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Martha Rosenberg is a health reporter and commentator whose work has appeared in Consumers Digest, the Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Los Angeles Times, Providence Journal and Newsday. She serves as editorial cartoonist at the Evanston Roundtable. Her first book, Born With A Junk Food Deficiency: How Flaks, Quacks and Hacks Pimp The Public Health, will be published by Prometheus Books in 2012.
Sunday, February 5, 2012 Antibiotics Injected Directly into Eggs and Big Pharma Secrets
There is no scientific evidence that antibiotics used in food animals have any significant impact on the effectiveness of antibiotics in people," deadpans the Animal Health Institute, representing Abbott, Bayer, Elanco/Lilly, Merck, Novartis and Pfizer in a brochure.
Thursday, February 2, 2012 Are You Eating Antibiotics Without Knowing It? Probably! (1 comments)
In 2008, the FDA had announced that there was "evidence that extralabel use of these drugs [cephalosporins] in food-producing animals will likely cause an adverse event in humans and, as such, presents a risk to the public health," and called for their prohibition. But by the time hearings were held two months later and lobbyists had worked their magic, the "Cephalosporin Order of Prohibition," had somehow become a "Hearing to
Friday, January 27, 2012 Are You Still Eating Butterball Turkeys? (1 comments)
The sordid collegiality between government and industry which makes a mockery of democracy, consumer rights and animal welfare, brings to mind the saga of egg don Austin "Jack" DeCoster, the salmonella king.
Thursday, January 19, 2012 Bone Scan Mania: A 12 Year Drug Industry Con Finally Exposed. (1 comments)
It should be embarrassing to the medical establishment and Medicare administrators that the drug industry and its paid celebrities drove the mania for the bone scans, "osteopenia" and bone drugs.
Sunday, January 15, 2012 25 of Big Pharma's Most Offensive Ads (10 comments)
Why are drug ads that sow hypochondria, raise health fears and "sell" diseases the most successful of all?
Thursday, January 12, 2012 Thanks A Lot, Bill Daley
Does Chicago need another out of work person?
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 Who Would Intentionally Kill Blackbirds? (1 comments)
Who intentionally set off fireworks under a blackbird roost in Beebe, Arkansas on New Year's Eve killing at least 200 birds? In some warped homage to last New Year's when at least 5,000 blackbirds perished?
Monday, December 26, 2011 That Expensive Fur? Get Ready for Disgust From Holiday Crowds
there are few furs in Chicago (except for last year's "fox hat" fad; what was up with that ?) Even Hollywood has enacted a ban on fur sales to begin next year.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 In Shocking "Pharmalateralism," FDA Strips Critic of Voting Rights
It's said that it takes 22 FDA safety officers to change a light bulb: 12 to defend the decision to install it, 8 to call it another "lighting option," 6 to quote Big Pharma studies and one to say it doesn't need changing, it just needs a better label. This week's hearings into birth control pills Yaz, Yasmin, Beyaz and Safyral confirm the FDA's dedication to pharmalateralism.
Friday, December 9, 2011 Seven Diseases Big Pharma Hopes You Get in 2012
To be a true blockbuster disease, a condition must 1) really exist but have huge diagnostic "wiggle room" and no clear cut test 2) be potentially serious with "silent symptoms" said to "only get worse" if untreated 3) be "under-recognized," "under-reported" with "barriers" to treatment 4) explain hitherto vague health problems a patient has had 5) have a catchy name--ED, ADHD, RLS, Low T or IBS--and instant medical identity 6)
Monday, November 28, 2011 Did Anyone Notice Pharma's Black Friday? (2 comments)
The pharmaceutical industry had two things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season. Three new wrongdoing settlements that broke right before the holiday were buried among yam and traffic jam news--and a new sleeping pill that isn't new at all but just Ambien with a new name became a leading "news" story.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011 Arsenic, Antibiotics and Asthma Drugs in Your Turkey? Yes!
ractopamine is also banned in Europe, Taiwan and China, where 1,700 ractopamine "poisonings" were reported and ractopamine-produced pork was seized in 2007. (You have to worry when China calls a food unsafe.)
