Yesterday also saw the release of another “study” by the influential radical advocacy organization Environmental Working Group (EWG). EWG studied the origins, precise chemical contents and the labels of 173 brands of bottled water and then rated them. But what was the purpose of this? All of the water bottles contained...well, water. Some brands were somewhat more purified than others, and a few included flavorings of various sorts.

Yesterday the world learned that Dr. Andrew Wakefield is a fraud. British Medical Journal released the results of its investigation documenting the premeditation of Wakefield and his lawyer as co-conspirators who were attempting to extort compensation from vaccine makers. The investigators found that Dr. Wakefield concocted his findings to aid his attorney-partner’s lawsuits. He was paid $675,000 for this. The exposure of Dr.

Late last week, the CDC reported that the flu season is picking up steam. The most recent data indicate a high level of influenza cases in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Virginia, and New York City during the week of December 25. The flu is expected to peak in late January when children will be returning to school. However, the H1N1 swine flu is not this season’s dominant strain — so far, 70 percent of the circulating viruses are other influenza A strains, predominantly of the H3N2 strain.

The CDC gives us some good news, but it is a silver cloud with a black lining — road fatalities have experienced the largest reduction since World War II thanks in part to the poor economy. According to the report, U.S. road deaths dropped by 22 percent from from 43,510 to 33,963 between 2005 and 2009. The authors attribute this to “technological advances, primarily air bags, and the economic downturn.” The weak economy, they suggest, has reduced highway and rush hour traffic as local road traffic increased.

Yesterday brought news that smokeless tobacco manufacturer Star Scientific had issued a press release saying that they would ask the FDA to formally acknowledge that their new moist smokeless tobacco product, called Stonewall Moist-BDL, was 90-99 percent lower in carcinogens than those offered by their competitors.

As the FDA prepares for a March hearing to assess whether synthetic food dyes cause hyperactivity in children, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is asking that they be banned altogether. Last year, the European Parliament banned synthetic food dyes — used to improve the appearance of packaged foods — in products geared towards babies and young children.

Since routine chickenpox vaccinations were implemented in 1995, yearly rates of chickenpox infections in the U.S. decreased by 80 to 90 percent while the proportion of Americans hospitalized due to the infection has fallen by over two-thirds, a new study by the CDC finds. The vaccine prevented approximately 50,000 hospitalizations between 2000 and 2006. During this period, one in 100,000 Americans was hospitalized for chickenpox complications compared to four per every 100,000 people between 1988 and 1995.

ACSH would like to induct a recent study seeking to link increased red meat consumption to a higher risk of stroke in women into our very own Data Dredging Hall of Fame/Shame. In an analysis of 34,670 Swedish women between the ages of 39 and 73, researchers found that those in the top tenth for red meat consumption — eating about 3.6 ounces daily — had a 42 percent higher chance of suffering from an ischemic stroke (from a blocked artery) than women who ate just under an ounce of red meat daily.

Various news media outlets have trumpeted a new blood test that detects cancer cells, even though the diagnostic tool still remains in the infant stages of clinical application. Partnering with a Boston-based start-up company, health care giant Johnson & Johnson announced yesterday that it will work through its Veridex and Ortho Biotech Oncology units to bring the product to market.

Only 21 drugs were approved by the FDA in 2010. In 2009 and 2008, there were 25 and 24 drugs approved respectively, while 2007 marked an all-time low with only 18 new drugs approved.
What are the reasons behind the decline in new drug approvals? ACSH’s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan believes that “excessively stringent safety standards at the FDA” are to blame.