Medicine and Health
Samoa: Anger grows over escalating measles toll
By John Braddock, 9 December 2019
The deadly Samoan measles epidemic is worsening amid a global resurgence of the disease.
Samoa: Death toll mounts in devastating measles epidemic
By Tom Peters, 3 December 2019
The entirely preventable outbreak, which has killed 55 people, is an indictment of the governments of Samoa and also New Zealand, where the outbreak originated.
Social counterrevolution and the decline in US life expectancy
By Niles Niemuth, 28 November 2019
A study published this week by the Journal of the American Medical Association confirms that the fall in life expectancy in the US is the product of a decades-long assault on the working class.
Doctors demand “urgent” medical intervention to save Julian Assange’s life
By Laura Tiernan, 25 November 2019
More than 65 eminent medical doctors from the UK and around the world have issued an open letter calling for urgent action to protect the life of imprisoned WikiLeaks founder and journalist Julian Assange.
Clinical Psychologist Lissa Johnson on Julian Assange: “A maximum security prison is no place to treat a torture victim”
By Laura Tiernan, 25 November 2019
Australian clinical psychologist Lissa Johnson is a lead signatory to the open letter by medical doctors in defence of Julian Assange.
An open letter from doctors: Julian Assange “could die in prison”
24 November 2019
“Were such urgent assessment and treatment not to take place, we have real concerns, on the evidence currently available, that Mr Assange could die in prison.”
Tens of thousands in Russia face medicine shortages as a result of Western sanctions
By David Levine, 12 November 2019
Between April and August 2019, two women from Moscow and one from Yekaterinburg were temporarily arrested and charged for illegally obtaining unregistered medicine.
Measles epidemic spreads from New Zealand to Pacific Islands
By John Braddock, 9 November 2019
Scientists had been warning of the danger of an outbreak, but requests for a campaign to plug immunisation gaps were ignored.
New York University’s new mental health initiative cheats students in need of counseling
By Sam Dalton, 29 October 2019
NYU has launched a wellness program that is inadequate for the mental health needs of its students.
Childhood and adolescent obesity worldwide expected to increase 70 percent by 2030
By Katy Kinner, 19 October 2019
The world’s first “Atlas of Childhood Obesity” predicts steep increases in childhood obesity across the world with low- and middle-income countries most impacted.
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded for research in cellular responses to oxygen
By Benjamin Mateus, 10 October 2019
Everyone understands the general need for oxygen, but how cells actually use it has not been well understood.
As US vaping-related lung illnesses soar, FDA found negligent in enforcing e-cig regulations
By Benjamin Mateus, 7 October 2019
A report issued by the NIH’s drug abuse section highlights the dramatic rise in vaping among teenagers; 37.3 percent of 12th graders reported they had vaped in the past 12 months.
Study predicts significant outbreaks of measles in Texas due to low vaccination rates
By Gary Joad, 2 October 2019
Texas, the second most populous state, grants the greatest number of vaccine exemptions for personal philosophical and religious reasons of any state in US.
Abrupt closures of two hospitals in West Virginia and Ohio leave region reeling
By Naomi Spencer, 16 September 2019
The termination of critical healthcare services will have a deeply damaging impact on the communities, and potentially deadly consequences for individuals who rely on them.
New York City mayor declares end of measles public health emergency
By Gary Joad, 16 September 2019
During a nine-month period, 52 people were hospitalized and 16 individuals placed in intensive care units. Eighty percent of those contracting measles were children.
US agency warns of lung illness epidemic among young people, attributed to e-cigarettes
By Benjamin Mateus, 9 September 2019
The FDA has issued a public warning of a rapidly developing epidemic of severe lung illnesses associated with “vaping,” with 450 cases confirmed spanning 33 states.
A year after sellout deal
Crisis erupts in New Zealand Nurses Organisation
By Tom Peters, 5 September 2019
Both factions of the NZNO leadership are complicit in imposing a rotten deal in 2018 that entrenched low wages and a staffing shortage in hospitals.
Johnson & Johnson v. State of Oklahoma: How the courts are covering for Big Pharma
By Genevieve Leigh, 29 August 2019
The toothless ruling follows a well-worn pattern in which giant corporations, after committing horrific social crimes, get off with a relatively small fine.
