"Meta-analyses," or reviews of several studies' worth of data on a single drug, influence patient care and healthcare policy. Increasingly, the people carrying out these meta-analyses have financial ties to drug companies. So researchers at Stanford and the University of California, San Francisco set out "to determine whether financial ties to one drug company are associated with favourable results or conclusions in meta-analyses on antihypertensive drugs," which are taken to lower blood pressure.

ExxonMobil is moving forward on its plans to build a liquid gas terminal off the northeast coast of the U.S. The proposed site for the project, called BlueOcean Energy, is about 20 miles off the New Jersey shore and 30 miles south of Long Island. Reporter Jad Mouawad describes the offshore placement as "a move meant to deflect safety and environmental concerns about proximity to populated areas." Ron P. Billings, Exxon's vice president for global liquefied natural gas, said, "We have tried to learn from our past experiences and that of the industry in general." The offshore neighborhood is getting crowded since "the Atlantic Sea Island Group, plans to build a terminal for liquefied natural gas on an artificial island about 14 miles south of Long Island, a project called Safe Harbor Energy." CMD reported earlier this year on Shell's successful efforts to co-opt local non-profits through grantmaking. The Shell project, Broadwater Energy, is a joint venture by Royal Dutch Shell and TransCanada.

Major food companies are planning "to halt advertising junk food to children under 12 throughout Europe," but in the U.S., McDonald's has found "a nifty way to reach kids ...