Gio Gori (Doc Index)

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This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch funded from 2006 - 2009 by the American Legacy Foundation.


Gio Batta Gori was originally the administrator of the Tobacco Working Group (TWG) at the National Cancer Institute. This was a small group of tobacco industry executive scientists who were supposedly directing research to try to produce a 'safe cigarette' -- although no one in the industry would admit that cigarette smoking was dangerous.

Gori became convinced that he could produce a safer cigarette, and over time he became embroiled in providing a service to the cigarette companies. Over the years he helped them stall many moves towards regulation on health ground, but eventually he was found out and quietly dismissed by the NCI in late 1979. At this time he moved into contract research for the tobacco industry.

He operated for some time through the Franklin Institute which had its own Policy Analyst Center (aka FIPAC). Later he set up the Health Policy Center at his home in Bethesda, MD.

  ASSOCIATED ENTRIES  
Gio Batta Gori
Gio Gori (Doc Index)
Tobacco Working Group (TWG)
Franklin Institute
Policy Analyst Center (FIPAC)
Health Policy Center

Documents & Timeline

1979 Gori left the NCI, and in 1980 he began traded on his professional credibility. John Wyatt, the head of the Kentucky Tobacco Research Institute at Kentucky University had just died and Gori began lobbying his old tobacco associates to be given the position. The Institute was funded and controlled by the tobacco companies.

1980 Jan 24 Frank G Colby, the Manager of Scientific Information Division at RJ Reynolds became the Associate Director of Scientific Information in 1980 and he began cooperating with Philip Morris. He began ringing Ray Fagan, the Head of Research and Development at Philip Morris for scientist-to-scientist chats. Fagan recorded these conversations in a series of handwritten notes-to-file (obviously not trusting him). Ray Fagan's second record of a conversation with Frank G Colby, was about Dr Gio B Gori (ex NCI research head - fired over Tobacco Working Group scandal):

  1. Colby called to ask what I though of Gio Gori. I said that I considered Gori an administrator and not a scientist. Colby told me that Gori's friends consider him to be 90% administrator and 10% scientist, while Gori's enemies consider him to be 99% administrator and 1% scientist.
    All this was re: leading to telling me that John Wyatt, director of the Tobacco and Health Research Institute at the University of Kentucky died on January 22 and that Gori was interested in the position.
  2. Colby wanted to know whether I considered Gori a "friend of the industry". [His quotes] I said I did not think he was.
  3. If Gori were put in charge of the Institute at Kentucky it would be a disaster for the industry said Colby. He maintained this because he felt that Gori was not a "friend of the industry" and that Gori was not a good scientist. Colby will use all the influence he can muster to keep Gori out of the job as head of the Institute.
  4. I told Colby that I though the replacement for Wyatt had already been chosen. When it appeared that Wyatt was terminally ill, Ernie Chick was made deputy director of the Institute. My bet is that Ernie will get the job.[1]

1980 late Gori became Vice President of the Franklin Institute Policy Analysis Center (FIPAC), a consulting firm funded initially by a $400,000 grant from the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation (B&W -- the American arm of British-American Tobacco). [2] Following its initial formation, FIPAC continued to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding annually from B&W. [3] [4]. [5]

Gori worked on Research & Development projects for B&W, such as analysis of the sensory perception of smoke and how to reduce the amount of tobacco in cigarettes. Brown and Williamson funds projects and pays Gori $400,000 for the establishment of the Policy Analysis Center. Other payments followed:


1981 Brown and Williamson pays Gori and the Policy Analysis Center. $300,000;

B&W also pays Franklin Institute Operating Fund (for Dr. Gori) $540,000

1982 Brown and Williamson pays Gori and the Policy Analysis Center. $300,000 plus another $300,000

B&W also pays Franklin Institute Operating Fund (for Dr. Gori) $1,275,000 [6]

1983 Brown and Williamson pays Gori and the Policy Analysis Center. $76,000;

1984 Brown and Williamson pays Gori and the Policy Analysis Center $465,000;

1985: Brown and Williamson pays Gori and the Policy Analysis Center. $253,000 [7]

1985 B&W budget: Dr. Gio Gori $100,000;

1986 B&W budget: Dr. Gio Gori $100,000 [8] (page 16)

B&W General Corporate matters: Dr. Gori: $121,111 [9] (page 3)
B&W also writes "Dear Dr. Gori: Enclosed is the consultancy agreement between you and Brown and Williamson... It has been signed for Brown and Williamson by our President, T. E. Sandefur, Jr." [10]
One of many B&W vouchers for Gori lists him as "General Corporate Matters Consultant". The month of September totals about $4K for that month.
Credited "as per Gori contract." [11]

