By Susan Wood Next week both the Senate and House are moving forward on legislation to reauthorize the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), along with other key FDA legislation. The Senate will be âmarking upâ a large omnibus piece of legislation that combines PDUFA with drug safety legislation, pediatric legislation, and medical device legislation. […]
The owners-operators of the Kentucky Darby Mine No. 1, Ralph Napier, Connie G. Napier, and John D. North, were assessed a $336,000 penalty by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) for violations related to the May 20, 2006 explosion and death of five coal miners. Press reports indicate that MSHA officials met for four […]
Regulation
Preemption By Preamble â The Bush Administration’s Backdoor Efforts to Kill Law Suits and Protect Manufacturers of Dangerous Products
By David Michaels The federal regulatory system is in shambles. Regulated industries call the shots and career scientists are prohibited from pushing back. With the agencies in retreat, fear of litigation has become an increasingly important mechanism for discouraging bad corporate behavior. Now, âregulation by litigationâ is under attack. Following a Bush Administration edict, a […]
Revere at Effect Measure updates us on the medical communityâs latest plea for Libya to release the six health care workers unjustly sentenced to death for âdeliberately infectingâ children with HIV, and links to Physicians for Human Rightsâ campaign to get the U.S. government to exert more pressure on Libya to free the nurses and […]
By James Celenza Driving a private car is probably a typical citizenâs most âpollutingâ daily activity, yet in many cases, individuals have few alternatives forms of transportation. Thus urban planning and smart growth are imperative. — American Academy of Pediatrics Ambient Air Pollution: Health Hazards to Children Public Transit is an Environmental Health Issue. The […]
If you only read one article on the issue of occupational health and safety this week, make it Ray Ring’s “Disposable Workers of the Oil and Gas Fields,” published last week in High Country News. “The core of the story can be classified as straightforward investigative coup,” editor John Mecklin explains in an accompanying piece . “In […]
By David Michaels The Bush Administration has gone all out to make sure states play no role in setting health and safety standards. This is not surprising, of course, since many states are far more committed to health and safety protection than the folks who currently run the federal government. Yesterday I talked about California’s […]
By David Michaels Labor health advocates in California are supporting legislation banning diacetyl, the flavoring chemical implicated in numerous cases of bronchiolitis obliterans, a debilitating lung disease, among workers in the food industry. The ban may never occur, but by demanding it we are getting closer to protecting workers and the public from this very […]
In continuation of the tradition begun at Jordan Barabâs Confined Space blog, Tammy has posted another edition of the Weekly Toll: Death in the American Workplace at her Weekly Toll blog. (It was posted on April 1; my apologies for not linking to it sooner.) It gives short writeups on 59 workplace deaths, including the following: […]
The Supreme Courtâs decision in Massachusetts v. EPA was big news this week; Justin Pidot at Gristmill takes an in-depth look at the rulingâs implications, while Kevin Grandia at DeSmogBlog scrutinizes the stances of the parties opposing it. Then, of course, there was Bushâs recess appointment of Susan Dudley to head the Office of Information […]