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5901
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2 health departments investigate Legionnaires’ disease.
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Health departments in two North Carolina counties are looking into multiple cases of Legionnaires’ disease at the N.C. Mountain State Fair.
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true
|
Health, General News, North Carolina, Legionnaires disease, State fairs
|
The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said in a news release on Tuesday that it’s working with the Buncombe and Henderson County health departments to track down additional information. Legionella bacteria can become a health concern when they grow and spread in human-made water systems like hot water tanks, air conditioning systems and other sources that are not properly maintained. State Epidemiologist Dr. Zack Moore said it’s not yet known if people attending the fair might have been exposed to Legionella bacteria. Moore says people who attended the fair and are experiencing cough, fever or shortness of breath should call their health care provider right away.
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32798
|
A letter criticizing students at Oxford University for their desire to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes was penned by a school official.
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The protests, which have developed into an international movement, are real and ongoing. However, the circulating letter that’s alleged to be from Oxford University’s chancellor is fake, and first originated as a satirical op-ed piece written by a London-based contributor to Breitbart.com.
|
false
|
Politics, cecil rhodes, chris patten, oxford
|
In March 2015, the “Rhodes Must Fall” campaign began at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, when students began pushing for the campus to take down a statue of Cecil Rhodes. Rhodes (the former prime minister of Cape Colony) was a businessman and politician. He was also an ardent imperialist who was part of the effort to annex large parts of land in South Africa in the late 1800s, making enormous sums of money and eventually founding the De Beers diamond firm. Many universities in South Africa bear his name, and for years, Rhodes has been lauded for his accomplishments. However, he also passed laws which laid the groundwork for apartheid in the country, and is thus also regarded as a symbol of repression, colonization, and apartheid — which has no place, activists say, on a university campus, especially in a region of the world that still struggles with the aftereffects of institutional racism. The “Rhodes Must Fall” campaign was successful at the University of South Africa; the school removed the statue in April 2015, a month after the protest there began. Students and anti-colonialism activists then began similar protests to remove statues at other universities, including Oxford, where Rhodes (who was born in England) remains a large figure. Oxford University still offers the elite Rhodes Scholarship, and a statue in his likeness presides over the university’s Oriel College campus. In January 2016, Oxford students voted to remove the statue. Later that month, the university opted to keep the statue after receiving threats from alumni to withdraw millions in donations if it was removed. The college’s decision sparked more marches and ongoing protests, keeping the issue in the news. A letter about the Cecil Rhodes statue at Oxford University began to be widely circulated via social media and e-mail after it was originally published on the web site Breitbart in December 2015. The message (a missive that in part laments today’s politically correct culture) is often preceded by the claim that it is an official letter from Oxford University’s chancellor, Chris Patten. The original posting on Breitbart starts with a small disclaimer informing the reader that the following message is what Oxford should have told its students, and not what the university actually said: Instead of standing up to these hoity-toity grievance mongers – led by two black South African students on scholarships – Oriel has caved. Here is the letter that Oriel College should have written to the campaigners from Rhodes Must Fall. The above-displayed message was eventually stripped from the letter and replaced with the claim that it was an official piece of correspondence from Patten to the student’s of Oxford: My mouth is still hanging open after reading this….this is OUTStANDING!! About time the institutions and governments on this side of the pond get some backbone and use logic in lieu of feelings. Subject: Oxford Rebukes Idiot Activists Black activists at Oxford have been campaigning to have THE RHODES statue removed and below is the Chancellor Chris Patten’s response…it’s a beauty from start to finish. While Patten did argue against the removal of the Rhodes statue during an appearance on the Today program on BBC Radio 4 in January 2016, his language was far tamer than the openly racist rhetoric employed in Breitbart’s fictional letter: “But if people at a university are not prepared to demonstrate the sort of generosity of spirit which Nelson Mandela showed towards Rhodes and towards history, if they are not prepared to embrace all those values which are contained in the most important book for any undergraduate, Karl Popper’s Open Society, if they are not prepared to embrace those issues then maybe they should think about being educated elsewhere. But I hope they will embrace those issues and engage in debate.” Patten styled the objections to Rhodes as along the lines of the “safe spaces” policies adopted on many university campuses in Britain and the US, which critics have said are used to suppress debate on a range of issues. “That focus on Rhodes is unfortunate but it’s an example of what’s happening in American campuses and British campuses,” Patten said. “One of the points of a university – which is not to tolerate intolerance, to engage in free inquiry and debate – is being denied. People have to face up to facts in history which they don’t like and talk about them and debate them.” He added: “Can you imagine a university where there is no platform? I mean a bland diet of bran to feed people, it’s an absolutely terrible idea. If you want universities like that you go to China where they are not allowed to talk about western values, which I regard as global values. No, it’s not the way a university should operate.”
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8350
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South Korea declares new 'special care zone' as coronavirus spreads.
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South Korea declared a “special care zone” on Thursday around a second city hit hard by the coronavirus and the U.S. military confirmed two new cases among relatives of its troops in the country, which is battling the biggest outbreak outside China.
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true
|
Health News
|
Australia and Japan have joined the list of almost 100 nations now limiting arrivals of people from South Korea, which reported 760 coronavirus cases on Thursday for a total of 6,088. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan will suspend existing visas for visitors from China and South Korea and quarantine them for two weeks in response to the widening outbreak of the flu-like virus. The measures will go into effect on March 9. Following the announcement, the South Korean Foreign Ministry summoned a Japanese diplomat to “hear Japan’s explanations regarding its announcement,” Yonhap news agency reported, citing a ministry official. The South Korean government declared a “special care zone” around Gyeongsan, a city of about 275,000 people 250 km (150 miles) southeast of Seoul, promising extra resources such as face masks. Gyeongsan has seen a spike in cases in recent days, many of them linked to a fringe Christian group at the center of South Korea’s outbreak. Similar zones have been declared around the neighboring city of Daegu and Cheongdo County. About 75% of all cases in South Korea are in and around Daegu, its fourth-largest city, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). “Every day is sad and tough like a war. But our Daegu citizens are showing surprise wisdom and courage,” Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin told reporters on Thursday. About 2,120 patients were waiting for hospital beds in Daegu, city officials said. Dozens of newly commissioned military nurses were due to begin work in the city on Thursday, according to the health ministry. The KCDC reported five more deaths from the virus, bringing the total to 37. The virus surfaced in China late last year and has infected more than 95,300 people and killed almost 3,300 worldwide, mostly in China, according to a Reuters tally. South Korea also said it was banning the export of face masks, and would step up their production and ration them to limit individual purchases to two a week, in an attempt to ease shortages and curb hoarding. People have flocked to supermarkets, pharmacies and online distributors to snap up masks and other supplies, with hundreds lining up at some stores every morning. KCDC Deputy Director Kwon Jun-wook advised all South Koreans to stay home and avoid “any gatherings, especially those that take place in enclosed places with many people such as religious events”. He also advised employers in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, highlighted by tech giants like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, to allow staff to work from home. U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) reported two new cases, for a total of six among soldiers, employees or people related to the roughly 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea. Despite the new cases, USFK had resumed sending troops to bases in Daegu and surrounding areas, according to the military newspaper Stars and Stripes. It said commanders believed the bases were protected from the outside population, and troop rotations were needed to maintain readiness in the face of threats from nuclear-armed North Korea. Australia’s ban on the arrival of foreigners from South Korea is a blow to Seoul’s efforts to prevent the United States from imposing such restrictions. “It is a deeply regrettable step, and we will closely consult Australian authorities for a swift revocation of the measure and to minimize inconvenience for our citizens,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim In-chul told reporters. South Korean officials met the U.S. ambassador in Seoul on Wednesday to urge the United States not to limit travel. Similar talks would be held on Friday with diplomats from other nations, the Foreign Ministry said. According to the U.S. State Department, anyone with a fever of 100.4 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) is already banned from boarding direct flights from South Korea to the United States. Korean Air Lines said it would screen all departing passengers for high temperatures and reject those deemed a risk. South Korea also sent three “rapid response” teams to Vietnam on Thursday to help more than 270 citizens quarantined there over coronavirus concerns, the Foreign Ministry said.
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8144
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Coronavirus supplies donated by Alibaba's Ma arrive in Africa.
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A first planeload of protective and medical equipment donated to Africa by Chinese billionaire and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma to help it fight the coronavirus arrived in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Sunday.
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true
|
Health News
|
So far, the continent of 1.3 billion people has registered only around 1,100 cases spread across 43 countries, with 39 deaths. While that is a tiny fraction of the more than 305,000 people infected and more than 13,000 deaths worldwide, there are concerns that Africa’s relatively poor health infrastructure means it will not cope if the virus becomes established. “The flight carried 5.4 million face masks, kits for 1.08 million detection tests, 40,000 sets of protective clothing and 60,000 sets of protective face shields,” Ma’s foundation said in a statement. “The faster we move, the earlier we can help.” It said the supplies would be distributed across Africa, going first to countries that were particularly vulnerable to the pandemic. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tweeted that distribution would start on Monday. Health Minister Lia Tadesse said testing for the virus was one of the most important tools for controlling the outbreak. For several days, governments across the continent have been imposing tough measures to restrict travel and close public spaces. The World Health Organisation is planning to help countries set up pop-up hospitals that could be equipped with oxygen and ventilators. Part of Africa’s battle to stop the virus from taking hold could be fought in the churches when many of its more than 600 million Christians go to pray. Kenya, which has 15 confirmed cases, on Sunday banned all religious and social gatherings, limited the number of mourners at funerals to 15, and ordered all nightclubs and bars to close indefinitely. Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe told a news conference on Sunday that all international passenger flights would be banned from Wednesday. He said a county official who had flouted quarantine rules and tested positive would be charged once his quarantine ended. “Kenyans must treat this matter with the seriousness it deserves,” he said. “In the coming week, you will be witnessing more enforcement measures.” Mozambique’s health ministry on Sunday confirmed its first case of coronavirus - a 75-year-old man who had recently returned from Britain. Both Madagascar and Liberia declared national health emergencies over the epidemic this weekend. In Burkina Faso, U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young said he had tested positive for coronavirus in a post on Twitter. The country is the worst-affected so far in West Africa, with 75 confirmed cases, including four government ministers. Somalia said on Sunday it had reopened its international airport for two days to allow its citizens to return from 14 countries affected by coronavirus. “We shall quarantine them when they arrive, near the airport. Their shelter, beds and food have been readied,” a government spokesman said.
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27595
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Maps and other escape aids were smuggled to Allied POWs in Monopoly sets during World War II.
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Escape kits were smuggled to some Allied POWs during World War II by being cleverly concealed in Monopoly game sets.
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true
|
Military
|
The gist of this account about maps (and other items useful for escape efforts) being smuggled to Allied POWs during World War II by cleverly hiding them in Monopoly game sets is true, although some of the finer details in this particular account may be inaccurate. The general outline of the scheme to smuggle escape aids to POWs through specially manufactured Monopoly kits is recounted (among other places) in The Game Makers, a 2004 history of the Parker Brothers game company: When allied airmen began to risk their lives flying missions over occupied Europe, Parker Brothers’ English partner found a way to use the Monopoly game to come to the aid of those who were captured by the Germans. The British War Office worked with a select group of Waddington staffers to modify Monopoly boards for insertion in games that the Red Cross would deliver to Allied prisoners of war. These men carved out precise depressions in the unfinished game boards and, before applying their labels, filled them with low-profile compasses, files, and maps that depicted escape routes from the prison camp where each game was to be sent. (The maps were printed on silk because silk did not rustle when opened. Waddington’s had perfected this process to such an extent that virtually all British flyers climbed into their warplanes with a Waddington’s map secreted in the heel of one of their boots.) Hidden among the games’ play money was real currency — German, Italian, or Austrian. It is not known how many airmen escaped thanks to these Monopoly games. Regardless of when it may have been officially declassified, information about the rigged Monopoly kits was openly acknowledged and discussed long before 2007. A 1985 Associated Press article, for example, reported that: Waddingtons, which received the license to distribute Monopoly in Britain in 1935 from Parker Brothers in the United States, got involved in aiding the prisoners of war because of its printing expertise. It printed maps for the military on durable silk. Thousands of fliers who went on missions over German-occupied Europe had the maps sewn into their uniforms if they were shot down and captured. Victor Watson, chairman of the firm, said Waddingtons had a secret department that put the maps, files and money in shallow recesses on the board under the paper face. Then MI-9, the division of Military Intelligence devoted to helping POWs escape, smuggled the sets into prison camps as recreational equipment. Powell Davies, who was a 19-year-old flier when he was captured, said the prison escape committees would destroy the sets after removing the escape aids to keep the guards from figuring out what was going on. Although the account claims “an estimated one-third [of escaped POWs] were aided in their flight by the rigged Monopoly sets,” both the Game Makers excerpt quoted above and Waddington’s chairman said the number of POWs who were actually aided by the smuggled game kits is unknown: Maps, files and compasses were hidden in Monopoly sets and smuggled into World War II German prison camps to help British prisoners of war escape, the game’s manufacturer, the John Waddington company of Leeds, England, says. Monopoly boards were made with maps hidden in them showing “escape routes from the particular prison to which each game was sent,” chairman Victor Watson said. “Into the other side of the board was inserted a tiny compass and several fine-quality files.” The money piles were real money, with one piece of Monopoly money on the top and bottom of the pack. “We are not sure how many prisoners were able to escape by this method,” Watson said, but the company likes to think a few did. A former archivist with John Waddington also pointed out some discrepancies in the account in response to a 2007 London Times recounting of it: Sir, I write as the former archivist for John Waddington, the company which made Monopoly during the Second World War. In his article about Monopoly, Ben Macintyre states that the special sets of Monopoly were sent to prison camps via the Red Cross. Waddingtons produced many escape aids which were sent to the Nazi prison camps, but these were always sent via private, often fictitious, organisations like the Licensed Victuallers Prisoner Relief Fund. No escape aids were enclosed in the Red Cross parcels, so that the Germans would have no justification for stopping these much needed parcels from reaching the prisoners. It is untrue that safe houses were shown on the maps, as there was a virtual certainty that some of the maps would fall into German hands — the Germans were not fools when it came to tracking down prisoners’ ruses.
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17860
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Facebook post Says a man opted out of Obamacare after the marketplace launched on Oct. 1, 2013, and was informed he owed a $4,000 fine.
|
The Facebook post tells the story of a man who says he opted out of Obamacare soon after the marketplace was launched on Oct. 1, 2013, and was informed that he owed a fine of more than $4,000. The post includes many elements that make no sense or are flat-out wrong -- and can be easily debunked by reading the law or reliable summaries of it.
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false
|
National, Health Care, Facebook posts,
|
"Shortly after the the Obamacare insurance marketplace launched on Oct. 1, users of social media experienced a burst of complaints on Twitter and Facebook, ranging from technical glitches to substantive concerns. But for our readers, one post stood out. Many readers sent us a Facebook post that went viral and has since been circulated by chain-email. It was originally posted on the Facebook page of Healthcare.gov, the federal government’s portal to the new insurance marketplace created under President Barack Obama’s health care law. The marketplace is designed to offer one-stop shopping for health insurance plans for Americans whose employers do not offer coverage. The Facebook post claims to be from a man named Will Sheehan. (We couldn’t confirm his identity.) The post says that he tried to sign up for Obamacare and then decided to not go along with it; he then said he received an email detailing fines he would face. Here’s the full text of the post: ""I actually made it through this morning at 8:00 A.M. I have a preexisting condition (Type 1 Diabetes) and my income base was 45K-55K annually I chose tier 2 ‘Silver Plan’ and my monthly premiums came out to $597.00 with $13,988 yearly deductible!!! There is NO POSSIBLE way that I can afford this so I ‘opt-out’ and chose to continue along with no insurance. I received an email tonight at 5:00 P.M. informing me that my fine would be $4,037 and could be attached to my yearly income tax return. Then you make it to the ‘REPERCUSSIONS PORTION’ for ‘non-payment’ of yearly fine. First, your drivers license will be suspended until paid, and if you go 24 consecutive months with ‘Non-Payment’ and you happen to be a home owner, you will have a federal tax lien placed on your home. You can agree to give your bank information so that they can easy ‘Automatically withdraw’ your ‘penalties’ weekly, bi-weekly or monthly! This by no means is ‘Free’ or even ‘Affordable’."" We will check a number of the post’s claims below. • ""There is NO POSSIBLE way that I can afford this so I ‘opt-out’ and chose to continue along with no insurance."" According to a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that runs the marketplace, this is not how the system works: ""There's no way for people to complete the online application and then affirmatively ‘opt out’ at the end. They would simply close the website or not enroll in a plan."" • ""I received an email tonight at 5:00 P.M. informing me"" about the fines I would face. This is wrong on several levels. First, the system would not send any user an email if they failed to complete an application. Second, any fines would be calculated as part of the user’s overall income tax form 1040 -- they wouldn’t be sent as a bill. And third, any taxes would be owed by April 15, 2015 -- a year and a half from now. Someone being assessed a tax penalty by the Internal Revenue Service in early October doesn’t even make any sense, since the applicant has many weeks to find another insurance plan and avoid a penalty. • ""My fine would be $4,037."" This number is way out of line. Under the law, the penalty fee in 2014 is 1 percent of your yearly income or $95 per person for the year, whichever is higher. The fee increases every year. In 2016 it is 2.5 percent of income or $695 per person, whichever is higher. If we are to take this Facebook user’s claims at face value -- that his ""income base was 45K-55K annually""-- and if he has no dependents, he would not have to pay any more than $550, by 2015. To pay a penalty of $4,037 in 2014, you would need to be making making more than $403,700 a year. • ""Your drivers license will be suspended until paid."" CMS told PolitiFact that nobody’s driver's license will be suspended as a noncompliance penalty under the Affordable Care Act. Nothing in the law mentions that as a penalty, and driver’s licenses are administered by state governments. • ""If you go 24 consecutive months with ‘Non-Payment’ and you happen to be a home owner, you will have a federal tax lien placed on your home."" A Treasury Department spokesperson confirmed that the law specifically bars the IRS from using their normal means of collecting unpaid taxes, including the use of liens and levy. According to the law, the government ""shall not (i) file notice of lien with respect to any property of a taxpayer by reason of any failure to pay the penalty imposed by this section, or (ii) levy on any such property with respect to such failure.’’ Instead, the only thing the IRS can do to collect fines is to subtract it from any tax refund you qualify for. If you aren’t due a refund, all the IRS can do is send you a letter. Another section of the health care law protects citizens from any other form of punishment. ""In the case of any failure by a taxpayer to timely pay any penalty (…) such taxpayer shall not be subject to any criminal prosecution or penalty,"" it says. • ""You can agree to give your bank information so that they can easy ‘Automatically withdraw’ your ‘penalties’ weekly, bi-weekly or monthly!"" Don’t take online banking advice from a Facebook post. The Treasury Department warns citizens not to hand out bank information online. Our ruling The Facebook post tells the story of a man who says he opted out of Obamacare soon after the marketplace was launched on Oct. 1, 2013, and was informed that he owed a fine of more than $4,000. The post includes many elements that make no sense or are flat-out wrong -- and can be easily debunked by reading the law or reliable summaries of it."
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28788
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The United States has approved plans to crossbreed animals and humans.
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What's true: The National Institute of Health proposed a new policy that would allow researchers to receive federal funds to make part human, part animal embryos. What's false: The United States has not approved crossbreeding humans and animals.
