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November 28, 2008
MarkH is going through the process of deciding what to what to do when he grows up. This is a much more difficult and important decision than many may realize. In order to understand the gravity of this process, I'll have to refresh your memories a bit regarding medical education.
In the U.S.,…
November 26, 2008
This is my annual Thanksgiving post ("annual" because I wrote it last year and I'm reposting it this year. It's companion piece is over at my old place). --PalMD
It's easy to see what Christmas means to an atheist---another day off work. What about Thanksgiving? This nominally secular holiday…
November 26, 2008
As a physician, few things frustrate and sadden me as much as preventable deaths. I see it all the time---the guy who kept putting off his colonoscopy and was later diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer, the woman who put off coming to the doctor with her breast lump until it broke through her…
November 26, 2008
Nearly 1,300 people have been killed in the Mexican city of Juarez so far this year, and journalists are among those targeted by the mafia. On November 13, Armando Rodriguez, a 40-year-old reporter for El Diaro de Juarez, was gunned down as he sat in his car in his driveway. Two other reporters…
November 25, 2008
We've mentioned before that the Obama administration will soon be focusing on developing new approaches to consumer-product safety. It's worth remembering some of the solutions that have been proposed over the past couple of years, as high-profile problems with contaminated food and drugs have…
November 24, 2008
If you're not yet familiar with researchblogging.org, you need to click the picture. It's a blog-aggregator that pulls together posts about peer-reviewed research, and since the intersection of published research and blogging is getting a lot of play lately, this is a must-see.
In addition, Dave…
November 24, 2008
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) is a government agency tasked with (among other things), "[exploring] complementary and alternative healing practices in the context of rigorous science." In this space we have talked about NCCAM quite a bit, but I have to admit…
November 24, 2008
Labor Secretary Chao issued her semi-annual regulatory today, listing allegedly the Department's "regulations that have been selected for review or development during the coming year." It all might seem kind of pointless (given that she won't have a say after Jan 20) but the document is in fact…
November 22, 2008
For many Americans, it's open enrollment time, the period your employer give you to make changes in your health insurance coverage. You may not understand your insurance very well, but you have to understand this one important fact: your health care providers know even less about your insurance…
November 21, 2008
The big news in Congress this week is that Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) has replaced John Dingell (D-Mich.) as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee â a move likely to have big implications for national climate policy, as Kate Sheppard at Gristmill explains. Meanwhile, Alicia Mundy at WSJâs…
November 21, 2008
Here's a question for you: is there, or should there be, any difference between studies of "alternative" and non-alternative medicine? I've argued before that there is no such thing as alternative medicine. So why do we need a separate agency to study "alternative" medicine? The National Center…
November 21, 2008
A three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments today about OSHA's rule on hexavalent chromium. OSHA issued the rule in February 2006, after this same Court of Appeals instructed the Agency in December 2002 to do so. (According to Law.com, the attorneys…
November 21, 2008
An underground coal miner who works in eastern Kentucky took the next step in his legal battle to force the Secretary of Labor to reduce respirable dust levels in our nation's coal mines. It started in March 2008 when Scott Howard of Lechter County, KY filed a lawsuit in federal court (…
November 20, 2008
Forty years ago today, a series of explosions ripped through the No. 9 Mine in Farmington, West Virginia and killed 78 workers. For nine days, families and friends of trapped miners waited in the hope that some of the miners would survive â but none did, and the mine was finally sealed, with the…
November 20, 2008
The big anniversary edition is up at Orac's place! Don't miss it!!!11!!
November 20, 2008
Mr. Rosaulino Montano, 46, an employee of  Engineered Construction Products of Smithsburg, MD fell seven stories to his death on Tuesday, Nov 18 on the campus of my workplace, the George Washington University (GWU).  Mr. Montano was installing windows at a $75 million residence hall under…
November 19, 2008
Our regular readers are well aware of the product defense tactics pioneered by the tobacco industry and taken to a new level by manufacturers of other dangerous products. Hazards magazine has just put out a new article about a manganese company thatâs following that playbook faithfully, even though…
November 19, 2008
So, America is changing. We have an African American president. The Latino population continues to grow. How can the alternative medicine community adjust to this demographic shift? What are they to do?
I'm glad you asked! It turns out that immigrants are palomas ripe for the plucking. Now, we…
November 19, 2008
by revere, cross-posted at Effect Measure
A congressionally mandated independent panel of scientists has just issued a report verifying what many of us have know since the early 1990s. Gulf War Syndrome (GWS) is real:
Gulf War syndrome is real and afflicts about 25 percent of the 700,000 U.S.…
November 18, 2008
I'm trying a new thing. I think it would be nice to have a place where medical professionals, and those who wish to see how those professionals are thinking, can have frank discussions about medicine, altmed, etc. In support of this, I've created a new forum. The idea is to enhance discussions…
November 18, 2008
Yesterdayâs Boston Globe features an interesting article on the vastly different fees that different Massachusetts hospitals charge to insurance companies. The Globe reporting team â Scott Allen, Marcella Bombardieri, Michael Rezendes, Liz Kowalczyk, and Jeffrey Krasner, with editor Thomas…
November 17, 2008
by revere, cross-posted at Effect Measure
The team of investigative reporting team of Susanne Rust and Meg Kissinger at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel just keeps rolling along, this time with an amazing story about how microwave safe plastics are leaching bisphenol-A (BPA) at potentially unsafe…
November 17, 2008
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is under a congressional deadline to complete final rules by December 31 on safety refuges and on conveyor belt flammability and ventilation practices. MSHA sent those documents to OMB on Friday, Nov 14 for final White House review.  Deaths…
November 16, 2008
Just a quick rundown.
Praxis #4, a surprisingly interesting carnival about academic life, is up at Martin's place.
Grand Rounds is up at Distractible Mind
Tangled Bank is up at Ames's place.
And Skeptics' Circle No. 100 is coming soon to Orac's place! Stay tuned!
November 16, 2008
Population biologists often want to infer the demographic history of the species they study. This includes identifying population subdivision, expansion, and bottlenecks. Genetic data sampled from multiple individuals can often be applied to study population structure. When phylogenetic methods…
November 16, 2008
On the weekends, my four-year old daughter comes to work with me. There isn't much for her to do. She certainly isn't allowed in patient rooms. She doesn't help me make medical decisions. But we spend twenty minutes each way in the car laughing. We walk around the hospital, everyone greeting…
November 14, 2008
This week Senator Max Baucus, chair of the powerful Finance Committee, released a policy paper on healthcare reform. Ezra Klein notes that itâs not a reform proposal, but âthe beginning of Max Baucus's attempt to create a health care reform processâ â and he explains the plan and the politics…
November 14, 2008
Last week's New England Journal of Medicine gave us some remarkable news, via the JUPITER Trial, adding additional evidence to the pile of articles on the cardioprotective effects of statins. This article is getting lots of press, which is great, but I'd hate to see this week's edition of the…
November 13, 2008
Last night, I read a bunch of posts in the blogosphere and then watched a segment on MSNBC's Keith Olberman talking about the Congressional Review Act of 1996 (CRA) and how it could be used to undue regulations issued in these final weeks of the Bush Administration. Some people seem to be…
November 13, 2008
 CBSâs 60 Minutes sent a news crew to Guiyu, China to capture the terrible conditions under which many of the discarded electronics from the U.S. are recycled. Hereâs a description from 60 Minutes producer Solly Granatstein:
Through the smoke, workers could be seen dismantling electronic…