Happy Milton Friedman Day
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Monday, January 29, 2007
Today is Milton Friedman Day, a day to celebrate the life of the Nobel Prize winning economist who championed freedom (a life that will be described in the documentary The Power of Choice tonight on some PBS stations).What does Milton Friedman have in common with the American Council on Science and Health? Besides defending progress against its foes, Friedman combined rigorous peer-reviewed work with the all too rare ability to bring   Read Full >>

Schizophrenic Coverage of Zyprexa
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Tuesday, December 19, 2006
The media's coverage of the Zyprexa story is schizophrenic. When we released our peer-reviewed report, Weighing Benefits and Risks in Pharmaceutical Use: A Consumer's Guide, health reporters gave it a collective yawn. They said we stated the obvious -- that all drugs have risks, and patients and physicians together should   Read Full >>

Trans Fat Ban's Economic Impact, from Fries to Soybeans
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Tuesday, December 12, 2006
If you've visited our webpage anytime in the last month or so, you know ACSH opposes NYC's ban on trans fats in restaurants.  If a simple switch to "healthier" oils would make us healthier, we'd be all for it.  But it won't.  And will the "healthier" oils have no effect on taste?    Read Full >>

Letterman Mocks ACSH Over Smokeless Tobacco?
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Tuesday, November 21, 2006
It's as if he read our blog -- and then went on to mock it. Pointing out that last Thursday was the Great American Smokeout, Letterman suggested that if smokers just switched to "chaw," instead of lung cancer, they'd get cancer of the mouth -- what a great deal! And the audience howled. Of course, this is the same crowd that laughed moments later while Michael "Kramer" Richards was apologizing   Read Full >>

Borat's Relative Sees Autism Explanation in Sufferer's Relatives
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Given the fervor with which some people promote the alleged link between vaccines and autism, I've come to believe it is, to them, a matter of faith more than science. So perhaps science and logic aren't the best tools to use to dissuade them of their belief.But for those still open to rational arguments, one interesting theory is emerging that might address an actual cause for an increase in autism   Read Full >>

Dying for Treatment: Are We Playing It Too "Safe" (from LegalNews.TV)
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Wednesday, September 27, 2006
This blog entry also appeared on LegalNews.TV:It is essential that the public have confidence in our nation's drug approval system. Yet with the pharmaceutical industry under attack by the plaintiff's bar, consumers might think they have reason to worry about the safety of products approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The Vioxx lawsuits have become shorthand for   Read Full >>

Drug Prices "Skyrocketing," or Growing Slower than Inflation, or Something (Plus: Presentations on EMF and on Stem Cells)
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Wednesday, September 20, 2006
AARP (formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons) came out with their quarterly report on drug pricing today and the media is all over the story.  The findings?  Well, if you rely on the web or newspapers for an interpretation, you might be confused."Brand-Name Drug Prices Still Rise Faster Than Inflation" according to Forbes.com.  Yet the Chicago   Read Full >>

Fear of the Scream's Demise Unfounded
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Tuesday, September 5, 2006
Art lovers everywhere breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday, when news came that Edvard Munch's "The Scream" and "Madonna" were recovered after being stolen from the Munch Museum just over two years ago: http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/sns-ap-norway-munch-theft,0,5236525.story?coll=ny-top-headlines Many had feared that the treasures   Read Full >>

ABC Employees Still Smoking at Peter Jennings Way
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Just a year after Peter Jennings' death, a cloud of smoke hangs over ABC. Literally. Jennings passing away from lung cancer was tragic, and it is tragic that even that stark example of the dangers of smoking -- and the renaming of the stretch of the street in Manhattan where ABC News's headquarters resides after the late newsman -- is not enough   Read Full >>

Money Is the Root of All Evil Science, Says JAMA Editor
By Jeff Stier, Esq.
Publication Date : Tuesday, August 8, 2006
Money, and money alone, is having an "unethical influence" on medical science, according to Dr. Catherine DeAngelis, editor in chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).In an August 7 editorial, Dr. DeAngelis decries the "potentially corrupting influence of commercial interests" on medical and scientific research, implying that in the absence of such nefarious influences   Read Full >>