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Bloggers have more thoughts on the environmental and human-health impacts of the economic crisis:
Sarah Rubenstein at WSJâs Health Blog explains why a sick economy can make the case for health reform more compelling.
Joe Paduda at Managed Care Matters suggests a way to improve the health insurance…
Iâm repeating myself here, but itâs for a good cause. At the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy at George Washington University School of Public Health, weâve launched a multi-part study to understand the current policies surrounding scientistsâ work at government agencies and to…
I made a mistake. First, I got a little worked up during last night's debate because, when discussing health problems, both candidates gave shout-outs to relatively rare conditions rather than to the big killers. My second mistake was more grievous. I read something in HuffPo written by Deirdre…
On call one night as a medical student, I was presenting a case to my intern. As I recounted the patient's ER course, the intern stopped me and said, "Pal --- trust no one."
That sounded a little harsh to me, but the intern was nice enough to explain further.
"Look, you're going to be taking calls…
Itâs open season at many workplaces, the time when employers who offer health benefits let employees choose among different health coverage options for the coming year. The Wall Street Journalâs Anna Wilde Matthews reports that companies are reluctant to raise workersâ share of premiums, given that…
NB: images in this post are thought to be in the public domain, but were not well labeled, so if you feel they have been posted without proper attribution, please email me or leave a comment. Thanks. Also, this is a revision of a post from yesterday which I've pulled secondary to ethical concerns…
Ok, I pulled my post while considering ethical issues, viz this conversation:
Dianne, PAL:
I'm out of my depth here, so could you address what the ethical boundaries are for describing a case (even without personal identification) on an open board?
I've always dealt with that one by Just Don't --…
The United Steelworkers (USW) and the United Mine Workers (UMWA) have sent letters to Asst. Secretary of Labor Richard Stickler asking for additional hearings and a longer public comment period for its proposed rule on mandatory drug and alcohol testing for workers in the mining industry.…
Last month, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) proposed a rule that would require all U.S. mine operators to adopt the Dept of Transportation's 100-page regulation on drug- and alcohol-testing. Setting aside the fact that MSHA's proposal is a poorly designed, substantiated and…
(This one is cross-posted over at Science-Based Medicine. FYI. --PalMD)
If you've been a regular reader of SBM or denialism blog, you know that plausibility plays an important part in science-based medicine. If plausibility is discounted, clinical studies of improbable medical claims can show…
The Labor Department's 30-day public comment period on its risk assessment proposed rule closed 14 days ago. There are 117 items appearing in the on-line docket at Regulations.gov, including my own 9-page letter of opposition. What I didn't…
Yeah, we know things aren't working right. Comments are timing out, but that's the least of it. Our techies aren't sure yet what's going on, but they are putting extra hamsters on the treadmill working extra hard trying to get things moving smoothly again.
Meanwhile, if you comment and it times…
Mr. Bill Oxley was working at the Bayer CropScience plant in Institute, WV on August 28. At about 10:25 pm, a massive fireball erupted at the facility, killing his co-worker, Barry Withrow, 45. The dramatic facts surrounding this explosion included that plant officials told the…
A letter from a reader (thank you, Mr. "Smith") got me thinking---could the fight against improbable medical claims be aided by a better knowledge of science? In another attempt to bring complicated science to the masses, today we will learn a bit about how we breathe. The first thing we need to…
I hate having to repost this but there's a reason. If you watch the GOP rally's lately, they are becoming filled with hate, with near-violence, with hyperbole calling Obama as terrorist. McCain isn't my candidate, but that's it---I may not agree with him, but I know he's no terrorist; I know he's…
The Mayor of Houston, Texas Bill White wants the Lyondell Chemical Refinery to justify and defend its practice of emitting tons of benzene annually into the air. (In 2007, the refinery reported emissions of 39 tons, which they proudly noted was below their 58 ton annual cap.)…
by revere, cross-posted at Effect Measure
Every parent's or grandparent's nightmare is to have their darling little one suddenly carried off by illness. Flu isn't on the radar screen of most parents but in recent years the public health community is taking notice. The first alarm occurred in the…
As a physician, I have a lot of politically conservative colleagues. Much of this stems from our experience with the government. The influence of Medicare helps set prices, which we are not at liberty to change, and affects how we practice. On the other hand, Medicare is usually pretty good at…
"American Coal Co. repeatedly demonstrated its failure to comply with basic safety laws over a number of months, and for that it must be held accountable."Â (Asst. Secretary of Labor for MSHA Richard Stickler)
Yesterday, MSHA issued a news release announcing that the operator of the Galatia…
Nevada's OSHA has found that the death of a carpenter was caused by the contractor's pressuring employees to put construction speed before safety. Lyndal Bates, 49, was working at the construction site of a new casino in the Las Vegas strip last June when he mistakenly attached his safety…
On the Googles, Common Knowledge gets more than 25,000,000 hits. It's a market research company, a scholarship foundation, a non profit fundraising firm, and in its inverse as Uncommon Knowledge part of a conservative group site, and an interview series at the Hoover Institution.
We can take the…
By Nathan Fetty
Every so often, my wife and I take our daughter, whoâs now two-and-a-half, on one of our favorite walks in the country here in central West Virginia. To get there, unfortunately, we have to pass by torrents of orange acid mine drainage (photo examples here and here) and…
I've written quite a bit about diabetes here and at my old blog, and I've explained to you how controlling blood pressure and cholesterol in diabetics prevents macrovascular disease, such as heart attack and stroke. I've also explained how controlling blood sugar prevents microvascular disease…
Still coughing and tired, so here's another one I'm migrating from the old blog. --PalMD
There has been much talk in the media over the last few years about the "obesity epidemic" in the U.S. This has led to a bit of a backlash among a small but vocal group of critics who don't believe the…
Today, October 7, is World Day for Decent Work, an initiative led by the International Trade Union Confederation, the Global Progressive Forum, Social Alert and Solidar.  What is "Decent Work"?
"Decent Work is a strategy to achieve sustainable development that is centered on…
Yes, I'm still migrating posts from the old blog, but don't worry, I'll run out eventually. --PalMD
So maybe homeopathy (the use of water to treat disease) isn't strong enough for you. Maybe isn't doesn't have that certain...je ne sais qois...um...that sizzle. I have the solution for you! Just…
A report released last week by staff of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee on EPA's handling of the massive asbestos contamination in the mining town of Libby, Montana is laden with words including "failure," "misled," "interference," and "delay." Refering to…
Yesterday, we looked at how real science works; today, in a repost from my old blog, we look at some really bad science. --PalMD
I've been meaning to touch on "Morgellons disease" (a form of delusional parasitosis) for a while, but haven't figured out how to approach it. Thankfully, others have…
In my earlier post about HIV therapy (a post I strongly recommend), I wrote, "After entering a cell (never mind how for now), HIV needs to find a way to makes copies of itself, which requires DNA." Because of some recently released data, it's time to look at how HIV enters the cell, and to expand…
As I continue to fight the good fight against my first respiratory infection of the season, I will serve you a few portions of learnin' from the old blog. --PalMD
Cupping goes back millennia. In the U.S., the marks of cupping are often seen in immigrant communities, particularly those from…