Oklahoma judge finds Johnson & Johnson guilty in opioid epidemic
By Benjamin Mateus, 27 August 2019
While the $572 million judgment fell short of the $17 billion sought by the state, the court’s ruling was an unambiguous finding that the giant corporation deliberately downplayed the dangers of the opioids it manufactured.
Study calls for closure of over half all health clinics in Germany
By Tino Jacobson and Markus Salzmann, 5 August 2019
With the argument that only the closure of clinics can achieve more staffing, better equipment and higher quality, the report calls for the closure of 800 of Germany’s 1,400 hospitals.
UK: Penniless father of three commits suicide while waiting for welfare payment
By Margot Miller, 31 July 2019
Threatened with eviction, Phillip Herron owed £20,000 in debt to the banks, utility firms and pay day lenders that were charging him 1,000 percent interest.
Early peak in Australia influenza season causes concern
By John Mackay, 31 July 2019
The severity of deadly flu outbreaks could be minimised with global free access to vaccination, and the development of a universal vaccine.
Bradford NHS workers to strike against “backdoor privatisation”
By Barry Mason, 24 July 2019
The Bradford hospital trust’s plans are aimed at enforcing government-imposed efficiency cuts of 4 percent each year, around £16 million in the current financial year.
Merchants of death
How the pharmaceutical companies, Congress and the DEA made the opioid epidemic a billion-dollar industry
By Genevieve Leigh, 23 July 2019
Previously undisclosed government information shows how drug manufacturers and distributors responded to the emerging opioid epidemic by pumping more pills into the hardest-hit regions.
Australian cancer victim sues Bayer-Monsanto
By Frank Gaglioti, 23 July 2019
Michael Ogalirolo claims his potentially lethal cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, is due to 18 years of exposure to glyphosate, the active component of the herbicide Roundup.
Euthanasia bill before New Zealand parliament
By John Braddock, 13 July 2019
The bill, which would make assisted suicide legal, is sponsored by leader of the far-right ACT party amid a sharpening social crisis.
050 Minneapolis nurses
9 July 2019
Global conflict situations, poverty lead to rise in mental health crises
By Alex Johnson, 9 July 2019
US imperialism and its allies bear principal responsibility for the wars and military interventions that have wrought devastation throughout the world.
Deadly Legionella bacteria found at Ford Dearborn Truck plant
By George Kirby, 5 July 2019
While Ford and the UAW have downplayed the finding, claiming the amounts are small, the CDC says there is no safe level of the bacteria.
Irish unions sabotage health workers’ strikes
By Dermot Byrne, 3 July 2019
Irish health unions called off the walkouts and have sought to divert anger into appeals to the Labour Court.
040 Alabama woman charged with shooting death of fetus
2 July 2019
060 Legionella found at Ford Rouge
2 July 2019
Protesting nurses speak out in Long Beach, California
By Rafael Azul and Kimie Saito, 28 June 2019
“Patients are not numbers! Maximum patients + minimum nurses = maximum profits. And the costs are passed on to the consumers and us.”
Union works to sabotage unity of Minnesota nurses’ struggle
By Matt Rigel, 28 June 2019
The Minnesota Nurses Association is working to sell out nurses in Minneapolis-St. Paul metro region by negotiating contracts at some hospitals while others remain unsettled.
New petrochemical complex could create a “cancer alley” on Ohio River
By John Ashbrook, 28 June 2019
The Trump administration is backing a tri-state effort to build a huge fossil fuel processing facility that threatens public health and the environment.
Unreported releases from coal ash ponds may be more widespread in US than previously known
By John Ashbrook, 21 June 2019
Millions of people are potentially exposed to toxic coal ash, which can cause bone cancers, leukemia and nervous system and brain damage.
Suicide rates for doctors and young physicians among highest in the US population
By Alex Johnson, 17 June 2019
Doctors are often hesitant to seek treatment, due to the stigma associated with mental health problems.
Questcor Pharmaceuticals and Mallinckrodt: Financial parasitism and the US pharmaceutical industry
By Brian Dixon, 14 May 2019
The business strategy of Questcor and Mallinckrodt reflects the parasitic and predatory nature of the pharmaceutical industry under the pressure of finance capital.
Los Angeles universities quarantine 280 as US measles cases reach record levels
By Kate Randall, 27 April 2019
The CDC reports the number of measles cases has spiked to at least 695 so far this year, the highest number since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000.
