare and Medicaid for ten years. In 2000, a panel rejected his application to reinstate his medical license, and Ross did not regain the license until 2004.<ref name= 624"paging dr ross"/> The previous leader of ACSH was [[Elizabeth Whelan]],074who passed away in 2014. She did numerous interviews attacking efforts to regulate industries and was a controversial figure.62|start = 2005|end For example, Nicolas Martin was ACSH's administrative director during parts of 1988 and 1989. After he left ACSH, he dubbed Whelan the "junk food queen" for her defense of companies who make products with low nutritional value.<ref name= 2011}}"Mindfully">Nicolas Martin, [http://www.mindfully.org/Industry/ACSH-Employee-View.htm ACSH From a Past Employee's View], ''Mindfully'', September 24, 2001.</ref>
See Martin says that, during his tenure with ACSH, he saw or was informed of instances when funders were intimately involved in ACSH projects. Before Martin's arrival at the organization, ACSH published a booklet on sugar and health. He says that he was told by ACSH's then-vice president, Edward Remmers, that the booklet was printed in-house by [[#FundingHershey|FundingThe Hershey Company]] below for more.Martin says that, during his tenure, ACSH was producing a booklet on alcohol and health that the Stroh Brewery Company participated in editing. Neither booklet included an acknowledgement of funder participation.<ref name="Mindfully"/>
==History==Martin claims that The website states that "Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA) asked ACSH was foundedto publish a booklet defending chemicals used for lawn care in 1999.He says that Dr..by Whelan insisted that ACSH would only produce such a group of scientists who had become concerned that many important public policies related to health and defense if the environment did not have PLCAA made a sound scientific basisdonation to fund it. These scientists created This is the organization to add reason and balance to debates about public health issues and bring common sense views to the publicsort of ''quid pro quo'' that Dr."<ref>American Council on Science and Health, [http://wwwWhelan has always claimed ACSH has never permitted.acsh.org/about/ About]Martin says that he notified ACSH board members of these apparent violations of ACSH policy, organizational website, accessed June 7, 2013but that no public acknowledgement or correction resulted.<ref name="Mindfully"/ref>
Former ACSH Since 1989, Martin has been executive director, the late [[Elizabeth Whelan]], explained that the concept of ACSH emerged following being commissioned by [[Pfizer]] to produce a background paper on the 'Delaney Clause' in the 1958 Food Additive Amendment, which restricted the use of cancer causing chemicals in foods. Subsequently, Whelan wrote ''Panic in the Pantry'', a "book on the history of food scares", which was published in 1976Consumer Health Education Council.
ACSH was founded by Whelan and Dr. [[Frederick Stare]] in March 1978, with the assistance ===Coverage of her father and husband as legal advisers. "With assistance from former Secretary of the Treasury [[William Simon]], ACSH was introduced to the [[Scaife Foundations]] and [[John M. Olin Foundation]] which provided ACSH with its first financial support," Whelan explained in a retrospective on the organization's 25th anniversary.<ref nameTies==="anniversary">American Council on Science and Health, [http://healthfactsandfears.net/about/pageID.85/default.asp Where Did ACSH Come From?], organizational website, accessed June 7, 2013.</ref>
===Independence===A revealing reference regarding The conflict between ACSH's origins appears in hidden sponsors and the March 1978 minutes of views espoused occasionally rates a meeting of mention in media coverage too. Writing in the board of directors of the Manufacturing Chemists' Association (later renamed the Chemical Manufacturers Association'Columbia Journalism Review'', and known today as Gloria Cooper wryly commented that the [[American Chemistry Council]])''Today Show'' deserved a "dart" for "failing to meet truth-in-labeling standards. The minutes record an appeal by MCA director William J. Driver, who " Cooper noted that in a June 12, 2003 segment on the ''Today Show'', Whelan had founded "dismissed the suggestion of New York Assemblyman Felix Ortiz that a one percent tax-exempt organization composed of scientists whose viewpoints are more similar to those of business than dissimilar. . . . ACSH be placed on junk foods: "There is being pinched room in life for funds, but in the interest of independence potato chips and Twinkies and credibility will not accept support from any chemical company or any company which could even remotely be concerned with the aims of the council."<ref name="MCA">Manufacturing Chemistsall these other maligned foods if you don' Association, [http://www.chemicalindustryarchives.org/search/pdfs/cma/19780316_00000240.pdf Agenda - Meeting of the MCA Board t eat huge amounts of Directors]them, meeting minutes, March 16, 1978" Whelan said.</ref>
Notwithstanding this desire to make ACSH appear independent, Driver added that "Dr. Whelan would be happy to hear fromPoint well taken" MCA members who , Cooper wrote, "are interested in the work But one that viewers might well have taken with a mindful grain of salt, had they been given at least a clue to the council and know of possible sources of fundsorganization that Whelan represents."<ref name=>Gloria Cooper, "MCADarts and Laurels,"''Columbia Journalism Review'', 2003, Issue 5.</ref>
===Coverage of ACSH Ties===The conflict between ACSH's hidden sponsors and the views espoused occasionally rates a mention in media coverage too. Writing in the 'Washington Post'Columbia Journalism Review'', Gloria Cooper wryly commented that identified ACSH as "an industry-friendly group whose board member Betsy McCaughey helped set off the ''Today Show'' deserved a "dartdeath panels" for frenzy"failing to meet truth-inthe 2009 health care reform debate.<ref>Dan Eggen [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-labeling standardsdyn/content/article/2010/01/06/AR2010010605160_pf." Cooper noted that in a June 12 2003 segment on the html How interest groups behind health-care legislation are financed is often unclear] ''Today ShowWashington Post'', Whelan had dismissed the suggestion of the New York Assemblyman Felix Ortiz that a 1 percent tax be placed on junk foods. "There is room in life for potato chips and Twinkies and all these other maligned foods if you don't eat huge amounts of themJanuary 7, 2010," Whelan said. Page A1</ref>
"Point well taken"The misleading claim that the [[PPACA|Affordable Care Act]] established procedures for doctors to serve on death panels spread widely even though it was thoroughly discredited.<ref>Annenberg Public Policy Center, [http://www.factcheck.org/2009/07/false-euthanasia-claims/ False Euthanasia Claims], ''FactCheck.org'', Cooper wroteJuly 29, "But one that viewers might well have taken with 2009.</ref> The claim also shifted focus away from the way in which many for-profit health insurance companies routinely deny coverage for potentially life-saving medicine or procedures, based on fine print in policies and internal insurance company panels about the expense of a mindful grain particular course of salt, had they been given at least a clue to treatment and the chances the organization that Whelan representsperson will get better."<ref>Gloria CooperWendell Potter, "Darts [http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10396/death-panels-fact-and Laurels"-fiction Death Panels: Fact and Fiction], Center for Media and Democracy's ''Columbia Journalism ReviewPRWatch.org'', 2003 issue 5March 21, 2011.</ref>
