Welcome to the American Council on Science and Health

Tobacco harm reduction in Williamsburg
May 2012

Dr. Ross heads off to Williamsburg, Va on Sunday, where a conference called Evidence-Based Science and Regulation of the Tobacco Industry is being held. Read Full Article >>

	The best source of useful and objective science on food and health is the American Council for Science and Health. —Terence Corcoran, columnist, The National Post (Canada)

Why I Don't Write About Pottery from the Ming Dynasty (Medical Progress Today)
Dr. Bloom explains why New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof is better off sticking to topics he knows, instead of sounding false alarms about chemicals. Read Full Article >>

Me-too? Says who? (Medical Progress Today)
Dr. Bloom explains why so-called "me-too" drugs are deserving of praise, as opposed to the bad rap they've acquired. Read Full Article >>

Dr. Whelan urges Kansas to consider tobacco harm reduction study
ACSH’s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan has just submitted a brief to the Kansas House of Representatives, urging politicians to endorse a measure that would enable the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to conduct a study on the potential benefits of tobacco harm reduction for smokers. Read Full Article >>

How Sweet It Isn't (Facts and Fears)
Senior Fellow in Nutrition Dr. Ruth Kava discusses what's wrong with various proposals to regulate sugar consumption in the U.S as if it were tobacco or alcohol.     Read Full Article >>

Silence About Harm Reduction is Killing Smokers (Facts and Fears)
Dr. Whelan's most recent op-ed discusses the need for greater public education about harm reduction for smokers, especially for those who repeatedly try to quit but fail.  Read Full Article >>

Cutting off your face to spite your face (Medical Progress Today)
Dr. Josh Bloom takes a humorous look at the much too prevalent misperceptions about the current shortage of generic medications in hospitals. Read Full Article >>

The ugly toll of health ‘efficiency’ (NY Post)
Dr. Bloom writes about one instance of what cuts to Medicare may mean. Read Full Article >>

The Land of the Free, and the Home of the Neurotic (Medical Progress Today)
Dr. Bloom's blog post this week takes a look at the increasing paranoia of a certain demographic of parents when it comes to the perceived threat of “household toxins. Read Full Article >>

When Is a Drug a Drug? (American Spectator)
Dr. Josh Bloom writes in The American Spectator about why so-called "dietary supplements" aren't necessarily drug-free or safe, let-alone beneficial. Read Full Article >>

Two Faces of Cancer (Medical Progress Today)
In his latest blog post, Dr. Josh Bloom takes a look at what he calls “the two faces of cancer” — that is, the discovery of a few amazing breakthroughs in the treatment of certain cancers, compared to the disappointing reality that the current generation of “super” drugs has not lived up to expectations.  Read Full Article >>

Sam (the Sham) Waksal Gets a Really Bad Idea (Medical Progress Today)
ACSH's Dr. Bloom responds to ImClone founder Sam Waksal's latest hare-brained idea. Read Full Article >>

4-Methylimidazole Warning # 407 (Medical Progress Today)
Dr. Josh Bloom's Medical Progress Today blog revisits a favorite scare of the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s: caramel coloring in sodas. Read Full Article >>

Drug Reps: The Perfect Rx for Bad Doctors (Medical Progress Today)
Pharmaceutical sales representatives often get a bad rap, stereotyped as unethical drug peddlers. But in his latest op-ed for Medical Progress Today, ACSH’s Dr. Josh Bloom points out how important drug reps may be to improving medical care. Read Full Article >>

Hippocrates and Hypocrites (Medical Progress Today)
In a new post for Medical Progress Today, ACSH’s Dr. Josh Bloom describes an unfortunate double blow that Congress has been aiming at doctors: threatening to reduce Medicare reimbursements by 27 percent and attacking interactions between pharmaceutical companies and physicians as necessarily corrupt Read Full Article >>

How Health Regulators Are Killing American Smokers (Forbes)
Dr. Ross finds that public health regulators, through willfull resistance of tobacco harm reduction strategies, are killing smokers.  Read Full Article >>

Dr. Ross to speak at AAAS
ACSH’s Dr. Gilbert Ross is off to Vancouver, where he'll speak about tobacco harm reduction at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on Saturday, February 18.  Read Full Article >>

Helping Smokers Quit: The Science Behind Tobacco Harm Reduction
  The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) was among the first organizations in the United States to formally endorse tobacco harm reduction (THR).    Read Full Article >>

Boy, are we in trouble (Medical Progress Today)
Dr. Josh Bloom's latest blog post discusses cuts to Medicare and worsening drug shortages. Read Full Article >>

