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Bloggers have alarming stories of diseases reappearing:
- Mike Lizza at The Lede (NYT) explores the reappearance of polio in tribal Pakistan.
- Tara C. Smith at Aetiology describes the hemorrhagic-fever-causing Marburg virus, which just killed a Dutch woman who traveled to Uganda.
- Katharine Mieszkowski at Broadsheet reports on the resurgence of measles in the U.S., and a celebrity campaign urging parents to get their children vaccinated against this and other childhood diseases.
Elsewhere:
Bloggers consider the disappointing results from the G8 summit:
- Kate Sheppard at Gristmill explains why the G8 climate agreement is not so great (especially when considered in light of goals set in 1992).
- Richard Littlemore at DeSmogBlog lays the blame for the G8’s climate standstill on three men.
- Angelique van Engelen at Triple Pundit takes on the issue of China’s emissions (one of the summit sticking points), and suggests a new method for emissions accounting.
- Jill Sheffield at RH Reality Check reminds us that the G8 meeting was also addressing maternal and child health issues, and gives the summit a mixed review on that score.
Elsewhere:
The big healthcare news this week was the scheduled 10% cut to Medicare physician fees, which Congress almost managed to avert. Instead, implementation of the cuts has been put on hold for two more weeks. Bloggers have more:
- Sarah Rubenstein at WSJ’s Health Blog gives a quick summary of the situation and explains the implications of a two-week freeze on Medicare claims processing.
- Robert Laszewski at Health Affairs explores the political forces at work in this “game of chicken.”
- Jacob Goldstein at WSJ’s Health Blog warns that we can expect to be bombarded with issue ads from both doctors and insurers.
Elsewhere:
Bloggers help us stay on top of environmental news:
- Andrew Revkin at Dot Earth brings us the grim news from a new federal report on climate change impacts: there’s a 90-percent likelihood that the frequency and intensity of heat waves and heavy downpours will rise.
- Andrew Schneider at Secret Ingredients reports that the Supreme Court has rejected appeals by asbestos giant W.R. Grace, clearing the way for company officials to stand trial for knowingly endangering the lives of its workers and residents of Libby, Montana.
- Kate Sheppard at Gristmill keeps tabs on a flurry of fuel-related legislation in the House (including a bill to increase funding for public transit), and updates us on the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming’s hearing on fuel efficiency standards.
- Robert McClure at Dateline Earth provides some perspective on the Florida government’s purchase of U.S. Sugar holdings, which will allow for a massive ecological restoration project connecting the Everglades to Lake Okeechobee.
Elsewhere:
Bloggers turn their attention to the floods in the Midwest:
- Tara C. Smith of Aetiology is in the thick of the Iowa City-Cedar Rapids floods. She reminds us that preparedness can pay off for floods as well as flu, and that residents need to consider several health issues as the flood waters recede. We wish Tara and her neighbors the best of luck in the weeks ahead.
- Shirley S. Wang at WSJ’s Health Blog considers the challenges facing the Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, which had to evacuate nearly 200 patients and now has an ambitious goal of getting cleanup up and fully operational in two weeks.
- Anne Jefferson at Highly Allochthonous explains how you can get “500 year floods” two years in a row.
- Tom Philpott at Gristmill looks at how fertilizer and hog waste from flooded agricultural areas will affect the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. (And for an even more distressing picture, check out his column on how the floods deepen the global food crisis.)
Elsewhere:
FDA has been in the spotlight this week, and often not in a good way.
- Andrew Schneider at Secret Ingredients tracks the ongoing saga of the salmonella-tainted tomatoes.
- At WSJ’s Health Blog, Alicia Mundy reports that Congress has pressed more money on the FDA, and Theo Francis describes Senator Arlen Spector’s dissatisfaction with the agency’s funding requests.
- Jennifer Nelson at Science Progress explores the FDA’s decision not to hold pharmaceutical companies to the standards of the Declaration of Helsinki when conducting human drug trials.
- Amie Newman at RH Reality Check explains why more medications for pregnant women are needed.
- Matt Madia at RegWatch warns that FDA’s proposed new rules for drug labels with more information for pregnant women come with tort-lawsuit preemption attached.
- Ed Silverman at Pharmalot has the figures on reports of adverse drug advents, which are coming more from consumers than from doctors; Merrill Goozner at GoozNews suggests some ways FDA can keep these important reports coming in.
Elsewhere:
Bloggers have a lot of food worries:
- Andrew Schneider at Secret Ingredients reports that most U.S. government agencies aren’t checking meat for the antibiotic-resistant bacteria MRSA – but University of Iowa assistant professor Tara Smith (of the blog Aetiology) and her researchers found MRSA in 70% of the pigs they tested at 10 Iowa and Illinois farms.
