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	<title>Health &#38; FamilyCategory: Regulation &#124; Health &#38; Family &#124; TIME.com</title>
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	<description>A healthy balance of the mind, body and spirit</description>
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		<title>Health &#38; FamilyCategory: Regulation &#124; Health &#38; Family &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>Diagnostic Errors Are the Most Common Type of Medical Mistake</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/04/24/diagnostic-errors-are-more-common-and-harmful-for-patients/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/04/24/diagnostic-errors-are-more-common-and-harmful-for-patients/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:00:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Sifferlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health Reform]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hospitals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Policy & Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health care costs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[medical misdiagnosis]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=85032</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When Dr. David Newman-Toker was a medical resident at a Boston hospital, he witnessed what he calls tragic cases in which otherwise healthy people suffered serious consequences from misdiagnoses that could have been prevented. Newman-Toker, now an associate professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, recalls an 18-year-old aspiring Olympic skater who fell on a ski slope and came to the hospital with weakness on one side of her body and a headache. She was told she had a migraine and was sent home. Six days later, she returned to the hospital after a stroke compromised the entire right side of her brain. He also remembers a hardworking janitorial immigrant in her 50s who came in with chest pain. She was seen multiple times at multiple hospitals and everyone missed that her chest pain was caused by compression from her spinal cord. By the time it was recognized, she was a paraplegic. Not every visit to the hospital has a happy ending, and neither does every misdiagnosis lead to severe harm, but Newman-Toker&#8217;s personal experiences motivated him to improve medical misdiagnoses, which he says are not only common, but preventable in most cases. To gain more knowledge about the scope of medical diagnostic errors in the U.S., Newman-Toker and his colleagues reviewed 25 years of medical malpractice claim payouts and reported their findings in the journal BMJ Quality and Safety. (MORE: In-Depth Video: The Exorbitant Prices of Health Care) To make their estimates, the investigators studied medical malpractice payment data from the National Practitioner Data Bank, an electronic collection of all malpractice settlement payments made by practitioners in the U.S. since 1986. They found that diagnostic errors were the most common source of the payments, the most costly and the most dangerous when it came to patients&#8217; health. Such errors, which included diagnoses that were incorrect, wrong or delayed &#8212; were most likely to result in death than other other sources of malpractice suits such as surgical mistakes or medication overdoses. &#8220;People who study diagnostic errors have known for many years that diagnostic<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=85032&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Health Care</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/policy-industry/health-care/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/bc8649-001.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">BC8649-001</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">asifferlin</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Judge Orders Morning After Pill Be Available Without Prescription, Without Restrictions</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/04/05/judge-orders-morning-after-pill-be-available-without-prescription-without-restrictions/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/04/05/judge-orders-morning-after-pill-be-available-without-prescription-without-restrictions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Apr 2013 17:30:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Sifferlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Approvals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Family & Parenting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Labeling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Policy & Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pregnancy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reproductive Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contraception]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contraceptives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[emergency contraception]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[judge edward korman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kathleen Sebelius]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[levonog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[morning after pill]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plan B]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[teen pregnancy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=84020</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the latest volley over the contraceptive Plan B, a federal judge reversed the Department of Health and Human Services decision to restrict over-the-counter availability of the morning after pill to those 17 years or older . Judge Edward Korman of the District Court of Eastern New York overturned Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius&#8217; decision to add an age limit to obtaining Plan B without a prescription; citing concerns over the safety of the emergency contraceptive, which is effective about 50% of the time in preventing pregnancy before the fertilized egg implants in the uterus, being taken by girls as young as 11 years old, Sebelius required anyone under 17 to provide a prescription in order to purchase Plan B, while allowing those 17 and older to buy the contraceptive over-the-counter. It&#8217;s the latest development in a contentious regulatory battle that dates to 2009, when Plan B&#8217;s manufacturer, Teva Pharmaceuticals, filed an application with the Food and Drug Administration to change the drug&#8217;s status from a prescription medication to an over-the-counter one. At the time, only women 17 years or older could obtain Plan B without a prescription, and the company wanted to remove the restriction and expand over-the-counter access to women of all ages. After reviewing the application and available studies on the pill, the FDA&#8216;s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) determined that Plan B was safe and effective for adolescents, and concluded that younger girls were capable of correctly using and understanding the risks of Plan B without doctor intervention. (MORE: U.S. Rejects FDA Advice to Sell Plan B One-Step Over the Counter) Based on the CDER conclusions, FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg recommended that the contraceptive be sold without a prescription for &#8220;all females of child-bearing potential.&#8221; In an unprecedented move, however, Sebelius invoked her authority as Secretary of HHS, which oversees the FDA, and overruled the recommendation, noting that the company failed to provide research showing that young girls could use the drug safely. Her decision was backed by President Obama, who said, &#8220;As I understand<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=84020&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Labeling</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/policy-industry/labeling-policy-industry/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/165701705.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">NY Federal Judge Overrules FDA Over-The-Counter Ban On Emergency Contraception Pill</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/dd9dc95ff828efb70c16a5a509a75150?