OMB Watch Asks President’s Advisors to Support Scientific Integrity

Today, OMB Watch asked the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) to help ensure the finalization of new government-wide policies on scientific integrity. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy was to have developed recommendations on scientific integrity for review by President Obama, but the recommendations have been delayed for more than a year.

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Lawsuit Targets Delayed Scientific Integrity Rules

A good government group this week sued the White House for records relating to the administration's long-delayed scientific integrity rules.

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MSHA Targets Black Lung with New Rule

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is proposing to cut in half the exposure limit for coal dust, the cause of black lung disease. MSHA estimates the new standard will prevent thousands of illnesses and hundreds of deaths over the lifetimes of miners.

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Interior Does About-face on Scientific Integrity

This week, the Interior Department released a new policy to protect scientific integrity in the department. OMB Watch joined other public interest groups in submitting comments on the department's draft policy in September. The new policy attempts to address concerns, raised in those comments and others, that the draft policy did not go far enough to prevent abuses of the department's scientific activities and decision making.

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Proposed Interior Policy Inadequate to Protect Scientific Integrity

Today, OMB Watch joined comments filed by the Union of Concerned Scientists and other public interest and environmental groups on the Interior Department's proposed scientific integrity policy. Unfortunately, the policy fails to address the full range of threats to scientific integrity at DOI, such as those evidenced by abuses at the former Minerals Management Service.

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Why Doesn't Federal Spending Add Up?

A new report by the Sunlight Foundation found widespread errors in USASpending.gov data.

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House Moves to Reform Advisory Committees

We’re a little late in reporting this, but on July 26, the House passed a bill to improve the transparency and accountability of federal advisory committees.

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New Study Finds High Levels of Controversial Plastics Chemical in Paper Receipts

A new analysis by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) suggests that many Americans are at risk of exposure to a dangerous chemical that has been found in baby bottles, the lining of food and beverage containers, and now paper receipts. Significant levels of bisphenol-A (BPA), a controversial chemical that is not currently regulated by the Food and Drug Administration or the Environmental Protection Agency, was found in 40 percent of paper receipts collected from major retailers, grocery stores, convenience stores, gas stations, fast-food restaurants, post offices and ATMs.

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FDA Panel Warns of Diabetes Drug’s Safety

A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel debated the safety of the diabetes drug Avandia today. In 2007, a study determined that Avandia raises the risk of heart attack in patients taking it. The drug’s safety and effectiveness have been hotly contested ever since.

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Obama Faltering on Pledge to Restore the Role of Science

One year after the White House was supposed to chart a new course for the role of scientists and the integrity of scientific information in government, federal employees and the public continue to await reform.

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