- Revere at Effect Measure warns of salmonella infections – 70 cases in 9 states – linked to uncooked tomatoes.
- Matt Madia at Reg Watch checks up on registry to track food contamination, which FDA probably won’t have launched by their September deadline.
- At Gristmill, Michael Pollan explains what went wrong with the Farm Bill and while Debra Eschmeyer highlights the positive seeds of change in the legislation.
Elsewhere:
As rising oil prices continue to grab headlines, the spotlight turns to what politicians are and aren’t doing to solve our energy problems.
- David Roberts at Gristmill is outraged that Senator McCain will miss the vote on the Climate Security Act (true to his pattern of missing 2007 environmental votes).
- Also at Gristmill, Kate Sheppard reports on the Investing in Climate Action and Protection Act just unveiled by Representative Ed Markey.
- And with yet another Gristmill post, James Hansen takes three “Governors Greenwash” to task over their failure to deal appropriately with coal-burning plants in their states.
- Gina-Marie Cheesman at Triple Pundit describes the oil subsidies that Representative Jay Inslee and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi decry.
- Andrew Leonard at How the World Works has little sympathy for the corn-state Senators who are bemoaning the vilification of ethanol.
- Keith Johnson at Environmental Capital brings us news of a very uncharacteristic action from the White House: President Bush is close to designating an unprecedented amount of ocean and coastal area as marine monuments, which would put their oil deposits off-limits.
And in other climate-related matters, Kaid Benfield at NRDC’s Switchboard considers the prospects for the suburban mess that is Tysons Corner turning into a model of smart growth, and Ryan Avent at The Bellows explains some of the factors behind a new ranking of 100 metro areas’ carbon footprints.
Elsewhere:
Senator Edward Kennedy’s diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor is terrible news on multiple levels. While our thoughts go out to the Senator and his family, it’s also difficult to imagine Congress tackling the many important health-related issues before it without Senator Kennedy.
- Ezra Klein calls Kennedy “one of the few Senators who is genuinely irreplaceable, whose absence would degrade the nation’s social policy, and thus the life chances and economic security of millions of its disadvantaged residents.”
- Mike Lux at Open Left reminds us of the many accomplishments in which Kennedy has been a key player, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, OSHA, and Family and Medical Leave.
- Jacob Goldstein at WSJ’s Health Blog covers Kennedy’s healthcare-related accomplishments and the issues that the Senator is currently working on.
- Elizabeth Cooney at White Coat Notes reports on what Kennedy said 12 days before his diagnosis about the progress we still need to make on cancer.
Elsewhere:
What’s new at the FDA?
- Ed Silverman at Pharmalot reports on FDA plans to spend some of its user-fee money on post-marketing safety activities.
- Merrill Goozner at GoozNews warns that the FDA is scrapping the Helsinki Declaration on protecting human subjects.
- Jacob Goldstein at WSJ’s Health Blog wonders whether pharmaceutical groups’ proposals to pay user fees to fund inspections of foreign drug factories is a good idea.
Elsewhere:
Bloggers are keeping us up to date on some of the many proposals for spending federal dollars on health and environmental issues:
- Tom Philpott at Gristmill brings us the latest on the farm bill, which has been delayed due to disputes over subsidy reform.
- Hank Green at EnviroWonk explains why and how the Department of Energy will be spending $60 million over the next five years on solar thermal technology.
- Elizabeth Cooney at White Coat Notes conveys advice from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute President Dr. Edward Benz on improving cancer research; increasing NIH funding levels is a crucial step.
- DrugMoneky rails against the NIH grant-revision process, saying it wastes researchers’ time and NIH dollars.
- Ed Silverman at Pharmalot reports on a new bill that would provide $200 million annually to research new treatments for nervous system disorders and injuries.
Elsewhere:
Bloggers had a lot to say about the health, safety, and healthcare of workers:
- Christine Rampolla at AFL-CIO Weblog explains how 12 years of work by union members culminated in New Jersey’s paid family leave act, which the governor just signed into law.
- What if … America Had a Healthcare System That Worked? explores the problems with veterans’ healthcare and proposes three solutions (via Health Beat).
- Ernest Delmazzo at BlueOregon criticizes Oregon OSHA’s record on workplace inspections and penalties, and Oregon OSHA Administrator Michael Wood responds in the comments section.
- Kane at OSHA Underground offers an insider’s perspective on whether and why OSHA’s Compliance Safety and Health Officers stick around.
- Theo Francis at WSJ’s Health Blog reports that every percentage-point increase in unemployment translates to another $3.4 billion in state and federal healthcare spending as workers lose health insurance along with their jobs.
