In the News

In the October 2009 issue of Practical Pain Management, Drs. James Giordano and Anita Gupta consider the difficult question of whether pain is experienced by patients with severe neurological disorders, including those in a vegetative state, and how that pain should be treated. The authors write that a growing body of evidence suggests that these patients do experience pain on some level, although our understanding of the nature of that experience remains limited. As a result, they argue for a fresh look at clinical practice in dealing with these patients, including a reexamination of whether anesthesia should be provided to brain-injured patients undergoing invasive medical procedures. Click below to read more.

SUMMARY: A blog by former U.S. Senator Bob Graham raises concerns about the country’s lack of preparedness in producing vaccines. Graham, chairman of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, states: “Whether the threat is from naturally occurring disease or bioterrorism, the United States needs to be able to produce vaccines and other medicines faster and less expensively. We had six months of advance warning for the H1N1 pandemic. A bioterrorism attack will have no advance warning.’’

STORY LINK: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-bob-graham/why-werent-h1n1-vacccines_b_339986.html

Dr. Stephen Cunnion is the Medical Director for the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies' National Security Health Policy Center. As shortages of H1N1 vaccine continue to plague some areas, Dr. Cunnion says it's important that frustration not cause people to give up on getting vaccinated. He says if you can get the vaccine, get it - even if it's not until well into the flu season. He also says the public reaction to the vaccine shortage may provide a good opportunity for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to review its risk communications, before the next crisis hits. Watch Dr. Cunnion's comments here.

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Professor Yonah Alexander, Director of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies' International Center for Terrorism Studies, will be a keynote speaker at NATO seminars in Ankara, Turkey, in the first two weeks of November. The first seminar, “Terrorism and Media,” takes place November 2-6, and the second, “Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism Course,” takes place November 9-13. The programs are sponsored by the NATO Centre of Excellence Defence Against Terrorism, with academic support from the Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies. Prof. Alexander currently serves as Director of the Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies.

Dr. Tawfik Hamid is a Senior Fellow and Chair for the Study of Islamic Radicalism, Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. Dr. Hamid was a panelist discussing means of countering Islamic radicalism at the 2009 Israeli Presidential Conference, a three-day event that opened in Jerusalem on October 20. Speakers at the conference included Israeli President Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice.

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