The Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences recently published an article, P.W. Bartrip's 'Irving John Selikoff and the Strange Case of the Missing Medical Degrees,' that attacked one of this century's foremost advocates of worker health [Bartrip, 2003]. When we submitted this letter in response, it was rejected by that journal (which did, however, print two responses to Bartrip, as well as Bartrip's own reply to these) [Cooper and Chromow, 2004;Greenberg, 2004;Bartrip, 2004]. The journal subsequently refused to publish photographic evidence of Selikoff's MD diploma. Ironically, that journal saw fit to publish on a ''missing'' degree, but apparently did not find documentation of that degree to be print-worthy. We resubmit our critique of Bartrip here.
Bartrip's article makes the outrageous claim that Irving Selikoff was not a legitimate spokesperson with regard to the science and public policy of occupational disease in general and asbestos in particular. In the end, Bartrip's article is little more than an ad hominem attack on one of the greatest advocates of worker and public health in the 20th century.
In considering the merit of 'new' charges that Irving Selikoff achieved medical acclaim by masquerading behind false credentials, the critical reader must be mindful of the context of the attack. Dr. Selikoff was on the leading edge of a challenge to the asbestos industry, whose products were used by millions of workers and householders daily. He was the most prominent public health advocate at every level of information and regulation: organizing medical conferences, giving frequent news interviews, testifying in Congressional and regulatory hearings, and collaborating with governmen-