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July 14, 2008
Dr. David Gorski has an excellent and comprehensive post up on Science-based medicine regarding the horrid report by Steve Wilson on Channel 7 Detroit. Go and read.
July 14, 2008
When was the last time the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO agreed on a matter related to workers' health and safety?  That's exactly what has happened since the formal announcement about CDC Director Julie Gerberding's decision not to reappoint NIOSH Director John Howard.  Members of…
July 14, 2008
Starting in August, roughly 17,000 employees of the state of Utah will switch from five-day to four-day workweeks. Essential services like police and public schools wonât be affected, but an estimated 1,000 of the stateâs 3,000 buildings will be closed on Fridays. The state expects to save $3…
July 12, 2008
I was trying to avoid weighing in on this one, but blogorrhea always wins. I won't bother rehashing the details of the imbroglio---if you don't know, well, you've been sleeping. Go on...google "pharyngula cracker"...I can wait. OK, now that you've caught up, here's my two cents. I'm conflicted…
July 11, 2008
Bloggers consider the disappointing results from the G8 summit: Kate Sheppard at Gristmill explains why the G8 climate agreement is not so great (especially when considered in light of goals set in 1992). Richard Littlemore at DeSmogBlog lays the blame for the G8âs climate standstill on three men…
July 10, 2008
Look, my beef with Steve Wilson isn't about style, isn't about quality, isn't about personality...it's about truths, and it's about health. Getting a detail wrong in an investigation of, say, cement is a peccadillo. Helping spread lies about the most important public health measure since clean…
July 10, 2008
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Congressman George Miller (D-CA) are demanding answers from Labor Secretary Elaine Chao on her mysterious proposed rule on risk assessment.  I reported earlier this week that the Secretary's office sent a proposed rule to OMB on July 7 entitled "Requirements…
July 10, 2008
Pens, pads, and other trinkets bearing prescription-drug logos have come to symbolize the extensive presence of pharmaceutical marketing in healthcare settings, but they may be on their way out. Pharmaceutical-industry trade association The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (…
July 9, 2008
This is my little version of blogrolling, something I vowed to never do, but I've been reading so many good blogs lately that I'd like to share some links. Some of these are on our blogroll, some aren't. EpiWonk: An epidemiology blog. Archeoporn: one of the best names on the web. Submitted to a…
July 9, 2008
Some links, general business, and not-so random thoughts. Tangled Bank #109 is up at Greg's place. The Blog that Ate Manhattan is hosting the latest Grand Rounds, Seinfeld additon. ScienceBlogs has a new project called Next Generation Energy. It will cover energy problems, alternative, etc. It…
July 9, 2008
In the New York Times, David Tuller describes the on-the-job violence nurses face, and efforts to make their workplaces safer:  Three years ago, an enraged patient â 6 feet 4 inches and 275 pounds â smacked another patient, bit a health aide, threatened to kill [psychiatric nurse Karen] Coughlin…
July 8, 2008
It's worse than I thought. A local investigative reporter has just broadcast a report on mercury, vaccines, and autism that was devoid of any investigation. It was a piece of lazy journalism, relying on the propaganda of the antivax cults, rather than real medical information. It was a pure…
July 8, 2008
That's the question posed by CNN yesterday. It's a good question. Any time a new vaccine or treatment is available, safety is a concern. Pre-marketing testing is likely to miss very rare reactions, so the government monitors new drugs when they hit the market. Gardasil has so far been quite…
July 8, 2008
I found the most curious item on OMB OIRA's webpage today, and my paranoia about end-of-the-term mischief by the Bush Administration kicked into high gear.  The item is listed as a proposed rule submitted to OIRA for review on July 7 titled: "Requirements for DOL Agencies' Assessment of…
July 8, 2008
I'm repeating myself here, but it's for a good cause. At the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy at George Washington University School of Public Health, weâve launched a multi-part study to understand the current policies surrounding scientistsâ work at government agencies and to…
