The logic of a controversy: the case of Agent Orange in Australia.
Since 1979 the Vietnam Veterans' Association of Australia (VVAA) has claimed that exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange in Vietnam has adversely affected the health of Vietnam veterans and their families. A campaign for government recognition of diseases and disabilities caused by herbicide exposure led in 1983 to the appointment of the Evatt Royal Commission which, after a 2-year inquiry, comprehensively rejected the VVAA's claim. The Evatt Commission's findings have not been accepted by the VVAA and the claim continues to be defended, albeit in a highly qualified form. This controversy exemplifies the way in which a claim can attract public support, and persist despite rejections by Committees of Inquiry. An understanding of the reasons for the persistence of controversy requires an understanding of the logic of rejecting causal claims, the psychology of everyday inductive reasoning, and the interaction between politics and science.
Division of Human Behaviour, School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Kensington, Australia.
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D015085:2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic Acid / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015084:2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000014:Abnormalities, Drug-Induced / Q000453:epidemiology; D000075182:Agent Orange; D001315:Australia; D004147:Dioxins / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006291:Health Policy; D006540:Herbicides / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000139:chemically induced; D011057:Politics; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011605:Psychoses, Substance-Induced / Q000209:etiology; D011639:Public Opinion; D014729:Veterans Disability Claims
D004147:Dioxins; D006540:Herbicides; D000072317:Polychlorinated Dibenzodioxins; D015084:2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid; D000075182:Agent Orange; D015085:2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic Acid