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">asifferlin</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Pot Is Legal in Washington: Q&amp;A with the Man Who Is Making Weed Legit</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/03/25/pot-is-legal-in-washington-qa-with-the-man-who-is-making-weed-legit/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/03/25/pot-is-legal-in-washington-qa-with-the-man-who-is-making-weed-legit/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:00:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Maia Szalavitz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Drugs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cannabis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drug legalization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marijuana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marijuana legalization]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mark Kleiman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pot]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[washington state marijuana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Washington state pot czar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[weed]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=82784</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Washington state gets ready to regulate legal marijuana with the help of one of America’s top drug policy analysts. Mark Kleiman is professor of public policy at the University of California in Los Angeles, and co-author of Marijuana Legalization:  What Everyone Needs to Know. His team at Botec Analysis Corporation earned the contract to help turn Washington state&#8217;s vote to legalize marijuana into a reality. TIME talked to him about the challenging job ahead. Does it hinder serious analysis that everyone always wants to make jokes about marijuana? Probably somewhat. Though they don’t make lot of jokes about cocaine and we’ve got equally terrible policy. It’s the same as making jokes about sex— it’s probably not a bad impulse to notice that the human tendency to excess is inherently funny even if the consequences aren’t. Is that because they see marijuana as less harmful? They’re more familiar with it. Fifty percent of every birth cohort uses pot and only a couple percent use cocaine. So what exactly are you charged with doing in Washington? We’re still negotiating that.  The contract is to provide advice to the board and staff in the process of developing regulations that are supposed to be issued by December 1st. MORE: Marijuana Not Linked with Lung Damage And what are your goals? The goal is make our knowledge of the topic available to the board in a form that lets them make choices according to their values. So for each choice they have to make, we’ve identified  six options and here are eight outcome dimensions you might care about and here’s the likely consequences of each of those choices on each of those dimensions. That sounds overly complicated… It’s policy analysis. We’re not going to decide whether we’re for craft beer marijuana or Big Marijuana. [It’s more like] if we have 10 licenses to grow,  here are the consequences.  If we have 500, here are the consequences and  which bundle of consequences do we prefer? What consequences will you be balancing? Revenue and the size of<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=82784&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://healthland.time.com/2013/03/25/pot-is-legal-in-washington-qa-with-the-man-who-is-making-weed-legit/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Drugs</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/drugs/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/128596350.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Weed</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">MaiaSzalavitz</media:title>
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	</item>
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		<title>How BPA May Disrupt Brain Development</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/26/how-bpa-may-disrupt-brain-development/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/26/how-bpa-may-disrupt-brain-development/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:00:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Sifferlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Brain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mental Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bisphenol-A]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BPA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[brain development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[canned foods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plastics]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=80987</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The chemical, found in many plastic products, can interfere with normal brain development. In a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers report that bisphenol A (BPA) may suppress genes that are critical to early development of the central nervous system, which may predispose both animals and humans to neurodevelopmental disorders. People can absorb BPA when it seeps from plastic bottles or the lining of metal cans into the food or drinks we consume. In previous studies, higher levels of BPA in people&#8217;s urine have been linked to behavioral problems as well as reproductive disorders, heart disease and obesity, which prompted the Food and Drug Administration to ban the compound from baby bottles in 2012. In the current research, scientists from Duke Medicine in Durham, North Carolina tried to understand how BPA can harm health, and focused on its ability to interfere with developing nervous systems in both animals and humans. (MORE: BPA Linked with Obesity in Kids and Teens) As neurons start to form, chloride levels in cells are critical for guiding the nascent nerves to their proper place in the brain. Over time, as the neurons mature, chloride is pumped out of the cells by a chloride transporter called KCC2. If chloride levels remain high, the neural circuits don&#8217;t form and connect properly. By exposing cell cultures of rat and human nerve cells to BPA, the researchers discovered that the chemical inhibits KCC2 from doing its job in lowering chloride levels. &#8220;Chloride going from high to low around the time of birth, in a very choreographed manner, is an absolute prerequisite for the nerve cell to find its right place. That is perturbed by BPA,&#8221; says lead study author Dr. Wolfgang Liedtke, an associate professor of medicine and neurobiology at Duke. &#8220;If chloride is high, things go wrong. Nerve cells in the central nervous system are protecting themselves by pumping out chloride all the time.&#8221; Although the researchers confirmed that both sexes are affected by the BPA, female neurons appear to be more susceptible to the compound&#8217;s damaging effects. &#8220;The process<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=80987&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Brain</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/mental-health/brain/</primary_category_link><letterbox>1</letterbox><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/157562339.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">157562339</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">asifferlin</media:title>
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		<title>Letters to Obama: Children Plead for Gun Control</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/16/letters-to-obama-children-plead-for-gun-control/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/16/letters-to-obama-children-plead-for-gun-control/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Jan 2013 19:46:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bonnie Rochman</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Childhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Family & Parenting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[children]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Congress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gun control]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[letters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[President Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sandy Hook]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=78157</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Children are the newest gun-control advocates, putting pen to paper to beseech President Obama to “not let people own machine guns or other powerful guns like that.” Those were the words of Grant, an 8-year-old from Maryland who wrote to the White House three days after 20 first-graders and four adults were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. On Wednesday, Obama announced broad proposals to stem gun violence, joined by Grant and a handful of other children who have written him after last month’s massacre. Julia, an 11-year-old from Washington, D.C., told Obama that she “may not [be] that into politics but my opinion is that it should be very hard for people to buy guns…I know that laws have to be passed by Congress but I beg you to try very hard to make guns not allowed.” She shared with Obama that she has four brothers and sisters. “…I know I would not be able to bear the thought of losing any of them,” she wrote. Obama appears to have paid attention to the kids&#8217; letters, urging Congress to support him in requiring universal background checks and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines like those that alleged gunman Adam Lanza used to turn an elementary school into a war zone. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) expressed support for Obama&#8217;s proposals, saying in a statement, &#8220;The Academy agrees with the President that to prevent future incidence like the shooting in Newtown there must be stronger gun laws, comprehensive access to mental health care, and no restrictions on federal gun violence research and prevention efforts&#8230;Congress must show similar leadership and act promptly to develop and ensure passage of effective legislation an regulatory measures that will significantly reduce the senseless loss of young lives&#8230;Pediatricians stand ready to assist.&#8221; The White House may be hoping that the kids&#8217; candid sentiments — Grant includes a postscript to Obama that reads, &#8220;I know you&#8217;re doing your best,&#8221; and 10-year-old Taejah writes, &#8220;I am very sad about the children who<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=78157&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Regulation</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/policy-industry/regulation-policy-industry/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/hlt-obama-presser-130116.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">President Barack Obama gives high-fives to children who wrote letters to the White House about gun violence</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">brochman</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/ap272391562295.jpg?w=600" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">image: Kids&#039; letters to the President Obama to change gun laws</media:title>
