Lawsuit Aimed at Stopping Junk-Food Marketing to Children

Kellogg Company Makes Historic Commitment, Adopting Nutrition Standards For Marketing Foods To Children

Advocacy Groups and Parents Applaud Efforts, Drop Plans to Sue

WASHINGTON: Kellogg Company will adopt nutrition standards for the foods it advertises to young children, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), and two Massachusetts parents will not proceed with a lawsuit against the company.

Foods advertised on media including TV, radio, print, and third-party Web sites that have an audience of 50 percent or more children under age 12 will have to meet Kellogg's new nutrition standards, which require that one serving of the food has: (for more information click on the title of this posting)

Can we improve peer review ?

We have blatantly taken this blog topic from the pages of The Scientist. It seems a good idea to have this discussion.

How should NIH improve peer review? [And we add] How should Canadian research groups improve peer review?

The original post (below) came from Ivan Oransk

Today (June 08, 2007) the NIH announced that it was establishing two working groups to examine its peer review process. That process has been under increased scrutiny recently, as study sections have needed to read more and more grant applications with every cycle. And with NIH funding flat, it's no longer good enough to be in the top 30% or so to get funded; in some study sections, it's close to 10%. So many scientists may find the examination welcome.

In 2005, in the pages of The Scientist, David Kaplan proposed a number of ways to improve peer review at the NIH. What do you think of his suggestions, which include decreasing the length of the research plan to between two and four pages so that 20 to 30 reviews for each application could be solicited, and doing away with committee meetings? Where do you suggest the new committees look for improvements? Give The Scientist your ideas by commenting on The Scientist blog or provide your comments using the tools below.

Coordination among levels of governments is almost non-existent.

There has not been an era in history when the importance of public health has been more critical than it is today. Hugh Tilson and Bobbie Berkowitz lay out the challenges.

Here's Challenge 1: the public health infrastructure, basically rests with governments at the national, state, provincial and local levels. Why is it not surprising that coordination among these levels is almost non-existent and certainly insufficient for a collaborative plan to emerge easily in the event of an incident of "national significance"? In neither country has the national government been able to take the lead in driving solutions to public health initiatives.

Lindsay McCreith

From the National Review of Medicine.

Asked whether a similar privatization push could happen in Ontario as a result of the recently-filed lawsuit by cancer patient Lindsay McCreith — which cites the 2005 Chaoulli decision as precedent (see "Chaoulli copycat cases crop up across country," Jan 15, 2007, Vol 4, No 1) — Mr. Michael McBane, the national co-ordinator of the Canadian Health Coalition says, "The Ontario government is not the Quebec government — the Ontario government believes in medicare. The Quebec government does not seem to."

Will Google Enable Your Health Record?

We understand that Canada Health Infoway is "talking" to Google. We will follow this. For starters here's a primer from Google's own blog. . . posted 11/30/2006 12:59:00 PM

Posted by Adam Bosworth, Vice President

At Google, we often get questions about what we're doing in the area of health. I have been interested in the issues of health care and health information for a while. It is now one of my main focuses here, and I've decided to start posting about it. I've been motivated in this field in part by my personal experiences helping to care for my mother, who recently died from cancer after a four-year battle. While the quality of the medical care my mother received was extraordinary, I saw firsthand how challenged the health care system was in supporting caregivers and communicating between different medical organizations. The system didn't fail completely, but struggled with these phases:

• What was wrong -- it took her doctors nine months to correctly identify an illness which had classic symptoms
• Who should treat her -- there was no easy way to figure out who were the best local physicians and caregivers, which ones were covered by her insurance, and how we could get them to agree to treat her
• Once she was treated, she had a chronic illness, and needed ongoing care and coordinated nursing and monitoring, particularly once her illness recurred

Once she had a correct diagnosis and we'd found the right doctor, her treatment was excellent. But before and after treatment, most people with serious illnesses have to live through these other phases and suffer similar problems. She was trying to get help from her caregivers in the family and it was incredibly challenging to get the right information and help her make the right decisions. Often the health care system isn't well set up to address these issues. I believe our industry can help resolve some of these problems and ameliorate others.

