The Journal of the American Medical Association published letters today critical of a study it published six months ago claiming that US diplomats in Cuba had suffered brain injuries.
Emily Tamkin
BuzzFeed News Reporter
Reporting From
Washington, DC
Posted on August 14, 2018, at 11:01 a.m. ET
Ten scientists have published letters in the Journal of the American Medical Association criticizing the first medical review of the US diplomats in Cuba who were reportedly targets of a “sonic attack.”
In letters published by JAMA on Tuesday, the scientists complained that the authors of a February study in the journal failed to include “mass hysteria” as one of the possible causes of the symptoms that the diplomats reported. Such “mass psychological outbreaks” usually take place in high-stress environments, and all involved begin exhibiting the similar, real physical symptoms.
The critics also said the study’s authors did not include information on whether the diplomats had known one another, and included no testing on hearing and balance — even though “a presumed sonic weapon attack would affect the inner ear more preferentially than any other part of the body, including the brain.” The inner ear is critical to balance.
The letters are the latest broadside in what has become a contentious scientific battle that has raged since the Trump administration first used the reports of “sonic attacks” on diplomats in Cuba to justify withdrawing diplomats from the island, expelling Cuban diplomats from Washington, cutting back on contacts between the United States and Cuba, and advising US citizens not to travel to the island.
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https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emilytamkin/jama-letters-criticism-sonic-attacks-study-pennsylvania
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