Elsewhere:
There’s a lot going on right now with the FDA and drug regulation:
The Health Affairs Blog has posts by Scott Gottlieb (a former FDA official now at the American Enterprise Institute) and Jerome Kassirer (a former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal now at the Tufts University School of Medicine) giving two contrasting responses to FDA’s recently issued draft guidance that would let drug and device manufacturers give doctors journal articles about off-label uses of their products.
Ed Silverman at Pharmalot lets us know that more than half of the post-marketing studies pharamaceutical companies promised FDA they’d undertake haven’t even begun.
Sarah Rubenstein at WSJ’s Health Blog reports that the 2004 settlement over off-label marketing of Pfizer’s Neurontin (a pain and epilepsy drug) will be funding projects that advise prescribers and patients about the safety, efficacy, and costs of pharmaceuticals.
Elsewhere:
Bloggers approach food issues from a variety of angles:
- At Gristmill, Aimee Witteman and Tom Philpott discuss the prospects for the Farm Bill and Sharon Astyk looks at the many costs of food.
- Andrew Schneider at Secret Ingredients shares the frightening things he learned at a food safety conference.
- Barbara Fisher at Tigers & Strawberries explains why restaurants discard so much food and how they can reduce the waste.
- Revere at Effect Measure considers the prospects for growing meat in tissue cultures.
Elsewhere:
It’s been a while since I highlighted some of the great blogging on healthcare topics:
- Anna Wilde Matthews at the WSJ’s Health Blog reports on a new analysis that finds the U.S. wastes more than half of our health spending.
- Merrill Goozner at GoozNews explains why comparative effectiveness agencies are important and considers the hurdles to setting one up in the U.S.
- Maggie Mahar at Health Beat investigates what’s behind the large and growing amount we spend on hospital bills ($648 billion in 2006).
- Rob Cunningham at the Health Affairs Blog considers the reasons why mental health treatment is too rarely coordinated with supportive services.
Also, congratulations to RH Reality Check and NRDC’s Switchboard for their Webby Award honors!
Several bloggers have addressed occupational health and safety issues this week:
- Revere at Effect Measure considers the factors affecting healthcare worker behavior during a pandemic, and whether it’s advisable for state authorities to order HCWs to work.
- John Astad at OSHA Underground describes three combustible-dust explosions and fires that occurred in a single day, and one way stakeholders can address the combustible-dust problem.
- James Parks at AFL-CIO Weblog reports on a rally by Indian guest workers, who seek alterations to the US guest worker program and an investigation into an employer they say held them in forced-labor conditions in a Mississippi shipyard.
- Jason Heilpern at Hazard’s Recognized applauds OSHA for following up on a UPS whisteblower’s complaint of being fired after complaining about unsafe trucks; the company decided to settle with the mechanic.
Elsewhere:
Bloggers had a lot to say about food this week:
Tom Philpott at Gristmill contrasts the U.S. and Canadian approaches to regulating the use of ethanol distillers grains in cattle feed. Guess which country’s regulators think the important thing is leaving cattle owners free to feed their animals whatever they please, even if the substance in question has been linked to beef being tainted with a deadly strain of E. coli?
Elanor at The Ethicurian (via Enviroblog) warns that EPA wants to deny communities information about the toxic gases coming out of confined animal feeding operations.
Lisa Stiffler at Dateline Earth brings us the latest news about the effects of global warming and overfishing on salmon and other marine fish populations.
Benjamin Cohen at The World’s Fair recaps recent articles about local food and energy efficiency, and shares an interesting finding from research on the energy use of a Charlottesville farmers’ market.
Elsewhere:
This week, bloggers look at who’s making decisions about coal:
- At Gristmill (home of David “coal is the enemy of the human race” Roberts), Ted Nace explains how a bureaucrat’s change of one number in a spreadsheet can lead to 132 fewer new coal plants being built, but Tom Philpott warns that Appalachian coal will be mined anyway – and shipped to China.
- Keith Johnson at Environmental Capital explains how Kansas has become Big Coal’s new battlefield, and the role of state courts and officials in determining who wins.
- At Appalachian Voices, jdub reacts to Hillary Clinton’s remarks about mountaintop removal mining, and collects other online responses.
Elsewhere:
A group of concerned universities put out a statement about how flat funding for the National Institute of Health “puts a generation of science at risk,” and the House Committee on Science and technology has been holding hearings. Naturally, science bloggers have some thoughts on this:
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Janet Stemwedel at Adventures in Ethics and Science explains why non-researchers should care about this issue.
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DrugMoneky argues that the pipeline problem isn’t just due to funding amounts – cultural biases against younger investigators during grant review also play a role.
