Picks of the day archives - news that hit the "front page"

                                                         Vaccination News    

* ►January 7, 2009 - Failure to Report Financial Disclosure Information - journal article (JAMA)

* ►January 7, 2009 - Safer Therapies for Newborns Probed - journal article (JAMA)

* ►January 6, 2009 - The Vaccine Hard Sell at Pediatrics A Shot of Reality By Michael Wagnitz, B.S. - Age of Autism

* ►January 6, 2009 - What is Paul Offit's Problem? By Anne Dachel - Age of Autism

* ►January 6, 2009 - Diphtheria - Exploring Vaccines

* ►January 6, 2009 - Seizure Alone Caused Jett Travolta's Death - Autopsy On Actor's Son Shows No Sign Of Head Trauma; Grieving Family Prepares For Funeral - AP/CBS via CBS News

* ►January 6, 2009 - Death of Travolta's son raises medical questions - AP via Yahoo! - "Dr. Michael Kohrman, a University of Chicago pediatric neurologist, said up to one-third of children with autism have some sort of seizure disorder. Still, there are dozens of other causes of seizures. Recurrent seizures are sometimes called epilepsy and are caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain. These affect more than 3 million Americans. Mild seizures can be barely noticeable; severe ones can cause convulsing and loss of consciousness. 'Sudden death in epilepsy is not an unheard-of phenomenon,' said Dr. Bruce Cohen, a staff neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic.'"

* ►January 6, 2009 - For Kelly Preston - Barbara Fischkin MyBlog via Spectrum Publications

* ►January 6, 2009 - Lawsuit alleges Tukwila school officials didn't protect autistic boy from bullying - A discrimination suit has been filed on behalf of an autistic former student in the Tukwila School District, alleging district officials failed to protect him from bullying and tried to declare him a truant when his parents pulled him from classes. - Seattle Times

* ►January 6, 2009 - Most babies with uncomplicated febrile seizures can avoid spinal tap - Largest review to date questions current recommendations - Children's Hospital Boston via EurekAlert!

* ►January 6, 2008 - CNN’s Sanjay Gupta Is Approached for Surgeon General Job (requires registration) - The New York Times

* ►January 6, 2009 - Here We Go: Obama Wants CNN Doctor Sanjay Gupta as Surgeon General - NaturalNews.com

* ►January 6, 2009 - Health workers could knock on your door beginning Friday - Daily Comet - "About 420 residents will be asked to participate in the survey that has steered American health care for the last 50 years. Terrebonne is one of 15 counties in the nation that will be surveyed for the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a program conducted annually by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

* ►January 6, 2009 - Merck reports shortage of hepatitis B vaccine - Philadelphia Inquirer - "Merck & Co. Inc. said today that equipment upgrades at its West Point plant would cause shortages of its hepatitis B vaccine for adults. Merck said the shortages would not affect pediatric versions of the vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Merck competitor GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C. was producing enough hepatitis B vaccine to compensate for shortfalls. Merck spokeswoman Amy Rose said the firm was not answering questions about what the upgrade included or whether it was planned."

* ►January 6, 2009 - Hepatitis A vaccine gives long-lasting protection - Journal of Infectious Diseases via Reuters - "They say the findings show that protective levels of anti-hepatitis A antibodies are retained for at least 10 years after vaccination. 'Hepatitis A booster doses after completion of the primary vaccination series do not appear to be warranted and are not currently recommended,' the CDC team advises. Nonetheless, they point out, antibody concentrations do decline over time and ongoing monitoring is needed 'to assess whether persons vaccinated as children will be protected throughout adulthood.'"

* ►January 6, 2009 - Chimerix Completes Phase I Study and Initiates a Phase II Multi-dose Clinical Trial for CMX001 - CMX001 is an Orally Available Broad Spectrum Antiviral Being Investigated for the Treatment of dsDNA viruses including smallpox, BK virus, CMV and adenovirus - press release - Chimerix, Inc. via PRNewswire

* ►January 6, 2009 - BioReliance Corporation Announces Agreement with Barr Pharmaceuticals to Supply Bulk Virus for the Manufacture of Adenovirus Vaccine for the U.S. Department of Defense - press release - BioReliance Corporation via Business Wire

* ►January 6, 2009 - Dissecting Merck’s “Gardasil for Boys” FDA Application - BNET Pharma Blog - "One interested party that definitely sees this as cost-effective is Merck. As BNET noted recently, Merck’s vaccine divisions are struggling to get product out the door, and they need extra indications for drugs that are mandated and often funded by government. That is why you will continue to see a drumbeat of stories featuring data that show Gardasil could be effective for boys, and for increasingly yucky diseases."

