In the wake of a Florida Supreme Court ruling affirming that Big Tobacco purposely deceived the public about the dangers of smoking, research funded by tobacco companies has, understandably, become suspect. Tobacco-sponsored research outcomes are not merely grist for the rumor mill; Big Tobacco has actually been convicted of using […]
Author: Glenney
Chicago Petition-Signers Organize to Fight Indiana Permit to Dump More Pollutants into Lake Michigan
They don’t actually live in Indiana – they live in neighboring Illinois. But 45,000 conservation advocates have signed petitions asking Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels to be a good neighbor and rescind permission granted a BP refinery to dump additional pollutants into their common back yard, Lake Michigan. (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31) The brouhaha […]
The good news is, the FDA and its drug advisory committee are airing their dirty laundry in public. But that’s the only good news. Before a near-unanimous vote to recommend keeping the controversial diabetes drug Avandia on the market, advisers and officials of the Food and Drug Administration openly debated […]
I am not a pilot. Generally, I fly big commercial airlines rather than small planes. And like most of us, I rely on a leap of faith that the plane won’t crash. Otherwise, I would be wringing my seatmate’s hand and calling for Mommy on every flight. So it’s always […]
A trial that began June 11 in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, DC pits 4800 families of children with autism, the plaintiffs, against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This first of nine test cases promises to become a landmark debate about the causes of […]
First, American pet owners discovered suddenly and tragically that pet foods manufactured in China contained melamine particles that sickened and even killed cats and dogs in the U.S. Next, we learned that other suspicious foods and health products were being imported from China – foods and products that endangered human […]
After years of decline, thanks to safety standards and increased law enforcement, accidental deaths in the United States are on a sharp upswing – with apparently no end in sight. The National Safety Council warns that if the trend continues, accidents will surpass an all-time high set in 1969 (http://www.intelihealth.com/). […]
It has been 20 years since the sunglass-clad California raisins danced their way into our hearts to the tune of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” Now, China says better our hearts than our stomachs. Turning the tables on U.S. complaints about tainted pet food and other products from China, […]
Never underestimate Big Tobacco. Stalled by recent court rulings affirming their lethal deception of the American public, cigarette companies decided to make an end run. In the face of state court verdicts against cigarette manufacturers (such as the Florida Supreme Court’s decision that nicotine is addictive, that cigarettes cause cancer, […]
I guess you have to hand it to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, who announced the recall of Evenflo Embrace infant car seat/carriers. In a joint press release on May 10 (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov), the two public safety watchdog agencies said that “in cooperation […]