035 US blood plasma business
24 April 2019
New York City declares public health emergency over measles outbreak
By Kate Randall, 11 April 2019
New York City has seen 285 confirmed measles cases since the outbreak began in the fall, with 21 requiring hospitalizations, including five admissions to intensive care units.
Bone marrow transplant removes HIV from a second patient
By Benjamin Mateus, 29 March 2019
The “London patient” will be considered cured if free of the virus for three to four more years.
220 Bone Marrow HIV cure
25 March 2019
Houston chemical fire: Residents ordered to “shelter-in-place” due to benzene danger
By Jacob Crosse, 22 March 2019
Residents of Deer Park and Galena Park, east of the Texas city, have been the most affected by the fire at Intercontinental Terminals Company.
US studies: More misery brought to you by Big Pharma
Sharp rise in fentanyl overdose deaths, ADHD-drug-induced psychosis, prescription drug rationing due to cost
By Kate Randall, 22 March 2019
A week rarely passes without the publication of a major study documenting the misery unleashed on Americans by the US pharmaceutical industry and its rapacious drive for profits.
Report: British Columbia mental health problems on the rise
By Penny Smith, 1 March 2019
The annual report by the province’s health officer found that perceptions of mental wellbeing among BC residents were among the lowest in the country.
Rise in drug abuse among women and heterosexual men diagnosed with syphilis
By Benjamin Mateus, 27 February 2019
Many of those affected lack steady employment, health care and stable housing, and face an abusive penal system.
Study links abuse-deterrent OxyContin with rise in hepatitis C infections
By Brian Dixon, 11 February 2019
According to a new study published in Health Affairs, Purdue Pharma’s switch to a new abuse-deterrent formulation of OxyContin in 2010 led to a rise in hepatitis C infections as addicts switched to injecting heroin.
FDA advisor criticizes agency’s response to opioid epidemic
By Brian Dixon, 6 February 2019
The chair of the FDA’s opioid advisory committee claimed the agency is manipulating data in favor of the pharmaceutical companies seeking approval for new opioid painkillers.
Boston jury hears testimony of how Insys Therapeutics pushed opioid painkiller and killed hundreds
By Kate Randall, 5 February 2019
Prosecutors told jurors that Insys executives were guilty of running a kickback and conspiracy scheme that bribed doctors to routinely subscribe Subsys, a highly addictive fentanyl nasal spray.
US: Measles outbreak in Washington state prompts state of emergency
By Kate Randall, 30 January 2019
In addition to the US, there has also been an uptick of people contracting measles in Canada and across Europe due to people foregoing the vaccine.
British Columbia’s opioid crisis hits construction workers hard
By Penny Smith, 29 January 2019
The disproportionately high death rate from opioids among construction workers underscores the precarious working conditions facing tens of thousands of workers in an industry that has produced multi-million dollar profits for real estate developers and property speculators.
Thousands face loss of mental health coverage in the US
By Matthew Taylor, 29 December 2018
Congress has eliminated the Medicaid-sponsored program in line with the larger push by the ruling class to dismantle social programs.
Federal judge in Texas rules Affordable Care Act unconstitutional
By Kate Randall, 17 December 2018
The ruling was opposed by healthcare groups and, if upheld, threatens to throw insurance markets into chaos and strip coverage from tens of millions of Americans.
West Virginia: Task force concludes without a “fix” for public workers’ insurance
By Clement Daly, 17 December 2018
Throughout the strike and pro-forma hearings, teachers and public service workers demanded that health care be funded through increased taxes on the state’s oil and gas industry.
Detroit Medical Center doctors fired after speaking out for patient safety
By Joseph Lorenz, 9 October 2018
In a statement announcing his resignation from the medical staff, Dr. Ted Schreiber said, “Unfortunately, the current focus of some in health care is on profits and stock holder value.”
Faulty vaccines spark public outrage in China
By Gary Alvernia, 8 August 2018
The scandal is the result of cost-cutting measures aimed at boosting profits and subordination of healthcare to the capitalist system.
Trump administration proposes more cuts to drug discount program for safety net hospitals
By Kate Randall, 28 July 2018
The Trump administration and pharmaceuticals’ opposition to the 340B program is based on boosting the profits of the drug companies and clawing back any government regulations on them.
