/ Drugs

20080829
Sarah Palin - John McCain - Politics - People - Family - Drugs - Health - Federal - US - Foreign - Military - Terrorism - Alaska - Idaho - 2008 Election
"On Sarah Palin." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain has selected Alaska [Republican] Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. [Governor] Gov. Palin was first elected to the position in 2006 and previously served as the mayor of Wasilla (pop. 5,470) [Alaska]. She also served on the town's city council. She has a degree from the University of Idaho where she minored in political science. That is the extent of her political experience." ... "Her biography is fascinating. She is only 44 years-old. She eloped with her highschool sweetheart, a Yup'ik Eskimo. They have five children named: Track 18, Bristol, 17, Willow, 13, Piper, 7, and Trig (who was born on April 18th). Trig has Down's Syndrome. The Palins knew that Trig had an extra chromosome but decided to go ahead with the pregnancy." ... "She has admitted to smoking the ganja [marijuana] but says she didn't enjoy it. She was the runner-up in the Miss Alaska contest." ... "I am not aware of Palin having any knowledge or experience with foreign affairs, terrorism, the armed forces, or the federal bureaucracy." ... "Considering [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's age and history with cancer, this pick has extra importance. It's hard to envision Gov. Palin becoming president on short notice. It also undermines McCain's focus on foreign policy and experience." -By BooMan Tribune

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20080628
US - Afghanistan - Pakistan - Military - Terrorism - Intelligence - Illegal - Drug - Money - Human Rights - Reconstruction - Police
"Pentagon report: Taliban regroups, likely to up pace of attacks in Afghanistan." ... "The Taliban has regrouped after its initial fall from power in Afghanistan and the pace of its attacks is likely to increase this year, according to a Pentagon report that offers a dim view of progress in the nearly seven-year-old war." ... "Noting that insurgent violence has climbed, the report said that despite U.S. and coalition efforts to capture and kill key leaders, the Taliban is likely to "maintain or even increase the scope and pace of its terrorist attacks and bombings in 2008."" ... "The Taliban, it said, has "coalesced into a resilient insurgency."" ... "Vast problems — corruption, the illegal poppy trade, human rights abuses and slow progress in reconstruction — were detailed, as well as the struggle to train and equip the Afghan Army and police." ... "The report described a dual terror threat in Afghanistan that includes the Taliban in the south, and "a more complex, adaptive insurgency" in the east. That fragmented insurgency is made up of groups ranging from al-Qaida and Afghan warlords such as Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's radical Hezb-i-Islami group to Pakistani militants such as Jaish-e-Mohammed." ... "Insurgents will continue to challenge the government in southern and eastern Afghanistan, and the may also move to increase their power in the north and west, the report predicted." (1, 2, 3) -By Lolita C. Baldor with contributions by Robert Burns -AP via -StarTribune

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-Defenselink.mil Publications[PDFs]:
"Report on Progress toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan."
"United States Plan for Sustaining the Afghanistan National Security Forces." -Defenselink.mil/Pubs

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20080423
• Noteworthy - Government - EPA - Opinion - Science - Politics - Food- Drug - Oceanic - Atmospheric - Climate - Health - California - Investigation - "Hundreds of EPA Scientists Report Political Interference Over Last Five Years: UCS [Union of Concerned Scientists] calls for strengthened protections for federal scientists." ... "An investigation of the Environmental Protection Agency released today found that 889 of nearly 1,600 staff scientists reported that they experienced political interference in their work over the last five years. The study, by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), follows previous UCS investigations of the Food and Drug Administration, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and climate scientists at seven federal agencies, which also found significant administration manipulation of federal science." ... ""Our investigation found an agency in crisis," said Francesca Grifo, director of UCS's Scientific Integrity Program. "Nearly 900 EPA scientists reported political interference in their scientific work. That's 900 too many. Distorting science to accommodate a narrow political agenda threatens our environment, our health, and our democracy itself."" ... "The UCS report comes amidst a flurry of controversial activity swirling around the EPA. Congress is currently investigating administration interference in a new chemical toxicity review process as well as California's request to regulate tailpipe emissions. And in early May, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is expected to hold a hearing on political interference in the new EPA ground-level ozone pollution standard." ... "UCS's investigation revealed political interference is most pronounced in offices where scientists write regulations and at the National Center for Environmental Assessment, where scientists conduct risk assessments that could lead to strengthened regulations." ... ""The investigation shows researchers are generally continuing to do their work," said Dr. Grifo. "But their scientific findings are tossed aside when it comes time to write regulations."" ... "Nearly 100 scientists identified the [Republican President Bush's] White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the primary culprit." -UCSUSA.org