Dr. Ross to appear on NBC Nightly News
Tune into NBC Nightly News this Saturday evening, January 28, to hear ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross discuss what’s problematic about the current trend of shopping for discounted medical care via websites like Groupon and Living Social. Read Full Article >>

Should Patents on Pharmaceuticals Be Extended to Encourage Innovation?
In this Wall Street Journal debate, ACSH's Dr. Josh Bloom makes a compelling argument for extended patent protection on pharmaceuticals. Read Full Article >>

ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross meets with TPSAC
On Thursday, Dr. Ross met with the FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) to discuss the importance of smokeless tobacco and other reduced risk nicotine delivery systems to curbing the country’s smoking-related mortality rate.  Read Full Article >>

Dr. Felsot on pesticides, in DC and on TV
In an interview on Wednesday with E&E TV, Dr. Allan Felsot discussed the role of pesticides in allowing us to supply the world’s population with food and keep people healthy...  Read Full Article >>

Dr. Allan Felsot to speak for ACSH on Capitol Hill
On Tuesday, January 17, 2012, the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) will host a Capitol Hill briefing on the role pesticides play in protecting our food supply and public health. The event’s speaker, Dr. Allan Felsot, Professor of Entomology and Environmental Toxicology at Washington State University, is the author of ACSH’s new report on Pesticides and Health: Myths vs. Realities.  Read Full Article >>

Garbage In, Anti-Nuclear Propaganda Out: The 14,000 Death Fukushima Lie (Forbes Magazine)
Dr. Bloom responds to a paper's reckless claims about radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accident. Read Full Article >>

ACSH's Dr. Josh Bloom on a new vaccine for stomach flu (Medical Progress Today)
  In his latest blog post for Medical Progress Today, ACSH’s Dr. Josh Bloom hails a promising new vaccine for norovirus — otherwise known as the stomach flu. Check out the blog for Dr. Bloom’s assessment of the latest hope for preventing a virus that kills 800 Americans each year and costs hospitals as much as $1 million dollars every year to treat.   Read Full Article >>

ACSH releases two publications on pesticides and health
In Pesticides and Health: Myths vs. Realities, environmental toxologist Allan S. Felsot explains the real benefits— both health-related and economical—of an informed use of pesticides. And in Pesticides in Perspective, William Kucewicz explains Dr. Felsot's main ideas in a shorter, consumer-friendly format. Read Full Article >>

ACSH's Dr. Josh Bloom on CNN
Dr. Bloom appeared on CNN to discuss how major patent expirations will affect pharmaceutical innovation in the U.S.  Read Full Article >>

Research Media Ltd. Interview with Dr. Elizabeth Whelan
In 1978, ACSH President Dr Elizabeth Whelan founded the organisation in order to provide a platform for scientists in the public health arena to get their voices heard. In this discussion, she tells us why, over three decades later, the institution’s remit is as pertinent as ever Read Full Article >>

Chemophobia Cluster at the Natural Resources Defense Council
A new report published today by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) counters claims by an environmental activist group that chemical exposures have led to numerous “disease clusters” throughout the country.  Read Full Article >>

"Federal drug R&D ill-conceived"
The Boston Herald ACSH’s Dr. Josh Bloom argues that the government's recent decision to take up drug discovery will in all likelihood be a futile — and expensive — effort. He contrasts the government’s inexpert endeavor with the impressive successes of the pharmaceutical start-up Vertex, a much better example of how to go about developing important new drugs. Read Full Article >>

"For the Democracy of Science"
Science Magazine ACSH's Director of Publications Alyssa Pelish reviews Shawn Lawrence Otto’s Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America. Otto's book considers how the voting public can, in fact, take up arms against politicians who would sway their constituents with sheerly rhetorical claims about public policy decisions that should be based instead on the relevant science. Read Full Article >>

The CDC vs. Life-Saving Vaccines (National Review)
Is the federal agency cutting costs by refusing to approve vaccines for children? Read Full Article >>

Politics has overtaken science at the EPA (The Daily Caller)
Dr. Gilbert Ross. Science depends on rigid observation and independent replication. So what happens when government bureaucrats — seeking to promote a political agenda while acting under the guise of protecting the environment and public health — systematically subordinate sound scientific principles to their own goals? Read Full Article >>

What's Really Causing Childhood Obesity? (Forbes.com)
By Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. An alarming one-third of American children are overweight or obese. It's a rate that's climbed three times as high as it was even a generation ago, and the hunt is on to identify the culprit and root it out. Read Full Article >>