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mixture
|
Politics, chimeras, national institutes of health, NIH
|
On 5 August 2016, the web site The Real Strategy published an article about a proposal from the National Institutes of Health that was misleadingly titled “Crossbreeding Humans with Animals Approved in United States”. The article contained a photograph purporting to show a hybrid creature: The United States has not approved crossbreeding humans and animals, and the above-displayed image was taken from the 2009 movie Splice. However, the NIH did recently make an announcement about lifting a moratorium on research using human stem cells to create part-human, part animal embryos: The National Institutes of Health is proposing a new policy to permit scientists to get federal money to make embryos, known as chimeras, under certain carefully monitored conditions. While it is true that the National Institutes of Health is considering funding chimera research, these projects are not aimed at “crossbreeding” humans and animals in attempt to create hybrid creatures like the fictional one pictured above. Instead, chimeras will be used to study disease and may eventually be used to generate human organs: Researchers might be able to better study heritable human diseases, and find drugs that work against these diseases, by using chimera animal models, several stem cell scientists wrote in a letter published in the journal Science last year. Perhaps the most widely discussed implication of the research is its potential to create animals that contain human organs, which could then be transplanted into patients. It might be possible to “generate an unlimited supply of therapeutic replacement organs,” by using pig or sheep chimeras, the Science letter said. The National Institutes of Health placed a moratorium on funding chimera research projects in September 2015 (even though no such funding had previously been provided) while they considered the ethical questions involved in such studies. In August 2016, they announced that they were considering lifting the moratorium and proposed changes to the existing stem cell guidelines. One notable change was the addition of a steering committee that would oversee funding requests for chimera projects: Because of the ethical concerns, though, at least some of the experiments would go through an extra layer of review by a new, special committee of government officials. That committee would, for example, consider experiments designed to create animals with human brain cells or human brain tissue. Scientists might want to create them to study neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. But the experiments would undergo intensive scrutiny if there’s any chance there might be a “substantial contribution” or “substantial functional modification” to an animal’s brain. Carrie Wolinetz, the NIH’s Associate Director for Science Policy, wrote: I am confident that these proposed changes will enable the NIH research community to move this promising area of science forward in a responsible manner. It’s also worth noting that the changes are proposed, not approved.
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9912
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Gastric bypass more effective than other procedures, studies find
|
First, it suggests that the findings of a new study showing superior results for gastric bypass on certain outcomes are novel and perhaps surprising. They are not. Second, it leaves readers with the impression that the studies covered represent the final, definitive word on which procedure offers the best risk-benefit profile. They do not. More context on the other studies that have been performed in this area — some much larger and more representative of the experience of a broad cross-section of patients — would have helped correct these deficiencies. For comparison, see how the competing HealthDay coverage did a slightly better job with some of these issues. This story makes sweeping claims about gastric bypass being “better” than other procedures for the treatment of obesity. In medicine, however, the “better” treatment is almost always the one that the patient is more comfortable with after a careful consideration of risks and benefits. While it is true, as this story states, that gastric bypass produces more weight loss faster than the lap band and has a bigger impact on diabetes, these advantages come with an increased risk of serious complications, including death. In addition, gastric bypass isn’t reversible whereas the band can be removed if the patient changes his or her mind. Meanwhile, band placement may be safer initially but the device sometimes fails or causes other problems that require a second operation. Moreover, patients need to follow-up more frequently with their doctor for adjustments or they won’t continue to lose weight. Patients need to consider these and many other factors before deciding which procedure is the better choice for them.
|
false
|
Los Angeles Times
|
A comparison of the costs for each procedure should have been provided along with the head-to-head clinical findings. Some insurance policies will not cover these procedures, and even with coverage, costs for copays and other expenses (psychologists, dietitians, etc) may amount to significant additional expenditure. There wasn’t enough detail or accuracy to earn a satisfactory on this point. Although the weight loss outcomes in one of the studies is clearly explained, for other measures, such as quality of life and diabetes, we are told merely that gastric bypass was “far better” than the band. This is a subjective characterization that would have have benefited from more precision. For the second study, the story states that diabetes “improved with gastric bypass but not with gastric sleeving.” This is not correct. The abstract states that remission of type 2 diabetes was seen in 93 percent of bypass patients and 47 percent of sleeve patients. That’s a big difference in favor of bypass, but the sleeve patients did also benefit some. The study says the overall complication rate was “similar for both procedures,” but it never quantifies these risks the way HealthDay did, nor did it compare the seriousness of the complications. The failure to discuss mortality differences between these procedures is an especially important shortcoming of the piece. A key reason why people choose gastric banding is that they have a lower risk of dying from the procedure compared with gastric bypass. Although we can presume that nobody died as a result of the surgery in these studies (or else the story would likely have mentioned this), real world experience suggests that death is not uncommon with gastric bypass, especially with surgeons who are inexperienced and patients who are considered high risk. Somewhere along the line, this issue should have been raised. The story makes aggressive claims about how gastric bypass is “no riskier” than other procedures and “better” for those with severe obesity and weight related medical conditions. In our view, however, it didn’t balance this language with enough caveats about the limitations of these analyses. We appreciate that the story pointed out the problems with comparing weight loss with gastric bypass and banding after only one year of follow-up surveillance. But we think the story should have placed more emphasis on the fact that these results came from a relatively small group of patients at a single institution with experienced surgeons. Patients getting a procedure done elsewhere may not get the same level of care that the investigators were able to provide in this study. And research from much larger studies than this one suggest that less experienced surgeons have worse outcomes with gastric bypass, which is a more complicated procedure than the band. Finally, a note about the uncertainty of truly long-term outcomes (10 years or more) would have been welcome, as some reports are suggesting that many bypass patients gain back a significant portion of their lost weight during this timeframe. There is also growing concern about the risk of serious neurological problems resulting from severe nutritional deficiencies in bypass patients. The story did not engage in disease-mongering. The story clears the minimum bar for this criterion, but not by much. The expert quoted at the end of the story provides a very salient point about the relatively short follow-up for the study. Perspectives from other experts presented earlier in the piece would have provided additional valuable context. Though it doesn’t work for most people, a program of better diet and increased exercise can help some people lose weight and reduce chronic disease risk factors. The weight loss doesn’t have to be very substantial to yield important health benefits. The story could at least have mentioned nonsurgical options that might be helpful for some people. The story reports that the Lap Band procedure is approved for people with a BMI as low as 30 if they have one or more related medical conditions. However, the story wasn’t precise enough about who might be a candidate for the other procedures discussed. According to National Institutes of Health criteria, weight loss surgery candidates should have a BMI of 40 or above or 35 with related medical conditions. The story states that the bypass-band study is the first U.S. study to compare the two procedures head-to-head. What about this much larger head-to-head study from Texas that was published in 2008 and reported similar findings? Generally, the story presents the findings of these studies as if they are surprisingly novel, when in fact they mostly confirm findings that have been reported many times in previous research. The story didn’t appear to lift anything directly from a news release put out by the journal publisher about the studies. Then again, there weren’t enough independent sources for us to tell how much the story may have relied on this press release. We’ll call it not applicable.
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23027
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Georgia has the second-highest rate of childhood obesity in the United States.
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Hospital says Georgia's kids second-fattest in nation
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true
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Georgia, Children, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta,
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"The news was enough to make the AJC PolitiFact Georgia scribe toss her leftover Halloween candy corn to the squirrels. ""Georgia has the second-highest rate of childhood obesity in the United States,"" said a recent news release from Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, a hospital that specializes in pediatric care. Second? Out of all the states in the union? Are Georgia kids really that hefty? Yes, we felt guilty. One PolitiFact Georgia reporter had spent a recent afternoon dressed as a witch, handing out fistfuls of sweets to trick-or-treaters. Childhood obesity can lead to diabetes, high cholesterol and other potentially deadly problems. It also places more burdens on the health care system. We called a spokeswoman for Children's Healthcare Atlanta, who pointed us to ""F as in Fat,"" a report issued by the Trust for America's Health, a nonprofit group that specializes in disease prevention. Sure enough, there Georgia was, second only to Mississippi in 2007 for obesity rates among 10- to 17-year-olds. In this state, 21.3 percent of children were obese, the report said. Mississippi's rate was 21.9 percent. The report defined an ""obese"" child as one with a body mass index greater than the 95th percentile for his age group. For instance, a 10-year-old boy with a height of 4 foot 6 inches and weighing 100 pounds would be obese. That's because his body mass index is 24.1, which is in the 97th percentile of his age group. Of the 10 states with the highest childhood obesity rates, nine were in the South, the report said. Children in Western states tended to be far more svelte. Eight of the 10 states with the lowest obesity rates were located in that region. The trust used figures from the National Survey of Children's Health, an effort funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The telephone survey asks parents for their children's ages, races, genders, weights and heights. Almost all the state-by-state rankings we found were based on data from that same survey. Understandably, they came up with similar results. The National Kids Count Program, run by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, used the same data to rank Georgia third in 2007. Its analysis ranked a slightly different group of kids: the number of children age 10-17 who are overweight as well as obese. Those are children whose body mass index is above the 85th percentile for their age and gender. A set of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided different results, but this survey was far from comparable. The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System asks high school students in grades nine through 12 to report whether they are obese. The CDC does not rank states by high school obesity rates, but the data show that in 2009, 12.4 percent of Georgia high schoolers said they were obese. That's the 19th-highest of the states. But again, high schoolers report their own weight for this survey, and they might not be as accurate as their parents. The CDC does conduct a survey in which children are measured in person, but it doesn't break down the data by state. Why are Georgia's kids so heavy? We could locate no studies that answer that question, but there are some hints. The children who are at the highest risk for obesity are minorities or from rural areas, and they make up a large proportion of the state's child population, said Marsha Davis, a professor at the University of Georgia who studies childhood obesity. In rural areas, parents have trouble getting to supermarkets that sell fruits and vegetables. They end up feeding children with junk food they find at gas station convenience stores. For instance, the agricultural industry in South Georgia's Colquitt County ships produce across the country but sells very little locally, Davis said. The obesity rate there is extremely high. So while there is some variance in what surveys tell us, there's widespread agreement that Georgia kids are obese. And by one widely respected measure, Georgia's kids are the second-most obese in the nation. Now, that's not to say you need to throw out your kid's stash of Halloween candy. ""Halloween is fun,"" Davis said. ""The problem is we're having Halloween every day.""."
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8110
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Greta Thunberg says probably had COVID-19, urges #StayAtHome.
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Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg said on Tuesday that while self-isolating after recent travels in Europe she probably came down with COVID-19, and urged other young people to stay at home too if even just a little unwell, to help stop the coronavirus.
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true
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Health News
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Swedish Thunberg said on Instagram she had now recovered from symptoms milder than her latest cold, and may not have suspected COVID-19 had it not been for her father, who had travelled with her, developing more severe symptoms. “Many (especially young people) might not notice any symptoms at all, or very mild symptoms. Then they don’t know they have the virus and can pass it on to people in risk groups,” she said. “We who don’t belong to a risk group have an enormous responsibility, our actions can be the difference between life and death for many others. Please keep that in mind, follow the advice from experts and your local authorities and #StayAtHome to slow the spread of the virus.” The founder of the Fridays for Future youth movement said she had not been tested for the virus but given the combined symptoms and circumstances it was very likely she had it. She had self isolated because she had visited countries hit by coronavirus infection. Fridays for Future calls on politicians to listen to climate scientists and take urgent action to against global warming.
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9067
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HPV testing is better than the Pap test at detecting cervical cancer
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In a 12-year study of more than a million women in the Kaiser Permanente of Northern California system, researchers concluded that the HPV screening test alone may be enough to detect the vast majority of cancers and so-called “pre-cancers” without the added second test known as the Pap test. In the study, women received both tests. The study examined patients who had cancer or pre-cancer to determine whether their disease would have been missed by HPV testing alone. The release states: “Given the rarity of cancers among screened women, the contribution of the Pap test to screening translated to earlier detection of at most five cases per million women per year.” This study concludes that double-testing or co-testing is only protecting a tiny minority of patients, and that a single HPV test may be enough. Even though economics is part of the reason for the study, the release does not tell us how much money might be saved if a single test became the standard of care. Prevention by early detection is a key part of saving lives from cervical cancer. The Pap smear has been widely used in the United States since the 1950s. As a result, the incidence of cervical cancer has dramatically decreased. However, the fact that certain strains of human papilloma virus (HPV) caused almost all cervical cancer was not discovered until decades later. With the introduction of testing for HPV starting after 2000, the role for the Pap and HPV test has been evolving. This study addresses the question of whether it is time to abandon the original Pap test in favor of just using the HPV test — or whether both are better than either alone. The answer seems to be that the Pap smear’s days are numbered.
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true
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Cervical cancer,HPV testing,Oxford University Press USA
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The release includes the idea of costs, but without using any numbers. The two mentions of cost are here: “However, reports of rare HPV-negative, Pap-test positive cancers are motivating continued use of both tests (cotesting) despite increased testing costs.” and here: “Researchers were searching for realistic performance data to quantify the additional benefit of the Pap test component of cotesting, as the costs of intensive screening of all women using two screening tests are substantial.” The readers are not given any framework in which to judge how much more co-testing may cost than single-testing by either of the methods discussed. We are also not given any society-wide idea of what we all might save if both tests were not routinely administered. The release is comparing two different screening methods, which both have benefits, to using either one of them alone. We were especially pleased that the release included a clear description of the benefit using absolute, rather than just a relative, risk number. “Given the rarity of cancers among screened women, the contribution of the Pap test to screening translated to earlier detection of at most five cases per million women per year. Two-thirds (67%) of women found to have cancer up to 10 years of follow-up at Kaiser Permanente were detected by the first cotest performed.” Besides this number, the release included specific numbers for benefits of each test. “HPV-negative/Pap test-positive results preceded only small fractions of cases of precancer (3.6%) and cancer (5.9%); these cancers were more likely to be regional or distant stage than other cases.” The release doesn’t directly explain the harms of cancer screening. The release addresses the harm of omitting one test, but this wasn’t enough to meet our standard. The release states that HPV is “more sensitive than the Pap test for detecting precancer.” But it doesn’t discuss the flip side, which is that many pre-cancers may not go on to become cancer even though all are treated. The release frames the study done by Kaiser Permanente of Northern California as “the most extensive experience of HPV testing incorporated into routine screening in the world.” More than a million women were tested since 2003. There were 623 cancers and 5,369 pre-cancers. Researchers examined these to judge the relative contribution of the Pap and HPV test to identifying cases. These details give readers plenty of information to judge the quality of evidence. There was no disease mongering. The funder (NIH/National Cancer Institute) is listed on a sidebar of EurekAlert! where the release is hosted. We encourage releases to also include funders in the release itself. There do not appear to be any conflicts. The release is about comparing alternative screenings, either co-testing or HPV alone. The report does not address Pap alone (recommended for women under 30 years old). It is implied that these tests are widely available in the US. The release addresses novelty with this summary of the work: “the most extensive experience of HPV testing incorporated into routine screening in the world.” The long-term study comparing outcomes from two long used screening tests is novel. We found no unjustifiable language.
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8446
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Explainer: What are coronavirus antibody tests?.
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With most Americans under stay-at-home orders to help contain the spread of the novel coronavirus and more than 2 million people infected globally, talk is turning to how antibody tests might help guide efforts to lift these restrictions.
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true
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Health News
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Unlike tests to diagnose diseases, antibody tests show who has been infected and recovered. The body makes antibodies in response to many illnesses and infections, including other coronaviruses. New blood tests are being developed to identify antibodies unique to SARS-CoV-2, the official name of the new coronavirus. The tests look for two kinds of antibodies: immunoglobulin M (IgM) and G (IgG). The body quickly produces IgM antibodies for its initial attack against infections. It makes IgG antibodies more slowly and retains them longer; IgG antibodies suggest possible immunity. Some companies are developing finger-prick tests that get results in minutes. Others are developing far more accurate tests called enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) that require sending blood samples to a lab for analysis. “I would argue that in the present circumstance, sensitivity, specificity and accuracy are more important than convenience,” said Dr. James Zehnder, director of clinical pathology at Stanford Medicine in California. Labs across the country are developing antibody tests that could be widely available within weeks, said Dr. Elitza Theel, director of the Infectious Diseases Serology Laboratory at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. It is not yet clear how many tests will be needed - but that number could run into the hundreds of millions - or when supplies will be adequate. More than 60 vendors have notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of plans to release antibody tests, Theel said. The FDA will allow release of some tests without standard review if developers determine they are accurate. Abbott Laboratories (ABT.N) launched a lab-based IgG antibody test on Wednesday without going through FDA review and is expecting to ship nearly one million tests this week alone. Dozens of manufacturers are also seeking FDA approval for antibody tests under an accelerated emergency review process. Earlier this month, Cellex Inc became the first company to win emergency approval for an ELISA test. BioMedomics Inc and Becton Dickinson and Co (BDX.N) have launched a point-of-care finger-prick test and said they expect to supply more than one million tests over the coming months. As tests flood the market, accuracy will vary, Theel warned. “We have to make sure the test we are using is giving us the most accurate results,” she said. An ELISA test for IgG antibodies being developed at Mayo Clinic correctly identifies who has coronavirus antibodies more than 95% of the time, Theel said. Antibody tests can help calculate what portion of the population has already been infected, as well as whether infections were mild or severe. Governments and companies could use antibody tests to determine who would most likely be safe to return to work and public interactions, and whether it is safe to lift stay-at-home orders all at once in some regions or in stages based on infection risk. People with negative antibody tests or very low antibody levels would likely have higher risk of infection than people with high antibody levels. While antibodies to many infectious diseases typically confer some level of immunity, whether that is the case with this unique coronavirus is not yet known. And how strong immunity might be, or how long it might last in people previously infected, is not clear. With some diseases like measles the immunity can be lifelong. With others, immunity can wane over time. “We cannot know with certainty that reinfection is not possible until further research is performed,” said Dr. David Reich, president and chief operating officer of The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
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3468
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Incubation period ends for possible Denver measles exposure.
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Health officials say an incubation period has expired for people who may have been exposed to three children infected with measles and had traveled from New Zealand to Los Angeles and to Denver last month.
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true
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Colorado, Health, Measles, General News, Denver, New Zealand
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had issued warnings for travelers who passed through Denver International Airport or Los Angeles International Airport on Dec. 11. Colorado’s Tri-County Health Department told KCNC-TV that the incubation period expired Friday. The department’s Dr. Bernadette Albanese says authorities detected a secondary case of measles affecting a passenger on the international flight. She says that individual lives outside Colorado and that Tri-State had no additional information. In Colorado, Tri-County notified 258 people who were at Children’s Hospital Colorado on Dec. 12 while the infected children were being treated there. No new cases were reported. The children who contracted the highly contagious disease did not have the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. Measles symptoms include high fever, cough, runny nose, watery eyes and a rash. The illness can lead to pneumonia and swelling of the brain.
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18281
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"One person, Kathleen Sebelius, was going to determine whether or not"" 10-year-old lung patient Sarah Murnaghan would live or die."
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"Limbaugh said that ""one person, Kathleen Sebelius, was going to determine whether or not"" 10-year-old lung patient Sarah Murnaghan would live or die, essentially serving as a one-woman ""death panel."" It’s true that Sebelius played an appeals role in the transplant-policy process. However, she was not the only person or entity that did -- existing rules, medical experts and a federal judge also played a role in Murnaghan’s case. In addition, Sebelius didn’t have the power to grant or revoke life; many factors, including the availability and suitability of organs, will ultimately determine her likelihood of survival. UPDATE: On June 12, 2013, Murnaghan underwent lung transplant surgery."