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At Respectful Insolence, NIH-funded surgeon/scientist Orac advocates for reforming the “used car salesman” model of how biomedical research is funded at universtieis.
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Sameer Yousef at Science Progress reports on the grilling of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Acting Director over proposed program cuts, and on Bill Gates’s testimony about keeping the U.S. competitive in the technology field.
Elsewhere:
It’s been a particularly busy week in global warming news:
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Andrew Schneider at Secret Ingredients reports that unions representing EPA staff have cut off future discussion with EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson. Although the unions cite numerous problems with Johnson ignoring scientific and legal staffs’ advice, the release of Johnson’s ridiculous rationale for denying California’s waiver request seemed to be the last straw. (Frank O’Donnell at Gristmill has more on that ridiculousness.)
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DeSmog Blog’s Kevin Grandia and Richard Littlemore report on the Heartland Institute’s International Conference on Climate Change, a.k.a Denial-a-palooza.
- JLowe at Impact Analysis investigates whether we’re trending away from coal-fired power plants, as some optimists have suggested.
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Ana Campoy at Environmental Capital looks at what’s keeping the U.S. from shifting more passengers from cars to mass transit.
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Andrew Wetzler at Switchboard explains how global-warming-induced changes to the Arctic food web may be causing mercury contamination in marine mammals.
Elsewhere:
The safety and sustainability of the world’s food supply has been on people’s minds lately.
- Andrew Schneider at Secret Ingredients reminds us of the tainted food problems we’ve had here over the past several years, from E.Coli-contaminated spinach and salmonella-tainted pot pies to the latest record-breaking beef recall.
- Tom Philpott at Gristmill brings us up to date on the Farm Bill, and explains why President Bush is winning praised for his stance on it.
- Andrew Leonard at How the World Works considers what rising bakery-product prices mean for the biotech industry and African farmers.
- Jennifer Jacquet at Shifting Baselines is keeping tabs on the seafood industry.
Elsewhere:
There’s been a lot of blogging about vaccines lately:
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Mark Meier at Science Progress explains how a cocaine-addiction vaccine was developed, and what questions and hurdles it still faces.
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Jacob Goldstein at WSJ’s Health Blog explains what this year’s mismatched flu vaccine means for next year’s production (also see Effect Measure on this year’s flu season).
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DrugMonkey and Mike Dunford at the Questionable Authority are livid about the parents whose antivaccination stance led to measles for their three children and several others.
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Abel Pharmboy at Terra Sigillata focuses on the dangerous antivaccinationist movement and what American Association of Pediatrics is doing to combat it (although it’s his vasectomy liveblogging that’s drawing most of his visitors).
Elsewhere:
Those hoping to fix the U.S.’s current healthcare system have plenty to chew on this week.
Sara Robinson at Campaign for America’s Future debunks several myths about U.S. vs. Canadian healthcare (Part I here). Keep this handy for the next time someone whines that single-payer healthcare will mean rationed care.
Jacob Goldstein at Health Blog reports on CVS Caremark’s payment to end a probe into whether the company was keeping for itself the rebates that accrued from switching patients to generic drugs, and on Blue Cross of California’s decision to stop asking doctors to report patients who’d failed to disclose pre-existing conditions.
Ed Silverman at Pharmalot looks at the growing number of prescriptions U.S. adults are filling.
Matt Madia at Reg Watch summarizes the multiple rules that work together to undermine Medicaid.
Health Affairs has posts by Mina Matin, Robert Berenson, and Paul B. Ginsburg about the Sustainable Growth Rate (the formula that’s supposed to keep Medicare physician services payments in line with national economic growth – but that Congress keeps overriding to avoid making large cuts to physician payments).
Elsewhere:
Bloggers react to Bush’s proposed budget:
- Science Progress has the totals for science-based agencies
- Heather Taylor at Switchboard thinks it’s lame
- Gerald Epstein at SEA probes a mystery $2 billion for Homeland Security R&D
- Climate Progress bemoans its anti-efficiency stance
- Amie Newman at RH Reality Check looks at its treatment of women’s health
Elsewhere: Read the rest of this entry »
In advance of Super-Duper Tuesday voting, bloggers have some thoughts about the Republican presidential hopefuls:
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Tula Connell at AFL-CIO Weblog reports that the investment firm founded by Mitt Romney is supporting a system that keeps Florida tomato workers impoverished.
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Michael Millenson at Health Affairs examines Mike Huckabee’s belief that tackling obesity and smoking can control health care costs.
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Chris Mooney at DeSmogBlog wonders if we should trust John McCain on global warming.
On the Democratic side, Van Jones at Gristmill explains what those “green-collar jobs” the candidates have been referring to really are.
