I don't see why a grant from Phillip Morris would be any more or less suspect than a grant from the American Cancer Society
Doesn't Altria have a long history of pushing fake science about the health effects of smoking on smokers that directly contradicted its own internal research? The American Cancer Society has no equivalent scandals in its history. The fact that Altria spent many years actively lying to the public about the health effects of a dangerous and highly addictive drug it was selling seems relevant in assessing its credibility.
both are large organizations which depend for a lot of their livelihood on one possible outcome of such research
This comparison seems...not right. If we invented an absolute 100% cure for lung cancer tomorrow that cost almost nothing, the American Cancer Society would still have plenty of funding. There are a great many cancers that have nothing to do with cigarette smoking.
Doesn't Altria have a long history of pushing fake science about the health effects of smoking on smokers that directly contradicted its own internal research? The American Cancer Society has no equivalent scandals in its history. The fact that Altria spent many years actively lying to the public about the health effects of a dangerous and highly addictive drug it was selling seems relevant in assessing its credibility.
both are large organizations which depend for a lot of their livelihood on one possible outcome of such research
This comparison seems...not right. If we invented an absolute 100% cure for lung cancer tomorrow that cost almost nothing, the American Cancer Society would still have plenty of funding. There are a great many cancers that have nothing to do with cigarette smoking.