Good questions in here. While I'm personally inclined to be sympathetic to the study, I have to admit that if I'm to be skeptical about other things (I want to say AGW, but don't want to open that can of worms), I need to be consistent in looking for high-quality research here as well.
I have a very simple rule: anything I read in the MSM (or similar "science" publications) about a study that agrees with the current politically correct opinion I automatically discount. Especially if it's medicine related (weak science and fraud are particularly common in this area).
If it's important enough to me, I'll dig down and actually read the paper ... but I generally don't bother, because most of the time I'll find junk science (or nearly so) like in this case. I'd rather spend my time with the Journal of Irreproducible Results and the upside down parts of the Worm Runner's Digest/Journal of Biological Psychology.
