The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) is a consumer education consortium founded in 1978 by Dr. Elizabeth Whelan . It produces reports on issues related to food, nutrition, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, lifestyle, the environment and health. Its core membership is a board of 350 physicians, scientists and policy advisors who review the Council's reports and participate in ACSH seminars, press conferences, media communications and other educational activities.
ACSH regularly criticizes industries for making unscientific and overstated health claims, promoting dangerous natural supplements, or otherwise failing to tell the truth about scientific issues. Some of the scientific and professional journals that have recently published ACSH's work include: Medscape , CRC Critical Reviews in Clinical Laboratory Sciences , Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety , Journal of Health Communications , Clinical Therepeutics , and Technology.
ACSH is a nonprofit institution exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code . All contributions are tax deductible as provided by law.
According to the Congressional Quarterly's Public Interest Profiles, Whelan's organization received more than 75 percent of their funding from the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. As a result, the ACSH has been accused of being more of a public relations firm, and less of a neutral council on Science. Jeff Stier, Associate Director of ACSH, has claimed that this information is outdated and inaccurate, with ACSH receiving less than 50 percent of their funding from industry.
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