Dr. David Egilman is a board-certified internal medicine physician and epidemiologist, who is also board certified in preventive and occupational medicine. He is a clinical associate professor at Brown University, and Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health. His expertise is in exposure to toxic elements and their harmful effects on public health. He has a broad range of interests in this field, including research misconduct and the marketing of toxic pharmaceuticals, silicone implants, radiation exposure and asbestos exposure to healthcare in developing countries.
Dr. Egilman’s work as an expert witness has uncovered many different types of corporate and government malfeasance. He is a consumer protection activist who has vigorously fought for the release of sealed company documents uncovered during litigation. For example, he sought to unseal documents pertaining to the serious harm produced by Merck’s painkiller, Vioxx, and Eli Lilly’s neuroleptic drug, Zyprexa; whose risks were concealed from the public. Dr. Egilman challenged presiding judges whose rulings against public disclosure of those documents protected corporate malfeasance. In the case of Zyprexa, Dr. Egilman acted in accord with his physician’s oath, but violated a protective court order, and leaked the documents to The New York Times; and action he took at great personal cost.
Dr. Egilman has testified before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Commerce, the President’s Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, and multiple FDA advisory committees. Dr. Egilman gave written testimony to the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights. He has given many talks at meetings of the American Public Health Association, and spoken internationally on improving occupational health worldwide.
He is President of the Board, Global Health Through Education Training and Service; and is a member of numerous societies focused on Health Based Exposure Limits to Toxic Substances. A list of his many publications and presentations can be viewed here.