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While some industry experts are skeptical that U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy’s recommendation for cancer warning labels on alcohol will take hold in the short term, one expert suggests that if it does, it Implementation may take years,
Dr. Vivek Murthy, who is ending his tenure at the end of January, issued an advisory linking alcohol consumption and increased risk of several cancers, including throat, liver, esophagus, mouth, larynx (voice box), colon and rectal. A direct relationship has been suggested between. cancer.
Their advice states that alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the US, contributing to 100,000 cancer cases And there are 20,000 cancer deaths every year. It also says that updating health warning labels on alcoholic beverages is “an important next step for alcohol-related cancer prevention.”
“There’s no way for anyone to know what will happen, but understanding the history of similar topics is the best way to look at the future,” Dr. David Shaker of New Jersey-based Shaker Medical Group told Fox Business.
US Surgeon General’s new advice links alcohol to cancer risk
As an example, he cited the 1964 Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health, which officially declared that cigarette smoking was the primary cause of lung cancer and other serious diseases. In 1965, the federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965 mandated health warning labels on cigarette packages beginning in 1966.
The initial warning read, “Caution: Smoking cigarettes can be hazardous to your health.
Peter Pitts, a former associate FDA commissioner and co-founder of the Center for Medicines in the Public Interest, believes that, if labels are imposed on alcohol products, it could be years before — if it happens at all — the underlying Due to slow pace of government decision making.
However, Pitts stressed that proceeding with caution, especially on such a large claim, is necessary, saying, “It’s never a good thing to rush to conclusions.” He is also skeptical about the timing of the report and is advocating for further research. He described Murthy’s decision to wait until the end of his tenure to make such an announcement as “very strange”.
Murthy, who will step down on January 20, will be replaced by Inauguration of newly elected President Trump,
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“If the data has been around for so long, and if the data is so clear, why is he waiting until he’s packing his boxes to leave office to make this aggressive type of announcement?” Pitts said. “I want to understand why now versus three years ago, when the administration could really proactively exert the full weight of its tenure.”
A bartender pours beer from the tap at the Signature Brew Brewery in east London on August 19, 2022. (Holly Adams/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Pitts said the current administration “could spend more time and more effort and expend more political capital on pushing a proposal that is as dramatic as labeling alcoholic beverages as potential causes of cancer. ”
He is advocating for new studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of eleven agencies that make up the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“When those studies come out, we can actually look at the data and understand what it’s saying,” he said. “Then we can take a step back and say, how can we advise Americans about their personal choices and the potential health risks that result from those choices?”
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Officials at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of NIH, stress the importance of mentorship. NCI Director Dr. Kymrin Rathmell said in a recent statement that “advice on alcohol use and cancer risk is important for everyone to hear, especially for those who are at increased risk of cancer due to family history or other factors.” Are.”
Bottles of Johnnie Walker Black Label and Double Black blended Scotch whiskey are displayed for sale in Leigh on Sea, England, on January 31, 2024. (Photo by John Keeble/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Still, Rathmell told Fox Business that the NCI is “continuing to conduct research so we can provide clear guidance on how individuals can individually manage their risk.”
He added, “NCI will continue to disseminate research findings on alcohol use and cancer risk as policymakers consider the use of alcohol in product labeling.” The community knows that reliable information about the risk factors within our control is vital to preventing cancer.”
The most important thing, Rathmell said, is to “equip people with the information to be able to make personal decisions and have discussions with their doctor.”