* ►January 6, 2009 - Bird Flu, Fire Hazards and a Vaccine for Boys (requires registration) - The New York Times

* ►January 6, 2009 - Merck asks FDA to expand Gardasil use - PharmaCompanies.info via farmanux.com - "Anyone who's been following the vaccine trade knows that Merck is working hard to expand the use of its human papillomavirus shot. Now approved for marketing to girls and young women, Gardasil has been tested on boys, young men and on women as old as 45, with the aim of growing the potential HPV market beyond preteen, teenage and early-twenties females."

* ►January 6, 2009 - Young woman told she had flu dies - A teenage mother died three days after an out-of-hours medical service said she had a bout of flu and should take paracetamol and drink plenty of fluids. - BBC - "Clare Secker, 19, of Gorleston, Norfolk, died of bronchial pneumonia."

* ►January 6, 2009 - AstraZeneca aims to sell nasal flu vaccine in EU - Reuters - "AstraZeneca, which acquired MedImmune in 2007, believes its needle-free treatment can help increase vaccination rates -- a common goal for governments around the world."

* ►January 6, 2009 - Poor Vaccine Coverage in Europe Allows Measles to Hang On - The Lancet via MedPage Today

* ►January 6, 2009 - Measles could survive attempted eradication due to low vaccination rates - Doctors said there were "serious doubts" that a target to effectively kill off measles in Europe by next year will be reached because of low vaccination rates. - The Telegraph, UK

* ►January 6, 2009 - Baby in hospital after measles outbreak at nursery - The Surrey Herald, UK

* ►January 6, 2009 - Woman dies after contracting rabies in African animal sanctuary - A woman who contracted rabies while working in an African animal sanctuary has become the first Briton to die from the virus for four years. - The Telegraph, UK

* ►January 6, 2009 - Mandatory universal blood lead screening begins in Connecticut - Department of Public Health via NorwalkPlus.com - "The new legislation, which went into effect on January 1, 2009, requires all primary care providers to perform annual blood lead screening of all children less than three years of age and screen any child between the ages of 36 and 72 months who has not been previously screened."

* ►January 6, 2009 - New health study focuses on hepatitis spread - Las Vegas clinics among those failing to follow basic infection control practices - Las Vegas Sun - "In the past 10 years, more than 60,000 patients across the United States were asked to go for tests for hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus because health care providers outside hospitals failed to follow basic infection control practices, says a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

* ►January 6, 2009 - PPD buys Merck vaccine facility - Contract research organization Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc (PPD) has moved further into providing central laboratory services with the purchase of a 130,000 sq. ft. laboratory from Merck & Co. - Outsourcing-pharma.com

* ►January 6, 2009 - Crucell Announces STAR(R) Research and Commercial License Agreement with Centocor, Inc. - Crucell via Market Wire via Street Insider

* ►January 6, 2009 - Medtronic gets defibrillator lawsuit dismissed - BusinessWeek - "The company said the decision was consistent with a Supreme Court ruling last year when they won after being sued because a patient suffered from a burst balloon catheter during an angioplasty procedure. The court ruled in favor of Medtronic, saying the plaintiffs claims were pre-empted because the FDA had approved the catheter."

* ►January 6, 2209 - Osteoporosis Drug Fosamax Linked to Two Serious Side Effects - Health News

* ►January 6, 2009 - Merck Gets Distribution from UPS - Traffic World Online

* ►January 5, 2009 - Big Pharma backs CMV vaccine (requires registration) - The Scientist - "The vaccine candidate, AVX601, was created by scientists at North Carolina-based AlphaVax and has fared well in a phase I clinical trial on healthy adults. AVX601 is a single-cycle particle vaccine that carries RNA encoding three antigens--phosphoprotein 65, immediate early protein I, and glycoprotein B--from the CMV virus, and the vaccine was shown to raise levels of neutralizing antibodies and antigen-specific T cells in phase I trial subjects."

