►February 19, 2004 - Yoga Good for the Young Too - The New Straits Times via Healthy News - "Children with Down's Syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, attention deficit disorder and learning disabilities can enjoy the benefits of yoga."

►February 18, 2004 - Ancient approach targets hepatitis C symptoms - Santa Cruz Sentinel - "Firmage and her classmates are in their third week of learning the ancient Eastern approach to treating hepatitis C through acupuncture and herbs...While the method dates back hundreds of years, teaching acupuncture specifically for hepatitis C is new for Five Branches Institutes, the Santa Cruz college of traditional Chinese medicine."

►February 17, 2004 - Stem cells found in adults may repair nerves - University of Washington via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 17, 2004 - Key advance reported in regenerating nerve fibers - Two-pronged approach synergizes growth - Children's Hospital Boston via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 21, 2004 - FAO/WHO meeting warns of contamination of powdered infant formula - journal article (BMJ)

►February 12, 2004 - Breastfed Baby Exposed to Smallpox Vaccine Virus - Reuters via Yahoo! News 

►February 17, 2004 - Breast-Feeding At Work - ADHS Promotes And Practices Policy - Arizona Capitol Times - "As a site supervisor and nutritionist with the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, Ms. Ogden is determined to erase the stigma associated with breast-feeding in the workplace. She’s not alone...The Arizona Department of Health Services has initiated a breast-feeding program to address issues and increase the practice though education, awareness and policy change. The program promotes breast-feeding as the superior method of feeding infants and young children in order to build their immunity to disease and help form strong, straight teeth."

►February 20, 2004 - Home cooked food is the best answer to autism - Indo-Asian News Service via Hindustan Times

►February 18, 2004 -  Scientists confirm healthfulness of pasta as good carbohydrate - In Response to Low-Carb Diet Fad, Leading Health and Food Authorities Update and Confirm Health Benefits of Pasta Meals - press release - Oldways Preservation Trust via PRNewswire via Yahoo!

Conflict of interest/ethics

►February 12, 2004 - Medicare for lobbyists - editorial - Palm Beach Post - "Rep. Billy Tauzin delivered a $540 billion prescription-drug benefit for Medicare. Now, the Louisiana Republican is leaving Congress for a $2 million-a-year job in the drug industry. When it comes to exposing your principles, Rep. Tauzin makes Janet Jackson look coy."

►February 17, 2004 - The link between funding and the disclosure of clinical trial results - www.vidyya.com - "There have been several conflicting reports in the medical literature about whether industry funding influences research findings and conclusions...In this week's issue of CMAJ, Bhandari and colleagues reveal the results of a study of 332 randomized trials published between January 1999 and June 2001 that show that industry-funded trials were more likely to be associated with statistically significant pro-industry findings. They state this conclusion is not limited to trials of medical treatments -- it applies to trials of new surgical interventions as well."

Drug development

►February 17, 2004 - The future of drug development - Public Library of Science via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 17, 2004 - Two for Whom? - Combo Pills May Help Patients -- and Are Sure To Help Drug Firms (requires registration) - Washington Post - "Two, two, two drugs in one...If pharmaceuticals were marketed like breath mints, that slogan might begin appearing more often. Responding to market pressures, drug makers have returned to a bygone era of combining two or more medications into one easy-to-take pill. And this time around, judging by initial reactions, the idea may be a bigger hit." 

Funding/money matters

Pharmaceutical industry

►February 19, 2004 - Pfizer Cuts Supplies to Canadian Drugstores - Sales Are Halted To Reimporters Of Bargain Drugs (requires registration) - Washington Post 

Pharmaceutical industry/FDA oversight

►February 17, 2004 - Despite F.D.A. Ban, Ephedra Won't Go Away (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

►February 19, 2004 - FDA Looks to Chips to Thwart Drug Counterfeiters -  Voluntary Plan Envisions Manufacturers Adopting Electronic Track-and-Trace Technology by 2007 (requires registration) - Washington Post 

►February 13, 2004 - FDA boss rumored to be in line for new post - San Diego Union-Tribune via SignOnSanDiego.com - "The head of the Food and Drug Administration, who has been on the job for a little over a year, appears to be the Bush administration's front-runner to lead the agency that runs Medicare...The speculation is being met with mixed emotions by many in the drug industry who recall waiting about two years for President Bush to fill the FDA post...During that leaderless period, drug companies complained bitterly that the lack of FDA leadership resulted in slower approval times for experimental drugs and unexpected rejections of some new drug applications."

