The FDA Endocrinologic & Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee has now recommended against allowing two new anti-obesity prescription drugs onto the market, in spite of the pervasive obesity epidemic in this country.

The CDC announced yesterday that while the national childhood vaccination rate remains high, the pertussis (whooping cough) epidemic in California — which has resulted in nine infant deaths so far — likely resulted from teens and adults spreading the bug to unvaccinated infants.

ACSH s Jeff Stier came across this video, which appeared on last night s Daily Show with John Stewart. The ad featured a Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) fast food commercial aimed at converting consumers to vegetarianism.

Two weight-loss drugs are getting FDA scrutiny this week: Abbott Laboratories’ Meridia is on the FDA chopping block, while Arena Pharmaceuticals’ new drug lorcaserin is up for review. Meridida has come under heightened scrutiny after a study demonstrated it raised the risk of heart attack and stroke by 16 percent in patients with heart disease, but only produced modest weight loss results.

Made originally famous by her stint as the host of MTV’s infamous dating show “Singled Out,” Jenny McCarthy is now indeed singled out for her scientifically unsound campaign against vaccinations, claiming they can cause autism. As celebrity news, gossip and style blogger Bonnie Fuller aptly points out on her website, “it’s time for the blonde bombshell and mom of autistic son Evan, 8, to immediately end her campaign against vaccines that save children’s lives.”

Following the publication of her piece in National Review Online yesterday on the rise in malaria deaths caused by a ban on DDT, Seattle radio host David Bowes invited ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan to speak further on the topic last night on his show. During the interview, Bowes played a song written and performed by Malvina Reynolds titled “DDT on My Brain,” which was released in 1969. Here is just a sampling of the lyrics:

Pregnant women should be among the first flocking to their local doctor’s office or pharmacy to receive this year’s seasonal flu shot, the American Medical Association, the CDC, the March of Dimes, and seven other groups said yesterday in a letter to health care professionals.

Last month, an FDA advisory panel voted 12-to-1 to recommend the agency revoke the indication for advanced breast cancer for Avastin, a drug which two recent studies show does not significantly increase progression-free survival in patients. But over 6,500 people and counting disagree with the panel’s assessment and are petitioning the FDA to maintain Avastin’s indication for breast cancer.

The areas where New York City smokers are able to light up will significantly decrease if Mayor Michael Bloomberg gets his way. The mayor has proposed banning smoking in all government-controlled outdoor spaces: 1,700 parks, 14 miles of beaches, and numerous city-owned golf courses, marinas and pedestrian plazas such as those in Times Square.

Papers published in Environmental Health Perspectives yesterday suggested that swimming in indoor pools could lead to cancer because of the “environmentally hazardous” chemicals used to disinfect the pools.