Several recent news stories highlight things you should know if you want to keep your brain healthy. Killer Amoebas: The Associated Press warns, “Killer amoebas living in lakes can enter the body through the nose and attack the brain, where they feed until you die.” Sports: The New York Times reports that among high school athletes, […]

A mere nine months after the National Academy of Science told OMB to junk its junk science proposal, the Bush administration is at it again. On Wednesday, OIRA administrator Susan Dudley and OSTP’s associate director Sharon Hays sent a memorandum to all executive agencies. The memo advised that “after carefully evaluating [the] constructive recommendations from […]

Yesterday, the University of California at Irvine announced that it was reappointing Erwin Chemerinsky as dean of its new law school. Chemerinsky had been offered the job, but then the University withdrew the offer after the LA Times published a Chemerinsky op-ed critical of the Bush administration. After an outcry from scholars and an in-depth […]

Most of us already know that climate change is shrinking glaciers, but two recent articles paint an alarming picture of how quickly glaciers are receding – and what that means for millions of people relying on them.

Crosspost from Effect Measure, by Revere At 3:50 am EDST I received the welcome news, via Declan Butler, that the Tripoli 6 were free and on the tarmac in Sofia, Bulgaria. All are Bulgarian citizens and were released by the Libyan prison authorities as part of an extradition arrangement. Their life sentences were immediately pardoned […]

The Kaiser Family Foundation has launched the website health08.org “to provide a central hub for resources and information about health policy issues in the 2008 election.” In a Boston Globe editorial, KFF president and CEO Drew Altman observes, “In a short period of time health has gone from an issue that was not even included […]

Four Nigerian states are suing British American Tobacco and Philip Morris to recover costs of treating smoking-related diseases. The plaintiffs charge that the companies aimed to recruit more smokers by targeting minors, using sponsorship of concerts and sporting events and free cigarette giveaways. Tosin Sulaiman in The Times (UK) reports:

Michael Moore’s Sicko brought in $4.5 million in its opening weekend, and it seems like anyone who’s seen it has an opinion about the film and its subject. The WSJ health blog has compiled reviews from major newspapers; if you’re interested in blogger reactions, too, we have a few suggestions:

Most public health advocates are probably already aware that U.S. funds for international AIDS relief come with counterproductive strings attached – specifically, requirements that one-third of HIV prevention money go to abstinence-only education and that entities receiving PEPFAR grants explicitly denounce prostitution. (Laurie Garrett’s recent LA Times op-ed provides a good summary of the policies […]

President Bush has nominated Dr. James W. Holsinger, Jr. to be U.S. Surgeon General. Here’s the short item from the Associated Press: President Bush has nominated a Kentucky cardiologist who is interested in fighting childhood obesity to be the next surgeon general, the White House announced. The nominee, Dr. James W. Holsinger Jr., a professor […]