Cancer-gate: How to Win the Losing Cancer War / Edition 1

by Samuel Epstein

Overview

Award-winning author, Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., whose 1978 book "The Politics of Cancer" shook the political establishment by showing how the federal government had been corrupted by industrial polluters, has written a book that is sure to be of equal consequence. "Cancer-Gate: How to Win the Losing Cancer War" is a groundbreaking new book. It warns that, contrary to three decades of promises, we are losing the winnable war against cancer, and that the hand-in-glove generals of the federal National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the private "nonprofit" American Cancer Society (ACS) have betrayed us.These institutions, Epstein alleges, have spent tens of billions of taxpayer and charity dollars primarily targeting silver-bullet cures, strategies that have largely failed, while virtually ignoring strategies for preventing cancer in the first place. As a result, cancer rates have escalated to epidemic proportions, now striking nearly one in every two men, and more than one in every three women. This translates into approximately 50 percent more cancer in men, and 20 percent more cancer in women over the course of just one generation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780895033543
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/12/2019
Series:	Policy, Politics, Health and Medicine Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

SAMUEL S. EPSTEIN, M.D., professor of occupational and environmental medicine at the University of Illinois School of Public Health, is a leading international expert on the environmental causes of cancer. His previous books include The Politics of Cancer.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Congressman David Obey
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction by Congressman John Conyers, Jr.

PART I Cancer Policy and Politics
1. Losing the War Against Cancer: Who's to Blame and What to Do About It
2. Debate on Policies of the National Cancer Institute, American Cancer Society, and American College of Radiology
A. Losing the "War Against Cancer": A Need for Public Policy Reforms
B. Mammography Radiates Doubts
C. National Cancer Institute Reaffirms Commitment to Prevention National Cancer Institute
D. American College of Radiology Refutes Epstein's Comments on Mammography American College of Radiology
E. Cancer Establishment Continues to Mislead Public: Epstein Rebuts National Cancer Institute
and American College of Radiology Responses
F. The Cancer War and Its Critics Washington Post
G. Epstein Rebuts the Washington Post Editorial
3. Dangers and Unreliability of Mammography: Breast Examination Is a Safe, Effective, and Practical Alternative With Rosalie Bertell and Barbara Seaman
4. Evaluation of the National Cancer Program and Proposed Reforms
5. American Cancer Society: The World's Wealthiest "Nonprofit" Institution
6. Legislative Proposals for Reversing the Cancer Epidemic and Controlling Run-Away Industrial Technologies
7. The Crisis in U.S. and International Cancer Policy
8. Strategies for the Stop Cancer Campaign
9. REACH: An Unprecedented Science-Based European Initiative for Regulating Industrial Chemicals

PART II Poorly Recognized Carcinogens in Food
10. Debate on Safety of Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone
A. Potential Public Health Hazards of Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone
B. FDA Publishes Bovine Growth Hormone Data Ann Gibbons, (in Science)
C. Rebuttal of Gibbons's Article Discrediting the Epstein Publication Vicente Navarro
11. Questions and Answers on Synthetic Bovine Growth Hormones
12. Unlabeled Milk from Cows Treated with Biosynthetic Growth Hormones: A Case of Regulatory Abdication
13. The Chemical Jungle: Today's Beef Industry
14. Preventing Pathogenic Food Poisoning: Sanitation, Not Irradiation with Wenonah Hauter

PART III Pro-Industry Bias, Corporate Crime, and Poorly Recognized Risks of Cancer
15. Pro-industry Bias in Science
16. Corporate Crime: Why We Cannot Trust Industry-Derived Safety Studies
17. Industrial Risks of Colorectal Cancer With Bret A. Lashner
18. Industrial Risks of Breast Cancer

PART IV Epilogue
Why We Are Still Losing the Winnable Cancer War
Appendix: Endorsers of Proposals for Cancer Policy Reform
References and Further Readings
Index
Praise for Recent Books by Samuel S. Epstein
Praise for Cancer-Gate

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: John T. Pierce, MBBS (MD) PhD(Navy Environmental Health Center)
Description: This is a compilation of articles originally published in the International Journal of Health Sciences, volumes 20-35, spanning roughly 1990-2005.
Purpose: The author argues that there have been three decades of misleading promises and assurances from various federal agencies and not-for-profit organizations charged with cancer prevention. He includes many examples in support of his thesis.
Audience: The author considers this book essential reading for all public policy makers and citizens alarmed by the healthcare crisis in America. It will likely also find considerable readership among patients and their advocates, trial attorneys, and students of public health at any level.
Features: Its 18 chapters are grouped into four thematic areas: Cancer Policy and Politics, Hidden Carcinogens in Food, Pro-industry Bias, Corporate Crime and Poorly Recognized Industrial Risks of Cancer. The discussion of the Reach initiative among European Union members is particularly good. It thoroughly explains the modern basis for the "Precautionary Principle."
Assessment: This is a high quality and quite interesting book. It will likely find its way onto quite diverse shelves of policy makers, scientists, and the general public. I read through its major chapters several times because I believe it speaks to a critical issue facing our society, that of cancer causation.

Doody's Review Service

3 Stars from Doody