In The News

Chinese Ordered Cover-Up of Tainted Milk Scandal

Richard Spencer September 25, 2008
China’s government had good reason to be ashamed after more than 50,000 infants fell sick after drinking milk tainted with melamine, a fertilizer ingredient. But the Chinese government’s ordering a cover-up, as reported by the Telegraph, only compounded the crime. Reports of infants falling ill with kidney stones and urinary tract difficulties have emerged since early 2008, but neither the...

Saving Face, Not Lives

Anne-Marie Brady September 23, 2008
More than 50,000 children have fallen ill, after drinking milk contaminated with melamine, a fertilizer ingredient. Chinese and dairy officials – including China’s San Lu, with a 43 percent share owned by New Zealand dairy firm Fonterra – colluded to suppress negative press before or during the Olympics, reports author Anne-Marie Brady for the Sunday Star Times in New Zealand. Chinese families...

More Than Half of US Drug Safety Studies Never See the Light of Day

James Randerson September 23, 2008
Before taking a prescribed medicine, patients assume that the product has undergone rigorous testing, with researchers proving it safe and effective. Of the world’s 20 largest pharmaceutical firms, more than half are in the US, and so global consumers depend on the US Food and Drug Administration to regulate drugs and report safety concerns. A survey conducted by a team at the University of...

Diagnosing at a Distance

Margot Cohen September 10, 2008
The poor are often the last to benefit from technological leaps in health care. But trained physicians and technological advances combined with the presence of a large number of poor dispersed throughout the Indian countryside could usher in changes for health-care delivery. Rapidly declining costs of satellite and internet connections allow caregivers to use telemedicine and reach more patients...

Immigrants Facing Deportation by US Hospitals

Deborah Sontag August 11, 2008
It’s no secret that there are serious problems with both the US health-care system and US immigration policy. Less obvious, though, are the ways in which those problems can overlap. The US government requires hospitals to care for all in need of lifesaving medical treatment – including foreign immigrants, but does not cover all costs for that care. Some hospitals, eager to rid themselves of the...

Population Woes

Salama A. Salama June 27, 2008
Tragedy unfolds in countries that fail to emphasize family planning or discourage people from having children they cannot afford – and economic hardship compounds the tragedy. Preaching and advertising fail to engage the poor in developing nations, particularly when large numbers are illiterate, argues Salama A. Salama for Al-Ahram Weekly. For some cultures, a large family represents economic...

The Health Care Trap

Richard Smith June 17, 2008
The wealthiest countries spend lavishly on health care. The growing expenditures create entrenched health-care systems that provide an increasing share of employment in those nations. Technological innovation – from development of new drugs to life-saving equipment – in the health-care sector, unlike other industries, tends to make prices rise rather than fall, explains Richard Smith in an essay...