Warnings that Don't Work (National Review Online)
By Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan Diseased lungs. Corpses. Rotting teeth. A man smoking from a tracheotomy hole. These are some of the shocking images featured in the Food and Drug Administration’s recently unveiled series of cigarette package warnings. The FDA asserts that these graphic warnings will serve public health by terrifying smokers into quitting. Commissioner Margaret Hamburg boasts that “the FDA [is taking] a crucial step toward reducing the tremendous toll of illness and death caused by tobacco.” But will these labels work? Will the lurid imagery scare smokers into quitting? Probably not.   Read Full Article >>

America's vanishing science jobs (New York Post)
By Dr. Josh Bloom. After earning my PhD, in chemistry, I worked in drug-discovery research for more than 20 years. Aside from being a fascinating profession, it was pretty secure -- until the last decade. Then it became anything but. Read Full Article >>

How Far We’ve Come in the Battle Against AIDS (Medical Progress Today)
By Dr. Josh Bloom. We may not realize it now, but at some future date the world will look back and recognize May 2011 as a remarkable turning point in the history of the struggle against AIDS. Read Full Article >>

Junk Science Week: Toxic terrorists ignore organic food threat (Financial Post)
By Gilbert Ross. A respected newspaper notes the latest toll among Europeans of a virulent strain of the bacterium E. coli, the source of which has recently been determined to be sprouts from an organic farm in Germany. In the same newspaper, a few pages distant, a credulous journalist has in essence copied and pasted another press release from the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a U.S. activist organization, warning us yet again about the traces of pesticide residues on their so-called “Dirty Dozen” list of fruits and vegetables. Read Full Article >>

Immunity: when it's smart to go with the herd (Guardian)
By Dr. Henry Miller and Dr. Gilbert Ross. Infectious diseases that used to claim the lives of one in six children before their fifth year are making an alarming comeback in the US. The culprits are parents who should know better – and the politicians who bend over backwards to accommodate them. Read Full Article >>

Summer Health & Safety Tips
ACSH's Tips for a Safe and Healthy Summer  Read Full Article >>

The Hijacking of Earth Day (The American Spectator)
By Dr. Gilbert Ross. The last weekend in April saw the confluence of Earth Day and World Malaria Day. The very first Earth Day back in 1970 found many of us devoted to saving the world from polluting corporations and their toxic smog. And in fact, over the course of the next two decades or so, major strides were made in cleaning up our air and water. Read Full Article >>

Better Living Through Chemistry (The American)
The overwhelming body of scientific evidence supports the safety of myriad chemicals in use today.A fusillade of recent items by the New York Times, US News, CNN, and others purports to show how certain common pesticides lead to reduced IQs among children of women exposed to these chemicals while pregnant. Read Full Article >>

Will Rationing Supersede America's Healthcare Legacy? (Medical News Today)
By Dr. Gilbert Ross. We all like to think of America as a land of opportunity, a place where people are free to make their own choices in matters large and small. That's why it's so disturbing to see American regulators moving to restrict the treatment options of women suffering from advanced-stage "triple-negative" breast cancer, the most difficult type to treat - and doing so at the same time European regulators are reinforcing the choices available for treatment.  Read Full Article >>

The Real Reason Drug Companies are Failing? (Medical Progress Today)
Trouble in the pharmaceutical industry has become so evident that major news organizations are belatedly taking note of it. This was evidenced by a recent plethora of stories about the slew of looming patent expirations major drug companies are facing. Some important reasons have been examined, but there is much more to the story. Read Full Article >>

Dr. Whelan refutes proposal to ban soda purchases using food stamps (BBC News)
In an interview for BBC, ACSH’s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan challenges the validity of a recent request by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to bar residents who receive food stamps from using them to purchase soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages. Read Full Article >>

Whatever Happened to AIDS?
New York, NY, February 14, 2011 – A new publication released today by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), Whatever Happened to AIDS? How the Pharmaceutical Industry Tamed HIV, explains the central role played by the pharmaceutical industry in transforming AIDS from an inevitably fatal illness to a chronic, manageable disease. This story is largely untold. Read Full Article >>

The NIH on Drugs (The Daily Caller)
By Dr. Josh Bloom. In late January, Obama administration officials announced that they were very concerned about the slow race of new drugs coming from the pharmaceutical industry. They should be concerned. The number of new chemical entities (NCEs) launched in recent years is near historic lows. And there are many unmet medical needs for which no therapies are available or on the horizon. Read Full Article >>

Empire State or Nanny State: Suffolk should not ban energy drinks (The Daily Caller)
By Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan. In New York State, 18-year-olds need to show ID to buy cigarettes, get married, and vote. Now one lawmaker wants to make them show ID to purchase … energy drinks. Read Full Article >>