New Zealand nurses speak to WSWS opposing sellout deal
By Tom Peters, 7 July 2018
Nurses denounced the union-backed proposed agreement, which keeps wages low and maintains severe under-staffing of hospitals.
Trump administration supports lawsuit challenging Obamacare’s pre-existing conditions protections
By Kate Randall, 15 June 2018
The action is the latest effort to chip away at the legislation after two failures to repeal it outright.
UK: Students protest cuts to mental health services and increase in youth suicide rate
By Thomas Scripps, 6 June 2018
As of 2017, one in four adults in the UK each year could expect to suffer some form of mental illness; three quarters of these begin before a person reaches his or her 18th birthday.
More US states imposing Medicaid work requirements
By Kate Randall, 14 April 2018
Some states are considering expanding Medicaid while at the same time imposing work requirements, premium payments and drug testing of recipients.
Mississippi governor signs the nation’s most restrictive anti-abortion measure
By Shelley Connor, 24 March 2018
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed into law the toughest restrictions on abortion currently seen in the US, banning all abortions past 15 weeks gestation.
“Financial toxicity” affects poorer cancer patients in Australia
By Margaret Rees, 23 March 2018
High medical payments and reduced income while patients are being treated or recovering from cancer are causing distress and avoidable deaths.
Trump demands death penalty for drug dealers as answer to opioid overdose crisis
By Niles Niemuth, 20 March 2018
Trump blamed the crisis on America’s supposedly lax drug laws and pointed to countries which have “zero tolerance” policies, including the death penalty for dealers and traffickers.
Cluster of 125 people infected with HIV and syphilis discovered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
By Benjamin Mateus, 12 March 2018
While health advocates have called the outbreak an epidemic requiring immediate attention, city officials have been slow to respond to the situation.
Mental health crisis descends on Puerto Rico’s working class
By Ali Abu Elhassan, 9 March 2018
Suicides have increased by 30 percent on the island of Puerto Rico since Hurricane María made landfall almost six months ago.
UNICEF: Social inequality costs the lives of 7,000 newborns daily
By Shelley Connor, 22 February 2018
According to a UNICEF report released on Tuesday, 2.6 million newborns die annually. Most of these deaths are preventable and most of them are due to social inequality.
The human cost of the destruction of the National Health Service
By NHS FightBack, 3 February 2018
The following statement by NHS FightBack is being distributed today at marches and rallies in defence of the National Health Service in London and other towns and cities.
Insights into a new class of HIV retroviral drugs
By Benjamin Mateus, 30 December 2017
Recent investigation into the process of the HIV virus capsid maturation suggests a new method of disrupting its ability to infect.
Hepatitis A outbreak continues to impact Southeast Michigan
By Muhammad Khan, 29 December 2017
Michigan had the highest per capita rate of hepatitis A infections in the United States with more than 500 cases recorded in 2017.
Sugar industry withheld evidence linking sucrose to bladder cancer for five decades
By Bryan Dyne, 28 November 2017
Internal documents also reveal that the sugar industry suppressed research linking sucrose and heart disease.
Youth suicides at a record high in the UK
By Alice Summers, 14 October 2017
Economic and academic pressures on young people are exacerbated by a systemic decrease of funding for mental health counselling.
Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded for discoveries on the circadian rhythm
By Benjamin Mateus, 4 October 2017
The three scientists explored the molecular processes through which the body adapts physiologically to the Earth’s rotation, including the sleep-wake cycle and much more.
San Diego death toll from hepatitis A outbreak rises to 16
By Kevin Martinez, 25 September 2017
City officials knew that a public health crisis was brewing years before the current outbreak but rejected preventive measures as too costly.
FDA recommends approval of new leukemia treatment
By Benjamin Mateus, 23 September 2017
This is the first time that white blood cells have been successfully engineered to fight off a cancer.
Study highlights health epidemic: More than one in four US adults is obese
By Kayla Costa, 6 September 2017
Adult obesity rates for 2016 hit over 30 percent in 25 US states, and, in five states, topped 35 percent, the highest levels in the world.
Inherited genetic disorder corrected in human embryos
By Benjamin Mateus, 2 September 2017
New research in the study of the human genome has provided a new way to reduce or potentially eliminate inherited genetic disorders by correcting harmful genetic mutations while the subject is still an embryo.