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false
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National, Children, Health Care, Public Health, Pundits, Rush Limbaugh,
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"Many Americans were transfixed recently by the story of Sarah Murnaghan, a 10-year-old Pennsylvania girl with cystic fibrosis whose family won a court battle to improve her chances of getting a lung transplant. Under the existing transplant rule, Murnaghan was too young to qualify for a place on the waiting list for adult lungs. So the girl’s family asked Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, to waive the rule. On May 31, 2013, Sebelius did order a policy review of the age requirements, but that option could take months -- likely longer than the girl could afford to wait. Sebelius declined to waive the rule in a way that would quickly aid her. Sebelius explained her reasoning to a House committee, saying ""there are about 40 very seriously ill Pennsylvanians over the age of 12 also waiting for a lung transplant, and three other children in the Philadelphia (area) at the same acuity rate as Sarah waiting for a lung transplant. The decisions of the … transplant committee -- which is not bureaucrats; it's transplant surgeons and health care providers who design the protocol -- are based on their best medical judgment of the most appropriate way to decide allocation in an impossibly difficult situation."" But Sebelius found herself overruled on June 5, 2013, when U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson ordered her to temporarily waive the rule, allowing Murnaghan to join the adult list. At the House committee hearing, two Republican lawmakers -- Reps. Tom Price of Georgia and Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania-- grilled Sebelius about her role in the Murnaghan case. Soon after, conservative commentators, including Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, took up the 10-year-old’s cause and used it to criticize the Obama administration. Sebelius had already been under attack from conservatives for her role in implementing President Barack Obama’s health care law. In discussing the Murnaghan case, Limbaugh drew a parallel with Sarah Palin's famous ""death panels"" claim, which suggested that the government could determine who lives and dies. (We awarded it our 2009 Lie of the Year.) On his June 6 show, Limbaugh told listeners, ""Until the judge moved in, Kathleen Sebelius was the death panel. One person, Kathleen Sebelius, was going to determine whether or not (Murnaghan lived or died), and she said, ‘Some people live. Some people die.’ … All the while, the regime is denying, of course, that there were death panels and that Obamacare was not going to be doing this, and everybody knew that it was."" We wondered whether Limbaugh was correct when he said that Sebelius was the sole decision maker. Where Limbaugh has a point Limbaugh is correct that Sebelius did have the power to overrule the age requirements of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network -- the entity that oversees transplants in the United States. According to the current organ-transplant rules, which were adopted under President Bill Clinton, the network’s board of directors is responsible for developing ""policies for the equitable allocation"" of organs. However, the rules allow an appeals process to the HHS secretary. The secretary can either reject the complaint, direct the network to ""revise the policies or practices"" or ""take such other action as the secretary determines appropriate."" It’s worth noting that the HHS secretary has not traditionally taken a hands-on role overseeing day-to-day transplant policy. And historically, a decision to change the rules based on one or two patients’ cases would be unusual, said I. Glenn Cohen, co-director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School. Still, Tait Sye, an HHS spokesman, did not dispute that Sebelius had a role in the process. He said that Sebelius’ decision not to issue a waiver -- at least until told by the judge to do so -- stemmed from her belief that medical experts, not a government official, should take priority. ""The interest of patients on the transplant list will not be well served by having an individual reach in and unilaterally change an organ allocation policy,"" Sye said. Given the specifics of the Murnaghan case, we think it’s reasonable to say that Sebelius, in her role as a source of appeal for the transplantation network, had a role in determining the likelihood of the girl being placed on a transplant list. How Limbaugh ignored others involved in the decision The problem with Limbaugh’s claim is that he uses the term ""one person,"" boiling down what amounts to a life-or-death question to Sebelius alone. That’s not accurate. For starters, if Sebelius had given her blessing immediately to the transplant-list switch, it wouldn’t have determined Murnaghan’s life or death. Switching Murnaghan to the adult list would likely improve her chance of survival, but whether she actually survives depends on the availability of organs, whether they match with Murnaghan’s blood type, who else ranks ahead of her on the list, how well her own health holds up while awaiting surgery, and how successful the transplant surgery is. More importantly, the system for deciding who gets organ transplants includes several layers of responsibility. The guidelines were put together in an exhaustive rulemaking process, with wide public input. On an ongoing basis, the medical experts on the network’s board interpret and enforce these rules. Then, Sebelius serves as a court of appeal. Finally, a federal judge has the power to overrule her appeal, as one did in this case. So there are many people who collectively enforce and interpret the rules. ""The national organ-allocation network is developed around a consensus of medical expertise and is meant to apply to all transplant candidates ... not to apply uniquely to one individual,"" said Joel Newman, a spokesman for the United Network for Organ Sharing, which manages the organ-sharing network under contract to the Department of Health and Human Services. Newman added that the rules ""are designed to provide as many individuals as possible an equitable opportunity to receive a transplant."" Several bioethicists we contacted said that despite the obvious sympathy people have for patients like Murnaghan, Sebelius had sound reasons to act as she did. ""I don't think it would be proper to change the rules for one person rather than alter the entirety of the criteria for who gets priority,"" Cohen said. Arthur Caplan, a New York University bioethicist, agreed. ""The system of rules is built on decisions by medical and transplant experts in the area, in this case lungs,"" he said. ""No one person can or should have all authority over rationing organs. Appeals to the government or the courts need to be weighed carefully, because by intervening, the authority and legitimacy of an evidence-based, neutral system is put into doubt, and that is not a good thing for society or those waiting for transplants."" Jonathan Moreno, a professor of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania, noted that a switch in Murnaghan’s status is not risk-free. ""Her medical condition, size and other factors compromise her chances, and a failure here means two dead -- Sarah, and the patient who didn't get the organ,"" Moreno said. Our ruling Limbaugh said that ""one person, Kathleen Sebelius, was going to determine whether or not"" 10-year-old lung patient Sarah Murnaghan would live or die, essentially serving as a one-woman ""death panel."" It’s true that Sebelius played an appeals role in the transplant-policy process. However, she was not the only person or entity that did -- existing rules, medical experts and a federal judge also played a role in Murnaghan’s case. In addition, Sebelius didn’t have the power to grant or revoke life; many factors, including the availability and suitability of organs, will ultimately determine her likelihood of survival. UPDATE: On June 12, 2013, Murnaghan underwent lung transplant surgery."
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26726
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“Coronavirus Hoax: Fake Virus Pandemic Fabricated to Cover-Up Global Outbreak of 5G Syndrome.”
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No credible evidence has emerged to show that the current coronavirus spreading around the world was fabricated. The best evidence is that the virus originated in an animal and spread to humans.
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false
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Public Health, Technology, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts,
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"Tentacles of lightning illuminate a stormy sky. Three people wear medical face masks, worry visible in their eyes. Next to those two images is one more that reads simply ""5G"" — a reference to the fifth-generation of wireless networking technology. These ominous pictures accompany this headline on a story being shared widely on Facebook: ""Coronavirus Hoax: Fake Virus Pandemic Fabricated to Cover-Up Global Outbreak of 5G Syndrome."" The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Please strike this claim from your list of things to worry about: This is just one more coronavirus assertion without evidence. As we’ve mentioned before, the best available information is that this virus started with an animal. The article appears on the Millennium Report, an anti-5G website that includes a section on the rollout of 5G, which ""greatly endangers"" the health of ""every person in the USA."" The article cites no verifiable evidence of this claim. Instead, it alleges that the coronavirus discovered in Wuhan, China, was ""staged to cover-up the public health crisis caused by the intensive 5G roll-out in Wuhan in 2019."" It attributes the information to an unnamed ""intelligence analyst and former U.S. Army officer."" 5G is the latest upgrade to wireless systems that deliver data to mobile phones and other devices. As in, faster, faster, faster. It involves the federal government selling wireless spectrum used for the technology and more cell towers being located in populated rather than rural areas. Is there reason to worry about possible health effects? Perhaps. Joel Moskowitz, director of the Center for Family and Community Health in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, supports a moratorium on 5G development. He wrote in Scientific American that there could be health effects and that research needs to be funded. But other reports say fears are overblown: ""The vast majority of evidence says there’s no reason to pause deployments."" — Rod Waterhouse, an electrical engineer, wireless-communications entrepreneur and editor of a report on 5G, speaking to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ""There’s little reason to think 5G frequencies are any more harmful than other types of electromagnetic radiation, like visible light."" — Wired magazine ""The 5G Health Hazard That Isn’t — How one scientist and his inaccurate chart led to unwarranted fears of wireless technology."" — New York Times headline These concerns about 5G aside, there is no evidence that the coronavirus has anything to do with wireless technology. The current coronavirus — which causes the respiratory disease known as COVID-19 — is spreading internationally. As of March 8, 2020, it had been detected in more than 100,000 people in more than 100 countries, including in the United States. Here’s what we know about how it emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China: COVID-19 ""is a zoonotic virus"" — that is, it was spread from animals to humans — according to a report from 25 international experts, including some from China and the U.S., convened by the World Health Organization. Bats ""appear to be the reservoir of COVID-19 virus,"" but the intermediate host or hosts — that is, how it went from bats to humans — has not been identified. Such viruses often originate in bats, although they sometimes can jump to another species before infecting humans. Chinese researchers have found a possible link between COVID-19 and pangolins, a mammal entirely covered in scales. Early on, many of the patients in Wuhan had some link to a large seafood and live animal market, suggesting animal-to-person spread, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Later, a growing number of patients reportedly did not have exposure to animal markets, indicating person-to-person spread. The headline of an article shared on Facebook claimed, without verifiable evidence: ""Coronavirus Hoax: Fake Virus Pandemic Fabricated to Cover-Up Global Outbreak of 5G Syndrome."" World experts say the virus originated in an animal — perhaps in a bat that transmitted the virus to another animal, and then to humans."
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354
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Purdue's Sackler family fights 'inflammatory' Massachusetts opioid case.
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Members of the Sackler family behind OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP have asked a judge to toss a lawsuit by the Massachusetts attorney general that claims they helped fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic, arguing it contains “misleading and inflammatory allegations.”
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true
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Health News
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The wealthy family in a motion on Monday argued that Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s lawsuit mischaracterized internal records to create the “false impression” they personally directed privately-held Purdue’s marketing of painkillers. Her lawsuit, filed in June in Suffolk County Superior Court and revised earlier this year to include new allegations, was the first by a state to try to hold Sackler family members personally responsible for contributing to the opioid epidemic. The case is among roughly 2,000 lawsuits filed mostly by state and local governments seeking to hold Purdue and other pharmaceutical companies responsible for the opioid crisis. Opioids were involved in a record 47,600 overdose deaths in 2017 in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Healey’s complaint cites records to argue that family members, including Purdue’s former President Richard Sackler, personally directed deceptive opioid marketing while making $4.2 billion from Purdue from 2008 to 2016. They did so even after Purdue and three executives in 2007 pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the misbranding of OxyContin and agreed to pay a total of $634.5 million in penalties, the lawsuit said. But in their motion, the Sacklers said nothing in the complaint supports allegations they personally took part in efforts to mislead doctors and the public about the benefits and addictive risks of opioids. They said their role was limited to that of typical corporate board members who participated in “routine” votes to ratify the management’s staffing and budget proposals. “Not a single document shows an individual director engaging in any unlawful conduct regarding the sale of prescription opioids or ordering anyone else to do so,” the Sacklers’ lawyers wrote. Healey, in a statement, called the motion “an attempt to avoid accountability.” At least 35 states have cases pending against Purdue. Four have also named Sackler family members as defendants, including Richard Sackler, Theresa Sackler and Mortimer D.A. Sackler. Last week, Purdue reached its first settlement in the recent wave of lawsuits, agreeing with the Sacklers to a $270 million deal with Oklahoma’s attorney general. Oklahoma’s lawsuit did not name Sacklers as defendants. Purdue had been exploring filing for bankruptcy before the accord’s announcement, Reuters reported in early March.
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1709
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Slash sugar intake to fight obesity, tooth decay: WHO.
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Adults and children from the Americas to Western Europe and the Middle East must roughly halve the amount of sugar they consume to lower risk of obesity and tooth decay, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.
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true
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Health News
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New guidelines mean people should reduce the amount to less than 10 percent of their daily energy intake — or to about 50 grams or 12 teaspoons of sugar for adults, the U.N. agency said. A cut to less than 5 percent would be even better at helping prevent chronic diseases linked to poor diets including heart disease, cancers and diabetes, it added. “The reason we are focusing on sugar is that we really have seen the important association with weight gain and obesity is a major public health concern for many countries, an increasing concern,” the Director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition for Health and Development, Dr. Francesco Branca, told a briefing. The WHO’s recommendations cover free sugars such as glucose and fructose, and sucrose or table sugar added to processed foods and drinks. They do not cover sugar found naturally in fresh fruit, vegetables and milk. The current average in South America was 130 grams per adult per day, in North and Central America 95 grams, in Western Europe about 101 grams and 90 grams in the Middle East, Branca said. Equatorial and southern Africa has the lowest average of 30 grams. “Where do we find free sugars, in reality we find them in a large number of products, in fact in the majority of products,” he added. One can of sugar-sweetened soda contains up to 40 grams (around 10 teaspoons) of sugar, while orange and apple juices have between 24-26 grams, he said. “Actually it is very easy to exceed the recommendation of 12 teaspoons if you think of having maybe a bowl of breakfast cereals in the morning, then maybe you have a can of soda sometime during the day, then you have for dinner a sweetened yogurt, you are already above the 10 percent. You are already at approximately 15 teaspoons,” Branca said. Global sugar consumption from a daily average of about 58 grams per person in 2003 to 63 grams in 2013, is up about 10 percent, according to the WHO. The Sugar Association, a U.S. trade group, slammed the guideline, saying in a statement it used “weak and inconsistent data” to link sugar intake with chronic diseases.
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7971
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Australia begins pre-clinical testing for coronavirus vaccine.
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Australia’s national science agency said on Thursday it has commenced the first stage of testing potential vaccines for COVID-19, as it joins a global race to halt the coronavirus pandemic.
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true
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Health News
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Pre-clinical testing by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), comprising injecting ferrets with two potential vaccines, was underway at its high-containment biosecurity facility near Melbourne. The first phase testing would take around three months, CSIRO’s director of health Rob Grenfell told Reuters, adding that any resulting vaccine would not be available to the public before late next year. “We’re still sticking to the optimistic 18 months for delivery of vaccine to the general consumers,” Grenfell said from Melbourne in an interview over Skype. “Now this, of course, may change. There’s a lot of technical challenges that we’re having to go through.” Grenfell said scientists were working at a “remarkable” pace, reaching the pre-clinical testing stage in about eight weeks, a process that usually takes up to two years. “So, this is the speed that’s going on at the moment.” More than 850,000 people have been infected with the novel coronavirus across 207 countries and territories, killing more than 42,000. Australia has reported around 5,200 cases and 24 deaths. Grenfell said he expected human trials of one of the two vaccine candidates being tested to begin later this month or early next month. CSIRO said its testing would cover both efficacy and evaluating the best way to administer the vaccine for better protection, including an intra-muscular injection and a nasal spray. CSIRO was the first research organisation outside of China to successfully develop a lab-grown version of the virus to enable pre-clinical studies on COVID-19. In February, it confirmed ferrets reacted to the coronavirus as they shared with humans a particular receptor on their respiratory cells that the virus binds itself to. “If we can stop that virus binding to the ferret receptors in the respiratory system, there’s a very good chance it (vaccine) will work in humans,” Grenfell said. Moderna Inc is the closest publicly known facility to human testing, announcing plans to start a trial in Seattle last month. The U.S. government has cut deals with both Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, and is in talks with at least two other companies, to produce massive quantities of vaccines. Israel has begun testing a COVID-19 vaccine prototype on rodents at its bio-chemical defense laboratory, a source told Reuters on Tuesday. In Australia, thousands of healthcare workers last week entered a trial to see if a century-old vaccine for tuberculosis can fight off the novel coronavirus.
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26326
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“The CDC has recommended mail in voting. That’s what this whole pandemic is about: the election!”
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The CDC recommended in March many ways voters could minimize contact with other people, including voting by mail. The CDC also recommended ways that in-person voting sites could adjust to the pandemic, such as encouraging early voting, drive-up voting and voting at off-peak times. Research shows that the virus’ genetic makeup precludes it from being man-made and, as such, there is no indication that the pandemic’s origin is in any way tied to American elections.
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false
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Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts,
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"The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has encouraged voting by mail, but that doesn’t mean it ruled out in-person voting. ""The CDC has recommended mail in voting. That’s what this whole pandemic is about: the election!"" stated a May 7 Facebook post. In March, the CDC posted recommendations for elections. At the time, many states were slated to have presidential primaries. Some were delayed amid concerns they could hasten transmission of the novel coronavirus, which spreads primarily from person to person through respiratory droplets expelled while breathing, speaking, coughing and sneezing. The CDC’s recommendations listed voting by mail as one of multiple options. The CDC recommended that election officials ""encourage voters to use voting methods that minimize direct contact with other people and reduce crowd size at polling stations."" Those specific recommendations included encouraging ""mail-in methods of voting if allowed in the jurisdiction."" It also encouraged early voting, drive-up voting and voting at off-peak times. The CDC also recommended moving polling sites away from homes for senior citizens, sanitizing election equipment and encouraging social distancing at polling sites. We contacted the CDC to see if there had been additional guidance since March and did not get a response. It’s important to note that the CDC’s recommendations are intended as public health guidance; they aren’t equivalent to law. Generally, states set laws that outline their rules for voting by mail, early voting and Election Day voting. Local officials administer elections, which means the CDC can’t ban in-person voting. Just a handful of states hold only mail-in voting by law. In the other states, elections officials expect a massive increase in requests for absentee ballots, but they are still planning to provide in-person voting options. California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered that all eligible voters receive absentee ballots, however there will be in-person voting sites as well. But the pandemic’s origin is in no way tied to the American election. The COVID-19 infection outbreak was first detected in China in late December and quickly spread internationally. The World Health Organization declared it a pandemic on March 11. Research shows that the genetic makeup of the virus precludes it from being man-made. A Facebook post said ""The CDC has recommended mail in voting. That’s what this whole pandemic is about: the election!"" In March, the CDC issued multiple recommendations to reduce the chance that voters would interact with each other, including voting by mail. But the CDC also recommended other ways voters could cast ballots, including at early voting sites or at off-peak times on election day. It also recommended precinct-level strategies for in-person voting such as encouraging social distancing and sanitizing election equipment. What’s more, there is no indication that the pandemic’s origin is tied to American elections."
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2151
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Happiness makes for a healthy heart.
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People who are usually happy and enthusiastic are less likely to develop heart disease than those who tend to be glum, scientists said on Thursday, and boosting positive emotions could help cut heart health risks.
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true
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Health News
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Andee Shuster and Ben Urovitch kiss as in front of a heart shaped sculpture outside the Montreal Museum of Arts, February 13, 2005. U.S. researchers said their observational study was the first to show an independent relationship between positive emotions and coronary heart disease, but stressed that more work was needed before any treatment recommendations could be made. “We desperately need rigorous clinical trials in this area. If the trials support our findings, then these results will be incredibly important in describing specifically what clinicians and/or patients could do to improve health,” Karina Davidson of Columbia University Medical Center wrote in the study in the European Heart Journal. Heart disease is the leading killer of men and women in Europe, the United States and most industrialized countries. Together with diabetes, cardiovascular diseases accounted for 32 percent of all deaths around the world in 2005, according to the World Health Organization. Over 10 years, Davidson and her team followed 1,739 men and women who were taking part in a large health survey in Canada. Trained nurses assessed the participants’ heart disease risk and measured negative emotions like depression, hostility and anxiety, as well as positive emotions like joy, happiness, excitement, enthusiasm and contentment — collectively known as a “positive affect”. The researchers ranked the “positive affect” across five levels ranging from “none” to “extreme” and found that for each rank the risk of heart disease fell by 22 percent. Davidson, who led the research, said her findings suggested it might be possible to help prevent heart disease by enhancing people’s positive emotions. “Participants with no positive affect were at a 22 percent higher risk of ... heart attack or angina ... than those with a little positive affect, who were themselves at 22 percent higher risk than those with moderate positive affect,” she wrote. “We also found that if someone who was usually positive had some depressive symptoms at the time of the survey, this did not affect their overall lower risk of heart disease.” Smoking, being overweight, a history of heart problems in the family and high blood pressure are traditionally seen as major risk factors for heart disease, but studies have also linked such things as intelligence and income levels to heart risks. Research published last week found intelligence is second only to smoking as a predictor of heart disease. Ellen Mason of the British Heart Foundation (BHF) advocacy group said Thursday’s study echoed previous findings which had prompted the BHF to delve deeper. “The BHF is funding science to unravel the biology that underlies this link,” she said. Davidson’s team said one possible reason for the link between happiness and heart risk could be that people who are happier tend to have longer periods of rest or relaxation, and may recover more quickly from stressful events and not spend as much time “re-living” them.
