ACSH staffers have long known that the adverse health effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), according to the 2002 Women s Health Initiative study, were dramatically overstated. Despite this, the public response to this report was drastic: Based on the widely publicized results of that research, 93 percent of U.S. women ceased using HRT or did not obtain a new prescription.

In a letter published in Michigan s Midland Daily News, ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross chastises Susan Dusseau, executive director of Cancer Services of Midland, for citing misleading information on the alleged adverse health effects of smokeless tobacco. In her recent article, entitled Smokeless tobacco the new norm?, Dusseau condemned the use of such products and inaccurately stated that they target teens, when, in fact, they do not as Dr. Ross is quick to point out:

Josh Bloom Medical Progress Today, Spotlight Feature 11/4/11
New FDA Drug Warning May Deprive Cancer Patients of Vital Medicine

Patients who are diagnosed with aortic stenosis, a narrowing and stiffening of the aortic valve in the heart, have for years faced a dire prognosis: either undergo risky open heart surgery, or face a two-year mortality rate of over 50 percent. But now a new artificial heart valve that can be inserted without any major surgery may allow old or frail patients to obtain the life-extending benefits of valve replacement without the risk of extensive surgery.

A new study suggests that, when treating locally invasive prostate cancer, patients response to hormone therapy which is the standard treatment may be significantly improved by adding radiotherapy to the treatment regimen.

Two drugs used to help people stop smoking varenicline (Chantix) and bupropion (Zyban) carry a significantly increased risk of depression and suicidal or self-injurious behavior, according to a new study published in the Public Library of Science.

Last week, hundreds of news stories reported an irresistibly alarming study in the journal Injury Prevention which claimed that drinking non-diet soda was associated with increased violence among the 1,800 teens attending Boston s public high schools.
Who showed that story was more statistical illiteracy that journalists ignored in the interests of selling advertising? The American Council on Science and Health.

The ubiquity of fast food restaurants is often blamed for the high incidence of obesity in the U.S.

The results of a study just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reveal that receiving an organ transplant doubles a person s risk of developing cancer, compared to the general population.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (CSC) has been decrying Johnson & Johnson s baby shampoo as potentially carcinogenic. And, although the company s signature product has been on the market for the past 50 years without apparent incident, the company has finally responded to the CSC s persistent accusations by announcing that they will begin phasing out the ingredients that the activist group claims are harmful to human health.