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March 11, 2009
A lot of our coverage of bisphenol A, the endocrine-disrupting chemical present in a host of plastic products, has focused on the FDAâs outdated stance. The agency has insisted that BPA is safe at levels currently found in food and liquid containers, even though its own panel of science advisors…
March 10, 2009
On March 17, OSHA will begin the public hearing phase of its rulemaking to improve workplace safety standards for cranes and derricks used in construction.  More than 30 individuals or organizations have notified OSHA of their intent to give testimony at the hearing, including several who also…
March 10, 2009
In 2007 and 2008, 12 construction workers were killed on the Las Vegas Strip. The Las Vegas Sunâs Alexandra Berzon wrote an excellent series on the breakneck pace of construction in Las Vegas, which creates deadly conditions, and the disappointing response from the stateâs OSHA. Now, a bill has…
March 9, 2009
Today, President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum to the heads of executive departments and agencies regarding scientific integrity. It begins:
Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my Administration on a wide range of issues, including improvement of public…
March 9, 2009
by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure
I'm sure it will be years before we have cleaned up all the garbage -- literally and figuratively -- from the Bush administration's Environmental "Protection" Agency. The notoriously conservative DC Appeals Court, in a unanimous decision, did its part…
March 6, 2009
Thereâs been a lot of news about Obama appointees this week:
Mike Dunford at The Questionable Authority is furious about the secret holds placed on the nominations of John Holdren (for Science Advisor) and Jane Lubchenco (to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), and urges…
March 5, 2009
Last fall, we warned that a Supreme Court decision on medical device companies' liability would remove a powerful incentive for device manufacturers to ensure their products' safety. In that case, Riegel v. Medtronic, the Court ruled that as long as devices are FDA-approved, consumers injured by…
March 4, 2009
Or is it: what wouldn't we know without investigative journalist Andrew Schneider??? Would the town Libby, Montana mean anything? How about the words Zonolite, Diacetyl, or GRAS?  These terms and places are familiar because of Andy Schneider, the Pulitzer Prize (and other) award winning …
March 4, 2009
The escalating drug-cartel violence in Mexico is especially dangerous for those trying to govern and enforce the law. Drug traffickers demanded that Ciudad Juarez Police Chief Chief Roberto Orduña Cruz should resign, and promised to kill a police officer every 48 hours. After Orduñaâs deputy,…
March 3, 2009
As I skimmed through my RSS feeds and Above the Fold this morning, I noticed several stories about fish and the marine environment. Most of itâs bad news, as usual, but thereâs a glimmer of promise mixed in there, too:
Researchers from NOAA and Washington State University have found that some…
March 3, 2009
New awards for 2008 books are coming out, and we're proud to announce that David Michaels' Doubt is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health has won recognition from both the Library Journal and the American Association of Publishers.
Library Journal's Gregg Sapp has…
March 3, 2009
I know it doesn't feel like spring on the East Coast of the US, what with the big snow day yesterday. But it's been in the 60's here for the past three days, and in the 50's before that. At my elevation (6800 feet), the snow is gone except in the shade and on north-facing slopes. It's nice, but…
March 2, 2009
Cross-posted from Sustained Outrage: a Gazette Watchdog Blog Â
by Ken Ward, Jr.