* ►January 5, 2009 - Pharma buying spree could swallow biotechs - Financial Times

* ►January 5, 2009 - Teens' health care often a missed opportunity - A retooled health care system that includes a focus on adolescents is needed, as are coordination of primary and specialty care. - www.ama-assn.org

* ►January 5, 2009 - Louisiana pediatricians sue over Medicaid managed care pilots - Fearing problems with access to care, doctors are seeking public records related to the plan to shift poor children into managed care. - www.ama-assn.org

* ►January 5, 2009 - Supreme Court asked to examine Texas peer review case - A Dallas cardiologist wants the U.S. high court to decide whether federal law is being interpreted to give peer reviewers absolute immunity. - www.ama-assn.org

* ►January 5, 2009 - Nevada medical board seeks to update discipline, licensing systems - The goal is to make processes more timely and public, and to allow a voice at hearings for people filing complaints. - www.ama-assn.org

* ►January 5, 2009 - Doctor liable for not providing sign language interpreter - www.ama-assn.org

* ►January 5, 2009 - Report focuses on long-term effects of battlefield brain injuries - Traumatic brain injury has become the signature wound of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet its effects are often overlooked. - www.ama-assn.org

* ►January 5, 2009 - Mothers tailor sons' immune systems to suit environment, study shows - Cordis News

* ►January 5, 2009 - NYT: Portrait Emerges of Anthrax Suspect’s Troubled Life - Anthrax Vaccine -- posts by Meryl Nass, M.D.

* ►January 2009 - PPD and Merck in Strategic Outsourcing Deal - ClinicalTrialsToday.com

* ►December 21, 2008 - Price and regulatory pressures squeezed drug industry in 2008, challenges to continue in 2009 - AP via Star Tribune

* ►January 6, 2009 - Keith Windschuttle admits Quadrant 'hoax' - Quadrant editor Keith Windschuttle has confessed he was "tricked" into publishing an article about popular scares on biotechnology issues in the respected journal. - The Australian

* ►January 6, 2009 - Vaccinating older people against pneumonia is a 'waste of time' - Daily Mail, UK

* ►January 6, 2009 - Small Dose of Meningitis Vaccine Useful - PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases via Ivanhoe - "A smaller amount of the standard dose of the meningitis vaccine may be just as effective as a full dose. ... The immune responses of one-fifth and one-tenth of the doses were compared to a full dose. One-fifth of the dose was found to be comparable to a full dose."

* ►January 6, 2009 - 4.6 lakh JE doses declared ineffective - New stocks of vaccine expected to arrive from China only after March - Expressindia.com - "'Since the vaccine is as good as water now, we will keep it outside the deep freezer and use the storage space for other vaccines,' said an official of the state Health Department. 'In no case will we destroy the vaccine in the state as it contains strains of the virus and in a vulnerable state like ours, this can create further problems,' he added."

* ►January 6, 2009 - Celebs roped in to boost Pulse Polio - Times of India

* ►January 5, 2009 - Pneumococcal vaccine does not appear to protect against pneumonia - Canadian Medical Association Journal, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS via ScienceDaily

* ►January 5, 2009 - Bayer Knowingly Sold HIV-Contaminated Vaccines, Say Internal Documents (includes video link) - NaturalNews.com

* ►January 5, 2009 - Pharmalot… Pharmanot… So Long, Folks - Pharmalot - "Dear Pharmalot friends, This is my long goodbye. For two glorious years, I have had the privilege and good fortune to run this site. Now, though, the time has come to walk away. This was a difficult decision, but one that is rooted in the turmoil engulfing the newspaper business."

* ►January 5, 2009 - Psychiatrists Push SSRIs for Childhood Anxiety- NEJM - Alliance for Human Research Protection via http://groups.google.com - "The New England Journal of Medicine has just published an article ... promoting the expanded use of antidepressants for treating loosely defined 'Childhood anxiety.' All the psychiatrists who authored the study have financial ties to drug manufacturers."

* ►January 5, 2009 - David Kirby: Top Federal Autism Panel Votes For Millions in Vaccine Research - The Huffington Post - "The Inter-Agency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) has voted to recommend earmarking millions of dollars in research funds from the Combating Autism Act of 2006 to study the possible role of vaccines in the causation of autism. The panel also proposed spending an additional $75 million to study a wide variety of other environmental factors in autism, possibly including parental age, infections, heavy metals, neurotoxins, occupational exposures and 'other biological agents.'"

* ►January 5, 2009 - Olmsted on Autism: Travolta, Kawasaki, Acrodynia By Dan Olmsted - Age of Autism

* ►January 5, 2009 - MMR: It’s ALL or NOTHING! Say goodbye to choice. By Allison Chapman - Age of Autism

* ►January 5, 2009 - Why Paul Offit Isn't Flexible on Vaccines - On Medicine Blog via U.S. News & World Report - "He added that he's not blind to the risks posed by vaccines just because he invented one. 'Vaccines have side effects,' he says. 'The oral polio vaccine [no longer in use] can cause polio, and the acellular pertussis vaccine can cause seizures. But it could be that those children who develop severe reactions would be even more overwhelmed by a natural infection.' Genetic studies are now being conducted to see if this is indeed the case."