		</media:content>
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		<title>After Year-Long Delay, FDA Proposes Major Regulations For Food Safety</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/07/after-year-long-delay-fda-proposes-major-regulations-for-food-safety/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/07/after-year-long-delay-fda-proposes-major-regulations-for-food-safety/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Jan 2013 11:00:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Sifferlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Policy & Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Safety]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=77235</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[For the first time in 70 years, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released two major requirements for improving food safety. On Friday, the FDA released two draft rule proposals for food safety that will allow the FDA to shift its focus on preventing, rather than simply reacting, to food borne illnesses. Despite the delay, public health advocates heralded the proposals as a major step in implementing the landmark FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) that President Obama signed into law two years ago, giving the FDA one year to put the first policies in place. The regulations are needed, as evidenced by the series of dangerous food safety slip-ups in recent years that required recalls of spinach, cantaloupe, sprouts, turkey and ground beef with microbes ranging from salmonella to E. coli and listeria, as well as the FDA&#8217;s shut-down of the organic peanut butter plant Sunland Inc. in New Mexico, which produced salmonella-tainted peanut butter that sickened 42 consumers nationwide. (MORE: The Food Safety Bill Finally Passes, But It’s Just the First Step) &#8220;We have one of the safest food supplies in the world, but we have work to do to stop food borne illnesses before they start,&#8221; Dr. Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of the FDA said in a press conference. &#8220;While the FDA responds very quickly and effectively in response to outbreaks, containing them and finding their source and taking other necessary actions, we really need to do more than react after the fact. Preventing problems before they cause harm is not only common sense, it is the key to food safety in the 21st century.&#8221; The regulations, the first reforms in food safety in more than 70 years, are designed to address gaps in food production and manufacturing processes that leave an estimated 48 million Americans sick each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While not all of these illnesses are reported, the FDA says that nearly 130,000 people who contract a food-related disease are hospitalized and 3,000 die from the illness. So when the deadline to issue<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=77235&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/07/after-year-long-delay-fda-proposes-major-regulations-for-food-safety/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Safety</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/policy-industry/safety-policy-industry/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/84753472.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">84753472</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/dd9dc95ff828efb70c16a5a509a75150?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">asifferlin</media:title>
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		<title>Rulings Threaten FDA and States&#8217; Ability to Regulate Drugs and Therapy</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/04/rulings-threaten-fda-and-states-ability-to-regulate-drugs-and-therapy/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2013/01/04/rulings-threaten-fda-and-states-ability-to-regulate-drugs-and-therapy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Jan 2013 20:00:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Maia Szalavitz</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Pharmaceuticals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Viewpoint]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[California]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drug regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FDA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gay conversion therapy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[off label drug marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pharma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pharmaceutical industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[regulation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=75800</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Two cases could trigger dramatic changes in the way medications and therapies are regulated. The legal arguments now wending their way through the courts could either seriously undermine— or dramatically boost—the ability of regulators to protect the public from dangerous medications and therapies. On their face, the cases seem to share little in common.  In one, a panel of federal judges in New York overturned the conviction of a drug company representative for illegal sales practices.  In the other, a federal court in California issued an injunction against a new law that bans “gay conversion” therapy for teens, scheduled to go into effect in January. Both cases raise critical, and unresolved questions about the tension between free speech and health claims that are regulated by the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). In the New York case, Alfred Caronia, then employed by Orphan Medical, was caught on tape promoting one of his company’s drugs to doctors for uses for which it had not been approved by the FDA.  Known as Xyrem, the medication is approved to treat narcolepsy, a condition involving extreme daytime sleepiness that can put patients in potentially dangerous situations.  Caronia, however, touted its usefulness in treating insomnia and to address sleepiness related to the pain disorder fibromyalgia. While it is legal for doctors to use medications “off label” if they believe it is in their patients’ interest, it is not legal for pharmaceutical companies to promote such use because the FDA has not evaluated such practices for efficacy and safety. But citing free speech concerns, two of the three appeals court judges in the Second Circuit quashed Caronia’s conviction.  They wrote that he had clearly been targeted for his speech, saying, “[T]he government cannot prosecute pharmaceutical manufacturers and their representatives under the F.D.C.A. for speech promoting the lawful, off-label use of an F.D.A.-approved drug.” The Second Circuit was the first court to interpret the First Amendment in this way; previous courts had ruled in favor of the FDA and its legal right to prohibit such &#8220;misbranding&#8221;<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=75800&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Viewpoint</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/viewpoint/viewpoint-viewpoint/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/109439712.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">109439712</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/0a5ac57e99124922fa628492ad3db6b2?