See In April 2015, a group of doctors published a letter calling on Columbia University to remove Dr. Mehmet Oz from the faculty of its College of Physicians and Surgeons, accusing Oz of "disdain for science and for evidence-based medicine," "baseless and relentless opposition to the genetic engineering of food crops," and "an egregious lack of integrity by promoting quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain."<ref>Henry I. Miller et al., "[[Alar http://www.vox.com/2015/4/16/8423867/dr-oz-letter-columbia Letter to Lee Goldman, M.D., Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and apples]Medicine, Columbia University]," posted on ''Vox'', April 17, 2015.</ref>
===Benzene Signers on the letter include [[Gilbert Ross]], Acting President and Executive Director of ASCH, and [[Henry I. Miller]], a research fellow at the [[Hoover Institution]] (a right-wing think tank physically located on the campus of Stanford University) and a former ASCH board member who was the leading spokesperson in election ads opposing GMO labeling in Soft Drinks===See California (an ad campaign funded through millions of dollars from corporations that manufacture or use GMO products) and helped found a tobacco industry front group, [[Benzene in Soft DrinksThe Advancement of Sound Science Coalition]].<ref>Rebekah Wilce, "[http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/10/11813/california-gmo-labeling-supporters-confront-41-million-opposition-and-13-point-po California GMO Labeling Supporters Confront $41 Million Opposition and 13-Point Poll Slide]," ''PRWatch'', October 25, 2012.</ref>
===CDr. Everett Koop and ACSH===See [[COz has denounced this as a smear campaign. Everett Koop and ACSH]]
===Panic Attack===See Dr. Oz has his own TV show on NBC, "The Dr. Oz Show," after becoming a prominent media figure through a series of appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Through that platform, he has repeatedly maintained that the public has a right to know what is in their food and has supported the idea of labeling GMO foods. Other countries have stronger rules than the United States does on GMO products, and many people have raised concerns about some of the GMO products that have been created, particularly products created by [[Panic Attack: ACSH Fears Nothing but Fear ItselfMonsanto]], an extremely controversial manufacturer.
===ACSH and Tobacco===In DecemberDr. Oz was accused of using his show to promote dubious health products in 2014, 1980 ACSH coincluding facing criticism from Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) during a 2014 U.S. Senate hearing examining diet-founder Stare wrote to tobacco giant [[Philip Morris]] seeking financial supportproduct ads. <ref name="nbc oz"We are a voice of scientific reason in a sea of pseudo science>Bill Briggs, exaggeration and misnformation"[http://www.nbcnews. We believe it would be com/health/health-news/physicians-columbia-dump-dr-oz-hawking-quack-treatments-n343591 Physicians to your benefit to help ACSHColumbia: Dump Dr. Oz for Hawking 'Quack Treatments']," he wrote. Stare explained that the "basic" ACSH corporate benefactor membership was $3''NBC News'',000 "but we hope you will contribute $10April 17,000 or more2015.</ref> McCaskill has received numerous campaign donations from Monsanto employees; Monsanto is located in St. Louis."<ref>StareCenter for Responsive Politics, FJ [http://legacywww.libraryopensecrets.ucsf.eduorg/tidpoliticians/qmo84e00 3contrib.php?cycle=2014&cid=n00027694&type=I Claire McCaskill: Top 20 Contributors, 2009-page Letter2014], Bates No.1000283163/3165, Philip Morris document collection''Open Secrets'' political influence databse, December 5accessed April 20, 19802015.</ref>
====Whelan & ACSH opposition to tobacco====Despite Stare's 1980 solicitation Ross said in TV comments criticizing Oz, "I don't how much of funds from PMthis he actually has a financial interest in, Whelan was an early advocate against the tobacco industrybut I would suspect it's quite a bit. In December 1981 she wrote to Henry Waxman explaining that while they opposed government labeling restrictions on food additives such as saccharin and nitrites - "because there is no adequate data to support the hypothesis that these substances pose a risk to human health<ref name="nbc oz" - cigarettes was another matter altogether. />
"In That interview with ACSH made no mention of its funding from corporate sources that profit from the case of cigarette smokingproducts and industries ACSH defends, however, the evidence is overwhelming. I believe it is the correct role of government to provide educational information on the health risks to consumers, and let the consumers make their own decisions," she wrote.<refname="nbc oz"/>Elizabeth Whelansuch as GMO crops, [http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/qnx61e00 Letter to Congressman Waxman[fracking]], Legacy Tobacco Documents Library, June 5, 1998and e-cigarettes (see [[#Funding|Funding]] below for more information).</ref>
When a new cigarette brand called "Satin" appeared with Nor did the slogan "Spoil yourself with Satin," the ACHS commended this news show mention Ross' prior involvement in a newsletter as the first truthful cigarette ad because "our dictionary defines scheme that defrauded New York'spoil' as 'to damage seriously; to ruin; to impair the quality or effect s Medicaid system of$8 million.' What better way to describe (Ross lost his medical license in 1995 and received a product which harms the lungsprison sentence of 46 months, heart and other organsserving 23 months.)<ref name="paging dr ross">Bill Hogan, stains the teeth and fingers, promotes wrinkles, fouls the breath, and leaves an unpleasant odor on hair and clothing"[http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2005/11/paging-dr-ross Paging Dr. Certainly the more than 300Ross],000 Americans who died last year of smoking related diseases were " ''Mother Jones'spoiled' by cigarettes, November 2005."</ref name="death"/>
In 1982 and 1986, ===CMD Outlined ACSH conducted a survey of magazines to determine how well they covered the hazards of smoking and to explore the role that cigarette advertising might play Tactics in editorial policy. The studies clearly showed that the best coverage of smoking and health was presented in magazines that did not accept cigarette advertising.<ref name="deathPanic Attack">L. White, "Merchants of Death", 1988.</ref>===
=====Tobacco industry reaction=====The tobacco industry, tired of WhelanCMD first described ACSH in its 1994 book ''Toxic Sludge Is Good for You''s criticism of their products, considered exploiting concern over her advocacy for about how the interests of funders. In 1983 corporate PR industry and corporate front groups try to persuade the lobby shop [[Shook, Hardy public to ignore health concerns about corporate products and Bacon]] drafted a briefing note just in case Tobacco Institute representatives were quizzed on why they hadn't responded to letters from Whelanpractices. "It ACSH is interesting that Dr. Whelan continues to make unequivocal assertions about cigarette smoking at one of the same time groups discussed in that she categorically rejects similar charges about other possible health hazards, such as chemicals and food additives," they wrote.<ref>Shook, Hardy and Bacon, [http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/cpe14a00/pdf FOR CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS OR OTHER MORE FORMAL INQUIRIES: WHY NO RESPONSE TO ELIZABETH WHELAN?], Legacy Tobacco Documents Library, accessed June 7, 2013book by CMD founder John Stauber.</ref>