Open Letter to the New York Assembly Health Committee (E-cigarette Forum)
By Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan. As President of American Council on Science and Health, Dr. Whelan sent the following open letter to the New York Assembly Health Committee urging against the passing of a law prohibiting e-cigarettes.       Read Full Article >>

Scared to Death
In response to the growing level of chemophobia -- the irrational fear of chemicals -- among the American public, the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) announces the release of its new position paper, Scared to Death: How Chemophobia Threatens Public Health, authored by Jon Entine, a scholar with the American Enterprise Institute and highly regarded science journalist. ACSH compiled this resource book to educate legislators, industry, media, consumers and parents on the actual risks of chemical exposure and use in everyday products. THe book addresses scientific realities and dispels unfounded fears regarding the safe use of chemicals. The position paper and resource book brings research to light that illustrates how little evidence-based support exists for Chemophobia.       Read Full Article >>

The Top Ten Unfounded Health Scares of 2010
December 29, 2010. Before we can officially commence the New Year, the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) would like to reflect upon this past year. We'd especially like to spend an extra moment considering what we hope the world will eventually learn to forget — the most unfounded health scares of 2010.  Read Full Article >>

Celebrities Vs. Science
January 3, 2011. We value movie stars and musicians for their entertainment value, not their scientific expertise. But when they weigh in on important issues pertaining to human health and get things wrong, it is important to set the record straight. Scientists affiliated with the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) do just that. In the second edition of Celebrities Vs. Science, they respond to one celebrity doozy of a comment at a time. Read Full Article >>

New Antibiotics, Stat! (National Review Online)
By Dr. Josh Bloom and Dr. Gilbert Ross.The development of new antibiotics has slowed to a trickle, just when we need them most. As drug-resistant bacteria are on the rampage worldwide, we find ourselves in a most precarious situation — one not unlike the one we faced in the pre-antibiotic era, before penicillin, when staphylococcal and pneumococcal infections were the dominant pathogens. . . Read Full Article >>

Drug approvals are bogging down (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
By Dr. Gilbert Ross. Patients and doctors cheered in 2008, when the Food and Drug Administration approved Genentech’s Avastin for treating women with advanced breast cancer. Scientists had found that in many cases, the drug could prolong life, and today doctors prescribe it to some 17,500 women a year as their last, best hope. .  .       Read Full Article >>

FDA Conflict-of-Interest Rules Go Too Far (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
By Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. When an FDA panel voted to reject a new weight-loss drug this fall, many observers were outraged. Read Full Article >>

Don’t fall victim to the hysteria over plastic toys (The Daily Caller)
By Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. In the midst of prepping for the in-laws and the added financial stress of the holidays, the last thing Americans need is another source of unwarranted anxiety. But just in time for the holidays, Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) released its annual “Trouble in Toyland” report, which preys on parents’ greatest fears by warning shoppers of “toxic” chemicals and other dangers lurking on every toy aisle.   Read Full Article >>

The 'pariahs' who tamed AIDS (New York Post)
By Dr. Josh Bloom. This World AIDS Day, some 30 years after the epidemic began, we should recognize how the hard work of thousands of dedicated scientists transformed the most dreaded disease of the late 20th century into a chronic, manageable condition.   Read Full Article >>

Pass the Methyl Eugenol (from National Review)
By Dr. Elizabeth Whelan.  It is that time of year: parties, presents, family gatherings — and dining-room tables laden with a tempting array of mouthwatering seasonal chemicals.   Read Full Article >>

The British Health Care Invasion (from Forbes.com)
By Dr. Gilbert Ross. Just as Britain is moving away from destructive cost-control policies in its health system, the U.S. seems to be embracing them. If American health policy-makers begin putting cost before quality, doctors might soon lose the freedom to treat patients without being obstructed by regulators. Countless patients could lose access to life-saving treatments. Read Full Article >>

Dr. Ross talks about BPA's safety on KCTV5
ACSH’s Dr. Gilbert Ross appeared on Kansas City’s KCTV5-TV Nov. 4, 2010, to explain why we shouldn’t be afraid of bisphenol A (BPA).  Read Full Article >>

What's so ridiculous about Katherine Heigl's e-cigarette habit? (Daily Caller)
By Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan. Katherine Heigl is in trouble with the P.C. police. After telling David Letterman how she managed to quit smoking by switching to e-cigarettes, the “Life as We Know It” actress is drawing not praise but condemnation from moralistic public health types. Read Full Article >>