Saturday, November 19, 2011 Chicago Considers Decriminalizing Marijuana (1 comments)
Possession of a small amount of marijuana should just be a fine say some Chicago lawmakers
Friday, November 11, 2011 How Safe Is Your Asthma Drug--Part Two
Sales pieces from Scholastic and Merck (who makes Singulair) called, "Health Ed 101-- Learn to Prevent Asthma Symptoms," told parents, "When your child breathes in an asthma trigger, such as pollen from trees or weeds, the body releases leukotrienes (loo-ko-TRY-eens)" and that Singulair blocks the loo-ko-TRY-eens.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011 Cain's Foreign Policy (1 comments)
Sexual harassment-gate is distraction
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 How Safe Is Your Asthma Drug? Part One
The popular asthma drugs Symbicort, Advair Diskus, Serevent Diskus, Dulera and Foradil warn on their labels that they cause an increased "risk of death from asthma problems."
Monday, October 31, 2011 A Drug As Scary As Halloween; Blockbuster Drug Causes Cancer, Tuberculosis And Lethal Infections (16 comments)
How did Abbott Laboratories' Humira become an $8 billion a year drug, capable of anchoring an entirely new drug company as Abbott splits into two?
Even though such drugs (which include Remicade, Enbrel and Cimzia and are called TNF blockers) are linked to TB, rare cancers and lethal infections like histoplasmosis?
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 Will Hugh Hefner Be Remembered As A Visionary Or A Flesh Peddler? (1 comments)
Playboy founder Hugh Hefner may be in his golden years but he still makes headlines like celebrities a quarter of his age. After his bride-to-be Crystal Harris left him at the altar, he rallied with a new show on NBC, The Playboy Club, and reduced the October issue of Playboy to its 1961 price of 60 cents to help buzz the TV show.
Sunday, October 23, 2011 Should You Take A Psychiatric Drug For Simple Pain? (3 comments)
now, Cymbalta is being promoted as a pain drug of choice like it's not a repurposed antidepressant with antidepressant side effects.
Friday, October 7, 2011 Are You Mentally Ill? If You Drink Too Much You Are, Says Big Pharma (5 comments)
Pharma's stratagems to grow its "mentally ill" franchise are well known. People with occasional anxiety are really depressed, then bipolar, then suffering from an assortment of amorphous "spectrum" diseases and dysrythmias with no known cause, no cure, no diagnostic tests and no turnoff valve on the pharmacy spigot.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011 Perry's N-gate Reminiscent of Cheney's Racism-Charged Hunting (1 comments)
The flap over the racist name of the hunting lodge that Texas Governor Rick Perry's family leased is not the first time hunting and racism have conspired to tar a politician.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011 Was Perry Wrong to Push HPV Vaccine?
Whether you are against politicians helping Pharma loot our health care dollars or mandatory medicine, Texas Governor Rick Perry's facilitation of Merck's Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil, has angered Repubicans and Democrats alike.
Friday, September 2, 2011 State Is Broke But Still Raising Pheasants for Cheney-style Hunting (4 comments)
The state of Illinois may be broke (like most states after the 2008 economic meltdown) but you can still shoot tame pheasants that the state has hatched and raised expressly for your recreational pleasure at Illinois state parks this fall.
Thursday, August 25, 2011 Who Are These Old People at My Class Reunion? (2 comments)
Where are the people who failed economically, professionally, socially, romantically and bodily? They don't show up!
Monday, August 15, 2011 No Food, No Drinks, No Strollers, No Change: No Wonder US Retail is Tanking (7 comments)
Grumpy, overworked or absent employees are just the latest rung in a retail descent that began with signs in the window like No Food, No Drinks, No Strollers, No Change, No Restroom, No Soliciting, No Backpacks, No Refunds, No Exchanges, No Bills Over $20, No Credit Cards, No Special Orders, No Pets, No More Than 3 Students At A Time and even No Leaning On The Counter.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011 Out of New Diseases and Blank Checks from Insurers, Pharma Targets Alcoholics (5 comments)
Pharma is now targeting the nation's millions of alcoholics and drugs addicts as its new revenue source. Like energetic kids who are really hyperactive and people with normal life problems who are really depressed, alcoholics and drug addicts, we are now told, really have a brain disease!
