[ RadSafe ] RE: Comments on scientific papers must also be subjected to peer review

[Scott, Bobby]

Colleagues:

 

I plan to submit a letter to the editor of the JNCI related to the paper
by E. Cardis et al. on thyroid cancer after the Chernobyl accident.

 

For readers of the Radsafe Digest that may have an interest, I have a
pdf version of my seminar given on November 10, 2005 at Los Alamos
National Laboratory entitled "The LNT Hypothesis May Have Outlived Its
Usefulness".  The seminar presents evidence that diagnostic X rays
(e.g., CT scans, mammograms, chest X-rays), elevated natural background
radiation, and radon in our homes may be protecting us from cancer and
possibly also from other diseases via activating cooperative protective
processes.  The protection is attributed to the low-LET component of the
dose in case of radon and background radiation.  I would be happy to
e-mail the pdf version of the seminar to interested persons.

 

Sincerely,

Bobby R. Scott

 

________________________________

From: parthasarathy k s [mailto:ksparth at yahoo.co.uk] 
Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 7:08 PM
To: John Jacobus; Scott, Bobby; radsafe at radlab.nl
Subject: Comments on scientific papers must also be subjected to peer
review 

 

Friends,

I agree with John. Very few of us have the expertise in epidemiology to
evaluate the comments. Even if  we are experts, it is appropriate that
the comments or any analysis should appear in open literature; ideally
in the same journal. That way the authors of the original paper will get
a chance to respond, even to re-analyse their data. This is not to
dismiss the validity of the comments or analysis in the present
instance.

 

Regards,

 

K.S.Parthasarathy

Raja Ramanna fellow

Department of Atomic Energy

India