Bayer CropScience hasnât said yet if it will challenge $143,000 in fines issued by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 13 serious and 2 repeat violations related to the August 2008 explosion and…
March 2, 2009
Updated below (3/17/09)
OMB Director Peter Orszag announced in a Federal Register notice last week that his office is interested in hearing your views on the federal regulatory process. The Request for Comments on new Executive Order on Federal Regulatory Review comes 4-weeks after President…
March 2, 2009
by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure
The scientific literature is full of specialized papers that on their face would seem to be of little interest. Here's a title like that: "Prevalence and seasonality of influenza-like illness in children, Nicaragua, 2005-2007" (Gordon et al., Emerging…
February 27, 2009
Bloggers have lots of thoughts on Obamaâs budget:
Merrill Goozner at GoozNews gives us the big picture
Maggie Mahar at Health Beat explores the challenges of the budgetâs approach to healthcare
Ezra Klein explains how it addresses the question of an individual mandate for health insurance
Sarah…
February 27, 2009
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued a decision this week on legal challenges to OSHA's 2006 rule to protect workers from exposure to hexavalent chromium. In the simpliest terms, Public Citizen's Health Research Group and the Steelworkers argued that OSHA's rule was not…
February 27, 2009
The latest piece from Rick Weiss at Science Progress is a must-read for anyone concerned about the safety of nanotechnology. Weiss attended a conference sponsored by the Food and Drug Law Institute where lawyers provided advice about avoiding nanotech-related lawsuits, and learned this:
In short…
February 26, 2009
By a vote of 80-17, the Senate on Tuesday confirmed Hilda Solis as the 25th Secretary of Labor. The Department of Laborâs website has posted photos of her arrival at agency headquarters.
Solis served in Congress from 2001-2009, representing Californiaâs 32nd Congressional District. DOLâs press…
February 25, 2009
I'm supervising a few independent studies this year, with groups of students working on fairly large and fairly fuzzily-defined design projects. These groups couldn't be more different from each other in terms of the way they act as a group, act as individuals, and interact with me. It's got me…
February 25, 2009
A week after President Obama signed the stimulus bill into law, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has allocated $10 billion of its funding. The agencyâs press release explains why the speed was possible:
The funding announced today is primarily formula-based, meaning that it is…
February 25, 2009
Yesterday, the Institute of Medicine warned that employment-based health insurance coverage is eroding, and that the safety net (clinics and emergency rooms that provide charity and uncompensated care) wonât be able to handle the demand from the uninsured. IOMâs new report, Americaâs Uninsured…
February 24, 2009
(Updated 3/2/09 below)
The U.S. economy is in the tank----the national unemployment rate for January was 7.6% and 46 States are facing serious budget shortfalls-----but these hard times are NO EXCUSE to roll-back worker safety protections.  Yet, that is exactly what some Kentucky lawmakers…
February 24, 2009
On Sunday in Chinaâs Shanxi Province, an explosion rocked a coal mine where 436 people were working underground. Seventy-four of the workers died, and 114 were hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning. The New York Timesâ Edward Wong puts this terrible death toll in context:
The mining industry…
February 23, 2009
by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure
DemFromCT continues his public health series over at DailyKos, thus also continuing to make my early week blogging easier. This week is a brief look at this year's flu season, already in full swing, including what is happening in pediatric deaths from flu…
February 20, 2009
President Obama's visit to Canada has several bloggers thinking about tar sands:
Ian Austen at Green Inc. gives an overview of our two countries' positions on this dirty source of oil.
Kate Sheppard at Gristmill explores how Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper are explaining their…
February 20, 2009
by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure
Nothing like a massive food contamination outbreak from a plant in your state to concentrate the minds of state legislators (more here and links therein). Especially when an important industry is involved. We're talking Georgia peanuts, of course. Peanuts…
February 19, 2009
Yesterday, the New York Times published an article by Cara Buckley on young adults who lack health insurance. Although theyâre often referred to as âyoung invincibles,â most of the people profiled in the article donât actually think they wonât need medical care. They donât have insurance because…
February 19, 2009
DC-area readers, mark your calendars: Alison Bass, an award-winning journalist and Pulitzer Prize nominee, will be here at George Washington University on Wednesday, March 18th, to speak about why the system of drug research and development in the United States is seriously flawed and what reforms…
February 18, 2009
Last week, Salon.com published a disturbing in-depth series, called âComing Home,â about the tragic consequences of the Armyâs inability to provide adequate care to soldiers returning from Iraq. Focusing on just one base â Fort Carson, Colorado â they found the following:
Salon put together a…