►February 18, 2004 - DynPort Vaccine Company Selects Finjan's Mirage Solution to Provide Precise Control over FDA Regulated Processes and Documentation - Digital Rights Management Tool to be Used for Conducting Research, Studies and Clinical Trials - press release - Finjan Software via PRNewswire via Yahoo!

PR/advertising

Research conduct

Conferences, workshops, seminars, courses

►February 20, 2004 - International Conference on Women and Infectious Diseases Feb. 27-28 - CDC via U.S. Newswire - conference alert

 

Diseases and their vaccines (current and in the pipeline)

AIDS/HIV/AIDS vaccine

►February 15, 2004 - Batch of New HIV Drugs Looks Promising - Medicines, Including Some That Attack the Virus in New Ways, Are Ready to Be Tested (requires registration) - Washington Post 

Alzheimer's disease/vaccine

►March 2003 - Mercury-What is its role in Autism and Alzheimer's Disease? - video presentation by Boyd Haley, Ph.D. 1 hour 27 seconds -  www.nomercury.org 

►February 16, 2004 - Possible mechanism for link between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease discovered -  Joslin Diabetes Center via www.eurekalert.org

►February 15, 2004 - New study may explain how fats damage neurons in Alzheimer's patients - Scientists propose ways diet, hormones, exercise might delay disease - American Association for the Advancement of Science via www.eurekalert.org 

Anthrax/anthrax vaccine/Gulf War Syndrome

►February 21, 2004 - Govt misled troops about anthrax vaccinations: Opposition - www.abc.net.au - "Senator Evans says dozens of troops were sent home for refusing the anthrax vaccinations and while most agreed to the injections, many did so reluctantly...'Clearly the attitude of some of the troops may have been different if they had known about the severe adverse reactions by earlier troops to the inoculations,' Senator Evans said."

►February 21, 2004 - Australian government keeps mum about side effects of anthrax vaccine - AP via www.whnt19.com - "The Australian government is admitting it kept silent about possible side effects of the anthrax vaccine."

►February 21, 2004 - Anthrax Shots Made Australian Troops Sick - Reuters

►February 21, 2004 - Australian troops not told of anthrax vaccine concerns - AP via USA Today

►February 21, 2004 - Australian troops fall ill following anthrax vaccinations - AP via www.newsobserver.com

►February 21, 2004 - Vaccine effects 'kept secret' - AAP via The Australian

►February 22, 2004 - ADF denies keeping anthrax vaccine effects secret - www.abc.net.au

►February 18, 2004 - Vaccination order criticized - The Baltimore Sun via Fort Worth/Dallas Star-Telegram - "The U.S. Army has sent at least four soldiers to Iraq who refused to be vaccinated against anthrax, despite the Pentagon's long-held insistence that the vaccine is mandatory for all service members assigned to areas of combat or probable terrorism...The deployments by base commanders in Indiana, Kentucky, New York and Wisconsin has led Pentagon critics to question the seriousness of the anthrax threat and the fairness of penalties meted out earlier for scores of service members nationwide who refused the vaccine."

►February 21, 2004 - Anthrax vaccine serious side-effects kept from soldiers who were vaccinated - Medical News Today

►February 22, 2004 - Australian troops slipped dangerous vaccinations - New Zealand National Business Review - "According to The Australian, so many Afghanistan-bound personnel suffered temporary reactions to the vaccine that the anthrax vaccination program was suspended for two months in November 2001."

►February 22, 2004 - Aus troops in dark about anthrax - One News via http://onenews.nzoom.com

►February 18, 2004 - A soldier's grim homecoming - Questions: A World War II veteran wonders if Iraq played a part in the apparent suicide of his grandson, Spc. Jeremy S. Seeley. - The Baltimore Sun - "Ray Seeley, a hale 78, has heard about the suicides of those who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom. To some, his grandson's death fits a disturbing pattern of soldiers making it out of Iraq only to die after coming home...The Army says 21 soldiers have killed themselves in Iraq or Kuwait since the war began last March, a rate officials concede is higher than that in the overall Army population. But the figure does not include nearly 70 suicides in the United States after a tour in Iraq, according to the National Gulf War Resource Center, a veterans advocacy group."

