Neuron Culture's Top Ten from September : Neuron Culture

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I write articles on science, medicine, nature, culture and other matters for the New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Slate, National Geographic, Scientific American Mind, and other publications, and am working on my fourth book, The Orchid and the Dandelion, which expands on my recent December 2009 Atlantic article. In August 2010, I'll be moving to London for a year to work on the book. I'll also serve as a senior fellow at City University London's MA science journalism program.

You're encouraged to check out my third book Reef Madness: Charles Darwin, Alexander Agassiz, and the Meaning of Coral, which traces the strangest but most forgotten controversy in Darwin's career; subscribe to Neuron Culture by email; see more of my work at my main website ; or track Twitter feed, my Google Reader shared items, or my Tumblr log, which gets it all.

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Neuron Culture's Top Ten from September

Posted on: October 5, 2009 3:19 PM, by David Dobbs

Never know what'll top the charts. Top post was a post I put up in January, "Pfizer takes $2.3 billion offl-label marketing fine." That post reported the news (via FiercePharma) that Pfizer had tucked away in its financial disclosure forms a $2.3 billion charge to end the federal investigation into allegations of off-label promotions of its Cox-2 painkillers, including Bextra. (Lot of money ... but it didn't quite wipe out the company's 2008 net income.) The company had set aside the money as part of a deal it was negotiating Justiice. Finalizing the deal, however, took until September. At that point, the Dept of Justice announced it in a splashy press conference. Because my post was was one of the few things already on the interwebz before Justice held its news conference, the Google rush shot it toward the top of the search results. Sometimes big news is 8 months old.

Other hits of the month:

Embargo? Embargo? The case of the missing swine flu paper

How Pfizer's $2.3B criminal settlement proves Obama wants to 'federalize' healthcare

PTSD: Two new programs; two big ignored questions

Morning Dip - Depression doubles; swine flu packs for a move north

53-inch penises, other self-destruction, & viruses bad & good

We're Number 37 - The "Rock Tank" analysis of the healthcare reform debate Very entertaining. You should watch it again.

What the Public Thinks of Public Schools

Neuroskeptic: Trauma Alters Brain Function... So What?