* ►January 5, 2009 - What is Kawasaki syndrome? - Actor John Travolta says that his son, who was found dead last week, suffered from this inflammatory disorder. Did it play a role in the teen's death? - Scientific America

* ►January 5, 2009 - Young Adult Warrior: John - Age of Autism

* ►January 5, 2009 - Flu Vaccine Mandatory For New Jersey Children - InjuryBoard.com - "Parents have banded together to protest the mandate. New Jersey Coalition for Vaccination Choice held a rally in Trenton, New Jersey insisting that parents be the ones who decide on their children’s vaccination schedule, not the state.  'There’s a huge trust gap between parents and public health officials right now,' said Louise Kuo Habakus, who is a parent and spokeswoman for the group. 'These are our kids. We’re stakeholders. You have to give us a say in this debate.' There is currently not any exemption for parents who feel strongly their children shouldn’t fall under the mandate. The group supports the passage of A260/S1071, legislation that will provide a conscientious belief exemption to mandatory vaccination."

* ►January 5, 2009 - Parents furious over mandatory flu vaccine - MOMformation via BabyCenter - "Many New Jersey parents are furious over a requirement that children get a flu shot in order to attend preschools and day-care centers."

* ►January 5, 2009 - The HPV Vaccine Controversy - Major uncertainties over efficacy and safety for costly vaccines that only benefit the drug giants for sure - Prof. Joe Cummins and Dr. Mae-Wan Ho - Institute for Science in Society

* ►January 5, 2009 - Merck Seeks FDA Approval for Gardasil in Boys - Wall Street Journal Health Blog - "The vaccine is a key product for Merck, which estimates sales this year of as much as $1.6 billion. But sales have slowed, down 4% in the third quarter compared to a year earlier."

* ►January 5, 2009 - Boys might get vaccine for sexually transmitted virus (blog) - TCPalm

* ►January 5, 2009 - Alaska develops vaccine database - Fort Mills Times - "The state has launched a new database designed to help health care officials track Alaska residents' vaccine history. The data base is called VacTrAK."

* ►January 5, 2009 - Sanofi-Aventis spent $1.8M lobbying in 3Q - AP via Forbes - "Meanwhile, the vaccine division lobbied on a host of issues, including vaccine safety funding, vaccines for children, influenza vaccine shortage issues, pandemic concerns, bioterrorism countermeasures and vaccine injury compensation programs."

* ►January 5, 2009 - CureVac Receives IND Approval from the FDA to start its Phase I/IIa mRNA Vaccine Clinical Trial in Prostate Cancer - press release - CureVac GmbH via Marketwire

* ►January 5, 2009 - Ohio State Studies Alzheimer's Vaccine Effectiveness - HealthNewsDigest.com

* ►January 5, 2009 - Health risks halted use of jet injectors - Mayo Clinic via Denver Post

* ►January 5, 2009 - Low flu vaccination uptake amongst health staff - Irish Medical News - "Only one-fifth of the annual flu vaccination supply designated for HSE staff around the country has been taken up, according to new figures."

* ►January 5, 2009 - Virus' Devastation Compels Mother To Action (includes video) - KETV Omaha - "Her foundation is working to raise awareness of CMV in an effort to reduce its effects on newborns."

* ►January 5, 2009 - Norfolk meningitis death an 'isolated' case - EDP24, UK - "The death of a toddler from meningitis at a Norfolk hospital just after Christmas was an isolated case and is not being treated as a public health alert, it has emerged."

* ►January 5, 2009 - Johns Hopkins-led Team Solves Mystery of Failed Kids Vaccine - Johns Hopkins Gazette - "Research led by Johns Hopkins Children's Center scientists has figured out why a respiratory syncytial virus vaccine used in 1966 to inoculate children against the infection instead caused severe respiratory disease and effectively stopped efforts to make a better one."

* ►January 5, 2009 - Dutch study sheds light on virus that causes SARS - Reuters - "The model, created using hepatitis coronavirus from mice, will help scientists understand severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which appeared in China in 2002 and killed some 800 people globally before being brought under control."