►February 21, 2004 - Anthrax shots made troops sick - www.abc.com.au - "THE SAS and other Australian forces sent to Afghanistan to fight the Taliban suffered severe side effects from the anthrax vaccine, according to confidential Defence documents...The documents also reveal that 97 crew aboard HMAS Darwin in the Gulf last year reported ill after being given the controversial vaccine...Only a year earlier, the temporary side effects of the anthrax vaccine among troops bound for Afghanistan were so severe that the entire vaccination program for the 1550-strong deployment was suspended for two months...However, the Howard Government did not disclose this to the troops bound for Iraq last year, who were also required to have the anthrax vaccination."

Comment:  Will our media report this critically important news?

►February 17, 2004 - Hepatitis Drug May Help Anthrax Victims - Study - Reuters via Yahoo! News 

►February 17, 2004 - U.S. Army Makes Exceptions To Anthrax Shots Rule (requires registration) - The Hartford Courant - "The U.S. Army has sent to Iraq at least four soldiers who have refused to be vaccinated against anthrax, despite the Pentagon's long-held insistence that the vaccine is mandatory for all service members assigned to areas of combat or probable terrorism...The deployments by base commanders in Indiana, Kentucky, New York and Wisconsin has led Pentagon critics to question the seriousness of the anthrax threat and the fairness of penalties meted out by the armed services earlier for scores of service members nationwide who refused the vaccine."

►February 16, 2004 - Approved drug blocks deadly anthrax toxin - University of Chicago Medical Center via www.eurekalert.org - "In the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team led by Wei-Jen Tang of the University of Chicago shows that in vitro adefovir dipivoxil (sold as Hepsera®) can effectively reduce the effects of edema factor, one of the two deadly toxins produced by anthrax...'These toxins pack a one-two punch that makes inhalational anthrax extremely harmful,' said Tang, an associate professor in the Ben May Institute for Cancer Research at the University of Chicago. 'For the first time, we have a clinically approved drug that, at least in tissue culture, completely eradicates half of that toxic team, and does it at non-toxic doses.'"

►February 16, 2004 - Worker files $12 million anthrax claim against government - AP via The Daily Press

Asthma/allergies

►February 19, 2004 - One in five asthmatics are highly sensitive to aspirin - One in five asthmatics are highly sensitive to aspirin - Systematic review of prevalence of aspirin induced asthma and its implications for clinical practice - BMJ via  www.eurekalert.org

►February 22, 2004 - Many factors in that deadly itch - As a country develops, so does the incidence of allergies grow. A conference opening today will examine this problem. - New Straits Times

►February 20, 2004 - Aspirin-Induced Asthma More Common Than Thought - HealthDay via Atlanta Journal-Constitution

►February 17, 2004 - the allergy riddle ; It's a modern plague - but why DO so many suffer? In this provocative analysis, one writer offers his own uncomfortable explanation - Daily Mail, London via http://i-medreview.subportal.com - "THIS is a plague like no other. By 2015, half of the population may be afflicted...Thirty years ago these conditions were rare, so something must have changed dramatically in our lifestyle or environment. But the figures suggest there is no single underlying cause...But are we really to believe that half the country will be allergic in a few years' time?..Maybe GPs' waiting rooms will, indeed, be full of allergy sufferers. But then again, they might just be full of those who are suffering from the oldest illness in the medical dictionary: hypochondria."

►February 2004 - Obesity and asthma in children - journal article (Journal of Pediatrics) - "We currently do not know whether there is or is not a real association between obesity and asthma in children. Further studies in pediatric populations with better measurements of obesity are highly desirable."

►February 2004 - Is obesity associated with asthma in young children? - journal article (Journal of Pediatrics) - "Conclusion This study suggests that there is no statistical association between obesity and asthma among Canadian children age 4 to 11 years. "

►February 17, 2004 - Pay more attention to food allergies, local expert urges - Kalamazoo Gazette via www.mlive.com - "Dr. James Breneman, a retired Galesburg allergist and an internationally recognized authority on food allergies, is one of a number of physicians who think food allergies are more common and less easy to define than most doctors think."

►February 14, 2004 - Prevalence of asthma and allergy in schoolchildren in Belmont, Australia: three cross sectional surveys over 20 years - journal article (BMJ)

►February 17, 2004 - Hygiene hypothesis questioned - Previous exposure to influenza A virus increases predisposition to asthma - The Scientist

►February 18, 2004 - No asthma exacerbation help from children's flu vaccination - Today in Vidyya

►February 16, 2004 - Food fright - The Washington Times - "'It is fatal unless you use the EpiPen,' Mrs. Cole says about the shot of epinephrine she has on hand to stop symptoms of allergic reaction. 'Until it hit home with me, I had no idea of the severity and risk of fatality involved. It's startling when you first learn about it.'"

