Social Issues:
Judith Warner has some insightful essays in the NYT column, pertaining to the long-raging question about whether psychiatric patients are overmedicated or undermedicated. One of the essays addresses the question directly: Overselling Overmedication Judith Warner February 14, 2008 ...In the...
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Posted on February 28, 2008 9:09 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
A fellow blogger, Logtar, tipped me off to a controversy, and asked if I had anything to say about it. The controversy has come about over an exhibit: Bodies Revealed. It's a traveling exhibit that displays plastinated human cadavers. The...
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Posted on February 25, 2008 8:27 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
In February 2005, a bunch of smart people met to eat Chinese food and talk about a new way to make money. This included Greg Lippman, a trader at Deutsche Bank; Rajiv Kamilla, a trader at Goldman Sachs Group Inc....
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Posted on December 18, 2007 8:10 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
America missed her chance to elect a sane pro-environmental candidate in 2000. Or rather, the Supreme Court missed its chance. Whatever. The critical point is that environmentalism cannot be understood as an isolated issue. Pro-environmental thinking must pervade everything we...
Posted on November 20, 2007 7:35 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
People who advocate alternative energy (i.e. not oil or natural gas) often fail to appreciate the true cost of developing the necessary technology. Courtesy of Cryptogon, I now present a chart that illustrates these true costs, in proper perspective. As...
Posted on November 10, 2007 8:24 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Athletic regulatory bodies have a new headache. This time, the pain is being caused by placebos (an unexpected side effect!) As reported in New Scientist, athletes have found that they can exert themselves to a greater extent, while under...
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Posted on November 8, 2007 12:14 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
A recent study indicates that the lifetime cost of medical care for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will be greater than the cost of the war to date. We really have no choice, but it is going to cost us. A...
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Posted on November 7, 2007 8:43 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Nov. 5 event at U-M will feature top experts discussing alternatives to “criminalization” of America’s mentally ill ANN ARBOR, MI – Across America, prisons serve as an unofficial holding system for the mentally ill. Families desperate to get treatment...
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Posted on October 30, 2007 12:35 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Dr. Gerberding's congressional testimony was heavily edited by the Administration. Fortunately, that fact was picked up by the MSM. As of now, there are 711 mentions on Google News. In the interest of completeness, however, I noted that Dr....
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Posted on October 25, 2007 11:01 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
In the most recent debate among Presidential hopefuls in the Democratic Party, there was an exchange regarding the so-called "ticking bomb" question. The question itself, and the way it was handled, reveals shortcomings in the way we evaluate our candidates....
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Posted on September 30, 2007 8:29 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Sexual assault is a common and serious problem. It is hypothesized that misconceptions (rape myths) may play a role in this. About 50% of sexual assaults involving adolescent or young adult female victims occur in the context of alcohol...
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Posted on August 29, 2007 8:53 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Health care is shaping up to be one of the big issues in the upcoming elections. No big surprise there, it was a highly -ranked issue in the last election, too. It's just that last time, voters failed to see...
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Posted on August 24, 2007 11:57 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Hard to know what to make of this. The American Psychological Association considered a proposal to ban participation in military interrogations. Specifically, APA members would have been prohibited from assisting in interrogations "in which detainees are deprived of adequate protection...
Posted on August 20, 2007 12:46 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
An article in Forbes documents exorbitant commuter costs in some communities. In and around Houston, for example, the average commuter spends 20% of their household income on commuting. That, together with housing costs, adds to more than 50% of household...
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Posted on August 13, 2007 7:55 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
There is an article in the Christian Science Monitor about the history of tainted consumer goods. The author, Jane Whitaker, points out that the USA has a history of problems ever bit as bad as what we are seeing...
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Posted on August 5, 2007 1:48 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Foreign Policy magazine has released the results of their second survey of 100 foreign policy experts, on the topic of national security. The results are compiled into what they call the Terrorism Index. Their sample is bipartisan, with about 40% of...
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Posted on August 3, 2007 9:56 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
A couple of months ago, I wrote about the revelation that the a committee of the American Psychological Association had been manipulated into tacitly supporting the involvement of psychologists in developing harsh interrogation techniques. A couple of weeks ago,...
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Posted on August 1, 2007 9:02 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The New York Times contained two statements, in different contexts, that say opposite things. The first appears in their "most blogged" box. It is from July 15: The Richest of the Rich, Proud of a New Gilded Age By...
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Posted on July 20, 2007 11:15 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I'm not the best one to comment on this, not being a starving grad student, but I find it a bit disturbing. In Science today: an article on the unintended consequences of increased NIH funding. NIH funding was doubled from...