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• Privacy - Politics - Drug - Enforcement - Virginia - "Supreme Court broadens police searches." ... "The Supreme Court offered unanimous support for police Wednesday by allowing drug evidence gathered after an arrest that violated [Virginia] state law to be used at trial, an important search-and-seizure case turning on the constitutional limits of "probable cause."" ... "The state had argued an arrest is constitutionally reasonable if officers have probable cause to believe a suspect has committed a crime. "This standard represents the best compromise between the needs of the citizens and the duty of the government to combat crime," Stephen McCullough, Virginia's deputy solicitor general, had told the high court." ... "But Moore's attorney, Thomas Goldstein, called an "extreme proposition" the idea that it would be reasonable "to go out and arrest someone for a non-arrestable offense and not only do that, but having committed that trespass at common law, to further search them."" -By Bill Mears -CNN

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20080421
• Elizabeth Edwards - John McCain - Government - Health Care - Politics - Drugs - Market - Occupations - Firefighting - Telecom - Arizona - 2008 Election - "Elizabeth Edwards On Health Care: ‘This Is Not A Cheap Shot; It Is Potentially Life And Death’." ... [By Elizabeth Edwards:] "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain accused me of taking a “cheap shot” on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” yesterday for noting that people with preexisting conditions, such as he and I have, would not be able to get health care under his plan –- and that he perhaps was not as sensitive to this problem as he should be since he has been in government health care his whole life." ... "[Arizona Senator] Sen. McCain noted that he was not receiving government health care for the six years he was in captivity. That is true. But it has nothing to do with my point — which is that the problem with Sen. McCain’s health care plan is not how it affects us –- but how it affects the tens of millions of Americans with preexisting conditions who, unlike Sen. McCain and myself, do not have the resources to pay for quality health care." ... "That is not a cheap shot, it is a potentially life and death question for tens of million of Americans. And it is a question Sen. McCain must address." ... "McCain’s health care plan is centered around the idea that we’d be better off if more Americans bought health coverage on their own, rather than receiving it through a job or government program. But maybe since he has never purchased insurance in the individual market, he does not know the challenge it presents for Americans with preexisting conditions." ... "A recent study showed that nearly nine out of every ten people seeking individual coverage on the private insurance market never got it. Insurers will disqualify you for just taking certain medicines because of the possibility of future costs, including common drugs as Lipitor, Zocor, Nexium, and Advair. People who have had cancer are denied coverage and those who get cancer run the risk of simply being dropped by their insurer for any excuse that can be found. And insurers make it a practice to deny coverage to individuals in high risk occupations, such as firefighting, lumber work, telecom installation, and pretty much anything more risky than working in an office." -By Elizabeth Edwards -ThinkProgress.org /Wonk Room 

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20080408
• Drug - Safety - Investigation - Wis - US - China - Animals - Corporation - "Reports of deaths linked to blood-thinner heparin triple." .. "The number of reports of deaths linked to all versions of the blood thinner heparin -- including a tainted version of the drug sold by Baxter International Inc. [Incorporated] -- have tripled, according to a new report released Tuesday by the U.S. [United States] Food and Drug Administration." .. "The FDA [Food and Drug Administration] said there are now 62 reports of deaths of patients who experienced one or more allergic reactions and who were infused with heparin from Jan. [January] 1, 2007 through the end of last month, the agency said. That compares to just 19 deaths from an earlier FDA report." .. "Baxter recalled the drug in February after a spike in severe allergic reactions in patients. Further investigation revealed a significant amount of an unidentified foreign substance contaminated batches of heparin." .. "The suspected ingredient originated at a Changzhou, China, plant owned by Scientific Protein Laboratories, a Baxter supplier based in Waunakee, Wis. [Wisconsin] Last month the FDA disclosed that low-cost animal cartilage made its way into Baxter's heparin but has not determined a specific link to allergic reactions." -By Bruce Japsen -ChicagoTribune 