Monday, July 25, 2011 Your Brain on PMS
It is said that women's periods are a lot like airline meals. We hate them, we complain about them, we dread them--but just let the flight attendant try to skip you!
Thursday, July 21, 2011 Are You Taking Pills You Don't Need? Here Are Some Reasons Why (4 comments)
A new unbranded pharma campaign, Depression Is Real, running on radio stations, compares depression to cancer because it kills and diabetes because it doesn't go away.
Friday, July 15, 2011 Employees: Are You Dressing for the Job? (1 comments)
US workers are performing low-wage jobs with no benefits, future and, sometimes, purpose. Jobs whose main perks are air-conditioning and access to the Internet
Friday, July 8, 2011 Are You Afraid to Display a Bumper Sticker? You Should Be. (1 comments)
Once upon a time, bumper stickers were a harmless way to engage other motorists on the merry way to work or a vacation in the Wisconsin Dells. But today, with road rage and polarizing politics, displaying a bumper sticker is more like establishing eye contact with a yard dog. A yard dog who doesn't understand "never mind."
Wednesday, June 29, 2011 "Green" Buildings Still Wasting Water and Power in their Washrooms (2 comments)
he sensor-driven toilets "perceived" a need to flush every time people entered washroom stalls, closed the door or moved an air column. The new smart toilets, which saved users the "labor" of having to flush said the salesmen, flushed before, after and during people's use of them
Sunday, June 26, 2011 Interview with Psychiatryland Author Phillip Sinaikin, MD (4 comments)
The recently published Psychiatryland, traces how deception, conflicts of interest, medical enabling and direct-to-consumer advertising have resulted in millions being on psychiatric drugs they don't need.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011 "Pfizer's Neurontin Killed Our Husbands, We Believe" (3 comments)
After being silent for more than six years, two women who say their doctor husbands died from undisclosed Neurontin risks have decided to speak out.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011 The Ten Worst Employers To Work For (4 comments)
Now that the economy is bouncing back again, there is good and bad news. The good news is that companies are hiring. The bad news is: the same ones you didn't want to work for before are you still don't want to work for.
Saturday, June 11, 2011 Interview with Dr. Phil Interventionist, Joani Gammill (1 comments)
Joani Gammill, a registered nurse, recovering addict and mother of two has just written an account of her career as a professional "interventionist" after an appearance on the Dr. Phil Show that sparked her own recovery. The Interventionist, published by Hazelden, recounts some of her most dramatic and frustrating interventions, arranged by addicts' families, and how they have furthered her understanding of the disease of addi
Sunday, June 5, 2011 Do You Have Depression? Here's a New Scare! (6 comments)
Now pharma has a new whisper campaign to keep the antidepressant boat afloat. Your depression is "progressive."
Thursday, May 26, 2011 Your Brain on $4.50 per Gallon Gas (2 comments)
So many car commuters have converted to bus and train commuters, cities are reporting an 8 to 34 percent rise in public transit usage.
Thursday, May 12, 2011 Are You Addicted to Starbucks? (3 comments)
How did Bucks convince America that Happy Hour should be wired not wasted and that they have a Macchiato deficiency that requires five dollars and 500 calories a day to treat? Are the sleeping pills Ambien and Lunesta lucky beneficiaries or was some kind of quid pro quo arranged?
Friday, April 22, 2011 Would This Video Make You Stop Eating Beef? Futures Traders Think So (4 comments)
Once again Big Food is "appalled" by the video -- which shows sick and injured calves killed with hammers, workers standing on calves' necks and barely alive calves on "dead piles" -- while working to make publicizing such videos illegal.