July 8, 2008
Arghhh!!! Framing. What is it? Is it a way of communicating issues effectively to diverse populations? Or is it another word for compromising your values until they become meaningless? In his latest piece, SciBling Matt Nisbet shows it to be the latter. While many of us are shaking our heads…
July 7, 2008
I'm starting to worry about health coverage in the NY Times. Lawrence Altman is a great health reporter, and I like one of Michael Pollan's pieces in particular, but the Times also has a bunch of those blog-thinggies, and one of the writers has disappointed me before. Oops, she did it again...…
July 7, 2008
It might be hard to recall a time when we didnât know that exercise is good for your heart, and smoking is bad for it â but, back in 1948, researchers and clinicians knew little about the causes of cardiovascular disease. That year, the National Heart Institute (now the National Heart, Lung, and…
July 7, 2008
Look, I know no one is weeping for doctors and their complaints about payment cuts, but you should at least be concerned, and here's why. Some doctors are rich...very rich. Most are not. Medical education is largely financed with debt, and primary care doesn't pay all that much. Small practices…
July 6, 2008
GrrlScientist inspired me to upload some of my Up North pics. Red pine groves on granite outcrops are a characteristic feature of Algonquin Park. Red Pines have reddish bark which flakes off in thin scales. Their needles come in groups of two.
July 5, 2008
When will the stupidity end? Really. When? As long as Conservapedia exists, the answer will elude us. The latest feculent flow of irrational idiocy concerns the Lenski Affair. Just to remind you, a biologist named Lenski did a very cool experiment regarding evolution in E.coli. Some…
July 5, 2008
The big healthcare news this week was the scheduled 10% cut to Medicare physician fees, which Congress almost managed to avert. Instead, implementation of the cuts has been put on hold for two more weeks. Bloggers have more: Sarah Rubenstein at WSJâs Health Blog gives a quick summary of the…
July 4, 2008
The United Steelworkers, North America's largest private sector union with 1.2 million members, and Unite the Union, the largest labor organization in the United Kingdom and Ireland with 2 million members, signed an agreement to create the world's first global union called Workers Uniting.  The…
July 3, 2008
Sometimes things just fall into your lap. This evening I was working on a different piece, and not getting very far, when an email arrived in my in-box. You see, when you write for the 21st most influential science blog, you get a lot of unsolicited mail (OK, fine...I get spam in my blog-related…
July 3, 2008
The six-year term of John Howard, MD as director of the National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety is coming to an end.  An annoucement today from CDC's Media Relations office said: "Dr. Julie Gerberding met with Dr. John Howard and let him know that HHS/CDC will begin a search for a…
July 3, 2008
Obviously, the economy and Iraq are big issues on votersâ minds, but a new poll from Scientists and Engineers for America shows that candidates would also be smart to demonstrate their support for science. In fact, SEAâs Michael Stebbins reports that although the organization expected positive…
July 3, 2008
Orac was kind enough to pollute my inbox with the latest idiocy from the journal that has never met a crank it didn't like. As Orac says, "Medical Hypotheses [is] the journal where the editors encourage the authors to make shit up." Before I tell you about the latest "hypothesis", let me give you…
July 3, 2008
The Chipotle restaurant chain's corporate philosophy is "Food with Integrity": "we can always do better in terms of the food we buy.  And ...we mean better in every sense of the word---better tasting, coming from better sources, better for the environment, better for the animals, and better for…
July 2, 2008
Sure, we have obesity problems in this country, but we also have more direct food safety problems. Summer has brought with it news of the bungled tomato-Salmonella affair, and now, from the Midwest, contaminated beef. One of our local supermarket chains has been forced to recall hamburger meat…
July 2, 2008
For PBS, Bill Moyersâ Journal and Exposé: Americaâs Investigative Reports went to the Charlotte Observer to learn more about their excellent series on injured poultry workers, The Cruelest Cuts. Reporters actually stumbled on the story in 2005, when they were reporting on avian influenza. Poultry…