Howard Kushner, PhD

Robertson Distinguished Professor of Science and Society

9/25/2000

This coffee talk focused on the case of Dr. Howard Frumkin, an environmental and occupational health expert at Emory's Rollins School of Public Health. Several years ago, Edward Carder, was suffering from aches and pains, skins lesions, and rashes. Carder approached Frumkin, whose tests indicated that Carder's symptoms were a response to a pesticide that contained Durban, a chemical that was recently restricted by the EPA. Frumkin agreed to testify on Carder's behalf in a suit against Orkin Exterminating Co. The Rollins family, a major donor to the Rollins School of Public Health, owns Orkin. Incidentally, Frumkin was approached by a superior who discouraged him from testifying, and ordered him not to evaluate any more patients with claims against Orkin.

Some Thoughts:

• This case is not a cut and dry instance of a scientist siding with the little guy against a big corporation. Frumkin followed proper scientific protocols, and based his testimony on his findings, regardless of personal views.
• Had Frumkin reached a conclusion that supported Orkin, his testimony would have supported Orkin
• Issues such as this are not black and white. Politics, presumptions, and theories of justice lead to a tremendous amount of gray and blurred lines.
• Because of this, a scientist should be critical of hypotheses, and base his or her conclusions on results.

The direction of the coffee talk then turned to Tourette Syndrome. Patients with Tourette Syndrome are characterized by tics, involuntary, rapid movements or vocalizations. A medical historian, Dr. Kushner has done research on Tourette Syndrome, reconciling clinical research of the last two centuries with modern molecular medicine. His book A Cursing Brain? A Medical History of Tourette Syndrome traces the history of the syndrome in detail.

• Tourette Syndrome is a syndrome. Syndromes can be a set of behavioral traits. Diseases, however, are specifically physiological in nature.
• Developed countries such as the United States have time to treat syndromes such as Tourette's or Attention Deficit Disorder. Developing countries focus mainly on using medicine to survive, and can devote little time or attention to behavior disorders. Higher standards of health in developed countries can lead to overdiagnosis of syndromes, overprescription of drugs, etc.
• There is evidence that Tourette's Syndrome might be caused by misfiring of brain cells associated with inhibition.