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Posted on July 13, 2007 12:41 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Here are ScienceBlogs, we have been resoundingly critical of the nominee for Surgeon General, Dr. James Holsinger. We also have been vociferously critical of the Bush Administration's latest installment of the War on Science, as exemplified by the muzzling of...
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Posted on July 13, 2007 8:02 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Why is it that recovering persons with alcoholism should not drink near-beer (beer with little or no alcohol)? ...Hank had been dry for several weeks thanks to a radical withdrawal program, but a simple walk past Pete's Tavern on...
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Posted on June 9, 2007 7:01 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
From CNN Money: Microsoft takes on the free world Microsoft claims that free software like Linux, which runs a big chunk of corporate America, violates 235 of its patents. It wants royalties from distributors and users. Users like you,...
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Posted on May 14, 2007 9:29 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
(Note: if the accent marks look weird, set your browser to view character encoding as Unicode (UTF-8)) One of the problems with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is that there is no clear rationale for the division...
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Posted on May 6, 2007 8:30 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
According to a study done at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, fewer people are identifying themselves as multiracial. Reynolds Farley Ph.D. reported: The annual ACS, which samples about 3 million households, shows a clear trend, Farley...
Posted on May 3, 2007 8:26 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Just in case you are a physician looking for a reason to avoid drug reps, you should read this article on PLOS Medicine. It is an enlightening, if sickening, inside view of pharmaceutical sales practices. Following the Script: How Drug...
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Posted on April 30, 2007 5:16 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The first two posts in this series are here and here. The final editorial in the NEJM's three-part series on FDA reform takes it's title from a line in the Institute of Medicine report: The Future of Drug Safety:...
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Posted on April 18, 2007 8:36 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
This is a continuation of the first post, Things That Affect YOU: PDUFA and AERS. PDUFA is the Prescription Drug User Fee Act. AERS is the Adverse Event Reporting System. The PDUFA is up for review soon, as it expires in...
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Posted on April 15, 2007 4:03 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
As I've mentioned before, when NEJM publishes things in the early-release/open-access format, it means that the editors believe the issues are pertinent to a high-priority public debate. In this case, it is because the PDUFA (Prescription Drug User Fee Act) is up for reauthorization. Some medical policy folks are concerned that changes are needed, but do not appear to be forthcoming. This issue has made it into the mainstream news media, but the number of articles is small. This is a disappointing response by the media, to an issue of critical importance.
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Posted on April 14, 2007 4:35 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Ordinarily, I dislike fisking as a literary style, but it does have its place. This is one of them. As noted in the two previous posts, (Part One, Part Two) some authors from the Cato Institute managed to get an...
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Posted on April 9, 2007 9:12 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
In order to make sense of this post, you probably need to read Part One first. This is about an opinion piece that was published in the LA Times, written by some advocates from the Cato Institute: Universal healthcare's dirty...
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Posted on April 8, 2007 8:06 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
It is charitable to call it a "debate" about health care. It is really a flame war with a veneer of civility. It started with an opinion piece published in what is ordinarily a respectable publication: the Los Angles Times...
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Posted on April 7, 2007 9:58 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Finally, we have a nice succinct statement from a politician on the subject of health care coverage. I know this is controversial, in the sense that, so far, the mainstream operatives in both major parties reject this. Still, I truly...
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Posted on March 24, 2007 12:21 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Yet Another Critique of Pay for Performance The concept of Pay for Performance is one of those things that seems sensible and appealing on the surface. But if there was ever a better example of the maxim, "the devil is...
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Posted on March 21, 2007 8:54 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The draft for the IPCC report for this year paints a distinctly disturbing picture of the near future. We can expect changes in immigration patterns, and we will need to be prepared. So if you are opposed to immigration, you should support efforts to limit climate change.
Posted on March 12, 2007 10:28 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Sometimes I go to sites such as Yes! or Ode, looking for a positive spin on current events. Another is the McClatchy site, where they have an entire section devoted to good news. But then, there is this: U.S. economy...
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Posted on February 25, 2007 8:49 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Part eight. Speaking of odds, do you remember who Percy Julian was? His work with steroids and alkaloids helped bring about a host of affordable and effective treatments for diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and glaucoma, benefiting millions worldwide. According to...
Posted on February 4, 2007 8:10 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists site is back to normal, only now they have a new, secondary theme. They are considering both climate change AND the risk of nuclear catastrophe. Based upon their deliberations, they have moved the clock two...
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Posted on January 17, 2007 8:52 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
...from a psychological standpoint, that is. This is the topic of an article in the current edition of Foreign Policy. In it, the authors examine the effect of common systematic cognitive errors, or biases, on the process of evaluating the...
