The House Republicans yesterday blocked a Democratic plan to provide $7.4 billion in funding to rescue workers and recovery workers who have since fallen ill — or even those who might fall ill at some indeterminate time — even if there was no evidence their ailment was related to the dust at Ground Zero.
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Sadly for the Florida plaintiffs from the decertified Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc. class-action lawsuit, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals declared yesterday that previous rulings from the original lawsuit could not be used alone to prove that the RJ Reynolds tobacco company (and other cigarette makers, by implication) was negligent for selling “defective” products — cigarettes — and conspired to hide the defective aspects which did indeed cause lung cancer and other diseases.
ACSH staffers were glad to read that biotech firm Geron will initiate the world s first human clinical trials using embryonic stem cells to treat patients paralyzed by spinal cord injuries. Pluripotent embryonic stem cells, which are able to convert into any cell in the body, will be injected into patients spines in the hope of enabling them to recover feeling and movement.
ACSH's Jeff Stier recently submitted a blog posting to SavvyAuntie dispelling phthalate fears with facts:
This weekend was full of surprising news stories. The strangest came from a Sydney Morning Herald article claiming that ingestion of environmental chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA) may have caused the increase in women’s breast size observed over the past 50 years. While the article addresses other health concerns such as obesity, it places a strong emphasis on chemical exposures.
As the dust settles on the $712 million Ground Zero lawsuit, plaintiffs with no illnesses are complaining that their settlement of $3,250 is being cut 60 percent, to $1,322, due to legal fees.
The New York Post headline covering the news story glared, Lawyer loan fees gouge 9/11 crews.
Despite claims that children are experiencing puberty earlier, there s very little good data to back that up, the chief of pediatric cardiology at University of Massachusetts Medical School writes in a column for Slate. While a well-publicized study in Pediatrics last month concluded girls were undergoing puberty as young as 7, Dr.
Booster Shots, the Los Angeles Times’ health blog, yesterday pointed out that while the current prostate cancer screening technology — the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test — has lead to an increase in diagnoses and surgical interventions, it has not decreased the cancer mortality rate.
CNN reports on a study suggesting that men with high blood pressure who imbibe more than six drinks in one sitting may double their risk of dying from a stroke or heart attack, while those that consume 12 drinks at a time increase their risk by five-fold.
It looks like Quiky the Bunny — Nestle’s Nesquik mascot — may soon be forced into early retirement as public schools across the nation consider banning fat-free chocolate milk from lunchroom cafeterias due to its high sugar content. Schools in the District of Columbia and Berkley, Calif. have already enacted bans, but some nutritionists are critical, arguing flavoring is crucial to get kids to drink milk, which contains essential nutrients including calcium and vitamin D.
A recent HealthDay News headlined “Nicotine Can Fuel Breast Cancer, Study Suggests” may needlessly scare readers into wrongfully assuming breast cancer may be caused by smoking. The study, which analyzed 276 breast tumor samples in vitro for a specific nicotine receptor subunit (a9-nAChR), found an over-production of the subunit in advanced-stage breast cancer compared to early-stage cancer.
Perhaps only Santa Claus is exempt from the deadly effects of excess abdominal fat, which according to new research published in Monday’s Archives of Internal Medicine, is more harmful than fat stored in the hips or thighs.
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s uranium! In Metropolis, Ill., the self-proclaimed hometown of Superman, union workers are on strike against Honeywell’s uranium conversion plant, claiming that their occupational exposure to uranium and to hydrofluoric acid has contributed to a higher risk of cancer.
Peter Dalpe, a spokesman for Honeywell, rejects these allegations:
ACSH staffers offer Wall Street Journal reporter Allysia Finley a seat at the table for her piece underscoring the lack of evidence supporting the claim that phthalates and BPA have contributed to the obesity epidemic.
For seniors addicted to smoking — whether they got that way from a YouTube video or not — Medicare is expanding its coverage to include tobacco-cessation counseling for those who haven’t been diagnosed with a tobacco-related disease, the Obama administration announced Wednesday.
A dedicated Pop-Tart store joined its candy friends M&Ms and Hershey’s by popping up in Times Square yesterday — but some people aren’t happy about it. Stier appeared on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” to debate anti-obesity crusader MeMe Roth , where he argued that it’s okay to occasionally indulge in a sugary snack as part of an overall balanced diet.
A review of six studies involving 220,000 men and women found that those who consume one and a half extra servings of green leafy vegetables per day reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus by 14 percent. The researchers believe that the antioxidants and magnesium found in green leafy vegetables such as spinach are responsible for the diabetes risk reduction.
ACSH Director of Publications Derek Rose harnessed his creative juices to produce this informative and amusing video on the truth behind BPA.
We ask our Dispatch readers to help spread the real BPA message by posting the link to this video to their Facebook pages and send it along to friends and family.
Warning: Video is intended for adult audiences and may cause uncontrollable laughter.
It’s enough to give you heartburn. San Francisco legislators — apparently having solved all of the city’s other problems — have decided to target Happy Meals. The Board of Supervisors is debating a proposal to ban toys from the entrées — unless the meal includes a half a cup of fresh fruit or three quarters of a cup of fresh vegetables, and doesn’t contain more than 600 calories.
FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg will honor former FDA official Frances Kelsey, MD, PhD, with the first annual Kelsey Award tomorrow the 50th anniversary of Kelsey s refusal to authorize the marketing of thalidomide in the U.S. to pregnant women for the relief of morning-sickness.
The FDA today began re-re-reevaluating AAtrex, Syngenta Crop Protection s brand name for the 50-year-old herbicide atrazine, which opponents allege is a potential carcinogen and endocrine disrupter.
Severe acne is more likely to cause suicide and depression in young people, not the drug Accutane often used to treat it, a new study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology finds.
The front page of Sunday’s New York Times featured a heartbreaking story about two cousins, both suffering from widespread melanoma, a lethal type of skin cancer. Both young men’s melanoma had a specific gene mutation called B-RAF, which is specifically targeted by a new drug being tested by Roche Pharmaceuticals.
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