Serious outbreaks of syphilis and hepatitis underscore social crisis in America
By Genevieve Leigh, 30 August 2017
Among drug users and the homeless in the US, diseases such as syphilis and hepatitis are making a dangerous comeback.
Medicaid sees big price hikes for decades-old drugs
By Brad Dixon, 28 August 2017
Medicaid spending on old and commonly used drugs increased by billions of dollars in 2016 compared to the previous year.
070 Generic drug price hikes
21 August 2017
Indiana Medicaid plan under Pence seen as model for attack on health care
By Matthew Taylor, 5 August 2017
In 2015 the state of Indiana introduced a Medicaid expansion plan which converts the entitlement program into a fee-based insurance program.
Rampant dengue epidemic in Sri Lanka
By Pani Wijesiriwardena, 25 July 2017
Public health service cuts have resulted in poor sanitation and preventive measures, creating breeding grounds for dengue fever and other diseases.
US: Republican governors call for dramatic changes to Medicaid
By Kate Randall, 27 February 2017
While agreeing in principle with drastic cuts to Medicaid, the governors want input on how to impose them under any Obamacare replacement legislation.
US deaths from cervical cancer higher than previously thought
By Gary Joad, 31 January 2017
Some 12,990 cases of cervical cancer were diagnosed last year and 4,120 women died of the disease.
Trump taps anti-vaccine activist to chair vaccine safety panel
By Brad Dixon, 13 January 2017
Robert F. Kennedy has for the past decade promoted the debunked claim that vaccinations are linked to autism, which was also supported by Trump during his campaign.
Former officials at US fentanyl maker charged with bribing doctors
By Brad Dixon, 24 December 2016
Federal agents arrested six former employees of Insys Therapeutics for allegedly bribing doctors to prescribe the company’s highly addictive fentanyl product, Subsys.
$50 million more cut from West Virginia public employees health care
By Naomi Spencer, 13 December 2016
It is the latest in a series of devastating attacks on benefits for one of the lowest-paid public sector workforces in the country.
The Zika pandemic and Washington’s indifference
By Gary Joad, 6 December 2016
According to the Centers for Disease Control, as of late November, 182 people in Florida have been infected with Zika by local mosquitos, and in Massachusetts there are 101 cases of travel-associated Zika.
Surgeon general’s report: One in seven Americans face substance addiction
By Kate Randall, 19 November 2016
One in seven people in the US will become addicted to drugs or alcohol in their lifetimes, but only 10 percent of them will ever receive any treatment.
Obamacare: The reality hits home
By Andre Damon, 27 October 2016
On Monday, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced that premiums for health insurance plans sold under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will increase on average by 25 percent in 2017, raising health care costs of millions of working people by thousands of dollars.
Two weeks before the US election
Government announces huge Obamacare premium rises for 2017
By Kate Randall, 26 October 2016
The premium increases are part of a sea change in the US health care system, in which corporations and the government are burdening working families with rising health care costs.
Zika virus spreads in Puerto Rico and Florida
By Julio Patron and David Brown, 12 September 2016
The spread of Zika in Puerto Rico and the mainland United States is driven by poverty and will impact the area for years to come.
040 Congress and Zika funding
10 September 2016
047 Congress and Zika
9 September 2016
EpiPen price gouging: Capitalism and the US health care crisis
By Kate Randall, 31 August 2016
The EpiPen scandal has become a focal point of anger over the subordination of health care to huge corporations driven by an insatiable quest for profit.
EpiPen maker Mylan’s other drug price hikes
By Brad Dixon, 26 August 2016
Drugmaker Mylan, which increased the price of the EpiPen by over 450 percent, has raised the prices of other drugs by similar amounts.
Pfizer gobbles up cancer drug maker in $14 billion deal
By Brad Dixon, 25 August 2016
Pfizer will acquire Medivation’s cancer drug Xtandi, which is priced at $129,000 for a year’s treatment.
Mosquito-borne Zika virus spreads to Miami Beach, Florida
By Matthew MacEgan, 22 August 2016
The CDC has issued a travel advisory, warning pregnant women not to visit the area.
Mosquitoes infect pregnant Florida woman with Zika
By Matthew MacEgan, 12 August 2016
Eight more people in Florida, including a pregnant woman, have contracted the Zika virus directly from mosquitoes.
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