The biggest news in science and public health was the tragic, though not unexpected, guilty verdict in the Libyan trial of six medics accused of deliberately infecting patients with HIV. Several members of the scientific community, mobilized by Nature reporter Declan Butler and several bloggers, drew attention to the scientific evidence demonstrating the medics´ innocence in the weeks before the trial, but science lost this one. Declan Butler, reporter has posts chronicling developments in this case; Revere at Effect Measure and Orac at Respectful Insolence have news and commentary on the verdict.

In other news:

Jordan Barab at Confined Space has some good news:  OSHA won´t bow to industry pressure on brake shoe guidance. See the links at the bottom of the post for more on how an OSHA employe faced suspension for warning mechanics of asbestos dangers (i.e., pissing off the asbestos industry).

Integrity of Science has summaries of presentations from the 2006 American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting: Al Gore on “Climate Change: The Role of Science and the Media in Policymaking,” Jim Hansen on  “Communicating the Dangers and Opportunities in Global Warming,” and Naomi Oreskes on “Deflecting Disinformation about Climate Change
(links to these and other presentations are here).

Jeffrey D. Sachs at the Scientific American blog urges stronger efforts to fight Neglected Tropical Diseases

Jessica Pickett at Global Health Policy summarizes the battle over salt iodinization in Central Asia — an example of tensions between public health and private markets.
 
Andrew Dessler at Gristmill has the top 10 climate stories of 2006

Nedra Weinreich at Spare Change suggests ways marketing techniques Wall Street uses to remove stigmas associated with flextime policies can be applied to social marketing about HIV-AIDS, STDs, disabilities, and mental illness.

Other not-to-be-missed blog posts from the past week? Leave them in the comments.