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June 5, 2008
Set your wristwatch alarms or your VCR for this Sunday (June 7) at 7:00 pm (EST) to watch CBS's 60 Minutes and a hard-hitting story on OSHA and its failure to protect workers and communities from combustible dust explosions. CBS's correspondent Scott Pelley  interviews Carolyn Merritt (…
June 4, 2008
This topic has been running through my mind quite a bit lately. Infectious diarrhea is one of the world's most vicious killers, but is susceptible to basic public health measures such as clean water and good sanitation, which is why cholera-ridden Americans aren't dropping dead in pools of their…
June 4, 2008
I am often the bearer of bad news. I don't think I've ever been formally taught how to deliver bad news, but I've developed a style over the years, and I'm pretty good at it.
I work with medical residents every day in their outpatient clinics. Most of them have never had to deliver bad news.…
June 4, 2008
By Susan F. Wood, PhD
Much has been written at the Pump Handle and elsewhere in the media and scientific literature about ensuring that science appropriately drives government policies. Questions and concerns have abounded regarding inappropriate non-scientific interference, while at the same…
June 4, 2008
The human rights group Amnesty International has released a report criticizing forced labor and dangerous working conditions in Brazilâs sugar cane industry, which feeds the countryâs booming ethanol industry. Eduardo Simoes and Inae Riveras report for Reuters (via Gristmill):
Amnesty said that in…
June 3, 2008
For the first time since 2005, the full Senate chamber is debating climate legislation: the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, or CSA. Although the chances of this legislation becoming law this year are slim, it could lay important groundwork for the next Congress and Administration.
If you…
June 3, 2008
Dear Jenny,
Jenny, Jenny, Jenny. Oh, Jenny. Look, I realize I might have been somewhat less than kind in the past, but I'm hoping you haven't written me off. I've been told you catch a lot more flies with honey than with vinegar, so please take this letter in the spirit it was intended---…
June 3, 2008
In the interest of blog synergy, I'm reposting this from my old blog.
I'm actually quite lucky. Despite being surrounded by infectious diseases for sixty hours a week, I don't get sick all that much (OK, maybe more than most, but I don't have data). I actually called in sick for part of the day…
June 3, 2008
The 65 or so high school seniors of Tygarts Valley High School shared a moment of silence during their graduation ceremony last night (The InterMountain reports) to mourn the death of Adam Lanham, 18, who died on Friday, May 30 at ICG's Sentinel Mine. The young coal miner was a 2007 graduate of…
June 2, 2008
At a summit at the World Science Festival, panelists agreed that the U.S. is losing its stature as a leader in science. Panelists cited two reasons: diminished funding for research, and âa perceived high-level disdain for science.â Keith B. Richburg of the Washington Post explains:
Speaking at a…
June 2, 2008
West Nile season is starting up, with the first few case reports trickling in.
Back in the summer of 2002, I was introduced to West Nile fever. This mosquito-borne viral illness had a minimal presence in North America in the preceding three years, but made its real American debut that summer. It…
June 2, 2008
On Friday, May 30 it was a crane collapse in NYC where Donald Leo, 30, and Ramadan Kurtaj, 27 were killed and Simeon Alexis, 32, was seriously injured. On Saturday, May 31 it was a crane collapse at the Wyoming Black Thunder mine which seriously injured ironworkers Andrew Milonis and Frederico…
June 1, 2008
To kick off this book club discussion, I want to explain how I ended up the past couple years obsessing over E. coli. If you don't know much about E. coli, it may sound like a strange thing to do. But the time I spent in this microbe's intellectual company was deeply enlightening.
I came to write…
June 1, 2008
I was glancing at the Huffington Post today when I ran into yet another piece of what I wish was absurdist health reporting. Unfortunately, it's meant to be taken seriously.
What's even worse is that there is a real problem hidden in the hyperbole, but the author's over-the-top rant does more to…
May 30, 2008
Spring is here, despite this week's frost (I'm really happy I didn't get around to planting last weekend). I love being outdoors, but my work keeps me inside a lot. Now that the days are longer, I have more opportunities to take my kiddo outside exploring. Her favorite thing to do is go "hiking…
May 30, 2008
As rising oil prices continue to grab headlines, the spotlight turns to what politicians are and arenât doing to solve our energy problems.