1987 B&W pays Gori $150,000. [12]

1989 B&W pays Gori $132,000 Total amount budgeted for Gori in '89 was $1,152,000. [13]

Gori was now working as a full time consultant on environmental tobacco smoke issues for the Tobacco Institute in the Institute's ETS/IAQ (Indoor Air Quality) Consultants Project. [14]

1989 Dec 20 Philip Morris's Mayada Logue report on the Tobacco Institute's ETS Group meeting.

ETS activities ongoing by TI:

  1. TI has a response for the Judson Wells (anti-smoking) paper in Occupational Health and Safety [15]
  2. Maurice. Le Vois and S James. Kilpatrick are preparing a response to the Slattery study; it will question the data and point out flaws in the methodology. Lawyer John Rupp (C&B) recommends full blown article rather than a letter to the editor.
  3. Mark H Reasor (West Virginia Uni) is preparing a response to the Am. J. of Public Health
  4. Paul Switzer, statistician from Stanford Univ. is preparing a critique of the Meta-analysis /risk assessment.
  5. Marvin Goldman, a toxicologist expert (UC Davis) in the field of radiation is preparing a report on the radon issue.
  6. Lance is preparing an article on Benzene in response to the [Lance A] Wallace article.[16] [17][This looks like a mix up of stenographer, but maybe not.]
  7. Barry Lieberman (Uni of Pittsburg) is preparing a proposal on how to handle the issue of science being driven by politics; his proposal will be ready in Feb.
  8. Irving I Kessler (Uni of Marylands) is preparing a review of respiratory disease and cancer.
  9. Jarnail Singh (Stillman College) is preparing a proposal on ETS in indoor environment;
  10. Oak Ridge National Laboratory work to be published as a CIAR monogram

They also considered a number of new proposals, and a Tobacco Institute book with chapters by various tobacco scientists:

  1. Gio Gori No 1. A project on 'confounding variables' and their impact on lung cancer and childhood respiratory illness. (possibly through CIAR). "These should be relatively quick studies resulting in several papers."
  2. Gio Gori No.2 A white paper on ETS that he would then send out to other scientists for their review. After incorporating their comments, he would then recirculate the revisions until an acceptable document is obtained with up to 150 co-author names. Cost $200,000 - $250,000.
  3. Tobacco Institute's "EPA ETS Compendium" which will have chapters by Gray Robertson, Max Laird, Joseph Fleiss, Janail Singh, Mark Reasor, Ron Hood, and Alan Done (a pediatrician).[18]

1990 B&W pays Gori $130,000 [19]

1990 Someone has downloaded a biographical list of the articles, research reports and letters that Gori has written to that date (mostly on cigarettes and smoking). It shows that he mainly claims affiliation with his own Health Policy Institute but he also has connections with

He also spoke at a surprising number of conferences and symposia. [20]

1990 Oct 11 The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) is holding hearings on the banning of smoking on interstate buses. These are the Tobacco Institute submissions: Critical comments were filed by

[Every one on this list was a life-long tobacco shill.]


1991 B&W pays Gori $130,000 [22]

The Tobacco Institute pays $150,000 to get a white paper written: "Principle Author" is Gori. They also pay W Gary Flamm and Gori $5,000 to write op-ed on the costs of regulation for the Wall Street Journal.

They also pay Flamm and Gori $10,000 for another paper. [23]

1992 Gori bills Brown & Williamson (B&W) through the tobacco industry's Washington legal firm Covington and Burling for $10,737 of "consultation services" [24]

1993 May Gori entered an exclusive consulting arrangement with Brown & Williamson B&W will pay Gori $40,000 for "S&H, Regulatory, GTP" (Smoking & Health, Regulatory, ??GTP??) [25] (page 19)

Letter from Ernest Pepples, VP B&W, to Gio Gori: "You will be paid for those services at the agreed rate of $200 per hour for each project assigned to you ... and at the rate of $1000 per day for conference-type work" [26] [27]


1994 Brown & Williamson (B&W) pays Gori another $40,000 for "S&H, Regulatory, GTP"

1995 Nov 6 Tobacco Institute's 1995 expenditures on experts for OSHA hearings and submissions.

He attended hearings in Jan and feb ... $29,575

[28]

1999 Lorrilard now begins funding Gori. "Please find enclosed Lorillard check for $6000" [29]

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