In the end, one key part of the solution to these problems . . . for more click here:

Health care information matters

1,200 Nursing Grads Will Go Unemployed

About 15 per cent of graduates from Canadian nursing schools in 2007 will be unable to find work, according to the Canadian Nurses Association which also called for more full-time jobs to be created.

Taking Ontario's health monopoly to court

Ontario's health care monopoly almost killed Lindsay McCreith. After suffering a seizure in January, 2006, the 66-year-old Newmarket resident was told he had a brain tumour. But he would have to wait four-and-a-half months to obtain an MRI to rule out the possibility that it was cancerous. Unwilling to risk the progression of what might be cancer, Mr. McCreith obtained an MRI in Buffalo, which revealed the tumour was malignant. Even with this diagnosis in hand, the Ontario system still refused to provide timely treatment, so Mr. McCreith had surgery in Buffalo to remove the cancerous brain tumour in March, 2006.

Andy Barrie spoke with Lindsay McCreith. The retired Newmarket man was told he would have to wait for more than four months for an MRI.Listen. (Runs 6:59)

Chaoulli comes to Ontario

Had he trusted Ontario's government healthcare monopoly to treat him, Lindsay McCreith would likely be dead today. At the very least, his health would have been permanently diminished. Unacceptably long waiting lists for simple diagnostic tests and basic treatments forced the 66-year-old retired auto body shop owner from Newmarket to pay more than US$27,600 out of his own pocket for timely cancer treatment in the United States. Now, with the help of the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF), Mr. McCreith is challenging Ontario's ban on private health options. If he wins, Ontarians would finally be allowed to buy insurance that covers their care when the state monopoly fails them, as it too often does.

Why can’t doctors wash their hands?

(Apparently Nurses aren’t much better) Every year, 250,000 Canadians pick up infections while they are in hospitals being treated for something else. That's a staggering one out of every nine Canadians who are admitted to hospital.

Every year, those infections kill more than 8,000 people.

That's more than will die of breast cancer, AIDS and car accidents combined. Most of those deaths can be prevented — by simple hand washing.

In the wake of the SARS outbreak that hit Toronto in March 2003, hand sanitizers have become common in hospitals and other public buildings across the country. Many people use them — others don't. Read the full report here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/hospital-infections/

AND IF you want to see the evidence: here is a CBC secret camera report. Chilling. Erica Johnson reports on 'Dirty Doctors'

Are pharmacists content to contribute directly to the epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes?

Caroline Apovian, a researcher at Boston University School of Medicine, commented that the study “provides strong, scientifically sound evidence that excess calories from soft drinks are directly contributing to the epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes” and that “reducing sugars sweetened beverage consumption may be the best single opportunity to curb the obesity epidemic.” (Apovian CM. Sugar-sweetened soft drinks, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. JAMA. 2004; 292:978–9.).
For a full analysis read: Liquid Candy: How Soft Drinks Are Harming Americans’ Health by Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D. published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest Washington, D.C.

Suggestions for the consumer & patient. Choosing what and when to eat takes some careful consideration. Here are some healthy tips to help stave off the hunger pangs and keep energy levels up throughout the day. Here are some ideas courtesy of the CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/health/smart-snacks.html

Suggestions for the clinicians. A complete copy of the 2006 Canadian Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Management and Prevention of Obesity in Adults and Children can be found at http://www.cmaj.ca/pressrelease/pgS1-complete.pdf. The word pharmacist or pharmacy does not appear once in these guidelines published by the Canadian Medical Association Journal. What an opportunity!

Suggestions for pharmacists. From the University of Saskatchewan some enlightening news. For starters: Pharmacy and nutrition are taught in the same program. Their College of Pharmacy and Nutrition recommends that you “don't recommend natural weight loss products to patients. The most dependable way to safely lose weight is still lifestyle modification - reducing caloric intake and increasing exercise.”

So if pharmacists want to make a difference – they might start by clearing their shelves of tarts and treats. Check out these photos