Patty Hearst, who survived kidnapping by Symbionese Liberation Army terrorists and a 21-month term in prison, said recently, “We are a nation with the most frightened people on the planet.” Perhaps the reason for this is explained by a character, Professor Hoffman, in Michael Crichton’s latest best seller, “State of Fear.” Mr. Hoffman claims that the primary driver of modern society is what he calls the PLM – the politico-legal-media complex. “Politicians need fear to control the population. Lawyers need dangers to litigate and make money.The media need scare stories to capture an audience,” he says.

The author of “Jurassic Park” and other big books was in Manhattan last week to receive the 2005 Sound Science Award from the American Council on Science and Health. While “State of Fear” is a work of fiction, it is exhaustingly researched and contains facts that belie the daily doomsaying from agenda-driven eco-alarmists. Mr. Crichton’s latest novel, however, is unlikely to be made into any feature film, at least not in Hollywood. It debunks every cherished cause espoused by the hybrid car-, organic food-loving, global warming-fearing celebrities of La-La Land.

I dragged along my heavy, large print copy of “State of Fear,” only to be told by the hostess that Mr. Crichton would probably not sign any books. Nevertheless, when I looked up at the 6-foot-9-inch gentleman and explained my plight, he reassured me that it was no problem and signed away. It was “State of Fear” that provided me with information on the deadly results of the DDT ban in Africa, which has resulted in the deaths of millions of malaria victims. I am amazed that there is still so much ignorance about the harm that junk science can render on a fearful nation.

At the Union League Club luncheon, Mr. Crichton said, “If you’re going to be concerned about exposure to minute levels of pesticides, then you might want to start being concerned with the effects of excessive fear mongering.”

It was while researching a book in 1990 that he discovered that the highly publicized fears of DDT were found to be ungrounded decades later. At lectures, Mr. Crichton tells his audience that, “Banning DDT is one of the most disgraceful episodes in the 20th-century history of America. We knew better and we did it anyway, and we let people around the world die and didn’t give a damn.”

It’s no surprise that the ACSH was thrilled that a commercial novel could open the eyes of the public. This organization has been in the business of separating fact from fiction when it comes to medicine and science since 1978. Its primary aim is to help American consumers distinguish significant health hazards from hypothetical or trivial health risks.

At a time when daily news reports include words such as potential pandemic, catastrophic, and carcinogenic, for the sake of sanity we need facts not unfounded panic.

Based in Manhattan, the ACSH publishes enlightening books and pamphlets that are invaluable in sorting out hype and hysteria from bona fide scientific research. “Facts Versus Fears” is a review of the greatest unfounded health scares of all time. It gives pertinent details of the panic, the reaction, and then the actual research conclusions of 27 health scares, including Love Canal, Three Mile Island, saccharin, Red Dye #2, cyclamates, alar, cellular phones, vaccines and autism, and, of course, DDT. How many of these have scared you to death?

This booklet may be ordered through the Web site, www.acsh.org, or by calling 212-362-7044.

The current scare is the Asian bird flu. People in Asia are dying from this particular strain of the virus. Remember SARS? People abroad died from SARS, but America was not affected. America, in fact, has one of the finest medical systems in the world because the federal government does not run it. We do not have socialized medicine, and that means that emergencies are taken care of immediately – not doled out according to government fiat. Whenever I read about these medical scares, I can’t help but wonder if it’s all a plot to promote nationalized health care in this country, which would be disastrous.

Life is stressful enough without worrying unnecessarily, and we should be grateful that the ACSH exists. ASCH President Elizabeth Whelan, Sc.D., M.P.H., recently wrote an article on the basic facts of the bird flu, which can be read on the Web site. Questions on mad cow disease can also be researched there as well.

Let’s foil the fearmongers by doing our own research so we won’t be Chicken Littles running around worrying about a sky that’s never going to fall.