Congress might be fed up, but America's children aren't (Daily Caller)
By Dr. Gilbert Ross. A tuna fish sandwich is both nutritious and affordable — but this once ubiquitous lunchbox staple is fast becoming an anachronism because of unfounded fears of mercury. It’s omitting seafood from your diet that’s the real risk, since fish provide nutrients that protect our hearts, stave off strokes and help save our eyesight. Read Full Article >>

Curing breast cancer (from the NY Post)
By Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan. This is the 25th year when October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Pink ribbons, marches in the park, fundraisers to find "the cure." Time to talk about our loss of mothers and sisters (and even some brothers) to this dreaded disease. But this year we should also focus on the good news about breast cancer. Read Full Article >>

The Deadly War against DDT (National Review)
By Dr. Elizabeth M. Whelan. A remarkable new documentary tells the story of how political and ideological forces combined to ban a widely and safely used chemical, DDT, leading to a surge of malaria deaths in developing countries like Kenya, Indonesia, and India. Read Full Article >>

BPA & Bears Video
Concerned about BPA?  Click here to watch ACSH's new animated video. Read Full Article >>

Avastin shouldn't make the FDA give up on 'accelerated approval' of drugs (L.A. Times)
By Henry I. Miller and Jeff Stier. An important but obscure aspect of the Food and Drug Administration's regulation of drugs offers a mechanism for lifesaving medicines to quickly reach the marketplace without going through a time-consuming approval process. Read Full Article >>

Jeff Stier defends Pop-Tarts on CNBC
ACSH's Jeff Stier appeared on CNBC Aug. 10, 2010, to defend consumer choice and Pop-Tarts from anti-obesity crusader MeMe Roth. (A new Pop-Tart store is opening up in Times Square). Click to watch . Read Full Article >>

Haitian ‘Social Justice’ Groups Want to Burn Aid (From NRO)
By Jeff Stier. Four months after a devastating earthquake ripped apart their country, the people of Haiti are still suffering, so you’d think a multi-million-dollar donation of vegetable seeds would be welcome news. But two Haitian groups, backed by the activist group Grassroots International, are urging farmers to do the unthinkable: burn the donated seeds. Read Full Article >>

Vaccines: Do your homework (San Diego Union-Tribune)
By Drs. Gilbert Ross and Jack Fisher. As kids head back to school over the next few weeks, parents will be met with a bevy of papers. There are enrollment forms, permission slips, perhaps even a few credit card bills. Sadly, an increasing number of parents aren’t signing the most important piece of paper of all – their children’s vaccine form. Read Full Article >>

Unlocking The Genetic Secrets Of Autism
By Drs. Elizabeth M. Whelan and Henry I. Miller. Intense and even fanatical resistance to childhood immunizations is itself a significant public health problem, but a recent study of abnormalities in the DNA of children with autism spectrum disorders should finally put rest to claims that vaccines cause these conditions. Read Full Article >>

MORE ARTICLES BY ACSH RECENTLY FEATURED ON OUR HOMEPAGE
Click for a list of pieces that appeared on this page in the twelve months preceding the pieces above. (For FactsAndFears pieces, click on our blog, above; for coverage by others about ACSH, see our News Center section.) Read Full Article >>

NY Times Reporter Honored For Activism Disguised as Journalism
By Jeff Stier. When journalists give an award to one of their own, you’d think they’d honor reporting that rises above that of others in journalistic quality. But that isn’t what happened when The Deadline Club, the New York branch of the Society for Professional Journalists, gave its Daniel Pearl Award for Investigative Reporting to The New York Times’ Charles Duhigg. Duhigg was the author of the series “Toxic Waters.” Read Full Article >>

Dr. Elizabeth Whelan on CNN's 'Toxic Childhood'
ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan debated Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, on the CNN special "Toxic Childhood." Click here to watch . Read Full Article >>

Vaccines are not just for children (from Contra Costra Times)
By Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. While it is customary for parents to make sure that their children get all the recommended vaccinations, many adults avoid getting their shots — and tens of thousands of people contract vaccine-preventable diseases each year as a result. Read Full Article >>

Bad Ads, Badder FDA (from Medical Progress Today)
By Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. No one wants misleading pharmaceutical advertising, but the Food and Drug Administration's plan to deputize doctors to police drug companies is a misguided effort. Read Full Article >>

Summer tips for 2010
As you plan for your summer vacation, what do you need to worry about? And what are the bogus scares? ACSH sorts through the bogus claims from the real dangers. Read Full Article >>

Chemicals, Cancer And Claptrap (from Forbes.com)
By Drs. Henry I. Miller and Elizabeth Whelan. President Barack Obama's cancer panel report is a travesty, a paragon of political correctness and unscientific, naive speculation and misinterpretation. Read Full Article >>