===Sound Science Award===Since then, CMD has written numerous stories about ACSH awarded author 's industry ties, including an expose in 2012 about how ACSH was identified by Syngenta as a vehicle for pushing back about concerns about the weedkiller [[Michael Crichtonatrazine]] its 2005 Sound Science Prize for "his defense of sound scientific principles and critiques of junk science" in his novel . Syngenta has funded ACSH (see [[State of Fear]#Funding|below]).<ref>{{cite web|publisher=More information about ACSH|title=Michael Crichton Accepts Award from ACSH|url=and Atrazine is available at CMD's [http://www.acshAtrazineExposed.org/news/newsIDAtrazineExposed.1224/news_detail.asp|accessdate=2010-11-17|author=Author unknown|date=2005-11-08|quote=New York, NY -- November 8, 2005. The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) presented Dr. Michael Crichton with the 2005 Sound Science Award for his defense of sound scientific principles and critiques of junk science...at the Union League Club in Manhattan on Friday, November 4thorg] website...drew an impressive crowd and featured remarks from such prominent individuals as ABC News's John Stossel and former White House Chief Counsel, the Honorable C. Boyden Gray, in addition to the guest of honor.}}</ref>, although ACSH reportedly takes no stand on climate change. The ACSH has not awarded this prize before or since.<ref>Whelan, Nov. 2010, pers. comm.</ref>
===2003 shortfall===In During its IRS Form 990 for its fiscal year ending June 30, 2003first 15 years of operation, ACSH reported revenues totaling $1published the names of its institutional funders,332,214 but ran a deficit that year just over $402it has stopped doing this in recent years,000making it harder to identify where all of its money comes from. (In comparison, its total revenue for the year to June 30 1999 Some 40 percent of ACSH's budget was $2supplied directly by industry as of 2000,566including a long list of food,557). See [[ACSH financial data]]drug and chemical companies that have a vested interest in supporting Whelan's message. ===2003 Shortfall===
Faced with a budget shortfallIn its IRS Form 990 for its fiscal year ending June 30, 2003, ACSH suspended the production of its newsletterreported revenues totaling $1, ACSH News332, for eighteen months.<ref>American Council on Science and Health214 but ran a deficit that year just over $402, [http://www000.acsh.org/publications/pubID.848/pub_detail.asp].</ref> While ACSH's income has nosedived (In comparison, salaries its total revenue for the top three staff have climbed. In 2002-2003year to June 30 1999 was $2, the three highest paid staff - Whelan566, Stier and Ross - accounted 557). See [[ACSH financial data]] for $638,186 between themmore.
In Faced with a year that budget shortfall, ACSH suspended the organization ran a substantial deficitproduction of its newsletter, "ACSH News," for eighteen months.<ref>American Council on Science and Health, [https://web.archive.org/web/20040826023124/http://www.acsh.org/publications/pubID.848/pub_detail.asp ACSH News Vol. 10 No. 2 2002 Vol. 11 No. 1 & 2 2003], organizational website, archived by the WayBack Machine August 26, 2004.</ref> While ACSH's income nose-dived, salaries of for the top three accounted for 48% of staff climbed. In 2002 to 2003, the revenue for the year and over a third of the organizations total expenditure. While three highest paid staff -- Whelan, Stier , and Ross took a pay cut of approximately 4.5% each in 2002-2003- accounted for $638, Whelan's salary rose by over 11%186 between them.
===Proportions===In a speech marking year in which the 25th anniversary of ACSH Whelan explained that about 40% of ACSH funding comes from private foundationsorganization ran a substantial deficit, "about 40% from corporations, and the rest salaries of the sale top three accounted for 48 percent of ACSH publications", she wrote. "The important thing, though, is not the source of your funding but revenue for the accuracy year and over a third of the points you make, and ACSHorganization's scientific advisors total expenditure. While Stier and use Ross took a pay cut of peer review keep us honestapproximately 4.5 percent each in 2002-2003, Whelan's salary rose by over 11 percent."<ref name="anniversary"/>
===Funders===During its first 15 years In a speech marking the 25th anniversary of operation, ACSH published the names of its institutional funders, but it has stopped doing this in recent years, making it harder to identify where all Whelan explained that about 40 percent of its money ACSH funding comes from. In the latest years for which information is availableprivate foundations, some "about 40 percent % from corporations, and the rest of the sale of ACSH's budget was supplied directly by industrypublications.... The important thing, though, including a long list is not the source of your funding but the accuracy of foodthe points you make, drug and chemical companies that have a vested interest in supporting WhelanACSH's messagescientific advisors and use of peer review keep us honest. "<ref name="anniversary"/>
== Personnel ==
===June 2013===
As of December 2009, ACSH lists over 300 several hundred advisorson its website; see [[ACSH Scientific advisors]].
From 1989 to the present, Martin has been executive director of the [[Consumer Health Education Council]].==Contact Information==
== Contact Information ==
=== External links ===
multiple updates and revisions
{{#badges:Atrazine Exposed|Tobaccowiki|Front groups}}The '''American Council on Science and Health''' (ACSH), founded in 1978, describes itself as "a consumer education consortium concerned with issues related to food, nutrition, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, lifestyle, the environment and health." At one time the web site stated, "Recent documents confirm that ACSH is an independent, nonprofit, taxactively solicits funding from corporations on specific issues -- anti-exempt organization. The nucleus of ACSH is a board of 350 physicians[[GMO]] labeling, scientists and policy advisors for example - experts in a wide variety of fields - who review the Council's reports and participate in ACSH seminars, press conferences, media communications and other educational activities." Currently that statement is changed benefit from it taking positions favorable to read, "ACSH is a ''national'', non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) consumer health education and advocacy organization based in New York City." The word "independent" no longer appears in the description as of 2014.<ref>American Council on Science and Health, [http://acsh.org/about-acsh/ About], organizational website, accessed June 2014those corporations.</ref>
Consumer advocate [[Ralph Nader]] once said of ACSH, "A consumer group is an organization which advocates the interests of unrepresented consumers and must either maintain its own intellectual independence or be directly accountable to its membership. In contrast, ACSH is a consumer front organization for its business backers. It has seized the language and style of the existing consumer organizations, but its real purpose, you might say, is to glove the hand that feeds it."<ref>Mark Megalli, Andy Friedman, [http://books.google.com/books?id=zIyAtgAACAAJ&dq=Masks+of+Deception&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZiqzU52_Hde0yATigoGQBA&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA ''Masks of Deception: Corporate Front Groups in America''] (Essential Information), 1991, [https://www.google.com/url?q=http://research.greenpeaceusa.org/%3Fa%3Ddownload%26d%3D4695&sa=U&ei=_CmzU7uCPKm28AGC04HIDg&ved=0CAgQFjAC&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNG5X4l3DZCluFWUkogybbFmOjcaBA p. 23].</ref>
Numerous ACSH has taken a strong public position against publications (that do not disclose the dangers of tobacco, one of corporations that have funded the leading preventable causes of death in today's society. However, it takes a generally apologetic stance regarding many other health organization) take positions attacking public concerns about various corporate products and environmental hazards produced by modern industrypractices, accepting corporate funding from such as [[Coca-ColaGenetically Modified Organisms|genetically modified foods]](GMOs), [[Kellogg]]pesticides, [[General Millsherbicides]], [[Pepsico]]and more, and the [[American Beverage Association]], among others. See [[#Funding|Funding]] below for morehave sought to downplay concerns raised by scientists and consumers.
