Diet drug redux, chromium worker woes, and mentally ill teddy bears: The ReportingonHealth Daily Briefing

Here's what we're reading today:

AltMed: Shannon Brownlee takes Kimball Atwood to task for criticizing new CMS appointee Donald Berwick for his support of alternative medicine, and in turn, doctor-blogger R. W. Donnell calls her on it. In the middle of this blogfray is an interesting discussion on how much federal support there should be for a branch of medicine that has little basis in evidence.

Chromium: At the Pump Handle, a leading public health blog, Celeste Monforton reports on the EPA's accusation that the chromium industry withheld unfavorable results of a lung cancer study of its workers.  

Diet Drugs: Hoping to avoid another Fen-phen fiasco, an FDA advisory committee is set to review two diet drugs, one new, one old, Reuters reports. Both drugs have, um, issues.

Obesity: Too bad Meridia is so problematic, because the percentage of health care spending on behalf of obese Americans has skyrocketed in the past two decades. Jacob Goldstein at NPR's Planet Money blog has the story.

Mental Health: We're not sure what to make of a German toymakers' new stuffed animals that come not just with names but their very own mental illnesses. My kids won't be getting Dub the depressive turtle anytime soon, though.