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A quick look at today's health news

Syracuse, N.Y. -- Drinkers in England consume a lot more booze than they admit, according to a new study.

The study, published in the European Journal of Public Health, shows the average man and woman underreported their weekly drinking consumption by as much as 60 percent.

The study compared reported statistics from how much people said they drank to the actual amount of alcohol purchased in England.

"Currently we don't know who consumes almost half of all the alcohol sold in England," Sadie Boniface, a doctoral student in the University of London's department of epidemiology and public health, said in a press release. "The results are putative, but they show that this gap between what is seen in the surveys and sales potentially has enormous implications for public health in England."

Overall, alcohol sales figures were 40 to 60 percent higher than the the amount of drinking reported in the surveys, according to a report on the study published by CBS. The researchers discovered that men underestimated their drinking by 15 percent on average and women did so by 11 percent. This means that 44 percent and 31 percent of men and women respectively drink more than British guidelines suggest.

The study also shows that when the sales figures are used, about half of male and women drinkers are "binge drinkers."

Boniface said wine drinkers were less likely to lie about their drinking habits than those who drank beer and spirits. She believes that most people participate in "selective reporting," meaning that they underestimate how much they are drinking because they forget or don't know how big or strong their beverages are.

Proposed cuts in services for mentally ill stir concern: Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposals to close some psychiatric centers and cut funding for the developmentally disabled raises lots of questions at budget hearing. (Albany Times Union).

Suits filed over insulin pen use: Days after filing suit against Olean General Hospital and three pharmaceutical manufacturers, attorneys representing patients potentially exposed to HIV and hepatitis through reused insulin pens say a second lawsuit is underway targeting the VA Western New York Healthcare System. (Buffalo Business First)

Doctor rating sites may be flawed: Several recent studies suggest doctor rating websites, based on user-generated ratings, raise more questions than answers due to a number of flaws, including questionable rating methods and small sample pools. (HealthLeaders)