As rising oil prices continue to grab headlines, the spotlight turns to what politicians are and aren’t 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 votes). Also at Gristmill, Kate Sheppard  […]

Senator Edward Kennedy’s diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor is terrible news on multiple levels. While our thoughts go out to the Senator and his family, it’s also difficult to imagine Congress tackling the many important health-related issues before it without Senator Kennedy. Ezra Klein calls Kennedy “one of the few Senators who is genuinely […]

What’s new at the FDA? Ed Silverman at Pharmalot reports on FDA plans to spend some of its user-fee money on post-marketing safety activities. Merrill Goozner at GoozNews warns that the FDA is scrapping the Helsinki Declaration on protecting human subjects. Jacob Goldstein at WSJ’s Health Blog wonders whether pharmaceutical groups’ proposals to pay user […]

Bloggers are keeping us up to date on some of the many proposals for spending federal dollars on health and environmental issues: Tom Philpott at Gristmill brings us the latest on the farm bill, which has been delayed due to disputes over subsidy reform. Hank Green at EnviroWonk explains why and how the Department of […]

Bloggers had a lot to say about the health, safety, and healthcare of workers: Christine Rampolla at AFL-CIO Weblog explains how 12 years of work by union members culminated in New Jersey’s paid family leave act, which the governor just signed into law. What if … America Had a Healthcare System That Worked? explores the problems with veterans’ […]

There’s a lot going on right now with the FDA and drug regulation: The Health Affairs Blog has posts by Scott Gottlieb (a former FDA official now at the American Enterprise Institute) and Jerome Kassirer (a former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal now at the Tufts University School of Medicine) giving two contrasting responses […]

Bloggers approach food issues from a variety of angles: At Gristmill, Aimee Witteman and Tom Philpott discuss the prospects for the Farm Bill and Sharon Astyk looks at the many costs of food. Andrew Schneider at Secret Ingredients shares the frightening things he learned at a food safety conference. Barbara Fisher at Tigers & Strawberries […]

It’s been a while since I highlighted some of the great blogging on healthcare topics: Anna Wilde Matthews at the WSJ’s Health Blog reports on a new analysis that finds the U.S. wastes more than half of our health spending. Merrill Goozner at GoozNews explains why comparative effectiveness agencies are important and considers the hurdles […]

Several bloggers have addressed occupational health and safety issues this week: Revere at Effect Measure considers the factors affecting healthcare worker behavior during a pandemic, and whether it’s advisable for state authorities to order HCWs to work.   John Astad at OSHA Underground describes three combustible-dust explosions and fires that occurred in a single day, and […]

Bloggers had a lot to say about food this week: Tom Philpott at Gristmill contrasts the U.S. and Canadian approaches to regulating the use of ethanol distillers grains in cattle feed. Guess which country’s regulators think the important thing is leaving cattle owners free to feed their animals whatever they please, even if the substance in […]