* ►January 5, 2009 - FDA Approves New Test to Screen for HIV in Donated Blood - MPX test detects nucleic acid from HIV-1 Group O and HIV-2 - HealthDay via Modern Medicine - "'With the MPX test, blood donor testing laboratories will be able to use nucleic acid technology to screen for additional HIV strains, further assuring that donated blood and tissue are free from infection and providing better protection for patients,' Jesse L. Goodman, M.D., director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, stated in the release."

* ►January 5, 2009 - Old-fashioned medicine in Madison - Exhibit at museum displays instruments used by physicians - Daily Record - "One section of the exhibit details the method used to inoculate Gen. George Washington's soldiers with smallpox while they were stationed in Morristown in 1777. Medics would run a needle and thread through a pustule of an infected person and then through the skin of a healthy person to expose them to the disease in hopes the newly exposed person could fight the disease and develop an immunity. Washington lost many of his troops to smallpox while stationed in Morristown. 'Our present Situation compells me to order you and Major Hay to march with all the Battalion that have got over the small Pox and are equipped,' George Washington wrote in a May 16, 1777, letter to Lt. Col. David Green, which also is on display in 'Crafting Cures.'"

* ►January 4, 2009 - No Mugs, but What About Those Fees? - editorial (requires registration) - The New York Times

* ►January 4, 2009 - John Travolta's brother Joey thought Jett had autism - The Dish Rage via Los Angeles Times

* ►Early Life Infections Improve the Function of the Immune System - www.chiro.org - "'Before 1920, acute leukemia among children was a rare event. A significant peak-age incidence (2-5 years) appeared after 1940. Since then, the incidence rate of childhood leukemia has been more or less remarkably stable. This means that some leukemogenic factor must have been introduced in children’s lives some time around 1940.' 'It is a highly striking coincidence that at the same year the introduction of immunization against diphtheria was began on a national scale.' — Petar I. Ivanovski, pediatrician University Childrens Hospital, Belgrade"

* ►January 5, 2009 - 10 yrs after side effects of polio drop kills infant, court orders govt to pay Rs 2 lakh to family - Expressindia.com - "In a decision aimed at making public authorities more accountable, a city court has directed the Delhi government to pay Rs 2 lakh as compensation to the parents of an infant who died after being administered with Pulse Polio drops in 1999. The court held that the government was obligated to not only run public health programmes like Pulse Polio, but was also duty bound to protect people from the probable side-effects of the vaccine."

* ►January 5, 2009 - ‘EPI vaccinators have not been paid for six months’ - The News International, Pakistan

* ►January 5, 2009 - AGP report for 2007-08: Ex-minister kept 3 cars in excess of entitlement * Audit report says Naseer Khan used four official vehicles, three illegally, between July 2005 and June 2007 * Says departments concerned bore their repair, maintenance and fuel expenditures - Daily Times, Pakistan - "The AGP report says during scrutiny, the record of National Institute of Health (NIH), Expanded Programme of Immunisation (EPI), Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) and Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) showed four vehicles – Toyota Land Cruiser IDE-4684, Luxury Land Cruiser-Prado 5 door X-91-38, Double Cabinet 4x4 GF-922 and Suzuki Car IDB-8773 – in the custody of Naseer Khan from July 2005 to June 2007."

* ►January 4, 2009 - Medical team probes death of five kids in Bihar - IANS via Thaindian.com - "A medical team is investigating the death of five Dalit children in Bihar’s Darbhanga district where media reports said several kids are suffering from measles and chicken-pox. A health official said here the five children in Varahi village of Darbhanga district died of cold Dec 31-Jan 1."

* ►January 4, 2009 - Vaccines Are ‘Exonerated’ from Causing Autism? The Monkeys Know Better - The Baby Dust Diaries Blog

* ►January 4, 2009 - Silencing Autism By Sara DiFucci - Age of Autism

* ►January 4, 2009 - John Travolta's Son: Meds Ultimately Did Harm - TMZ.com - "TMZ has learned more about the medical condition of John Travolta's son, Jett, and the medication that ultimately didn't work. We're now told the grand mal seizures Jett suffered were 'frequent and extremely serious.' Travolta's lawyers, Michael Ossi and Michael McDermott, tell us 'each seizure was like a death,' with Jett losing consciousness and convulsing. We now know Jett was taking a drug called Depokate, a strong anti-seizure medication. There have been reports Travolta refused to give his son anti-seizure meds because of Scientology but those stories are not true."

