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In a randomized controlled trial published in the August 19-26, 2000, issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), Morag A. Taylor, David Reilly, and three other university affiliates tested the hypothesis that homeopathic preparations devoid of an active ingredient have no more than a placebo effect. They concluded: "When the results are combined with those of three similar studies, homeopathy is different from placebo on both subjective and objective measures."

In 1997 Irwin Goldstein, M.D., one of America's leading impotence researchers, energized discussion of the pros and cons of bicycling by stating, according to Bicycling magazine: "Men should never ride bicycles. Riding should be banned and outlawed. It's the most irrational form of exercise I could ever bring to discussion."

Its time to differentiate between good and bad diets rather than simply good or bad foods.

While Americans blithely go about their business, an insidious and irrational flee from technology is taking place all in the name of "public health." Over the past two months alone, two safe and useful products have been taken away from consumers despite the conclusions that the approved use of those products are safe.
To make matters worse, some manufacturers of these rejected technologies are joining forces with some extreme environmentalist groups and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect us from hazards that do not exist.

In a full page ad in the New York Times this week, the Coalition for a Smoke-Free New York called on the New York City Council to pass legislation requiring that all workplaces, including small restaurants, restaurant bars and stand-alone bars and nightclubs become l00% smokefree. New York City already has expansive smoke-free laws, but still allows smoking in bars and in eateries that seat under 30.

Last week on the ABC program 20/20, environmental and consumer reporter John Stossel offered a public apology to his viewers.

Earlier this week, Vice President and Presidential hopeful Al Gore declared a "war" on cancer. He promised to double federal spending on cancer research and make "a flood" of new cancer treatments and tests available to all Americans who need them. He promised that, "if I am entrusted with the presidency, I will work with you to put the same energy and priority into fighting cancer that we would put into preventing a war that could take 500,000 American lives every year." Raising not only the stakes but our expectations, the Vice President claimed that, "we can win this war."

The topic of today's quiz is "Ethical Quandaries of Two New York Journalists in the Supermarket Produce Aisle." The first is John Stossel of ABC's "20/20," who did a report earlier this year comparing organic produce with regular produce. Most of it reflected conventional wisdom among scientists: organic food has no nutritional advantages and poses a greater risk of bacterial contamination because it is grown in manure.

ACSH Phthalate Panel:
C. Everett Koop, MD, ScD, Chair;Daland R. Juberg, PhD;Elissa P. Benedek, MD;Ronald W. Brecher, PhD, CChem, DABT;Robert L. Brent, MD, PhD;Morton Corn, PhD;Vincent Covello, PhD;Theron W. Downes, PhD; Shayne C. Gad, PhD, DABT;Lois Swirsky Gold, PhD;F. Peter Guengerich, PhD;John Higginson, MD, FRCP;W. Hans K °nemann, PhD, RIVM;James C. Lamb IV, PhD, DABT;Paul J. Lioy, PhD;Kimberly M. Thompson, ScD
To the Editor, Medscape*

The Personal Health column "Added Sugars Are Taking a Toll on Health"( Sept. 12) highlights a significant problem with addressing nutritional issues in the United States.
It would be more productive to focus on positive messages to teach consumers about appropriate food choices, rather than emphasizing negative ones although the latter make better headlines.

Walter Olson's July 18 editorial-page commentary "The Runaway Jury Is No Myth" describes many lines of attack that tobacco lawyers will pursue as they appeal the landmark Engle tobacco verdict. Mr. Olson's uncompromising support of each of the tobacco industry's positions, one more erroneous than the next, leads one to question whether any verdict that would hold the companies responsible for their misconduct would sit well with him.

To the Editor:
The woeful condition of Los Angeles' public school playgrounds is a predictable result of the nonsensical banning of safe and effective herbicides in that city ("Tangled Up in Green," page A1, Oct.5).

To the Editor:
Re "Tobacco's New Best Friend," by Jacob Sullum (Op-Ed, July 20):
I agree with Mr. Sullum when he asserts that government is an ally of the tobacco industry, but this has long been true. Although the tobacco industry appeared to fight the congressionally mandated warning labels that began appearing on cigarette packs in 1965, the industry was well aware that these labels would shield them from liability for their deceptive marketing practices, and that they would have no beneficial effect on public health.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
Strategies proposed to address smoking-related health consequences in the United States have spurred heated political debate. Bridging the Ideological Divide: An Analysis of Views on Tobacco Policy Across the Political Spectrumexamines attitudes on the issue of tobacco as found in published statements by columnists, publications, organizations and politicians from ideological camps on the political left and political right.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A wide variety of factors may influence an individual's likelihood of developing various types of cancer. These factors are usually referred to as risk factors. Different types of cancer may have different risk factors.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Despite years of intensive research, educational efforts, and remedial measures, lead continues to receive as much attention as any modern environmental health risk. Some would still characterize lead as America's leading environmental health concern. Based on a review of the scientific literature, and assessing lead from the perspective of public health, American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) has come to the conclusions stated below.

Dietary fat has been receiving bad press for years. At first it was just saturated fats, because they can raise blood cholesterol. Conversely, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats were thought to be good because they did not do so.
Then all fat was deemed "bad", and Americans were urged to consume as little as they could. Some have even gone so far as to advocate giving young children (under 2 years of age) non-fat milk. This is advice that no responsible pediatrician would endorse.

Imagine a delicious, inexpensive convenience food that is low in fat, cholesterol, sodium, and calories and provides all essential nutrients and dietary fibers in optimum quantities. This may seem the ideal food but it would be far from ideal if it were contaminated with pathogenic bacteria.

To the Editor:
It's about time some clamor was raised over the problem of noise in New York's subway tunnels ("Screeching Won't Come to Halt," news article, May 26).
Noise-induced hearing loss can be caused by a brief exposure to a loud sound, like an explosion, or by long-term exposure to sounds of lesser intensity. According to the National Institutes of Health, sounds below 75 decibels are not likely to impair hearing. As your article makes clear, subway noise can register up to 116 decibels, perhaps higher.

With the advent of Spring, we can expect the return of the mosquito an insect which can be just plain bothersome or it can be a vector, or carrier, of disease. Mosquitos right now are laying their eggs in salt marshes, backyard puddles, abandoned water-filled buckets and anywhere else they find stagnant water. In a matter of weeks, these insects will mature and the biting of humans and animals will begin. Mosquitos are of particular concern this year in the Northeast because there is evidence that they may carry the potentially deadly West Nile encephalitis virus.

Officials at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and its subdivision, the National Toxicology Program, announced this week that the artificial sweetener saccharin would no longer appear on their list of "cancer threats."

Two of the most difficult issues we as consumers of health information confront are who to trust and how much to trust them. There is a lot of misinformation on the Web and even reporters in the mainstream media sometimes get the story wrong.

Predicting the future is always in fashion but particularly so as we enter a new millennium.

A recent issue of the journal "Science" focused on the dilemma posed by the so-called "precautionary principle," which has become enshrined in many international environmental treaties and regulations. The greatest source of controversy about the precautionary principle is its definition.
Our first introduction to the precautionary principle may have come from our mothers who told us it was better to be "safe rather than sorry", meaning we should buckle our seatbelts and throw out the left over food we forgot to refrigerate the night before.