Survey Finds Drug Ads Drive Prescribing
Submitted by Bob Burton on
A survey of 39,090 patients and 335 primary-care physicians reveals the power of direct-to-consumer advertising of drugs.
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Health
Oregon Health Officials' Rocket Science
Submitted by Diane Farsetta on
In 2004, Oregon health officials began investigating whether perchlorate, a rocket fuel chemical present in some of the state's water wells, "might be creeping into the breadbasket region's produce and dairy milk." Their conclusion, based on "limited food sampling," is that "perchlorate doesn't pose a health danger to area residents." But records obtained by The Oregonian reveal that the Northwest Food Processors Association "urged top state health administrators to kill the food study," claim
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Industry-Funded Studies Say Drink Up (Their Stuff)
Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum on
Studies of the health benefits of beverages are four to eight times more likely to support the studied drink if industry fully paid for the research than if it didn't, according to a newly-published article in the science journal PLoS Medicine. The study reviewed 206 journal articles that drew conclusions about the health effects of a beverage. About half of those revealed their funding sources.
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The Diagnostic 'Epidemic'
Submitted by Bob Burton on
Three doctors warn of an epidemic of medical diagnoses fostered by the "medicalization of everyday life", improvements in medical technology and an increasing emphasis on identifying those at 'risk' of a disease. "Perhaps most worrisome is the medicalization of childhood. If children cough after exercising, they have asthma; if they have trouble reading, they are dyslexic; if they are unhappy, they are depressed; and if they alternate between unhappiness and liveliness, they have bipolar disorder.
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One Hand Gives, The Other Takes Away
Submitted by Bob Burton on
One of the projects funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been to immunize children living in Ebocha, Nigeria. But at the same time the foundation owns shares in the French oil company, Eni, that pollutes the residents air and water by the open air burning of gas considered to be waste.
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Coming to the Table in 2007: Cloned Beef?
Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum on
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has tentatively determined that milk and meat from cloned cows are safe to eat and indistinguishable from non-cloned cows. The agency may complete approval procedures for consumption of the animals and milk before the end of 2007.
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Medical Journal Pulls Column Critical of Patient Group
Submitted by Bob Burton on
In November, the New England Journal of Medicine pulled an opinion column by Dr. Robert Steinbrook that was critical of ties between the National Kidney Foundation and drug companies.
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Food Marketing-Fueled School Channel "Going, Going Gone"?
Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum on
Channel One, the controversial advertising-funded TV network that reaches 7 million secondary schools, faces declining revenue and its owner, Primedia, is looking to sell.
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Growers, Distributors Want Industry-Driven Regulation Despite E. Coli Outbreaks
Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum on
U.S. safety regulations for produce have been relegated to the far reaches of government bureaucracies, tucked into an under-funded combination of U.S. Food and Drug Administration oversight and state agriculture bureaucracies.
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Sen. Harkin Hearkens: Junk Food Marketing "Out of Control"
Submitted by Jonathan Rosenblum on
The new Congress is likely to put new and stronger emphasis on limiting junk food marketing, say aides to U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. Harkin becomes chair of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee in 2007. His aides report that food marketing to children "will be one of our top tier agenda items." In recent years, Harkin futilely has sought to push through legislation toughening Federal Trade Commission authority to regulate junk food marketing.
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