by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure Swine flu infection of health care workers (or as CDC refers to them, health care personnel or HCP) was of interest early in the pre-pandemic phase for at last two reasons. One was the obvious goal of estimating the risk to front line workers and devising best practices for […]
A group of 47 H&S inspectors, supervisors and managers from California OSHA (Cal/OSHA) sent a pointed letter to the three-person OSH Appeals Board demanding they “cease and desist” their destructive practices. This Appeals Board is equivalent to the OSH and MSH Review Commissions; it exists because California is one of the 23 States that operates […]
The 1,050 State public health experts who make up the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) is urging the States and CDC to adopt a new case definition for adults of elevated blood-lead levels (BLL) and to require laboratories to report ALL blood lead test results to NIOSH’s Adult Blood Lead and Epidemiology (ABLES) Program. CSTE recommends […]
The Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward Jr. reports that one of West Virginia’s oldest and largest law firms, Jackson Kelly PLLC, is being sued for hiding evidence of coal miners’ black lung disease. Ward writes: “Earlier this year, an investigative panel of the state’s Lawyer Disciplinary Board filed misconduct charges against Douglas A. Smoot. Smoot hid a key […]
Home health workers who care for the elderly and disabled are an indispensable part of our healthcare workforce â but the Bush Administrationâs Department of Labor decided that they shouldnât be covered by the same wage and hour laws that protect most workers. The Associated Pressâs Sam Hananel explains that the administration based this determination […]
Less than two weeks ago, Dr. George Tiller, one of the few health providers who would still perform late-term abortions, was murdered. (Judith Warnerâs column on Dr. Tiller’s important work is well worth a read.) Police arrested Scott Roeder of Kansas City, and the office manager of a Kansas City womenâs clinic says that Roeder […]
Updated below (6/13/09) The Associated Press and other news sources are reporting on an explosion today at a meat processing facility in Garner, NC. Four workers are missing, at least 41 are injured, including several with very severe burns. One worker reports: “I was picking up a piece of meat off the line and I […]
As the public health community mourns the loss of a great scientist and colleague, The Pump Handle would like to share some of what has been written about Kate Mahaffey. Please leave your own remembrances in the comments section below. “I have known Kathryn as a colleague for more than a decade, but most recently […]
It is with deep sadness we inform you of the sudden passing of Kathyrn R Mahaffey, PhD.   Kate had an exceptional and diverse career, with appointments at FDA, NIOSH, NIEHS and EPA.  Most recently, Kate served as a Professorial Lecturer at the George Washington University School of Public Health. Her husband, David Jacobs offers the following remembrance and tribute […]
Of the many disturbing and damaging policies instituted during the G.W. Bush Administration, high on my list is abuse of FOIA. It started with the post 9/11-Ashcroft memo, which was institutionalized into downstream agencies, and reconfigured and rejustified over Mr. Bush’s remaining 7 years.  In the public interests, one journalist sought to find out how the Labor Department’s FOIA practices were “evolving” […]