But now to vaping, or smoking e-cigarettes, which has recently been linked to 19 deaths in the USA, which seem mostly related to vaping illicit products like THC oil.

Panic in America has seen a rise in the number of vaping stories in Australia.

And many of those feature Dr Colin Mendelsohn, who is the media’s go-to commentator to say that it’s safe:

COLIN MENDELSOHN: It’s the most popular quitting aid in the world and arguably the most effective. - The Latest, Channel Seven, 26 August 2019

COLIN MENDELSOHN: … the evidence is good enough for the UK government, for the New Zealand government, for the 27 countries in the European Union, for Canada. We think the evidence is quite strong enough … - The Feed, SBS Viceland, 11 September, 2019

This year alone, Mendelsohn has appeared in more than 130 stories about vaping, and has been by far its most vociferous advocate.

And he is well qualified to comment. As a doctor he uses vaping nicotine to help his patients quit smoking.

And he’s also a founder and board member of ATHRA, the Australian Tobacco Harm Reduction Association, which argues that vaping nicotine is much safer than smoking, and should be legalised for general use in Australia.

That suggestion is opposed by the Cancer Council, the CSIRO and the Health Department, which do not recommend that people use e-cigarettes to help them quit.

So, here is the question: is Dr Mendelsohn or ATHRA financially linked to the tobacco or e-cigarette industries?

On Radio National in August, Mendelsohn was asked about this point blank by Patricia Karvelas and he denied it:

PATRICIA KARVELAS: … do you accept funding or any sponsorship from e-cigarette or vaping companies? COLIN MENDELSOHN: Absolutely not. I’ve never taken money from tobacco companies or their subsidiaries or from e-cigarette companies. - RN Drive, ABC Radio National, 27 August, 2019

And here is Mendelsohn again on ABC Sydney last month, once more denying any conflict of interest:

ROBBIE BUCK: … do you take funding from tobacco companies? COLIN MENDELSOHN: Absolutely not. ROBBIE BUCK: … is there anything in the area that you work in that would, I don’t know, give you a slanted view about how you’d view vaping? COLIN MENDELSOHN: Absolutely not. I’m an independent academic who has concern about saving the lives of smokers. And that’s why I do what I do. - Breakfast with Wendy Harmer and Robbie Buck, ABC Radio Sydney, 18 September, 2019

And last month Mendelsohn also appeared on A Current Affair and repeated his denial:

SYLVIA JEFFREYS: On your organisation ATHRA, do you have any links to vaping companies or to big tobacco? COLIN MENDELSOHN: None whatsoever. - A Current Affair, Channel Nine, 23 September, 2019

But unlike the other interviewers, Nine’s Sylvia Jeffreys did not leave it there.

Because she had done her research, and she was able to force Colin Mendelsohn into a belated admission:

SYLVIA JEFFREYS: Well in 2018 actually you took $17,500 from vaping companies. That represented 89 per cent of your funding that year. Would you call that a link? COLIN MENDELSOHN: That was link but the fact is that to set up a charity is very expensive. - A Current Affair, Channel Nine, 23 September, 2019

In fact, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age’s Good Weekend reported back in May that ATHRA has taken closer to $43,000 from vaping and tobacco industry-related funding, including initial set-up costs for the charity, and a one-off donation.

So, what does Mendelsohn now have to say about this? Choosing his words carefully, he told Media Watch:

I have never personally accepted a single cent from the tobacco or vaping industry, as I made clear in my interview with Patricia Karvelas. Since March 2019, ATHRA has no longer accepted donations from the vaping industry. Any assertion that I have been influenced in any way by the industry is baseless and offensive. - Email, Dr Colin Mendelsohn, Tobacco treatment specialist, 27 September, 2019

We’re not saying that Mendelsohn has been influenced. But we believe ATHRA’s links to the vaping and tobacco industries via that $43,000 in funding should have been disclosed in full. Including by Colin Mendelsohn when he was asked about it on radio.

As Sydney University's professor of public health Simon Chapman told Media Watch:

When people are getting money from an organisation [which] obviously has a commercial interest in research or being backed up by academic expertise, then it’s entirely relevant for people to understand if there is any competing interest between any academic and any relevant body. - Phone interview, Simon Chapman, Emeritus Professor, Public Health, University of Sydney

Good on the journalists who asked, at least, because in those 130 stories featuring Mendelsohn in the last year, an awful lot of them didn’t even bother to inquire.





Read the full statement from Dr Colin Mendelsohn here.