Flawed GE study has cost workers dearly

Re GE workers win reversal of rejected cancer

claims, Dec. 17 The Peterborough community has been waiting for years for the GE health study to be revealed for what it really was: a blatant self-serving, conflict of interest written under the guise of research.

Occupational health expert Steven Markowitz’s review of that study supported the opinion of Dr. Jeremy Carver, scientific adviser to the Occupational and Environmental Health Coalition Peterborough.

Carver responded to a request in 2014 from John Ball to review the Hosein Report (GE health study) from a scientific perspective.

Ball had documentation that showed the information in that report was not only inaccurate, but significantly under-reported exposures and, in many cases, excluded key toxins.

Carver found many errors in the data and methodology and informed Ball that he believed the conclusions were invalid.

The GE health study has cost this community severely — the cost in claims denied based on its shoddy research standards, lack of peer review and the inaccurate information it contained.

It has cost workers and families time many did not have. They were dying while the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and its appeals tribunal used information from this “study” to deny claims.

The tremendous cost continues, as these claims must again be reviewed based on another study.

The reality is that all the studies and research available will not be able to provide a fair review for many of these workers and families.

The cesspool of toxins that was GE Peterborough resulted in workers being exposed to multiple known carcinogens. Justice will only be served if the burden of proof is removed from the backs of these workers.

It must be presumed that, for the majority of workers who got sick, it was due to exposures in that plant. Kathy D. Harris, OEHCP steering committee, Lakefield, Ont.