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8864
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Vietnam military to test bird flu vaccine on humans.
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Vietnam, one of the countries hardest-hit by bird flu, will start a human vaccine trial this month, a military medical official said on Tuesday.
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true
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Health News
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A worker injects a duckling with the bird flu vaccine at a duck farm following an outbreak of bird flu, in Panyu district of Guangzhou, September 18, 2007. Vietnam, one of the countries hardest-hit by bird flu, will start a human vaccine trial this month, a military medical official said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Joe Tan The official did not give a specific date but said the Health Ministry had approved testing that would last eight months at the Military Medical Academy in Ha Tay province near Hanoi. “We are going to conduct the tests at the academy, with people joining on a voluntary basis, including students and employees,” said the official, who asked not to be identified in the media. The academy had been licensed by the Ministry of Health to conduct the trial but it still required permission from the Ministry of Defence, the official said. A company run by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology said in a statement on its Web site (www.vabiotechvn.com) that it would produce six million doses per year for application on both humans and poultry should the tests be successful. Five people have died of bird flu in Vietnam so far this year out of six reported H5N1 infections. The World Health Organisation has recorded 51 deaths in Vietnam since late 2003 out of 235 people killed among 372 known cases globally. WHO in Vietnam said it was not directly involved in the Communist-run Southeast Asian country’s development of a human vaccine for the H5N1 virus. “Our understanding is that this would be for local issue only and that the Ministry of Health has rigorous guidelines for quality control,” said Dida Connor, WHO spokeswoman in Hanoi. The Company for Vaccine and Biological Production No.1, known as Vabiotech, said in its statement that the vaccine used for poultry would be 1.5 microgram per dose, or one tenth the dose for humans. On March 2, GlaxoSmithKline company said a vaccine it designed to protect people against H5N1 may be effective in warding off a few different sub-types of the virus. In an Asian clinical trial involving 1,206 adults in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, the vaccine produced antibodies that not only neutralised the H5N1 virus found in Vietnam, but also the variant now dogging Indonesia. A vaccine designed using a current H5N1 strain might not offer protection against other strains and might even be useless against any eventual pandemic strain because viruses mutate all the time. Still, experts say the process of making vaccines will lay down the necessary infrastructure so that the time used to make an eventual pandemic vaccine — anywhere between 4 to 6 months after a pandemic begins — can be shortened.
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13660
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"Legal prescription drugs ""statistically kill 100,000 people a year, (but) there are no documented deaths due to marijuana."
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"Johnson said that marijuana competes with ""legal prescription drugs that statistically kill 100,000 people a year and there are no documented deaths due to marijuana."" Marijuana is far less toxic than many prescription painkillers, which kill tens of thousands of people every year. Marijuana has never killed anyone through overdose, but Johnson’s vague claim leaves out the crucial fact that marijuana has played a role in accidental deaths. And the number of prescription drug deaths isn't estimated to be as high as Johnson said. The claim is partially accurate but leaves out important context."
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mixture
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National, Drugs, Marijuana, Gary Johnson,
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"Gary Johnson, the libertarian 2016 presidential candidate, recently assailed strict federal regulations on marijuana, saying that the drug causes far less harm when compared with legal drugs. Johnson was asked about the potential public health dangers of marijuana in states where it was recently legalized, during a CNN libertarian town hall on Aug. 3, 2016. He responded by arguing that the drug hasn’t actually killed anyone, and that prescription drugs are far more dangerous. ""I just think that so much research and development needs to take place that hasn't taken place. And that marijuana products deal -- or compete directly with legal prescription drugs that statistically kill 100,000 people a year, and there are no documented deaths due to marijuana."" Johnson later repeated the claim during an Aug. 10 interview with On Point with Tim Ashbrook, a call-in radio show. Many supporters of marijuana legalization like to say that the drug poses no grave risks to a person’s health, but how does it actually compare with prescription drugs in terms of death statistics? We decided to dive into the data to find out. Clearing up the contextual smoke One immediate problem with Johnson’s claim is that it leaves out important context about how a drug can actually kill someone. Drugs directly kill people through toxic overdoses, but they can also indirectly kill people by causing accidents. We’ll look at both cases for marijuana. (The Johnson campaign did not respond to requests for clarification.) We decided to look at direct overdose deaths first. It’s very difficult to overdose on marijuana’s active ingredient. A review study comparing the acute lethal toxicity of commonly abused drugs shows that the lethal dose for marijuana (around 15 grams or above) is at least 1,000 times greater than the effective dose (15 milligrams), or the dose required to achieve a noticeable effect. In contrast, alcohol can become lethal at only 10 times the effective dose. Additionally, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration drug sheet for marijuana reports that no deaths from marijuana overdose have ever been recorded. However, marijuana has played an indirect role in fatalities. Experts that we talked with agreed that the drug itself doesn’t cause major acute health problems and is far safer than other medications. However, they said that it can still dangerously inhibit someone’s ability to make safe decisions. Dr. Ryan Vandrey, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University who specializes in the behavioral effects of marijuana, stressed that looking only at deaths from direct overdoses is a narrow way of examining a drug’s health effects. ""Too often individuals cite that individuals haven’t died from cannabis -- I don’t think that’s true. It certainly can be argued that cannabis use has contributed to the deaths of individuals, such as due to impairment during driving,"" he said. Dr. Jerome Avorn, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, told us, ""The main risk from marijuana is from the risky or stupid things people do after using it, such as driving, rather than from any toxic effects of the substance itself, which is remarkably safe."" A 2013 literature review article noted that higher levels of THC in the blood are associated with substantial driving impairment and a higher risk of accidents, especially when combined with moderate alcohol consumption. However, the authors emphasized that more research needs to be done on the issue. Other accidental deaths involve marijuana users who seemingly became out of touch with reality and took reckless actions. A report from 2015 detailed the case of a 19-year-old male who jumped off a balcony after consuming multiple servings of a marijuana cookie. The study suggests that a high enough dose of THC can result in a greater risk of ""adverse psychological effects."" In summary, it appears that marijuana doesn’t directly cause overdose deaths, but there are documented cases where it likely led to accidental fatalities.The exact number of marijuana-related deaths that occur annually is difficult to pin down. One more caveat: synthetic marijuana has been attributed to overdose deaths. However, the experts we talked with told us that these drugs have nothing to do with marijuana and are a completely different class of substances. How about prescription drugs? As with marijuana, Johnson was unclear about whether he was referring to only prescription drug overdoses or to all deaths associated with prescription drugs, such as though allergies or deadly complications. Deaths from prescription drug overdoses are very common in the United States. The National Institute of Drug Abuse’s website shows that approximately 25,000 people died from prescription drug overdoses in 2014. Around 19,000 of these deaths came from prescription opioid pain relievers such as methadone and oxycodone. But Johnson said that prescription drugs, ""statistically kill 100,000 people every year."" Where is he getting his data from? There’s a study from 1998 that showed there were over 100,000 fatal ""adverse drug reactions"" in hospital patients in the U.S. However, the study is 18 years old, and the National Institute for Drug Abuse told us that the study was based on invalid calculations that overestimated the number of deaths. Dr. Avorn emphasized that counting all deaths from prescription drugs is ""horrendously complicated,"" and that estimates vary wildly. A recent article in the New York Times pointed out how the interplay between a large number of potential causes of death makes it difficult to determine how many people die from improperly administered prescription drugs or other ""medical errors."" Although Johnson’s claim is difficult to verify, the data show that at least tens of thousands of people do die from prescription drugs yearly. Our ruling Johnson said that marijuana competes with ""legal prescription drugs that statistically kill 100,000 people a year and there are no documented deaths due to marijuana."" Marijuana is far less toxic than many prescription painkillers, which kill tens of thousands of people every year. Marijuana has never killed anyone through overdose, but Johnson’s vague claim leaves out the crucial fact that marijuana has played a role in accidental deaths. And the number of prescription drug deaths isn't estimated to be as high as Johnson said. The claim is partially accurate but leaves out important context.
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10243
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New Antibiotic Packs a Punch Against Bacterial Resistance
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The news release reports on the development of a new “mechanism of action” in the antibiotic vancomycin. However, while the release tells readers that vancomycin now has “new superpowers,” which “could eliminate the threat of antibiotic-resistant infections for years to come,” the new form of vancomycin has yet to be tested in an animal model — much less gone through the clinical trials in humans that would be necessary to determine how viable the new form may be in treating patients on any kind of widespread basis. The release also says that “bacteria are only now developing resistance” to vancomycin — which is misleading. Vancomycin-resistant bacteria were first reported in 1987, 30 years ago — and papers (like this one) on how to limit the spread of vancomycin resistance date back more than 20 years. Is the new work interesting? Absolutely. But it is much too early to bandy about the kind of language used here. The rise of antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens is a huge problem. As the 2015 paper, “The Antibiotic Resistance Crisis,” states: “The rapid emergence of resistant bacteria is occurring worldwide, endangering the efficacy of antibiotics, which have transformed medicine and saved millions of lives. Many decades after the first patients were treated with antibiotics, bacterial infections have again become a threat.” And that’s not an overstatement. The paper goes on to note that antibiotic-resistant strains of MRSA bacteria alone “kill more Americans each year than HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, emphysema, and homicide combined.” In other words, developments regarding new antibiotics that work against bacterial infections are certainly newsworthy. They do not, however, benefit from being over-hyped. The advance discussed in this news release is interesting and newsworthy, but it is several steps removed from clinical relevance — and that is far from clear in the news release.
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false
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Independent research center news release
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Cost is not addressed at all, likely because so much work remains to be done before the modified vancomycin is clinically relevant. However, if it’s not too early to talk about the clinical relevance of the findings (which the release does), then it is not too early to talk about potential cost — at least in broad terms. Given that producing the modified vancomycin currently involves a 30-step process (which researchers are hoping to streamline), the cost may be considerable. The release goes so far as to say that “the new vancomycin’s lifesaving powers make its production valuable.” If they’re willing to say that, it would have been worthwhile to discuss, in a sentence or two, whether this new version of vancomycin may be more expensive than existing antibiotics. At any rate, cost should not have been overlooked completely. The release tells readers that “Combined with the previous modifications, this [new] alteration gives vancomycin a 1,000-fold increase in activity, meaning doctors would need to use less of the antibiotic to fight infection.” It’s not entirely clear what this means. Does it kill relevant bacteria more quickly? More efficiently? Clinical trials in humans haven’t been conducted, so it’s not clear what the benefits would look like in patients — and the release doesn’t tell readers that. As the final sentence in the abstract of the scientific article states: “Such antibiotics are expected to display durable antimicrobial activity not prone to rapidly acquired clinical resistance.” No where could we find quantifiable benefits of the drug in fighting antibiotic-resistant infection. As noted above, the modified vancomycin hasn’t been tested in human trials. As such, it’s not clear what the potential harms may be. The release doesn’t mention this. And there will almost certainly be potential harms, given that conventional vancomycin has a range of potential side effects, from nausea and diarrhea to kidney damage. Could risk of these potential harms decrease if the modified vancomycin can be used in smaller doses to address bacterial infection? If so, that’s something the release could have addressed. We also understand that some side effects would we a trade-off people might be willing to accept if it turns out the drug could prevent death or painful treatments that can come with an overwhelming bacterial infection. The release tells readers only that the new form of vancomycin was tested against both vancomycin-resistant Enterococci bacteria and Enterococci that are not resistant to the drug. Was the study done using an in vitro model? In vivo testing in an animal model? How large was the n, or sample size? Based on the paper, the modified vancomycin was tested solely in an in vitro model. That would be useful context to provide for readers. The drug needs to be tested in humans before it’s approved and judged to be of clinical relevance. No disease mongering here. The release provides some useful context about vancomycin’s 60-year run as an antibiotic. The funding source is clearly identified, and there does not appear to be a conflict of interest for the researchers. The release would have been stronger if it had clearly stated that there was no conflict of interest. The release doesn’t discuss the other areas of research into developing new drugs that may be useful in addressing antibiotic resistance — and it’s a large field. We would not expect a news release to provide an exhaustive overview of other approaches being taken, but providing a sentence or two about other approaches would be extremely valuable in helping readers to place the new work in context. The release says that “The next step in this research is to design a way to synthesize the modified vancomycin using fewer steps in the lab, as the current method takes 30 steps. But [lead researcher Dale] Boger calls this the ‘easy part’ of the project, compared with the challenge of designing the molecule in the first place.” Readers could be forgiven for thinking that this modified antibiotic could be in pharmacies by Christmas. But a lot of work remains to be done, in terms of both additional studies on safety and efficacy and (presumably) finding pharmaceutical industry partners who want to help this discovery move beyond the lab bench. We say presumably, because the release doesn’t address either of these hurdles. The release doesn’t offer much in the way of specific details, but does make clear that this provides an additional mechanism of action for vancomycin. Presumably it is a mechanism of action not found in other drugs, which is what makes it more valuable in addressing antibiotic resistance, but that is not clear. When saying that research has given a drug “new superpowers,” one expects to find robust and overwhelming data that demonstrates the efficacy of the relevant drug in a clinical setting. That is not the case here. And, frankly, it is difficult to think of a context in which a drug could be accurately described as “magical.” The language is over the top, particularly for a modified drug — even a promising one — that is this far removed from clinical use.
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14942
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"Obamacare insurance cooperative failures ""should be expected"" because they're like any business, and ""when you start businesses in America, at the fifth year, half of the businesses have closed."
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Emanuel said the Obamacare insurance co-ops failed at a rate that’s typical for American businesses over a five-year period. The underlying comparison is flawed. While the age of each co-op is subject to debate, we used the Census Bureau’s definition to determine when they were born. Interviews with experts, government audits, and regulators’ actions point to three years as the typical lifespan of a failed co-op. About 50 percent of the co-ops shut down. Compared to the three-year failure rate in America, the co-ops have done much worse -- cratering at a rate that is about 40 percent faster than average. But Emanuel could turn out to be right. We won’t know the five-year rate for the entire group until late in 2016 or early 2017. If the remaining co-ops are still running, then the group’s failure rate will be close to the national average. Emanuel’s statement is accurate regarding the five-year-average but leaves out important details.
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mixture
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Health Care, PunditFact, Ezekiel Emanuel,
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"It’s sign-up time for Obamacare and while the website is clicking along and the program has succeeded in reducing the ranks of the uninsured, there is one notable sore spot: A $2.4 billion effort to provide low-cost insurance through consumer owned insurance cooperatives is in deep trouble. Out of the 23 co-ops largely funded through Obamacare by federal loans, 12 will no longer offer policies after this year. Republican critics of the president’s signature health care law have focused on these failures. But a staunch defender of the Affordable Care Act, Zeke Emanuel, brother of President Barack Obama’s former chief of staff and bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, downplayed the bad news on MSNBC. ""When you start businesses in America, at the fifth year, half of the businesses have closed,"" Emanuel said on Nov. 3, 2015. ""The idea that some of these co-ops are going to work and some aren’t should be expected. That's what business is about. The idea that 100 percent will succeed is a false metric we don't hold the private sector to."" We decided to dig into Emanuel’s notion that a 50-percent failure rate after five years for businesses applies to these insurance co-ops. Where the co-ops came from When Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, it included $6 billion in loans to launch Consumer Owned and Oriented Plans. The vision was to create nonprofit health insurance companies that would provide low-cost, high quality policies to individuals and small businesses. Without the need to produce a return on investment, these enterprises would, in theory, be able to compete against the major generally for-profit players in the market. In fact, in places where competition was scant, these co-ops would help the market deliver better value for all consumers. Throughout 2012 and 2013, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department approved loans to get the co-ops up and running. After a series of budget cuts, program funding was capped at $2.4 billion. In 2013, the co-ops began selling policies to provide coverage in 2014. The dates are important because it’s doubtful any of these co-ops were five years old as of 2015. If they weren’t five years old, then Emanuel’s benchmark might not be as suitable as he suggested. Emanuel told us that the co-ops launched before 2012. ""Many of these co-ops were started in 2011 and were doing a lot of work to get ready,"" Emanuel told PunditFact. ""To apply for a loan, you had to do some serious analysis about the market and costs. You needed to have a business plan."" On the other hand, Emanuel said there isn’t any perfect comparison data to work with. His real point he said was ""to give some context for the closures,"" and ""to focus on when they began is to miss the forest for the trees."" ""Their age? They were somewhere north of three years old,"" he told us. Scott Harrington is a business professor who focuses on health care finance at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. ""Some of the co-ops didn’t even last two years,"" Harrington said. We looked at the data to help resolve this. Failures accumulate For several decades, the U.S. Census Bureau has tracked the births and deaths of firms in the Business Dynamics Statistics database. We crunched the numbers in two ways -- for all firms and for firms in the finance, insurance and real estate business. That industry group -- known by the acronym FIRE -- is broader than you would want but it’s the closest match to see how the insurance co-ops stack up against approximately similar kinds of firms. The bottom line is that after five years, about 44 percent of all businesses have disappeared. So Emanuel was pretty close when he said about half have closed. But as you might expect, the younger the companies, the lower the failure rate. Here are the average rates from 2000 to 2007, based on Census business data. (We didn’t include 2008 or 2009 because closings spiked during the Great Recession.) Average firm failure rate 2000-2007 After 1 year After 2 years After 3 years After 4 years After 5 years All firms 17% 27% 34% 40% 44% FIRE industry 16% 26% 34% 40% 45% So Emanuel’s comparison ultimately boils down to how old the co-ops were. There is no perfect answer. Emanuel said they existed when they began doing the research to apply for a federal loan. You could say they were born on the day Washington approved their loans. We used the Census Bureau definition. The Census Bureau said it treats the first year a company shows employment in its payroll tax records as the year it was born. We looked at CoOportunity Health in Iowa. It was in the first wave of loan recipients on Feb. 17, 2012. The company’s former Chief Financial Officer Stephen Ringless told us the loan award took the co-op to the next step of securing a state insurance license. When that came through, it hired a few consultants. ""When the company was able to develop a payroll system in early June 2012, those consultants became full-time employees,"" Ringless said. Almost exactly two-and-half years later, on Jan. 29, 2015, the Iowa insurance commissioner moved to liquidate CoOportunity Health. The firm was about $50 million in the red. While some employees were retained as the firm was wound down, as a going concern, its days ended in early 2015. We did not dig into the details of all of the failed co-ops but the CoOportunity timeline seems more or less to apply to many of them. A June 2013 Inspector General’s Office report looked at the 18 co-ops funded in the first half of 2012. The federal auditors said that by the end of 2012, all of the firms were still ""hiring staff, obtaining licensure, and building necessary infrastructure."" By the third quarter of 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported that 12 co-ops would no longer be in business as of 2016. Given all this, it would be reasonable to say the co-ops were three years old when they failed. That would run from mid-way through 2012 -- approximately the time of funding -- until mid-way through 2015 -- approximately the time the closure process was underway. The failure rate was over 50 percent. The corresponding failure rate at the three-year mark for all American businesses and for the broader finance, insurance and real estate sector is 34 percent. The co-ops fared significantly worse than the U.S. average, failing at a rate that is about 40 percent faster than is typical. Harrington at the University of Pennsylvania noted one other significant difference between the co-ops and the typical American start-up. ""How many firms launch with heavy subsidies from the government?"" he asked. Our ruling Emanuel said the Obamacare insurance co-ops failed at a rate that’s typical for American businesses over a five-year period. The underlying comparison is flawed. While the age of each co-op is subject to debate, we used the Census Bureau’s definition to determine when they were born. Interviews with experts, government audits, and regulators’ actions point to three years as the typical lifespan of a failed co-op. About 50 percent of the co-ops shut down. Compared to the three-year failure rate in America, the co-ops have done much worse -- cratering at a rate that is about 40 percent faster than average. But Emanuel could turn out to be right. We won’t know the five-year rate for the entire group until late in 2016 or early 2017. If the remaining co-ops are still running, then the group’s failure rate will be close to the national average. Emanuel’s statement is accurate regarding the five-year-average but leaves out important details."