Sunday, April 3, 2011 CeCe and BeBe Winans Rock the Chicago Theatre--Concert Review (1 comments)
Grammy Award-winning BeBe (Benjamin) and CeCe (Priscilla) Winans are the seventh and eighth of icon "Mom" and "Pop" Winans' ten children who have three Gold and one Platinum album since they began recording in the 1980's. While joking about his early bedtime and how young Mary Mary are, the trim and lithe BeBe danced like a 28-year-old to the kinetic, two-keyboard band.
Saturday, March 26, 2011 Will Rahm Emanuel Misunderestimate "ChicagoSpeak"? (1 comments)
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley is known for meandering 90-second audio bytes that change verbs, tenses, subjects, stances, moods and pitch -- his voice rising with Vegas-like glissandos until he is an actual soprano -- that resemble Method acting.
Monday, March 21, 2011 The Few The Proud The Thin (3 comments)
In a report released last fall by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), the United States is the fattest of 33 countries. Mexico and New Zealand are next runners up with India and Indonesia the thinnest.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011 Oh That? Seroquel Marketing Undeterred by This Week's Deceptive Marketing Settlement (2 comments)
When you see the ads, who would know AstraZeneca inked the largest multi-state consumer protection settlement on record relating to deceptive Seroquel marketing just this week? For $68.5 million? Only a year after inking a similar settlement related to burying side effect and safety information for $520 million with the government?
Friday, March 11, 2011 Moms-To-Be--Are You Taking This Dangerous Drug? (2 comments)
the parade of heart, liver and muscle complications seen with withdrawn drugs has lacked the side effect that sends shivers down the spines of consumers, regulators and drug-makers: birth defects.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 Proud, Safe Gun Owners Not Proud or Safe When Names Released (22 comments)
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's ruling last week that the names of the 1.3 million people with Firearm Owners Identification cards (FOID) in the state be published has gun owners up in arms, pun intended.
Monday, February 28, 2011 Eating a Pig With a Wooden Leg (2 comments)
You can't "eat cheeseburgers all day long and lose weight" said the hottie authors who come from the modeling world. "No wonder you're fat and bloated!"
Friday, February 11, 2011 Men, Avoid These Valentine Faux Pas (7 comments)
don't tell your wife or girlfriend she looks beautiful by the light of one candle. Impaired observer compliments haven't worked since Blanche DuBois covered the light bulbs in Streetcar Named Desire to look younger.
Thursday, February 3, 2011 Pharma's War on Kids (4 comments)
Since 2001, high blood pressure meds for kids have risen 17 percent, respiratory meds 42 percent, diabetes meds 150 percent and heartburn/GERD meds 147 percent. Fifty percent of pediatricians also prescribe kids insomnia drugs according to an article in the journal Pediatrics.
Sunday, January 30, 2011 Was Early Menopause Hormone More Pharma Spin? (2 comments)
the evidence for a "timing theory" was nothing more than some Godforsaken ovariectomized primates at Wake Forest and Mount Sinai medical schools behind three security doors, trials at major medical centers conducted by several Wyeth-linked researchers and pharma supplication to Wall Street.
Thursday, January 27, 2011 The Drug Store in Your Tap Water (3 comments)
While pharma and water treatment professionals routinely deny the existence of prescription drugs in public waterways and drinking water -- easy to do when they are not tested for anyway! -- Mary Buzby director of environmental technology for pharma giant Merck was a little more candid in 2007.
