by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure It’s not Labor Day yet, but I guess the Reveres have to consider their vacation over. We’re all back at our respective home stations. We admit that not watching flu evolve daily was a relief, although we did sneak peeks when we weren’t supposed to. But it also proved […]
As the nation mourns the loss of Senator Edward Kennedy, it’s worth reading a Newsweek piece he wrote just last month on why the struggle for universal healthcare has been the cause of his life. He writes about the many times in his life when he and his family members have needed healthcare, and have had no trouble getting […]
by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure Things have been quiet at CDC but apparently they have been changing. First, Dr. Richard Besser, who acquitted himself ably as Acting Director after January 20 until early June when Obama’s new appointment, Dr. Thomas Frieden took over, has decided to leave CDC for television. Yes, television. Many at […]
by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure We’ve been rather kind to Senator Charles (Chuck) Grassley in the past. Yes, he’s a right wing Republican with some really odious ideas, ideas for which he deserves to be criticized. But he’s also been a champion of the Federal False Claims Act which has encouraged and protected whistleblowers […]
by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure There’s a swine flu pandemic well underway and efforts are being made to reconstruct how it started. But almost everyone who has been following this knows it’s not the first time a swine flu virus has transmitted from person to person. In 1976 in Fort Dix, New Jersey there […]
TIMEâs Laura Blue notes that the U.S. has an appalling rate of preterm births (we were ranked 30th in the world in 2005, behind Cuba and Poland) and that prematurity costs us around $26 billion a year â but, she tells us, researchers donât know why we have this problem. In many cases, thereâs an […]
by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure CDC wants us to get vaccinated for flu every year. Always for seasonal flu, and this year, if there is a vaccine available, for swine flu. They want us to get vaccinated because they think the vaccine works and they want to prevent people from getting influenza, always a […]
by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recently rolled out their 2009 Recommendations. It’s for seasonal flu, for which a vaccine exists, not for swine flu, for which there is (as yet) no vaccine. There is a lot to say on the subject of vaccines (see what we’ve said […]
Evidence continues to accumulate that talking on the phone while driving â even with a hands-free device â increases the risk of car crashes. We learned earlier this week that officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have been concerned about this problem for years, but declined to go public with research that would […]
by Erika Furlong I recently attended the June 29th-30th FDA advisory committee meeting that voted for a reduction in the maximum daily over-the-counter (OTC) dose of acetaminophen and the âunbundlingâ of narcotic-acetaminophen prescription medications. While I agree ultimately with many of the recommendations that were made, I canât help but feel that there is a […]