Slammed Doctor Replies To Criticism
Researcher attempts to backtrack following widespread condemnation of her vaping study conclusions and comments
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by Dave Cross
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In interviews she said: “Based on the evidence to date I believe they are no better than smoking regular cigarettes.” To which we noted that she probably hasn’t read the evidence.
Doctor Michael Siegal offered his considered opinion: “To declare that smoking is no more hazardous than using e-cigarettes, a non-tobacco-containing product is a false and irresponsible claim. This study confirms previous findings that e-cigarette vapor can cause damage to epithelial cell lines in culture, and that the damage caused by e-cigarette vapor is much lower than that caused by tobacco smoke. However, it cannot be concluded from this cell culture study that e-cigarette vapor actually has toxic or carcinogenic effects in humans who use these products.”
Her statement is as follows:
“CLARIFICATION/CORRECTION: Contrary to what was stated or implied in much of the news coverage resulting from this news release, the lab experiments did not find that e-cigarette vapor was as harmful to cells as cigarette smoke. In fact, one phase of the experiments, not addressed in the news release, found that cigarette smoke did in fact kill cells at a much faster rate. However, because similar cell-damage mechanisms were observed as the result of both e-vapor and regular cigarette smoke, Dr. Wang-Rodriguez asserts, based on the evidence from the study, that e-cigarettes are not necessarily a healthier alternative to smoking regular cigarettes. As stated in the journal paper and the news release, further research is needed to better understand the actual long-term health effects of e-cigarettes in humans.”
So, she wants to ignore what she actually said and blame the media for twisting her words – and clears everything up by saying “the lab experiments did not find that e-cigarette vapor was as harmful to cells as cigarette smoke,” but also “that e-cigarettes are not necessarily a healthier alternative to smoking regular cigarettes.” No wonder that vaping advocate Clive Bates labels the correction as muddled.
The Daily Caller picks up on (probably) the only decent aspect to her research: “As stated in the journal paper and the news release, further research is needed to better understand the actual long-term health effects of e-cigarettes in humans.”
Sarah Knapton in The Telegraph wrote an article titled “E-cigarettes are no safer than smoking tobacco, scientists warn”. She went on to write: “Cells exposed to the e-cigarette vapour showed several forms of damage, including DNA strand breaks, which can lead to cancer.” Siegel was concerned that the original message carried by the likes of The Telegraph would place the public in danger as smokers might decide to continue or return to smoking as they would see no benefit.
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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