House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) criticized outgoing President Joe Biden’s Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy’s call to have alcohol bottles labeled with a cancer warning, calling it “politicized science and cherry-picked data.”
In a report released Friday, Murthy claimed that alcohol consumption is one of the top reasons why people get cancer. He said that alcohol is the leading cause of preventable cancer and that “for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States — greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S.”
In a 22-page report, Murthy wrote that one in every six breast cancer cases is attributable to alcohol consumption and that nearly 741,300 cancer cases were associated with alcohol consumption in 2020— almost a quarter of which were related to consuming fewer than two drinks per day. Murthy also claimed there are racial disparities in tobacco use, describing tobacco-related illnesses as a "social issue."
However, Comer has fiercely criticized the Surgeon General's report.
The Surgeon General’s advisory on alcohol consumption politicizes science to achieve a predetermined outcome. The advisory cherry-picks data from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicines study – a study that is far more extensive and complete, and does not draw the same drastic conclusions as the Surgeon General. For nearly a year, the Oversight Committee has demanded transparency from the Biden Administration regarding the formulation of its dietary guidelines, but it continues to obstruct our oversight. The lack of transparency surrounding the Surgeon General’s review process for this advisory is yet another example of the Biden Administration operating behind closed doors rather than providing the American people with full transparency.
Comer wrote a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra detailing the dangers of labeling alcohol with a cancer warning. He stated that HHS-funded studies on alcohol use "could be aimed at undermining" Congress's goal of conducting a scientific examination of alcohol's effects.
Comer issued a subpoena for documents and information related to the HHS’s September findings. However, the HHS provided only 18 pages of records.
“Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services must release all documents and communications related to the development of this advisory so that the American people can see how this politicized recommendation was created,” Comer said.