Comment:  What is the incidence of allergy among infants allowed to breastfeed on demand, particularly those that are allowed to wean themselves or nurse until toddler age and beyond?  And, of course, what is the incidence among the vaccinated compared to the never vaccinated?  And if the vaccinated are more allergic, is there some protective effect of breastfeeding among the vaccinated?  (For more on the possible relationship between vaccination and allergies, go to Out of Control: "Childhood vaccinations and the risk of asthma"  - a CDC study.

►February 16, 2004 - Flu illness 'may bring on asthma' - Catching flu early in life may actually increase the chances of a child developing asthma later, say experts. - BBC - "Their finding, in a study of mice, contradicts the suggestion that early infections have a protective effect...Writing in the journal Nature Immunology, the team from Stanford University say that flu boosted the body's allergic responses."

Autism

►February 4, 2004 - Amendment to immigration Bill 'could bar people with autism from entering Ireland' - Autism Cymru via www.awares.org

►February 18, 2004 - Autism claims attention at schools - Educators respond to increased cases among students - Atlanta Journal-Constitution - "Gwinnett County Public Schools has seen an unexplained explosion in the number of students like Danny, now an eighth-grader at Shiloh Middle School in Snellville...In the early 1990s, fewer than 50 students with autism were enrolled in county schools. This year, 689 are receiving services here — a more than tenfold increase in 10 years. Teachers are serving 150 more students with autism than they did last year, which makes these students one of the fastest-growing segments of the district's booming special education population."

►February 18, 2004 - Theories on autism - Capital News 9 - "This is what seems to be baffling the medical community. It is not clear if more children have autism, or doctors simply have a clearer understanding of what autism is."

►February 18, 2004 - Rise in autism due to change in diagnostic practice? - Pharmacotherapy via Medical News Today - "In the early 1990s, boys with diagnosed developmental disorders were infrequently diagnosed with autism. In the later 1990s, such boys more often were diagnosed with autism....CONCLUSION: A major cause of the recent large increase in the number of boys diagnosed with autism probably is due to changing diagnostic practices."

►February 9, 2004 - Presentations made to the IOM Immunization Safety Review Committee - www.nomercury.org

►February 9, 2004 - Presentation by Jeff Bradstreet, M.D.  - presented to the IOM - www.nomercury.org

►February 9, 2004 - Statement of Alan D. Clark, M.D.  - presented to the IOM - www.nomercury.org  

►February 20, 2004 - Home cooked food is the best answer to autism - Indo-Asian News Service via Hindustan Times

►February 17, 2004 - Parents reroute efforts to get their son's test - A Lecanto teacher says she and her husband dropped their FCAT lawsuit but will work to reform state law. - St. Petersburg Times - "In October, Castillo and her husband, Joseph, who live in Brooksville, filed a legal action seeking the release of her son's results on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Since her son Jordan is autistic and children with autism have trouble with language, Castillo argued that in order to help her son improve his score, she needed to know what he was asked and how he answered...A month after the lawsuit was filed, Department of Education officials told the Castillos that the department would not release the test and that, if the Castillos didn't drop their lawsuit by this week, they could be ordered to pay the state's legal fees."

►February 10, 2004 - Some autistic kids getting harmful treatments - Researchers find many families are turning to alternative medicine (requires registration) - The Medical Posting

►February 11, 2004 - Induction of lupus autoantibodies by adjuvants - BioMedNet - "The ability to induce lupus autoantibodies is shared by several hydrocarbons and is not unique to pristane. It correlates with stimulation of the production of IL-12 and other cytokines, suggesting a relationship with a hydrocarbon's adjuvanticity. The potential to induce autoimmunity may complicate the use of oil adjuvants in human and veterinary vaccines."

Comment:  Lupus has been reported as a vaccine-associated reaction at least 137 times to VAERS and has been reported in the medical literature as well. (The list of articles in the literature includes only systemic lupus erythematosus, i.e., SLE)

►February 19, 2004 - British Team Develops 'Black Death' Vaccine - Times, UK via www.immunizationinfo.org (abstract)

►February 19, 2004 - British team develops ‘Black Death’ vaccine - The Times, UK - "BRITISH scientists have made a crucial breakthrough in the war on terrorism by developing a vaccine to counter bubonic plague, the bacteria that caused the Black Death...A vaccine for the bubonic plague, which killed millions in the Middle Ages and is now one of the deadliest bio-terrorism agents, may be available within a year as a result of a breakthrough at the Ministry of Defence’s laboratory at Porton Down.

