Irving John Selikoff and the strange case of the missing medical degrees

Between the early 1960s and his death, Irving John Selikoff (1915-1992) was the dominant figure in the field of asbestos and health. He was particularly important in helping to establish a causal association between relatively low and spasmodic exposure to asbestos dust on the part of insulation workers and excess mortality rates. Through scientific and other activities, he played as large a part as anyone in destroying the American asbestos industry. This article traces Selikoff's medical education across three continents between 1936 and 1945. This education was relatively brief, patchy, and in some respects substandard. Selikoff never obtained the M.D. degree he repeatedly claimed he possessed. Questions are raised about how he attained such high professional recognition given his very modest educational attainments. Reflections are offered about whether asbestos regulation and litigation might have been different if Selikoff's evasions had come to light before now.     

Myxomatosis in 1950s Britain

In 1953 myxomatosis, a viral disease of rabbits, broke out inBritain for the first time. It rapidly killed tens of millionsof the animals from Kent to the Shetlands. Many farmers andforesters welcomed a disease that virtually eliminated a long-standingand serious agricultural pest. Others were horrified by thesight of thousands of dead and dying animals. With meat stillrationed, consumers rued the loss of a cheap and nutritiousfoodstuff. Rough shooters deplored the loss of prey and hattersand furriers the unavailability of the fur on which their businessesdepended. Rabbits also had champions within the ‘establishment’;these included Winston Churchill who was personally influentialin making deliberate transmission of the disease a criminaloffence. The arrival in Britain of myxomatosis presented theauthorities with difficult questions: should they try to containit, spread it or do nothing; should they take advantage of rabbitdepopulation and try to exterminate such a destructive animal?In the event the outbreak was allowed to run its course andrabbit extermination became government policy. This articleconsiders who or what was responsible for the disease reachingthe UK and how it then spread throughout the country. It examinesthe responses of government, other institutions and membersof the public. Finally, it explores the impact of rabbit de-populationon agriculture, the natural environment and public opinion.