News
- -02-23-03 Vaccine for AIDS Works (USA Today News - Sternberg)
"Nearly two decades after the discovery of the AIDS virus, researchers Monday report for the first time that an AIDS vaccine can prevent infection but with sharply different success rates depending on race."
"The first full-scale human trial of the vaccine, AIDSVAX, indicates that although the vaccine failed to protect whites and Hispanics, it appears to be effective in Asians and blacks. Blacks account for half of all new infections in the USA, federal statistics show."
"Although the vaccine failed to provide protection overall, it was 78.3% effective in blacks and 68% effective in Asians." 2-03
- 01-16-03 Bush for Malpractice Caps (CBS)
"President Bush renewed his proposal Thursday for nationwide limits on jury awards in injury cases: no more than $250,000 for pain and suffering and a similar cap on punitive damages." "Without the proposed limits, Mr. Bush said, 'excessive jury awards will continue to drive up insurance costs, will put good doctors out of business or run them out of your community and will hurt communities like Scranton, Pa. That's a fact.' " Some senators disagreed:
" 'These proposed changes in law would deprive seriously injured patients of fair compensation and do nothing to guarantee that doctors could obtain malpractice insurance at a fair price,' said a letter sent to Mr. Bush Wednesday by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and three other Democratic senators.”
" 'The truth is the insurance industry has done poorly in the market and is simply passing those costs on to doctors and patients,' [Senator] Edwards said. 'Evidence from 30 years shows that the things President Bush is proposing will do nothing to reduce the premiums that doctors pay.' "
"Edwards called for stopping frivolous lawsuits and cracking down on the small percentage of doctors responsible for the majority of malpractice cases." 1-03
- 05-21-03 Florida Court Supports Tobacco Industry (Washington Times - Wilson)
"A Florida appeals court erased a record $145 billion award against the tobacco industry yesterday, ruling that thousands of Florida smokers could not group themselves together for a class-action attack on cigarette makers."
"The action came on the same day that more than 190 countries approved the first international treaty against smoking, including an advertising ban, aimed at kicking the global habit that kills nearly 5 million people a year."
- 07-01-03 Obesity: Food Giant to Change Ways (Independent)
Amid growing concern about the threat of fat-related lawsuits, the world's second biggest food manufacturer is to cut back on the fat and sugar content of most of its products and reduce the size of the portions."
"Kraft...announced yesterday that it would overhaul its range of products around the world to make them less unhealthy. Many other food manufacturers are expected to follow suit - to avoid the risk of being sued by overweight consumers in the way that tobacco companies have been sued by smokers." 7-03
- 08-27-03 U.S. Drops Opposition to Cheap Drugs in Third World (Independent - Gumbel)
"After two years of disputes the World Trade Organisation was poised to rubber stamp a deal, previously rejected by the United States, ensuring that poorer nations can import affordable generic drugs." 8-03
- 09-17-03 Bush and Bono Clash on AIDS Expenditures (CBS News)
"Mr. Bush signed the Global AIDS Act in May that authorized $3 billion to fund global AIDS programs for 2004, but Congress has allocated only $2 billion. Both the president and members of Congress say developing countries wouldn't be able to make use of the extra money."
"Bono said he's very angry but he's trying to calm down and get the president to open "America's wallet." 9-03
- 11-13-03 Smoking Rate Drops in High School (ABC News)
"The percentage of U.S. high school students who smoke cigarettes fell to just under 23 percent in 2002, but there was no significant drop in smoking among middle school students, a survey released on Thursday showed." 11-03
- 11-15-03 Revived Girl Baffles Medical Experts (ABC News)
Mackayala Jespersen was pronounced dead at 10:06 a.m. at the hospital, after an hour of attempts to resuscitate her from drowning. "Then, at 10:45 a.m. 39 minutes after she had been pronounced dead her chest appeared to spasm." She was alive. 11-03
- 11-25-01 Cloning - First Human Embryo Cloned (BBC News)
Describes the first known case of human cloning. The researchers said that they are trying to develop stem cells to be used in medicine, not develop a human clone.
Papers
- Abductions Less Frequent Now (CNN)
Despite the publicity on recent abduction cases, abductions by strangers are actually becoming rarer, according to the FBI. 8-02
- Cancer Cure Approved (CenterWatch)
Describes the research on the new drug, STI-571 or Gleevec, which has been shown to attack only cancer cells and provide a very high rate of cure in leukemia. The FDA approved its use. 5-02
- Cancer Cure Approved (HHMI.org)
Describes the research on the new drug, STI-571 or Gleevec, which has been shown to attack only cancer cells and provide a very high rate of cure in leukemia. The FDA approved its use. 5-02
- Heart Muscle Regenerates (USA Today)
Provides a summary of a major medical finding, that a heart can repair itself after a heart attack. Before this, scientists and doctors believed that heart muscles could not be restored after they were damaged in a heart attack. 6-01
- Obesity - Food Industry Sued (CBC News)
"The same lawyers who took on Big Tobacco met this summer in Washington to explore whether similar tactics can be used against the food industry." "And just like tobacco, the lawyers would target junk food advertising and gimmicks directed at children." 8-02
- Physical Education in the USA in 2001 (PE4Life.com)
Provides results from the report of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) for 2001 on the status of physical education in the American educational system. Includes recommendations for schools. 3-02
- Pollution May Cause Deaths According to Studies (The Australian)
"Elderly residents who lived near a main road where concentrations of air pollutants were high were around twice as likely to die from heart and lung disease than people living further away, according to the research conducted by Dr. Gerard Hoek of Utrecht University."10-02
- Worker Health and Safety Repealed by Congress (Philadelphia Enquirer - Gartner)
Provides the opinion that Congress made a mistake by removing health and safety protections for workers. 3-01
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