Madely Health Headlines Commentary for June 10, 2011

Increasingly, through many media sources, health information and data from clinical studies and advisory panels among others, has a tendency to be misrepresented, risk overinflated, and health scares oversold compared to what really can and does cause harm. This misinformation creates an incomplete picture of health risks and leads many to erroneous conclusions. It is not without consequence as governments set health policies based on fear and public perception rather than what the science tells us.

 

The American Council on Science and Health is a resource that I use among others, and whose  mission is to promote sound science in regulation, in public policy, and in the court room and assist consumers, via the media, in distinguishing real health threats from purely hypothetical ones.

• Dr. Gilbert Ross is the Executive Director and Medical Director of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), a consumer education-public health organization.