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11289
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Treatment brings hope for ovarian cancer
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In this story we learn of one of the most important recent advances in the treatment of ovarian cancer. In a randomized trial, intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy extended survival by 16 months compared to standard chemotherapy in women with stage 3 ovarian cancer. It is such an important finding that, in a rare move, the National Cancer Institute issued a statement calling for a change in clinical practice. This AP story adequately represents the prevalence and seriousness of ovarian cancer. The story adequately presents the alternative treatment option (intravenous chemotherapy) and the advantages and disadvantages of the new approach. The clinical evidence is presented accurately (although they did not mention that this was a randomized trial) and the benefits of treatment are presented for both intravenous and intraperitoneal chemotherapy. The story is especially strong in frankly portraying the harms and side effects of treatment, which were so bad that most women in the study were not able to complete the full course of treatment. The author does present a second opinion from an independent source. However, the story did not explain whether or not this treatment is novel, how widely available it is (and, by extension, how many practicitioners are experienced administering the treatment), and the costs or cost-effectiveness. Another major limitation of the story is that they did not attempt to place this treatment within the context of the overall picture of ovarian cancer. This study involved women with stage 3 ovarian cancer. What percentage of ovarian cases does that represent? What does that mean for women who are more/less advanced? The story leaves the reader thinking this treatment would be used for any woman with ovarian cancer, when in reality, we don’t know if it could help women who are more or less advanced than the study population. Presumably it would not be appropriate for early stage disease given the toxicity of the treatment, but what about later stages (which represent a large portion of ovarian cancer patients)?
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true
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No mention of costs The story quantifies the benefits in terms of survival for both intravenous and intraperitoneal chemotherapy. The story gives us balanced information on harms, including the very serious side effects which led to less than half the study population adhering to the full course of chemo. The story accurately represents the nature of the clinical evidence, that this was a controlled trial with 415 women. It should have been more clear that it was a randomized trial. The story accurately represents the prevalence of ovarian cancer and the survival. Independent source is quoted. The author does mention intravenous chemotherapy as the alternative and explains the advantages and disadvantages of the new approach. Clearly this treatment is available in the U.S., but it’s not clear how widely available it is and how many oncologists have experience using it. The story does not mention if the treatment is new or not.
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30270
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Babysitter Nora Jackson was arrested in Florida for tying a baby to a ceiling fan for 26 hours.
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The mugshot was actually taken in 2015 after police arrested several employees at Desyre’s Gentlemen’s Club in Houston on various charges, including prostitution and gambling. The image of the officers was taken from a June 2016 New York Times article about the aftermath of the June 2016 shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando which left nearly 50 people dead.
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false
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Junk News, world news daily report
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On 14 July 2018, the World News Daily Report (WNDR) website published an article reporting that a babysitter in Florida who had been arrested after she tied a 1-month-old to a ceiling fan for 26 hours: A woman has been arrested and charged on multiple accounts of child abuse and neglect after tying a one-month-old baby to a ceiling fan. Nora Jackson, 28, was contacted and hired on Craigslist to take care of a one-month-old baby after the parents had planned to take a day off. Parents of the one-month-old child contacted the Orlando Police Department when they arrived at their residence to find their baby had been tied and suspended from the ceiling fan. There was no truth to this story. The WNDR is a well-known “entertainment” website with a penchant for junk news. The website’s disclaimer states that its content is “entirely fictional” and any resemblance to real people or incidents is “purely a miracle.” In addition to its dubious source, this story could also be debunked via its included images. The WNDR article included one photograph purportedly which was purportedly a mugshot of babysitter Nora Jackson, and a second one supposedly showing the arresting officers: Neither of these images was related to the (fabricated) arrest of an abusive babysitter.
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8974
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New emerging research suggests Montmorency tart cherries may help enhance gut health
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This tiny, industry-sponsored study of how the polyphenols found in Montmorency tart cherries might impact gut bacteria adds to a growing list of similar industry-sponsored studies investigating a wide range of possible health benefits of this domestic cherry. This study did not show that Montmorency tart cherries may enhance gut health, and this news release did not even explain that there’s no scientific consensus on what defines “good” bacteria, “bad” bacteria, or a “healthy” gut. The combination of unjustified language and lack of supportive data is a major weakness of this news release. Yes, the industry sponsorship and limited sample size (9 human subjects) is acknowledged, but other key limitations (lack of control group; reliance on subjects completing diet questionnaires) are not, and the end result is a news release with an arguably promotional tone. The microbiome has become an important line of research into human health but this research is preliminary, at best. So what’s the harm in promoting preliminary research? Check out this customer review of a Walmart tart cherry juice product: It was recommenced that I try this because of an awful gout condition. I bought a few bottles and had them on hand for the next flare up. Well that happened yesterday and I took my cholchicine but drank the entire 32 oz bottle and this morning I am basically pain free! We’re hoping this person wasn’t diabetic. We share this because it shows that plenty of people (there were similar comments related to a host of touted health benefits) will act on unproven nutritional studies that are funded by the companies selling the product, and are brought to the public’s attention (as in this case) by public relation firms whose primary motivation is promotional, not educational.
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false
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cherries,Cherry Marketing Institute,gut health
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The cost of Montmorency tart cherry juice is not mentioned. Walmart sells a quart of concentrate for about $16. The lead author of the study is quoted as saying: Our results suggest that the unique polyphenol mixture in tart cherries may help positively shape the gut microbiome, which could potentially have far-reaching health implications. What are the “far-reaching health implications”? They’re not specified. Nor are any specific benefits described. The release says the researchers analyzed study participants’ stool samples but offers readers no glimpse into the findings or what was measured. Harms are not mentioned. Several tart cherry juices on the market contain substantial amounts of sugar. This is germane since — among the host of diseases cherry juice is claimed to be good for — there are claims that tart cherry juice is actually “good for diabetes.” Although the amounts used in this study were modest, it’s worth noting that some readers might think “more is better” and drink enough to substantially elevate their blood sugar. Further, most physicians do not recommend juice as a source of nutrition, but rather the whole fruit. The research is poorly described and it’s unclear from the release what the primary findings were. We’re told the study had 2 arms: The release also tells us that in the human trial, “the microbiome was positively altered (primarily measured by the increase in good bacteria).” Which bacteria are “good” and why they’re “good” is not explained. And data are not provided. It’s suggested human subjects that ate a more Western diet (“low in fruit, vegetables, and fiber”) … “potentially had a lower ability to metabolize polyphenols” … while those who ate a more plant-based diet (“with a higher intake of carbohydrates and fiber”) responded with an increase in Bacteroides and Bifidobacterium ( 2 types of bacteria). We were glad to see the news release mention that further and larger studies are needed, but it should have mentioned two other key limitations: this study had no control group and it relied on diet questionnaires completed by the subjects. Therefore, it’s quite possible the observed results can be attributed to many factors other than the chemical characteristics of the tart cherries. The significance of this is not explained; rather, we’re offered this conclusion without context or explanation: The results help build the foundation for future research and suggest Montmorency tart cherries can play a role in positively shaping the microbiome and maintaining gut health. The release doesn’t engage in disease-mongering. It also doesn’t provide any context for the type or extent of the problem the intervention (cherry consumption) is intended to help. It’s mentioned that The Cherry Marketing Institute “provided financial support for the study.” It’s not clear if any of the researchers involved have financial ties to the institute. What’s not made clear to readers is that dozens (perhaps hundreds) of foods and beverages are rich sources of polyphenols. We can presume that tart cherry juice is widely available, and the news release does mention that Montmorency cherries are a common domestic variety “available year-round in dried, frozen, canned, and juice forms.” The news release mentions the study is “a first-of-its-kind trial” of humans combined with a parallel laboratory study. It’s mentioned in the published study that, to the authors’ knowledge, this is the “first microbiota/metabolome investigation of the impact and fate of tart cherries and their polyphenols in the human colon.” The use of repeated phrases such as: “enhance gut health … gut-friendly foods … good bacteria … shaping the microbiome” perpetuates and reinforces the erroneous notion that scientists have definitively determined which bacteria are good vs bad, and that we can dictate the “health” of our microbiome by our food choices. To date, there is no research that can unequivocally support these notions. This study does not support such cause-and-effect language or the over-reaching news release headline.
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38986
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Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are radioactive and add more toxicity to the environment than regular light bulbs because they contain mercury.
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Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs) Emit Radiation, Contain Mercury
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mixture
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Health / Medical, Household
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This one is true, false and misleading all at once. There is truth in claims that CFLs give off ultraviolet (UV) radiation and contain mercury, but studies show that those concerns have been exaggerated. The debate over CFLs started in 2007 after President George W. Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act into law. The bill required screw-based light blubs to use fewer watts for similar brightness by 2014 to save energy. The bill also requires most light bulbs to be 60-70% more efficient than regular incandescent light bulbs by 2020. Many have interpreted the law to mean that consumers must use CFLs, but that isn’t the case. The law doesn’t restrict the types of light bulbs that can be sold, just the amount of energy they use. Right now, CFLs and LEDs meet the 2020 energy requirement, according to the bill. But that doesn’t mean more options won’t be available by 2020. Claims that CFLs are radioactive and toxic have been around since Congress introduced the bill. A page posted on the website Live Leak provides one example: “Consider this – instead of saving the environment, CFLs are actually destroying it. CFLs should be thought of as toxic technology, when mercury contamination, ultraviolet radiation, and radio frequency radiation are factored in. From cradle to grave, CFLs pose a danger to people’s health and well being, as well as adding even more toxicity to the environment. In fact, CFLs do not reduce a person’s carbon footprint and may even increase it in some situations. To make matters even worse, CFLs emit harmful levels of electromagnetic radiation. “ Let’s take a look at each of these claims. First, it’s true that CFLs emit ultra-violet (UV) radiation. Researchers at Stony Brook University found that UV leaked from cracks in the phosphor coatings on CFLs. Their study found that CFLs should not be used at close distances and should be placed behind glass covers. The UV radiation was on par with what is given off by standard fluorescent lights, so the risk for skin damage is not great. There is also a small amount of mercury in CFLs, as the eRumor claims. If a bulb breaks, there is some risk of mercury exposure, but, again, it’s not great, the National Institutes of Health reports: “’The amount of mercury gas coming off (broken CFLs) is over a milligram over a few days. If you put that milligram into a poorly ventilated room, the concentration can be over the recommended limit for children,” says Robert Hurt, the director of the Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation. ‘The overall risk is low, but it’s not zero risk, and there is definitely an opportunity to do better.’ “…Hurt’s research suggests that the peak for escaping mercury vapor lasts a few hours. The group also found that plastic bags leaked mercury vapor. ‘This new information may allow for modeling of airborne mercury concentrations following breakage, thus providing the capability to more fully assess the effectiveness of cleanup,’ says Roxanne Smith, a press officer for the EPA.” The EPA’s tips for cleaning up broken CFLs can be found here. Finally, the claim that CFLs add more toxicity to the environment than regular bulbs because of their mercury content is false. CFLs actually reduce the amount of mercury entering the environment because less energy is required to use them. That means less mercury-emitting coal needs to be burned, the National Institutes of Health reports. Comments
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35310
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List describes a number of amazing coincidences that can be found between the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy.
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Other differences: Booth was shot in the back in the neck and lived for another three hours; Oswald was shot in the abdomen and died within minutes of his arrival at Parkland Hospital.
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false
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History, abraham lincoln, American History, john f. kennedy
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Not long after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, the a list of seemingly amazing coincidences between the two men’s lives appeared, and it has been widely and continuously reprinted and circulated ever since: Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946. Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960. The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters. Both were particularly concerned with civil rights. Both wives lost their children while living in the White House. Both Presidents were shot on a Friday. Both were shot in the head. Lincoln’s secretary, Kennedy, warned him not to go to the theatre. Kennedy’s secretary, Lincoln, warned him not to go to Dallas. Both were assassinated by Southerners. Both were succeeded by Southerners. Both successors were named Johnson. Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808. Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908. John Wilkes Booth was born in 1839. Lee Harvey Oswald was born in 1939. Both assassins were known by their three names. Both names are comprised of fifteen letters. Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse. Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater. Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials. Despite the seemingly impressive surface appearance, several of these entries are either misleading or factually incorrect, and the rest are mostly mere superficial coincidences that fail to touch upon the much more substantial differences and dissimilarities that underlie them. Let’s examine them one at a time: Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946. First of all, we have to note (in regard to this and subsequent entries) that two similar events taking place 100 years apart is no more of an “amazing coincidence” than if those events had occurred 92 or 105 years apart; it’s only something we take note of and think special because of our non-logical fascination with round numbers. In this particular case, the statement is literally true as worded: both Lincoln and Kennedy were first elected to Congress one hundred years apart. Aside from that minor similarity, however, their political careers bore little resemblance to each other. Lincoln was an Illinois state legislator who, outside of his election to a single term in the U.S. House of Representatives, failed in his every attempt to gain national political office until he was elected President in 1860, including an unsuccessful bid for the Senate in 1854, a unsuccessful bid to become the Republican vice-presidential candidate in 1856, and another unsuccessful bid for a Senate seat in 1858. Kennedy, on the other hand, enjoyed an unbroken string of political successes at the national level when he entered the political arena after World War II: He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1946, re-elected to the House in 1948, re-elected again in 1950, won a U.S. Senate seat in 1952, was re-elected to the Senate in 1958, and was elected President in 1960. Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960. It’s hardly surprising that two men who (as noted above) both achieved their first political successes at the national level a hundred years apart would also ascend to the Presidency a hundred years apart. This “coincidence” is even less surprising when we consider that presidential elections are held only once every four years. Lincoln couldn’t possibly have been elected President in 1857 or 1858 or 1859 or 1861 or 1862 or 1863, because no presidential elections were held in those years. Likewise, Kennedy couldn’t possibly have been elected President in the non-election years of 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, or 1963. So, even though both men were politically active at the national level during eight-year spans when they might have been elected President, circumstances dictated that the only years during those spans when they both could have been elected were exactly one hundred years apart. We’re also supposed to be amazed at minor happenstances such as the two men’s being elected exactly one hundred years apart, but we’re supposed to think nothing of the numerous non-coincidences: Lincoln was born in 1809; Kennedy was born in 1917. Lincoln died in 1865; Kennedy died in 1963. Lincoln was 56 years old at the time of his death; Kennedy was 46 years old when he died. Lincoln was shot in April; Kennedy was assassinated in November. Lincoln was shot on the 14th day of the month, Kennedy on the 22nd. Also unmentioned is the fact that Lincoln was re-elected to a second term as President, but Kennedy was killed before the completion of his first term. No striking coincidences or convenient hundred-year spans in any of those facts. The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters. Surely this is the most trivial of coincidences, especially when one considers that the average length of presidential surnames is 6.64 letters. No mention is made of the fact that the two men’s first names contain different numbers of letters, and that Kennedy had a middle name (Fitzgerald) while Lincoln had none. Both were particularly concerned with civil rights. Saying that Lincoln and Kennedy were both “particularly concerned with civil rights” is like saying that Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt were both “particularly concerned with war,” or that Herbert Hoover and Ronald Reagan were both “particularly concerned with economics.” Those weren’t subjects these men had evinced a particular overarching interest in; those were issues they were forced to deal with due to events currently taking place in the U.S. which were beyond their control. Both wives lost their children while living in the White House. Another statement that, while literally true, encompasses events that were completely different in circumstance and nature. All of Lincoln’s children were born before he entered the White House, and the Lincolns actually lost two children, not just one (although only one died during Lincoln’s tenure as President). Edward Lincoln died of tuberculosis in 1850, just before his fourth birthday, and the Lincolns’ eleven-year-old son Willie succumbed to typhoid at the end of their first year in the White House. JFK and his wife, on the other hand, were the rare Presidential couple still young enough to be bearing children after entering the White House, and a premature child born to Mrs. Kennedy in 1963 died two days later. Other substantial differences not mentioned: The Lincolns had four children, all boys, only one of whom lived past his teens. JFK and his wife had three children, two boys and a girl, two of whom survived well into adulthood. Both Presidents were shot on a Friday. Another non-surprise. Absent all other factors, the odds were already an unremarkable one in seven that both killings would have occurred on the same day of the week. (No, the odds are not one in forty-nine; that’a common mistake made by statistical novices.) Both were shot in the head. This “coincidence” is another one which is exceedingly trivial in nature. The only two types of shots which reasonably assure a dead victim are chest shots and head shots, so two assassinations committed by head shots aren’t the least bit coincidental — especially when one considers that since both Lincoln and Kennedy were shot from behind and while seated, their assassins had no other practical choice of target. And the “coincidence” here is even less surprising when we note the substantial differences: Lincoln was killed indoors with a small handgun at point blank range; Kennedy was shot outdoors with a rifle from several hundred feet away. Lincoln’s secretary, Kennedy, warned him not to go to Ford’s Theatre. Kennedy’s secretary, Lincoln, warned him not to go to Dallas. This is one of those coincidences that isn’t a coincidence at all; it’s simply wrong. John Kennedy did have a secretary named Evelyn Lincoln (who may or may not have warned him about going to Dallas), but one searches in vain to find a Lincoln secretary named Kennedy. (Lincoln’s White House secretaries were John G. Nicolay and John Hay.) The more important point is that since Presidents are frequent recipients of assassination threats, they rarely make any public appearances without somebody’s warning them of potential danger. Only on the extemely rare occasions when a tragedy actually occurs do we later take note of the warnings; in all other cases the failed “prophecies” are quickly forgotten. (Lincoln received “an unusual number of letters about plots to kidnap or assassinate him,” said to have numbered at least eighty, yet none of those plots were enacted.) Nor does anyone think to mention other attempts at kidnap or assassination that were not preceded by any recorded warnings to the victims. (Lincoln was shot at on at least one other occasion.) Yes, Lincoln was warned not to go to Ford’s Theatre by persons concerned for his safety, just as he had been warned not to visit Richmond a week earlier, and just as he had been warned not to attend his own inauguration in 1861. Obviously, only one of the myriad of warnings he received throughout his four years in office was on the mark. Likewise, Kennedy was warned not to visit San Antonio the day before his trip to Dallas (and undoubtedly before a host of other appearances as well), but only the last warning he allegedly received is considered significant, because it coincidentally happened to come true. As various “psychics” have demonstrated, if you make enough predictions, one of them is eventually bound to come true; the public remembers only that and forgets about all the others failed predictions. Both were assassinated by Southerners. A dubious use of the term “Southerner.” John Wilkes Booth was undeniably a Southern sympathizer, but he was born in Maryland, which (along with Delaware) was the northernmost of the border slave states and remained part of the Union throughout the Civil War. Additionally, Booth spent a good deal of his life in the North and “thought of himself as a Northerner who understood the South.” Oswald was nominally a Southerner by virtue of his having been born in New Orleans; he spent his youth being shuttled between Louisiana, Texas, and New York before finally joining the Marines. But Oswald’s “Southerness” is of no real import, because, unlike Booth, Oswald was not motivated by a regional affiliation. Both were succeeded by Southerners. Both Lincoln and Kennedy were “succeeded by Southerners” because both had Southerners as vice-president, another fact hardly surprising considering the historical circumstances of their times. Lincoln was a Northern Republican running for re-election while the country was in the midst of a civil war and needed a Southerner and a Democrat to balance the ticket, hence his choice of Tennessean Andrew Johnson. Kennedy, represented New England and therefore needed a vice-presidential candidate who could appeal to the populous Southern and Western regions, hence his choice of a Southwesterner, Texan Lyndon Johnson. The identification of Andrew Johnson as a “Southerner” is also a bit problematic here. Although Johnson was born in North Carolina and spent his adult life in Tennessee (both slave states), Johnson was also the only Southern senator who refused to follow his state when it seceded and remained loyal to the Union. Both successors were named Johnson. Given the high frequency of “Johnson” (literally “son of John”) as a surname in both Lincoln’s and Kennedy’s time, this “coincidence” should be no real surprise to anyone. Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808. Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908. Another hundred-year coincidence that is hardly surprising, since nearly all American politicians have attained high office (President or Vice-President) while in the 50-70 age range (and Andrew Johnson and Lyndon Johnson were, obviously, contemporaries of Lincoln and Kennedy, respectively). It’s time again to point out that there’s nothing “coincidental” about events merely because they somehow involve the number 100. If we sifted through all the Lincoln/Kennedy data, we could produce multiple instances of events involving the number 17 or 49 or 116, but nobody would consider those “coincidences” because they don’t yield nice round numbers that have any significance to us, even though they’re all just as “coincidental” as the number 100. And once again, let’s consider all the differences between the two Johnsons, such as that one hailed from North Carolina while the other was from Texas, or that one supported slavery while the other championed civil rights, or that one was never elected President in his own right while the other won the biggest presidential landslide in history, or that one was impeached while the other wasn’t, or that one became President at the end of a war while the other became President at the beginning of a war. John Wilkes Booth was born in 1839. Lee Harvey Oswald was born in 1939. Another coincidence that is no coincidence because it’s plain wrong: Booth was born in 1838, not 1839. His birthday is typically fudged by a year to make it fit a predetermined pattern. Both assassins were known by their three names. Another “coincidence” of dubious veracity. John Wilkes Booth was often billed as “J. Wilkes Booth” or simply “John Wilkes” (primarily to distinguish himself from his father and brother, both named Junius, and his brother Edwin, all three of whom were also actors), and as a prominent actor, his name was already familiar to the general public at the time of Lincoln’s assassination. Lee Oswald was generally referred to simply as “Lee” (not “Lee Harvey”) before Kennedy’s assassination, and he was completely unknown to the general public until his arrest. The common usage of his full name only came about after the assassination, because his habitual employment of false names (including several variations on his real name) and his possession of forged identification cards made it difficult for the Dallas police to initially identify him, so they used his full name for specificity. Both names are comprised of fifteen letters Coincidence? Neither their first nor last names have the same number of letters. And why should it be significant that both assassins had the same number of letters in their full names when the same wasn’t true of Abraham Lincoln and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, or of Andrew Johnson and Lyndon Baines Johnson? Once again, perhaps we should focus on the substantive differences between the two men: Booth was born into a prominent family and, like his father, was a well-known, popular, gregarious actor. Oswald was born (and lived most of his life) in near poverty-level circumstances, never knew his father (who died two months before Oswald was born) and was an obscure, moody malcontent who never had any close friends or a steady job. Oswald was married with two children; Booth had neither wife nor offspring. Oswald enlisted in the Marines, but Booth kept a promise to his mother not to join the Confederate army. Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse. Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater. Another “coincidence” that is both inaccurate and superficial. Booth shot Lincoln in a theater of the type where live stage shows are held, then fled across state lines before being trapped and killed in a tobacco shed several days later. Oswald shot Kennedy from (not in) a textbook warehouse, then remained in Dallas and was caught and taken alive in a movie theater a little over an hour later. Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials. Another superficial similarity with much more significant underlying differences, and a potentially dubious use of the word “assassinated.” After Booth shot Lincoln, he fled the scene and eventually (with a co-conspirator, David Herold) crossed the Potomac River from Maryland into Virginia, eluding capture for a total of eleven days before federal troops finally discovered him to be hiding on a farm belonging to Richard Garrett and surrounded the barn in which he and Herold were sleeping. The two men were ordered to surrender: Herold complied, but when Booth failed to drop his weapon and come out, the barn was set ablaze. A trooper named Boston Corbett, who was watching Booth through a gap in the barn’s siding, shot the assassin. Whether Corbett can be said to have “assassinated” Booth is problematic — the deeply religious Corbett sometimes claimed that he had shot Booth because “Providence directed” him to do it, or because he “did not want Booth to be roasted alive,” but he also testified that he shot Booth because he “saw [Booth] in the act of stooping or springing and concluded he was going to use his weapons.” Oswald left the warehouse from which he shot Kennedy and was arrested in a movie theater a little over an hour later by police officers who had no idea who he was. (Oswald was initially arrested only for the murder of Dallas police officer J.D. Tippit, whom he shot while in flight; his connection to the Kennedy assassination was not established until later.) Oswald was captured alive and remained in custody for two days before being gunned down by Jack Ruby, a private citizen.