Comment:  Antibiotics are effective against the plague if given within 24 hours of the first symptoms, according to the CDC.  (Although there apparently is some concern about growing resistance of the plague to antibiotics.)

►February 17, 2004 - Bioterror simulations back targeted treatment - New Scientist 

►February 16, 2004 - Study links antibiotics and breast cancer, doubling risk for some women - AP via www.sfgate.com - "A study suggests antibiotics might increase the risk of developing breast cancer, but researchers said the data should not stop women from taking the medication...Women who took the most antibiotics -- who had more than 25 prescriptions, or who took the drugs for at least 501 days -- faced double the risk of developing breast cancer over an average of about 17 years, compared with women who didn't use the drugs, the study showed."

►February 18, 2004 - Pregnant hepatitis C carriers hold 10% risk of infecting baby - IHT via The Asahi Shimbun

RECALLS/bans

Research

About research/science, research in general

Ethics/conflict of interest

►February 19, 2004 - Artificial Blood Tested Without Consent - AP via The Herald-Sun - "Paramedics are testing an experimental blood substitute on severely injured patients without their consent in an unusual study under way or proposed at 20 hospitals around the country...The study was launched last month in Denver and follows similar research that was halted in 1998, when more than 20 patients died after getting a different experimental blood substitute...Supporters say the current product, PolyHeme, made by Northfield Laboratories of Evanston, Ill., is safer and could save many of the nearly 100,000 people who die of bleeding injuries each year nationwide."

►February 19, 2004 - Panel Weighs Toxic Research on Humans - AP via The Miami Herald - "Exposing human volunteers to toxic pesticides and pollutants for scientific purposes is justified only under strict conditions and with careful review, a National Academy of Sciences panel said Thursday...The Environmental Protection Agency should establish a special review board to evaluate any studies that involve intentionally giving people toxic chemicals, the committee said."

►February 19, 2004 - Science Panel OKs Pesticide Tests on Humans (requires registration) - Los Angeles Times - "A National Academy of Sciences panel said today that human test subjects could be intentionally dosed with pesticides and other toxic substances as long as the companies or government agencies conducting the tests meet high ethical and scientific standards...The Bush administration sought the advice from the esteemed group of scientists after it sparked a controversy by reversing a Clinton-era moratorium on the use of human subjects in tests that are used by Environmental Protection Agency officials as they decide safe exposure levels for pesticides."

►February 19, 2004 - NIH Conflict of Interest Panel to Meet in Early March - National Institutes of Health 

►February 20, 2004 - Journal regrets running MMR study - The medical journal that published a controversial study linking MMR to autism says, with hindsight, it would not have published the paper. - BBC

►February 18, 2004 - Facing the evidence: antidepressant treatment in children and adolescents - journal article (CMAJ) - "It is clear that our efforts to establish a scientific basis for the treatment of childhood depression are severely compromised by both unpublished research and the uncritical acceptance of published data. It is disturbing to note that there has been no formal response to this crisis from opinion leaders in child psychiatry, many of whom were investigators in both published and unpublished trials.^"

►February 14, 2004 - Feeling good about placebos - Michigan State University via www.eurekalert.org 

Funding

Other research results

►February 2004 - Does the huamn mnid raed wrods as a wlohe? (requires registration or subscription) - A recent email message about a purported experiment run at Cambridge University provides a useful illustration of some fundamental mechanisms involved in reading. The message demonstrates that a text composed of words whose inner letters have been re-arranged can be raed wtih qutie anazimg esae! Although some of the readability of this email message is probably due to top-down factors made possible by the fact that almost 50% of the words are not mixed up, we suggest that a significant part of this 'jumbled word effect' is due to the special way in which the human brain encodes the positions of letters in printed words. Recent research using the masked-priming technique has helped to elucidate the mechanisms involved in letter-position coding. Masked primes are briefly presented, pattern-masked letter strings, whose effects on target processing are thought to reflect fast, automatic processing. We will briefly describe two phenomena, relative-position priming and transposition priming, that have been observed with this paradigm and that are particularly relevant for understanding letter-position coding. - Trends in Cognitive Sciences via BioMedNet