Sunday, January 16, 2011 Thank You For Arming Nutters, NRA (2 comments)
But an NRA brochure posted on the Internet in 2007 called Freedom in Perilhe United Nations, animal rights activists, illegal aliens, Katie Couric, Rosie O'Donnell, George Soros, Michael Moore, Nancy Pelosi, Sens. John Kerry, Edward M. Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Dianne Feinstein and York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg with crude drawings.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011 Despite Scandals and Troop Deaths, Seroquel Now Marketed for Depression
Originally approved for schizophrenia in 1997, Seroquel has subsequently been approved for bipolar disorder, for some groups of kids and as an add-drug for depression. This "indications creep" has mostly flown below the public's radar.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 Gun Rights Solution to Politician Shootings (2 comments)
Maybe if Arizona didn't have such restrictive gun laws, the Tucson massacre wouldn't have happened
Tuesday, January 4, 2011 Worse Than Fireworks Deaths? Government Blackbird Poisoning (2 comments)
Do wildlife officials feel just a little hypocritical answering media questions about the New Year's Eve blackbird "rain" when they know they kill 200 times that amount a year as "pests"?
Sunday, December 26, 2010 Have You Been Fooled by the These Dirty Pharma Marketing Tricks? (3 comments)
How does the pharmaceutical industry get a product through development, testing and approval and onto your insurer's formulary, television set and bathroom shelf? (And Wall Street profit reports?) And how does it do it so, so seamlessly you think it's your idea? Here are some of pharma's dirtiest tricks.
Friday, December 24, 2010 Who Were The Biggest Corporate Criminals in 2010? (3 comments)
a new study by the Health Research Group of Washington, D.C.-based Public Citizen reveals that pharma is now the biggest defrauder of the federal government. Since 2000, 25 percent of all federal False Claims Act payouts are from pharma versus 11 percent from the defense industry.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010 Hormones: Still Pushed by Pharma; Still Dangerous (1 comments)
The medical press trumpeted again this month the shopworn pharma factoid that menopausal hormones may be good for you, not bad. This is at least the eighth time researchers have tried to resuscitate the therapy and its franchise profits since a government study linked it to cancer and heart disease in 2002.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010 Are These Dangerous Drugs in Your Medicine Chest?
Since direct-to-consumer drug advertising was legalized 13 years ago, Americans have become a nation of pill poppers -- choosing the type of drug they desire like a new toothpaste, sometimes whether or not they need it.
But here are drugs to avoid.
Saturday, December 11, 2010 Are You Squeamish? Sarah Palin Isn't. (2 comments)
Do-it-yourself-slaughter to prove you're not squeamish or in denial about where your meal came from, is increasingly popular in warmer climes than Alaska often coached by gourmet chefs and foodies.
Thursday, December 9, 2010 Now Praised, Six Years Ago Aspirin Was Denigrated by Vioxx Marketing (3 comments)
It has only been six years since the COX-2 specific inhibitor Vioxx was billed as a super aspirin that didn't have aspirin's "risks" by Merck. Widely advertised and pitched by Olympians Dorothy Hamill and Bruce Jenner, Vioxx turned out to double the risk of heart attack and was withdrawn from the market in 2004.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010 Ads Are Cool But Gardasil and Cervarix Vaccines Aren't Selling (1 comments)
Prescription drug advertising can work miracles. With Vioxx, it got 20 million people to pay five times more for a pain reliever that doubled their risk of heart attack.
But advertising may not be working with Merck's Gardasil and GSK's Cervarix, vaccines which protect against Human papillomavirus (HPV), the virus that causes cervical cancer.
Saturday, November 27, 2010 Feeling Fat? Thanksgiving Is Only One Reason
Half of Americans were overweight in 1980 and now 70 percent tip the scales as overweight says the report. (And that's before Thanksgiving gluttony.) By 2020, three-fourths of Americans are expected to be overweight, says OECD, And in 2030? Eighty-six percent of Americans will be overweight says an 2008 article in the journal Obesity.
Thursday, November 25, 2010 Are You Taking Any of These Dangerous Drugs? (1 comments)
Why would Americans take an epilepsy seizure drug for pain? The same reason they'll take an antipsychotic for the blues and an antidepressant for knee pain: good consumer marketing.
Monday, November 22, 2010 How Worried Should You Be About Your Bones? (1 comments)
While most of the world is now aware of the risks of osteoporosis, the problem with the bone drugs is: they may not work and you may not need them.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 Eid Slaughter Sacrifice Is Sad Day for Animals
"The scent of blood is invariably overwhelming on the first day of Eid Al-Adha. One can literally sniff the blood in the air. It is pungent with a hint of salt and bitterness. Some streets are awash with blood."
