CDC Urges Doctors to Talk about Drinking

Doctors aren’t talking with their patients enough about alcohol, a government study finds. And that’s true even if the patient is a binge drinker, the study says. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did the study. It was based on surveys from 44 states and the District of Columbia. Only 1 in 6 adults and 1 in 4 binge drinkers said that a doctor or other health professional had ever discussed alcohol with them. Only 1 in 6 pregnant women recalled such a talk, even though drinking can harm the developing fetus. Even drinkers who binge 10 or more times a month got little counseling. Only 1 in 3 reported ever having a serious talk with a doctor about alcohol use. For every alcoholic, 6 other people are problem drinkers, CDC officials said. They urged doctors to make alcohol counseling a routine part of patient care.