(2018-08-15). ALEC Is Pushing a New Slate of Viciously Anti-Worker, Pro-Corporate Laws. truthout.org When the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) convened its 45th annual meeting of legislators and corporate lobbyists at the swank Hilton New Orleans Riverside hotel on August 8, it served up a veritable banquet of union-busting, gerrymandering, pro-fossil fuel, and school privatization proposals for lawmakers to take back home. | Welcoming the ALEC crowd was Jason Saine, a North Carolina Representative and ALEC's National Chairman. Earlier this year, CMD reported that Saine used $19,000 from his campaign kitty to order custom-tailored suits. | Other keynote speakers included Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, and White House Special Assistant in the Office of American Innovation Brooke Rollins. Rollins was an aide to former governor Rick Perry, who is now Secretary of Energy. | ALEC's menu of policy proposals…
(2018-08-15). Hidden Studies From Decades Ago Could Have Curbed PFAS Chemical Problem. truthout.org An editorial published in Environmental Health July 31 suggests that research on perfluorinated alkylate substances (PFAS) and their dangerous health effects was not revealed until several decades after it was conducted. | The lack of publicly available research has prevented proper guidelines for levels of the chemical compounds, including in drinking water, Philippe Grandjean, a professor at University of Southern Denmark and Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health, argued in his piece. | In the editorial, Grandjean said studies conducted up to four decades ago found health effects, including on the immune system, from PFAS chemicals, but those studies were hidden by production companies, like 3M Co. | "It's frustrating to be an environmental health researcher and spend years and years to characterize the exposures and the adverse health effects of these compounds, only to discover that most of that…
(2018-08-14). Khan al-Ahmar to Receive Health Services. imemc.org Minister of Health Dr. Jawad Awad said that a comprehensive health center will begin providing health services to the resilient people in Al Khan al-Ahmar village, today. According to the PNN, the center provides primary health care services at the general medicine clinic, and allocates a day to the dermatologist […]…
(2018-08-14). How Our Mental Health Struggles Are Linked to Each Others' in Surprising Ways. alternet.org 
Our world has changed and we're adapting together. | Johann Hari's experience with depression is something of a lightning rod within mental health circles. Some cheer his nuanced views of the disorder, grateful for a take on mental health that emphasizes the impacts of environment and experience. Others argue that the British journalist is too dismissive of medication. "Is everything Johann Hari knows about depression wrong? "
(2018-08-14). Allentown, Pennsylvania credit union employees strike over wages and health care. wsws.org Employees of People First Federal Credit Union went on strike against the company's demand to shift health care costs onto the backs of already low paid employees.
(2018-08-13). The Baltimore Bureau Podcast Show: August 10, 2018. therealnews.com 
Eze and Khalilah discuss the one year anniversary of the Baltimore Ceasefire, climate justice as health, housing and transit justice, police ignoring the law, and Marc Steiner's interview with Sean Yoes about his book, 'Baltimore After Freddie Gray'
(2018-08-13). U.S. is Complicit in Child Slaughter in Yemen. counterpunch.org On August 9, a U.S.-supported Saudi airstrike bombed a bus carrying schoolchildren in Sa'ada, a city in northern Yemen. The New York Times reported that the students were on a recreational trip. According to the Sa'ada health department, the attack killed at least forty-three people. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, at least twenty-nine of those killed were children under the age of fifteen, and forty-eight people were wounded, including thirty children. More
(2018-08-13). Exploiting Styron's Ghost. counterpunch.org 
"I've been through a lot, good and bad, I've seen government rise and fall and scientific theories rise and fall, and I think there's a breadth of mind which, provided the brain is healthy comes with age." — Oliver Sacks Eli Lilly got FDA approval to market Prozac in December 1988. The company's marketing genius, More
(2018-08-13). Coca-Cola workers in Alabama on strike for better wages, health insurance. wsws.org The Teamsters union is determined to prevent the Coca Cola United workers from joining their struggle with that of UPS workers and the working class more generally.
(2018-08-13). UK National Health Service pay deal fuels growing rebellion against unions. wsws.org More than 1,000 health workers signed a petition calling for the current leadership of the Royal College of Nursing to stand down.
(2018-08-13). This week in history: August 13-19. wsws.org 25 years ago: Clinton unveils health care "reform" to cut costs for corporate employersIn a speech to the National Governors Association on August 16, 1993, President Bill Clinton outlined the substance of his proposed health care reform program. Speaking to the group that he previously headed while governor of Arkansas, Clinton largely dropped the reformist pretenses associated with his promises to working people and explained in blunt language that the purpose of the "reform" was to cut costs for the government and corporate employers.
(2018-08-10). Single Payer Is Actually a Huge Bargain. thenation.com 
Steffie Woolhandler, David U. Himmelstein, Adam Gaffney It would save both dollars and lives compared to our current system.
(2018-08-09). US can afford 'unlimited war' but not Medicare for all, says Ocasio-Cortez. rt.com 
Democratic socialist and Congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has slammed Republicans for funding tax cuts and America's "unlimited war," while refusing to provide universal healthcare. |
(2018-08-09). WATCH the mesmerizing dance of chromosomes inside our cells (VIDEO). rt.com 
Scientists have mapped the movement of chromosomes inside our cells for the first time — a development that may have significant implications for the study of genetic diseases and human health, according to researchers. |
(2018-08-07). Republicans Want to Force People to Work for Their Health Care—What Could Go Wrong? thenation.com Republicans Want to Force People to Work for Their Health Care—What Could Go Wrong? appeared first on The Nation.
(2018-08-02). Trump Administration's Breastmilk War Exposes Backchannel Politics in Health Care. progressive.org Nipplegate has a long history in the Global South.
(2018-08-01). Building the Movement for Medicare for All. progressive.org This week was the 53rd anniversary of Medicare, created in the middle of the social agitation of the 1960s. Benjamin Day of Healthcare-NOW! talks about how today, we are in the middle of similar upheaval.
(2018-07-31). Reporting on Medicare for All Makes Media Forget How Math Works. fair.org 
CBS News (7/30/18) | "Medicare for All," a federally funded universal healthcare plan championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vermont—Ind.), has quickly become a key issue for progressive voters evaluating Democratic Party candidates for the 2018 midterm elections and the 2020 presidential race. The plan would provide coverage for the 40 million currently uninsured in the United States, a gap that is estimated to cause tens of thousands of deaths annually. Despite this, Medicare for All has received no shortage of negative coverage in the media, all revolving around the same question: Just how are we going to pay for it? | A study on the cost of Medicare for All was recently conducted by Charles Blahous for the libertarian-leaning Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Blahous' study projected that Sanders' Medicare for All system,…