Saturday, November 6, 2010 Remember Vioxx? Cymbalta and Lyrica May Be Vioxx 2 (1 comments)
Though Vioxx and Bextra are gone and Celebrex is under a darkening cloud, the practice of prescribing unsafe drugs for simple pain that can just as easily be treated with older and over-the-counter drugs is alive and well.
Sunday, October 31, 2010 Hefner Feted in Chicago But Movie is as Creepy as Halloween (2 comments)
halfway through the movie, a creep factor sets in. Maybe it is the parade of dead talking heads presented as if they were alive -- Alex Haley, Robert Culp, Tony Curtis -- or the fact that Hef wannabe Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione just died.
Thursday, October 28, 2010 Be Like Lindsay Lohan? Yes, When It Comes to Fashion (1 comments)
Say what you want about Lindsay Lohan but her desire to sell a line of leggings is absolutely right on.
Leggings are as liberating as the "divided skirt" was a hundred years ago that allowed women to first ride bicycles.
Sunday, October 24, 2010 Unsafe At Any Dose: Deaths Seen with Hormone Therapy in JAMA (3 comments)
Pharma's lucrative estrogen plus progestin combo is already known to increase the chance of getting breast cancer by 26 percent. But an article in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows hormone therapy also increases the chance of dying from breast cancer, as follow-ups are conducted on women who took it.
Sunday, October 17, 2010 Mad Cow Fears Are Back -- As Are Chronic Wasting Disease (2 comments)
Now there are two "mysterious" cases of CJD in McLennan county, Texas says the Waco Tribune-Herald --"a statistical anomaly considering that only one in 1 million people worldwide is affected by the condition in any given year."
Friday, October 15, 2010 Are Soldiers Suicides Caused by Prescription Drugs? (24 comments)
In 2009 there were 160 active duty suicides, 239 suicides within the total Army including the Reserves, 146 active duty deaths from drug overdoses and high risk behavior and 1,713 suicide attempts, says the Army's suicide report, released in July.
Not only are more troops dying from their own hand than combat says the Army report, 36 percent of the suicides were
Saturday, October 9, 2010 No Preaching; No Finger Pointing: New Book Shows Why Alcoholic Self-Help Group Works
Hazelden Publishing's new release, The Book That Started it All, shows, through its original edits, that AA's simple steps were far from simple.
We asked Sid Farrar, the book's editor and Hazelden's editorial director, how the handwritten exchanges in the book reveal the philosophies which have kep
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 Pitchfork Wielder on Dairy Farm Receives Light Sentence (1 comments)
Billy Joe Gregg, in a red striped prison uniform, pled guilty in Marysville Municipal Court to six counts of animal cruelty -- he had been charged with 12 -- and received eight months in jail and a $1,000 fine,
Saturday, September 25, 2010 Has FDA Already Decided About Genetically Engineered Salmon? (2 comments)
Even though the FDA held hearings about how AquAdvantage Salmon should be labeled the day after hearings about if it should be approved this week, it said it has not decided yet about the genetically engineered fish.
Unfortunately, its invited speakers didn't get the memo.
Thursday, September 16, 2010 An Animal Researcher and a Comedian (5 comments)
In a PowerPoint presentation at a National Institute on Aging workshop which appeared on the NIA web site until July one researcher finds the primates who will give their lives to science...funny.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010 Morning Blues? Try Nuvigil Not McDonald's! (1 comments)
McDonald's helps the morning lethargy with economy priced breakfast items. Nuvigil helps it with a drug that can cause "a serious rash or a serious allergic reaction that may result in hospitalization or be life-threatening," also known as Stevens Johnson syndrome. SJS patients are treated on burn units if they are lucky enough to survive.
