Surgeon general calls for cancer warning labels on alcohol

Alcohol should come with a warning label indicating it is a leading cause of preventable cancer, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in a new report Friday.

“Alcohol is a well-established, preventable cause of cancer responsible for about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths annually in the United States — greater than the 13,500 alcohol-associated traffic crash fatalities per year in the U.S. — yet the majority of Americans are unaware of this risk,” Murthy said in a press release announcing the new 22-page report.