Welcome to the only worldwide organization to focus on conflicts of interest in academia, health-related governmental agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and major research institutions. Most of the issues posted on this site seldom get coverage in the mainstream media and medical journals. Critical commentaries by members of the International Science Oversight Board (a project of the Organic Consumers Association) will challenge corporate power and systemic conflicts of interest spawned by megamerged transnationals. Board members, with no financial ties to these corporate giants, have signed on to a mission statement that eschews any party line. Rather, it is our commitment to call ‘em as we see‘em and follow the science wherever it leads, without fear or favor. Special interests will find no seat in this boardroom.
The Oversight Board includes members from Australia to Canada and India, Russia and Germany to the UK and US— physicians, researchers, health policy analysts and activists, thus ensuring a broad range of viewpoints. Each one has a distinguished record of accomplishment, many with a lengthy list of papers in peer reviewed journals as well as authorship of books on health-related topics, most of which have received scant attention by “investigative” reporters. Therefore, one of our major goals is to develop an effective communications network that will broaden the scope of health information and reveal the identities of those who seek to obfuscate or impede the free flow of independent scientific research. No cigar-filled backroom conspiracy here. Rather, it’s a game of crony capitalism in which major players know each other, have interlocks through their positions on boards of directors or science advisory committees and attend the same conferences and social functions. What has emerged is a new paradigm of power and political influence, the PhfarmedNuchem Industrial Complex (pharmaceutical, agribusiness, biomedical, nuclear, and chemical industries), a clear and present threat to the public health and safety- worldwide.
You will note that our logo is a black box. It signifies scientific jugglery and disinformation, with secrecy and profits taking precedence over the public interest. Although many clinicians and professors at our major research universities privately express a concern about the corporatization of medicine and commodification of human life, they hesitate to speak out for fear of retribution and the predictable cutoff in corporate funding. We intend to support those who publicly voice their concerns and we trust you will join us in lifting the lid on BiomedicineÂ’s Black Box.
