Talk:Simon Chapman (academic)

Apology text

I have removed the following text:

In August 2015 Chapman apologised to Dr Sarah Laurie, a campaigner against industrial noise, for incorrectly claiming she had been deregistered as a doctor.

References

The background is that Sarah Laurie is associated with an organization claiming wind turbines cause health problems—see Waubra Foundation#Qualifications—while Simon Chapman claims wind turbine syndrome is a nocebo effect spread by claims that turbines cause ill health. The above ref explains that a tweet by a turbine supporter included a false claim that Laurie was a deregistered doctor, and Chapman repeated the tweet. When his error was exposed, Chapman issued a full apology. That is a very minor issue and quite undue for inclusion as it was a simple mistake with no lasting significance. Johnuniq (talk) 05:51, 22 October 2015 (UTC)

Controversy text

I have removed the controversy section because it is a beat-up of one round in an ongoing battle between pro- and anti-turbine advocates. Per Criticism any WP:DUE material from such a section should be incorporated in a discussion of the topic (views regarding claimed health effects of wind turbines).

Apparently it is common for Senate inquiries to be held, and the findings of such an inquiry are those of the senators who chose to participate. A committee chaired by John Madigan (see "Madigan has campaigned against wind turbines") produced a report which included criticism of Chapman, and much of that criticism was quoted in this article. However, the criticism is quite undue as it shows a profound misunderstanding of how epidemiology is conducted, and fails to acknowledge that Chapman is emminently qualified to review studies on health effects: see his university page; he has a PhD in Medicine; his awards include NSW Cancer Researcher of the Year and an AO "For distinguished service to medical research as an academic and author, particularly in the area of public health policy, and to the community."

A media report on the inquiry includes

The select committee, led by anti-wind power crossbenchers David Leyonhjelm, John Madigan and Bob Day, delivered its report on Monday, three days after its draft findings were published in News Corp. The Clean Energy Council said the leak showed the inquiry was "a biased political stitch-up by a small group of senators opposed to the cheapest forms of renewable energy".

The National Health and Medical Research Council released a report in February 2015 here concluding there is "no consistent evidence that wind farms cause adverse health effects"—a finding that coincides with Chapman's views and contradicts the Senate committee's criticism.

A discussion of Chapman's views on wind turbines cannot focus on what Chapman's opponents have said and this article should not include pro/con material that might better be at wind turbine syndrome. Johnuniq (talk) 05:51, 22 October 2015 (UTC)