In a controversial JAMA essay, Dr. Paul Offit says taxpayers are spending millions on federal research into misguided alternative medicine treatments. Why are we still doing it?
Despite those unhealthy calories, some fast food restaurants offer something rare in urban communities -- a clean and convenient place to hang out.
Robert M. Veatch, Ph.D., is Professor of Medical Ethics and the former Director of the Kennedy Institue of Ethics at Georgetown University. He also holds appointments as Professor of Philosophy and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Community and Family Medicine at Georgetown Medical Center. He is the Senior Editor of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal and a former member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Dr. Laurene Mascola is chief of the Acute Communicable Disease Control (ACD) unit for the Los Angeles County Department of Health's Public Health Programs & Services, which performs disease surveillance and epidemic control activities for more than 60 diseases. Mascola oversees the County's programs for immunization, food and water safety epidemiology, vectorborne (insect) disease, hospital outbreaks and bloodborne diseases. Mascola has extensive experience in epidemiology and disease prevention, publishing more than 100 articles and abstracts in numerous medical and public health journals.
John P. Pierce is associate director of cancer prevention and control at the Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center. An award-winning researcher, Pierce defined U.S. smoking trends in a 1989 series of papers in the Journal of the American Medical Association, forming the basis for the year 2000 goals for the nation for tobacco. He is recognized for evaluating the effectiveness of the California Tobacco Control Program, for linking tobacco advertising to adolescent smoking, and for using telephone counseling methodology to help smokers quit.
Dr. Douglas D. Richman is director of UCSD's Center for AIDS Research and director of the Research Center for AIDS and HIV Infection at VA San Diego Healthcare System. He is also a professor of pathology and medicine at UCSD and the Florence Seeley Riford Chair in AIDS Research. A virologist, Richman was among the early AIDS investigators who led several of the original drug treatment studies of HIV infection. His lab first identified HIV drug resistance and was one of the original labs to describe latent infection of blood lymphocytes by HIV.
Journalists have to ask hard questions about where sources get their money – and about the science they are promoting. Following the money trail can be daunting. But journalists and whistleblowers are doing just that and uncovering important connections. Here's what to look for.
