C M G Buttery

In the absence of direct health risks to others, bans on smoking in parks and beaches raise questions about the acceptable limits for government to impose on conduct. In 2008, legal scholar Robert Rabin, the former program director for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Tobacco Policy Research and Evaluation Program, commented, “We should not lose [...]

“Encouraging the use of [long-acting reversible contraception] methods for appropriate candidates may help lower U.S. unintended pregnancy rates because gaps in use and discontinuation of shorter-acting methods are associated with unintended pregnancy rates in high-risk women,” ACOG stated. Practice Bulletin #121 “Long-Acting Reversible Contraception: Implants and Intrauterine Devices” is published in the July 2011 issue [...]

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) affirmed its classification of RF-EMF as “possibly carcinogenic to humans,” following the recommendations of a panel convened in May to assess available information on RF-EMF and cancer (The Lancet Oncology, Early Online Publication, 22 June 2011 doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(11)70147-4}. Comment: The studies are case control studies which show a [...]

This week there have been a number of news stories and assessing the “WAR on drugs” which both at an international and national level has been declared to be a failure, despite the billions of wasted dollars and lives from these programs. Concurrently the FDA is banning certain tobacco products which just moves the temperance [...]

Research published in the Lancet this week shows that homeless men and women have mortality rates some six times higher than the general population. Comment: why do need another study based on data from a small Scandinavian country to validate what researcher has shown for at least 40 years? There is nothing new or startling [...]

The National Journal (6/7, “The more a company knows about coming changes to the nation’s health care laws, the more likely it is to consider radically restructuring the way it provides insurance to employees, according to a study by the consulting firm McKinsey and Co.” In fact, “the study, which is being circulated among Republicans, [...]

Migraine specialists attending the American Headache Society meeting in Washington last weekend said they believe more government money for migraine research holds the most promise for winning the battle against the disease.” Notably, “40 percent of those attending the conference said increased public funding is more important than understanding basic aspects of the disease.  Comment: [...]

Jane e. Brody-NYT-6-8-2011. Doctors object to laws telling them how to practice medicine, as does New York State’s new Palliative Care Information Act. Vehemently opposed by the Medical Society of the State of New York, the law passed last summer by a two-thirds majority of the Legislature and took effect in February. The legislation was [...]

Prof Fazekas de St Groth from the Centenary Institute claims that the discovery of a small but absolutely essential subset of T cells within the immune system has been vital. Regulatory T cells or Tregs control unwanted immune responses, such as allergies and autoimmune diseases. Tregs are distributed throughout the body, particularly at points where [...]

California lawmakers voted Wednesday to limit the use of tanning booths by teens, warning that the bronzed glow they create comes from radiation and raises the risk of skin cancer. The state Senate voted 24-9 to ban indoor tanning by anyone under age 18, even if they have permission from an adult. The bill next [...]