Ragnar Rylander (12 September 1935 – 13 April 2016)[1] was a Swedish environmental health scholar who served as professor and chair of Environmental Medicine at the University of Gothenburg. He was active in researching the health effects of tobacco while secretly serving as a consultant to Philip Morris for many years.[2]
Ragnar Rylander | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 September 1935  S:t Görans church parish |
| Died | 13 April 2016 (aged 80) Lerum |
| Occupation | Scientist |
Conflict of interest edit
Two tobacco control activists, Pascal Diethelm and Jean-Charles Rielle, co-authored an article asserting that, while he was working at Geneva University, Rylander had engaged in “scientific cheating without precedent” by receiving undisclosed tobacco industry funding for research downplaying the harms of passive smoking. Rylander subsequently sued Diethelm and Rielle for libel, but in 2004, Rylander lost the case on appeal.[3]
In the same year, 2004, Rylander was appointed to the Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks of the European Commission, an appointment which proved controversial due to his failure to disclose his ties to the tobacco industry.[4] In response to criticism of this appointment, Rylander was removed from the Committee soon afterward.[5] In 2005, he received the "Cockroach of the year" award, a mocking award handed out by the Swedish anti-tobacco organization Non-Smoking Generation.[6]
References edit
- ^ "Ragnar Rylander". Familj.se. Retrieved 2019-08-21.
- ^ Hedley, Anthony J. (2004-12-15). "There is no scope for tobacco funded research in our society". Tobacco Induced Diseases. 2 (4): 163–166. doi:10.1186/1617-9625-2-4-163. ISSN 1617-9625. PMC 2691731. PMID 19566911.
- ^ Neroth, Pelle (September 2004). "Tobacco ties". The Lancet. 364 (9438): 925–926. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(04)17042-6. PMID 15366222. S2CID 5150617.
- ^ Simpson, David (December 2004). "European Union: shock at Rylander appointment". Tobacco Control. 13 (4): 323. ISSN 1468-3318. PMC 1747949. PMID 15564607.
- ^ Diethelm, Pascal A; Rielle, Jean-Charles; McKee, Martin (January 2005). "Links with the tobacco industry". The Lancet. 365 (9455): 211–212. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)17731-9. S2CID 54429308.
- ^ Simpson, David (2006-02-01). "Sweden: cockroach of the year". Tobacco Control. 15 (1): 6. ISSN 0964-4563. PMID 16436396.
Bibliography edit
- Malka, Sophie; Gregori, Marco (2005). Infiltration : une taupe à la solde de Philip Morris (in French). Georg éditeur. ISBN 9782825709146.
  | This biographical article about a Swedish academic is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |