Exploring the interrelationships of immigration, health, and health care, the articles in the October issue of Medical Anthropology focus on the experiences of immigrants in the U.S., Canada, Costa Rica, and Finland. Cartwright shows how long-term Latino residents who work in agriculture are “barely surviving in the U.S.,” and suffer ill health due to structural violence and a pathogenic immigration system.  Smith-Nonini examines the roles of embodiment and the “body politic” in the experiences of Latino farmworkers in the U.S., arguing for the need to consider the human dimension in neoliberal capitalist systems. Working in Costa Rica, Goldade exposes health care as “a site for struggle over inclusion” by examining how pregnant Nicaraguan migrant women make claims to health care privileges on the basis of their labor contributions to the Costa Rican economy. The negotiation of medical and legal realms – of care and citizenship – manifests as an ethical issue in Miklavcic’s case study of a Canadian psychiatrist protecting a suicidal Algerian refugee, whose illegal status complicates access to health care. Examining the multi-faceted health practices of Somali migrants in Finland and Somaliland, Tiilikainen and Koehn emphasize the significance of transnational medical care and its role in personal resilience.

The “Sociology of Diagnosis” is the theme of Social Science & Medicine Vol. 73(6), edited by Annemarie Jutel and Sarah Nettleton. It includes an introductory article by the editors that discusses several meanings of “diagnosis” and offers an agenda for a new sociology of diagnosis. Subsequent articles discuss the significance, impact, and/or dilemmas of diagnostic ideologies, technologies, and practices with respect to various conditions, including (but not limited to) schizophrenia (Olafsdottir and Pescosolido), Huntington Disease (Halpin), Fibromyalgia syndrome (Barker), cancer (Bourret, Keating, and Cambrosio; Schaepe; Olson; Willig), and ADHD (Singh). Also in this issue, Armstrong gives a history of the International Classification of Disease and discusses some of the shortcomings of medical nosologies. Another article (Gardner, Dew, Stubbe, Dowell, and MacDonald) uses a material semiotic methodology to explore “the link between diagnostic practices, patient awareness of the body, and biopolitical governance.”

Among the 20 research articles in Social Science & Medicine Vol. 73(7) are an analysis of Cuban health news stories (Briggs); a study of how social notions of race and racial preferences affect genomic research/researchers (Bliss); a study of the familial effects of expanded newborn screening (Buchbinder and Timmermans); and an article on the impact and interpretations of direct-to-consumer advertising (Frosch, May, Tietbohl, Pagan).

In the current issue of Social Studies of Science, Sleeboom-Faulkner and Patra use the concepts of “biohierarchy” and “bionetworking” to examine developments in adult stem cell research in India and Japan, as well as the interconnections between research/scientists in these two nations. Durant analyzes different notions of democracy and their implications for the distinction between publics and experts, as presented by several scholars working in the field of Science and Technology Studies. Other articles concern “technological stabilization” in the history of weblogs (Siles); work-family conflict in academic science (Fox, Fonseca, Bao); the role of “metadata-as-process” in scientific communication (Edwards, et al.); and the role of models in U.S. patent law (Pottage).

The history of pharmaceuticals is the topic of two articles in this month’s issue of the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences. Barr explores the reinvention of Dapsone during the Vietnam War, analyzing how military factors affected the “standard methodology” of randomized clinical trial. Greene examines the tensions between drug branding and generics in 21st century American medicine.

The Open Access version of Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine features an article (Czoli, et al.) that undermines current models of the relationship between the clinical and research duties of physician-researchers. The authors conclude that either these models should be revised to reflect the realities faced by physician-researchers, or the training of physician-researchers ought to more fully consider their dual roles.

Among the articles in this month’s Psychosomatic Medicine 73(8) are ones exploring the relationships between specific biological/hormonal factors and depression (Terracciano et al.), schizophrenia (Fernandez-Egea et al.), and optimism (Ikeda et al., Endrighi et al.).

The Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine features an article on ethnomedicinal plants and their ecological status (Kumar, Seikha, Bussman), an article on traditional herbal medicine (Namsa, et al.), and an article on edible plants and sustainability (Jain, et al.), all situated in India. Another article explores zootherapy (the use of animal-derived remedies) in Brazil (Sout0, et al.).