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">MaiaSzalavitz</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Flame Fighting Chemicals Abundant in House Dust and Sofas</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/29/flame-fighting-chemicals-abundant-in-house-dust-and-sofas/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/11/29/flame-fighting-chemicals-abundant-in-house-dust-and-sofas/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Nov 2012 15:00:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Laura Blue</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Child Development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environmental Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chemicals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[couch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[endocrine disruptors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flame retardants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[home]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hormone disruptor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[House]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PBDEs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[polyurethane foam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sofa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[toxic]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=74927</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Chemicals are commonly added to furniture, carpeting, and even electronic devices to limit the risk of fire. But at what cost? Two new studies published journal Environmental Science &#38; Technology highlight the potential dangers of flame retardants — including chemicals linked to cancer and to hormone disruption — that are probably present in nearly every American home. MORE: BPA Linked with Obesity in Kids and Teens One of the two new studies focuses on sofa cushions. Researchers from Duke University, Boston University, and University of California Berkeley took cushions from sofas across the U.S. and found that there were suspect flame-retardant chemicals in 85% of them. The second study shows how those chemicals then likely migrate out of furniture and into the air we breathe. Scientists at Silent Spring Institute in Massachusetts analyzed household dust in California and found that, in most of the 16 homes tested, there was at least one chemical present at potentially unsafe levels. &#8220;What&#8217;s concerning about this is that so many of these chemicals we&#8217;re finding are associated with hormone disruption or cancer, or haven&#8217;t been tested,&#8221; says Robin Dodson, a research scientist at Silent Spring Institute. &#8220;It&#8217;s worrisome.&#8221; MORE: The Hazards Lurking at Home The chemicals detected include polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which the Environmental Protection Agency claims &#8220;may cause liver toxicity, thyroid toxicity, and neurodevelopmental toxicity.&#8221; (PBDEs have been phased out of manufacturing since 2004, following increased regulation of potentially harmful chemicals.) Also present in household dust were chemicals, such as the insecticide DDT, that have been banned for many years for their potential to cause cancer and disrupt reproductive development. The researchers also found tris, an agent known to break up DNA in chromosomes that was banned from children&#8217;s sleepwear because of its cancer-causing potential, as well as newer chemicals that are being used as a replacement for PBDEs. The study authors complain that these newer chemicals have not yet been adequately tested for safety. Why the prevalence of so many flame retardants? The compounds are present in home furnishings not so much<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=74927&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Environmental Health</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/medicine/environmental-health-medicine/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/stk314539rknflamecrop.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Sofa with cushions</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/a069e8b4ff0dc386def0882f71bbfee6?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Laura Blue</media:title>
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		<title>Smoke-Free Laws Are Saving Lives</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/30/smoke-free-laws-are-saving-lives/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/30/smoke-free-laws-are-saving-lives/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Oct 2012 10:00:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Laura Blue</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Environmental Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heart Disease]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stroke]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tobacco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public smoking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smoke-free law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smoking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smoking ban]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=72719</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You can&#8217;t smoke in most restaurants and malls, and those laws may be responsible for saving thousands of lives. According to two separate studies, recent laws that limit smoking in public places are contributing to fewer tobacco-related hospital visits and deaths. In 2009 the Institute of Medicine concluded that smoking bans contributed to fewer heart problems in areas where the policies were implemented, but the panel was unable to determine how much benefit the laws provided. The new research provides some objective improvements in lower heart attack rates and adds to a growing body of evidence for the tangible health effects of stricter smoke-free laws across the USA and all around the world. Since 2000, more than half of U.S. states have enacted laws to restrict indoor smoking, and new smoke-free policies have taken hold in countries such as  Germany, Bhutan, and Vietnam. Although these regulations are relatively new, researchers are eager to document what effect they have on health; with strong data, public health experts hope that more smoke-free policies will be considered in countries where smoking-related deaths continue to cost nations in health and productivity. (MORE: Can Asia Kick the Habit?) For one of the two new studies, published in Archives of Internal Medicine, scientists at Minnesota&#8217;s Mayo Clinic  analyzed effects of smoke-free laws that were introduced in Olmstead County, MN, over the past ten years. Most of the county&#8217;s more than 144,000 residents receive health care from the Mayo Clinic, allowing the researchers to obtain consent to track heart-related health outcomes. In 2002, Olmstead County required restaurants to be smoke-free, and a few years later passed even stricter anti-smoking laws, mandating that all workplaces, including bars, become smoke-free in 2007. When they compared the 18-month period before the restaurant ban to the 18-month period directly afterward, the researchers found a per-capita drop of 33% in the number of heart attacks in the county, and a 17% drop in the number of sudden cardiac deaths. The decline occured at the same time that rates of hypertension, diabetes and<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=72719&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Tobacco</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/medicine/tobacco/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/130882676.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">130882676</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/a069e8b4ff0dc386def0882f71bbfee6?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Laura Blue</media:title>
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		<title>Five Smartphone Apps That Promote Smoking</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/24/five-smart-phone-apps-that-promote-smoking/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/24/five-smart-phone-apps-that-promote-smoking/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Oct 2012 12:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Laura Blue</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Teens]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tobacco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[big tobacco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smartphone]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=72253</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Marketing cigarettes ain&#8217;t what it used to be. Gone are the days of Joe Camel billboards and T-shirts or caps branded with cigarette makers&#8217; logos. But Big Tobacco hasn&#8217;t given up on getting its message out. A 1999 settlement banned tobacco companies from advertising outdoors or at stadiums but there&#8217;s another grey zone where the definition of an ad remains fuzzy — smartphone apps. According to the latest research from Australia, apps are loosely regulated, sold worldwide, and increasingly popular—all appealing features for cigarette makers. They&#8217;re even open to kids. In their report, published in the journal Tobacco Control, researchers at the University of Sydney searched the Apple and Android app stores with keywords like &#8220;smoke,&#8221; &#8220;cigarette,&#8221; and &#8220;tobacco,&#8221; to see how many promotional apps they could find. They tallied up anything that looked to be pro-smoking — apps showing branded images or info about where to buy tobacco products — even if the product claimed to be an aid for quitting. The final count? More than 100 different mobile-phone applications that appear to promote smoking. (MORE: And the World’s Top Smokers Are&#8230;) It&#8217;s doubtful all the promos come straight from tobacco companies. The researchers, however, believe that some may. Speaking to Bloomberg earlier this week, author Nasser BinDhim said he finds it &#8220;suspicious&#8221; that smoking apps are typically released by developers who work under nicknames rather than business names, unlike in other industries. TIME selected five of the most creative pro-smoking apps described in the study, so you can judge for yourself: 1) myAshtray Most apps identified by the Sydney researchers were tools to simulate or mimic the act of smoking. In this one, users click on the screen to drop ash into the virtual ashtray. Although the app&#8217;s download page claims it can be used to help to quit smoking, BinDhim and colleagues felt the messages that users receive when they drop ash into the ashtray might actually encourage smoking behavior. One such message: &#8220;Would be even better with a beer in your hand!