Friday Blog Roundup

Bloggers are anticipating some new activities from the Obama administration´s Health and Human Services team, while still keeping a close eye on what the Bush administration HHS is up to:

Jeff Goldsmith at the Health Affairs Blog considers what we can expect from Tom Daschle, who Obama has picked as his âhealth czar.â

Maggie Mahar at Health Beat urges readers to heed Daschle´s call and host Health Care Community Discussions.

Merril Goozner at GoozNews explores the drug-industry issues that will face the person Obama picks to head FDA.

Emily Douglas at RH Reality Check reports on HHS´s publication of its rule broadening protections for health care providers who refuse to provide health care services based on religious or moral grounds.

Elsewhere:

At NRDC´s Switchboard, Frances Beinecke welcomes the news that Ken Salazar will head the Interior Department and Sarah Chasis applauds Obama´s selection of Jane Lubchenco to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Edward Mazria at Gristmill introduces a plan that gives residential and commercial building owners financial incentives to improve their buildings´energy efficiency â which will help pump money into the faltering economy while helping the US meet greenhouse-gas reduction goals.

DrugMonkey warns that universities´shrinking endowments are further squeezing scientists already under pressure from NIH funding difficulties.

Ruth Levine at Global Health Policy reports on a Lancet study that suggests many countries have inflated their vaccine coverage figures in response to performance-based incentives from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization.

Christine Gorman at Global Health Report considers the possibility that too much training can be a problem for the global healthcare workforce.

Maryn McKenna at Superbug uses the example of sink design at one hospital to remind us of the unpredictable aspects of infection control

Ed Yong at Not Exactly Rocket Science explains a new study that suggests a novel approach to fighting antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

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