Health

Perfumes' Un-Sexy Side

by Anne Landman — May 18, 2010 - 2:21pm

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics commissioned laboratory analyses (pdf) of 17 men's and women's name-brand perfumes to determine their chemical content, and found 38 secret chemicals present in all 17 products.

Main Source: 
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Environmental Working Group, May, 2010

Adulteration of Packaged Milk Rampant in Pakistan

by Anne Landman — May 17, 2010 - 4:42pm

Frame from video promoting Pakistan's dairy industry Pakistani television ads portray packaged milk as healthful, even sexy, and encourage parents to feed milk to their children, but
the National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Rights in

Main Source: 
Islamabad Frontier Star, May 10, 2010

Procter & Gamble Blames Parents, Social Media for "Chemical Burn" Allegations

by Anne Landman — May 17, 2010 - 2:42pm

When parents of toddlers started complaining that Procter & Gamble's new "Dry Max" Pampers were giving their kids severe diaper rash, Jodi Allen, P&G's Vice President for Pampers took prompt action -- and blamed the childrens' parents and social media for spreading false rumors about their products.

Main Source: 
ConsumerAffairs.com, May 7, 2010

"Cloaked" Web Sites Disguise Hidden Propaganda

by Anne Landman — April 26, 2010 - 2:27pm

Jessie Daniels, an Associate Professor in the Urban Public Health program at Hunter College, New York, has identified a phenomenon she calls "cloaked Web sites," or sites published by individuals or groups who deliberately conceal their authorship to disguise a hidden political agenda. Cloaked Web sites, Daniels points out, can have very real consequences, especially in the area of health.

Main Source: 
Corporations and Health Watch, April, 2010

PBS Edits Out Single Payer Proposal

by Anne Landman — April 26, 2010 - 10:34am

The PBS television program Frontline selectively edited an interview with a single-payer health insurance advocate, and film footage of people protesting in support of single-payer, to make it look as though they were advocating a public option instead.

Main Source: 
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, April 23, 2010

Formaldehyde Industry Winning in Katrina Country

by Anne Landman — April 20, 2010 - 2:57pm

After Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, thousands of Louisiana residents claimed to suffer respiratory problems after being housed in government trailers contaminated with formaldehyde.

Main Source: 
ProPublica, April 15, 2010

Palin Now Supportive of Health Care Reform

by Anne Landman — April 6, 2010 - 9:29pm

After months of repeating lies about "death panels" in the health reform bill, and just days after giving an interview on Fox News in which she called the health care reform measure "nonsensical" and a "comprehensive takeover of the health care system" that is "not supported by the public,"

Main Source: 
BeyondChron.org (San Francisco), April 1, 2010

Insurance Industry Already Finding Loopholes

by Anne Landman — March 29, 2010 - 12:15pm

The new health care reform bill has barely been signed into law and already insurance companies are finding ways to avoid providing one of its centerpiece benefits touted by President Obama: coverage for children with pre-existing conditions.

Main Source: 
New York Times, March 28, 2010

State Insurance Commissioners Take Baton from Congress

by Wendell Potter — March 26, 2010 - 8:30pm
  • Topics: Health, Lobbying, Politics

    • Now that Congress has taken final action on its health care reform legislation, the reform debate has now shifted to, of all places, Denver.

    The legislation that is now the law of the land was just the first step. Despite its size -- more than 2,000 pages -- the bill in many cases only lays out Congressional intent. In that sense, it is a framework for reform. The law requires that numerous new regulations be written to govern the way health insurers do business, a responsibility that Congress passed on not only to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services but also to one very influential non-governmental organization: the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). The bill mentions the NAIC -- an acronym most Americans probably only see once a year when they renew their cars' license plates -- at least 10 times, and it gives the organization some very important assignments.

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