►February 20, 2004 - Predators And Human Health: Exploring The Role Of Predators In Keeping Pathogens At Bay - Ecological Society Of America via www.sciencedaily.com

►February 21, 2004 - In the shadow of white death - Pollution and global warming are devastating the world's coral reefs, reports Tim Radford. - www.theage.com.au

►February 14, 2004 - Schizophrenia link to lead petrol - US scientists say they have found a link between exposure to lead in the womb and schizophrenia in adulthood. - BBC  

►February 19, 2004 - Blood Test Can Prevent Unneeded Antibiotic Use - HealthDay via Yahoo!

►February 19, 2004 - Biochemical clues to long lifespan revealed - Findings extend longevity research from yeast and worms to mammals - Children's Hospital Boston via www.eurekalert.org

►February 2004 - Differences in antibiotic prescribing patterns for children younger than five years in the three major outpatient settings - journal article (Journal of Pediatrics)

►February 15, 2004 - Advances in equine cloning may aid insight into human diseases - American Association for the Advancement of Science via www.eurekalert.org 

►February 18, 2004 - New Test Could Fine-Tune Antibiotic Use - AP via The Herald-Sun - "A blood test could help doctors determine whether antibiotics are needed for common respiratory infections and may reduce the over-prescribing that creates drug-resistant germs, new research suggests...About 75 percent of all antibiotics are given for lower respiratory tract infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia. Most of these infections are caused by a virus, not bacteria. Experts say antibiotics are not only useless against viral infections, but also help bacteria evolve defenses against drugs." 

►January 29, 2004 - 'Look away when I speak to you' - For years, parents and teachers have ordered children to 'look at me when I'm speaking to you'. - BBC News - "Children who dared turn away were accused of being rude or of failing to pay attention...But now a report suggests that rather than being rude, children turn away to help them think...What's more, they probably pick up the habit from adults, says psychologist Dr Gwyneth Doherty-Sneddon from Stirling University in Scotland."

►February 14, 2004 - When coping means cutting - Sam Hunt, from Birmingham, is 17. When she was severely bullied at school, she regularly cut herself with a knife - and took repeated overdoses. Doctors say the number of people coming to A&E units with self-harm injuries is on the rise.  Sam now talks to other young people about self-harm and how to cope with it. She wrote her disturbing story for BBC News Online and explained how she broke the self-harm habit. - BBC

►February 17, 2004 - Lead linked to schizophrenia - Study hints that prenatal toxins can trigger psychiatric disease. - journal article (Nature)

►February 16, 2004 - Chip slaps cuffs on pox bug - A chip that can sense a single virus could lead to revolutionary medical diagnostic tools - http://news.zdnet.co.uk - "American researchers have demonstrated a chip capable of detecting and potentially analysing a single virus. The microelectromechanical system (MEMS) silicon device reacted to a single particle of vaccina virus and the researchers say this could lead to chips capable of identifying many thousands of different kinds of viruses, toxins and bioagents. It was created using variants of standard silicon chip production technology."

re: Publishing

(The) Wacky World of Changing/Conflicting Research Results

►February 16, 2004 - Pros and Cons of Hormone Replacement Therapy - Ivanhoe Newswire

Science, government, industry, medicine clearly 'run amok'

Better late than never?

No kidding...

Science, government, industry, medicine clearly 'run amok'

►February 19, 2004 - Smear Test Scandal - Doc under fire after dirty equipment put hundreds of women at risk of HIV virus - Daily Record, UK

►February 18, 2004 - Hygiene concern at GP's practice - An inquiry has been launched into how unsterilised equipment was used for internal medical examinations on women. - BBC - "Last year, the medical practice operated by Dr Tahira Idrees was investigated over out-of-date vaccines."

►February 17, 2004 - The link between funding and the disclosure of clinical trial results - www.vidyya.com - "There have been several conflicting reports in the medical literature about whether industry funding influences research findings and conclusions...In this week's issue of CMAJ, Bhandari and colleagues reveal the results of a study of 332 randomized trials published between January 1999 and June 2001 that show that industry-funded trials were more likely to be associated with statistically significant pro-industry findings. They state this conclusion is not limited to trials of medical treatments -- it applies to trials of new surgical interventions as well."

