AAD: Front Group for the Cosmetics Industry
My sister is a naturopathic doctor who has a beautiful, highly informative web site on natural health called Naturally Empowered. She just sent me an email with a link to a press release (notice that the site calls it "news") put out by the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) . The press release discusses sun exposure, vitamin D, and sunscreen. It concludes:
The AAD recommends that everyone practice a comprehensive sun protection program, including avoiding outdoor activities between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. when the sun’s rays are the strongest, seeking shade whenever possible, wearing a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of at least 15 and reapplying it every two hours, and wearing sun-protective clothing.
My sister has a page on her site that also discusses sun exposure, vitamin D, and sunscreen. However, her page offers a rather different recommendation. Assuming you knew nothing about UVB, Vitamin D, or anything else along those lines, how would you go about deciding whose story to believe? One thing I suggest is to follow the money. If the speaker earns money from his position on a topic, but would lose this money if he adopted the opposite position, then we have reason to doubt that speaker's credibility under the principle known as "money pollutes information". Well, starting with my sister's page, note that she makes no money on either side of the question about sun exposure, vitamin D, and sunscreen. Now, how about the AAD? Check out this page on AAD's site: AAD is a front group for the Cosmetics Industry. If, rather than the press release mentioned above, the AAD instead issued a press release saying what my sister is saying about sun exposure, vitamin D, and sunscreen, how many milliseconds do you think would elapse before (847) 330-0230 rang off the hook with AAD's "Corporate Partner Circle" and its "Diamond Level" Corporate Partners on the other end? This dynamic is part of what I write about in the analysis section of this blog, in a posting called "Corporate Lies".
[posted: 12/02/04]