Lagging and Flagging: Air Pollution, Shale Gas Exploration and the Interaction of Policy, Science, Ethics and Environmental Justice in England.

The science on the effects of global climate change and air pollution on morbidity and mortality is clear and debate now centres around the scale and precise contributions of particular pollutants. Sufficient data existed in recent decades to support the adoption of precautionary public health policies relating to fossil fuels including shale exploration. Yet air quality and related public health impacts linked to ethical and environmental justice elements are often marginalized or missing in planning and associated decision making.

Public Health and Unconventional Oil and Gas Extraction Including Fracking: Global Lessons from a Scottish Government Review.

Unconventional oil and gas extraction (UOGE) including fracking for shale gas is underway in North America on a large scale, and in Australia and some other countries. It is viewed as a major source of global energy needs by proponents. Critics consider fracking and UOGE an immediate and long-term threat to global, national, and regional public health and climate.

The U.K.'s "Dash for Gas".

The evidence on public health regulation of the unconventional gas extraction (fracking) industry was examined using a rapid evidence assessment of fifteen case studies from multiple countries. They included scientific and academic papers, professional reports, government agency reports, industry and industry-funded reports, and a nongovernment organization report. Each case study review was structured to address strengths and weaknesses of the publication in relation to our research questions.

Health Impact Assessments, Regulation, and the Unconventional Gas Industry in the UK: Exploiting Resources, Ideology, and Expertise?

Health impact assessments (HIAs) across the globe may be used by governments and industries to secure approval for unconventional gas extraction developments. HIA is an umbrella term that covers an array of health review and assessment practices, ranging from the very general to quite specific and technical health studies. Our concern in this paper is principally with the specialist end of the HIA continuum and particularly its application to unconventional gas extraction in the UK.

Multiple Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Attempts in a Community Hospital: Evaluation of the Futility Assessment.

Background: In hospital settings, inadequate recognition of futility of aggressive medical management in patients with terminal disease and lack of the timely transition to palliative care may lead to both excessive and potentially harmful treatment and unnecessary burden on hospital resources. In order to better understand the outcomes of futile medical management and recognize the need for more appropriate end-of-life care, we evaluated the survival of particularly vulnerable cohort of patients in a community hospital who had survived at least 1 cardiorespiratory arrest (CRA) but whose medical problems led to subsequent arrests.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we have reviewed the annual cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) data in a community hospital in urban settings.