* ►January 4, 2009 - John Travolta, EMT struggled to save 16-year-old Jett - New York Daily News

* ►January 4, 2009 - Parents of autistic children join forces to battle costs and confusion - Marin Independent-Journal

* ►January 4, 2009 - Autism's financial toll grips parents - Press-Enterprise

* ►January 4, 2009 - Third Hand Smoke: Dangerous! By Kim Stagliano - Age of Autism

* ►January 4, 2009 - New flu strain not yet found in Greenville - Delta Democrat Times - "The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) reports that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified a strain of influenza A (H1N1) that is resistant to the treatment of the antiviral medication Tamiflu. The CDC has tested the current strains circulating the United States. Of the 78 samples tested, 50 of those samples were influenza A. Of those 50 samples, 98 percent were Tamiflu resistant."

* ►January 4, 2009 - UAMS to begin testing breast cancer vaccine - Arkansas Democrat Gazette - "The vaccine was developed through a decade of studying how the immune system responds to disease, said Thomas Kieber-Emmons, director of basic breast cancer research at the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute."

* ►January 4, 2009 - Health fears grow as fake drugs flood into Britain - Counterfeiting gangs based in China are producing sophisticated copies of the world's bestselling pharmaceuticals. In 2008 an estimated 8m of these potentially deadly pills found their way to NHS patients. The health of millions of people is at risk - The Guardian, UK

* ►January 4, 2009 - Some antibiotics overprescribed, effects not widely known (requires registration or subscription) - Atlanta Journal-Constitution - "When Dr. J.T. Cooper hobbles around his Marietta medical office, the boot brace on his right foot is a reminder of a danger posed by some of the most popular — and misprescribed — antibiotics on the market. Like thousands of others who have taken Levaquin, Cipro and other fluoroquinolone antibiotics, Cooper suffered a near-rupture of his Achilles tendon. Tendon side effects have been reported for at least 20 years, but drug makers only began sending letters to doctors warning them of the problem in recent months."

* ►January 3, 2009 - 'Tsunami' of autism cases crippling to Marin parents, schools - Marin Independent-Journal

* ►January 3, 2009 - UW researcher finds link between age, birth order and autism - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - "The risk of a firstborn with an autism spectrum disorder triples after a mother turns 35 and a father reaches 40. Although the study was not designed to uncover the cause of the disorder, the findings suggest avenues of research to explore, including the role of environmental toxins."

* ►January 3, 2009 - Vaccinations: Reasonable Doubt - The Baby Dust Diaries Blog

* ►January 3, 2009 - Superflu strikes in the Midlands - Sunday Mercury - "Seven Midlanders have been struck by a potentially lethal strain of superflu which is resistant to drugs over the last six months. The Health Protection Agency said the patients survived the H1N1 virus which cannot be treated with the Tamiflu – the usual drug prescribed to treat the illness. Tamiflu has been stockpiled by the British Government as the first line of defence against a feared global flu outbreak."

* ►January 3, 2009 - Flu resistance causes concern - Augusta Chronicle - "In its last national flu report for the week ending Dec. 20, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted that 64 of 65 samples of the influenza A H1N1 strain were resistant to oseltamivir, marketed as Tamiflu."

* ►January 2, 2009 - Cuba prevents annual epidemic among 5m people using homeopathy - Irish Homeopaths

* ►January 2, 2009 - Cameroon doubles Vaccination figures to get more aid - MyNews.in

* ►January 2, 2009 - Russia: Bloggers Debate Immunization of Children - Global Voices

* ►January 1, 2009 - Sanofi Gets the Tax Breaks It Wanted in Vaccine HQ Deal - BNET Pharma Blog

* ►December 26, 2008 - Flu Shots Required in New Jersey - video - MyFox New York

* ►December 24, 2008 - So the Medicine Goes Down (requires registration) - The New York Times - "Mr. Yu, as a senior at Johns Hopkins, was working in the lab of Prof. Hai-Quan Mao while taking the team-design course required of biomedical engineering majors. Dr. Mao had a friend whose company was working on a vaccine against rotavirus infections, a leading cause of severe diarrhea in children. Most rotavirus vaccines are liquids, must be handled carefully and kept refrigerated. The company wanted to produce a powdered, inactivated virus and package it so it could be easily transported and given to a child."

