When scientists reported that sun-splashed vacations stimulate nevi development in kids and that nevi counts predict lifetime skin cancer risk, some figured maybe caving is the way to go for a solar-free, wholesome family interlude.

But that’s not going to work now that federal officials have warned people to stay out of caves from New Hampshire to West Virginia, where up to half a million bats have died from White Nose syndrome.

The Fish and Wildlife Service issued the unprecedented request after raising the possibility that humans were unwittingly spreading the fungal infection when they explored multiple caves.

The disease does not appear to affect people, so this is strictly a Save the Bats deal.

The bizarre bat condition is named for the granular fungal eruptions that appear on the schnozzles and wings of hibernating bats.

Somehow the fungus causes afflicted bats to deplete their winter fat stores prematurely and they die in their sleep.
 
Scientists worry that a massive bat die-off could trigger an insect population bomb which could damage apple, wheat and a dozen other crops.

The proposed voluntary moratorium on caving would cover states adjacent to affected areas, so the affected swath actually stretches from Maine to North Carolina and Virginia to Ohio.

Recreational cavers were bewildered by the scope of the ban.

“The ramifications are mind-boggling. I guess we’re all just trying figure out what to do,” Peter Youngbaer, the White Nose syndrome liaison for the National Speleological Society told the New York Times.

Just 2 years ago, Big Pharma fielded 102,000 sales reps. That number has already dropped to 92,000 and it’s headed to 75,000 by 2012, according to Chris Wright, a principal at ZS Associates.

That’ll save $3.6 billion for the beleaguered pharmaceutical companies, who are dealing with desiccated drug pipelines, patent expirations on blockbusters, blood thirsty politicians, and populist rages against the industry…and that’s before breakfast.

Decisions to make the cutbacks haven’t been that difficult since sales force effectiveness is way down.

Nowadays, only 37% of the drug reps who visit medical practices get to place products in the sample cabinet, and a measly 20% speak directly to a physician, according to TNS Healthcare.

About 25% of physicians belong to a practice that bans the reps altogether, and that was before new regs prohibited them from distributing tchotchkes!

“The old sales model is broken now, and who knows how it will look in the future,” Peter Nalen told AmedNews.

The president of Compass Healthcare Communications added “what’s happening is that pharmaceutical companies are realizing there are other ways to reach the doctor instead of banging on the door of the doctor who just doesn’t want to talk.”

Ari Silver-Isenstadt persuaded his Baltimore pediatrics practice partners to adopt a “no soliciting” policy for drug reps. “More than half of us doctors still just have a feeding frenzy of reps in our offices,” he told AmedNews.

“We should be ashamed of ourselves for allowing such an intertwining of our patients’ best interests with the convenience and niceties of drug reps.”

But Ken Johnson, a senior VP for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America disagrees.

“Interactions between physicians and pharmaceutical company representatives benefit patient care through the exchange of information about new medicines, new uses of medicines, the latest clinical data, appropriate dosing and emerging safety issues,” he insisted.

Last year, officials working for the Dalai Lama in India asked cybercrime experts to come have a look at their computers, which they suspected had been infected by malware.

Yessiree concluded the specialists, but that was just the tip of the iceberg.

The cybersleuths uncovered a global electronic spying operation that had infiltrated 1,295 computers and ripped off documents from government and private offices in 103 countries.

Computers in several embassies, foreign ministries and the Dalai Lama’s Tibetan exile centers in several countries were hit. US government systems were not violated, so far as is known.

According to a report released by Greg Walton and colleagues at the University of Toronto, the spy system, dubbed GhostNet, was controlled by computers based largely in China.

GhostNet remains operational, invading a dozen new computers per week, according to the report.

Its malware can activate video- and audio-recording functions in infected computers, so the thieves can see and hear what’s going on in the room housing the infected hardware. 

And GhostNet has impacted world events, at least a bit. For example, shortly after the Dalai Lama’s office sent an email invitation to a foreign diplomat, the Chinese government called the diplomat to discourage the visit.

Yet the researchers cautioned against concluding China’s government was directly responsible for the shenanigans.

“We’re careful about (ascribing blame), knowing the nuance of what happens in subterranean realms,” Ronald Deibert told the New York Times.

“This could well be the CIA or the Russians. It’s a murky realm we’re lifting the lid on,” added the associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto.

Meanwhile, a spokesman from the Chinese Consulate in New York scoffed at insinuations his government was involved. “These are old stories and they are nonsense,” Wenqi Gao told the Times. “The Chinese government is opposed to and strictly forbids cybercrime.”