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20080402
• John C Yoo - Criminal - Torture - War Crimes - Military - Intelligence - Terrorism - Law - Psychology - Drugs - Federal - Secrets - Prison - US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Foreign - Politics - History - "Memo: Laws Didn't Apply to Interrogators: Justice Dept. [Department] Official in 2003 Said President's Wartime Authority Trumped Many Statutes." ... "The Justice Department sent a legal memorandum to the Pentagon in 2003 asserting that federal laws prohibiting assault, maiming and other crimes did not apply to military interrogators who questioned al-Qaeda captives because the president's ultimate authority as commander in chief overrode such statutes." ... "The 81-page memo, which was declassified and released publicly yesterday, argues that poking, slapping or shoving detainees would not give rise to criminal liability. The document also appears to defend the use of mind-altering drugs that do not produce "an extreme effect" calculated to "cause a profound disruption of the senses or personality."" ... "Although the existence of the memo has long been known, its contents had not been previously disclosed." ... "Nine months after it was issued, Justice Department officials told the Defense Department to stop relying on it. But its reasoning provided the legal foundation for the Defense Department's use of aggressive interrogation practices at a crucial time, as captives poured into military jails from Afghanistan and U.S. [United States] forces prepared to invade Iraq." ... "Sent to the Pentagon's general counsel on March 14, 2003, by John C. Yoo, then a deputy in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, the memo provides an expansive argument for nearly unfettered presidential power in a time of war. It contends that numerous laws and treaties forbidding torture or cruel treatment should not apply to U.S. interrogations in foreign lands because of the president's inherent wartime powers." ... ""If a government defendant were to harm an enemy combatant during an interrogation in a manner that might arguably violate a criminal prohibition, he would be doing so in order to prevent further attacks on the United States by the al Qaeda terrorist network," Yoo wrote. "In that case, we believe that he could argue that the executive branch's constitutional authority to protect the nation from attack justified his actions."" ... "Interrogators who harmed a prisoner would be protected by a "national and international version of the right to self-defense," Yoo wrote. He also articulated a definition of illegal conduct in interrogations -- that it must "shock the conscience" -- that the [Republican President] Bush administration advocated for years." ... ""Whether conduct is conscience-shocking turns in part on whether it is without any justification," Yoo wrote, explaining, for example, that it would have to be inspired by malice or sadism before it could be prosecuted." ... "Thomas J. Romig, who was then the Army's judge advocate general, said yesterday after reading the memo that it appears to argue there are no rules in a time of war, a concept Romig found "downright offensive."" (1, 2) -By Dan Eggen and Josh White with contributions by Julie Tate -WashingtonPost

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20080317
• Hillary Clinton - John McCain - Money - Politics - Drugs - History - 2008 Election - "Only Good for the Goose?" ... "Given the vast sums or money [former Democratic President] Bill Clinton has raised and made since 2001 and the fact that the couple loaned $5 million to [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary's campaign, I don't think there's any question that Hillary [Clinton, 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate,] should release the couple's tax returns. But how is it exactly that this very reasonable point has become a staple of the political conversation while no one has even raised the point that [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain hasn't released his either?" ... "Remember, McCain's the one running as John Q. Ethics. And not to put too fine a point on it but his substantial wealth comes from his heiress wife who only a few years ago was revealed to have been skimming pills from her own charity to feed her drug addiction. " -By Josh Marshall -TalkingPointsMemo.com

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20080310
• Water - Drugs - Human - Health - Environmental - Science - Investigation - Industry - Consumer - Safety - Federal - Law - Earth - Wildlife - California - New Jersey - Michigan - Ky - "Sex Hormones, Mood Stabilizers Found In Drinking Water Of 41 M Americans." ... "A vast array of pharmaceuticals _ including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones _ have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows." ... "To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe." ... "But the presence of so many prescription drugs _ and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen _ in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health." ... "In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas _ from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit [Michigan] to Louisville, Ky. [Kentucky.]" ... "How do the drugs get into the water?" ... "People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue." ... "And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies _ which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public _ have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife." ... "The federal government doesn't require any testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water." ... "The AP's investigation also indicates that watersheds, the natural sources of most of the nation's water supply, also are contaminated." ... "Even users of bottled water and home filtration systems don't necessarily avoid exposure. Bottlers, some of which simply repackage tap water, do not typically treat or test for pharmaceuticals, according to the industry's main trade group. The same goes for the makers of home filtration systems." ... "Pharmaceuticals also permeate aquifers deep underground, source of 40 percent of the nation's water supply." -By Jeff Donn, Martha Mendoza, and Justin Pritchard -AssociatedPress via -HuffingtonPost.com

