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A July 13, 2006 column (reprinted on July 17) by Steve Chapman on the use of smokeless tobacco instead of cigarettes as a method of harm reduction concludes with a quote from ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross:

A July 22, 2006 column by Paula Easley laments multiple efforts to regulate in the name of safety without solid scientific justification. She notes the exaggerations about secondhand smoke:

An article on GhanaWeb.com criticized herbal energy drinks, quoting ACSH:
These legal substances, which produce appealing, steroid-like effects, are marketed heavily to college-age athletes, club-goers, dancers, and party animals. The energy drink and herbal industry's vast marketing presence has created an environment where students understand little about these products' adverse effects.

A September 26, 2006 article by Lauren Foster notes that judges have ruled claims that "light" cigarettes are healthier to be false but that the idea of using smokeless tobacco as a safer alternative for those who can't quit nicotine is catching on, citing researcher Brad Rodu and ACSH's Jeff Stier:

An August 16, 2006 article by John Johnston noted the denunciation by ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan of proposed California legislation that would ban iPods for containing "toxic" ingredients:

This article first appeared on American.com.
The recent decision to allow silicone breast implants was a sadly unusual victory of evidence over fear for the agency.

A December 15, 2006 piece by John Johnston and Dale M. King quotes ACSH's Jeff Stier and ACSH's report on trans fats:
"[I]f a simple switch to 'healthier' oils would make us healthier, we'd be all for it. But it won't," says Jeff Stier.
Stier, an associate director of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) then asks:

A December 18, 2006 Wall Street Journal piece notes that irradiation of food would help fight food-borne illness, quoting ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan and the author of ACSH's report on Irradiated Foods, Paisan Loaharanu:

March 1, 2007 pieces on the website of the Heartland Institute include an articles on air pollution and soot rules by ACSH Advisor Dr. John Dale Dunn, plus an article by Aricka T. Flowers that quotes ACSH's Dr. Whelan:

A Mar 1, 2007 piece by Erik Sass describes ACSH's new survey of Nutrition Accuracy in Popular Magazines:

I was surprised that the authors of "Finding More Cancer Isn't the Answer" [April 10] didn't note the current controversy over screening CT exams for early detection of lung cancer. The same paradigm applies. The studies on the efficacy of screening those at high risk -- smokers and ex-smokers -- have concluded that, despite increased detection of small cancers and increased time of survival from detection, actual mortality has not been significantly reduced.

A June 4, 2007 entry on the Freakonomics blog described ACSH's Jeff Stier struggling against blood donation regulations:

A March 1, 2007 piece notes ACSH's survey of Nutrition Accuracy in Popular Magazines:

A February 1, 2007 piece by Dr. John Dale Dunn (who has also written for our blog, HealthFactsAndFears) quotes ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross on fallout from the Vioxx case:
Gil Ross, M.D., medical and executive director of the American Council on Science and Health--a public health advocacy group based in New York City--has been watching the Vioxx case closely.

A February 9, 2007 piece by Alan Miller describes one of the monthly debates hosted by ACSH's Todd Seavey, this time on climate change:

A December 18, 2006 editorial by Laura "Fat Nag" Washington (her actual nickname, not our description of her) does not mention ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross but does mention another man named Gil Ross who also rejects the Fat Nag's call for a trans fat ban:
[Fat Nag] also says "fiddlesticks" to the naysayer, libertarian types -- like her friend Gil Ross, a personal injury lawyer, dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, Harley biker, and all-around Grand Pooh Bah. Should the government protect public health by banning trans fats?

A February 25, 2007 article notes the opposition of the activist group Food & Water Watch to making food safer through irradiation and notes ACSH's quite different position:
Although the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has approved irradiation of many foods, Food & Water Watch claims the supporting data were "paltry and flawed."

A report today from northeastern Pennsylvania describes a fruitless search for the environmental "cause" of an increased rate of a blood disease called polycythemia vera (known among medical folk as P Vera -- here I'll use PCV). While not in fact a cancer, it often deteriorates into some form of leukemia, or it can lead to other blood disorders of high mortality. The federal epidemiologists found no specific explanation for the apparent increased incidence of PCV.

A Federal Judge last week said that New York City was wrong to make fast food restaurants list calories on their menu boards.
The judge did not weigh in on whether the law was an effective way to trim down New Yorkers, but he found that it conflicted with federal law, which already regulates the posting of nutritional information. The awkwardly written law only applied to fast food restaurants, which already voluntarily posted nutrition information. It was never enforced because of pending legal questions.

Defying the doom-and-gloom-sayers, Americans are living longer and healthier each year, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the report, a product of the CDC's National Center for Health and Statistics, a child born in 2005 in the U.S. can expect to live 78 years -- the highest life expectancy to date. Life expectancy was based on age at death for 99% of deaths recorded in 2005 in the U.S.

This item appeared on June 11, 2007 in the New Jersey Star-Ledger and a version also appeared on HuffingtonPost.com:

This piece originally appeared in the Washington Times.

Preliminary data from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene shows that HIV infection is on the rise among young gay and bisexual men in the city. Over the past six years, HIV diagnoses increased by 33% in such men under the age of thirty, from 372 in 2001 to 500 in 2006. Most shocking was that for gay and bisexual males ages thirteen to nineteen, diagnoses increased by 50%, from thirty-four in 2001 to sixty-eight in 2006.

An August 29, 2007 piece by Jack Hunter cites ACSH's Dr. Whelan among critics of Surgeon General Carmona and others who exaggerate the benefits of smoking bans, deadly though smoking is:
Reason magazine editor Jacob Sullum writes, "Carmona is so intent on promoting smoking bans that he absurdly exaggerates the hazards of secondhand smoke. (Carmona's) insistence that there is 'no risk-free level' is an article of faith, not a scientific statement."

Soon, this daily dose of ACSH staffers' conversations will be e-mailed to donors each morning, available to the public online later in the week.
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.