Bloggers also want more from the politicians already in Congress: Tom Kalil at Science Progress calls for a national innovation agenda, Climate Progress thinks the House’s efforts to offset its carbon are a waste of money, and Chad Orzel at Uncertain Principles supports a letter-writing campaign to restore lost science funding.
Elsewhere:
The science blogosphere has been particularly active this past week. The Second Annual Science Blogging Conference brought bloggers together in North Carolina, where they discussed open science, blogger ethics, gender and race in science, science communication, and more. Conference organizer Coturnix has links and videos aplenty. One thought-provoking post comes from Abel Pharmboy, who reports on the contentious Framing Science discussion. At this session, panelists and audience members debated how to make the public more aware of how essential science is to all of us in, and do so within today’s challenging media environment.
Meanwhile, Dave Munger at Cognitive Daily introduces ResearchBlogging.org, which collects blog posts about peer-reviewed research. Recent posts address stem cells, antidepressants, the herpes simplex virus, Alzheimer’s treatment, and many other research topics.
Elsewhere:
There’s lots of good blogging this week about what our elected (and hoping to be elected) leaders are doing – or at least talking about doing – on climate change:
- David Roberts at Gristmill thinks it’s better to hold out for better federal climate legislation in 2009
- Jonathan Pfeiffer at Science Progress reports on a hearing considering the fate of the polar bear
- Climate Progress applauds a red-state governor for pushing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- Jovana at Enviroblog tells us what the leading presidential hopefuls drive (or don’t)
- Richard Littlemore at DeSmogBlog reveals Mitt Romney’s ties to a global warming denier group
Elsewhere:
Big Pharma is under scrutiny in the blogosphere this week. Ed Silverman at Pharmalot reports on a study (published in PLoS Medicine) that finds drugmakers spend almost twice as much on marketing and promotion as they do on R&D; he also tells us who Big Pharma’s backing for president.
Scott Hensley at the WSJ Health Blog reveals the real person behind the BigPharmaRealPeople.org website (whose mission includes fighting “ridiculous Government rules and regulation that hamper Big Pharma from acting in the best interest of customers, patients and pharmacies in a free market society”), while Angry Toxicologist checks an industry publication to find out what Big Pharma really wants at the FDA.
Elsewhere:
Bloggers are summing up developments from 2007 and looking ahead to 2008:
• Adrienne Germaine at RH Reality Check presents the Top Ten Wins for Women’s Health in 2007.
• Matt Madia at Reg Watch summarizes Regulatory Policy News for the year.
• Kevin Grandia at DeSmogBlog brings us the Top 5 YouTube Global Warming Videos of 2007.
• Rep. Jay Inslee at Climate Progress explains what it will take to make 2008 a great year in addressing climate change.
Elsewhere:
With so much attention focused on the energy bill, it’s easy to forget some of the other important legislation coming out of Congress these days. Revere at Effect Measure reports on the NIH and CDC funding figures in the latest version of the appropriations bill, and Jake Young at Pure Pedantry goes into detail about the implications of the paltry NIH spending increase. Meanwhile, Ken Cook at Mulch rounds up editorials on the disappointing Farm Bill.
Elsewhere:
The Science Debate 2008 initiative (which we blogged about earlier) has prompted Janet Stemwedel at Adventures in Ethics and Science, Coturnix at A Blog Around the Clock, and Zuska at Thus Spake Zuska to suggest questions to be asked at a presidential science debate. I’m sure there are many other bloggers who’ve posed questions, but I haven’t gotten through everything in my RSS reader this week – so, if you know of a related blog post that’s worth checking out, please post a link in the comments.
Elsewhere:
Gristmill has been doing an excellent job of tracking the progress of energy legislation in Congress this week; highlights include:
- Nancy Pelosi’s ass-kicking, which allowed the House bill to return to something close to its former strength;
- A marathon session in the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, featuring an endless stream of amendments;
- The House’s passage of an energy bill that represents a decisive break with decades of energy policy focused on fossil fuels; and
- A failed cloture vote in the Senate, which leaves Harry Reid the choice of making Republicans mount an actual filibuster, or stripping out provisions until he can get 60 votes.
Also, Joe at Climate Progress praises and castigates some of the players and spectators involved with the House bill’s provision on fuel economy, and Andrew Leonard at How the World Works laughs at the Chamber of Commerce’s ad against the bill. Joseph Aldy at Climate Policy looks at the Bali conference and possibilities for post-Kyoto international climate policy.
Elsewhere:
Nanotechnology is getting some attention these days. Revere at Effect Measure (which just celebrated its third blogiversary!) gauges the level of alarm about nanotechnology; at Science Progress, Michael Peroski looks at the current regulatory framework for nanotechnology, while Justin Masterman highlights the promise of nanotubes for cancer therapy; and Matt Madia at Reg Watch critiques the White House’s approach to the topic.