* ►November 28, 2008 - Kawasaki's disease, acrodynia, and mercury. - journal article (Current Medicinal Chemistry)

* ►January 15, 2009 - Drug Companies & Doctors: A Story of Corruption (book review) - Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial - The New York Review of Books

* ►January 1, 2009 - Dr. Offit Vs. Dr. Sears - A Copy/Paste Blow By Blow - Skepticdad Blog - "The doctors who worked with Merck and GSK and were part of the research that recommended Hep B vaccination in infants could be the most honorable, dedicated, unbiased doctors in the world. I’ve never met them. But in medical school we are taught to at least briefly raise an eyebrow at research funded by a pharmaceutical company, instead of simply taking it for granted. I will emphasize that while I did that, I didn’t do so based on their pharmaceutical ties. I simply wondered about the findings in the research. While some people might question the motives of and advice given by any doctor with financial ties to the vaccine industry, I refrain from doing so in my book."

* ►January 1, 2009 - Dow Chemical in talks for Michigan dioxin cleanup - Chicago Tribune - "The Tribune reported in May that a regional administrator with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was ousted after she cut off similar negotiations with Dow, saying they were going nowhere. "In my experience, Dow only enters into negotiations if they can cut a better deal for themselves, not the environment," said Mary Gade, who was the Bush administration's top environmental official in Chicago before tangling with Dow on the dioxin issue. Meanwhile, advocates say, thousands of people remain at risk from highly toxic and persistent chemicals that are linked to cancer and other health problems."

* ►January 1, 2009 - Phthalate ban in children's products now in force in California (includes video) - Contra Costa Times

* ►January 1, 2009 - A pediatrician's cautious plan for vaccinating kids - Arizona Republic - "Although he knows well the controversies that swirl around them, pediatrician Robert Sears is not opposed to flu shots and other immunizations to protect kids from disease. But he hopes his approach to the traditional immunization schedule will alleviate the fears of parents who are."

* ►January 1, 2009 - Drug-resistant 'superflu' in Britain - A potentially deadly, drug-resistant strain of "superflu" is circulating in Britain, scientists have warned. - The Telegraph, UK - "The potent virus, which is more likely to trigger serious complications in patients, is a strain of the previously known H1N1 influenza virus, but cannot be treated with the most common flu drug, Tamiflu."

* ►January 1, 2009 - Researchers ponder future of bird flu - Canadian Press via CTV

* ►January 1, 2009 - Baby bonus lump sums make way for monthly instalments - Parents of babies born from today will miss out on the lump-sum baby bonus and, instead, will be paid in fortnightly instalments. - Melbourne Herald Sun via News.com.au - "The Maternity Immunisation Allowance also will be split into two separate payments. Ms Macklin said payments would be made when a child was immunised from 18 months to two years, and again from four to five. She said the changes would encourage parents to have their children immunised before starting school and brought the payment more into line with the National Immunisation Program."

* ►January 1, 2009 - Death of an AIDS Skeptic - Friends Say Christine Maggiore Endured Media Stress; Doctors Say She Caused Misery - ABC News

* ►January 1, 2009 - Widespread off-label drug prescription raises safety concerns - Canwest News Service via Ottawa Citizen

* ►December 31, 2008 - Biotech/Pharma Lobbying Scoreboard - Third Quarter Update - Part II -  Patent Docs - "Eli Lilly and Co. spent more than $3.3 million on third quarter lobbying - Pfizer Inc. spent almost $3.1 million on third quarter lobbying - GlaxoSmithKline spent nearly $2 million on third quarter lobbying - Abbott Laboratories spent almost $1.8 million on third quarter lobbying - Johnson & Johnson spent $1.5 million on third quarter lobbying - Novartis AG spent nearly $1.4 million on third quarter lobbying - Merck & Co. Inc. spent $1.11 million on third quarter lobbying - Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. spent $840,000 on third quarter lobbying - Wyeth spent $756,650 on third quarter lobbying - Emergent BioSolutions Inc. spent $575,000 on third quarter lobbying -  Allergan Inc. spent $460,000 on third quarter lobbying - Covidien Ltd. spent $450,000 on third quarter lobbying - Gilead Sciences Inc. spent $240,000 on third quarter lobbying"

* ►December 31, 2008 - Leave the Sinking Ship: An Open Invitation to the Wall Street Journal to Get on Board for Integrative Health Reform - beliefnet.com

* ►December 31, 2008 - Resolving to Care: Integrative Health Care Reform - The Huffington Post - "The Obama Administration will improve quality and lower costs by accessing a wide range of integrative health care modalities. Why is that a problem? Because when integrative methods are adopted for wellness maintenance, for disease prevention, and/or for treatment of chronic diseases and anti-aging, it will signal one thing: An end to the long gravy train ride for pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and conventional practices based more on the profit motive than on caring."

