Re: Tokaimura (fact reporting, ethics etc)

["Bjorn Cedervall" <bcradsafers@hotmail.com>]

>From: "Hornback, Louis A(Z50565)"
>We have all read the initial inaccurate and misleading reports that >came 
>out in the press. Enough of that nonsense.

This must be one of the key issues here - that we know that the information 
we get is close to the source and that most probably no standard massmedia 
people have been involved to distort the message (I also agree with some 
previous comments that we learn much from this as compared to textbooks 
about acute effects of high exposure to ionizing radiation).

Concerning the ethical aspects raised - I think that the issue of publishing 
patient data goes back to the hospital policy in Japan - that is where the 
question belongs - not here at Radsafers (objections?). As I understood it, 
the patient data are officially reported regularly, and are thus no secret 
regardless of what we think about it. The objections that could have been 
made should have been made there and would primarily concern the local 
personal relations and contexts in Japan that the accident victims have (am 
I wrong?) - and I can understand that aspect to a large extent.

The information is "out", however, and if we don't get direct information 
via valuable people like Tosh who strive for correct reporting we will 
become more dependent on massmedia which we often have reason to distrust - 
and then add to this our own guesses about the real story plus add a lot of 
effort searching the litterature with much delay - and perhaps extra 
(non-distorting but nevertheless) filtering of information.

A major point, besides the rapid exchange of information, with fora such as 
Radsafers is that we successively are becoming less dependent on all these 
filters and newspeak people. Anything that is wrong in our judgement and 
interpretations can always be corrected.

These opinions and ideas may not necessarily coincide with those by others,

Bjorn Cedervall   bcradsafers@hotmail.com

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