ACSH has received significant funding from the been funded by big agri-businesses and trade groups like [[Koch family foundationsKellogg]] as well as other funding organizations with ties to the Koch brothers. The Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation donated $95,000 between 2005 and 2008,<ref>Center for Media and Democracy, [[Koch Family FoundationsGeneral Mills]], ''SourceWatch.org'', accessed June 2014.</ref><ref>Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2010_11_PF/48-0935563_990PF_200912.pdf 2009 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 15, 2010.</ref><ref>Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2009_11_PF/48-0935563_990PF_200812.pdf 2008 IRS Form 990Pepsico], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 8, 2009.</ref><ref>Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2007_11_PF/48-0935563_990PF_200612.pdf 2006 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 15, 2007.</ref><ref>Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2006_11_PF/48-0935563_990PF_200512.pdf 2005 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 15, 2006.</ref> and the [[David H. KochAmerican Beverage Association]] Foundation gave ACSH $6,000 from 1986 to 1987.<ref name="BridgeACSH"/><ref>Greenpeace, [http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries/american-council-on-science-an/ Koch Industries Climate Denial Front Group: American Council on Science and Health (ACSH)], organizational resource page, accessed June 2014among others.</ref> See [[#Funding|Funding]] below for more.
{{Template:KochConnection}}
==Media coverageOther Examples of Controversy==
===WaPo 2010: McCaughey and death panelsDeath Panels===The ''Washington Post'' identified ACSH as "an industry-friendly group whose board member [[Betsy McCaughey]] helped set off the "death panels" frenzy" in the 2009 health care reform debate.<ref>Dan Eggen [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/06/AR2010010605160_pf.html How interest groups behind health-care legislation are financed is often unclear] ''Washington Post'', January 7, 2010, Page A1</ref>
==Case studies=Hypocritical Attack on Dr. Mehmet Oz Over Conflicts of Interest====Alar and apples==="It was the great [[Alar]] scare of 1989 that boosted Whelan into the media stratosphere," ''Washington Post'' media reporter [[Howard Kurtz]] wrote in a 1990 article in the ''Columbia Journalism Review''. ACSH and Whelan were fixtures on the anti-environmental scene long before the Alar issue emerged, downplaying risks from DDT, dioxin, asbestos, and a host of other polluting chemicals, but Whelan's prominent role in the Alar counter-publicity campaign helped make ACSH a common source for journalists seeking commentary on public health issues.
CMD profiled ACSH again in 1998, noting that although ACSH styles itself as a "It suggests that Dr. Whelan may be using different scientific standards to judge claims about cigarettes smoking than about products manufactured by companies that would appear to have a vested interest in furthering views such as those expressed by Dr" organization, it does not carry out any independent primary research. Whelan. As you may be awareInstead, it has been suggested specializes in the press and elsewhere generating media advisories that her criticize or praise scientists depending on whether they agree with ACSH's views about certain products are open to question because of . It has mastered the sources modern media sound byte, issuing a regular stream of funding for her organizationnews releases with catchy, quotable phrases responding to hot-button environmental issues. To read more," see the briefing note statedpage [[Panic Attack: ACSH Fears Nothing but Fear Itself]].
==Funding==
ACSH stopped disclosing corporate donors early in the 1990's. Corporate donors from its 1991 report can be seen [http://www.cspinet.org/integrity/nonprofits/american_council_on_science_and_health.html| here]. Some of its funders includehave included:
{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1"
|-
|[[Chevron]]||align="right" | $18,500 || oil ||2012<ref name="MoJo"/>
|-
|Chinook Foundation||align="right"|$600|| ||2011,<ref>Chinook Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2012_05_PF/84-1251809_990PF_201112.pdf 2011 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, May 7, 2012, p. 29.</ref> 2013<ref>Chinook Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2014_05_PF/84-1251809_990PF_201312.pdf 2013 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, May 11, 2014, p. 27.</ref>
|-
|[[Coca-Cola]]||align="right"|$50,000|| ||2012<ref name="MoJo"/>
|-
|Conrad Family Foundation||align="right"|$100||||2011<ref>Conrad Family Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2012_10_PF/65-6351362_990PF_201112.pdf 2011 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, September 15, 2012, p. 15.</ref>
|-
|Cox Family Foundation||align="right"|$1,000|| ||2009<ref>Cox Family Foundation - Nancy and Fred Cox, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2010_09_PF/94-3379588_990PF_200912.pdf 2009 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, August 14, 2010, p. 28.</ref>
|-
|[[CropLife America]]||align="right"|$25,000||pesticide industry||2004<ref>CropLife America, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/530190293/530190293_2004_01f80f66.PDF 2004 IRS Form 990], trade group's annual IRS filing, August 20, 2005.</ref>
|Distilled Spirits Council of the United States||align="right"|$30,000|| ||2008-2012<ref>Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Inc., [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/520971454/520971454_2008_059A7B88.PDF 2008 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 16, 2009.</ref><ref>Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Inc., [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/520971454/520971454_2011_08c1248c.PDF 2011 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, October 25, 2012.</ref><ref>Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Inc., [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/520971454/520971454_2012_09cc7148.PDF 2012 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 14, 2013.</ref>
|-
|Dodge Jones Foundation||align="right" |$2542,500 000 || railroad and minerals ||2003,<ref>Dodge Jones Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/756006386/756006386_2003_014b5e2d.PDF 2003 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, August 16, 2004.</ref> 2009-2013<ref>Dodge Jones Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2010_11_PF/75-6006386_990PF_200912.pdf 2009 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 8, 2010, p. 56.</ref><ref>Dodge Jones Foundation, [http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990pf_pdf_archive/756/756006386/756006386_201012_990PF.pdf 2010 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 15, 2011.</ref><ref>Dodge Jones Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2012_11_PF/75-6006386_990PF_201112.pdf 2011 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 8, 2012, p. 42.</ref><ref>Dodge Jones Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2013_11_PF/75-6006386_990PF_201212.pdf 2012 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 8, 2013, p. 36.</ref><ref>Dodge Jones Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2014_12_PF/75-6006386_990PF_201312.pdf 2013 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 14, 2014, p. 35.</ref>
|-
|[[Donors Capital Fund]]||align="right" | $89,500 || anonymous "donor directed" fund ||2008-2011<ref name="DTDCF">Center for Media and Democracy, [[DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund Grant Recipients]], ''SourceWatch.org'', accessed June 2014.</ref><ref name="BridgeACSH"/>
