The UK’s libel laws, which place the burden of proof onto those who have published inflammatory statements, have had a chilling effect on journalism in that nation, and have led to a closet industry in “libel tourism.” As such, there have been repeated efforts to reform the laws, often led by professional organizations of writers and journalists. A 2008 case, however, brought a new community into the fight: science communicators, drawn in when the British Chiropractic Association sued a journalist for calling some of its medical claims “bogus.” Although the legal fight has continued, the journalist in question, Simon Singh, has now been forced to quit his job at The Guardian in order to defend himself. Many of our readers who follow science news carefully are probably already aware of Singh’s plight, but we’ve not covered it at Ars previously, so a recap seems in order.
The UK’s libel laws, which place the burden of proof onto those who have published inflammatory statements, have had a chilling effect on journalism in that nation, and have led to a closet industry in “libel tourism.” As such, there have been repeated efforts to reform the laws, often led by professional organizations of writers and journalists. A 2008 case, however, brought a new community into the fight: science communicators, drawn in when the British Chiropractic Association sued a journalist for calling some of its medical claims “bogus.” Although the legal fight has continued, the journalist in question, Simon Singh, has now been forced to quit his job at The Guardian in order to defend himself
Vaginal birth after caesarean, or VBAC, is reasonably safe and should be more widely available, a National Institutes of Health advisory panel concluded Wednesday. Such deliveries once accounted for 25% of U.S. births among women with a previous caesarean delivery, but have now fallen to less than 9%.
March 11, 2010 | Posted in
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Head lice are itchy, nasty nuisances that can be hard to get rid of. Can a pill provide relief? A new study has found that in tough cases, an oral medication kills the parasites more effectively than a prescription lotion applied to the scalp.
March 10, 2010 | Posted in
Medicine,
NEWS,
US,
World |
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Nearly two-thirds of those who undergo an invasive heart test called cardiac catheterization when they do not have diagnosed heart disease receive a clean bill of health, suggesting that the expensive procedure — which exposes the patient to substantial amounts of radiation — may be overused, researchers reported Wednesday. Such elective testing accounts for only about 20% of all cardiac catheterizations, but the findings reported in the New England Journal of Medicine suggest that better ways should be found to identify patients who actually need the procedure. Experts cautioned, however, that the findings should not be viewed with alarm.
