Opinion
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Federal Court Tosses Vioxx Suit
Opinion -On November 22, a federal judge refused to certify a national class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of thousands of plaintiffs from various states. The suit claimed the plaintiffs had been injured by the arthritis drug Vioxx, manufactured by Merck. -
Government Should Stay out of Drug Business
Opinion -On December 2, the news provided vivid, painful proof that drug innovation is indeed a very risky business. -
New York Compact: Long-Term Care Protection or Scam?
Opinion -A few months ago, I attended an Elder Law Forum in Albany, New York intended to explain and promote a new concept of long-term care (LTC) protection called the New York State Compact for Long Term Care. -
Bias in Long-Term Care Favors Nursing Homes, Government
Opinion -Bias pervades America's long-term care (LTC) service delivery and financing system. The system is biased in favor of nursing home care--which Medicaid pays for but which most people would rather avoid. -
Disney Changes Food Marketing Approach
Opinion -Don't look for figurines from some of the latest animated kids' movies in a high-fat fast-food boxed meal in the near future. -
Savvy Consumerism Is Antidote to High Drug Costs
Opinion -Americans have long complained about the high cost of prescription drugs. But a common-sense solution is available to everyone: smart shopping. -
JAMA Article Guilty of Political Spin
Opinion -In its December 13, 2006 issue, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published an article on "Changes in Financial Burdens for Health Care. -
CMS Announces New Data Warehousing Initiative
Opinion -In an effort to limit waste, fraud, and abuse in American health care, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on October 11 a new data warehousing initiative intended to centralize medical information on Medicare and -
Packaging of Health Care Is Not the Problem
Opinion -"We don't bundle and price health services the way we would if the medical marketplace even remotely resembled an efficient, competitive market." So writes Dr. -
Forests Are Expanding Worldwide, Study Reports
Opinion -Forests are expanding throughout much of the world, according to a study reported November 14 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. -
Democrat Group Calls for More Nuclear Power
Opinion -Nuclear power offers a safe and economical way to meet anticipated growth in American energy demand, according to an October 2006 report by the Progressive Policy Institute, a policy arm of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). -
Warming Debate Not Over, Survey of Scientists Shows
Opinion -A substantial number of environmental scientists and practitioners disagree with the assertion that human activity is causing or imminently will cause substantial global warming, a November 2006 survey found. -
Greenland Temperatures Coldest in 60 Years
Opinion -The last two decades of the twentieth century were the coldest decades for Greenland since the 1910s, scientists have discovered, casting doubt on environmental activists' assertion that Greenland's ice sheet is melting and global warming is to blame. -
Senators’ Inquisition Attempts to Stifle Science, Debate
Opinion -Nicolas Copernicus was condemned for suggesting that the sun, rather than the Earth, was the center of our universe. The Catholic Church feared such knowledge could undermine the belief that Man was God's most important creation ... -
United Nations Climate Change Conference Changes Little
Opinion -Despite predictions from environmental activist groups that climate variance talks would leave the United States out in the cold, nothing much good or bad was accomplished at the 12th Conference of the Parties (COP-12) of the United Nations' Framework -
Senator Presents Scientific Case for Climate Realism
Opinion -Alarmism over climate variance is unsupported by the weight of scientific evidence, and proposals by environmental activists to impose a drastic climate variance prevention program are unwarranted, Sen. -
San Francisco Phthalates Ban Under Fire from Scientists and Retailers
Opinion -A San Francisco ordinance banning the sale, distribution, and manufacture of baby-related items containing any level of the chemical bisphenol A and certain levels of phthalates has been sharply criticized by scientists and challenged in state court. -
Letters to the Editor
Opinion -Dear Editor: Thanks for publishing in a manner which is compatible with my scientific experiences and doesn't give me heartburn! Truly refreshing! Warren B. -
Biotech Can Eliminate 2 Million Annual Diarrhea Deaths
Opinion -New advances in biotechnology are offering hope for sub-Saharan Africa and poor areas of Asia and Latin America where diarrhea is a prolific killer. -
Simple Facts Counter RFID Hysteria
Opinion -As of the middle of last year, at least 17 states were considering legislation to limit the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, up from 12 in 2005, according to an article “Rage Against RFID” in Washington Technology. -
New York Town Kills Cell Tower
Opinion -In a move that broadband advocates fear is part of an increasing trend, a small grassroots group forced the town government in the Westchester County suburb of Lewisboro, New York to back out of a deal with the governing board of a local church that had -
Consumers See Franchise Reform Benefits
Opinion -As of December 2006, 11 states had approved video franchise reform legislation. Eight of those states--California, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas--created statewide video franchising processes. -
Provo Broadband Stumbles
Opinion -After only two years, the municipal broadband system in Provo, Utah has begun to show the pattern of losses and declining net asset value experienced by other cities that have mounted expensive fiber optic networking projects, according to a report -
Can Congress Tell a Virtual World from the Real One?
Opinion -Some say online virtual reality operations like “Second Life” have attained the stage of evolution that blogging and the Internet itself occupied several years ago.