|Ethox Chemicals||align="right"|$2,000|| ||2012<ref name="MoJo"/>
|-
|[[ExxonMobil]]||align="right" | $240315,000 || petroleum ||2000-20122013<ref name="BridgeACSH"/><ref name="MoJo"/><ref name="Exxon">Greenpeace, [http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/orgfactsheet.php?id=8 Fact Sheet: American Council on Science and Health (ACSH)], ''ExxonSecrets.org'', accessed June 30, 2014.</ref><ref>ExxonMobil Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2014_05_PF/13-6082357_990PF_201312.pdf 2013 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, May 7, 2014, p. 88.</ref>|-|Finley, A.E. Foundation||align="right" |$1,000||equipment & machinery distribution||2009,<ref>A.E. Finley Foundation, Inc., [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2011_03_PF/56-6057379_990PF_201011.pdf 2011 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, March 21, 2011, p. 81.</ref> 2012<ref>A.E. Finley Foundation, Inc., [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2013_11_PF/56-6057379_990PF_201212.pdf 2012 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 15, 2013, p. 29.</ref>
|-
|Fragrance Materials Association of the United States, Inc.||align="right"|$20,000|| ||2011<ref>Fragrance Materials Association of the United States, Inc., [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/521207674/521207674_2011_08d7a61c.PDF 2011 IRS Form 990], organizational annual IRS filing, November 14, 2012.</ref>
|-
|[[GE]] Foundation||align="right"|$396,000||[[General Electric]] (including a small amount of donations matching employees')||2003-2012<ref>GE Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/222621967/222621967_2003_01479b46.PDF 2003 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 15, 2004.</ref><ref>GE Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/222621967/222621967_2004_01e4aa6a.PDF 2004 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 15, 2005.</ref><ref>GE Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/222621967/222621967_2005_02A5297C.PDF 2005 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 15, 2006.</ref><ref>GE Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/222621967/222621967_2007_04737E60.PDF 2007 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 14, 2008.</ref><ref>GE Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/222621967/222621967_2008_0573F109.PDF 2008 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 13, 2009.</ref><ref>GE Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/222621967/222621967_2009_0686EC7E.PDF 2009 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 15, 2010.</ref><ref>GE Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/222621967/222621967_2011_08c2e9fa.PDF 2011 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 26, 2012.</ref><ref>GE Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/222621967/222621967_2012_09b7c687.PDF 2012 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 13, 2013.</ref>
|-
|Gerstacker, Rollin M. Foundation||align="right"|$10,000||[[Dow Chemical Company]]||2010<ref>Rollin M. Gerstacker Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2011_05_PF/38-6060276_990PF_201012.pdf 2010 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, May 3, 2011, p. 31.</ref>
|-
|Gilder Foundation||align="right" | $5,000 || stockbroker [[Richard Gilder]] ||2005<ref name="BridgeACSH"/>
|-
|Griffin, Dorothy G. Charitable Foundation||align="right"|$3,000||Varflex Corporation (electrical insulating sleeving and tubing)||2010-2012<ref>Dorothy G. Griffin Charitable Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2011_04_PF/16-1541273_990PF_201012.pdf 2010 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, March 28, 2011, p. 22.</ref><ref>Dorothy G. Griffin Charitable Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2012_11_PF/16-1541273_990PF_201112.pdf 2011 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, March 15, 2012, p. 18.</ref><ref>Dorothy G. Griffin Charitable Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2013_10_PF/16-1541273_990PF_201212.pdf 2012 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, April 18, 2013, p. 28.</ref>
|-
|[[Grocery Manufacturers Association]]||align="right" |$25,000||anti-[[GMO]] labeling trade association||2013<ref>Grocery Manufacturers Association, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2014_06_EO/53-0114930_990O_201312.pdf 2013 IRS Form 990], trade association's annual IRS filing, May 12, 2014, p. 22.</ref>
|-
|Hayden Foundation||align="right" |$2,300|| ||2009-2013<ref>Hayden Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2010_12_PF/38-6118718_990PF_200912.pdf 2009 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 15, 2010, p. 21.</ref><ref>Hayden Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2011_10_PF/38-6118718_990PF_201012.pdf 2010 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, May 11, 2011, p. 19.</ref><ref>Hayden Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2012_12_PF/38-6118718_990PF_201112.pdf 2011 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, July 10, 2012, p. 21.</ref><ref>Hayden Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2013_09_PF/38-6118718_990PF_201212.pdf 2012 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, September 6, 2013, p. 22.</ref><ref>Hayden Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2014_12_PF/38-6118718_990PF_201312.pdf 2013 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 4, 2014, p. 23.</ref>
|-
|[[International Formula Council]]||align="right"|$10,000|| ||2012<ref name="MoJo"/>
|Kayser Family Foundation||align="right"|$2,500|| ||2006-2009<ref>Kayser Family Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/367052752/367052752_2006_0364C2BF.PDF 2006 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, September 28, 2007.</ref><ref>Kayser Family Foundation, 2007 Form 990 (on file with CMD), foundation's annual IRS filing, October 14, 2008.</ref><ref>Kayser Family Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/367052752/367052752_2008_05927711.PDF 2008 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, December 5, 2009.</ref><ref>Kayser Family Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/367052752/367052752_2009_06B785AE.PDF 2009 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, January 10, 2011.</ref>
|-
|[[F.M. Kirby Foundation|Kirby, F.M. Foundation]]||align="right" | $307347,000 || Woolworth and [[Alleghany]] Companies ||1998-20122013<ref name="BridgeACSH">American Bridge 21st Century Foundation, [http://conservativetransparency.org/org/american-council-on-science-and-health/?order_by=year+DESC American Council on Science and Health], ''ConservativeTransparency.org'' recipient financial record, accessed June 2014.</ref><ref>F.M. Kirby Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2014_05_PF/51-6017929_990PF_201312.pdf 2013 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, May 13, 2014, p. 48.</ref>
|-
|[[David H. Koch Foundation|Koch, David H. Foundation]]||align="right" | $6,000 || [[Koch Industries]] ||1986-1987<ref name="BridgeACSH"/><ref name="GP"/>
|-
|[[McDonald's]]||align="right"|$30,000|| ||2012<ref name="MoJo"/>
|-
|McNutt, Amy Shelton Charitable Trust||align="right"|$1,500|| ||2009,<ref>Amy Shelton McNutt Charitable Trust, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2011_04_PF/74-2298675_990PF_201009.pdf 2009 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, March 31, 2011, p. 18.</ref> 2011<ref>Amy Shelton McNutt Charitable Trust, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2013_08_PF/74-2298675_990PF_201209.pdf 2011 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, August 7, 2013, p. 18.</ref>
|-
