Friday Blog Roundup

This week saw several new policy statements from presidential hopefuls, and bloggers have opinions about them. David Roberts at Gristmill responded to Barack Obamaâs energy plans, while Amie Newman at RHReality Check focused what Obamaâs saying in Iowa about abortion and abstinence-only sex ed. Jacob Goldstein at the WSJ Health Blog reported on John McCainâs healthcare plan, and Chris Mooney at The Intersection devoted several posts to Hillary Clintonâs statements on science.

And, to add to the discussions about childrenâs health insurance, Rob Cunningham at the Health Affairs Blog reports on a new study about quality concerns in childrenâs health care, and Mike Dunford at The Questionable Authority compares employer-sponsored health insurance coverage in states with and without legislation that tends to undercut unions.

Elsewhere:

Orac at Respectful Insolence evaluates TIME Magazineâs feature âThe Changing Face of Breast Cancer.â

Merrill Goozner at GoozNews explains how the news about conflicts of interest in an NIH trial of routine CT scans for current and former smokers is âa classic example of everything that ails the health care technology assessment field.â

Gavin Yamey at PLoS rounds up reactions to an essay about how much of the medical literature is shaped behind the scenes by the pharmaceutical industry.

April Harding at Global Health Policy explains why the bed-net giveaways recently lauded in a New York Times article donât necessarily translate into more net usage (or fewer malaria cases).

RH Reality Check explores the factors behind child marriage and the initiatives aimed at stopping the practice.

Matt Madia at Reg Watch alerts us to the dark side of the EPAâs settlement with a utility, and to the EPAâs lax enforcement of Clean Water Act regulations.

Jack Sterne at Shifting Baselines reports on a state of emergency in Florida that makes the case for red tide legislation.

Kate at The Anterior Commissure encourages her fellow scientists to put more faith in the non-scientific public.

Categories

More like this

FDA has been in the spotlight this week, and often not in a good way. Andrew Schneider at Secret Ingredients tracks the ongoing saga of the salmonella-tainted tomatoes. At WSJâs Health Blog, Alicia Mundy reports that Congress has pressed more money on the FDA, and Theo Francis describes Senator…
Given the lack of encouraging global warming developments coming out of the G8 summit, itâs nice to have good news on other topics: After a two-year boycott by doctors, authors, and healthcare and peace advocates, Lancet publisher Reed Elsevier has agreed to end its involvement in weapon sales â…
There were lots of good posts this week about health challenges around the world: Marjan Siadat at Detroit Receiving provides a grim look at the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe.   Amie Newman at RH Reality Check reminds us that having a child remains one of the biggest health risks for women…
This weekâs edition is devoted to blogging about election results: the performance of state-level ballot measures, what the new Congress looks like, speculation about cabinet picks, and priorities for President-Elect Obama and the 111th Congress. Suggested Policies and Priorities Students from the…