2007

SKAPP Authors Tell Inside Story of Beryllium Regulation
December 18 - In a new article in Public Health Reports, David Michaels and Celeste Monforton explain how the beryllium industry fought efforts to strengthen OSHA's inadequate and outdated beryllium workplace exposure standard. (Read more)

Susan Wood Calls for Restoration of Scientific Integrity at Health Agencies
December 17 - In a Boston Globe op-ed, Susan Wood warns that the Bush administration is neglecting the health needs of millions of Americans by leaving key health-agency leadership positions vacant for too long or filling them with individuals who advance an ideological agenda and show a disregard for scientific integrity.

Congresswoman DeLauro Speaks on FDA's Future
October 3 - Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro delivered a policy address on the future of the FDA in which she announced legislation to prioritize food safety within the federal government. (Read more)

House Passes Diacetyl Legislation
September 26 - By a vote of 260 to 154, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Popcorn Workers Lung Disease Prevention Act, which requires OSHA to set a standard to protect workers from diacetyl. (Read more)

Unions & Scientists Renew Call for OSHA Action on Diacetyl
September 7 - More than a year after they first called on OSHA to issue an emergency standard to protect workers from exposure to the butter-flavoring chemical diacetyl, unions and leading occupational health physicians wrote to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao to highlight new scientific information and renew their call for urgent OSHA action to protect workers in the snack food and flavorings industries. (Read the letter)

SKAPP Faults FDA Response to Consumer Diacetyl Case
September 4 - A respected doctor has notified FDA and other agencies of a case of bronchiolitis obliterans in a patient whose only known exposure to diacetyl was through heavy microwave popcorn consumption. The inadequate agency response indicates a disturbing decline in the system that should be protecting public health. (Read more)

Susan Wood and David Michaels Call for Changes at FDA
8/1/07: In a Boston Globe op-ed, Susan Wood and David Michaels call on Congress to improve the FDA's transparency and focus on safety.

Legislation Introduced to Force OSHA to Act on Diacetyl
6/13/07: Legislation introduced today would require OSHA to issue an interim standard to protect workers from occupational exposure to diacetyl, and to set a permanent standard within two years. (Read more)

David Michaels Urges EPA to Keep Conflicted Nominees off Asbestos Advisory Panel
5/24/07: David Michaels submitted comments to the EPA Science Advisory Board, urging it to reject asbestos panel nominees who own or work for “product defense” firms. (Read more)

Lack of OSHA Action Gets National Attention
4/26/07: Two Congressional hearings (one featuring SKAPP’s David Michaels as a witness) and a front page New York Times article have focused attention on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s lack of action on several important workplace hazards. (Read more)

Scholars Issue Open Letter on FDA Reform
3/14/07: A group of 22 experts on drug safety and regulation has issued an open letter to lawmakers asking them not to reauthorize the user fees system that finances the review of new drugs by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (Read more)

SKAPP Advances Conversation on Strengthening the FDA
2/23/07: SKAPP held two events—a panel discussion featuring four former FDA Commissioners and an expert workshop—to advance the conversation about strengthening the FDA. (Read more)

Draft paper on OSHA at 35 Open for Comments
1/9/07: Michael Silverstein's draft paper "Getting Home Safe and Sound? OSHA at Thirty-five" proposes ways to improve worker health and safety in the US. SKAPP has posted the document online, and comments are welcome in the online discussion at The Pump Handle blog.

2006

Susan Wood Urges FDA to Get "Back to Science"
11/11/06: In an op-ed in The Boston Globe, SKAPP research professor Susan Wood outlines problems at the FDA—including a lack of independent leadership, clear legal authority and adequate resources—and proposes solutions. Dr. Wood drew national attention to the issue of science being disregarded in public health decisions in 2005 when she resigned from her post as the FDA's Director of the Office of Women’s Health and Assistant Commissioner for Women’s Health.

Scholars Promote Solutions to Sequestered Science
10/10/06: SKAPP and the Duke University Law School have produced an issue of Law and Contemporary Problems dedicated to the topic of "sequestered science"; proposed solutions include "Sarbanes-Oxley for Science" by David Michaels. (Read more) 

SKAPP Asks FDA to Re-evaluate Diacetyl's Safety
9/12/06: SKAPP has petitioned the FDA to revoke the “generally regarded as safe” (GRAS) designation for diacetyl, the artificial butter-flavoring chemical linked to severe lung illness in workers at microwave popcorn plants and other facilities. (Read more)

SKAPP Welcomes Dr. Susan Wood
9/6/06: SKAPP is delighted to welcome its newest staff member: Dr. Susan Wood, who drew national attention to the issue of science being disregarded in public health decisions in 2005 when she resigned from her post as the FDA's Director of the Office of Women’s Health and Assistant Commissioner for Women’s Health. (Read more)

David Michaels Speaks at ISEE Meeting on Data Re-analysis
9/4/06: SKAPP Director David Michaels delivered a presentation, “Data Re-Analysis: A Tool for Manufacturing Uncertainty,” at the annual meeting of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology in Paris, France. (Read more)

Celeste Monforton Critiques OIRA Nominee’s Approach to Science
8/24/06: In an op-ed published in the Louisville Courier-Journal, SKAPP researcher Celeste Monforton examines the approach toward science evident in an article by Susan Dudley, President Bush’s nominee to head the Office of Information & Regulatory Affairs.

Scientists Urge Labor Secretary to Protect Workers from Diacetyl
7/26/06: Scientists and unions urged Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao to take action to protect workers from the artificial butter flavoring chemical diacetyl, which has been linked to debilitating lung illness. (View PDF)

“Politicizing Peer Review” Appears in Rescuing Science from Politics
The new book Rescuing Science from Politics: Regulation and the Distortion of Scientific Research includes a chapter by David Michaels entitled “Politicizing Peer Review: The Scientific Perspective.” (Read more)

Editorial on the Erosion of Public Health Science Integrity 5/19/06: Two SKAPP Planning Committee members, Richard Clapp and Polly Hoppin, co-authored "Erosion of the integrity of public health science in the USA" in the June 2006 issue of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.  Click here to the read the editorial.

SKAPP Authors Expose Chromium Industry’s Data Manipulation
2/28/06: David Michaels and Celeste Monforton of SKAPP, along with Peter Lurie of Public Citizen, made the news from Washington, DC to Los Angeles with a report on the chromium industry’s attempt to suppress results of research on its products’ hazards during OSHA rulemaking. (Read news release or chromium case study)

David Michaels Wins Award for Scientific Freedom & Responsibility
2/15/06: SKAPP Director David Michaels received the prestigious Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). (View release)

2005

Special AJPH Supplement Explores Industry Challenges to Science
7/20/05: SKAPP Director David Michaels guest edited the American Journal of Public Health Supplement entitled “How Challenges from Industry Undermine Scientific Evidence and Public Health Protections.” (View PDF)