[Letter to Cullen Murphy from Jon Cohen]

effective, while the live vaccine was only 62% effective. The
Indian qovernment and the WHO, which both favor the live vaccine,
allegedly suppressed this data because they feared it miqht lead to
the public losinq faith in their vaccination proqrams. Also, the
journal Lancet recently ran a letter claiming bias toward the live
vaccine in a separate comparative study done in India and funded by
the U.S. Agency for International Development. I've been told that
the letter's author, an Indian, has been denied re-entry to her
country. I also know of a cost comparison of the two vaccines done
by a prominent Harvard researcher that was alleqedly scuttled by
its funder, the World Bank, for similar reasons.
While in Delhi, I will interview the key researchers. I will also
attempt to meet with Indian authorities and local people who became
paralyzed after receiving the live vaccine. I intend to interview
Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin at lenqth when I return.
I left a phone message earlier today and hope to hear from you
soon. I think Atlantic is the most fitting place for the story, as
I will take a contrarian viewpoint on a medical topic of worldwide
importance. My final story also will be an Atlantic-ish blend of
decipherable science, storytelling, and in-depth, authoritative
reportinq. If you would like, I will gladly fax my 1987 City Paper
polio feature, which runs about 10 fax paqes.
Sincerely,
Con Cohen
3445 17th St. NW
Washington, DC 20010
202-332-9564 or 202-387-7517