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Posted on January 4, 2007 7:16 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
There have been stories and novels about the end of privacy. 1984, by George Orwell, comes to mind. I also remember reading a science fiction short story once, about how technology had made privacy so difficult to maintain, and so...
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Posted on January 2, 2007 8:54 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Catching up on news from earlier in the week, I came across a couple of items. One is a breathtaking development in Mexico, a country that is 88% Catholic; the other from South Africa: Mexican capital legalizes gay unions City...
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Posted on November 19, 2006 7:51 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Really. A doctor said that. An obstetrician, in a presentation entitled The Neuroendocrine and Biochemical Basics of Human Sexuality: The Results of Non-Marital Sexual Activity. [Note: the link goes to a 7MB PDF.] The author, Eric J. Keroack, M.D., F.A.C.O.G.,...
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Posted on November 18, 2006 7:35 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
OK, so it is not totally a myth; there are plenty of compassionate conservatives out there. But the phrase can be used to whitewash policies that are just plain mean. Florida is illegally imprisoning mentally ill persons, repeatedly, systematically, and...
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Posted on November 15, 2006 8:38 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I've quietly worried about this for a few years, but now I have company. Increased temperatures, combined with increased climate variability, could have a significant effect on human health worldwide. Diseases Appear on Rise With Temperature Nov 14, 5:51 PM...
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Posted on November 15, 2006 10:05 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
More headline comparisons: College kids add on pounds past 1st year San Jose Mercury News, USA - 15 hours ago AP. BOSTON - The "Freshman 15" is more like 5 to 7, but it is followed by the "Sophomore 2 or...
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Posted on October 23, 2006 7:52 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
No, it is not the name of a new rock band. It is a phenomenon that is increasing in frequency in the world's oceans. The dead zones are areas with very low oxygen content, so low that nothing can live...
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Posted on October 19, 2006 9:33 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Hedwig's recent post got me to thinking. Poverty, Nature and Progress Category: Cultural Observation • Environment • Ethics • Politics Posted on: October 15, 2006 1:56 PM, by "GrrlScientist" Wealth accumulated by First World countries is largely based on...
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Posted on October 16, 2006 11:24 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
An initiative to introduce the teaching of Intelligent Design in Michigan schools suffered a setback today. The state Congress was supposed to issue new curriculum guidelines recently. In September, the guidelines were delayed. Nobody knew for sure how it would...
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Posted on October 10, 2006 5:01 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
One thing I saw a couple of days ago, in Kalamazoo, was a protest near the office of their US Representative, Fred Upton. It was a small protest, put on by the Pink Patrol. I did not stop to see...
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Posted on October 8, 2006 1:06 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
"College Town 'Poverty' Exposed:" Exposé or Rant? The Cleveland Plain Dealer ran a story a couple of weeks ago, which dealt with the issue of Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) going to college towns. The article ran in Sunday's Ann...
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Posted on October 3, 2006 7:59 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Except I think it was a different DeVos. As linked by Mark Maynard, the irascibly analytical frontman for the Monkey Power Trio, Rolling Stone has an article that states: ...The godfather of the Dominionists is D. James Kennedy [link added],...
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Posted on October 2, 2006 8:04 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I am not feeling well today, so here is a low-overhead (for me) set of links. Anything thoughtful that goes up here yesterday, today, or tomorrow was written ahead of time, and scheduled. The last one was from science news....
Posted on September 25, 2006 4:50 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I'll be curious to see if there turns out to be a parallel between what is happening now in the auto industry, and what happens in the future in the computing industry. We recently passed the 25th anniversary of...
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Posted on September 20, 2006 8:35 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Yes! magazine is one of my favorite progressive publications. The reason is that they tend to take a positive view of everything. That is unlike a lot of politically-oriented publications, most of which somehow manage to make everything sound...
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Posted on September 16, 2006 11:01 PM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
I missed this the first time around, but now I am "happy" to report that the gender pay gap is narrowing. On August 31, 2006, just in time for Labor Day, the US Dept. of Labor issued a report that...
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Posted on September 16, 2006 6:27 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
GARDASIL®, the vaccine intended to prevent infection with human papillomavirus (HPV), was controversial even before it was approved by the FDA. Debate rages on use of cervical cancer vaccine Rob Stein, Washington Post Monday, October 31, 2005 (10-31) 04:00...
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Posted on September 14, 2006 8:40 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
The adjective extreme has been extremely overused in recent years. For example, I recently saw a sign in a gas station that advertised an Extreme Meal Deal: a hot dog, chips, and soda for $2.49. But Extreme Drug Resistant...
Posted on September 11, 2006 9:12 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
