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December 15, 2008
by revere, cross-posted at Effect Measure
Yesterday Flu Wiki founding editor and DailyKos frontpager DemFromCT reviewed three recent report cards on public health, one each by the American Public Health Association (APHA), The Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the American College Of Emergency…
December 14, 2008
Yes, it's that time of year again. Last year, I gave you weekly flu updates from the CDC and from my position on the front line.
So far, it's still quiet. I haven't personally seen any cases yet, but I'm sure to soon enough.
It's not too late to get vaccinated. Wash your hands frequently.…
December 14, 2008
(Tangentially related podcast here)
Here's the thing: all this talk about arrogance in medicine is a red herring. It's distracting us from the real question that we should all be asking: how do we improve quality medical care?
The personality of individual physicians is important, but not very,…
December 12, 2008
OK, so I guess I'm not busy enough, cuz I'm experimenting with podcasting. I have a voice best left to typing, but I want to try a new medium.
The first episode is on arrogance in medicine, and the rss feed looks funky cuz i'm still learning, but let me know how it goes. This discussion is a…
December 12, 2008
Bloggers react to the news of Obama's picks for top enviornmental posts:
Kate Sheppard at Gristmill gathers reactions from both environmental advocates and business-oriented think tanks. (Myron Ebel of the Competitive Enterprise Institute warns that Carol Browner shares many of Al Gore's "wildest…
December 12, 2008
The Washington Post obtained a copy of a draft report on mercury that Food and Drug Administration sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget, and reports that it contains advice that alarms scientists from the Environmental Protection Agency. At issue is advice about fish consumption…
December 12, 2008
by revere, cross-posted at Effect Measure
Energy may be the topic du jour but it's been the 800 lb. gorilla in the room for, oh, a couple of centuries. In a sense it's responsible for one of the greatest occupational health catastrophes of the 20th century, and a new report from CDC demonstrates…
December 11, 2008
Orac is celebrating his 4th blogiversary today, and folks are giving him his props over at his place. I was about to give him congrats over there, but I figured this deserved a post of its own.
I started blogging seriously in May of 07. I had been attracted to the crankosphere via the cesspit…
December 11, 2008
TO:  All worker health and safety advocates, seekers of justice and protections for working people, and friends of healthy work environments: Â
The American Public Health Association's (APHA) OHS Section has not, and will not, forget about the deadly and disabling illnesses caused by…
December 11, 2008
by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure
I vaguely remember a medical school lecture about dracunculiasis, also known as Guinea Worm Disease. Also called the "fiery serpent" these are very long worms that grow in people and then the females get hungry and start to burrow out of them, sort of…
December 10, 2008
Science and medicine reporting is hard. In this space we've dealt with some of the problems that arise when "generalist" reporters try to "do" science and medicine. And now, CNN has shut down its science unit. Given the increasing complexity of medical and scientific knowledge, this is very bad…
December 10, 2008
In Brooklyn, a bus driver refused to give a transfer to a man who hadnât paid â and the man responded by stabbing the bus driver to death. Edwin Thomas, 46, had an 18-year-old son and a 16-year-old daughter. He was driving the B46 route when he was killed. In the New York Times, Robert D. McFadden…
December 10, 2008
After my post yesterday "More Delays on OSHA's Overdue Crane Rule,"  I thought more about why OSHA's decision to extend the comment period really perturbs me. Â
Some might say "we're in the middle of the Bush-to-Obama Transition. It's not like an additional 45 days will make that much…
December 9, 2008
This was first posted at Science-Based Medicine on Monday, but I can't seem to keep myself from cross-posting. --PalMD
I've been thinking about an interesting organism lately, an organism that illustrates some basic principles in science-based medicine.
