Typhoid Mary – The Most Dangerous Woman in America

“Typhoid Mary” is the story of Irish

Last Night’s Biggest Loser: “It’s A Beautiful World We Live In”

Biggest Loser Season 10 Episode 10

“It’s A Beautiful World We Live In”

Last night, while most American households watched Bristol Palin lose the Dancing With the Stars finale, some of us finally learned how to pronounce the name of Ken Paves, noted Jessica Simpson hanger-on (and creator of Simpson’s low-rent hair-extensions line).

It’s Pave-iss.

Ken was on hand to help the seven remaining Biggest Loser dieters because it was makeover week.

“I’m gonna be beautiful tomorrow,” declared a triumphant Elizabeth.

But was she really more beautiful in her strange new plus-size clothes? Stylists gave her a cheap-looking, printed-pattern sweater and office-worker slacks with an oddly placed thin belt, plus a long shirt which resembled a short skirt.

There’s a reason the average American woman wears a size 14, yet clothing above size 14 represents only 18 percent of sales: there are few great clothing options for plus-size women, a problem documented carefully in this New York Times Magazine piece.

So while Marc Jacobs’ business partner Robert Duffy tantalizingly tweets of a possible plus-size line, American women are relegated to low-cost, ill-fitting pieces from Lane Bryant or mega-expensive, loose-fitting therapist wear from J Jill or Eileen Fisher. In 2005, H&M discontinued plus-sizes entirely, while J. Crew and Ann Taylor recently moved them to online-only.

Former Health Insurance PR Executive Blows the Whistle in Deadly Spin

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Golden Age of Documentaries is Now: New Technology & Distribution Models Mean Documentaries about Health Reach Wider Audiences

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AJN Off The Charts “An NP Prepares: When ‘Normal’ is Better Than ‘Fine’

Congratulations to CHMP Intern Jen Busse, for

“La Vida Loko — What Took So Long?”

Word in today’s New York Times that the FDA is ready to take a stand on alcohol-laced caffeinated energy drinks offers a good opportunity to consider the impact of media attention on health policy.

Media outlets have been full of stories for months about young people becoming seriously ill or even dying after ingesting the drinks. Most reports have centered on Four Loko, a fruit-flavored malt beverage with 12% alcohol content and caffeine equal of a cup of coffee. It’s known on some college campuses, “Coma in a Can.”

The FDA, which has never approved adding caffeine to alcoholic beverages, has been reviewing whether alcohol-caffeine energy drinks are safe and legal. The review began about a year ago at the urging of 18 state attorneys general.

Four Loko’s manufacturer “has said that drinking premixed alcohol and caffeine is no different from drinking a few glasses of wine with dinner and having coffee afterward,” notes the Times. The company, whose product had been widely available in the US, says it takes steps to prevent its products from getting into the hands of minors and complains that Four Loko is being targeted unfairly.

But the drumbeat of media reports has spurred state action ahead of an FDA ruling. Several states have banned the drinks; New York’s governor says his state will as well, and that state’s main beer distributors have agreed to stop delivering caffeinated alcoholic beverages to retailers.

UNC School of Nursing’s Dean Swanson comments on Bush’s miscarriage on Time.com

[caption id="attachment_10655" align="alignleft" width="300"] Kaparoff-Miscarriage-20061[/caption] George W. Bush