In a different research vein, Jacob Goldstein at the WSJ Health Blog, Abel Pharmboy at Terra Sigillata, and Emily Monosson at Neighborhood Toxicologist all weigh in on the pharmaceutical potential of grapefruit juice.
Elsewhere:
Bloggers have been looking at the numbers related to our health. WSJ’s The Numbers Guy sheds light on the calculations behind global HIV-infection figures, which the U.N.’s AIDS agency has revised sharply downwards, and Mead Over at Global Health Policy hopes that the revision will re-focus attention on the need for cost-effectiveness estimates in the global response to AIDS. Shirley S. Wang at the WSJ Health Blog busts the myth that suicide rates rise during the winter holidays, while Merrill Goozner at GoozNews explains a mysterious Congressional Budget Office claim that health care co-pays by individuals have fallen as a share of health care spending.
Elsewhere:
Read the rest of this entry »
Bloggers are bringing us lots of drug news this week:
- Abel Pharmboy at Terra Sigillata explains why a decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is devastating news for lymphoma patients – and possibly for all cancer patients (here, too).
- Ed Silverman at Pharmalot considers the drop in new drug approvals by the FDA.
- Maggie Mahar at Health Beat reports on the lavish inducements drug companies offer to doctors in developing countries.
- Revere at Effect Measure discusses the pharmaceutical-company maneuverings that threaten to keep doctors from prescribing effective, low cost treatment for macular degeneration.
- Lynn Harris at Broadsheet advocates for fixing a Deficit Reduction Act glitch that is putting hormonal contraceptives out of financial reach for many college students.
- Julia Kaye at Womenstake provides some context for the new study that finds that women who are on the birth control pill for long periods of time might have an increased risk of atherosclerosis.
- Roy M. Poses MD at Health Care Renewal describes astroturfing efforts by the makers of anemia drugs.
In not-so-drug-centric news:
Recent research has been attracting attention, and bloggers help explain the findings – in some cases, more accurately than the traditional media outlets do:
- MarkH at denialism blog critiques the news coverage of the latest research on obesity, overweight, and mortality (Washington Post headline: “Being Overweight Isn’t All Bad, Study Says”) and reminds us that it’s also important to look at obesity’s effects on quality of life and disability.
- Revere at Effect Measure, Mike the Mad Biologist, and Tara C. Smith at Aetiology report on new research into MRSA and pigs – and why it might be time to rethink antibiotics use in livestock.
- Ed Silverman at Pharmalot has the latest on Merck’s failed HIV vaccine, which seems to have made some clinical trial participants’ immune systems more vulnerable.
- Tara C. Smith at Aetiology awards the “Bad Science Writing of the Day” title to an article about chocolate and gut bacteria.
Elsewhere:
A lot of public health-related legislation is making its way through Congress these days, and bloggers are taking note.
- Brian Beutler at Gristmill has been tracking America’s Climate Security Act, otherwise known as the Lieberman-Warner bill (background here).
- Emily Douglas and James Wagoner at RH Reality Check report on the good and bad things Congress is doing with regards to reproductive health.
- Janice Neitzel at Triple Pundit, OrangeClouds115 at Daily Kos, and Tom Philpott at Gristmill tell you everything you need to know about the Farm Bill.
Elsewhere:
Andrew Leonard at How the World Works has rounded up posts about the role of climate change in the California wildfires, and concludes that environmentalists are expressing themselves with nuance. Ben at Technology, Health & Development points out that the particulate-matter density in the areas affected by the fires is still less than levels typically seen in homes where biomass is burned for fuel.
Coturnix at A Blog Around the Clock reports that the Senate has passed a bill that includes a provision mandating public access to NIH-funded research – a major step for proponents of open access. The American Chemical Society opposes open access, and came under scrutiny this week from several ScienceBloggers, including Revere at Effect Measure, Janet Stemwedel at Adventures in Ethics in Science, and Alex Palazzo at The Daily Transcript.
Elsewhere in the blogosphere:
Read the rest of this entry »
Drug resistance is a big news topic this week. Tara Smith at Correlations describes MRSA’s move from hospitals to communities; Mike the Mad Biologist has numbers on the toll of that antibiotic-resistant bug; and Theo Francis at the WSJ Health Blog highlights a shortage of infection-control specialists to help hospitals tackle the problem. Also at the WSJ Health Blog, Jacob Goldstein reports that a Mexican businessman with multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis crossed the border into Texas 71 times and took several flights into the US (so much for being able to control diseases’ movement across borders).
