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With the FDA’s ban on the words such as “light,” “mild,” “medium,” and “low-tar” from cigarette packaging going into effect today, Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. have switched to colored packaging to communicate differences in products. The FDA is challenging this use of colors, arguing that it suggests certain products are safer.

Starting July 1, people who buy cigarettes in New York will have to fork over an extra $1.60 per cigarette pack in state taxes according to a new law passed yesterday by the Legislature. This will bring the total cost of cigarettes to approximately $12.00 a pack.

Science journalist Chris Mooney, the author of "Unscientific America: Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our Future," urges scientists and policymakers to start listening to the public’s views on controversial science issues when drafting policies. Rather than focusing on the public’s lack of science education, Mooney argues that both politics and mistrust towards perceived industry-backed science seem to drive public fears.

A study published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology shows that approximately half of breast cancer patients with estrogen-sensitive tumors terminate their hormone therapies, such as tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors, before the recommended five-year course. These drugs can reduce the risk of relapse by 40 percent and death by 10 percent, but only if taken for the prescribed five years.

ACSH offers an honorary seat at the table to the California lawmakers who succeeded in voting down a ban against BPA on Monday.
Despite pressure from environmental activists to ban BPA from use in children’s products, the Legislature adhered to sound science instead, earning themselves a pat on the back from ACSH staffers.

A whopping $712 million settlement was approved Thursday for approximately 10,000 rescue and clean-up workers who claim their health was compromised at Ground Zero. Compensatory payments will be allotted even to plaintiffs who currently have no qualifying injuries.

In another news story illustrating the potentially disastrous health effects that studies hyping such exaggerated risks may perpetuate, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) has demanded that the FDA immediately provide guidance and reassurance to consumers about a potential link between a common sunscreen additive and skin cancer.
Studies conducted in laboratory animals suggest a possible link between retinyl palmitate and skin cancer, but no human data was analyzed, says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross.

In a radical new law approved in San Francisco on Tuesday, retailers will be required to display the amount of radiation each cell phone emits, even though there’s no conclusive scientific evidence that these devices pose any health risks.

The annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology presented two studies that may eventually alter the treatment of women with early-stage breast cancer. In the first study conducted by investigators from the University College of London, 991 women were recruited. All of the women had a "sentinel node" removed which showed the presence of cancer cells, but only half of the women received the standard treatment since the 1990s, the removal of additional lymph nodes.

An iconic photo of renowned British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the World War II museum in London is missing something these days: his beloved cigar. A museum visitor was the first to notice the cigar’s disappearance, which has been attributed to an unknown airbrushing censor.

In its first update in 26 years, the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association proposes new diagnostic criteria for earlier detection of all three stages of Alzheimer’s disease — pre-clinical, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s dementia — based on genetic risk factors and biomarkers.

For postmenopausal women diagnosed with estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer, the American Society of Clinical Oncology now recommends the use of aromatase inhibitors hormone-based breast cancer drugs immediately following surgery or after two to three years of the drug tamoxifen.

ACSH's Jeff Stier heads to Gaithersburg, Md., to attend the FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) meeting on the potential ban of menthol from cigarettes. Stay tuned for his updates from the two-day conference on Thursday and Friday.

After hearing mixed evidence that Avandia may increase patient's risk of heart attack, an FDA advisory panel voted yesterday to keep the diabetes drug on the market but with new warning labels.

More older Americans are opting for colon cancer screenings, while the screening rate for breast cancer though higher than for colon cancer has reached a plateau, according to a recent Centers for Disease Control (CDC) phone survey. The American Cancer Society estimates 51,000 Americans will die this year from colon cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death, and 40,000 from breast cancer.

Today s New York Times reports that Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to ban smoking in City parks and beaches. Among the goals he hopes to achieve with such a ban is reducing health risks associated with second hand smoke. His health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley, cites a New York City-funded study claiming that 57 percent of non-smoking New York City adults, compared to 45 percent nationally, tested positive for the presence of cotinine in their blood.

In his response to the Center for Science in the Public Interest s (CSPI) threat to sue if they do not remove toys from their Happy Meals, McDonald s CEO Jeff Skinner castigates CSPI for their inflammatory rhetoric and believes they owe Americans an apology:

Cancer incidence rates and the number of deaths due to cancer continue to decline in the United States, according to the Cancer Statistics 2010 report issued by the American Cancer Society (ACS). The incidence of cancer has decreased by 1.3 percent per year from 2000 to 2006 in men and 0.5 percent per year from 1998 to 2006 in women, while cancer death rates have dropped 21 percent since 1991 among men and 12 percent since 1992 among women.

A promising new vaginal microbicidal gel could be used to sharply reduce HIV infection among women, according to a study released yesterday at the XVIII International AIDS conference in Vienna by a South African AIDS research center. The gel contains tenofovir, an antiretroviral medication, that when applied 12 hours before and after unprotected sex, reduced the risk of HIV transmission in women by 39 percent and by up to 54 percent if the gel was used regularly.

It looks like Dr. Dustin Ballard, a Marin County Independent columnist and emergency physician at Kaiser Permanente San Rafael, has also caught wind of the scare season. In fact, while addressing excessive fears over minor head bumps following the death of actress Natasha Richardson, he references ACSH as “an advocacy group dedicated to providing sound health information to consumers.” ACSH would like to offer a seat at the table to Dr.

The same advisory panel assessing Avandia will also evaluate the safety and efficacy of one of three new weight loss drugs this week. Given the difficulties in developing a drug that can safely induce substantial weight loss and a 35 percent U.S. adult obesity rate, there is high demand for a new weight loss option.

It turns out that turbulence might not be the only thing to fear while flying. FDA inspection records reveal airline food preparation kitchens have numerous hygiene issues, including the presence of roaches and mice, unsanitary conditions and no access for employee hand washing.

Pew Charitable Trusts, a powerful non-profit organization, sponsored a retreat on Bonaire in October 2002 and personally handpicked the roster of influential journalists and respected scientists who were in attendance, The Gloucester Times reported this week.

This 4th of July weekend, there will be plenty of beautiful fireworks displays to watch, but ACSH advisor and ophthalmologist Dr. Emil Chynn cautions us to literally keep an eye out for fireworks hazards.

Professor of developmental neuropsychology at the University of Oxford Dorothy Bishop has a novel idea distribute awards to recognize, or rather disrepute, research misrepresentations in the media. In her blog earlier this month, she announced the launch of the Orwellian Prize for Journalistic Misrepresentation, which will be awarded every January.