New York, NY -- February 18, 2009. Pharmaceutical products -- drugs -- can be effective components of treatments to counter the current widespread prevalence of overweight and obesity, according to physicians and scientists associated with the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH).

February 13, 2009
Victories for Vaccines, Soda, Smokers, Cold Sufferers, Eggs, and Vacationers
Elizabeth Wade
Court rules in favor of vaccine safety

The following statement was submitted on February 2, 2009 by ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava to New York State's Senate Finance Committee and Assembly Committee on Ways and Means during discussions of 2009-2010 budget plans for health and Medicaid.

New York, NY -- Counterfeit drugs remain a real and growing threat to global health, jeopardizing the security of the American drug supply, according to an updated report by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH).

Aiming to combat the obesity epidemic in New York, Gov. David Paterson has recommended an 18% tax on sugar-sweetened soft drinks and a few other sweetened beverages. Unfortunately, the proposed tax is inconsistent with the facts about what causes obesity. It also sets an alarming precedent for taxing foods deemed "bad" by government officials -- further increasing the cost of living in the state -- particularly for the least affluent citizens.

This piece first appeared in the New York Post.
If Congress doesn't act quickly, tens of thousands of Americans will lose their jobs -- and several hundred New York businesses will get hit particularly hard.

Diet, exercise, and eat right. This is the guiding tenet by which many health-conscious people live and one of the driving forces behind the popularity of functional foods. Despite their immense popularity, there is no universally accepted definition of functional foods.

This piece first appeared in the Washington Times.
Next week, the European Parliament will debate stringent regulation of a number of effective pesticides. It is apparently too much to expect a sense of shame from European public health officials and their activist "environmental" collaborators when the subject of chemical pesticides is raised.

January 12, 2009
PB & Salmonella, Genes and Cancer, Fat and Poverty, Smoke and Alzheimer's, FDA and Gardasil
By Elizabeth Wade
Salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter
A large institutional-sized container of peanut butter contaminated with salmonella has been discovered in Minnesota, and public heath officials suspect that the strain is linked to an outbreak that has sickened nearly 400 people in forty-two states since September.