Carrot & Stick

A carrot to the U.S. Congress for giving the National Institutes of Health's Office of Alternative Medicine a promotion. The office's new title is now the Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CCAM). Besides graciously acknowledging the emerging partnership between traditional and alternative medicine, Congress has effectively given CCAM the authority to set up its own advisory panel, provide funding grants to researchers and hire and fire its own staff. Also, along with the name change comes an infusion of $50 million for research. Looks like the answer to that familiar question "What's in a name?" is: A whole lot.

A stick to Dow Chemical, Novatris and other major pesticide companies for testing their products on humans. Ironically, the goal of this horrific practice is to comply with the new food-safety laws and prove that pesticides are safe for human consumption in food. "The easiest way to argue a [pesticide's safety] is to do the testing," an industry spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal. Currently, at least seven such tests are under way both here and abroad. The Environmental Protection Agency is looking into whether the testing meets safety and ethical standards. Hmm ... poison manufacturers recruiting volunteers to ingest toxic chemicals. Now, what could be unethical about that?