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• Science - Military - Pills - History - San Diego - California - US - Iraq - Kuwait- "Gulf War Illness Strongly Linked to Chemical Exposure." ... "A new scientific review finds a strong association between exposure to certain chemicals and the Gulf War illness suffered by many veterans." ... "The class of chemicals, known as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs), are found in pesticides, nerve agents and in pills given to soldiers to protect against nerve agents. The review, which was conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, looked at 115 papers on the topic." ... "Veterans of the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War have a higher rate of "chronic multi-symptom health problems" than either non-deployed military personnel or those deployed in other regions. In fact, 26 percent to 32 percent of personnel deployed to the Persian Gulf during this period have chronic health problems, a range that may actually understate the magnitude of the problem, according to the study, published in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences." ... "Although the exact causes remain unknown, evidence is mounting to suggest that exposure to organophosphate and carbamate acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs), including pyridostigmine bromide (PB), pesticides and nerve agents, may be responsible." ... "SOURCES: Joy Ray Miller, Pharm.D., assistant professor, pharmacy practice, Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Kingsville; March 10-14, 2008, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences" -By Amanda Gardner -HealthDay.com via -WashingtonPost

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20080222
• John McCain - Corporate - Politician - Lawmaker -  -  -  -  -  -  - 2008 Election - Ariz - "The Anti-Lobbyist, Advised by Lobbyists." ... "For years, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.[Republican-Arizona]) has railed against lobbyists and the influence of "special interests" in Washington, touting on his campaign Web site his fight against "the 'revolving door' by which lawmakers and other influential officials leave their posts and become lobbyists for the special interests they have aided."" ... "But when McCain huddled with his closest advisers at his rustic Arizona cabin last weekend to map out his presidential campaign, virtually every one was part of the Washington lobbying culture he has long decried. His campaign manager, Rick Davis, co-founded a lobbying firm whose clients have included Verizon and SBC Telecommunications. His chief political adviser, Charles R. Black Jr., is chairman of one of Washington's lobbying powerhouses, BKSH and Associates, which has represented AT&T, Alcoa, JPMorgan and U.S. Airways." ... "Senior advisers Steve Schmidt and Mark McKinnon work for firms that have lobbied for Land O' Lakes, UST Public Affairs, Dell and Fannie Mae." ... "[Charles] Black's current clients include General Motors, United Technologies, JPMorgan and AT&T." ... "In McCain's case, the fact that lobbyists are essentially running his presidential campaign -- most of them as volunteers -- seems to some people to be at odds with his anti-lobbying rhetoric." ... "McCain's reliance on lobbyists for key jobs -- both in the Senate and in his presidential campaign --extends beyond his inner circle. McCain recently hired Mark Buse to be his Senate chief of staff. Buse led the Commerce Committee staff in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and was until last fall a lobbyist for ML Strategies, representing eBay, Goldman Sachs Group, Cablevision, Tenneco and Novartis Pharmaceuticals." (1, 2) -By Michael D. Shear and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum with contributions by Glenn Kessler, Alice Crites and Chris Cillizza -WashingtonPost

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20080219
• Drug - Safety - US - China - Manufacturers - Corporate - Government - Database - Politics - Michigan - "FDA Says It Approved The Wrong Drug Plant: Heparin Probe Sends Inspectors to China." ... "The Chinese facility that supplies the active ingredient of the widely used blood thinner heparin was never inspected by the [Republican President Bush's] Food and Drug Administration because the agency confused its name with another just like it, agency officials said yesterday." ... "More than 350 adverse reactions to the drug have been reported to the FDA since the end of 2007, including a dangerous lowering of blood pressure, breathing difficulties and vomiting. Four patients who took the drug died. One of its two manufacturers, Baxter International, stopped selling its multiple-dose vials of heparin earlier this month, and yesterday the FDA advised doctors to prescribe alternatives." ... "Millions of people each year are given the drug during dialysis or to prevent complications from surgery, but the FDA has never checked the Chinese plant where the active ingredient is made." ... "[Michigan Democratic Representative John] Dingell noted that the agency seems uncertain even of the number of foreign drugmakers, with one database saying there are 7,000 while another counts 3,000." -By Marc Kaufman -WashingtonPost

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