Saturday, September 4, 2010 How Was Your Veal "Prepared"? Like in this Video? (4 comments)
While Mercy For Animals (MFA) uncovered similar atrocities at two dairies this year, Locke, NY-based Willet Dairy (which ran on Nightline) and Plain City, OH-based Conklin Dairy Farm, results are often whitewashed as soon as they surface.
Sunday, August 29, 2010 Salmonella with Your Omelet? Don't forget Stroke and Ovarian Cancer (3 comments)
In addition to salmonella, eggs are the highest cholesterol food known to man, causing the heart attacks and stroke 33.5 million Americans take statins to avoid. Hello? They are also linked to diabetes, ovarian cancer and contain antibiotic residues.
Sunday, August 22, 2010 Is Meat and Milk From Clones in the Food Supply? (1 comments)
When Canadian agricultural leaders asked Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack last week after a scandal about unlabeled clone products in Europe if "cloned cows or their offspring have made it into the North American food supply," he said, "I can't say today that I can answer your question in an affirmative or negative way. I don't know."
Friday, August 13, 2010 Do Politicians Have to Hunt to Get Elected? (1 comments)
Even though sport hunters account for only four percent of the nation -- not much more than vegetarians and considerably less than LGBTs -- many candidates, even dove candidates, feel compelled to don Blaze Orange and show the nation their Davy Crockett (or Annie Oakley) side.
Friday, August 6, 2010 Paralysis and Alcoholism Funny? Yes Said Cartoonist John Callahan
The year was 1989. Millions of wheelchair-users were about to be recognized for the first time by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Millions more had came out of "family abuse" closets to join Adult Children of Alcoholics 12-step groups. And John Callahan's just published autobiography, Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot, made fun of both. Callahan passed away last week at the age of 59.
Sunday, August 1, 2010 Army Suicide Report Ignores Suicide-Causing Drugs (7 comments)
The Army report barely considers the suicide-inked antidepressants, antipsychotics and antiseizure drugs whose use exactly parallels the increase in US troop suicides since 2005.
Thursday, July 29, 2010 Overweight? Diet drugs may not be the answer (3 comments)
Thanks to human's "thrifty gene," diet drugs work until they don't work, say scientists. When the body senses it's losing its adipose stores, it actually changes the metabolic rules to retain saddlebags and love handles. Thanks for that.
Monday, July 26, 2010 Recession Over? Not on the Radio!
Men: do you want to be bigger and thicker where it counts? Once upon a time, it was advertising about women's flow that raised questions of taste on broadcast media
Thursday, July 15, 2010 Is Pfizer the BP of Drug Companies? (2 comments)
Pfizer is best known for Lipitor, a drug that brings cholesterol down and Viagra, a drug that brings other things up.
But the "world's largest research-based pharmaceutical company" which sits between Goldman Sachs and Marathon Oil on the Fortune 500, is also distinguished by an unrivaled series of corruption allegations.
Saturday, July 3, 2010 Are You Ashamed Of Your Family? Your Pet? Your Car?
They say the opposite of shame is pride or honor but most people -- and most countries -- have a lot more of the former than the latter. While a lot of personal shame centers around age, income and weight, especially when they're going in the wrong direction, there are other rich sources of shame in life:
Monday, June 21, 2010 Why You Should Care About the University of Miami NIH Scandal
UM President Donna Shalala, former Health and Human Services secretary, allowed the hiring of the poster boy for conflicts of interest without a job posting, national search, search committee or vote from UM psychiatry faculty.
Sunday, June 20, 2010 Would You Use a Home DNA Kit? (1 comments)
San Diego-based Pathway Genomics Corporation planned to place the Insight Saliva Collection Kits in 6,000 Walgreen stores until the FDA said, "you're selling WHAT?" and it put its plans on hold
Thursday, June 17, 2010 Does the Pink Viagra work? (3 comments)
Despite its rep as a female Viagra, flibanserin really isn't. Viagra exerts mechanical actions, increasing blood flow to the genitalia without increasing desire while flibanserin does the opposite -- increasing desire not blood flow.