|Nolan, David P. Foundation||align="right"|$250|| ||2010<ref>David P. Nolan Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/133343293/133343293_2009_070B6AC8.PDF 2009 IRS Form 990] (Grants and Contributions Paid FYE 11/30/10), foundation's annual IRS filing, April 8, 2011.</ref>
|-
|Opportunity Foundation||align="right" | $2,000 500 || || 2009-20122013<ref name="BridgeACSH"/><ref>Opportunity Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2014_11_PF/36-3835681_990PF_201312.pdf 2013 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, May 2, 2014, p. 15.</ref>|-|Penn, Arthur S. and Marilyn Charitable Trust||align="right"|$500||retired president of Elmrock Capital, Inc., board member of [[Center for Individual Rights]]||2010<ref>Arthur S. and Marilyn Penn Charitable Trust, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2011_05_PF/13-3386164_990PF_201012.pdf 2010 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, May 9, 2011, p. 17.</ref>
|-
|[[Personal Care Products Council]]||align="right"|$20,000||personal care products (cosmetics, toiletries, fragrances, etc.) industry||2011-2002<ref>Personal Care Products Council, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/131390920/131390920_2011_089b7855.PDF 2011 IRS Form 990], organizational annual IRS filing, June 5, 2012.</ref><ref>Personal Care Products Council, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/131390920/131390920_2012_0965f921.PDF 2012 IRS Form 990], organizational annual IRS filing, May 29, 2013.</ref><ref name="MoJo"/>
|-
|[[Pfizer]] Foundation||align="right"|$300||pharmaceutical industry (matching employee gifts)||2011-2013<ref>Pfizer Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2012_10_PF/13-6083839_990PF_201112.pdf 2011 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, October 4, 2012, p. 43.</ref><ref>Pfizer Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2013_11_PF/13-6083839_990PF_201212.pdf 2012 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, October 28, 2013, p. 42.</ref><ref>Pfizer Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2014_11_PF/13-6083839_990PF_201312.pdf 2013 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 3, 2014, p. 39.</ref>
|-
|[[PhRMA]]||align="right" | $160,000 || pharmaceutical industry ||2008-2010<ref name="BridgeACSH"/>
|-
|[[Randolph Foundation]]||align="right" | $73,920 || [[Smith Richardson Foundation|Vicks chemical company]] ||2006<ref name="BridgeACSH"/>
|-
|Roberts, Gilroy and Lillian P. Charitable Foundation||align="right" | $200 || sculptor, gemstone carver, and former Chief Engraver of the U.S. Mint || 2013<ref>Gilroy and Lillian P. Roberts Charitable Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2014_09_PF/23-2219044_990PF_201406.pdf 2013 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, September 8, 2014, p. 22.</ref>
|-
|[[Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation]]||align="right" | $27,500 || oil || 1998-2001<ref name="BridgeACSH"/>
|-
|Stare Fund||align="right"|$7,500|| ||2012<ref name="MoJo"/>
|-
|Roger and Susan Stone Family Foundation||align="right"|$5,000||[[Smurfit-Stone]] (paperboard and paper-based packaging)||2009,<ref>Roger and Susan Stone Family Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2010_09_PF/23-7026711_990PF_200912.pdf 2009 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, August 30, 2010, p. 21.</ref> 2012<ref>Roger and Susan Stone Family Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2013_09_PF/23-7026711_990PF_201212.pdf 2012 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, August 28, 2013, p. 13.</ref>
|-
|[[Syngenta]]||align="right"|$22,500|| ||2012<ref name="MoJo"/>
|Tober, Barbara and Donald Foundation||align="right"|$23,500|| ||2007-2012<ref>Barbara and Donald Tober Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/137192894/137192894_2007_047118F3.PDF 2007 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, October 13, 2008.</ref><ref>Barbara and Donald Tober Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/137192894/137192894_2008_05766979.PDF 2008 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 10, 2009.</ref><ref>Barbara and Donald Tober Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/137192894/137192894_2009_06027961.PDF 2009 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, June 4, 2010.</ref><ref>Barbara and Donald Tober Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/137192894/137192894_2010_07bd07f8.PDF 2010 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 14, 2011.</ref><ref>Barbara and Donald Tober Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/137192894/137192894_2011_08f3127f.PDF 2011 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, January 15, 2013.</ref><ref>Barbara and Donald Tober Foundation, [http://207.153.189.83/EINS/137192894/137192894_2012_09bcc5a2.PDF 2012 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 14, 2013.</ref>
|-
|Triad Foundation||align="right"|$35,000 ("Gen/fracking")||foundation endowed run by media businessman the right-wing son of Roy H. Park||2012<ref name="MoJo"/>|-|Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program||align="right"|$39, formed in 2003 as a spin-off of the 400||[[Park FoundationDonorsTrust|donor-advised fund]]||2012-2013<ref name="MoJo">Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2013_12_EO/23-2888152_990_201306.pdf 2012 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 13, 2013, p. 32.</ref><ref>Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2014_12_EO/23-2888152_990_201406.pdf 2013 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 11, 2014, p. 32.</ref>
|}
===OriginalTies to the Koch Brothers=== ACSH has received significant funding from the [[Koch family foundations]] as well as other funding organizations with ties to the Koch brothers. The Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation donated $95,000 between 2005 and 2008,<ref>Center for Media and Democracy, [[Koch Family Foundations]], ''SourceWatch.org'', accessed June 2014.</ref><ref>Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2010_11_PF/48-0935563_990PF_200912.pdf 2009 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 15, 2010.</ref><ref>Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2009_11_PF/48-0935563_990PF_200812.pdf 2008 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 8, 2009.</ref><ref>Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2007_11_PF/48-0935563_990PF_200612.pdf 2006 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 15, 2007.</ref><ref>Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2006_11_PF/48-0935563_990PF_200512.pdf 2005 IRS Form 990], foundation's annual IRS filing, November 15, 2006.</ref> and the [[David H. Koch]] Foundation gave ACSH $6,000 from 1986 to 1987.<ref name="BridgeACSH"/><ref>Greenpeace, [http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries/american-council-on-science-an/ Koch Industries Climate Denial Front Group: American Council on Science and Health (ACSH)], organizational resource page, accessed June 2014.</ref> {{DT_recipient|amount = 624,074.62|start = 2005|end = 2011}} ===Older Funding Information===
"ACSH did not accept funding -- even general operating funding -- from any corporation or trade association for the first two years of operation," Whelan explained in 2003. ACSH's policy, she said, was to only accept funding only from foundations was soon relaxed. "For two years we tried that, but the media still regularly implied that ACSH had industry support … The ACSH Board of Directors concluded that what critics objected to was not ACSH's funding but ACSH's views -- and that in avoiding corporate donations we were limiting ACSH's fundraising potential to no avail," she wrote, insisting that corporate funding must be "no strings attached".
