Patt Morrison for Tuesday, 1-11-11

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

 

1:06 – 1:30

OPEN

 

 

1:30 - 1:58:30

Why we get sick—debating the genetic vs. environmental causes of diseases

A lively debate is shaping up between environmentalists and geneticists.  Environmentalists, pointing to an important new study, say that deviations from the genetic norm are too small to matter in determining, for example, whether or not you will be diabetic.  If true, this must make environmental causes, like what you eat, proportionally much more important.  Genetic medicine begs--loudly!--to differ.  We hear from both sides.

 

Guests:

Dr. Jonathan Latham, Ph.D., Executive Director, Bioscience Resource Project

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Jean-Laurent Casanova, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Attending Physician & Professor, St. Giles Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases

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OR

 

Stanley Nelson, M.D., Professor in Residence, UCLA Human Genetics; Director, UCLA Gene Expression Core Shared Resource; Faculty, UCLA Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics

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2:06 – 2:30

Think of it as the federal govt.’s Yelp.com—consumer complaints go public

When consumers have an issue with a product, from toys to cosmetics to automotive parts, one of the first entities they tend to write is the federal government’s range of regulatory agencies that might have oversight authority over that particular product.  The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which collects most of those complaints and is tasked with protecting consumers from products that could be faulty or defective, is about to publish the thousands of reviews it receives in a publically-accessible database.  This makes consumer advocates cheer—people can now be attuned to potentially dangerous products well before an official government recall has been enacted—and major manufacturers and retailers cringe—they argue that much of what drives product complaints are bad facts or embittered criticisms about companies that consumers simply don’t like.  Industry groups are working behind the scenes to delay or revamp the project while the complaint database is set to go public in March—would you read the federal government’s version of Yelp.com?

 

Guests:

Rachel Weintraub, director of product safety and senior counsel, Consumer Federation of America

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UNCONFIRMED

Rosario Palmieri, vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers

Representative Consumer Product Safety Commission

 

 

 

2:30 – 2:58:30

Could changes to mental health care and laws have prevented Giffords’ shooting?

Plenty of scapegoats have emerged from the weekend shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, AZ—extreme political rhetoric, weakened gun laws and most recently issues of mental health.  Could a different legal framework or network of mental health services have prevented Jared Loughner from allegedly opening fire with a Glock 19 semi-automatic pistol on the crowd gathered outside a Tucson Safeway?  Loughner's classmates reported he was "consistently disruptive in class" at his local community college and "obviously very disturbed." But was his behavior reported to any officials that could have tried to help him and what steps if any, were taken after the college expelled him? How high is the bar for proving someone is a threat to themselves or to others before law enforcement, family or medical professionals are able to provide treatment to a disturbed person?

 

NOT CONFIRMED:

TBA, National Institutes of Mental Health

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Terri Carbaugh, California Community College Chancellor’s office

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Jonathan Serviss

Producer, Patt Morrison Program

Southern California Public Radio

NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles

89.3 KPCC-FM | 89.1 KUOR-FM | 90.3 KPCV-FM

626.583.5171, office

415.497.2131, mobile

jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org

www.scpr.org