This article first appeared on Forbes.com.
You would think liberal politicians are the only ones who stand up for us, the consumers. But consider the current effort to allow consumers in all fifty states to sue over injuries sustained from FDA-approved medical devices.
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A new study by the Jules Stein Eye Institute of UCLA indicates that quitting smoking reduces the risk of age-related macular degeneration, which can lead to blindness.
"This is not a surprise, given the known negative vascular effects of smoking," says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. "Cigarette smoking definitely plays a role in age-related macular degeneration."
"On the other hand, smoking actually reduces the risk of old-age itself," quips ACSH's Jeff Stier.
An article in the British newspaper The Independent declares, "The world is facing a growing threat from new diseases that are jumping the human-animal species barrier as a result of environmental disruption, global warming, and the progressive urbanization of the planet."
A well-controlled, randomized study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concludes that ginkgo biloba does not actually improve memory or brain function.
"This should be the end of the discussion on ginkgo biloba, but of course it won't be," says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross. "Look at homeopathy. There hasn't been a single study that proves that it works or has any benefit to anyone, and yet billions are spent on it each year."
The World Health Organization recommended that new rotavirus vaccines made by GSK and Merck be included in all national immunization programs. The original vaccine against rotavirus, which kills over half a million children under five around the world each year, was removed from the market ten years ago because of a rare, potentially deadly side-effect.
Alternative medicine has once again crept into popular fashion, to the chagrin of legitimate medicine. The only thing that these practices provide is placebos, says ACSH s Dr. Ruth Kava, which is not something most people seek from medical professionals.
ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross has noticed the regrettable trend: Despite the fact that there s no such thing as legitimate alternative medicine -- only real medicine and fake medicine -- it seems that more and more people and even doctors are buying into the power of superstition.
The EPA has released the first of its Chemical Action Plans (CAP) targeting phthalates, following EPA chief Lisa Jackson's pledge last September to more closely scrutinize chemicals that cause public concern.
"Lisa Jackson said in September that increasing public concern about chemicals would result in more EPA regulation," says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross. "Well, it's speeches like those that generate public concern when there's no reason for it," as Ross warned in an op-ed at the time.
According to a study presented at the American College of Sports Medicine s annual meeting in Seattle, exercise for women over thirty may help stave off breast cancer. Of course, ACSH staffers recommend regular exercise for everyone, but the connection to breast cancer seems dubious. It s getting a decent amount of coverage but not a lot of skepticism. Health reporters tend to give a free ride to claims that things society accepts, like exercise, are good -- and things we don't like, such as synthetic chemicals, are bad, regardless of the strength of the evidence.
A few weeks ago, the world of organic food proponents was rocked by new research that organic food was not any more nutritious than conventionally-grown food. Consumers have long been interested in knowing if the extra money they have been shelling out for organic food is justified and the subject, therefore, is of much interest.
A Little Bit of Background
•In September 2009, ACSH was mentioned in venues including a National Post writer's blog ( http://ginamallet.com/2009/09/01/streep-bites-hand-that-feeds-her/ ), National Post itself, the Gazette, New York Times (a comment posted by Dr.
A few weeks ago, I began to feel sluggish for a few days. Out of nowhere I suddenly felt cold. I lay down on the couch and piled on two down comforters to stay warm. As anyone who’s ever lived in Washington, D.C. in July knows, feeling the need to dive under blankets that time of year is just not normal. I spent an hour on the couch, shaking violently with the chills -- only to fling the blankets off the moment the shaking stopped. By then, my temperature was edging north of 102, and I was suddenly burning up.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) scare machine rolls inexorably on, generating scary headlines and national media attention, based on nothing more than alarmism, while expert scientists and sound science-based organizations have to scramble to gain any attention. It's a truism in media: good news doesn't sell papers or garner viewers, while a press release asserting that "fruits and vegetables are killing your children" will always grab the lead.
ACSH's view on this issue was noted by John Stossel on his blog today:
It is nothing new for junk science to make it onto the New York Times op-ed page. But some agendas are so far outside the mainstream they have to buy their way onto the page. That's what the Mount Sinai School of Medicine did in buying a platform for their Dr. Philip Landrigan, an activist who has dedicated his career to raising anxieties about "chemicals" in the environment.
Researchers from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD reported that a diet high in fat can increase the risk of developing pancreatic cancer. According to the article from dbtechno.com, this study finding is interesting because it contradicts previous studies that have found the exact opposite.
I ve never heard of any study that would indicate the opposite, says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross, so I don t entirely trust this report. To whatever extent it is true, it s a good reason not to overdo your fat intake.
Michelle Obama's "organic" White House garden was designed to promote a green agenda. In order to provide safe food to children in the community, the First Lady wouldn't use chemical pesticides or fertilizers. Green groups cheered. In an ironic twist, all of that has now backfired.
This article first appeared on the website of The Guardian on July 24, 2009:
Is there any benefit to buying an organic pineapple? How about an onion? Science literate people know it is a little silly, for two reasons: First, is that toxic pesticides and toxic pesticides, whether they are organic or synthetic is irrelevant, you should wash anything you did not grow yourself; second is that foods like that can't have pesticides so buying an organic version which will at least claim to not have a pesticide is a waste of money.
All the news that's fit to scare. That was the thrust of this weekend's New York Times article by Charles Duhigg entitled "Toxic Waters: Debating Just How Much Weed Killer Is Safe in Your Water Glass."
This piece by ACSH Trustee Henry Miller appears in its entirety in Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News.
Despite the ongoing epidemics of cigarette-related disease, novel influenza and obesity, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson is focusing on a very different set of purported health risks: deadly toxins and chemicals in "our bodies." This effort will do nothing to promote public health while raising needless anxiety and spurring expensive, useless regulation and litigation.
School children may be a priority for next flu season s vaccinations, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Young people are petri dishes for flu incubation, says Dr. Ross. Last year the CDC decided to focus on kids in order to prevent the spread of flu, and that may be their strategy again, especially if they decide to vaccinate against swine flu.
Matrixx Initiatives is on the defensive since they were ordered to stop selling Zicam intranasal cold remedies after more than 130 reports of people who lost their sense of smell after using the zinc-based, homeopathic products. A public health advisory posted on the FDA website said the products have all been associated with long-lasting or permanent loss of smell and have not been shown to be effective in the reduction of the duration and severity of cold symptoms.
Under the tobacco regulation bill recently passed by Congress, flavoring in cigarettes will be banned to diminish the attraction of smoking to youth smokers, with the exception of menthol. Menthol-flavored cigarettes represent 27 percent of the market and are the product of choice for 75 percent of African-American smokers.
Pagination
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