David Roberts at Gristmill is outraged that Senator McCain will miss the vote on the Climate Security Act (true to his pattern of missing 2007 environmental…
May 30, 2008
From April 12 to May 22, seven workers have been killed while working on antenna towers, many of which service our wireless communication system. One worker was killed in Wake Forest, NC; another in San Antonio; a third was killed in Frisco, NC; another in Moorcroft, WY; a fifth man was killed…
May 30, 2008
A study just published in the journal PLoS Medicine (and written up in the LA Times) suggests a link between childhood lead exposure and adult arrests for violent crimes. Studying 250 adults for whom they had prenatal and childhood blood lead level measurements, University of Cincinnati researchers…
May 29, 2008
We've often discussed the tactics favored by denialists, and prominent among these is the ad hominem attack. Physicians who speak out against quackery and speak up for science-based medicine are often often accused of lacking compassion. Orac wrote a little bit about the topic today. (OK, Orac…
May 29, 2008
The fight against HIV occurs on several different levels: prevention of transmission and acquisition, treatment of the infection, and prevention and treatment of opportunistic illnesses.
Prevention has been addressed extensively (and perhaps will be again later), and opportunistic illnesses is a…
May 29, 2008
by Susan F. Wood, PhD
Last year, Congress passed new legislation on the Food and Drug Administration, known as the FDA Amendments Act (FDAAA) of 2007.This legislation, while limited, made some significant steps forward, see here and here. It reauthorizes the user fee systems for drugs, biologics…
May 29, 2008
In 1999, the CDC announced its selections for the 10 greatest achievements in U.S. public health history in the 20th century, and among them was improvements in motor vehicle safety.  I've nothing against looking at success over a long term, but we know that much still needs to be done. The…
May 28, 2008
For Memorial Day, news stories highlighted the importance of hearing, remembering, and responding to the stories of those whoâve served our country. The San Diego Union-Tribune profiled âfour seemingly ordinary people who led extraordinary livesâ in past wars; in the Washington Post, Edward G.…
May 28, 2008
How do you best teach workers about safety? How do you change peopleâs attitudes?Â
The Workersâ Comp board in Ontario, Cananda, and many safety instructors along with them, believes that gruesome pictures or videos work best. Like driving by the scene of a car accident, it is hard not to look.…
May 27, 2008
Asbestos is internationally recognized as a carcinogen and blamed for 100,000 deaths each year, but neither the U.S. nor Canada has managed to ban its use. Two mines in Quebec still produce asbestos, and about 95% of their production is exported. Last year, The Globe and Mailâs Martin Mittelstaedt…
May 27, 2008
Earlier this year, a group of worker advocates sent a petition to MSHA Chief Richard Stickler asking for rulemaking to improve the training miners receive about their statutory rights. The petition called for significant changes in the way in which all workers employed at U.S. mining…
May 26, 2008
Given Ford's early track record, this story out of California is rather disturbing. (Via PZ). A SoCal Ford dealership is using prejudice against non-Christians as a prominent selling point for their business.
Henry Ford I was a well-known antisemite, and published the Protocols of the Elders of…
May 26, 2008
I am giving out a previously non-existent award today to a truly great denialist. Andrew Schlafly, spawn of anti-feminist Phyllis Schlafly and some long-forgotten sperm-donor (ironic, eh?), was not content just being the legal counsel to the uber-crank Association of American Physicians and…
May 23, 2008
Here's the conundrum:
Let's say your patient's insurance has decided that they will pay for 12 sessions of reiki for, say, back pain. All that the patient needs to have this therapy approved and paid for is their primary care doctor's referral.
Let's say that doctor has examined the evidence,…
May 23, 2008
Senator Edward Kennedyâs diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor is terrible news on multiple levels. While our thoughts go out to the Senator and his family, itâs also difficult to imagine Congress tackling the many important health-related issues before it without Senator Kennedy.
Ezra Klein calls…