American Council on Science and Health

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The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) is a nonprofit (501(c)(3)) organization founded in 1978 by Dr. Elizabeth Whelan that produces reports on issues related to food, nutrition, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, lifestyle, the environment and health. Its core membership is a board of 350 physicians, scientists and policy advisors who review the Council's reports and participate in ACSH seminars, press conferences, media communications and other educational activities.

Contents

[edit] Positions

ACSH frequently defends industry against claims that its products create risks of injury, ill-health or death. ACSH also criticizes some industries for making unscientific and overstated health claims, promoting dangerous natural supplements, or otherwise failing to tell the truth about scientific issues. Some of the scientific and professional journals that have recently published ACSH's work include: Medscape, CRC Critical Reviews in Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, Journal of Health Communications, Clinical Therapeutics, and Technology.

The ACSH has been accused of being a corporate front group in the guise of a neutral council on science. According to the Congressional Quarterly's Public Interest Profiles, Whelan's organization received more than 75 percent of their funding from the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Jeff Stier, Associate Director of ACSH, has claimed that this information is outdated and inaccurate, with ACSH receiving less than 50 percent of their funding from industry. Despite Dr. Whelan's oft-repeated denial that ACSH is influenced by its funders, there are instances in which funders are known to have participated directly in the production of council publications. According to the council's former administrative director, The Hershey Company did the in-house printing of an ACSH booklet on the health effects of sugar consumption, and the Stroh Brewery Company participated in the editing of a booklet about the health effects of alcohol. The participation of those companies was not acknowledged by ACSH.[1]

In 1982, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a watchdog and consumer advocacy group, published an extensive report on ACSH's practices that stated, "ACSH appears to be a consumer fraud; as a scientific group, ACSH seems to arrive at conclusions before conducting studies. Through voodoo or alchemy, bodies of scientific knowledge are transmogrified into industry-oriented position statements."[2] CSPI director Michael F. Jacobson said of ASCH, '"This organization promotes confusion among consumers about what is safe and what isn't... ACSH is using a slick scientific veneer to obscure and deny truths that virtually everyone else agrees with."[3]

In 2004, the now-defunct Tufts University Nutrition Navigator (a rating guide to nutrition websites) gave the ACSH site an overall rating of 20 out of 25 and an "Accuracy of Information" rating of 8 out of 10. However, it commented, "This site aims to arm consumers with the facts necessary to make wise decisions about health, but be aware that the information here is biased and represents a very conservative interpretation of current science. Consumers looking for a balanced debate on health issues will have to look elsewhere."[4]

ACSH's current "Medical/Executive Director" is Gilbert Ross, M.D.[5] Just prior to joining the ACSH staff in 1998, Ross served more than a year in prison and had his medical license revoked over his role in a Medicare fraud scheme. His medical license was not reinstated until 2004.[6]

[edit] Daily Show

On the May 14, 2009 episode of The Daily Show, correspondent Samantha Bee noted the ACSH's opposition to the Obama family's organic garden and the organization's funding by the petroleum, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries.[7]

[edit] Governance

The organization is governed by a board of trustees. The board currently consists of: Frederick Anderson, Nigel Bark, Elissa Benedek, Michael Bracken, James Enstrom, Jack Fisher, Bruce Gelb, Donald Henderson, Thomas Jackson, Elizabeth McCaughey, Henry Miller, Rodney Nichols, Kenneth Prager, Katherine Rhyne, Lee Silver, Thomas Stossel[1], and Elizabeth Whelan.

Former members of the board include: Joseph Rosen.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Martin, Nicolas. "ACSH From a Past Employee's View". Sep. 24, 2001.
  2. ^ Harnik, Peter. "Voodoo Science, Twisted Consumerism: the Golden Assurances of the American Council on Science and Health". Center for Science in the Public Interest. January 1982.
  3. ^ Center for Science in the Public Interest. "'Consumer Group' labeled front for industry". News Release. February 14, 1982.
  4. ^ Review of ACSH from the Tufts University Nutrition Navigator. Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. December 30, 2004.
  5. ^ "Gilbert Ross, M.D. Medical/Executive Director". ACSH.org. http://www.acsh.org/about/staffID.11/staff_detail.asp. Retrieved 2009-10-22. 
  6. ^ Hogan, Bill (November 9, 2005). "Paging Dr. Ross: A doctor who defends corporations from "inconvenient" science has a secret of his own.". Mother Jones. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2005/11/paging-dr-ross. 
  7. ^ "Little Crop of Horrors: Samantha Bee reports on Michelle Obama's unhealthy, elitist organic garden". The Daily Show. May 14, 2009.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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