By Alison Bass (cross-posted) In order to truly stabilize the economy and rescue Medicare from financial collapse, the Obama administration knows it has to do something about the elephant in the room: ever-rising health care costs. In this week’s New Yorker, surgeon-writer Atul Gawande presents an eye-opening discourse on why American health care costs have […]
by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure Yesterday New York reported two more swine flu deaths (a 41-year-old woman from Queens and a 34-year-old man from Brooklyn). CDC and just about everyone else who knows anything about influenza have been telling people to expect this. The influenza virus kills people all the time. We don’t know […]
Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act (aka the Waxman-Markey bill), which sets up a cap-and-trade system to cut greenhouse-gas emissions 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 and 83% by 2050. It also includes other provisions to promote renewable energy, energy efficiency, and green jobs. As […]
By Ellen Smith The nation may have a new President with grand ideas about the Freedom of Information Act, but letâs be clear: at MSHA, nothing regarding FOIAÂ has changed. The same people are still in charge of FOIA, offering ridiculous redactions and refusing to divulge information which, previous to 2002, was openly shared with the […]
A few days ago, I expressed my annoyance with OSHA about its SBREFA meeting on the draft proposed rule on diacetyl, the lung-damaging, butter-tasting food additive.  OSHA had announced earlier in the year that this pre-proposal dialogue with small employer would be “open to the public.” I anxiously awaited public notification about the open meeting, only to find out on Wednesday afternoon […]
Worker Health & Safety
Action in California Chips Away at Healthcare Sectorâs Lack of Safety Culture
By Bill Borwegen While the news coming out of California this week has focused on the budget crisis, something else of historic importance in advancing worker protections was achieved by Californiaâs healthcare workers. Yesterday in a 6-0 vote, the CalOSHA Standards Board adopted the nationâs first aerosol transmissible diseases standard. In 1986 when unions petitioned […]
Alison Bass directs our attention to the tragic story of Denis Maltez, a 12-year-old Miami boy who died of serotonin syndrome after being given two anti-psychotic medications (Seroquel and Zyprexa) plus an anti-seizure drug and tranquilizer. Serotonin syndrome occurs when a combination of drugs causes the brain to produce excess serotonin. Denis had severe autism […]
by Kas The USEPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) will receive nutrient-rich fertilizer that will keep it from becoming obsolete. IRIS provides an overall characterization of the public health risks for a given chemical in a given situation. It is the place to go to find noncancer effects (reference doses (RfD), reference concentrations (RfC)) and […]
Two months ago, I applauded OSHA for announcing that its SBREFA panel meeting on a draft diacetyl proposed rule would be open to the public. Today, I feel schnookered. OSHA hosted its teleconference-meeting yesterday (5/19) and today (5/20) with specially-selected small employers, but failed to provide meaningful notice to allow the public to participate. Is a […]
Last week, a 44-year-old soldier on his third deployment to Iraq opened fire at his U.S. military base near the Baghdad International Airport, killing five service members and wounding three others. Sgt. John Russell had been sent to the combat-stress clinic at Camp Liberty by his superiors, and two of the five people he killed […]