Congress Votes to Ban Genetic Discrimination
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Thursday, May 1, 2008
Congress has now passed legislation to forbid employers and insurance companies of "discriminating" against people on the basis of information gleaned from tests of their genetic proclivity for disease.  I haven't studied this in depth, but forbidding the marketplace to use valid information rubs me the wrong way.Wouldn't the use of such information allow people with fewer   Read Full >>

Sick Kids Misused in Smoke Ads
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Monday, March 17, 2008
Turns out the truth doesn't matter. The New York City Health Department is standing by TV ads that show children allegedly sickened by exposure to second hand smoke. Only problem is, the deathly-ill kids weren't actually known to be exposed to smoke. They were just stock footage of diseased kids.But the kids in the pictures have the same diseases caused by second-hand smoke, so that's good enough for the Health Department.It wouldn't be good enough, though, for the Federal Trade   Read Full >>

Mandatory Calorie Counting Struck Down by Judge
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Monday, September 17, 2007
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   Read Full >>

Modern Living Blamed for Non-Existent Cancer Epidemic
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Thursday, August 9, 2007
This piece appeared on HuffingtonPost.com on August 9, 2007: For once, I agree with the scary tabloid headlines. BBC is reporting that "modern living" is to blame for the "cancer epidemic." Well, I do agree, but just a little bit. Modern living is   Read Full >>

Say No to Discrimination Against Food's Nationality
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Wednesday, July 18, 2007
In the wake of the contaminated Chinese food scare, there have been calls to require "country of origin" labels on food. While on its face, the prospect of more information sounds appealing, it would actually be a mistake to require country of origin labeling. It's not where your food is from that matters, it's what's in it.In a global economy, Americans should expect that their food comes from around the world. This is good for consumers, since a global food supply tends   Read Full >>

Foolish Celebrity Statement of the Day, from Matt Lauer
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Wednesday, May 30, 2007
This blog entry also appeared on HuffingtonPost.com: The Today show's Matt Lauer wins today's award for the sorriest apology.Lauer, who earlier criticized New Jersey governor Jon Corzine for not wearing a seatbelt, did an on-air, in-car interview with   Read Full >>

FDA Does Not Approve Arthritis Painkiller
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Friday, April 27, 2007
In my recent Huffington Post piece, "A Painful Decision," I wished that the Food and Drug Administration would "send a loud message in favor of innovation by taking the almost unprecedented step of overruling its own panel and approving Arcoxia now. That loud noise you'll hear would be cheering from arthritis patients."Unfortunately, the only cheering you'll be hearing now is from   Read Full >>

Xenical and Galling Media Coverage
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The media get away with shoddy reporting -- perhaps because the public doesn't demand better. Today, Reuters reports that the FDA is concerned about a possible gallstone link to Roche's weight loss drug, Xenical. Clearly, the headline writer who wrote "Weight-loss Drug May Be Linked to Gallstones" hasn't read our report Read Full >>

The Biased Fight Against Bias
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Tuesday, March 27, 2007
The Food and Drug Administration's tightening of conflict-of-interest rules will allow them to claim that they are using only conflict-free scientists, but this is in fact not the case.Bias in one form or another can never be completely eliminated. The FDA is barring scientists with a direct financial conflict, but are they banning scientists who may have some other type of   Read Full >>

ACSH Statement for Senate Hearing on FDA Regulation of Tobacco
By Elizabeth M. Whelan, Sc.D., M.P.H., Gilbert Ross, M.D., Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Elizabeth Whelan M.P.H., Sc.D.Gilbert L. Ross, M.D.Jeff Stier, Esq.forThe American Council on Science and Health“The Need for FDA Regulation of Tobacco Products”Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and PensionsFebruary 27, 2007Mr. Chairman:The mission of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) is to promote sound science and to inform policy debates about public health, providing independent scientific evidence and analysis to clarify the scientific record in order   Read Full >>