A former director at the tobacco giant Philip Morris International (PMI) given a role on an influential expert committee advising the UK government on cancer risks, the Observer can reveal.
Ruth Dempsey, the former director of scientific and regulatory affairs, spent 28 years at PMI before joining the British Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (CoC).
The committee’s role is to provide ministers with independent advice. Yet, since taking the job in February 2020, Dempsey has continued to be paid by PMI for work, including writing a sponsored paper on regulatory strategies for heated tobacco products.
She also owns shares in the tobacco giant – whose products include Marlboro cigarettes and IQOS heated tobacco sticks – and receives a PMI pension. On social media, she continues to engage with senior staff at the company, including maintaining LinkedIn posts for the chief communications officer and the vice president of public affairs.
There is no suggestion that Dempsey acted improperly or failed to declare her interests, which are listed in committee documents. She said that she had always followed the rules and that her contributions to the CoC were based on her scientific training and “decades of experience in the field”. She also said she was “no longer a representative of the tobacco industry” as she had retired and disclosed details of her career and financial interests during the application process.
But her appointment, which has not been reported until now, raises questions about the potential for undue influence and possible access to inside information on policy and regulatory matters that could be valuable to the tobacco industry.
It also appears to be contrary to the principles of s World Health Organization treaty, adopted by the UK government, which aims to limit interaction with the tobacco industry to protect public health policies from interference. The treaty says that “there is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry’s interests and public health policy interests”, so “government officials must exercise caution during interactions … in all cases” – and limit contact to when it is “strictly necessary” . .
Sophie Braznell, who monitors heated tobacco products as part of the University of Bath’s tobacco control research group, said Dempsey’s position on the committee risked undermining his work.
“The interests of Big Tobacco are not ambiguous: they want to make more money by selling products, such as IQOS and Zyn, as well as cigarettes,” she said. “By allowing a former senior tobacco employee and consultant for the world’s largest tobacco company to join this advisory committee, we are jeopardizing its objectivity and integrity.”
Martin McKee, professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who has researched conflicts of interest in the tobacco industry, said: “It doesn’t look good. It is really important for public confidence that committees like this are seen to be completely untainted by any vested interest associations. This appointment does not seem to pass that test.”
Luciano Ruggia, director of the Swiss Association for Tobacco Control, described Dempsey’s role on the committee as “shocking” given her history of working on research projects paid for by PMI. “She shouldn’t be sitting in this body at all,” he said.
PMI has a long history of lobbying and influence campaigns, including pushing back against it planned crackdown on vaping. It has also invested heavily in promoting heated tobacco as an alternative to smoking and expects to ship around 140 billion heated tobacco units in 2024, a 134% increase on its sales of 59.7 billion in 2019.
The CoC is part of a trio of scientific advisory committees that provide independent advice to government departments on the potential health risks of chemicals found in pharmaceuticals, pesticides and consumer products. Members are often academics and other experts and hold the positions on a voluntary basis and advise ministers on policy.
Prior to Dempsey’s appointment, the CoC was involved in reviews of both e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, two of PMI’s product lines.
Dempsey was presumably appointed to the committee after an evaluation and interview conducted by a three-person panel, including a Department of Health and Officer of Social Care (DHSC), having resigned from her full-time role at PMI to set up her own toxicology consultancy in the summer of 2019.
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While at PMI, she played a key role in advancing the company’s interests. In 2017, Dempsey complained told a Costa Rican newspaper that existing regulations in some countries make it difficult for PMI to introduce IQOS, and suggested that countries should change their regulatory frameworks to allow the company to promote the benefits of IQOS to consumers.
Since being appointed to the CoC, Dempsey’s work has included helping lead a workshop on the assessment of cancer risk to an audience including representatives of the Health and Safety Executive. The workshop’s aim was to improve the chemical risk assessment process and regulatory requirements for carcinogens.
Her other private work has included promoting essential oils to “help reduce your toxic load” via her Science Speaks company, which is registered in Lausanne, Switzerland – near PMI’s headquarters. She also organized a panel discussion at a conference of toxicologists in 2023 on the benefits of serving on scientific advisory committees.
It is not known whether her fellow committee members or the DHSC are aware of her history of promoting PMI’s interests in the media and calling for more lax regulation.
But Prof David Harrison, chairman of the CoC, said members came from “very diverse backgrounds with very different statements of interest”, and were appointed after “careful vetting”. He said the interview process involved a three-person panel including himself, a layperson and a government representative and that “full consideration was given to declarations of interest and guidance available for appointments”. “Special attention” was given to “sensitive cases” such as that of Dempsey, he said, adding that the principles of “openness, broad debate and transparency” were prioritized at every stage.
Dempsey said she was “very sorry if anyone felt that my presence on the committee was inappropriate”.
When she joined, she had no active consulting agreements with PMI, but said the two she’s had since were properly declared. She also declared potential conflicts of interest when topics arise “that may relate to work I have done as a consultant for any company”.
“In the five years I have been a member, there has been no subject related to tobacco products. If there was, I would certainly declare my conflict of interest and always follow the guidance of the committee chair regarding participation,” she said. She added that she had “never passed on confidential or privileged information to PMI, and certainly never would”.
PMI said: “Dr Dempsey retired from PMI over five years ago. The committee is responsible for selecting the experts it appoints. It is false to suggest that PMI has improper access or influence over the CoC through a retired former employee.” The Department of Health and Social Care said potential conflicts of interest were managed by the committee chair and secretariat and published in annual reports.
