Author Archive for Bryant Furlow
Bryant Furlow is an award-winning investigative medical journalist. He is contributing editor at epiNewswire, a staff writer for The New Mexico Independent and a regular special reports columnist for The Lancet Oncology. Contact him: bryant@epinews.com
Taller adults face greater cancer risks
Cancer researchers have long known that obesity is linked to cancer. Now, a new study confirms that women’s adult height also predicts cancer risk, regardless of wealth, ethnicity, exercise habits or alcohol consumption. But why?
U.S. Army misled public about Acinetobacter outbreak’s origins, report shows
An internal 2005 U.S. Army study reported that improper use of antibiotics and unsanitary conditions at military hospitals contributed to a deadly outbreak of Acinetobacter infections — not Iraqi dirt in soldiers’ blast wounds, as officials publicly claimed until 2007.
Army Public Health Command releases incomplete list of studies
The U.S. Army Public Health Command has disclosed to epiNewswire an incomplete list of 13 epidemiology studies completed over the past decade. Among research excluded from the list was a politically-sensitive report on the spread of drug-resistant Acinetobacter bacteria throughout the military hospital system.
Army Public Health Command won’t release health studies — or even the titles of studies
The U.S. Army Public Health Command will not disclose epidemiological consultation (EPICON) studies completed in 2010 — or even a list of EPICON study titles, according to a Freedom of Information Act denial letter sent to epiNewswire. “We consulted with the Department of Justice and concluded this request is too broad in subject matter,” FOIA [...]
Deployment brain injuries, amputations jumped in 2010, U.S. Army reports
More deployed troops were hospitalized or treated for traumatic brain injuries last year than any other year of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Myeloma, lymphoblastic leukemia risk associated with benzene exposure, study suggests
Have low-quality studies muddied the benzene literature?
Acinetobacter bacteria armed with diverse defenses against antibiotics
Increasingly multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii is equipped with a surprising array of genetic defenses against antibiotics, American researchers report.
As baby boomers age, cancer’s costs may reach $207 billion a year
Previous projections underestimated the spreading financial burden of cancer, NCI researchers conclude. But the authors make no mention of the implications for health care reform or Medicare cost control efforts.
Is HIV ‘fingerprinting’ junk courtroom science?
Increasingly used by prosecutors, genetic matching of suspects’ and victims’ HIV strains is a dangerous ‘myth,’ warn six European virologists — one that can help condemn the innocent or wrongly exonerate the guilty.
Does unemployment kill?
Joblessness is associated with a 63 percent increase in overall mortality rate, suggests data from 42 studies. But is the association causal, or a spurious mirage?
