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A January 23, 2007 article by Kelly Bothum notes a trans fat marketing insight from ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan:
Elizabeth Whelan, an epidemiologist and president of the American Council on Science and Health in New York, said the food industry has succeeded in over-hyping trans fats into a marketing bonanza.

A February 28, 2007 "Broadsheet" column by Salon's Lynn Harris notes the prevalence of HPV, the virus now targeted by Gardasil:
Prevalence increases yearly among women starting at age 14 and peaks at 45 percent among women 20 to 24. As the American Council on Science and Health puts it, "nearly 50% of American women can expect to be infected at some point in their lives."

A March 1, 2007 piece mentions Salon.com's mention of our mention of JAMA's report on high rates of HPV, the virus associated with cervical cancer:

This piece originally appeared on June 20, 2007 on HuffingtonPost.com:

A June 18, 2007 entry on the National Public Radio blog mentions the reaction of ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan to Kellogg's' decision to partner (under duress) with Center for Science in the Public Interest to change its cereal marketing practices:

A May 27, 2007 item on PoliticalVindication.com cites ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan in the course of criticizing a report about chemicals and breast cancer:

A July 3, 2007 obituary describes late ACSH Advisor Dr. William Morgan:

With the sixth anniversary of terrorist attacks approaching, it is easy to feel helpless and scared about what some believe to be an inevitable future attack. But there are things you can do to protect yourself:
1. Keep your ears and eyes open. Report any suspicious behavior. Watch for unusually dressed people (long sleeves or overcoat on a warm day) or people wearing protective gear. Look out for unattended packages.

In September, this daily opportunity to listen in on ACSH staffers' conversations will be e-mailed to donors each morning. It will be available to the general public the next day.
You can become a donor at http://www.acsh.org/support/ or send a tax-deductible donation to:
American Council on Science and Health1995 Broadway, 2nd floorNew York, NY 10023
For questions, please call Jeff Stier at 212-362-7044 x225 or e-mail Tara McTeague at McTeagueT[at]acsh.org.

In this week's New England Journal of Medicine, three separate publications deal with the current status of children's vaccines and the litigation swirling around them. The main article is yet another large study debunking any connection between infants' exposure to mercury in vaccines and autism or any other neurodevelopmental condition. I wonder -- along with thousands of doctors and scientists around the world -- whether there will ever be enough evidence to silence those who continue to make these unfounded assertions?

This piece first appeared in the New York Post.
We have an epidemic of disbelief about cancer in this country -- but it's the opposite of what you probably expect. Cancer death rates have been falling for years, and now are falling even faster. Yet it's still stories about allegedlyignored cancer threats that grab our attention.

In September, this daily opportunity to listen in on ACSH staffers' conversations will be e-mailed to donors each morning. It will be available to the general public the next day.
You can become a donor at http://www.acsh.org/support/ or send a tax-deductible donation to:
American Council on Science and Health1995 Broadway, 2nd floorNew York, NY 10023
For questions, please call Jeff Stier at 212-362-7044 x225 or e-mail Tara McTeague at McTeagueT[at]acsh.org.

An article in Skeptic Volume 13, Number 3 by Sidney Zion quotes ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan on exaggerations about secondhand smoke's effects:

A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that men who took Pravachol, a statin targeted at lowering cholesterol, for five years had lower incidence of heart attacks and death from heart disease ten years after cessation of treatment with the statin.

A September 19, 2007 piece on the Wills, Trusts, and Estates Profs Blog notes Jeff Stier's New York Post piece on incentivizing organ donation:

A September 20, 2007 piece by Elizabeth Solomont quotes ACSH's Dr. Whelan wondering about the implications of genetic screening for disease risk:
Even those who described themselves as supportive of preventative medicine said there is a question of cost.
"No one really knows where this is going," the president of the American Council on Science and Health, Elizabeth Whelan, said. "It really is going to take a new commitment to spending on prevention."

A July 17, 2007 piece notes ACSH Trustee Dr. Norman Borlaug receiving the Congressional Gold Medal (to add to his Presidential Medal of Freedom, Nobel Peace Prize, and numerous other accolades):
Besides being a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Borlaug is also a founding director of the American Council on Science and Health, an organization that works to provide scientifically valid information to the media and consumers.

One fourth of cancer patients who are over the age of fifty and undergoing radiation therapy did not get their Centers for Disease Control-recommended annual flu vaccination, according to a study presented this week at the American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology. The study also found that more than one third of cancer patients over the age of sixty-five were not getting the pneumonia vaccine, which is also a CDC guideline.

October 22, 2007: FDA Man Likes Special Cigarettes, Hospital Workers Dislike Flu Shots
-- Quote to Note: “We know that vaccinating nursing home staff reduces influenza-related death rates among frail patients." --Jane Zucker, infectious disease epidemiologist.
-- Unbelievable. Not only does this word describe the weather in New York (high of 78 degrees in late October?), but it also describes several health-related stories published this weekend.

A recent "health" column in USA Today ("'Everywhere chemicals' in plastics alarm parents," Oct. 30) attempts yet again to scare the public -- especially parents of young children -- about the alleged "endocrine-disrupting" effects of common chemicals, specifically bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates. The specific phthalate attacked, the vinyl plasticizer DEHP, is found in many healthcare products, including intravenous tubing and bags, and some instruments used in surgery.

November 12, 2007: Desperate Smoker, Scary Chemicals, More Fat
-- Quote to Note: "I can say 'don't smoke,' but you know, people said that to me for years. It's more a matter of saying you know, make sure that you have adequate medical care, make sure that you are getting chest X-rays." --Actress Kathryn Joosten, quoted by ABC on having lung cancer and the "reasons" she survived.

Pedometers -- those little devices worn at the waist to count steps -- are popular tools for documenting activity levels, and it's now been documented that their use can help motivate users to increase their exercise levels. Dr. Dena M. Bravata and colleagues at Stanford University Medical School (JAMA 2007;298:2297) combined and evaluated data from twenty-six studies of the effects of pedometer use on activity levels and various health indices.

November 16, 2007: No Industry Experts Allowed -- They May Eat iPods
-- Quote to Note: "So the immediate takeaway is, don't eat your iPhone or your earbuds?" --CNN American Morning co-anchor John Roberts, about reports that iPods contain phthalates and bromides.

This piece first appeared in the New York Post.

The Food and Drug Administration has finally taken action against pharmacies that sell so-called bio-identical hormone therapy. Last week, letters from the FDA were sent to seven compounding pharmacies, instructing them to stop using false and misleading terminology such as "bio-identical" when selling their products. Furthermore, the FDA told the pharmacies to discontinue the use of estriol, a form of the hormone estrogen, which is essentially an unapproved drug.