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17227
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Medicare has spent $172 million on penis pumps in the last five years at $360 a pop.
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"Hogue said, ""Medicare has spent $172 million on penis pumps in the last five years at $360 a pop."" We’ll stay out of saying whether it’s legitimate for Medicare to cover vacuum erection systems for older men, and whether it’s unfair that many health plans would have to cover contraception. The Daily Show was trying to make a humorous point about tax money paying for some male sexual health products, which hasn’t been a source of controversy. As for Hogue’s statement, she gets the dollars right but misses on the timeframe. An inspector general’s report measured six years ending in 2011, not the most recent five years. That’s a minor point in judging her overall claim."
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true
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Medicare, Sexuality, PunditFact, Ilyse Hogue,
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"Distinguished legal minds of the U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments over whether the federal government can compel businesses to cover contraceptives at no cost to women through the Affordable Care Act. It’s a serious issue. And Comedy Central’s The Daily Show is all over it. Correspondent Samantha Bee took viewers into the debate in a segment host Jon Stewart described as the rare intersection of health care, the economy, aging and penises -- ""the issues of greatest consequence to you, the American people."" Some conservatives and Catholics argue the contraceptives mandate violates the religious rights of business owners who would have to provide coverage for a medication they do not agree with, and that women who want it should get it on their own. Bee sat down with Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, a group that supports birth control and the morning-after pill being made available to everyone. Hogue said women use birth control for a number of reasons, including avoiding unintended pregnancies, regulating menstrual cycles and treating endometriosis. The contraception mandate addresses a disparity with the federal government paying for men’s sexual health treatments, she argued. ""The existing system is absolutely a double-standard,"" Hogue said. ""Medicare has spent $172 million on penis pumps in the last five years at $360 a pop."" Bee considered the information. ""Wait, Medicare funds penis pumps?"" Truth be told, we were curious too. Can Hogue’s numbers be right, or are they inflated? ""Vacuum erection systems"" (that’s a more technical term) are one of several ways a man might treat erectile dysfunction, which affects 30 million men, according to the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse. We found an inspector general report from the Department of Health and Human Services detailing the issue. (A spokeswoman for NARAL Pro-Choice America later pointed us in the same direction.) The December 2013 report didn’t weigh in on whether it was inappropriate for Medicare to pay for penis pumps. The crux of the review was to find out if Medicare was paying exorbitant rates for them. The devices are among medical supplies eligible for Medicare Part B, which offers supplementary health insurance for medically necessary and preventive services for seniors. The cost of a device like a penis pump is subtracted from a beneficiary’s deductible, and Medicare picks up 80 percent of the cost after that. The auditors’ findings: Medicare payments for vacuum erection systems are more than twice the average payment rate for non-Medicare payers. The difference is ""grossly excessive,"" the report says. From 2006 to 2011, Medicare paid a total of $172.4 million for 473,629 claims for pumps, or about $364 a pump. That’s almost exactly what Hogue said (though spending was measured over a six-year period ending in 2011, not the last five, as she said). Over those six years, annual claims payouts almost doubled, jumping from $20.6 million in 2006 to $38.6 million in 2011, the report says. Medicare would save $18 million a year, and its beneficiaries would pocket $4.5 million, if the program retooled its fee schedule rate to be more in line with other programs and the private market. The report suggests the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services either establish a payment limit or to seek authority from Congress to include the products in its competitive bidding program. Our ruling Hogue said, ""Medicare has spent $172 million on penis pumps in the last five years at $360 a pop."" We’ll stay out of saying whether it’s legitimate for Medicare to cover vacuum erection systems for older men, and whether it’s unfair that many health plans would have to cover contraception. The Daily Show was trying to make a humorous point about tax money paying for some male sexual health products, which hasn’t been a source of controversy. As for Hogue’s statement, she gets the dollars right but misses on the timeframe. An inspector general’s report measured six years ending in 2011, not the most recent five years. That’s a minor point in judging her overall claim."
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14421
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 120 Americans on average die from a drug overdose every day. Overall, drug overdose deaths now outnumber deaths from firearms.
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Rep. Joe Pitts says 120 Americans die daily from overdoses, exceeding deaths from guns
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true
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National, Drugs, Health Care, Public Health, Guns, Joe Pitts,
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"In a recent Medium post, Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., lamented the toll of addiction in his state and across the country. ""According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 120 Americans on average die from a drug overdose every day,"" Pitts wrote. ""Overall, drug overdose deaths now outnumber deaths from firearms."" We wondered whether those numbers were accurate, so we took a closer look. The CDC calculates overdose deaths from prescription drugs separately from overdose deaths from illicit drugs. To get the full number, you have to add both categories together. In 2014, there were 25,760 deaths from prescription-drug overdoses. That same year, there were 17,465 deaths from illicit drugs, including heroin and cocaine."
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10985
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Common Diagnostic Test May Prolong Low Back Pain
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"Ironically, the NPR ombudsman just wrote about concerns that NPR sometimes invites reporters from other news organizations to talk on the air about a story they got that NPR didn’t. In this case, why does NPR need to rely on a four-day old Reuters story in order to get a second opinion? Couldn’t they make a call and get their own interview? With the example the NPR ombudsman raised, she wrote: ""NPR has recently beefed up its newscasts, staffed an investigative unit and is pouring money into its digital operations. All these are signs of a strong news organization. But if NPR wants to be considered one of the nation’s top-flight news organizations, it should be more judicious."" Doesn’t that apply here as well?"
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false
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"The story said that ""skipping diagnostic nerve blocks can save $10,000 in medical costs."" No quantification of potential benefits. Only a vague, borrowed (from Reuters) reference to ""the value of the diagnostic tests"" and an anecdote from the researcher supposedly supporting the case that they can be skipped. No quantification of harms incurred or avoided. No evaluation of the quality of the evidence – too short a synopsis for that. So we don’t really get a sense of how the study was done. No disease-mongering. The story was about pinpointing causes of low back pain – a condition as broad as the ocean. The NPR news org can’t be given credit for eliciting an independent source – only for ""borrowing"" what Reuters reported. Why not get your own source? No discussion of alternatives – not for diagnostic testing nor for treatment of the underlying back pain. The story is clear that nerve blocks are part of ""a common diagnostic technique."" Not applicable. No claims of novelty made. And none needed to be. Not applicable. We can’t be sure if the story relied on a news release, but we know it relied at least partially on a Reuters story. Should this warrant an unsatisfactory score here? Maybe."
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10446
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Next step for anti-cancer vaccine
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The recent recommendation of an FDA panel to approve an HPV vaccine has made big news around the country in many different media outlets. However, this ABC network story has several flaws. The story treats FDA approval of the vaccine as a fait accompli. Just because the panel recommended it be approved does not mean approval will be automatic or occur in the suggested time frame. The story does not mention costs, which would likely be substantial given the scope of a potential vaccination program. Nor does the story mention that the vaccine will not replace pap smears, which further adds to the cost. The story exaggerates the seriousness of HPV and cervical cancer by stating that the vaccine could save “thousands and thousands” of women (there are 3,700 deaths from cervical cancer per year – the vaccine could prevent up to 70% of them if all women are vaccinated). The story should provide some context by explaining that cervical cancer is relatively rare. Fewer than 1% of women will develop cervical cancer in their lifetime. Furthermore, the story does not describe the available evidence and it does not mention the obvious alternative, pap smears. The story also does not provide adequate quantification of the benefits. It says that we could save “thousands and thousands of American women’s lives” and that we are on the verge of “wiping out a disease with a vaccine,” however it does not provide justification for these statements. This statement also ignores the fact that some cases of cervical cancer are caused by other types of HPV that the vaccine does not protect against. Because the story quotes multiple sources, the viewer can assume that the story does not rely on a press release as the sole source of information. However, only one of the “experts” is a physician. The others are politicians or representatives of interest groups.
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false
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The story does not mention costs, which would likely be substantial given the scope of a potential vaccination program. Nor does the story mention that the vaccine will not replace pap smears, which further adds to the cost. The story does not provide adequate quantification of the benefits. It says that we could save “thousands and thousands of American women’s lives” and that we are on the verge of “wiping out a disease with a vaccine,” however there is no justification provided for these statements. This statement also ignores the fact that some cases of cervical cancer are caused by other types of HPV that the vaccine does not protect against. The story discusses the very hotly debated effect of the vaccine on sexual behavior in young people. The story accurately presents the vaccine as “very, very safe.” This does seem true based on study reports, with soreness at injection site in 80% the only harm reported. The story does not describe the available evidence. The story exaggerates the seriousness of HPV and cervical cancer by stating that the vaccine could save “thousands and thousands” of women. The story should provide some context by explaining that cervical cancer is relatively rare. Fewer than 1% of women will develop cervical cancer in their lifetime. The story does quote multiple individuals, although only one of them is a physician. The others are politicians or representatives of interest groups. The story does not mention the obvious alternative, pap smears. But, more important, the story does not mention that regular pap smears will remain necessary indefinitely. The story treats FDA approval of the vaccine as a fait accompli. Although the FDA usually follows the panel recommendations, it does not mean approval will be automatic or occur in the suggested time frame. The story clearly states that this vaccine is new. Because the story quotes multiple sources, the viewer can assume that the story does not rely on a press release as the sole source of information.
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26219
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“We’re down near the low end of per capita deaths ... Most places are at 60 deaths per 100,000. We're at 29.”
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Recent data from Johns Hopkins University shows the U.S. has had approximately 30 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people. Kernen got that basically right. But only a handful of countries are performing worse by that metric, and even fewer — three — have recorded more than 60 deaths per 100,000 people. Various databases show the U.S. has more COVID-19 deaths per capita than the vast majority of countries.
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false
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Public Health, Pundits, PunditFact, Coronavirus, Joe Kernen,
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"On the day the U.S. topped 100,000 COVID-19 deaths, CNBC hosts Joe Kernen and Andrew Ross Sorkin shouted over each other about the threat of the virus and its impact on the stock market. After Kernen said Sorkin had panicked about the coronavirus and spooked investors, Sorkin accused Kernen of dismissing the virus as a way to defend President Donald Trump. ""You didn’t panic about anything,"" Sorkin said during the May 27 dust-up on CNBC’s ""Squawk Box."" ""100,000 people died, Joe, and all you did was try to help your friend, the president."" Kernen responded that he has been trying to help investors ""keep their cool, keep their heads,"" adding that ""as it turned out, that’s what they should’ve done."" Then he explained why. ""We’re down near the low end of per capita deaths,"" Kernen said. ""… Most places are at 60 deaths per 100,000. We're at 29."" The next day, the two told viewers that they had made amends, with Sorkin saying they were ""having the conversation that’s happening at everybody’s dinner table."" In case you’re having the same argument over dinner tonight, we wanted to arm you with the facts: Kernen’s claim on deaths per capita isn’t completely accurate. While the U.S. is close to 29 deaths per 100,000 people, it is not ""near the low end of per capita deaths,"" we found. Only a handful of countries have had more deaths per capita. As of May 26, the day before Kernen’s claim, the U.S. had recorded 30.23 deaths per 100,000 people, according to Johns Hopkins. That was better than 10 countries. It was worse than more than 130 others, including many nations of similar size. Specifically, the U.S. had more deaths per 100,000 people at the time of Kernen’s comment than all but a handful of European countries: San Marino, Belgium, Andorra, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Sweden, the Netherlands and Ireland. Only San Marino (pop. 34,000), Belgium (pop. 11.6 million) and Andorra (pop. 77,000) had more than 60 deaths per 100,000 people. Spain, the United Kingdom and Italy had over 50 deaths per 100,000. Those figures have hardly changed as of May 27. The U.S. is at 30.69 deaths per 100,000 people, behind the same 10 European nations but ahead of the rest. Three other sources public health experts told us are reliable — the Kaiser Family Foundation, Our World in Data and Worldometer — show similar numbers. Each source shows the U.S. performing worse than the vast majority of countries. ""We have a very high death rate here compared to most countries in the world, and some of our states have among the highest death rates in the world,"" said Brooke Nichols, assistant professor of global health at Boston University. The U.S., in particular, is ""a patchwork epidemic"" because of its ""expansive, diverse geography and populations,"" Nichols said. Different geographic areas experience varying outbreaks and death tolls due to a number of factors, such as the age of the population, how far along the epidemic curve the area is and how well the local health care systems have been able to manage, she said. If you compare individual U.S. states to other countries, Nichols said, the situation looks worse. Eleven states plus Washington, D.C have more deaths per million people than the U.S. as a whole, according to Worldometer data for May 28. Some states are comparable to the worst countries. As we’ve noted, another way to compare countries is to consider recent — rather than total — death counts per capita. But as of May 28, numerous countries have also had fewer daily deaths per capita based on a seven-day average than the U.S., per Our World in Data. Kernen said: ""We’re down near the low end of per capita deaths … Most places are at 60 deaths per 100,000. We're at 29."" The U.S. has hovered slightly above 29 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people in recent days, but it is far from being ""down near the low end of per capita deaths."" Only a handful of countries are performing worse by that metric, and just three have recorded more than 60 deaths per 100,000."
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8702
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In lockdown Britain, 'Mancunian Motivator' brings fun and fitness to neighbours.
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In a suburban enclave on the northeastern fringes of London residents are having their heart rates - and their spirits - lifted by the “Mancunian Motivator.”
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true
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Health News
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So popular have the street workout routines of Elyse Blemmings become in these times of enforced idleness that some of the neighbours are also meeting new friends amongst all the bending and stretching. “It’s brought back, I suppose, what everyone’s feeling, a big sense of community spirit,” she told Reuters. Blemmings, 31, was used to streaming her workout sessions online, but after neighbours spotted her doing her fitness routine in Chigwell, she decided to share her motivational talents closer to home. Originally from the northern city of Manchester - hence the “Mancunian” name - Blemmings said that as well as the benefits of physical exercise, her sessions in the street helped to build social links in the community in a time of social distancing, and were bringing different generations together. “They know they’re going to get their heart rate lifted, they’re going to have some endorphins and they’re going to go back in their house and say ‘I feel better today’ rather than just going through the same monotonous routine,” she said. Britain has been under lockdown since March 23, and police have been given the power to enforce social distancing rules. On Thursday, the government extended those restrictions for another three weeks at least. But for Blemmings’ neighbours in Chigwell, the fitness sessions have been an unexpected highlight of the lockdown. “It’s just fun and one of the most important things is ... we’ve got to know neighbours that we don’t really know,” said Margaret Lakey, 79, who has lived on the street for 50 years but can no longer play bowls as usual. “We’re waving, aren’t we, to neighbours we’ve never spoken to before.” After starting out with two sessions last week, Blemmings said she wants to keep them up for as long as they are wanted. Children as young as 5 took part in the session, with older neighbours joining in. “It’s good for everyone’s spirits, old or young. We’re at the older age and the young ones are out as well,” Tony Aiken, 72, told Reuters. Blemmings said that even once the restrictions are lifted, she hoped the community bonds formed in the exercise would remain. “I think it’s going to be very hard to go back to absolutely normal when people have been outside doing jumping jacks in front of each other. Let’s be honest everyone looked ridiculous today,” she said. “So if they go back to just ignoring each other, that’s just weird.”
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10102
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Consuming more olive oil may protect against strokes
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This story didn’t mention anything about the limitations of observational studies. One competitor wrote almost 200 words about such limitations. This story didn’t even quote the editorial, which provided an easy-to-access independent perspective. Journalists could do a better job of educating readers about research if they consistently drummed home the point that not all studies are equal. In this type of case, it’s a matter of communicating that statistical association does not equal causation.