Ruth Levine at Global Health Policy considers the similarities between drug resistance and global warming, and starts by noting that both “are a result of profligate overuse of a precious resource (fossil fuels, the ability to kill harmful bugs) without mindfulness about long-term consequences.”
Elsewhere:
This week saw several new policy statements from presidential hopefuls, and bloggers have opinions about them. David Roberts at Gristmill responded to Barack Obama’s energy plans, while Amie Newman at RHReality Check focused what Obama’s saying in Iowa about abortion and abstinence-only sex ed. Jacob Goldstein at the WSJ Health Blog reported on John McCain’s healthcare plan, and Chris Mooney at The Intersection devoted several posts to Hillary Clinton’s statements on science.
And, to add to the discussions about children’s health insurance, Rob Cunningham at the Health Affairs Blog reports on a new study about quality concerns in children’s health care, and Mike Dunford at The Questionable Authority compares employer-sponsored health insurance coverage in states with and without legislation that tends to undercut unions.
Elsewhere:
Several blog posts this week showcased successful steps in the global effort to bring healthcare to underserved populations. Anika Rahman at RH Reality Check profiles three winners of the International Awards for the Health and Dignity of Women. Aman at Technology, Health & Development highlights an ingeniously simple device for safely disposing of contaminated needles. Jessica Pickett at Global Health Policy explains how vouchers from the FDA can spur investment in R&D for neglected diseases.
Elsewhere:
Before this week’s climate conference began, Climate Progress predicted, “The Bush Administration will use every opportunity to create the illusion of action without agreeing to meaningful, binding pollution reductions.” Today, that blog reports that Bush followed “the Frank Luntz playbook on how to seem like you care about the climate when you don’t,” while Bill Miller of DeSmogBlog describes it as “another opportunity lost to histrionics and political posturing.” David Roberts at Gristmill focuses his attention on the media coverage of the event, giving kudos to Washington Post reporters and finding humor in an LA Times piece. Hill Heat has links to even more blogger coverage.
FDA was also in the news this week. Angry Toxicologist is disgusted with the FDA’s record on auditing clinical trials and conducting food inspections. Ed Silverman at Pharmalot reports on drug contamination and the FDA’s plans to issue guidance on the matter. Anna Wilde Matthews at the WSJ Health Blog suggests that the shuffling of top FDA personnel may help the Bush administration avoid new complaints from Democrats.
Elsewhere:
The FDA bill wasn’t the only thing getting health policy types excited this week. Senator Clinton unveiled her healthcare proposal, and provided fodder for bloggers, including: Ezra Klein (here, too) GoozNews, the Numbers Guy, RH Reality Check, and WSJ Health Blog.
Also focusing on the executive branch, Tom Philpott at Gristmill reports on Chuck Connor, who’s played key role in advancing the interests of ADM and other members of the Corn Refiners Association – and who’s now the acting secretary at USDA.
Elsewhere:
Journalists and editors were in the spotlight this week. At the Society of Environmental Journalists conference, attendees grappled with journalists’ role in covering climate change; Robert McClure at Dateline Earth and Richard Littlemore at DeSmogBlog report. Tara C. Smith at Aetiology highlights one cringe-inducing example of a newspaper getting an important statistic wrong, while Revere at Effect Measure criticizes newspapers’ failure to correct factual errors.
Bloggers also pointed out public health-related calendar items: Gloria Feldt at RH Reality Check reminds us to celebrate Margaret Sanger’s birthday (today, 9/14); Grrl Scientist at Living the Scientific Life provides important information for World Suicide Prevention Day (9/10); Tara C. Smith at Aetiology tells us why we should care about World Rabies Day (9/8); and the folks at Deep Sea News have declared this week Microbe Week (“shark week for geeks”).
Elsewhere:
One of the benefits of blogging at The Pump Handle is connecting with people who have first-hand experience with our nation’s inadequate public health protection system. We’ve heard from parents and wives who appreciate us writing about their loved ones’ fatal on-the-job injuries, and federal employees who share their unique experiences with how scientific information is used (or misused) in public health decision-making. Today, I’d like to introduce you to Mrs. Patty Sebok, who I first “met” a few months ago through a blogpost at Gristmill. We’ve been exchanging emails since then about her work with Judy Bonds at Coal River Mountain Watch, an organization battling powerful economic and powerful Goliaths that which support mountaintop removal mining.
While we here at The Pump Handle have been focusing on popcorn problems (the big story is here, the latest installment here), other bloggers have been keeping tabs on public health issues in Congress:
- At RH Reality Check, Anika Rahman and Tod Preston explain the Global Gag Rule and why it’s a good thing that Congress has voted to repeal it.
- Lisa Codispodi at Womenstake adds up the numbers behind the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Merrill Goozner at GoozNews reports on the financial wrangling behind this important legislation.