&#8221; The scientists also say<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=72253&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Tobacco</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/medicine/tobacco/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/75494279.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Discarded cigarette butts</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/a069e8b4ff0dc386def0882f71bbfee6?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Laura Blue</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/myashtray.jpg?w=160" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">myAshtray</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">Cigarettes</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/puffpuffpass.jpg?w=360" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">PuffPuffPass</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">BatteryWidget</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/cra.jpg?w=160" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">CRA</media:title>
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		<title>Meningitis Cases Rise in Outbreak Linked to Tainted Steroid Shots</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/12/meningitis-cases-rise-in-outbreak-linked-to-tainted-steroid-shots/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/12/meningitis-cases-rise-in-outbreak-linked-to-tainted-steroid-shots/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Oct 2012 21:56:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alice Park</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Disease]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pharmaceuticals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Policy & Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[back pain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CDC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FDA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fungal meningitis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fungus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meningitis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[methylprednisolone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New England Compounding Center]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[steroid injections]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=71477</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[More than two weeks after the first reports emerged of meningitis cases linked to tainted painkiller injections, health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say the number of cases will continue to rise, since the infections may take weeks to appear. CDC officials say that an estimated 14,000 people may have received injections in recent months from three contaminated lots of methylprednisolone acetate, a steroid used to treat back and joint pain. Among those who have been diagnosed with meningitis resulting from the tainted shots, symptoms have arisen anywhere from one to four weeks after their last injection. The symptoms include fever, new or worsening headache and in severe cases, neurological confusion consistent with stroke. So far, the CDC has confirmed 185 cases of meningitis and 14 deaths in the current outbreak, now reaching 12 states. Meanwhile, a U.S. House of Representatives committee is investigating the company, New England Compounding Center (NECC), that produced the contaminated shots. And a Minnesota woman has filed the first lawsuit against the company. (MORE: Meningitis Outbreak Grows, Highlighting Dangers of Compounding Pharmacies) Initial reports traced the meningitis outbreak to the Aspergillus fungus, which was found in the first case in Tennessee and in a sealed vial of the steroid drug. More recently, however, public health labs in Virginia have reported that another fungus — Exserohilum — may also have contaminated the injections. Both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) are continuing their investigations of NECC, based in Framingham, Mass., which made and distributed the injections, which were supposed to be sterile. Deborah Autor, deputy commission for global regulatory operations and policy at the FDA, told reporters during a recent teleconference that 50 vials of sealed methylprednisolone acetate collected both at NECC and at hospitals or clinics to which the company had shipped its product tested positive for fungus. The first case of meningitis linked to the current outbreak was reported in Tennessee in late September. On Sept. 26, the Massachusetts board of pharmacy<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=71477&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Pharmaceuticals</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/policy-industry/pharmaceuticals/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/95012125.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">95012125</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/69fc92d1c4598c5b98d03fde16cdfa74?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fmu.gif&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">apark7</media:title>
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		<title>Toxic Chemicals in Kids&#8217; School Supplies. How Real Is the Threat?</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/08/29/toxic-chemicals-in-kids-school-supplies-how-real-is-the-threat/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/08/29/toxic-chemicals-in-kids-school-supplies-how-real-is-the-threat/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:30:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Sifferlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Policy & Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BPA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chemicals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[children's toys]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[phthalates]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[school supplies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[toy safety]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=67533</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A recent report released by the advocacy group Center for Health, Environment &#38; Justice (CHEJ) says high levels of toxic chemicals called phthalates, some of which were banned in children&#8217;s toys in 2008, are present in many children&#8217;s vinyl school supplies. However, not everyone is convinced of the risk. The study examined 20 children&#8217;s back-to-school products that included Disney-, Spider-Man– and Dora the Explorer–brand school supplies like vinyl lunch boxes, backpacks, three-ring binders, raincoats and rain boots. They found that 75% of the products had elevated levels of phthalates, often called plasticizers, which are used to make plastics more flexible and difficult to break. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), they are found in thousands of products like vinyl flooring, adhesives, detergents, lubricating oils, automotive plastics, plastic clothes and personal-care products like soaps, shampoos and nail polishes. (MORE: Toxins Found in Nail Polishes Claiming to Be ‘Nontoxic’) For example, the report says the Dora the Explorer backpack had phthalate levels over 69 times higher than the federal limit for toys, while the Amazing Spider-Man lunch box had 27 times the federal limit and the Disney Princess lunch box contained 29 times the limit. “School supplies are supposed to help our children with their education, they shouldn’t be harming their health. We don’t allow high levels of these toxic chemicals in children’s toys, and we certainly shouldn’t allow them in back-to-school products,” said New York Senator Charles Schumer in a statement. Various studies link phthalates to birth defects, obesity and infertility — even potentially diabetes in women. (MORE: Toxic Bling: Jewelry Contains Hazardous Levels of Lead and Other Chemicals) However, members of the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), a group that often defends chemical use, say these warnings are unfounded and parents shouldn&#8217;t be concerned. ACSH medical and executive director Dr. Gilbert Ross says studies linking phthalates to everything from hormone imbalances to obesity either lack evidence or are based on high-dose rodent studies with no relationship to humans. Ross cites the work of an expert panel that was held from 1998 to 2000 by<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=67533&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Regulation</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/policy-industry/regulation-policy-industry/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/10194725.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">asifferlin</media:title>
