“When Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama spar over health mandates, they’re dealing with only one piece of an intriguing policy dilemma: how to achieve meaningful health reform. Unfortunately, presidential debates invite mainly sound bites on this broad, complex issue. For instance, it’s unclear which types of ‘mandates’ are really being opposed or supported. Mandates […]
“Last week, the US Supreme Court ruled that patients injured by defective medical devices have no right to sue for damages if the devices were approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The decision would be defensible if the 1976 law on FDA oversight of devices actually called for such a sweeping immunity from liability, […]
“Well, they won’t make you immortal, but short of that, oats are one of the best foods you can eat, particularly if your goal is to lower your cholesterol. David Jacobs, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, said he believes oats really do deserve a ‘thumbs up.’ Because […]
“I have been representing Abdul Al-Ghizzawi, one of my Guantánamo clients, for two and a half years. The day I took on his case, I knew little about him other than he was seriously ill. … In the fall of 2006, Dr. Jürg Reichen, a respected liver specialist at the University of Bern in Switzerland, […]
“Google Inc has unveiled a plan to help U.S. patients gain control of their medical records and is working with doctors’ groups, pharmacies and labs to help them securely share sensitive health data. The company’s long-rumored entry into the highly sensitive field came when Chief Executive Eric Schmidt introduced Google Health at a health-care conference […]
“Children who are spanked or given some form of physical punishment by their parents may be more likely to have sexual problems as adults, a new study finds. An analysis of four studies by Murray Straus, co-director of the Family Research Laboratory at the University of New Hampshire-Durham, found that children who suffer physical punishment […]
“Children suffered higher rates of fever-related convulsions when they got a Merck & Co. combination vaccine instead of two separate shots, according to a new study presented Wednesday. The results prompted a federal advisory panel on vaccines to water down their preference for the combo vaccine ProQuad, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella as […]
“Drugs designed to treat a common side effect of chemotherapy may increase the risk of death, according to the most comprehensive analysis yet. The products — Aranesp, Procrit and Epogen — increased the risk of death by 10 percent, a study in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association indicates. They increased the risk of […]
“U.S. inspectors found some mostly procedural problems at a Chinese factory that supplied the main ingredient for the recalled blood thinner heparin — but said Thursday they can’t yet tell what is to blame for serious side effects. ‘We’re still considering all possibilities,’ said Food and Drug Administration compliance chief Deborah Autor. ‘We have not […]
“Faced with increased security concerns, especially in light of recent school shootings across the U.S., educators are looking for new ways to improve their campus security systems–and converging physical security tools on their campus computer network is the latest trend they are turning to. At the Campus Safety Conference in California on Feb. 20, officials […]