- Joseph Romm at Gristmill prepares us for the Energy Bill House vs. Senate Smackdown.
- Benjamin Cohen at The World’s Fair finds Farm Bill insight in a scrawled public comment.
(And, if you haven’t read Susan Wood’s post here on drug safety and the prescription drug bill Congress is in the process of reauthorizing, you should check that out, too.)
Elsewhere in the blogosphere:
Coturnix at A Blog Around the Clock alerted me that today is the third annual Blog Day, which “was created with the belief that bloggers should have one day dedicated to getting to know other bloggers from other countries and areas of interest.” To participate, bloggers link to five new blogs – and I’m going to interpret “new” as meaning “a blog I discovered fairly recently and suspect most readers don’t know about yet.” So, here are my five blog links for Blog Day 2007:
- The Nata village blog provides an up-close view of the battle to control the spread of HIV/AIDS in one village in Botswana.
- Epidemix covers “trends, technologies and other contagions in medicine and health” (via Technology, Health & Development).
- The Neighborhood Toxicologist reports on chemical contaminants that affect our daily lives.
- FarmPolicy.com gathers all the U.S. farm policy info in one place (via Gristmill, which will tell you why you should care about farm policy).
- Peter Suber, Open Access News champions the movement to make peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature freely available (via Coturnix, who is collecting blogospheric reactions to the PR offensive some major publishers are mounting against open access).
Use the Technorati tag BlogDay2007 to identify a Blog Day post or find others. Happy Blog Day!
In recognition of the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum at The Intersection provide a series of posts about the lessons from this disaster. At Gristmill, Joseph Romm explains why Hurricane Katrina busts the myth that humans can adapt to climate change.
Elsewhere:
There are several issues this week that attracted multiple bloggers’ attention:
It might sound like a good idea for Medicare to stop paying to treat avoidable complications, but Chris Rangel at RangelMD, N=1 at Universal Health, and
Orac at Respectful Insolence have some concerns about the this rule change.
Matt Madia at Reg Watch alerts us to a proposed rule that will make it easier for companies to engage in destructive mountaintop-removal mining. Meanwhile, Gristmill is featuring reports from Gabriel Pacyniak and Katherine Chandler, who are traveling throughout southern West Virginia - and talking with residents, activists, miners, mine company officials, local reporters, and politicians - to report on mountaintop removal mining (Parts 2-4 here, here, and here). Over at Enviroblog, Jovana explains why the U.S. General Mining Law of 1972 needs to change.
A PLoS One paper entitled “HIV Denial in the Internet Era” by Tara C. Smith (of Aetiology fame) and Steven P. Novella attracted a lot of attention in the blogosphere this week. Dave Munger at Cognitive Daily and Abel Pharmboy at Terra Sigillata share their reactions to it and encourage everyone to go read it – it’s open access, after all.
Elsewhere:
Apparently, there’s something about a study involving cats and flame retardants that makes it irresistible blogging fodder. Lisa Stiffler at Dateline Earth was the first to alert us to the study, reporting that it linked cats’ PBDE exposure and hyperthyroidism. (PBDEs, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers, are flame retardants that have been banned in Washington state due to health concerns associated with them.) The Olive Ridley Crawl points out a logical fallacy regarding PBDE and reminds us that correlation is not causation. Eric DePlace at Gristmill and EvilMonkey at Neurotopia combine info on PBDEs with cat photos.
Elsewhere:
While we’re all sending our thoughts and hopes to the miners and their families at Crandall Canyon, we also owe it to all coal miners to highlight the conditions that make such mining disasters more likely and to pressure those in charge to correct them.
Tula Connell at Firedoglake delves into the mine’s citation record, mine owner Robert Murray’s political connections, and recent trends in mine safety. At Daily Kos, Devilstower explains (from experience) the tricky aspects of drilling down to trapped miners, and the mine’s use of retreat mining. David Roberts at Gristmill also criticizes Murray, then points out that we’re all complicit in the terrible toll that coal takes.
(And if you haven’t already read them, Celeste Monforton has posted on mine rescuers, lessons that should have been learned from Sago, and Sago victims’ message to Utah families.)
Elsewhere:
There’s lots of pre-recess activity in Congress right now, and bloggers provide news and commentary:
- Joe at Climate Progress has been following CAFE standards in the House (here, here, and here) and has the latest on Senate climate legislation.
- Van Jones at Gristmill highlights the Green Jobs Act of 2007, which the media has largely overlooked.
- Ed Silverman at Pharmalot updates us on what’s happening with prescription drug legislation.
- Aimee Witteman at Gristmill and Amanda at Enviroblog urge improvements to the Farm Bill. (The House