Science
Consumers' Right to Sue Weakening
While the FDA remains a troubled, underfunded agency, the White House is pushing to shield industry by blocking consumers from their last resort -- filing a lawsuit.
Independence of CDC Scientists in Question
Gerberding rocked the CDC by centralizing control and boosting public relations efforts while introducing expensive, often unworkable new management techniques.
Senate Passes Plastic Chemical Ban
Research suggests that a group of chemicals known as phtalates, used in bottles and toys, could be damaging baby boys' sex organs.
Celebs Rally for Vaccine Reform
Evidence suggests vaccines do not cause autism, but anger understandably runs deep amongst many of the parents of the 1 in 150 U.S. children diagnosed with the disorder.
Don't Drink the Water: Clean Coal's Downside
Commercials trumpeting the air-quality benefits of "clean coal" never mention the flipside: the dangerous solid waste that ends up in the ground.
CDC Aims to Appease Vaccine Critics
The case of 9-year-old Hannah Poling, diagnosed with autism, has renewed fervor amongst parent groups who blame vaccines for their children's illnesses.
Anthrax Vaccine Loses to Lobbying
One of the biggest failures of the $5.6 billion federal Bioshield program, which was supposed to provide drugs and vaccines against terror agents, is the story of the anthrax vaccine.
Big Oil Defends Profits
Gas prices and profits are largely out of their control, oil executives tell Congress.
Milking It
The growth hormone gets an extra gallon of milk out of a cow each day, but it's also been linked to health problems in humans.
Burger King to Tomato Pickers: Have it Your Way
After its executives spied on immigrant farmworkers and slandered them on-line to fight a grass-roots campaign for better pay and working conditions, Burger King Corp. abruptly reversed course Friday. The company caved into the workers’ demands, agreeing to pay them an extra penny a pound for tomatoes that go on Whoppers and other BK products, according to a joint news release with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
Manufactured Doubt Fends Off Regulation
"Doubt is Their Product" describes how scientists and PR firms worked first to defend tobacco before moving on to chromium, asbestos and other toxic substances.
U.S. Hospitals Fight Super-Bugs, Finally
The drug-resistant bacteria now kills more people each year than AIDS, an epidemic shrugged off by hospitals until recently.
Bush Definition of 'Transparency'
When the head of the EPA and OMB say "transparency," they don't mean public paper trails, answers or accountability. Instead, it's about the White House.
Important Bacteria Cultures Destroyed
Infectious disease specialists around the world are calling the VA's decision to incinerate the library of microbe cultures a tragic, inexplicable act of vandalism.
Jalapenos, the Real Culprit?
The FDA is reconsidering whether the recent nationwide salmonella poisoning outbreak was caused by tomatoes and not another key salsa ingredient, like jalapenos.
White House Skirts Regulating Greenhouse Gases
Last year Bush ordered the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases, but the anticipated rules still haven't been released.
The Autism-Vaccine Connection: Reopened Can of Worms
At a news conference in Atlanta on Thursday (which I haven't seen, but read accounts of), the Atlanta parents of 9-year-old Hannah Poling revealed that in November, the vaccine court conceded their claim that vaccines caused her autism-like symptoms. At first glance, this case seems to contradict the scientific consensus that vaccines don't cause autism. Anti-vaccine groups are howling with glee about it. The decision requires some explanation, and it will take a bit of space.
Arkansas Teachers Avoided Evolution Under Huckabee
Huckabee never publicly intervened in the state's Department of Education guidelines, but while governor he created an atmosphere that emphasized creationism over evolution.
Recent Vaccine-Autism Award Not the First
According to two people with intimate knowledge of the vaccine court, the compensation that will be paid to Hannah Poling is not the first paid by the court to a child with symptoms of autism. On Thursday I noted that the award, which has gotten huge media play, was quite unusual and does not mean that the government is acknowledging that vaccines cause most cases of autism--or even this one, which isn't exactly autism. Dr. Edwin Trevathan, director of the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, told reporters that infections are usually what trigger mitochondrial disorders, a condition involving the failure of the energy-generating part of cells. Stress can trigger a failure in various parts of the brain in these kids, including areas involved in autism-like symptoms. Trevathan said he'd never heard of a vaccine triggering mito disease symptoms, but he didn't rule it out. Hannah got very sick a day or two after receiving five shots in a "catch-up" immunization visit with her pediatrician.
San Jose State Bans Red Cross Over FDA Rule
The university stopped all blood drives until the FDA revises rules that prohibit gay men from donating blood unless they’ve been abstinent since 1977.