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		<title>From the NYC Soda Ban Hearing: The Best Arguments For and Against</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/07/25/from-the-nyc-soda-ban-hearing-the-best-arguments-for-and-against/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/07/25/from-the-nyc-soda-ban-hearing-the-best-arguments-for-and-against/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:11:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Sifferlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Diabetes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Diet & Fitness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food & Drink]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obesity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Policy & Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prevention]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor Michael Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NYC soda ban]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public hearing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[soda ban]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sugary drinks]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=64643</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hundreds of people gathered on Tuesday at the New York City Board of Health&#8217;s public hearing to weigh in on Mayor Michael Bloomberg&#8216;s controversial proposal to ban large-size sodas and other sugar-sweetened beverages from the city&#8217;s restaurants, delis, sports arena vendors, movie theaters and food carts. The hearing drew health and nutrition experts, politicians and beverage industry representatives, who faced off over the proposed ban, on which the Board of Health is scheduled to vote in September. Although the issue is a local one, its outcome is likely to effect national change: Bloomberg&#8217;s previous policies — his public smoking ban, trans fat ban and mandatory calorie counts on restaurant menus, for example — have sparked similar federal laws or have been adopted by other cities and localities. (MORE: The New York City Soda Ban, and a Brief History of Bloomberg’s Nudges) The soda ban has similarly triggered a heated debate nationwide, and on Tuesday, supporters and critics each had five minutes in front of the board to express their opinions on the matter. Below is a roundup of the most notable arguments. Nutrition and medical experts favored the ban, which would prohibit the sale of any sugar-sweetened beverage over 16 oz., arguing that it would undeniably protect public health. Large portion sizes of sugary drinks make it easy for people to overconsume calories, especially from added sugar, since overdrinking is easier than overeating, experts noted: &#8220;Soda in large amounts is metabolically toxic. &#8230; It&#8217;s obvious that this is the right thing to do.&#8221; —Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health “Larger portions lead to overconsumption. &#8230; This is firmly established in science. There is no reason for larger portions except for more consumption.&#8221; &#8220;You don&#8217;t feel as full when you consume calories in liquids. &#8230; These beverages are the single greatest source of added sugar in the American diet.&#8221; —Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for food policy and obesity at Yale University (MORE: How Soda Companies&#8217; Social Responsibility Campaigns Are Harming Your Health) Supporters<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=64643&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Food &amp; Drink</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/diet-fitness/food-drink/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/200483467-001.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">asifferlin</media:title>
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		<title>A Court Allows Payment for Bone Marrow. Should People Be Able to Sell Their Parts?</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/07/02/a-court-allows-payment-for-bone-marrow-should-people-be-able-to-sell-their-parts/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/07/02/a-court-allows-payment-for-bone-marrow-should-people-be-able-to-sell-their-parts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Jul 2012 15:30:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alice Park</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Policy & Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stem Cells]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bone marrow]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bone marrow transplants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flynn v. holder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[organ donation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=63047</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[How much would it take for you to consider selling your bone marrow? A U.S. appeals court puts the price at about $3,000 in a ruling that now makes it legal to pay donors for their bone-marrow tissue. The court&#8217;s decision may well help thousands of sick patients who need bone-marrow transplants to survive, but it also begs the question, What other body parts might next be up for sale? The ruling came about at the end of 2011, in a decision to an October 2009 lawsuit brought by a group of cancer patients, parents and bone-marrow-donation advocates against the government over the federal law banning the buying and selling of bodily organs. The plaintiffs were led by Doreen Flynn, who has three daughters who suffer from Fanconi anemia, a blood disorder that requires bone-marrow transplants to treat. Flynn and the other plaintiffs said that too many such patients die waiting for transplants and argued that we should be allowed to pay people to donate their marrow as a way of ensuring a more reliable supply. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed. (MORE: Facebook Now Lets Organ Donors Tell Their Friends) At the core of the plaintiffs&#8217; argument was the National Organ Transplantation Act (NOTA), which since 1984 has forbid the buying and selling of human organs, including bone marrow. But new developments in bone-marrow extraction have made marrow donation not much different from donating blood: traditionally, bone-marrow donation required anesthesia and long needles to extract the marrow from the hip bones of donors. Now, a technique called peripheral apheresis allows doctors to extract blood stem cells directly from the blood, instead of the bone — patients first take a drug that pulls stem cells from the bone and into the blood — meaning that the marrow cells should be considered a fluid like blood, rather than an organ, the plaintiffs argued. NOTA doesn&#8217;t prohibit payments for blood or other fluids, such as plasma or semen. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder decided not to ask the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=63047&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Regulation</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/policy-industry/regulation-policy-industry/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/marrow.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">marrow</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">apark7</media:title>
