Conventional Wisdom

To the Editor: Ralph King Jr.'s article ("Medical Journals Rarely Disclose Researchers' Ties," 2/2/98) calls for further analysis of the assertion, by the journal Epidemiology's Kenneth Rothman, that today's conventional wisdom in favor of disclosing corporate funding of research is a "new McCarthyism." In a court of law, evidence is admissible only if the probative value of that evidence exceeds its prejudicial effect. The same rule should apply in the court of public opinion.