WashU prof Kenneth Ludmerer takes it on the chin in a cover story in the latest issue of The Nation (3/15) titled, “Big Tobacco and the Historians: a Tale of Seduction and Intimidation.”  Scribed by contributing editor Jon Weiner, the piece details the “new landscape of litigation”  in smoking cases, in which the tobacco industry recruits historians to work with their defense lawyers to “help explain” the position of cigarette companies in court. Ludmerer admits having been paid “maybe $500,000″ as an expert for Phillip Morris.  This, Weiner writes, despite his “never having published on the history of tobacco, lung cancer, on the impact of tobacco on health, or on the industry’s claims about smoking and health.”  An expert on the consumer side, Harvard dean Allan Brandt (author of “The Cigarette Century”) says Ludmerer’s work borders on “historical malpractice.” Like other academics who provide “expert testimony” to tobacco firms, Ludmerer reportedly never mentions such work on his CV or faculty website. When questioned by Weiner about his work on such cases, Ludmerer lamented the alleged “loss of civility in this country” and called criticism of his pro-tobacco efforts “injurious”, explaining “I had coronary artery bypass surgery in 2005, and I’m sure a lot of the disease came from the tension the comments people made about my testimony.”