Erin Brockovich--self-promoter

All About Erin: Heroine of screen and courtroom Erin Brockovich deserves a prize, all right. But not for what you think. by Walter Olson led me to
GINA KOLATA's April 11, 2000A Hit Movie Is Rated 'F' In Science

...scientists said, the movie encouraged exactly the wrong way to think about data, elevating individuals' medical histories to the level of proof and distorting the notion of risk. Scientists, seeing the evidence that so infuriated Erin Brockovich, would be much more cautious -- and skeptical. The first question to ask is whether residents of Hinkley really did have more sickness than people living elsewhere. And, if so, what illnesses are being discussed?

"Everyone has symptoms," said Dr. John C. Bailar III, a professor of health studies at the University of Chicago. Half the adult population eventually gets cancer. One out of every 700 children gets cancer before age 15, he said. Vague complaints, like aches and pains and difficulty sleeping are ubiquitous. If people look for diseases, they will find them, simply because illness is so common.

The next red flag is the sheer number of diseases. "Any time I see half a dozen diseases attributed to some exposure, I get very nervous," Dr. Bailar said. Biological agents, he said, "are very well targeted."

Vinyl chloride has been shown to cause liver cancer, but not asthma. Asbestos has been shown to cause lung cancer, but not breast cancer or brain cancer. The list of illnesses that any chemical is known to cause is very short, said Dr. Stephen Safe, a toxicologist at Texas A & M University. "The list is not 10,000 diseases," he said.

Scientists would also ask if it is even plausible that chromium (VI) in drinking water was making hundreds of people gravely ill. Of course, both sides in the litigation that ensued over the Hinkley groundwater contamination brought in their own scientific experts, although that was not pursued in the movie, but federal agencies whose scientists were not involved in the litigation said evidence was lacking that chromium (VI) in groundwater caused a myriad of health problems. The chemical's main problem, they said, is that it can cause lung cancer if workers inhale it as particulates in large doses for long periods of time.

More recently, Norma Zager, editor-in-chief of a free weekly has exposed how Broko is trying to whip up hysteria over pollution on the campus of Beverly Hills High School.

So who cares? Well, Harvard School of Public Health is preparing to give its highest award, the Julius Richmond Award, to Erin Brockovich.