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		<title>Graphic Cigarette Warning Labels Stick Better in Your Memory</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/06/15/graphic-cigarette-warning-labels-stick-better-in-your-memory/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/06/15/graphic-cigarette-warning-labels-stick-better-in-your-memory/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 15 Jun 2012 20:43:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Sora Song</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Labeling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Policy & Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prevention]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tobacco]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cigarette warning labels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[graphic cigarette warning labels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[graphic warning labels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smoking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[surgeon general's warning]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=62138</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has its way, warning labels on cigarette packs and advertisements are going to get a lot more grisly this fall. Under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which for first time gave the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products in 2009, cigarette makers will be forced to cover half of all cigarette packs and 20% of all advertisements with one of nine graphic warning labels selected by the federal agency. The grim images on the labels include depictions of a smoker&#8217;s corpse, diseased lungs, and mottled and stained teeth and gums damaged by smoking. The warning labels are currently hung up in the courts, however. Five tobacco companies are suing the government on the grounds that the new labels — which the companies argue are designed to provoke an emotional response and further the governments&#8217; anti-smoking agenda, rather than simply conveying information to consumers — tread on their First Amendment right to free speech. (PHOTOS: Cigarette Warning Labels from Around the World) In the meantime, a question worth asking: How well do the graphic warning labels actually work? That is, do they help people remember the content of the warning better than text-only labels? A recent study, led by Andrew Strasser of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, suggests that they do. The study recruited 200 adults — all current smokers who weren&#8217;t trying to quit — to view a cigarette ad, with either a text-only tobacco warning label on the bottom (displaying the standard Surgeon General&#8217;s warning: &#8220;Quitting smoking now greatly reduces serious risks to your health&#8221;) or a larger, more arresting graphic label showing a hospitalized man on a ventilator alongside the written message: &#8220;Cigarettes cause lung cancer. Every cigarette you smoke increases your chance of getting lung cancer.&#8221; Each version was designed to match the current size standard for text-only warnings or the pending requirements for the FDA&#8216;s graphic labels. Participants viewed each image for 30 seconds, and then, as a distraction task, answered questions<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=62138&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Tobacco</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/medicine/tobacco/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/strasserimages.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">graphic cigarette warning labels</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">Sora Song</media:title>
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		<title>What&#8217;s in Your Lipstick? FDA Finds Lead in 400 Shades</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/15/whats-in-your-lipstick-fda-finds-lead-in-400-shades/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/15/whats-in-your-lipstick-fda-finds-lead-in-400-shades/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:00:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Alexandra Sifferlin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Environmental Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Policy & Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FDA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lead]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lipstick]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=53469</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Your favorite shade of Marilyn Monroe red may contain lead, according to a recently updated test of lipstick by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The agency found that 400 popular lipsticks contained trace amounts of the toxin. The worst offenders on the list were Maybelline’s Color Sensation in Pink Petal, which had 7.19 parts per million of lead, and L’Oreal Colour Riche in Volcanic, which had 7 parts per million. Several other brands, including Cover Girl and Nars had products hovering in the 4-to-5-parts-per-million range. (The average lead concentration found across the 400 lipsticks was 1.11 parts per million; click here to see the products ranked.) That&#8217;s higher than what the FDA found in its first lipstick-lead test in 2007, which looked at 20 lipsticks and found lead in all — but none over 3.06 parts per million. In that test, all the products fell below the safety limit recommended by the state of California — 5 parts per million — the most stringent law in the country on lead in consumer products. While several of the products included in the recent analysis exceeded the lead levels measured in 2007, all but two still fell under the California threshold. MORE: Lead Poisoning Could Lurk in Spices The FDA first began testing for lead in lipsticks in response to pressure from the consumer group Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, whose own 2007 test of 33 lipsticks found lead in most of them. The group has long called on the FDA to set a lead limit for lipstick, but the agency has resisted, saying that the amount of the toxin found in lipstick poses no risk to consumers, especially since so little of the makeup is actually ingested by wearers. &#8220;We do not consider the lead levels we found in the lipsticks to be a safety concern. The lead levels we found are within the limits recommended by other public health authorities for lead in cosmetics, including lipstick,&#8221; the FDA said on its website. In a letter to the FDA last week,<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=53469&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Safety</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/policy-industry/safety-policy-industry/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/lipstick1.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">lipstick</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">asifferlin</media:title>
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		<title>FDA Warns About Misleading Lap-Band Surgery Ads in California</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/14/fda-warns-about-misleading-lap-band-surgery-ads-in-california/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/14/fda-warns-about-misleading-lap-band-surgery-ads-in-california/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Dec 2011 22:50:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Meredith Melnick</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Policy & Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=49031</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent a warning letter to the Southern California marketing company 1-800-GET-THIN for using misleading advertising to promote Lap-Band weight-loss surgery. The agency says the company&#8217;s numerous billboards feature thin models and enticing slogans like &#8220;Let Your New Life Begin!&#8221; but fail to convey the serious risks carried by weight-loss surgery. The warnings are there, but in font so small as to be illegible, the agency says. The FDA also took issue with 1-800-GET-THIN&#8217;s other marketing materials, which similarly do not inform patients about the risks. The FDA letters — sent to 1-800-GET-THIN and eight other affiliated surgery centers — give the outfits 15 days to figure out how to correct their misleading ads. The agency&#8217;s move comes in response to complaints from Los Angeles County&#8217;s public health agency and even from Allergan, which manufactures the Lap-Band device used in the gastric banding surgery, saying the risks of the surgery are not properly communicated. MORE: Why Some Weight-Loss Surgeries Increase Alcohol Risk The use of smiling, thin people and seductive ad copy like &#8220;Lose weight with the Lap-Band! Safe 1 Hour, FDA approved&#8221; preys on the ads&#8217; target audience. &#8220;They&#8217;re speaking to a very vulnerable patient population,&#8221; Steve Silverman, an FDA director who oversaw the investigation that led to the warning letters, told the Los Angeles Times. &#8220;People who are obese have often struggled through their whole lives to lose weight.&#8221; Five patients in southern California have died since 2009 after undergoing weight loss surgery at centers affiliated with 1-800-GET-THIN, the Times reports. Lap-Band surgery (or laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding surgery) involves placing an inflatable band around the upper stomach in order to limit the amount of food the stomach can hold. It is a popular alternative to gastric bypass surgery, which involves stapling off a section of the stomach and rerouting food to bypass the small intestine. Recent studies have shown that Lap-Band patients suffer a high rate of complications, however, both major and minor: in March, a study found that 40%<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=49031&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Regulation</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://healthland.time.com/category/policy-industry/regulation-policy-industry/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timewellness.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/gastriccropped-1.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">meredithmelnick</media:title>