Shortly after its founding, ACSH abandoned even the appearance of independent funding. In a 1997 interview, Whelan explained that she was already being called a "paid liar for industry," so she figured she might as well go ahead and take industry money without restrictions.
====1984 Funders====
In its 1984 Annual annual report , ACSH provided an extensive list of its corporate and foundation donors.<ref>American Council on Science and Health, [http://tobaccodocuments.org/lor/81210328-0357.html?end_page=30 1984 annual report], organizational document, 1984.</ref> ACSH funders have included the following:
*ALCOA Foundation
*Wine Growers of California
===Finances=Funders Who Withdrew== '''<big>2012</big>''' (for tax year 7/1/12-6/30/13):<ref name="2012 990">American Council on Science and Health, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2014_04_EO/13-2911127_990_201306.pdf 2012 IRS Form 990], organizational annual IRS filing, April 4, 2014.</ref> Total Revenue: $1,457,379<br>Total Expenses: $1,826,747<br>Net Assets: $2,396,060 '''<big>2011</big>''' (for tax year 7/1/11-6/30/12):<ref name="2011 990">American Council on Science and Health, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2013_05_EO/13-2911127_990_201206.pdf 2011 IRS Form 990], organizational annual IRS filing, April 23, 2013.</ref> Total Revenue: $1,521,671<br>Total Expenses: $1,871,639<br>Net Assets: $2,753,254 '''<big>2010</big>''' (for tax year 7/1/10-6/30/11):<ref name="2010 990">American Council on Science and Health, [http://pdfs.citizenaudit.org/2012_07_EO/13-2911127_990_201106.pdf 2010 IRS Form 990], organizational annual IRS filing, May 14, 2012.</ref> Total Revenue: $1,351,961<br>Total Expenses: $1,625,952<br>Net Assets: $3,158,364 ==History== According The website states that "ACSH was founded... by a group of scientists who had become concerned that many important public policies related to health and the environment did not have a sound scientific basis. These scientists created the organization to add reason and balance to debates about public health issues and bring common sense views to the public."<ref>American Council on Science and Health, [http://www.acsh.org/about/ About], organizational website, accessed June 7, 2013.</ref> Former ACSHdirector, some the late [[Elizabeth Whelan]], explained that the concept of its funding from ACSH emerged following being commissioned by [[Pfizer]] to produce a background paper on the "Delaney Clause" in the food industry dried up after those companies were acquired by Philip Morris1958 Food Additive Amendment, which does not like restricted the position that ACSH has taken against tobaccouse of cancer-causing chemicals in foods. "ACSHSubsequently, Whelan wrote ''s warnings about cigarette smoking resulted Panic in the loss Pantry'', a "book on the history of substantial contributions from food manufacturers that had been acquired scares," which was published in 1976. ACSH was founded by tobacco companiesWhelan and Dr. A metal pipe manufacturer withdrew its support after ACSH defended [[Frederick Stare]] in March 1978, with the safety assistance of her father and husband as legal advisers. "With assistance from former Secretary of the Treasury [[William Simon]], ACSH was introduced to the proper use of plastic pipes[[Scaife Foundations]] and [[John M. Olin Foundation]][,] which provided ACSH with its first financial support," ACSH states Whelan explained in a retrospective on its websitethe organization's 25th anniversary.<refname="anniversary">American Council on Science and Health, [http://healthfactsandfears.net/about/pageID.685/default.asp FAQWhere Did ACSH Come From?], organizational website, accessed June 7, 2013.</ref> "It was the great [[Alar]] scare of 1989 that boosted Whelan into the media stratosphere," ''Washington Post'' media reporter [[Howard Kurtz]] wrote in a 1990 article in the ''Columbia Journalism Review''. ACSH and Whelan were fixtures on the anti-environmental scene long before the Alar issue emerged, downplaying risks from DDT, dioxin, asbestos, and a host of other polluting chemicals, but Whelan's prominent role in the Alar counter-publicity campaign helped make ACSH a common source for journalists seeking commentary on public health issues. To learn more, see the page [[Alar and apples]]. ===Benzene in Soft Drinks=== See the page [[Benzene in Soft Drinks]]. ===C. Everett Koop and ACSH=== Former U.S. Surgeon General [[C. Everett Koop]], an appointee of President [[Ronald Reagan]], shared common ground with ACSH on several issues, including working with the PR firm [[Ketchum]] Communications in a campaign against the book ''Diet for a Poisoned Planet'', which raised concerns about pesticides and chemical residues in foods. At the time, Ketchum's vice president sat on the board of ACSH.
To learn more, see the page [[C. Everett Koop and ACSH]]. == Supporters == While ACSH has never been far from controversy, it can has been able to draw on well-connected supporters. ABC News' [[John Stossel]] was the master of ceremonies at ACSH's 25th anniversary dinner on December 4, 2000.<ref>American Council on Science and Health, [http://74.217.243.128/events/eventid.8/event_detail.asp Silver Anniversary Gala Dinner - 2003], accessed June 7, 2013.</ref> (Stossel penned a commentary column -- "The Anti-Junk Scientists" -- lauding ACSH in that days day's edition of the ''New York Post''.<ref>John Stossel, [http://healthfactsandfears.net/healthissues/newsID.97/healthissue_detail.asp The Anti-Junk Scientists], ''The New York Post'', November 4, 2003.</ref>) Also attending was conservative humourist humorist [[Christopher Buckley]]. ==Personnel==
ACSH was founded by [[Elizabeth Whelan]], and she was its President until her death in 2014.<ref>American Council on Science and Health, [http://acsh.org/about-acsh/meet-the-team/elizabeth-m-whelan-m-p-h-m-s-sc-d/ Elizabeth M. Whelan, M.P.H., M.S., Sc.D.], organizational website, accessed October 2014.</ref> Whelan made no bones about her political leanings, describing herself as a lifelong conservative who is "more libertarian than Republican." According to media commentator Howard Kurtz, "Television producers like Whelan because she's colorful and succinct, skewering her adversaries with such phrases as 'toxic terrorists' and referring to their research as 'voodoo statistics.' Newspaper reporters often dial her number because she is an easily accessible spokesperson for the 'other' side of many controversies."
