It can give us the data we need to defend our industry from false and misleading claims and from lengthy lawsuits. If we come under fire, good research enables us to refute unfounded accusations, even to rebut them. In a recent speech, the president of the giant Bayer Corporation stressed the importance of ongoing research. We've seen many examples of how a lawsuit can damage or destroy a company. Then there's the tobacco industry.
Litigation is costly.
But even worse, it is humiliating. No one wants to be accused of willfully hurting another human being. A company that withholds damaging information, or refuses to act on it, erodes everything else it does. I often get frustrated in my work because I don't think we move quickly enough. But I have never felt embarrassed because we had a piece of information and ignored it.