Health: KY Lexington Junk Science and Ellen Hahn

CASAA’s Letter to University of Kentucky Regarding Ellen Hahn

20 August 2012
By Carl V. Phillips and Elaine Keller

President Eli Capilouto
Office of the President
101 Main Building
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40506-0032
Fax: (859) 257-1760
pres@email.uky.edu

Attorney General Jack Conway
Office of the Attorney General
700 Capitol Avenue, Suite 118
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
attorney.general@ag.ky.gov

20 August 2012

Dear President Capilouto and Attorney General Conway:

We are writing to call upon the University of Kentucky (the “University”) and the government of the State of Kentucky to investigate and take appropriate remedial actions in response to the recent actions of your employee, Ellen J. Hahn. Details about what Hahn has done, as well as our role in this matter and other points follow this cover letter.

To summarize: Hahn is employed in a research faculty-type position at the College of Nursing at the University. She has a history of using her position at the University to engage in political activism that is outside of, and often contrary to, her job description, and to publicly make scientific claims that are both false and beyond her area of professional expertise. Most recently she attempted to incite a private party (a local conference hotel) into a breach of contract for a legal commercial activity (a meeting of “vapers,” aficionados of electronic cigarettes) for the purpose of preventing the free assembly of those to whom she is politically opposed. In so doing, she (a) explicitly represented herself as speaking for University and implied that she spoke for the state government, (b) offered inaccurate and threatening legal advice, and (c) made false and otherwise misleading scientific claims.

In pursuit of a personal activist agenda, Hahn abused the good name of the University to tortiously intimidate a merchant into breaching a legal contract, while pretending to be a concerned? expert offering honest advice. Moreover, this incident is merely the most obvious in a series of violations of University rules and the public trust that she has committed in the name of the University, including research misconduct and popular dissemination of junk science.

We ask that you take the following actions, and expect that following an investigation that you will agree that they are appropriate (more details appear at the end of the continuation pages):
•?Issue an apology for the manipulation and disinformation to everyone who suffered as a
result of her tortious incitement to breach the contract.
•?Investigate the allegation that she has repeatedly made false and misleading scientific
claims, and report your results of that investigation.
•?Remove the content from Hahn’s Center from the uky.edu website until the substantial
portion of it that is activist junk science can be identified and excised.

Sincerely,
Carl V. Phillips, Scientific Director (cphillips@casaa.org)
Elaine Keller, President (ekeller@casaa.org)
Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA)
8094 Rolling Rd, #200
Springfield, VA 22153
Phone: (202) 241-9117

Read More
http://casaa.org/HahnUKYletter.html

Press Release
http://casaa.org/uploads/HahnPressReleaseAug2012.pdf

PDF version to print out
http://casaa.org/uploads/CASAAHahnComplaint.pdf

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“Hahn says her study was partially funded by an institute established as a result of a class action lawsuit against the tobacco industry.”

And if her study had shown that asthma visits had gone UP after the smoking ban would we be hearing about it here today?

Anyone want to take any bets on that?

No?

Then how about this: “If Ellen Hahn’s study had shown asthma visits went up after a smoking ban do you think she would have gotten more funding to produce more studies like that?”

Pay someone the money and they will produce what they’re paid for.? Anyone who’s followed the issue of smoking bans at all knows full well what side of the aisle Ms. Hahn works on and knows full well what the results of any study designed and carried out by her will likely show.

Am I saying her work is fraudulent?? No.? I obviously have no evidence that such is the case.? But given what I’ve seen as the general rule in such studies – See for example my and others’ criticisms of the “Great Helena Heart Miracle” at:?

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/bmj.38055.715683.55v1?

or the summary of study criticisms in the Stiletto booklet at:

http://encyclopedia.smokersclub.com/257.html?

and form your own conclusions about how far a study such as this can be trusted.

– Michael J. McFadden

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Study: ER visits for asthma drop after Lexington smoking ban
UK study finds sharp decline in ER visits for breathing ailment

August 14, 2008
By Laura Ungar • lungar@courier-journal.com

Asthma-related emergency room visits dropped sharply after Lexington’s smoking ban took effect in 2004, according to a University of Kentucky study.

The study, which researchers believe to be the first of its kind, assessed visits to emergency departments in four Lexington hospitals 40 months before the smoking ban and 32 months afterward, finding an average 22 percent decline in asthma visits — 24 percent for adults and 18 percent for children up to 19 years old.

“We can’t say smoke-free laws cause these declines. We can say there’s a significant relationship,” said University of Kentucky nursing professor Ellen Hahn, one of seven authors of the study to be published in the September issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. “This adds to the growing body of evidence that we have significant health benefits from smoke-free laws.”

The study says there were 14,839 asthma-related visits from 2001 through 2006. Researchers determined age-adjusted rates of such visits, adjusted for seasonal and other factors and compared them for periods before and after the smoking ban went into effect.

James Vestal, an 18-year-old from Lexington whose asthma has landed him in the ER more than five times, said the city’s ban has allowed him to breathe easier.

“Smoke has always been a trigger for my asthma,” said Vestal, whose mother is an anti-smoking advocate. “Now, when I go to a restaurant in Lexington, it’s not something I have to worry about.”

Louisville also has a smoking ban, which took effect July 2007, was briefly overturned by the courts, and then reinstated in January without a previous exemption for Churchill Downs.

Elaine Schlageter of Louisville, who suffers from asthma and has three children with the condition, said she supports the ban and thinks more communities should restrict smoking. She recalled driving home recently from a camp for children with asthma, being seated near the smoking section at a Cave City restaurant, and coughing and sneezing along with her 6- and 7-year-old daughters.

Asthma “affects every aspect of our lives,” said Schlageter, 33.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says secondhand smoke can trigger asthma episodes and increase the severity of attacks, irritating chronically inflamed bronchial passages. Kentucky has the nation’s highest adult smoking rate — 28.6 percent — and nearly 93,000 children and 262,000 adults with asthma, according to the American Lung Association of Kentucky.

“Think of how many asthmatics can benefit from smoke-free laws,” said Mike Kuntz, senior director of advocacy for the association. “This sounds like groundbreaking research.”

Hahn said she believes findings would be similar in other places with smoking bans. She said Louisville might see an even bigger drop in ER visits because it prohibits smoking in public buildings and workplaces, while Lexington’s ban exempts workplaces closed to the general public.

“It’s logical to think if a similar study is done here, it would have similar results,” said Dave Langdon, spokesman for the Louisville Metro Department of Health & Wellness.

But the city’s smoking ban has been controversial among some restaurant and bar owners and others.

“You can’t really argue with the health effects of smoking,” said Cory Francis, assistant manager at Pat’s Steak House. “But it’s up to the businessman to choose whether to allow smoking in his establishment.”

Hahn said her study is partially funded by the Miami-based Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute, established as a result of a class action lawsuit against the tobacco industry, and has limitations.

For example, researchers did not have a control group to compare trends in a population without a smoking ban, and did not measure actual exposure of individuals to secondhand smoke.

Despite the limitations, researchers said the study has important clinical implications about the impact smoking bans can have on emergency visits for asthma.

“Hopefully, there will be other studies,” Hahn said. “Asthma is a concern all over the country.”

Reporter Laura Ungar can be reached at (502) 582-7190.