The world according to Monsanto : pollution, corruption, and

dioxin: manipulation and corruption 63nipulated the data in his studies, Hardell in turn closely examined the document.He was surprised to discover that “the views taken by the commission. . . were supported by Professor Richard Doll in a 1985 letter toHonourable Mr. Justice Phillip Evatt, the commissioner,” in which Dollstated that “[Hardell’s] conclusions cannot be sustained and in my opinion,his work should no longer be cited as scientific evidence. It is clear, too, . . .that there is no reason to suppose that 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T are carcinogenicin laboratory animals and that even TCDD [dioxin], which has been postulatedto be a dangerous contaminant of the herbicides, is at the most, onlyweakly carcinogenic in animal experiments.” 37Richard Doll was not just anybody. Long considered as one of the greatestcancer specialists in the world (he died in 2005), this British epidemiologist,knighted by the queen, had made his name by demonstrating the associationbetween smoking and the onset of lung cancer. Having dared to denouncethe lies of the cigarette industry, he had the reputation of being incorruptible.In 1981, Doll had published a much-cited article on the epidemiologyof cancer in which he asserted that environmental causes played a very limitedrole in the development of the disease. 38 However, the legend was shatteredin 2006 when The Guardian revealed that Doll had secretly worked forMonsanto for twenty years. 39 In the archives he had donated to the libraryof the Wellcome Trust in 2002 was a letter dated April 29, 1986, on Monsantoletterhead. Written by William Gaffey, one of the authors of the controversialstudies of dioxin, it confirmed the renewal of a contract providingpayment of $1,500 per day. The question of a link between Doll and Monsantohad been raised initially by Hardell and his colleagues in a very enlighteningarticle in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine entitled“Secret Ties to Industry and Conflicting Interests in Cancer Research.” 40But my investigation of the concealment of the harm caused by Agent Orangehad more surprises in store—and an element of pure horror, which Ifound in Vietnam.The Damned of VietnamThe nurse in the sky-blue uniform took a bunch of keys out of her pocketand opened the door without saying a word. We went into a room lined withshelves holding dozens of jars straight out of a horror movie. They were