Re: I'm get tired of it too, but...

[William Prestwich <prestwic@mcmail.cis.McMaster.CA>]

Jim,
	I am certainly one of the unwashed when it comes to epidemiology,
but my basic instincts as a scientist of some 40 years lead me to conclude
that Dr.Cohen's data is at variance with current risk assessments, and
casts grave doubt upon them. I think the response that it is his
responsibility to show that the rest of the world is wrong is
incorrect. At one time the world believed in a luminiferous ether. When
experiments showed that the velocity of light in vacuuo was a universal
constant, no one demanded the experimenters show why this were the
case. The reaction was the correct one-to develop an alternative
hypothesis.
	Well, having said all this, I can't support your accusations that
those on the other side of the debate are all members of a conspiracy and
are behaving in a scientifically unethical manner. How, for example,
could agencies of the United States Government suppress a Canadian study,
as you seem to imply?
	Finally, I think the comment by Michael Ford regarding the doctor
in Colorado is very important. Would a quantitative assessment of his
experience be consistent or inconsistent with the current risk estimates
and could an expanded study of the experiences of doctors in similar
situations be useful. It doesn't seem to me these would fall under the
category of ecological studies.

Sincerely,
Bill Prestwich,
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario.
E-mail prestwic@mcmaster.ca 



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