Conflicts of Interest, Ignorance, Hegemony and the Diethylstilboestrol Food Crisis in the United States

• In Event: Corporate Influence on Science and Regulation – I

Abstract

This paper proposes a fresh look at the “DES affair,” which in the early 1970s focused on the carcinogenic effects of this analog of estrogen (diethylstilbestrol), especially its uses as growth enhancer in agriculture. Concerns about residues of this synthetic hormone in meat led to important technical debates over the possibility of carcinogenecity at low doses, the presence of residues in consumed products and the benefits of increased productivity. Using the records of the trial, in which the FDA—which had banned agricultural uses of DES in beef in 1973—had to defend its rule in the face of a challenge from industry, the paper focuses on the influence the industry exerted on the production of knowledge and the process of expertise, i.e., the conjunction of commissioned research, assessment of the published literature, scientific marketing and political action developed before and during the controversy. The case provide a window into industry’s influence and into the processes through which this is effected.

Author

• Jean-Paul Gaudillière, Cermes3