New App That Exposes Sellout Politicians

A great new app is now available that keeps track of just how much money politicians are receiving from private donations and from lobby groups. Thanks to 16 year old, Nick Rubin, who created?Greenhouse, a new browser plug-in that operates under the motto “Some are red. Some are blue. All are green.” The plugin aims “to shine light on a social and industrial disease of today: the undue influence of money in our Congress.” It provides a breakdown of a politician?s campaign contributions when that politician’s name comes up in an article. It is currently available for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari and is completely free. As you can imagine, reading about how your member of Congress voted in a recent health bill becomes all the more enlightening if you know how much money the health industry showered him in at the last election.

Court Rules Misuse of Antibiotics on Factory Farms Can Continue

Despite FDA scientific findings that the misuse of antibiotics in farm animals threatens the effectiveness of medicines in both humans and animals, business will continue as usual. In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the FDA does not need to consider banning the routine feeding of antibiotics to healthy animals despite the agency?s findings that this misuse of antibiotics is a threat to humans and animals. The court?s ruling overturned two 2012 district court rulings in cases brought by NRDC, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Food Animal Concerns Trust, Public Citizen and Union of Concerned Scientists. The earlier rulings directed the FDA to halt the regular use of penicillin and tetracyclines in animal feed for healthy animals until drug manufacturers could prove the safety of this practice. The practice of feeding low doses of antibiotics to healthy livestock on factory farms is contributing to an increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria, or superbugs, which is a growing public health concern.