The organism is called Haemophilus…
December 9, 2008
When OSHA finally published on October 9 a proposed rule to protect workers using cranes and derricks, I thought (maybe) we'd turned a page on at least one inexcusable rulemaking delay.  But no. OSHA's acting assistant secretary, Thomas M. Stohler, signed off last week to drag out this…
December 9, 2008
In case yesterdayâs post didnât convince you to get a flu shot, you should check out Maryn McKenna at Superbug's report on the growing problem of deadly staphylococcus infections hitting flu sufferers. She highlights the sad case of Robert Sweitzer, a 39-year-old man who was healthy until he…
December 8, 2008
The CDC has declared this week to be National Influenza Vaccination Week, and is working to raise awareness about the seriousness of influenza and the importance of vaccination. The agency reminds us that each year in the U.S., 5-20 %of the population gets the flu, and approximately 36,000 people…
December 7, 2008
Perhaps because I don't blog anonymously, or maybe for other reasons, I don't write that much about my personal life. That kind of writing can be self-important, insipid, and boring. But it can also have real power. A number of the anonymous bloggers here describe the intersection of the…
December 5, 2008
The Bush administrationâs decision to let mining companies dump their waste into waterways is bad news, but bloggers note a few bright spots on the coal-mining scene.
Rob Perks at NRDCâs Switchboard announces that Bank of America âwill phase out financing of companies whose predominant method of…
December 5, 2008
Carnival of the Liberals is up at Capitol Annex
Skeptics' Circle 101 is up at Ionian Enchantment.
You may have noticed the Friend Feed widget on the sidebar. I've added this as a sort of "mini-blog", where we can post brief links or stories. I'd say it's just out of beta at this point, but it…
December 5, 2008
The Charleston Gazette's Ken Ward amazes me with his tenacious attention to worker safety, his watchdog instincts, and his exceptional commitment to follow-up.  One of Ward's practices that I especially appreciate is his detailed reporting of worker fatalities in West Virginia. Take for…
December 4, 2008
Anyone who works with the mentally ill knows that they smoke more than other people. In fact, people with mental illness (hereafter, MI, not to be confused with myocardial infarction) are about twice as likely to smoke as people without mental illness, with smoking rates of 60-90%. One of my…
December 4, 2008
The official figure for cholera deaths in Zimbabwe is 565, but The Independent cites a senior health officialâs report that the death toll is closer to 3,000. On Wednesday, riot police in Harare used batons to disperse and beat a group of doctors and nurses expressing anger over the outbreak. Barry…
December 3, 2008
In most of the worker deaths we cover, itâs clear what could have been done to prevent the tragedy â fall protection, cleanup of combustible dust, better crane inspections â and what kinds of regulations are needed to keep such disasters from occurring again. In the death of Jdimytai Damour, though…
December 3, 2008
From the President who brought you "Clean Skies (cough)" and "Healthy Forests (not)" comes a slashing of the "Buffer Zone" rule which is supposed to prohibit mining companies from dumping waste rock---created by mountaintop removal to extract coal---within 100 feet of streams. As we all know…
December 2, 2008
We sometimes treat them like second-class citizens. Or do we? Certainly smokers hate it when we force them out into the cold for a butt. Here in Michigan, we're thinking about restricting smoking in a lot of public places. There benefits are supposed to accrue to three groups: the smokers…
December 2, 2008
Itâs nice to finally be able to report that the Bush administration EPA has issued what appears to be a strong pollution-curbing rule on medical waste incineration. Although medical waste incinerators account for a relatively small amount of overall air pollution, they can have significant effects…
December 1, 2008
Today is the 20th annual World AIDS Day, and World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan reflects on what the global community has achieved over the past two decades:
Civil society brought the disease â and the needs of those affected â to the forefront of world attention. Attitudes…
December 1, 2008
There is an ongoing discussion amongst our Sciblings regarding our German counterparts at scienceblogs.de. Apparently they have some odd folks as science bloggers over there, including people who think ayurvedic heavy metals are good for you. In the tradition of countering speech with speech, I'm…
December 1, 2008
by revere, cross-posted at Effect Measure
A story on the wires about a paper in the journal Epidemiology this month (November) confirms what other work has shown: those beautiful flowers we buy in American florist shops have an added price attached to them, paid by the children of Central America.…