Scientician of the Month

According to The Simpsons, a "scientician" is "a scientist with questionable credentials who publicly supports spurious hypotheses."

It’s a wonderful word, but almost too mild for criminals like Dr. Gilbert Ross, who has testified that arsenic in pressure treated wood is harmless, that PCBs in fish are not a health risk, and who has doubted the proven link between second-hand cigarette smoke and health problems for those who are exposed to it.

In the most recent issue, Mother Jones points out that this science abuser, the lead liar for an industry-funded group misleadingly called the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) spent forty-six months in federal prison for his participation in a scheme to defaud New York’s Mericaid program of about $8 million. Ross worked as a doctor for the obviously fraudulent operation but claimed to know nothing about the fraud itself, which inspired the judge to tack on a perjury conviction and substantial fine. Ross subsequently lost his medical license, and was deemed "a highly untrustworthy individual" by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Serivces…but was nonetheless promoted to "medical/executive director" in l999 by the ACHS.