►February 18, 2004 - Facing the evidence: antidepressant treatment in children and adolescents - journal article (CMAJ) - "It is clear that our efforts to establish a scientific basis for the treatment of childhood depression are severely compromised by both unpublished research and the uncritical acceptance of published data. It is disturbing to note that there has been no formal response to this crisis from opinion leaders in child psychiatry, many of whom were investigators in both published and unpublished trials.^"

"The Condition Our Condition Is In" (The State of Medicine/Science), including "errors"

►February 18, 2004 - Wrong diagnoses are killing patients - New Scientist - "Many patients in intensive care units are being wrongly diagnosed, according to a study in a UK hospital. Some are dying because doctors fail to spot major conditions such as heart attacks, cancer and pulmonary embolism. The reason, experts say, is not incompetence but that so few post-mortems are now performed that doctors cannot learn from their mistakes."

►February 18, 2004 - Higher rate of antibiotic resistance here puzzles researchers - 10% of pediatric strep cases here resistant, double the U.S. rate - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 

►February 20, 2004 - Predators And Human Health: Exploring The Role Of Predators In Keeping Pathogens At Bay - Ecological Society Of America via www.sciencedaily.com

►February 18, 2004 - Meanwhile: Echoes of panic over global disease - International Herald Tribune - "These 1838 remarks might cause us to ask whether in the age of SARS and bird flu alarms it is not time to subject the statements of certain virologists, headline writers and health bureaucracies to critical analysis by those trained in other disciplines."

Comment: Interesting article.

►February 16, 2004 - Brown confronts aid target critics - The Guardian, UK - "'We must act, not only because it is morally right but because it is now essential for stability and security,' they argue...By finding an extra $140m (£74m) a year for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, the Treasury estimates 2 million children's lives could be saved annually. The GAVI, backed by Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft, is estimated to have saved 500,000 lives since it began in 2000."

Genetics (vs. Environment)/includes individual differences

Immunity/Immune system

►February 16, 2004 - Disease-fighters in our mouths provide clues to enhancing the immune system - University of Washington via www.eurekalert.org - "Studies of natural antibiotics in our mouths may lead to new treatments for oral infections, as well as ways to boost the infection-fighting powers of mouthwashes, denture coatings, and wound dressings, according to a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). These compounds, called beta-defensins, are key components of our innate immune system...'Innate immunity describes the defenses that we're are born with; they're coded in our genes. In contrast, we develop the antibodies of our acquired immune system over time as we're exposed to bacteria and viruses,' said Dr. Beverly Dale, professor in the University of Washington Department of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, and scientific director of the UW Comprehensive Center for Oral Health Research. 'It's when our innate defenses fail that the acquired immune system picks up the slack.'

►February 16, 2004 - Mouth Microbes May Help Shape Immune System, Says Stanford Research Team - Stanford University Medical Center via Business Wire - "The immune system may be shaped by some of the very agents it exists to fight, according to research by David Relman, MD, associate professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine."

►February 16, 2004 - Letter from Dr. Jane Orient of the AAPS to Colorado's Senate HEWI committee (and read on the Senate floor February 16, 2004) re: Senate Bill. 04-139, “Concerning notification to persons of immunizations for their children under specified circumstances.” - www.aapsonline.org - "Public health departments are stretched thin nationwide. Scarce public health dollars should not be diverted to Big Brother functions. Your constituents are smart enough to make their own vaccine decisions. Governmental resources are better spent on informing citizens than on monitoring them."

►February 16, 2004 - Parents must get more information to counter immunization fears - press release - Health Behavior News Service via Center for the Advancement of Health - "Parents’ concerns about side effects and dangers of immunizations must be countered by clear communication about the true risks and benefits, said a scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...'Parents of one child opting out of immunization may be a rational decision on one level, but if many opt out, risks grow both for their unvaccinated children and also for those who have been immunized,' said CDC scientist Deborah Gust, Ph.D. Much of the value of immunization comes from vaccinating large numbers of people so a disease won’t spread even if a population is exposed to it."

►February 20, 2004 - Parents 'don't trust' vaccine - Parents choose not to immunise their children because they distrust official pro-vaccine information, according to new research. - The Dominion Post via www.stuff.co.nz - "They say the parents were highly educated and had collected information about immunisation from a wide range of sources before making their decisions...Most were worried about possible side effects from immunisation. Just under 60 per cent of parents thought immunisations were given too early and would weaken, rather than strengthen, their children's immune systems. They believed children would develop better immunity if they caught diseases naturally."