POLITICS-US: Pain Drug Crackdown Hits “Nobodies” the Hardest
William Fisher
NEW YORK, May 24 2006 (IPS) – Two weeks from now, a South Carolina pain management physician will surrender at the Talladega, Alabama prison to begin serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence for drug trafficking, racketeering and money laundering.
Dr. Michael Jackson is one of hundreds of pain management specialists arrested, charged and jailed by federal and state authorities for violating the Controlled Substances Act, designed to limit the dispensing of illegal prescription drugs by doctors and their use by patients.
Meanwhile, the high profile right-wing radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, charged with doctor shopping for prescription medication for chronic back pain, reached a settlement with the Florida state attorney, under which the charges will b…
HEALTH: WHO Sends Flu Meds to Developing Countries
Gustavo Capdevila
GENEVA, May 5 2009 (IPS) – Poor countries facing the greatest threat from the spread of the H1N1 flu virus popularly known as swine flu will begin to receive shipments of Tamiflu, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced.
The global health agency, which reported last week that it planned to provide poor nations with 2.4 million doses of the flu medicine, said Tuesday that it had dispatched Tamiflu from the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Switzerland.
So far, most of the cases of the new H1N1 flu have been reported in North America, although the epidemic is still in a very early stage, said acting WHO assistant director-general Keiji Fukuda.
We have concerns about the infection traveling to the southern hemisphere, because th…
Mexico to Ban Glyphosate, GM Corn Presidential Decree Comes Despite Intense Pressure from Industry, U.S. Authorities
Tractor caravan to Mexico City farmer protest demands “Mexico Free of Transgenics”. Credit: Enrique Perez S./ANEC
CAMBRIDGE MA, Feb 24 2021 (IPS) – Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador quietly rocked the agribusiness world with his New Year’s Eve decree to phase out use of the herbicide glyphosate and the cultivation of genetically modified corn. His administration sent an even stronger aftershock two weeks later, clarifying that the government would also phase out GM corn imports in three years and the ban would include not just corn for human consumption but yellow corn destined primarily for livestock. Under NAFTA, the United States has seen a 400% in…
COVID-19: India’s Harvests also Locked Down
As a nationwide lockdown has confined a record 1.3 billion Indians to their homes since Mar. 24, one of the hardest hit communities has been that of Indian farmers.
Agricultural markets or mandis have few buyers due to the coronavirus lockdown across India. Credit: Neeta Lal/IPS
NEW DELHI, Apr 24 2020 (IPS) – Heartbreaking images of Indian farmers standing amidst swathes of rotting vegetables, fruits and grain have been flooding newspapers and TV screens lately. Crashing prices and transport bottlenecks due to the 40-day coronavirus lockdown in India, on till May 3, have driven some to set their unsold produce ablaze.
As a nationwide lockdown has confined a …
Safeguarding Africa’s Food Security in the Age of COVID-19
Jun 5 2020 (IPS) – Food security in sub-Saharan Africa is under threat. The ability of many Africans to access sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs has been disrupted by successive natural disasters and epidemics. Cyclones Idai and Kenneth, locust outbreaks in eastern Africa, and droughts in southern and eastern Africa are some examples. The COVID-19 pandemic is just the latest catastrophe to have swollen the ranks of 240 million people going hungry in the region. In some countries, over 70 percent of the population has problems accessing food.
Sub-Saharan Africa is the world’s most food-insecure region, and in the June 2020 , we show t…