In The News

Lawsuit Looms Against Germany Over Cucumber Scare

Gregg Benzow, Sarah Harman June 2, 2011
The scramble to identify a deadly food-borne illness can quickly ruin reputations. At least 10 nations have reported hundreds of cases of an infection by a deadly mutation of E. coli to the World Health Organization, raising fear, confusion and speculation about the source. Hamburg, Germany, initially blamed Spanish cucumbers, before conducting tests and backing away from the claims days later...

Desperate Americans Buy Kidneys From Peru Poor in Fatal Trade

Michael Smith May 17, 2011
With organ transplants, technological capability outpaces supply. Selling organs is illegal in virtually all nations, but the laws do not deter desperate parties. “In the illegal organ trade, brokers scour the world’s slums, preying on the poor with promises of easy money and little risk in exchange for a kidney,” writes Michael Smith for Bloomberg. Kidney donors sign documents that no payment is...

The War Over Lipitor

Katherine Eban May 16, 2011
A generic version of the world’s top-selling prescription drug – Lipitor – was anticipated this fall, and Katherine Eban, writing for Fortune, suggests that “Generic-drug companies are now feuding like greedy relatives at Lipitor's graveside.” Exclusive rights to sell drugs end 20 years after the patent application is filed. The first generic maker to file patent for a viable substitute – in...

A Pair of Clean Hands Can Save Lives

May 4, 2011
Accustomed to great advances in medicine, staff and patients often overlook simple life-saving rules. Unclean hands are a major source of hospital infections around the globe. Studies in the US have shown compliance rates of less than 50 percent. The global health problem has an easy fix, reports the Times of India, as the World Health Organization observes World Hand Hygiene Day on 5 May. About...

Pacific Nations Battle Obesity Epidemic

Neil Sands April 25, 2011
As Pacific Island nations become more integrated into the global economy, an obesity epidemic has emerged. About 90 percent of Tongans, for instance, are classified as overweight or obese. Weight-related diseases are responsible for 75 percent of deaths in the Pacific Islands, notes one World Health Organization official, in an Agence France-Presse report by Neil Sands. By comparison, about 15...

The Indian Exception

April 12, 2011
Economic growth and malnutrition are often inversely correlated. India enjoys impressive economic growth, yet the malnutrition rate in many states remains stubbornly high, even among middle-income families. Government attempts to feed the hungry, including a “right to food,” have been unsuccessful. An essay in the Economist suggests that expansive handouts, like free meals for many schools,...

Government Announces Reduction in Cost of ARVs

December 28, 2010
The South African government has negotiated with multinational pharmaceutical companies a plan to reduce prices of antiretroviral drugs by nearly half. The same 10 pharmaceutical firms that supply the medications will continue to do so, but with newly reduced prices, starting in January. Critics question the abrupt drop in price and whether refunds are warranted for previous high prices. With...