U.S. Surgeon General wants cancer warnings on alcoholic beverages

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4.6 • 911 Ratings

🗓️ 3 January 2025

⏱️ 20 minutes

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Summary

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy says there's a link between alcohol and cancer. And on Friday, he called on Congress to put warning labels on alcoholic drinks. Dr. Celine Gounder from KFF Health News explains. And, the Biden administration blocked the controversial takeover of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel. Bloomberg's Joe Deaux explains why. Then, a 2023 case involving a controversial diagnosis of "shaken baby syndrome" turned a family's life upside down. Pamela Colloff, reporter for ProPublica and the New York Times Magazine, joins us.

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0:00.0	Okay, so does this sound like you? You love NPR's podcasts. You wish you could get more of all your favorite shows and you want to support NPR's mission to create a more informed public. If all that sounds appealing, then it is time to sign up for the NPR Plus bundle. Learn more at plus.npr.org.
0:23.6	While people know, for example, about the link between tobacco and cancer, less than half of people in America know that alcohol is in fact connected to cancer risk.
0:32.6	The surgeon general says alcohol is responsible for 100,000 cases of cancer each year and 20,000 cancer
0:40.9	deaths. Not the news many of you wanted to hear after New Year's Eve. I know. It's Friday,
0:47.1	January 3rd, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WBUR. I'm Chris Bentley.
0:56.7	Today on the show, why President Biden blocked the proposed takeover of U.S.
1:02.6	steel by a Japanese company, and how an investigation into shaken baby syndrome turned
1:10.3	a parent's life upside down.
1:12.5	There isn't supporting evidence aside from this idea of a very controversial diagnosis
1:19.1	that has resulted in many wrongful convictions. But first, drinking alcohol is linked to cancer.
1:26.5	And Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. Surgeon General, said today that
1:30.0	he wants Congress to remind you of that when you have a drink. Dr. Celine Gounder is editor
1:36.1	at large for public health at KFF Health News, and she told Peter O'Dowd, she agrees with the
1:42.1	Surgeon General that alcoholic drinks should come with
1:45.1	cancer warning labels. Well, we've known for years now that breast cancer in particular is linked
1:51.8	to consuming alcohol. And in fact, the data shows not only breast cancer, but also cancer of the
1:57.0	mouth, the throat, the esophagus, the liver, the colon and rectum are all linked to
2:02.5	consuming alcohol. So given that so few Americans, relatively few Americans understand that link,
2:08.9	it does make sense to me that there at least be a warning label so that people understand
2:13.4	what risks are taking when they drink alcohol. How much risk is there? If you have one or two
2:19.3	drinks a day, what kind of risk are you putting yourself in? Well, we know that even one or two
2:24.4	drinks a day can increase the risk of cancer. So let's take the case of breast cancer. A woman's
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