Archive for March, 2006

Tina Rosenberg on the diseases of the poor

Tina Rosenberg’s long opinion piece in today’s New York Times brings much needed attention to the plight of “poor people’s diseases,” from sleeping sickness to tuberculosis (“The Scandal of ‘Poor People’s Diseases,’” New York Times, March 29, 2006). But her argument about malaria—that more DDT would vanquish the disease—is all wrong.
The basic gist of the [...]

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Botched experiment: TGN 1412

Something went horribly wrong in an early experimental trial of a German start-up drug company’s new cancer-and-arthritis med.  Sometime last week, the drug—TGN 1412—was given to 6 healthy volunteers in a routine Phase 1 trial, designed to test the drug’s safety. Today, all six of those volunteers are laid up in intensive care wards in [...]

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March 8, 2006

March 8, 2006
A cartoon man looks through his binoculars at a mist-covered mountaintop in the distance, but the peak is obscured by clouds. “Peak oil?” intones the caption. “Contrary to the theory, oil production shows no sign of a peak.”
Good news from ExxonMobil, as featured in this prominent ad in the New York Times last [...]

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March 6, 2006

March 6, 2006
Before you add “The Constant Gardener” to your Netflix queue–Rachel Weisz won an Oscar for her role in the film last night, please note: the issues are real, but much of the movie is pure fantasy. No activist challenging the unethical practices of Big Pharma has it this good—or this bad.
The film revolves [...]

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