Some Comments about Dr. John Gofman's Earlier Work and Books.

   In 1972, Dr. Gofman shared the 1972 Stouffer Prize, one of the top awards for research in combatting arteriosclerosis. The 1972 Prize Committee was chaired by Professor Ulf S. von Euler, M.D., former chairman of the Nobel Prize Committee for Physiology and Medicine. The Committee's citation:

"The 1972 Stouffer Prize is awarded to Dr. John W. Gofman for pioneering work on the isolation, characterization and measurement of plasma lipoproteins, and on their relationship to arteriosclerosis. His methods and concepts have profoundly stimulated and influenced further research on the cause, treatment, and prevention of arteriosclerosis."

   From the Journal of the American Medical Assn., March 19, 1982, p.1637, a review by Victor E. Archer, M.D.: "This remarkable and important book enables any intelligent person with a high school education to understand the complexities involved in assessing the risks to man from low levels of ionizing radiation. Gofman not only demonstrates his mastery of this complex subject but carefully explains the basic concepts of epidemiology, genetics, birth defects, carcinogenesis, radiobiology, physics, chemistry and even mathematics, which are necessary to an understanding of the subject."

   From the New England Journal of Medicine, Feb. 6, 1986, p.393, a review by Maurice M. Greenfield, M.D. (radiologist): "This book is practical and important. It is destined to represent a watershed in the controversial field of low-dose radiobiology and will be of inestimable value to radiologists, other physicians, dentists, and patients."

   From the American Journal of Roentgenology, April 1986, p.774, a review by David S. Martin: "From a radiologist's point of view, this book represents a well organized and concise attempt to quantify the cancer risk from diagnostic xray exposures by age, gender, organ, and examination. As such, it is a useful starting point for comparisons."

   From the New England Journal of Medicine, Feb. 14, 1991, p.497, a review by G. Theodore Davis, M.D., and Andre J. Bruwer, M.D. (radiologist) of two books jointly: The 1990 book by Gofman (above) and the 1990 BEIR-5 Report from the National Research Council, National Academy Press: "Both these works agree that previous assessments of the dangers of radiation underestimated the risk, but they reach substantially different conclusions about the magnitude of the risk, especially when the radiation is at lower doses (below 10 rem) and the doses are delivered slowly ... We strongly recommend both these excellent and timely books for physicians, engineers, and public health officials concerned with radiation, the environment, and public health."

   From the Journal of the American Medical Assn. "Medical News & Perspectives," August 2, 1995, a two-page feature (pp.367-368) by Andrew A. Skolnick about Gofman's book: "A respected authority on the biological effects of ionizing radiation has just published a book claiming that the vast majority of breast cancers in the United States were caused by ... medical xrays ..." Skolnick quotes from interviews with the author and with critics of the book.

   On August 3, 1995, Channel 3 in Britain telecast a report ("The Xray Effect") featuring the book's findings. The 1995 broadcast included these statements:

"John Gofman is a superb analyst and has always been at the cutting edge of medical science, particularly when it comes to protecting people."   - Mortimer Mendelsohn, M.D., Ph.D., then Assoc. Director of the Radiation Effects Research Foundation (the A-Bomb Survivor Study).

"Dr. Gofman is owed a debt of gratitude by the scientific community because he was one of the first people to raise the issue of cancer risks from radiation exposure."   - Edward P. Radford, M.D., epidemiologist and Chairman of the 1980 Committee on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR-3) of the National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council.

ISBN 0-932682-98-7
USA $27.00 softcover