Statistics can easily be manipulated to yield a desired message, and they often are, concludes Matthew Robinson in Mobocracy: How the Media's Obsession with Polling Twists the News, Alters Elections, and Undermines Democracy. Though Robinson is mainly interested in politics and elections, his conclusions have especially dire implications for issues of public health. It's an important reminder that the conventional wisdom isn't so wise.

This week, the lingerie company Victoria's Secret is no longer under threat of investigation by the Federal Communications Commission, but it will still have to contend with Greenpeace.

The March 21 New York Times' apt description of Dr. John Graham, risk expert for the Office of Management and Budget:
"Dr. Graham's focus on using strict statistical analysis of risks and benefits to judge where to focus public resources has made him a favorite of industry and a target of private environmental groups, which often rely on public passion to drive campaigns."

A March 15th article in the Wall Street Journal, entitled "In Europe, Prescription-Drug Ads Are Banned and Health Costs Lower" suggests that prescription drug advertising is the reason for high health care costs. With talk of the European Union easing its ban on direct-to-consumer marketing by drug companies, many consumer groups and European officials fear that increased spending on advertising will result in higher prices on prescription drugs, squeezing already tight healthcare budgets. However, a basic economics lesson would teach them that such worries are unfounded.

The activist writers from TomPaine.com, in one of their bimonthly ads in the New York Times, asserted that President Bush "would rather protect the profits of his political patrons than protect public health or the nation's natural heritage," accused Bush of gutting government program, and said he must hope "voters don't catch on."

The Archer Daniels Midland Company one of the leading producers of soy products asks on their website, "Why do the Japanese have 1/8th the incidence of prostate cancer? And few symptoms of menopause? Is it a diet rich in soy?" With 350 factories worldwide, 23,000 employees, and $18 billion in annual net sales, this agricultural powerhouse wishes good health was as simple as eating soy. However, there is very weak scientific support for the idea that the phytoestrogens in soy products can ease the symptoms of menopause, let alone reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

A HealthFactsAndFears.com Interview
HealthFactsAndFears.com: What was the occasion that led you to testify to the Senate Committee on Government Affairs?

Dr. Neal D. Barnard, head of the animal rights group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, on the dangers of hot dogs:
"Forget the moderation myth...It applies to healthy foods, not unhealthy ones...moderation does not apply to cigarettes, heroin, or hot dogs. It's easier to make a clean break."
(Boston Globe, March 17, 2002)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Director Christine Todd Whitman tried to be funny at this year's annual Gridiron Dinner for Washington journalists, like the night's other speakers, but one of Whitman's zingers makes me shudder. Indeed, she preceded her comment by suggesting that this joke hits "close to home":
"When you give a Republican a choice between [less] poison and less regulation, we need some time to think about it."

Compelling scientific evidence shows that cholesterol-lowering drug therapy can reduce the risk of heart attacks by about 30 percent, according to a new report released by scientists associated with the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH).