Rhetoric has been flying this year, especially in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, about the “burdens” of federal regulations. Many of these members seem to despise EPA rules, CSPS rules, healthcare rules, and OSHA rules. Many of their talking points come from groups like the Heritage Foundation with their reports “Red Tape Rising: Obama’s Torrent […]
A few of the recent pieces I’ve liked: Julie Appleby and Jordan Rau at Kaiser Health News: ‘Double’ Chest Scans Increase Costs and Exposure to Radiation Evan Bush in iWatch News: Obama administration signals higher gas royalties on public lands — and anticipated industry resistance Alix Spiegel for NPR: Why Seeing (The Unexpected) Is Often […]
Addiction & Substance Abuse
Third time’s the charm?: Passage of Texas Smoke-free Workplace Law down to the wire
by Kim Krisberg Don’t mess with Texas. The iconic phrase was actually created as part of an anti-littering campaign more than 20 years ago, however it could be as easily applied to the state’s notorious anti-regulatory attitude and penchant for bucking convention. But despite its reputation, the Lone Star State is poised to join 29 […]
When I decided yesterday to watch the Republican candidates debate, I created a scorecard to use while I observed the two-hour event. I was interested particularly in exchanges related to public health topics, such as access to health care, and clean air and safe drinking water. Within minutes of first tuning in, I remembered how […]
Seven Republicans will meet tonight at St. Anselms college in Manchester, New Hampshire for a Presidential debate. The participants include both the declared candidates (Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santoroum) and likely candidate, Michele Bachman. Given that the event will take place in the St. Anselm Hawk’s hockey […]
A few of the recent pieces I’ve liked: Jamie Holmes in The New Republic: Why Can’t More Poor People Escape Poverty? Maryn McKenna at Superbug: 30 Years of AIDS, and How it Began (also Part II and Part III) Jesse Green in New York: “A Textbook of Trauma” (“The crash of the Chinatown charter was […]
Public Health Practice
June 5, 1981: CDC reports “the possibility of a cellular-immune dysfunction related to a common exposure”
Thirty years ago today, the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published a report of five young men with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia who were treated at three different hospitals in Los Angeles, California. The authors observed that all five patients had no known common contacts, but had in common the fact that they “reported having […]
Public Health Practice
NPR & Charleston Gazette ask court to reject call for “sealed record” in Massey-Alpha merger litigation
[June 3, 2011: Update below] [May 31, 2011: Update below] The West Virginia Supreme Court has taken up the case by Massey Energy shareholders to block the $8.5 Billon sale of the firm to Alpha Natural Resources. The Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward Jr., and National Public Radio’s (NPR) Howard Berkes have followed the day-to-day event […]
I’ve written before about “Ten Great Public Health Achievements of the 20th Century,” which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in 1999. Now, CDC has put together a list of ten great public health achievements from 2001 to 2010, based on nominations from the agency’s public health scientists. Here are the ten achievements […]
The saying “demography is destiny” reportedly dates back to 19th-century social scientist Auguste Comte, and it’s still popular among journalists. Earlier this year, for instance, Alan Wheatley of Reuters warned about the challenges Asian countries (especially Japan) will face as over-60 residents make up ever-larger shares of their populations. His article also touches on the […]