Beer review

Noted Harvard epidemiologist linkurl:Meir Stampfer;http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/facres/stmpfr.html has decided that he no longer wants to publicly tout the benefits of beer anymore at benefits sponsored by? surprise, Anheuser-Busch, brewer of approximately 30 beers in the U.S. alone. The researcher?s decision to affiliate himself with the company sparked outrage among some addiction experts, who accused Stampfer of unethical practice. Stampfer defended himself by arguing that he was simply prom

Written byAlison McCook
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Noted Harvard epidemiologist linkurl:Meir Stampfer;http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/facres/stmpfr.html has decided that he no longer wants to publicly tout the benefits of beer anymore at benefits sponsored by? surprise, Anheuser-Busch, brewer of approximately 30 beers in the U.S. alone. The researcher?s decision to affiliate himself with the company sparked outrage among some addiction experts, who accused Stampfer of unethical practice. Stampfer defended himself by arguing that he was simply promoting the benefits of beer, which often gets overlooked by studies that say moderate amounts of alcohol can be healthy, but focus on wine, not other types of alcohol. Stampfer and others linkurl:have found;http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15979440&query_hl=5&itool=pubmed_docsum that people can benefit from beer and liquor, as well. Stampfer also said that he never accepted money from Anheuser-Busch for his lectures about beer?s benefits. According to the Web site linkurl:Join Together;http://www.jointogether.org/home/, which helps fight substance abuse, Stampfer has not been paid directly, but the company gave $150,000 to Harvard as scholarship money. "I was not compensated, and there was no company input to my talks," Stampfer said. "There was nothing unethical here." However, when the Wall Street Journal reported last month about Stampfer?s activities, some addiction experts voiced concerns. "What is stunning and appalling in this episode is the apparent abandonment of ethics and professional pride on the part of Dr. Stampfer and the Harvard School of Public Health," said Steve Meisburg, a Join Together National Policy Panel member on Substance Abuse Prevention. Sure, having a relationship ? albeit, an indirect one ? with Anheuser-Busch makes Stampfer?s actions appear? well, somewhat sudsy. But who else is going to sponsor talks about the benefits of beer? And if Stampfer?s statements are supported by peer-reviewed research, what?s the harm? I think many of us would be happy to discuss it over a couple of heart-healthy beers. Un-sponsored, of course.
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