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		<title>U.S. Rejects FDA Advice to Sell Plan B One-Step Over the Counter</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/07/federal-government-rejects-fda-decision-to-sell-plan-b-one-step-over-the-counter/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/07/federal-government-rejects-fda-decision-to-sell-plan-b-one-step-over-the-counter/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:00:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Meredith Melnick</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Policy & Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=48578</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As Healthland reported yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was preparing to remove the age restriction on the emergency contraception pill, Plan B One-Step, allowing its sale to teens under 17 without a prescription. On Wednesday, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg announced she had deemed the drug safe for younger teens and recommended that it be sold over the counter, but in a surprising turn, was overruled by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. In a statement, Hamburg said: I reviewed and thoughtfully considered the data, clinical information, and analysis provided by [the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research], and I agree with the Center that there is adequate and reasonable, well-supported, and science-based evidence that Plan B One-Step is safe and effective and should be approved for nonprescription use for all females of child-bearing potential. However, on Wednesday morning, Hamburg said, she received a memo from Sebelius disagreeing with the FDA&#8217;s recommendation and instructing the agency to maintain the age restriction on the drug. The FDA&#8217;s decision was based largely on data from two trials, submitted by Plan B One-Step&#8217;s manufacturer, Teva Pharmaceuticals, which applied in February to make the drug freely available without a prescription. Currently, the drug is available to teens 17 or older over the counter, but teens under 17 still need a prescription. One study reviewed by the FDA, involving 335 girls aged 12 to 17, showed that 72% to 96% of them understood the proposed Plan B One-Step package label well enough to use emergency contraception safely and effectively without consulting a doctor. Another study, involving about 300 girls aged 11 to 16 also found that they could use the drug properly on their own. Invoking her authority under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, however, Sebelius blocked the move to lift the age restriction, citing insufficient medical evidence. She said: [T]he switch from prescription to over the counter for this product requires that we have enough evidence to show that those who use this medicine can understand the label and use<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=48578&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/07/federal-government-rejects-fda-decision-to-sell-plan-b-one-step-over-the-counter/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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		<title>FDA May Remove Age Restrictions From Morning-After Pill Plan B</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/06/fda-may-remove-age-restrictions-from-morning-after-pill-plan-b/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/06/fda-may-remove-age-restrictions-from-morning-after-pill-plan-b/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:52:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Meredith Melnick</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Policy & Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=47953</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may move to eliminate age restrictions for the morning-after emergency contraception pill, Plan B One-Step, according to several people involved with the deliberations who spoke with TIME Healthland. The morning-after pill is currently available without a prescription to users aged 17 or older. Younger teens still require a prescription. If the FDA does away with that restriction, it could bring the emergency contraception pill from behind the pharmacist&#8217;s counter to store shelves, alongside more familiar over-the-counter medications like antacids and painkillers. In February, Plan B&#8217;s manufacturer, Teva Pharmaceuticals, filed an application with the FDA to move the pill from &#8220;dual label&#8221; status, which requires it to be sold under hybrid over-the-counter and prescription-drug regulations, to full over-the-counter status, which would remove the age restriction. As part of agency policy, an FDA spokesperson declined to comment on the case, but people close to the process expect the agency to meet the deadline for announcing its decision on Wednesday, Dec. 7. MORE: IOM Report: Birth Control Should Be Free Such a change in labeling has been long anticipated by public health experts and many legislators, who have urged the FDA to widen women&#8217;s access to emergency contraception since at least 2003, when Plan B&#8217;s manufacturer first asked the agency to make it available over the counter to consumers of any age. That decision was three years in the offing, mired in a national debate over reproductive rights. Abortion-rights groups said increased access to emergency contraception would lower the rate of abortion in the U.S., while anti-abortion groups predicted the opposite, warning that it would lead to more abortion and encourage riskier teen sex. Despite an FDA advisory council&#8217;s recommendation in 2003 to allow prescription-free sales of the drug, the FDA repeatedly delayed its decision, in large part to appease the conservative anti-abortion faction, many critics said. In 2006, the FDA finally made the morning-after pill available without a prescription to women aged 18 or older. In 2009, the age cutoff was lowered to 17. &#8220;This label<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=47953&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<title>Healthier School Lunches? No Thank You, Says Congress</title>
		<link>http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/16/healthier-school-lunches-no-thank-you-says-congress/</link>
		<comments>http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/16/healthier-school-lunches-no-thank-you-says-congress/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:20:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Meredith Melnick</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Policy & Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Regulation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://healthland.time.com/?p=47290</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Is pizza with tomato sauce a vegetable? Apparently yes, according to Congress, which on Monday blocked legislation that would have made school lunches healthier. In their final version of a spending bill that includes planning for the $11 billion National School Lunch Program, House and Senate committee members blocked or delayed major proposals from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that aimed to toughen nutritional standards for students&#8217; subsidized meals. PHOTOS: From Farm to Fork The USDA proposals — the first update to school-lunch nutritional guidelines in 15 years — suggested cutting back on salt; reducing starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn, lima beans and peas; and adding more fresh fruits and vegetables. The proposals also called for setting a maximum calorie allowance for meals (currently, there is only a calorie minimum) and installing more specific targets for dairy and whole grain content in school lunches. The USDA also proposed not counting tomato paste on pizza as a vegetable. Given that a third of American children are overweight or obese, and that they get roughly 40% of their daily calories during school lunch, nutrition experts have long advocated for an overhaul of the federally subsidized meals dished out to 31 million students each year. Not surprisingly, frozen pizza makers and potato growers pushed back on the USDA proposals. Schools also complained that the changes would have cost too much money, and some politicians and school administrators said the government shouldn&#8217;t be in the business of telling school districts that they can&#8217;t serve specific foods. MORE: Banning Sugared Drinks in Schools Doesn&#8217;t Lower Student Consumption Citing financial concerns and a lack of data on the potential benefits of the USDA proposals, Congress blocked the following requirements: Limiting starchy vegetables, including corn, peas and potatoes to two servings a week, and requiring weekly minimums of leafy greens and vitamin-rich orange veggies. This measure was aimed at reducing kids&#8217; consumption of French fries, which some schools serve daily. (A group of senators with farmer constituents, led by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, successfully blocked this provision.)<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=healthland.time.com&#038;blog=8684427&#038;post=47290&#038;subd=timewellness&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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