Science

BBC: Drug Firm and U.S. Doctor Consulted on Media Message for Antidepressant

by Jonathan Rosenblum — January 30, 2007 - 8:12pm

A University of Pittsburgh child psychiatrist who conducted company-sponsored clinical trials on adolescent use of the antidepressant Paxil also conferred with the company on how to respond to press inquiries challenging the safety of the drug for adolescents, reports the BBC investigative program, Panorama. The psychiatrist, Dr. Neal Ryan, sent emails to GlaxoSmithKline dating to 2002 requesting media advice.

Main Source: 
BBC, January 29, 2007

Dezenhall Tells Publishers: Openness is Censorship

by Diane Farsetta — January 24, 2007 - 6:41pm

"A group of big scientific publishers has hired" aggressive public relations executive Eric Dezenhall "to take on the free-information movement," reports Jim Giles. "Some traditional journals, which depend on subscription charges, say that open-access journals and public databases ...

Main Source: 
Nature, January 24, 2007

As Nicotine Dose Increases, So Must Awareness of the Pitfalls of FDA Regulation

by Anne Landman — January 24, 2007 - 12:12am
  • Topics: Corporate Social Responsibility, Issue Management, U.S. Congress, Health, Marketing, Public Relations, Science, Tobacco

    • The Harvard School of Public Health released a study Thursday revealing that the amount of nicotine in cigarettes has increased significantly since the major American tobacco companies signed the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) in 1998. Predictably, Philip Morris (PM), in a media release available at their web site, denies the study results. The U.S. Surgeon General in 1988 warned that nicotine is as addictive as heroin and cocaine, but these drugs don't have decades of sophisticated R&D behind them aimed at heightening their addictiveness. Cigarettes, among the most highly engineered consumer products in the world, deliver nicotine into more people's bodies more times every day than aspirin. Still, they remain unregulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

    Scientists Say UK Nuclear Waste Committee Was Rubbish

    by Diane Farsetta — January 19, 2007 - 12:19pm

    Two scientists who served on the British government's Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) but later resigned from it have gone public with harsh criticisms. Professor David Ball and Dr.

    Main Source: 
    The Independent (UK), January 19, 2007

    Phone Connections

    by Sheldon Rampton — January 10, 2007 - 11:28pm

    A new study analyzing research on the biologic effects of cell phone use found that industry-funded studies were far less likely to identify negative consequences than studies funded by governments and non-profits. Researchers analyzed 57 studies that appeared in the academic literature between 1995 and 2005.

    Main Source: 
    Environmental Health Perspectives, January 2007

    Oregon Health Officials' Rocket Science

    by Diane Farsetta — January 9, 2007 - 6:10pm

    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," claiming

    Main Source: 
    The Oregonian, January 7, 2007

    Industry-Funded Studies Say Drink Up (Their Stuff)

    by Jonathan Rosenblum — January 9, 2007 - 1:28pm

    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.

    Main Source: 
    Associated Press, January 8, 2007

    The Diagnostic 'Epidemic'

    by Bob Burton — January 8, 2007 - 4:26am

    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.

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, January 2, 2007
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