“I think the FDA has not been able to catch some of these things as quickly as I expect them to catch them, so we’re going to be doing a complete review of FDA operations,” Obama told Matt Lauer during an interview broadcast on NBC’s “Today” show.
“At a bare minimum, we should be able to count on our government keeping our kids safe when they eat peanut butter,” the president said.
“That’s what Sasha eats for lunch,” Obama said, referring to his Read the rest of this entry »

With the first-ever human test of a medical treatment based on embryonic stem cells gaining federal approval, researchers are optimistic that President Obama will soon lift a controversial Bush administration ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and speed work to
. The newly approved human trial involves an attempt to repair severed spinal cords in paraplegics.
can replicate over and over, thanks to an enzyme that slows their Read the rest of this entry »

Like every other state in the union, Arizona has a budget problem, an unemployment problem and a home-foreclosure problem.
have an abortion problem.
This doesn’t matter to politicians.
have, it turns out, is an abortion opportunity. Or more specifically, an anti-abortion opportunity. And lawmakers who have waited years for their version of “change” are planning to take full advantage of it.
Ironically, while the election of President Barack Read the rest of this entry »

“His appointments overall are such that he’s lived up to the best expectations of his rhetoric,” said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif). “He’s choosing intellectuals and scientists and other notables that no one would disagree are good advisers to him. He’s going to get the benefit of the doubt based on his appointments in many areas.”
Obama has picked an eclectic group.
to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and revamp the nation’s health-care Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s choice to spearhead U.S. healthcare reform, Tom Daschle, paid more than $100,000 in back taxes for a three-year period, setting up a potential roadblock to his nomination, documents showed on Friday.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Daschle, a former Senate majority leader, had filed amended tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service and made payments with interest.
A Senate Finance Read the rest of this entry »

” on Thursday examined the expectations President-elect Barack Obama faces from abortion-rights advocates who supported him during the campaign. NPR reports that although Obama has made it clear that he supports abortion rights, he also has pledged to find “common ground” between abortion-rights opponents and supporters. According to NPR, “Pretty much every president says he wants to find common ground on abortion and other reproductive health issues, Read the rest of this entry »

And instead of assuming more direct control of the inspection system, the government seems likely to remain heavily dependent on growers, food processors and others in the industry to police themselves and the food supply.
Durbin and others on Capitol Hill nonetheless plan to push ahead with legislation to try to strengthen the FDA, the much maligned agency responsible for overseeing about 80 percent of the food Americans eat. While most meat and Read the rest of this entry »

CORNELIUS, N.C. — In the waning days of the Bush administration, the Food and Drug Administration finalized new guidelines to make it easier for drug manufacturers to promote “off-label” prescription drug uses, which can be deadly.
The move came despite criticism from then-President George W. Bush’s Department of Veterans Affairs, which said the change “favors business interests over public safety” and could lead to a “decline in drug Read the rest of this entry »

Before moving into the White House, President George W. Bush gave his successor a heads-up: Presidents pay their own person grocery bills, he warned President Barack Obama, and the first family’s pantry stays fully stocked at all times. You’ll be surprised by that first grocery bill, Bush told Obama.
The White House pantries and refrigerators are now packed with Obama’s favorite snacks — herbal iced tea, trail mix, Dentyne peppermint gum, salsa Read the rest of this entry »

This morning’s reports about Health and Human Services secretary-designate Tom Daschle, his tax troubles and the money he earned in recent years from interests in the health care industry that he would oversee, include:
, “was aware as early as last June that he might have to pay back taxes for the use of a car and driver provided by a private equity firm, but did not inform the Obama transition team until weeks after Mr. Obama named him to the Read the rest of this entry »