Ask adult patients about alcohol misuse: panel

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Primary care doctors should ask adults how much and how often they drink alcohol and counsel those with risky and dangerous drinking habits, a government-backed panel said today. Based on a review of studies conducted since 1985, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) determined there is good enough evidence both that screening can accurately detect alcohol misuse and that counseling can reduce heavy drinking in people age 18 and older. Screening “takes hardly any time at all, and it works pretty well,” said Dr. …