News Release

September 6, 2001

Health scares and scams in the crosshairs
New Cato Institute book offers a crash course in debunking bad science

WASHINGTON- Every day we are bombarded with news reports of amazing new medical discoveries and frightening health warnings-from claims that cell phones cause tumors, to promises that eating a certain vegetable reduces the risk of cancer. But how can one tell if a health claim is bogus or the real deal?

In the new Cato Institute book, "Junk Science Judo: Self-Defense Against Health Scares and Scams," biostatistician and lawyer Steven J. Milloy shows how following a few simple rules anyone can debunk faulty science. "The key to mastering Junk Science Judo," Milloy writes, "is understanding (1) the basic process of science and (2) the modus operandi of the Junksters."

The book is a useful reference guide for interpreting scientific reports and offers step-by-step guidelines to spot junk science. In one lesson, Milloy explains that sometimes the media, lawyers and corporations can benefit from pervading health scares and warns readers to be skeptical. In another lesson he shows how in the oft-cited statistic that 3,000 "kids" start smoking every day, kids were defined as persons aged 20 years and older. "Look under the statistical rocks," he writes. "You'll be surprised at what crawls out."

Milloy also debunks several famous myths, such as allegations that DDT causes cancer and that Love Canal was an environmental disaster. In both cases, Milloy says, the reported negative health consequences have never been proven. "Junk science-based myths may serve as rationale for new health scares, so it pays to beware of them."

"This valuable book deals in a thorough manner with one of the serious scientific problems of our times, the intentional distortion of the methods of science in attempts to reach conclusions that are not justified by qualified scientific research. The situation is made particularly serious by the fact that many prominent newscasters and others use such material for its sensational content in order to draw attention to their programs. As a result, much dubious or false scientific 'wisdom' becomes embedded in the scientific mind."

Junk Science Judo: Self-Defense Against Health Scares and Scams