In this eye-opening expose, David Michaels reveals how the tobacco   industry's duplicitous tactics spawned a multimillion dollar industry that   is dismantling public health safeguards. Product defense consultants, he   argues, have increasingly skewed the scientific literature, manufactured and   magnified scientific uncertainty, and influenced policy decisions to the   advantage of polluters and the manufacturers of dangerous products. To keep   the public confused about the hazards posed by global warming, second-hand   smoke, asbestos, lead, plastics, and many other toxic materials, industry   executives have hired unscrupulous scientists and lobbyists to dispute   scientific evidence about health risks. In doing so, they have not only   delayed action on specific hazards, but they have constructed barriers to make it harder for lawmakers, government agencies, and courts to respond to   future threats. The Orwellian strategy of dismissing research conducted by   the scientific community as "junk science" and elevating science conducted   by product defense specialists to "sound science" status also creates   confusion about the very nature of scientific inquiry and undermines the   public's confidence in science's ability to address public health and   environmental concerns  Such reckless practices have long existed, but   Michaels argues that the Bush administration deepened the dysfunction by   virtually handing over regulatory agencies to the very corporate powers   whose products and behavior they are charged with overseeing.

In Doubt Is Their Product Michaels proves, beyond a doubt, that our regulatory system has been broken. He offers concrete, workable suggestions   for how it can be restored by taking the politics out of science and   ensuring that concern for public safety, rather than private profits, guides   our regulatory policy.

A shocking account of how our regulatory agencies are being undermined-and   our public health endangered-by unethical corporations and the scientists who work for them.