Kudos to the Association of American Medical Colleges for pushing to stem the influence of drug and medical device makers on college campuses. In a set of recommendations released this week, the association called for an end to the industry practice of offering gifts, travel and other perks to students and staff at the nation’s 129 medical colleges. I blogged earlier about the American Medical Students Association campaign to kick drug and device makers off campus but this latest announcement may give the movement enough momentum to bring about true reform. Gardiner Harris’ story, “Ban urged on gifts at medical schools,” in the NYT notes that critics were surprised at the far-reaching proposal considering that some leading industry officials had sat on the task force that wrote the proposed ban.
Archive for April, 2008
Developing a product that could be used as a blood substitute — one that has a long-shelf life and doesn’t require refrigeration or cross-matching — would be a great medical advance. Imagine the use of it in battlefield M.A.S.H. units or in times of natural or man-made disasters. But a new study by researchers from Public Citizen and the National Institutes of Health raises some serious concerns about the rush to bring these blood substitutes to the market. The study found that patients in clinical trials treated with blood substitutes faced a 30 percent greater risk of death and a 177 greater risk of a heart attack than those treated conventionally. The study was posted online today on the Journal of the American Medical Association website.
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Meet Trevor. He works with Public Citizen’s Texas Office, which is active in the fight against new coal-fired power plants. He’s got an important message for Bank of America and CitiBank, two of the financial giants that are trying to fund new coal-fired power plants. Here’s the deal: Coal is dirty. It’s yesterday’s technology. It’s time that we started investing in renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, and put our efforts into energy efficiency and conservation.
Who owns the law?
According to Oregon, the law is the exclusive property of the state. When Justia.com, a website devoted to making the law available for free online, tried to post copies of the Oregon Revised Statutes, it received a cease-and-desist letter from the state’s Legislative Counsel Committee threatening a lawsuit for copyright infringement.
There is nothing preventing states from copyrighting works. But the idea that democratically enacted laws belong to the state and can only be reproduced with permission is not only wrong, it is frightening. People should not be forced to pay for the privilege of seeing, or even copying, the laws that govern them.
Fortunately, Justia has decided to stand up to the threats. We hope they win.
Media roundup
Here’s a roundup of stories that followed Public Citizen’s release of its annual state medical board rankings:
- L.A. Times: California disciplined fewer doctors in 2007
- Miami Herald: Oversight of Florida doctors criticized
- Charleston Post & Courier: South Carolina lowest in doctor discipline
- Tulsa World: Doctors disciplined more in Oklahoma
- El Paso Times: Report faults doctor discipline
- State Journal-Register (Ill.): State improves at disciplining doctors
