The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition
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The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition (TASSC), is well documented in the Tobacco Documents entered in evidence and passed through due process of law of the largest civil suit in United States history which resulted in a Multistate Settlement Agreement of a record $240 billion dollars by the tobacco companies. Two useful sources of historical documents are Tobacco Documents Online (TDO), and The Legacy Tobacco Documents Library sponsored by the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). TDO is holding 797 documents and UCSF is holding 680 documents under the keyword TASSC
TASSC was what is commonly known as a front group, presenting an appearance as a disinterested outside party but in fact controlled by parties with an interest in a dispute. Over time the tobacco industry found it more difficult to counter legislation restricting smoking, and they responded by creating groups such as TASSC to play the role of supposedly neutral outsiders. TASSC was only one of many such groups. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
TASSC would be of only minor historical curiosity except that the graduates from TASSC play prominent roles in present day life. Therefore the review of deceptions and tactics which TASSC conducted has current importance in evaluating the integrity of persons still playing the role of neutral disinterested outside referees in public policy decision making, such as global warming, or environmental regulations.
The two central features of an industry front group are (1) they are on the payroll of the corporation at significantly high wages and therefor strongly influenced by money, and (2) that they publicly deny any connections to their covert employer. They may even have multiple employers whom they alternately serve stealthily and publicly deny being highly paid by all of them. Full disclosure of influences leading to bias is a standard of ethical conduct and the opposite of front group behaviors.
Philip Morris conducted an operation called Whitecoats budgetted for $17 million the year TASSC was created, and of which TASSC was an important part. TASSC's purpose was to hire scientists to make an appearance of controversy about health effects of smoking. Operation Whitecoats was actually a continuation of practices first started in 1954, after tobacco companies first learned for a certainty that there were serious health consequences from smoking, but concealed this truth by stiring up confusion through ally paid science professionals. That earlier story is told in exhausting details by evidence introduced in court in a different lawsuit. [9]
TASSC was proposed by APCO Associates to Philip Morris Tobacco Company in the fall of 1993. [10] APCO is a long established public relations firm skilled in using language, and their first use of the term "junk science" appears in a document dated March, 1993. [11] [12]