* ►December 31, 2008 - More Gulf War cases may be coming - Marshall County Tribune - "Approximately one in every four of nearly 700,000 men and women who served in the first Gulf War suffer loss of memory, body aches, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and eczema, according to Internet-based reports read by Hill who says it's "because we had so much exposure to oil fires and the medication to protect against anthrax."

* ►December 31, 2008 - WA lawmaker wants drug cos to take back medicine - A state lawmaker wants to make drug companies responsible for disposing of unused medicine that could end up in the environment or be abused by teens. - AP via The Seattle Times

* ►December 31, 2008 - Error Seen in E.P.A. Report on Contaminant (requires registration) - The New York Times

* ►December 31, 2008 - Former Head of Chinese Dairy Pleads Guilty (requires registration) - The New York Times

* ►December 31, 2008 - Vitamin C reduces blood pressure - A new study has found that high levels of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in the blood are linked with lower blood pressure in young women. - Press TV

* ►December 31, 2008 - Grape extract kills cancer cells - An extract from grape seeds can destroy cancer cells, US research suggests. - BBC

* ►December 31, 2008 - Child's ADHD Diagnosis Linked to Mother's Use of Health Services (requires registration) - Medical Care via Medscape Medical News

* ►December 31, 2008 - Taiwan achieves initial breakthrough in development of poultry vaccine - Central News Agency via eTaiwanNews

* ►December 31, 2008 - The death of 23-year-old Jordan Traylor has people asking one question. Can a young, healthy person die from the flu? - Gaston Gazette

* ►December 31, 2008 - Is A Flu Pandemic Imminent? By Greg Ciola - www.newswithviews.com

* ►December 29, 2008 - Federal Emergency Management Agency does not enjoy immunity from suit by plaintiffs seeking to recover from exposure to formaldehyde in trailers, yesterday dealt plaintiffs a setback by holding that they are not entitled to present their claims against various trailer manufacturers through a class action. (pdf) - www.laed.uscourts.gov

* ►December 29, 2008 - Common food additive found to increase risk and speed spread of lung cancer - American Thoracic Society via EurekAlert!

* ►December 28, 2008 - Are You Sure You're Not Psychotic Asks Shameless Drug Company? - OpEdNews

* ►December 23, 2008 - Tobacco firm used extensive strategy to undermine secondhand smoke policy in China - Public Library of Science via EurekAlert!

* ►December 23, 2008 - Tobacco company scientist gained access to WHO collaborating center - Public Library of Science via EurekAlert!

* ►December 17, 2008 - J&J and Risperdal: New Claims of Kickbacks and Fraudulent Marketing - BNET Pharma

* ►December 16, 2008 - The New Human Papillomavirus (HPV) for Pediatric and Adolescent Health (requires registration) (full text) - Pediatric Nursing via Medscape

* ►December 16, 2008 - United States death map revealed - BioMed Central via EurekAlert!

* ►December 2008 - NVIC president calls for repeal of VICA as Big Pharma convinces courts to deny damages in product liability cases - Idaho Observer - "As Vaccination Liberation Director Ingri Cassel observed, 'The damage from passage of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Act has been done, giving the pharmaceutical industry $billions in profits without any real liability until the Vioxx scandal and a few Prozac/Zoloft cases where the plaintiffs were pressured to settle out of court. Now, with these recent Supreme Court cases, it is naïve for parents to think they will be able to civilly sue vaccine manufacturers for damages and have any chance of winning once VICA is repealed."

* ►December 2008 - Amalgam dental fillings and hearing loss. - journal article (International Journal of Audiology) - "The strongest association (r=0.587, n=39, p<.001, r(2)=0.345) was at 14 kHz, where each additional amalgam filling was associated with a 2.4 dB decline in hearing threshold (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3-3.5 dB). The results suggest an association between more amalgam fillings and poorer thresholds at higher frequencies, which could contribute to presbyacusis in developed countries. This provides further argument for the use of amalgams to be phased out where suitable alternatives exist."

* ►October 2008 - A review of recent reports on autism: 1000 studies published in 2007. - journal article (Epilepsy & Behavior)

* ►October 2008 - Heavy metal induced oxidative stress & its possible reversal by chelation therapy. - journal article (The Indian Journal of Medical Research)

* ►Immunization Blazing the Trail to Healthier Living - 43rd National Immunization Conference - Dallas Texas March 30-April 2, 2009 - CDC - "Abstract Submission - Updated! Presenter Guidelines - New!"