Surgeon General calls for labels on alcohol warning of cancer risk

Alcohol is a leading cause of cancer, a risk that should be clearly labeled on drinks Americans consume, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy proposed last week (Source: “Surgeon General calls for new label on drinks to warn Americans of alcohol's cancer risk,” Associated Press via Cleveland Plain Dealer, Jan. 3).
 
Murthy’s advisory comes as research and evidence mounts about the bad effects that alcohol has on human health, but his proposal for a label would require a rare approval from the U.S. Congress.
 
Americans should be better informed about the link between alcohol and cancer, in particular, Murthy argues in his advisory, noting alcohol consumption is to blame for nearly one million preventable cancer cases in the U.S. over the last decade. About 20,000 people die every year from those alcohol-related cancer cases, according to his advisory.
 
Bottles of beer, wine and liquor already carry warning labels that say pregnant women should not drink and that alcohol consumption can impair someone’s ability to drive a car. But Murthy’s proposed label would go even further, raising awareness about the risk for cancer, too.
 
According to a data brief HPIO released last year titled “What’s Driving the Trend on Early Death?,” “Ohioans drink excessively more than people in many other states. Deaths among working age Ohioans related to chronic liver disease and cirrhosis have increased by 72% since 2007. These deaths are directly related to alcohol overuse.”