Pharmaguy To the Rescue According to the New York Times, “In the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, many Americans are reaching for their cellphones to make a donation via text message. And plenty of them are then spreading the word to others on sites like Twitter and Facebook.”

This letter -- reacting to a piece by Kyle Smith noting that "fat acceptance" efforts are usually just a short-lived gesture and that that may be just as well -- first appeared on January 14, 2010 in the New York Post:
Smith's extremely well-written commentary, "Fat Chance," is excellent.

Disaster in Haiti ACSH staffers are distraught by the tragedy in Haiti in the aftermath of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck Tuesday evening about sixteen miles outside of the capital city of Port-au-Prince.

Salt Is the New Asbestos? Mr. Bloomberg's war on salt has drawn the ire of many chefs who understand the nutritional and gustatory necessity of salt, so the New York City mayor decided to sidestep reasonable arguments and go straight to comparing salt to asbestos.

Check It Out ACSH's Jeff Stier is scheduled to be on CNBC this afternoon at 1:48 PM (Eastern) in order to discuss the New York City Department of Health's campaign to reduce the city's salt intake.

NYC’s Reduced Sodium Diet
According to the New York Times, “On Monday, the Bloomberg administration plans to unveil a broad new health initiative aimed at encouraging food manufacturers and restaurant chains across the country to curtail the amount of salt in their products.”

American Council on Science and Health Medical Director Dr. Gil Ross writes an article in the Wall Street Journal on drug "reimportation."
Why is drug importation (and its twin the reimportation of American drugs from foreign countries) a bad idea? Aren't cheaper drugs good for low-income Americans?

Follow Jeff All Weekend
We’d like to congratulate you for making it to the end of the first week of the New Year. 2010 promises to be as active as ever in the public health arena, but do not despair, for ACSH’s Jeff Stier will be there as always to make sense of it all on Twitter at http://twitter.com/JeffACSH.
Focus on Science, Not Industry

This piece first appeared in the Wall Street Journal on January 7, 2010.

Dr. Ross in the Wall Street Journal