Fetal Error
Every bottle of beer, wine, and liquor sold in the United States now bears a warning from the surgeon general that "women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects." Yet research finds Fetal Alcohol Syndrome only in a small fraction of the children born to heavy drinkers, and there's no evidence that moderate drinking during pregnancy poses a threat to the fetus. Nevertheless, the federal government continues to emphasize the risk of FAS, estimating that 1 to 3 cases occur per 1,000 births. Gene Ford, editor of The Moderation Reader, recently compared projections based on this estimate to actual cases of FAS recorded by state vital statistics departments. State officials caution that underreporting is a problem. But the magnitude of the disparities suggests that exaggeration is, too. (Twenty-four states collect FAS data; these figures are for the 12 with the most births.)
This article originally appeared in print under the headline "Fetal Error."
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?