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mixture
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Los Angeles Times,Stroke
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Not applicable. The cost of olive oil is not in question. The story cites a 41% lower stroke risk for intensive users of olive oil, but doesn’t give the context of the actual numbers. How many compared with how many? This may inflate the sense of the benefit or risk reduction. Not applicable. This is the main weakness in the story. There was not a word about the limitations of such an observational study. Nothing about the flaws inherent in a study reliant on surveys about recollection of consumption habits. By comparison, see what a Reuters Health story reported: “We need to remember that this is an observational study,” said Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas, a neurologist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York who wrote an editorial published with the study. The study found a correlation between people’s olive oil use and their stroke risk, he told Reuters Health — but that doesn’t necessarily translate into cause-and-effect. “People who use a lot of olive oil may be very different from people who don’t,” Scarmeas said. Olive oil users may, for example, have higher incomes, eat better overall or exercise more often than people who never use the oil. The researchers on the new study, led by Cécilia Samieri of the French national research institute INSERM, tried to account for those differences. And after they did, olive oil was still linked to a lower stroke risk. But it’s impossible to fully account for all those variables, Scarmeas noted. What’s needed, he said, are clinical trials where people are randomly assigned to use olive oil or not, then followed over time to see who suffers a stroke. Such clinical trials are considered the “gold standard” of medical evidence.” No disease-mongering of stroke in the story. No one is quoted. No independent perspective is given to evaluate the findings. At least the story mentions that “scientists are still assessing the roles various portions of the (Mediterranean) diet and lifestyle play” – making clear that there are potentially other prevention methods at play. Not applicable. The availability of olive oil is not in question. The story at least states, “Other studies have linked he Mediterranean diet with a lowre risk of heart disease.” Not applicable only because we can’t be sure of the extent to which the story relied on a news release. We can’t be sure because no one is quoted. The online story doesn’t even link to the abstract of the journal article.
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30575
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CNN asked a survivor of the 14 February 2018 mass shooting in Parkland, Florida to deliver scripted remarks during a televised town hall.
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According to CNN, the elder Haab declined the invitation after the network rejected the full speech. He later reportedly admitted to inadvertently “omitting some words from the email.”
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false
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Politics Guns, CNN, gun safety, guns
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On 21 February 2018, a week after a gunman killed seventeen people during a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, a survivor of the attack accused CNN of trying to dictate what he should say during a town hall the event hosted to address gun safety arguments in the wake of the massacre. Following the broadcast on 21 February 2018, Colton Haab, a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, told local news station WPLG-TV: CNN had originally asked me to write a speech and questions and it ended up being all scripted. Haab, a member of the school’s junior ROTC program who protected some of his fellow students during the assault by using Kevlar marksmanship sheets, was shown on camera with questions he said he had written prior to the event. He said: I expected to be able to ask my questions and give my opinion on my questions. According to WPLG, Haab wanted to suggest that military veterans be employed as school security guards. But because CNN wanted him to ask “scripted” questions, he said, he opted not to appear. In a separate appearance on Fox News on 17 February 2018, Haab said that teachers who are willing to carry their firearm on campus and had received appropriate training would also make schools safer. President Donald Trump also called for more schoolteachers to be armed during a televised meeting with survivors of the Parkland attack, when a gunman killed seventeen people. The network responded to Haab’s allegations on 22 February 2018 in a statement posted on its communication team’s Twitter account: There is absolutely no truth to this. CNN did not provide or script questions for anyone in last night’s town hall, nor have we ever. After seeing an interview with Colton Haab, we invited him to participate in our town hall along with other students and administrators from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Colton’s father withdrew his name from participation before the forum began, which we regretted but respected. We welcome Colton to join us on CNN today to discuss his views on school safety. Haab reiterated his account in another Fox News interview on 22 February 2018. He said that a CNN producer first asked him to write a speech for the event, then asked him to submit questions. However, he said, the producer later asked him to ask one question (which appears around the two-minute mark): What they had actually done is wrote out a question for me ’cause in my interview with CNN I talked about arming the teachers— if they were willing to arm [themselves] to carry on campus. She had taken that of what I had briefed on and actually wrote that question out for me. CNN responded again on Twitter, saying: There is absolutely no truth to this story — and we can prove that. CNN did not provide or script questions for anyone in last night’s town hall, nor have we ever. Those are the facts. While a number of Douglas High students have advocated for tighter gun safety laws in the wake of the shooting — and been accused of being “crisis actors” since doing so — Haab is, to date, the only student to accuse CNN of trying to script their statements at the town hall event. On the afternoon of 23 February 2018, CNN released its e-mail exchange between the network, Colton Haab, and his father, Glenn Haab, along with the following statement: The Stand Up: The Students of Stoneman Douglas Demand Action Town Hall was intended to be a forum for students, parents and teachers to speak directly to the elected leaders and stakeholders that are at the center of this critical issue. It is unfortunate that an effort to discredit CNN and the town hall with doctored emails has taken any attention away from the purpose of the event. However, when presented with doctored email exchanges, we felt the need to set the record straight. In the exchange, Glenn Haab had presented the network with several pages of “background points” that he wished his son to recite before asking a question of Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Florida): Opening statement: page 1 Ladies & gentlemen, lawmakers, fellow students, parents, teachers, faculty – last Wednesday will change our lives forever. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families of this horrific attack on our school. To me, it’s totally incomprehensible how this attacker was able to exit an Uber ride, walk into our freshman building and start shooting. There’s been a lot of talk about Gun Control since this senseless attack. Many of my peers are in Tallahassee with lawmakers now – unfortunately yesterday did not go in the right direction for us. I hope the much needed changes to Gun Laws can be made and implemented by the time the next generation (my kids) enters high school. The way I see it- 3 main things have to happen: 1) Tighten up gun laws 2) Secure the school and make it safe 3) Defend the school I BASED MY QUESTIONS TONIGHT ON #2 & # 3 Question 1) The Number One responsibility of the Federal Government is: To keep Americans safe & secure. We will be called back to school next week … How do we come back if Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is not safe? Many of us students are afraid to go back until this school is safe & secure. Only 1 School Resource Officer cannot secure a 45 acre campus with multiple entry and exist points. So my 1st question is: What is being done to drastically improve the security of the school? Question 2) page 2 There are armed security defending our President, Congressmen, court houses, IRS buildings, banks, jewelry stores, even the Smithsonian has guards with guns. Yet a gunman walked into our school’s freshman building with a rifle… and hero’s like Coach Fies ….unarmed… died trying to stop him. This is totally unacceptable. Schools are defended with a sign that reads: This is a gun free zone/it might as well also say: (Call someone with a gun if there’s an emergency). It is my opinion and the opinion of many – that this makes us an easy target for evil people to do their evil with little, if any resistance. I personally would much rather see a sign that read: “Please be aware that certain staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas are legally armed and may use whatever force necessary to protect our students”. We students should not have to beg to be kept safe. I ask you: are our students’ lives not as significant as court documents? As tax returns? As cash money? As a diamond ring or a fine watch? ARE our lives, our security & safety not as important as old dinosaur bones? My 2nd question is: What measures are being taken to defend our school from future attacks? And how can we get select faculty trained and armed to give them a fighting chance, if GOD forbid, there is another attack? Question 3) page 3 There are over 450,000 unemployed Veterans living in the United States. Many are able, willing & trainable and would find a real purpose in the job of keep our schools safe and defend our students & faculty against evil. What steps can be taken to utilize our select retired military in this capacity? Closing Statement: page 4 President Trump, Governor Scott, Senators Nelson, Rubio and Deutch, Sherriff Israel, Superintendent Runcie, Principle Thompson – I urge you, the student body urges you, our parents urge you: to secure our school. We cannot wait for legislative Gun Law Changes to be approved and implemented. We are going to be called back to school next week. We need Action Now! We have attended way too many funerals this week. We need to make MSD SAFE Now! Secure all Broward schools, secure all Florida Schools and secure all schools across this Nation. The Number One responsibility of the Federal Government is: To keep Americans safe & secure. We students should not have to beg to be kept safe. Please secure our school from outside threats from evil people and give the right people the training & tools needed to defend our lives. It’s time for a change! Don’t let the 17 lives lost last week be just another statistic. Is time to make MSD SAFE! MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN # MSD STRONG Thank you! In response, the producer wrote: Hi Glenn. That really is way too long. These are quick questions so that we can get to as many people as possible. This is what Colton and I discussed on the phone that he submitted. He needs to stick to this. Senator Nelson, if Coach Feis had had his firearm in school that day, I believe that he could have most likely stopped the threat. Have we thought about having a class for teachers who are willing to be armed trained to carry on campus?
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22898
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We are giving almost $2 billion of taxpayer money to the junk food and fast food industries every year to make the (childhood obesity) epidemic worse.
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Rep. Dennis Kucinich assails tax deductions for fast food advertising that targets children
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false
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Ohio, Consumer Safety, Food Safety, Health Care, Taxes, Dennis Kucinich,
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"Childhood obesity in the United States has more than tripled the last 30 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and the American Heart Association. It has reached epidemic levels and increased risks for heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer and osteoarthritis. The inactivity associated with watching television has long taken much of the blame. But a recent UCLA study reported in the American Journal of Public Health found that commercials, not TV itself, were the link to obesity. In fact, it found no association with television viewing and obesity for those who watched videos or commercial-free programming. For Rep. Dennis Kucinich, the implication is clear: Taxpayers are subsidizing the obesity epidemic by providing tax breaks to the food industry for marketing fast food and junk food to children. ""We are giving almost $2 billion of taxpayer money to the junk food and fast food industries every year to make the (childhood obesity) epidemic worse,"" he said in a news release Nov. 10. That whet our appetite for curiosity. So PolitiFact Ohio sank its teeth into Kucinich’s claim that taxpayer dollars are used to market to bad food to children. On the ills of fast food and marketing efforts, Kucinich cited a new study from the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University: ""The research is clear. Eating fast food harms young people’s health,"" the study says. And it concludes that efforts to market fast food to children are both effective and rapidly expanding. The fast food industry spent more than $4.2 billion in 2009 on TV commercials and radio, magazine, outdoor and other ads, the Rudd study said. The industry spent nearly $2 billion in 2006 on marketing and advertising specifically aimed at children, according to a report to Congress from Federal Trade Commission. But how do taxpayers subsidize that? That answer is simple. Fast food marketers get the same break that other businesses do. The federal tax code allows companies to deduct ""reasonable and necessary"" expenses of marketing and advertising from their income taxes. That doesn’t sit well with Kucinich when the marketing targets kids. The Cleveland Democrat introduced a bill, HR 4310, to eliminate that tax deduction. The bill attracted 28 co-sponsors and has been referred to the Ways and Means Committee. Kucinich's bill would prohibit any company from claiming a tax deduction for the expense of marketing fast food to children. Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation estimated ""on a very preliminary basis"" that the legislation could raise $15 billion to $19 billion in additional federal revenue over the 10-year budget period -- ""which is almost 2 billion per year,"" said Kucinich’s press aide. A revenue estimate from the Joint Committee is treated as confidential unless released by the member of Congress who requested it. Confidentiality allows the committee staff to maintain its nonpartisan role in the policy process. Kucinich’s office gave us a copy of the staff letter with the committee’s estimate, but we were unable to get background details. But the letter notes that a number of unsettled issues surround the bill -- ranging from defining ""fast food restaurant"" or ""food of a poor nutritional quality"" to determining what constitutes advertising that is ""primarily aimed at"" children -- and all of those issues would affect the bill’s impact (including the amount of new tax revenue). The committee’s estimate clearly covered more than the child-oriented fast food advertising in the 2006 FTC survey. At the top corporate tax rate of 35 percent, the $2 billion cited in that report would have yielded about $700 million in additional tax revenue. A study from the National Bureau of Economic Research does support Kucinich’s assertion that eliminating the tax break would reduce the number of overweight children. Eliminating the tax deduction would reduce the number of overweight children by 5 to 7 percent, it said, and banning advertising to children would prompt an even larger reduction. So where does that leave us on Kucinich’s assertion? Childhood obesity is a serious topic and the congressman may be nobly intentioned. But dollar figure he uses is shaky at best and his description of the money as taxpayer dollars is misleading."
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28490
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A significant number of internet users 'attacked' Andrew Pollack, a man mourning the death of his daughter, on the basis of his support for Donald Trump.
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What's true: A relatively very small number of people on Twitter made insulting and personal criticisms of Andrew Pollack, with one or two even blaming him for his own daughter's death, by way of his support for President Donald Trump. What's false: Those negative voices were overwhelmingly outnumbered by those offering condolences and support to Andrew Pollack and his family, and we found no evidence of anyone addressing a criticism or attack directly at Pollack.
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mixture
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Viral Phenomena, daily wire, florida shooting, parkland school shooting
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One of the many heart-breaking images to emerge from the 14 February 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was that of Andrew Pollack. Pollack was photographed by the Palm Beach Post, holding up a cellphone picture of his 18-year-old daughter Meadow, as he waited in his car outside a Broward County hospital, unable to reach Meadow by phone, and fearing the worst. The reporter who spoke to Pollack, Alexandra Seltzer, later confirmed on Twitter that Meadow had died, one of the 17 victims of a mass shooting carried out by Nikolas Cruz, a former pupil of the high school. Here is Andrew Pollack yesterday showing a photo of his daughter Meadow. At that time he was searching for her. Today he said “she’s gone.” #stonemanshooting pic.twitter.com/MJcuCNttt8 — Alexandra Seltzer (@alexseltzer) February 15, 2018 According to the right-wing Daily Wire web site, what happened next was that “intolerant and hateful leftists attacked a man whose daughter was murdered in the shooting because he is a Trump supporter.” In a viral Facebook post, Amy Le Chet wrote: This is Andy. His daughter Meadow was murdered in the Douglas HS shooting on 2-14-18. He is being attacked on social media for being a Trump supporter. Please show him your love and support. We received enquiries about the authenticity of the tweets quoted by the Daily Wire, and the veracity of claims that Pollack was attacked online for wearing a “Trump 2020” t-shirt. It is true that a relatively small number of people on Twitter did criticize Pollack on the grounds of his support for President Donald Trump, and one or two went out of their way to articulate their lack of sympathy for him, and even to blame him for his own daughter’s death. The tweets quoted in the Daily Wire’s article are authentic, and not fabricated. However, a far greater number expressed sympathy for the grieving father, and criticized those speaking against him. Furthermore, these comments were not addressed directly to Pollack, who does not appear have a Twitter account. On Facebook, we trawled through hundreds of comments posted to Pollack’s page in the aftermath of his daughter’s death. We found just two comments critical of Donald Trump and arguably insensitive to Pollack’s grief, but not one personal attack directly addressed to Pollack himself. On the contrary, Facebook users posted hundreds of messages expressing sympathy, condolences, solidarity and support towards Pollack and his family. As is often the case with social networking controversies and disputes, the outraged response to an offense (the public slating of Andrew Pollack for his political beliefs) has been vastly greater than the scale of the offense itself. Pollack and members of his family visited the White House on 21 February 2018, to take part in a “listening session” hosted by President Trump. Pollack delivered powerful remarks, at times directly addressing Trump, saying “I’m very angry that this happened, because it keeps happening.”
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10310
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Increasing the Odds of Prostate Cancer Detection
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This news release touts a high-definition scan called multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MS-MRI), shown in studies to increase the accuracy of prostate cancer detection. The scan is used to identify suspicious lesions in the prostate that can be biopsied for cancer. A study at the Center for Cancer Research (National Cancer Institute, NCI) in Bethesda, Md., showed that targeted MRI-guided biopsies found more cases of high-risk prostate cancer while detecting fewer low-risk cancers compared with standard biopsies. The news release presents this data but does not mention cost, associated risks, and the fact that more research is needed on whether targeted biopsies ultimately lead to fewer deaths. The news release hypes the procedure as having a “more than 90 percent success rate” without explaining what that means. Moreover, it stokes fear by selectively describing cancer cases discovered by MRI and stating that without advanced imaging cancer may not be found until it’s “too late.” Reading this, one might conclude that all men with an elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level would do well to hop on the next plane to Richmond. The American Cancer Society estimates that 26,120 men will die this year from prostate cancer, one of the most common cancers in men and the second most deadly, after lung cancer. The current standard for detecting prostate cancer, called the transrectal ultrasound-guided (TRUS) biopsy, has been faulted for diagnosing too many low-risk cancers, leading to unnecessary treatment, and for missing aggressive tumors that can occur in the anterior portion of the prostate. MRI-guided biopsies have been gaining traction as a more accurate alternative, albeit a pricier one. There are many challenges with screening for prostate cancer. The PSA test that is used as an initial screening test can lead to both false-negative and false-positive results. This release highlights examples of an elevated PSA test where it was difficult to identify a cancer. Not mentioned in the release is the fact that PSA tests can be elevated and the patient really doesn’t have prostate cancer. The higher the PSA test result, the more likely that it is due to cancer. Though a level of 4 is often used, lower levels have been shown to be associated with prostate cancer. The focus here is on levels above 4. Between 4 and 10, many patients will not have cancer or the cancer may be of a less dangerous type that may not require active treatment. Generally, when the level is above 10, cancer is more likely and more likely to be a problem. It has long been known that for patients with elevated PSA tests with negative results on standard “blind” biopsies may still harbor a tumor. This has led to repeat biopsies as described in the release. For some, the cancer may appear to be in the anterior portion of the prostate — an area that is hard to biopsy using standard techniques. MRI is becoming an increasingly common test when the PSA is elevated and the biopsy is normal. But there is no standard for what level of PSA at which an MRI should be performed. Some would argue that the level of 5.3 that one patient had wouldn’t justify such a search, whereas very high levels would justify the effort and expense. But the radiologist described in this release would go even further stating that guided biopsies with MRI should become the norm. The key thing for readers to know is that neither focused MRIs (after negative standard biopsies) or initial screening with an MRI have led to better outcomes. By “better outcomes” we mean less metastatic prostate cancer and fewer deaths from prostate cancer. Without such data, we can’t be certain whether the additional cost of such evaluations is justified.