===Board === ====2015==== As of TrusteesApril 2015:<ref name="staff"/> * Nigel Bark, Chair, Albert Einstein College of Medicine* Steven Modzelewski, Vice Chair, Maple Engine LLC* [[Gilbert Ross]], Acting President and Executive Director, ACSH* James E. Enstrom, University of California, Los Angeles* Jack C. Fisher, University of California, San Diego, Emeritus* Thom Golab, [[Media Research Center]]* Herbert I. London, London Center for Policy Research* Paul A. Offit, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia* Fred L. Smith, Jr., [[Competitive Enterprise Institute]]* Daniel T. Stein, Albert Einstein College of Medicine ====2013====
The ACSH Board of Trustees, as of June 2013:<ref>, American Council on Science and Health,[http://www.acsh.org/about/trustees-and-founders-circle/ Trustees and Founders Circle], Council website, accessed June 5th, 2013.</ref>
*Elizabeth M. Whelan
*Daniel T. Stein
*Herbert L. London
*Nigel Bark
====December 2009==== The ACSH board of Trustees, as of December 2009:<ref name=trusteesandfounders>{{cite web |publisher=American Council on Science and Health |title=ACSH Trustees and Founders Circle |url=http://www.acsh.org/about/pageID.7/default.asp |accessdate=2009-12-24 }}</ref>, is composed of:
* [[Nigel M. Bark]], M.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine
* [[Elissa P. Benedek]], M.D., University of Michigan Medical School
* [[Glenn Swogger, JR.]], M.D. The Menninger Clinic (ret.)
====July 2004==== The ACSH board of Trustees, as of July 2004, was composed of:
*[[John H. Moore]] Chairman of the Board, ACSH Grove City College
*[[Elissa P. Benedek]], M.D. University of Michigan
===Founders Circle===
In December 2009 the , ACSH listed the following individuals in its "Founders Circle":<ref name=trusteesandfounders />:
* [[Christine M. Bruhn]], Ph.D. University of California, Davis
* [[Taiwo K. Danmola]], C.P.A., Ernst & Young
===Scientific Advisors===
===Staff===
====2015==== As of April 2015:<ref name="staff">American Council on Science and Health, "[http://acsh.org/about-acsh/meet-the-team/ Staff]," organizational website, accessed April 20, 2015.</ref> * Gilbert Ross – Acting President, Medical/Executive Director* Josh Bloom – Director of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences* Ruth Kava – Senior Nutrition Fellow* Ariel Savransky – Associate Director of Public Health* Ana Simovska – Director of Video Production* Erik Lief – Director of Communications* Ana Marcelo – Executive Assistant to the President* Cheryl E. Martin – Director of Development* William McCain – Development Associate ====2003==== Staff, including the salaries and benefits to its top five employees , were reported in ACSH's 2003 IRS return as follows:
*[[Elizabeth Whelan]] President $326,612
*[[Jeff SteirStier]], Associate Director, $155,577
*[[Gilbert Ross]], Medical Director, $155,997
*[[Ruth Kava]], Director of Nutrition, $67,639
*[[Tiffany Dovey]] Research Intern
(Between the 1999 financial year to 2003, Whelan's salary climbed from $223,570 to $326,612; Stiers Stier's from $110,185 to $155,577 and Gilbert Ross's from $87,325 to 155,997). (See [[ACSH staff salaries]]). ====Former staff====Nicolas Martin was ACSH's administrative director during parts of 1988 and 1989. He dubbed ACSH's President, Elizabeth Whelan, the "junk food queen" for her defense of companies who make products with low nutritional value. Martin says that during his tenure with ACSH he saw or was informed of instances when funders were intimately involved in ACSH projects. Before Martin's arrival at the organization, ACSH published a booklet on sugar and health. He says that he was told by ACSH's then vice-president, Edward Remmers, that the booklet was printed in-house by The Hershey Company. Martin says that during his tenure ACSH was producing a booklet on alcohol and health that the Stroh Brewery Company participated in editing. Neither booklet included an acknowledgement of funder participation. Martin claims that in 1999 The Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA) asked ACSH to publish a booklet defending chemicals used for lawn care. He says that Dr. Whelan insisted that ACSH would only produce such a defense if the PLCAA made a donation to fund it. This is the sort of ''quid pro quo'' Dr. Whelan has always claimed that ACSH has never permitted.<ref>Nicolas Martin, [http://www.mindfully.org/Industry/ACSH-Employee-View.htm ACSH From a Past Employee's View], ''Mindfully'', September 24, 2001.</ref> Martin says that he notified ACSH board members of these apparent violations of ACSH policy, but that no public acknowledgement or correction resulted. Martin disputed Dr. Whelan's claim to be a [[libertarian]], noting that she has long supported government limits on the sale of food supplements, and controls over tobacco sale and use by adults. He noted that Dr. Whelan attended a fundraiser to support the Supreme Court nomination of [[Robert Bork]], whose constitutional views are anathema to most libertarians.
American Council on Science and Health<br>
1995 Broadway<br>
http://www.acsh.org
== Related SourceWatch Resources== * [[Portal:Atrazine Exposed]]*[[Healthcare industry]]*The [[Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association]]* [[Henry I. Miller]] ===External Links===
* Donohoe MT, [http://phsj.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/corporate-front-groups-abuse-of-science-with-background-and-refs.doc Corporate front groups and the abuse of science: the saga of the American Council on Science and Health] Z Magazine, 2007 (October):42-6. Published version available at http://zmagsite.zmag.org/Oct2007/donohoe_print.html.
Referenced version available at web address above. This article discusses the threats to science and society posed by anti-science groups, focusing on American Council on Science and Health, and provides background on Elizabeth Whelan and [[Gilbert Ross]]. An open access powerpoint is available at [http://phsj.org/?page_id=27 Confronting pseudoscience and threats from a corporate front group - the American Council on Science and Health]. No password necessary.
===Articles by ACSH Staff===
* Elizabeth Whelan, "[http://acsh.org/news/newsID.852/news_detail.asp Where Did ACSH Come From?]", Editorial, December 4, 2003.
* Elizabeth Whelan, "[http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/qnx61e00 letter to Henry Waxman]", Bates Number: 03741494, December 1981.
===ACSH Annual Reports===
*"[http://tobaccodocuments.org/pm/1000283146-3162.html?end_page=17 Second Annual Report]," ''American Council on Science and Health'', 1979
*"[http://tobaccodocuments.org/lor/81210328-0357.html?end_page=30 Seventh Annual Report]," ''American Council on Science and Health'', 1984
===General External Articles=== * Norman Borlaug the Poster Boy for Bogus Science, [http://www.politicalfriendster.com/showPerson.php?id=3460&name=Norman-BorlaugNorman Borlaug, the Poster Boy for Bogus Science]*Interactive Network of Connections for ACSH [http://www.politicalfriendster.com/showPerson.php?id=3412&name=American-Council-on-Science-and-Health-(ACSH)Interactive Network of Connections for ACSH]
*Center for Science in the Public Interest, "[http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/lnx61e00 "Consumer Group" labeled front for industry]", News Release, February 14, 1982.
resource_code=acsh
search_term=American Council on Science and Health</tdo>
[[Category:Tobacco documents organizations]][[Category:Advertisement]][[Category:Cigarettes]][[Category:Diseases]][[Category:Health]][[category:United States]][[category:Environment]][[Category:Health]][[Category:Front groups]]
