by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure DemFromCT continues his public health series over at DailyKos, thus also continuing to make my early week blogging easier. This week is a brief look at this year’s flu season, already in full swing, including what is happening in pediatric deaths from flu. He follows this with another interview, […]

by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure Nothing like a massive food contamination outbreak from a plant in your state to concentrate the minds of state legislators (more here and links therein). Especially when an important industry is involved. We’re talking Georgia peanuts, of course. Peanuts employ an estimated 50,000 workers in Georgia, accounting for some […]

Yesterday, the New York Times published an article by Cara Buckley on young adults who lack health insurance. Although they’re often referred to as “young invincibles,” most of the people profiled in the article don’t actually think they won’t need medical care. They don’t have insurance because they can’t afford it. The article highlights an […]

DC-area readers, mark your calendars: Alison Bass, an award-winning journalist and Pulitzer Prize nominee, will be here at George Washington University on Wednesday, March 18th, to speak about why the system of drug research and development in the United States is seriously flawed and what reforms are needed. Wednesday, March 18, 4:30pm GWU-SPHHS Health Policy […]

by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure The plant in Blakely, Georgia that was the apparent source of the salmonella peanut butter outbreak didn’t make peanut butter for retail consumption. It made bulk peanut butter and peanut butter paste which became an ingredient in many other products. The number of products is now around 2000, the […]

I’ve written before about this project; now, we’re very close to finishing data collection and are looking for a few more government scientists to interview. At the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy at George Washington University School of Public Health, we’ve launched a multi-part study to understand the current policies surrounding scientists’ work at […]

The nonprofit group OMB Watch is a terrific resource for learning about and monitoring the inner workings of the government. Their mission is “to increase government transparency and accountability; to ensure sound, equitable regulatory and budgetary processes and policies; and to protect and promote active citizen participation in our democracy.” Over the years, I’ve had […]

by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure The peanut butter with a side of salmonella story just keeps getting worse (other posts here, here, here, here, here, here). The toll so far is 8 dead, 575 confirmed salmonella cases (and undoubtedly many more never reported) and 1550 products recalled, one of the largest recalls in US […]

Revere points out that the peanut industry (and the food industry as a whole) is learning that poor regulation is bad for business. You might run your business according to the highest standards, that’s not enough. If one of your competitors cuts too many corners and people die as a result, the entire industry will […]

This post is part of a “global health blog carnival” effort that Christine Gorman at Global Health Report has just launched. The theme for today’s posts is “prevention vs. treatment” – visit this post for links all participating posts. Although my post focuses largely on the U.S. experience, it’s an example of a universal difficulty in […]