WHITE HOUSE SEEKS TO CONTROL WHAT PUBLIC LEARNS ABOUT HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL EMERGENCIES

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WHITE HOUSE SEEKS TO CONTROL WHAT PUBLIC LEARNS ABOUT HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAL

EMERGENCIES

BushGreenwatch

January 21, 2004

 

http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/mt_archives/000032.php

 

How and what Americans are told about public health emergencies would be

controlled by the White House, not by the agencies with the medical or

scientific expertise to handle these crises, under a new plan proposed by

the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

 

The proposal would strip authority from federal health, safety and

environmental agencies and give the White House final say over how the

public is told about such emergencies as nuclear power plant accidents,

outbreaks of mad cow disease or drugs that are found to be harmful.

 

Critics fear such a move would delay the release of critical public

information and politicize the way it is presented. In comments submitted to

the OMB, Dr. Jordan Cohen, president of the Association of American Medical

Colleges, and Robert Wells, president of the Federation of American

Societies for Experimental Biology, described several recent public health

emergencies where delays in releasing information could have endangered the

public. Among those examples were the emergency termination of a clinical

drug trial that showed the drug was dangerous, and the announcement that

hormone-replacement therapy was more harmful than beneficial to many

post-menopausal women.

 

OMB's " Proposed Bulletin on Peer Review and Information Quality, " which

could take effect as early as several months from now, is also being opposed

by a group of former top federal agency officials from both Democratic and

Republican Administrations.

 

Environmental and health studies conducted for or used by the federal

government would require White House approval before their release, under a

proposal now under review at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The

plan would also give the White House authority to select which scientists

take part in the system known as peer review -- the process by which fellow

researchers evaluate the validity and reliability of studies before they are

published.

 

Critics fear such a plan would undermine the impartiality of research that

guides government policies and regulations. For example, it would open the

door for the Administration to hand-select industry-friendly scientists to

review studies that investigate the safety of chemicals in our food and

consumer products, or studies that examine the environmental impact of

energy plant emissions. The White House has frequently expressed its

commitment to easing regulations for American industries.

 

In a January 9 letter to the OMB, 20 former top federal agency officials,

from both Democratic and Republican administrations, urged the White House

to drop its proposal. The letter -- signed by former EPA Administrators

Carol Browner and Russell Train; former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich;

former Assistant Secretaries for Occupational Safety and Health Eula Bingham

and Gerard Scannell; and others -- warned that the proposal, " in its current

form, could damage the federal system for protecting public health and the

environment. "

 

Currently, each federal agency controls peer review of its own projects. The

government's rules to ensure research quality are already less stringent

than those used by leading biomedical journals. For example, these journals

require authors to disclose who paid for the research; and the journals will

only publish studies done under contracts in which the investigators have

the right to publish regardless of the results. Federal agencies do not have

these requirements, nor do they consistently attempt to find out who paid

for the studies.

 

Far from ensuring the validity of the peer review process, the plan's

critics assert that allowing the White House to control it would only add a

layer of politics to what should be a purely scientific process.

 

REFERENCES:

http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/mt_archives/000032.php

 

 

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AGEING LOWERS AN INDIVIDUAL'S SELF-ESTEEM: STUDY

ANI / New Wind Press

Wednesday, January 21, 2004

 

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IE320040121054135 & Page=3 & Title=F

eatures+%2D+Health+%26+Science & Topic=%2D162 &

 

WASHINGTON - Apart from being saddled with the extra kilos and wrinkles,

ageing also brings in its wake an enhanced perception of insecurity.

 

New research conducted by sociologists from the University of Toronto and

the University of Western Ontario, have observed that it is the feeling of

insecurity -- financially, physically and emotionally, that make people

apprehensive of aging.

 

The study titled, " Self-esteem and the intersection of age, class and

gender " , will be published in the February issue of the 'Journal of Aging

Studies'.

 

" We live in a culture of youth where being young is prized and idealized.

When you're talking about self-esteem, your body image is an important part

of that perception, " Professor John Cairney, a sociologist and co-author of

the study, said.

 

Cairney and lead author Julie Ann McMullin of the University of Western

Ontario, analysed data from the 1994 National Population Health Survey,

comprising a random telephone survey of 17,626 participants conducted by

Statistics Canada. They compared each subject's self-reported level of

self-esteem to their gender, social class including household income,

education, marital status and age.

 

The experts found that levels of self-esteem in low-income earners dropped

significantly after they reached middle age compared to men and women with

middle and high incomes.

 

" A person's sense of self-worth is probably linked, to a certain degree, on

how economically or socially successful they are. Living in this society,

being economically advantaged may have a positive impact on a person's sense

of who they are. It's a marker of success, " the scientists added.

 

The researchers also believe that it is possible to gain confidence even as

people climb up the age ladder.

 

" It starts early on. It's about changing negative perceptions and

stereotypes associated with gender and age, " Cairney said.

 

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