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George Orwell would perhaps be surprised to learn the modern applications of his anti-totalitarian manifesto Nineteen Eighty Four – from state control to market control, and even the regulation of the pharmaceutical industry.

Believe it or not, just the mention of “regulatory” makes those in the industry routinely declare that “big brother is watching,” who we “gotta make happy.” At the very least, they will roll their eyes and breathe a tired sigh.

The reason is that all literature produced by the pharmaceutical industry is regulated by at least five different laws: the Antitrust Law, FDCA, PDMA, Anti-kickback Statute and the Government Price Reporting Law. Read the rest of this entry »

“Interpreters are a necessary evil,” asserts Edgar Collazo, former Temple pediatrician and current Director of Emergency Care at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children.

According to this professional, nobody is able to replace the direct doctor-patient communication, especially when support staff “has not been trained in science,” he adds.

As a way to resolve their communication problems, Temple University Hospital launched the program “Hablamos juntos,” which is financed by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Read the rest of this entry »

“Spanglish’ is not foolish”

The Jewish Mexican-American professor Ilan Stavans made this blunt statement to his fellow scholars in a presentation organized by the American Translators Association.

Stavans has published numerous books dealing with a wide array of subjects such as the Jewish narrative tradition, Pablo Neruda’s poetry and Latin America’s identity, to name a few.

The author enjoys international recognition, and has been called “The Czar of Latino Literature and Culture in the United States” by The New York Times and “Latin America’s liveliest and boldest critic” by the Washington Post. Read the rest of this entry »