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false
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Hospital news release,Prostate cancer
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MRIs cost significantly more than ultrasounds, but that fact isn’t mentioned. According to a story in the Wall Street Journal, an MRI can cost from $600 to more than $2,000, although Medicare and many private insurers typically cover some or all of that cost. Cost is all the more significant if, as VCU’s director of oncologic and prostate imaging speculates in the news release, MRIs are eventually used like mammograms, with men getting baseline MRIs followed by repeated periodic scans if warranted by bloodwork and family history. Some mention of cost, relative cost or cost-effectiveness was warranted. The news release offers some solid data along with confusing statements. It says MRIs and targeted biopsies have “provided relief” for patients who have not been able to get an accurate diagnosis, citing data from the 2015 NCI study that showed targeted MRI biopsies detected 17 percent fewer low-risk tumors than standard biopsies. It says MRI “is 30 percent more accurate” in diagnosing high-risk, aggressive cancers than a standard biopsy, a misstatement. The study actually says MRI-guided biopsies “diagnosed 30 percent more high-risk cancers.” The news release tells readers that VCU performs about 1,200 MP-MRI-guided biopsies annually, which is useful information. But it also claims a “more than 90 percent success rate” without ever explaining what that means or where the number comes from. It even quotes a patient who says he compared “success rates” at various medical facilities. Where did the patient get his figures, and what do they mean? We aren’t told. Ideally one would like to read the sensitivity and specificity of the test — the parameters that make up a test’s accuracy. Sensitivity is the test’s ability to identify those who have the disease, and specificity refers to the test’s ability to exclude those who do not have the disease. Another statement implies that VCU’s procedures are superior to “most” hospitals because they have a single professional reading results and performing biopsies. There’s no data to back this up. The news release includes two glowing anecdotes involving patients whose cancers were promptly detected at VCU and safely treated. Were there other patients who traveled to VCU only to come away with an inconclusive finding, a negative finding, or a fatal tumor? The news release does not mention possible side effects of biopsies such as serious infections, pain, and bleeding. There’s also no mention of the harms that can come from a false-positive test that can lead to more tests, mental anguish and unnecessary procedures. Also, it does not mention that MRIs may be inappropriate for patients with kidney disease or implanted devices such as pacemakers, stents and inner ear implants, due to the strong magnetic field used. The news release does not mention limitations of the 2015 NCI study it referenced, which said more research is needed to determine whether targeted biopsies actually lead to meaningful clinical improvements such as preventing recurrence of disease and stemming prostate cancer mortality. Further, authors said most of the 1003 patients in the study had one or more more previous biopsies, and the sample consisted of patients referred to a single institution, which could have introduced selection bias. To be specific, one would need to follow and compare patients treated with conventional care and those that are followed using MRI. One would look at diagnoses, but what we’d really want to see is less diagnosis of metastatic disease and lower prostate cancer related death. We know that such studies are challenging because prostate cancer is a slow growing tumor and that there are effective treatments even for advanced prostate cancer. So it could take years of follow-up to show a real benefit. While prostate cancer is serious, this news release seems calculated to instill fear. It omits some important facts, such as that PSA levels often fluctuate and can be elevated for reasons that have nothing to do with prostate cancer. In fact, only about 25 percent of men who have a biopsy due to an elevated PSA level actually have prostate cancer, according to cancer.gov. Relating the story of a patient whose cancer was diagnosed with an MRI after standard biopsies were inconclusive, the news release says other patients who continue to “hit a brick wall with negative results from TRUS biopsies yet persistently high PSA levels may not be as fortunate.” A clinician is quoted saying: “If you do not have this kind of advanced imaging, sometimes a patient runs into a situation when a tumor can’t be found and treated because it’s too late — it has already metastasized. He ends up diagnosed with cancer only after the tumor has spread to his bone or lymph nodes years later.” The statement, “When caught early, prostate cancer is highly treatable,” is also troubling. In fact, prostate cancer does not always need to be treated, and treatment can result in long-term sexual side effects as well as urinary and bowel problems. To avoid disease mongering, the release could have clarified that an elevated PSA test does not always identify cancer. Men can have elevated levels without cancer. Some of those with an elevated PSA who undergo an MRI will have a negative test — just like a negative biopsy. The release doesn’t name a funding source, but it’s not based on one study. It focuses heavily on selected outcomes and patient anecdotes from a single treatment center, the VCU Massey Cancer Center. There are no apparent undisclosed conflicts of interest or funding sources related to VCU. However, two authors of the NCI’s Center for Cancer Research study (briefly referenced in the release) had reported holding a patent related to the MRI biopsy platform, and a third reported holding multiple patents in the field. That research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, the Center for Cancer Research, and Center for Interventional Oncology. The NIH, Philips Healthcare, and devicemaker Invivo Corp. have a cooperative research and development agreement. The news release offers comparisons between MRIs and the current standard of ultrasound-guided biopsies. One option not mentioned is foregoing a PSA test. Indeed, that is the recommendation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. It’s also worth noting that researchers are investigating ways to improve PSA tests to better distinguish between potentially lethal cancerous tumors and benign conditions, according to the NCI. Better PSA tests could result in fewer invasive and costly biopsies. The news release states that “VCU Medical Center is one of the major teaching hospitals in the country doing advanced multiparametric MRI.” That appears to be accurate. It would have helped readers not in the VCU vicinity if the release had included more information about where tests could be done. Is it generally available at major teaching hospitals? If not, how many have it? The news release does not overstate the novelty of this procedure. We address examples of unjustifiable language in the quality of evidence and disease-mongering sections. There are other troublesome statements, such as that a urologist at another institution “was ready to throw in the towel” after a patient’s three inconclusive biopsies, which makes that clinician sound either uncaring or incompetent. The statement: “Other patients who continue to hit a brick wall with negative results from TRUS biopsies yet persistently high PSA levels may not be as fortunate.” This implies that not trying hard enough may prove fatal for patients — something that is not true in terms of available evidence.
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38332
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Drinking a few spoonfuls of Apple Cider Vinegar a day brings a host of health benefits.
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Health Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar
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mixture
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Health / Medical
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The therapeutic benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar have been touted for centuries across countless cultures — some claims about the health benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar have been proven true, but others remain unproven. Studies have shown that there could be benefits when it comes to weight loss and managing diabetes. Other studies, however, have pointed to negative Apple Cider Vinegar’s negative health impacts, like accelerated tooth decay and stomach issues in people with type 2 diabetes. Dori Khakpour, a registered dietician at the University of Washington Diabetes Care Center, wrote that her uncle who lived to 96 after having his first heart attack at 50 swore by Apple Cider Vinegar after a German doctor suggested that he drink two spoonfuls in a glass of water each night: These days we hear more about the use of apple cider vinegar as a cure for everything from Type 2 Diabetes to eczema, high cholesterol, and obesity. What should be noted about these claims is the lack of science-based studies about apple cider vinegar for therapeutic health purposes. This is a common problem for many natural and alternative therapies. Vinegar, which comes from the Latin for “sour wine,” has been with us for thousands of years. Most people consume it somewhere in their meal plan for the week — if not every day — often as part of salad dressing or sauce. Apple cider vinegar contains acetic acid, vitamin C, and B vitamins. Acetic acid can increase the body’s absorption of important minerals from the foods we eat. The list of (alleged) Apple Cider Vinegar Cures is so long that we couldn’t possibly begin to look into each and every claim. But some scientific studies have offered promising findings, and we’ll take a look at a few of those. A series of studies from 2015-2016 seems to show promise for Apple Cider Vinegar’s ability to help manage some types of diabetes. A 2015 study found that individuals with impaired glucose tolerance experienced better blood flow and glucose uptake after consuming vinegar before a mixed meal. Another 2015 study found that vinegar’s impact on carbohydrate metabolism could make it easier to control the blood sugar levels of individuals with diabetes. Finally, a 2016 study found that Apple Cider Vinegar before bed led to better moderation of waking glucose concentrations in adults with type 2 diabetes. And, when it comes to lowering cholesterol, a 2006 study found that acetic acid (found in vinegar) lowered total cholesterol in lab rats by promoting bile production and supporting the liver. Proponents of Apple Cider Vinegar argue that its ability to lower cholesterol, better regulate blood sugar and lower blood pressure also mean that vinegar can help prevent heart attacks and heart disease. We weren’t able to find any credible studies on the impact of vinegar on heart health, so we’re going to call that part “unproven.” However, some claims about the health benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar have been proven true in scientific studies.
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27918
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Baby Orajel can cause infants to stop breathing and turn blue.
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Can Baby Orajel cause infants to stop breathing and turn blue?
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true
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Medical, drugs, orajel, true
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Example: [Collected via e-mail, July 2008] Dear all,I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Some of you already know, but we wanted to make everyone aware of a terrifying experience that we had over the weekend. Thank g-d, everything’s ok now but we thought friends and family would want to be aware and would want to advise others with babies. Zane’s been teething pretty badly for the past few days, and we decided to give him Baby Orajel on Sunday afternoon. We’ve given it to him a few times previously, when his first two teeth cut through, and never had a problem. Scott and I were both sitting with Zane on the floor in his room when I rubbed a dosage on his upper gum. Seconds after I gave it to him, he made a face as if he were crying but no noise came out. I picked Zane up and he immediately went limp in my arms and his face turned blueish. He was not panicking or gasping for air – he was lifeless. This lasted for approximately 15 seconds, but felt like an eternity. Words cannot convey our feelings during that time (or even now, ever) as we attempted to revive our son. No parent should ever experience such a feeling and no person should ever see something like this happen to a loved one. Without a doubt it was the scariest moment of our lives. Ultimately, Zane “came to” and began to cry hysterically. Thank g-d!!!!!!!! We spent the evening at the hospital , where Zane underwent numerous tests, all of which came back normal. We also spoke with Zane’s pediatrician, who stated that she advises against the use of this product because its purpose is to numb and if it gets into an infant’s throat, it may stop them from breathing. Obviously, we wanted to learn more about this product and why this happened so we conducted some internet research. Interestingly, we came across some postings of parents with similar experiences. Further, one website listed a side effect as, “difficulty breathing and grey/blueish face.” Also, when we called Zane’s daycare to let them know what happened, the owner said that she’s heard of this happening before. It’s surprising then that no such warning is on the bottle and that more people do not discuss the negative and possible deadly implications of the use of this product. We don’t want to imagine what could’ve happened if we had given this to him at night, in his crib, as we (and many others) have done in the past, and then walked away (although, of course we monitor him throughout the night). To reiterate, the reason we share the above with you is to strongly advise you to throw away any Baby Orajel products you have at home and please advise your friends and family of the same. Trust us, it’s not worth the possible side effects. Best, Scott and Allison [remainder of signature block elided] In April 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety announcement confirming the account described above, warning that in rare cases the use of benzocaine (commonly found in over-the-counter gels and liquids used for teething pain in infants) can result in a condition known as methemoglobinemia, symptoms of which include shortness of breath and blue skin: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning the public that the use of benzocaine, the main ingredient in over-the-counter (OTC) gels and liquids applied to the gums or mouth to reduce pain, is associated with a rare, but serious condition. This condition is called methemoglobinemia and results in the amount of oxygen carried through the blood stream being greatly reduced. In the most severe cases, methemoglobinemia can result in death.Benzocaine gels and liquids are sold OTC under different brand names such as Anbesol, Hurricaine, Orajel, Baby Orajel, Orabase, and store brands. Benzocaine is also sold in other forms such as lozenges and spray solutions (also see separate Drug Safety Communication on Benzocaine Sprays). These products are used to relieve pain from a variety of conditions, such as teething, canker sores, and irritation of the mouth and gums. Methemoglobinemia has been reported with all strengths of benzocaine gels and liquids, including concentrations as low as 7.5%. The cases occurred mainly in children aged two years or younger who were treated with benzocaine gel for teething. People who develop methemoglobinemia may experience pale, gray or blue colored skin, lips, and nail beds; shortness of breath; fatigue; confusion; headache; lightheadedness; and rapid heart rate. In some cases, symptoms of methemoglobinemia may not always be evident or attributed to the condition. The signs and symptoms usually appear within minutes to hours of applying benzocaine and may occur with the first application of benzocaine or after additional use. If you or your child has any of these symptoms after taking benzocaine, seek medical attention immediately. Benzocaine products should not be used on children less than two years of age, except under the advice and supervision of a healthcare professional. Healthcare professionals and consumers are advised to consider the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations for treating teething pain instead of using the benzocaine teething products: o Give the child a teething ring chilled in the refrigerator. o Gently rub or massage the child’s gums with your finger to relieve the symptoms of teething in children. If these methods do not provide relief from teething pain, consumers should talk to a healthcare professional to identify other treatments. Adult consumers who use benzocaine gels or liquids to relieve pain in the mouth should follow the recommendations in the product label. Consumers should store benzocaine products out of reach of children. FDA encourages consumers to talk to their healthcare professional about using benzocaine. Additional information:
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30695
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A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doctor said the flu vaccine is causing the deadly flu epidemic.
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In the past YourNewsWire has been the source of or helped spread a long string of persistent rumors, including the bogus claim that a terror attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England was a “false flag,” or a government plot designed to keep the populace in fear. They also reported the widespread (but completely false) rumor that a second gunman helped carry out the mass shooting in Las Vegas on 1 October 2017.
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false
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Medical, anti-vaccine, big pharma, flu
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On 15 January 2018, disreputable conspiracy disseminator YourNewsWire.com falsely reported that the flu shot was unsafe, quoting an unnamed “CDC doctor” who cautioned that some of his patients had died after receiving it: A CDC doctor has warned this year’s “disastrous” flu shot may be responsible for the deadly flu epidemic sweeping the country. “Some of the patients I’ve administered the flu shot to this year have died,” the doctor said, adding “I don’t care who you are, this scares the crap out of me.” “We have seen people dying across the country of the flu, and one thing nearly all of them have in common is they got the flu shot.” Scientists were worried this year’s flu season was going to be rough and their fears have been proven well founded. The flu season is off to a record-breaking start, with the CDC reporting widespread flu activity from coast to coast. Many health officials believe that 2018 will ultimately be the worst flu outbreak that we have experienced since 1918. The CDC doctor’s experience of patients dying of the flu after receiving the flu shot is sadly not uncommon. Eight Santa Barbara County residents have died from the flu in the last fortnight. Seven of them had the flu shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in fact, urges Americans to get the flu vaccine every year. They also maintain that the shot is largely safe for most people. YourNewsWire employed the fake “CDC doctor” quote to bridge two facts and make it appear as if one were the cause of the other. It is true the 2017-2018 flu season has been the worst one in years, and this season’s flu vaccine has been less effective than in the recent years. So not only is this year’s flu strain (H3N2) more rampant, but the main weapon against its spread isn’t holding it at bay. But the fake “CDC doctor” quoted in YourNewsWire’s story gives the false impression that flu shots are the cause of the epidemic, when in reality they’re simply a preventative measure that is more effective in some years than others. (And of course, no fake health scare story would be complete without an anti-vaccine treatise, so YourNewsWire faithfully lined up a number of debunked claims about the flu shot’s dangers.) It’s significant to note that YourNewsWire often uses fictional quotes juice up the clickbait value of their stories, sometimes for the purpose of putting outrageous words in celebrities’s mouths, and other times to invent stories and attribute them to conveniently–anonymous witnesses or officials. There is no evidence any “CDC doctor” exclusively spoke to YourNewsWire, a site that traffics in bogus information and shamelessly churns out false articles about medical issues. A linked Santa Barbara Independent newspaper article referenced in the YourNewsWire yarn only reported that eight people had died of the flu in that area over a two-week period but did not report that seven of the eight victims died because of receiving flu shots.
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31960
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Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau is Fidel Castro’s son.
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That would be an understatement. The most plausible explanation remains that, soon after marrying, honeymooning, and moving in together after years of keeping their relationship secret, Pierre and Margaret Trudeau had sex and created a child who would one day become another Canadian prime minister.
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false
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Politics Conspiracy Theories, canada, cuba, fidel castro
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On 26 November 2016, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau sparked controversy by praising Fidel Castro in a statement about the former Cuban dictator’s death, saying that “While a controversial figure, both Mr. Castro’s supporters and detractors recognized his tremendous dedication and love for the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for ‘el Comandante.’ I know my father was very proud to call him a friend and I had the opportunity to meet Fidel when my father passed away. It was also a real honour to meet his three sons and his brother President Raúl Castro during my recent visit to Cuba.” Some Canadians (and others) were angered by what they viewed as Trudeau’s humanization of a dictator who had caused profound suffering for his own people. Trudeau’s statement, as well as his family’s friendly history with Castro, led to speculation that a much harder truth lay behind his soft words. On 27 November 2016, two days after Castro’s death was announced, a user on the Donald Trump subreddit /r/The_Donald presented a theory that Justin Trudeau, the son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, was actually the love child of Fidel Castro and Margaret Trudeau. The theory rested on three unconnected assertions: 1) Margaret Trudeau and Fidel Castro met in 1971 and were close friends ever after, 2) Margaret Trudeau was sexually promiscuous, and 3) Fidel and Justin were similar in appearance. The Trudeaus were indeed close to Fidel Castro, who once described Pierre Trudeau as “a close friend and an extraordinary figure.” Margaret Trudeau was also open in her later writings about her various past affairs. And yes, young Castro and Justin Trudeau might bear a physical resemblance. The notion that the Trudeaus and the Castros met in 1971, however, is based what appears to be a willful misreading of a newspaper article by a reddit user: So now that we’ve established the similar appearance, we need to figure out if it’s even possible that Fidel met with Margaret before Justin’s conception. Turns out he did — in fact, Pierre and Fidel met for the first time one year before Justin was born. Ignoring the biological impossibility of conceiving a child a literal year before that child was born, the user linked to an article by the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail, describing the first time the two leaders spoke to (not met) each other: Pierre Trudeau’s and Fidel Castro’s paths crossed for the first time in 1970, when the Canadian government sought to negotiate the exile of members of the FLQ, who had kidnapped British trade commissioner James Cross. Fidel Castro obliged the Canadian PM by providing a refuge, and in a private letter Mr. Trudeau later extended his heartfelt gratitude. The two leaders’ paths did not literally cross at that time: no head-of-state level visit took place between Cuba and Canada in 1970. (These things typically make big news.) The first time Castro and the Trudeaus met face-to-face was a famous trip made by the Canadian couple to Cuba in 1976. This event has been chronicled, along with some purportedly saucy comments, in a book that has been cited by many of the Trudeau-truthers to suggest sexual attraction between Margaret and Fidel. But even if true that facet is a red herring, as Justin had been born well before the 1976 meeting. One doesn’t even have to believe any of that, though, as science gives us a rough estimate of when the future leader of Canada was conceived, and history can tell us where Margaret, Pierre, and Castro were during this window of opportunity. Justin Trudeau was born on 25 December 1971. By means of a rough estimate, we note that a 2013 study published in the journal Human Reproduction used data from 130 pregnancies to investigate the range of different pregnancy lengths from conception to birth (gestation) and reported a range of from 247 to 284 days: It is extremely unlikely that Justin’s birth fell outside of that gestational range, meaning that Castro and Margaret Trudeau would have to have conceived their secret love-child between March 16th and April 22nd, 1971. It should be noted that Margaret and Pierre Trudeau were secretly wed on March 4th, 1971, and honeymooned until March 8th. When they returned home, Margaret moved in with the prime minister for the first time. If ever there were a time to make a baby and have it be born in late December, it would have been then, as hinted at in a Harper’s Bazaar profile of Margaret: “Margaret moved into the prime minister’s official residence, at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa, and gave birth to Justin just 10 months after the wedding, on Christmas Day in 1971.” If that is not enough evidence, or if the prospect of a head of state (or his spouse) making secret visits to foreign nations unnoticed sounds plausible, careful examination of the historical record provides little chronologic room to place Margaret Trudeau and Fidel Castro together at the time necessary to have conceived the child. Upon their return from their honeymoon, the shock of the Trudeaus’ marriage (she was 22 and he was 51) put them under intense media scrutiny, making it unlikely the young Margaret could slip away to Cuba for a tryst unnoticed, since she was now the talk of the town. The first couple made a big impression at a local sugaring event, for example, on March 27, and the press (in a testament to the level of scrutiny the prime minister’s new wife received) noted that Margaret did not travel with Pierre on an April trip to the Niagara region: For the remainder of April, Pierre was busy with governing, as attested to by logs of the Canadian House of Commons, making unlikely that his work would take the couple anywhere near Havana. Fidel Castro, for his part, was in Cuba during this conception window. In terms of public appearances, Castro gave a address to attendees of the “first education and culture congress” on 1 April 1971. On 19 April, he gave a defiantly anti-American speech that commemorated the 10th anniversary of the defeat of the United States‐sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion. There is no reason to think, or evidence to support the notion, that Margaret Trudeau met Castro before 1971, and there is no plausible circumstance during which a meeting between Fidel Castro and Margaret Trudeau could have occurred during the biologically necessary time that accommodates their known public schedules. Even the original poster of the reddit thread seemed to cede this point: There are still some timeline issues – anything that would place them together around the time of conception would seal the deal, but I’m confident in what I’ve found so far.
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2801
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China reports second case of new bird flu strain.
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Chinese authorities have confirmed the second human case of the new H10N8 strain of bird flu, contracted by a woman who is in critical condition in hospital in the east of the country, state news agency Xinhua has reported.
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true
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Health News
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The 55-year-old woman was admitted to hospital in Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi province, on January 15, complaining of a sore throat and dizziness, Xinhua said late on Saturday. “An investigation showed that she once had exposure to an agricultural market,” the report said. In December, China confirmed its first death from the H10N8 strain, also in Nanchang. China is in the middle of its traditional flu season and has long had a problem with bird flu. Another strain of bird flu, H7N9, emerged in China last year and so far has infected more than 200 people in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, killing at least 52.
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37988
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"Baby witches"" on TikTok/WitchTok collaborated to ""hex the moon"" and ""hex the fae"" in July 2020."
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Around July 18 2020, WitchTok and occult groups across social media were awash in a rumor “baby witches” endeavored to “hex the moon” or “hex the fae.” Innumerable posts about the rumor appeared, but we were unable to find any credible evidence the rumor stemmed from any actual stated intent or organized efforts to cause anything but a lively discussion bordering on a moral panic — but with deep folkloric roots.
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unproven
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Analysis, Entertainment, Reporting
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"On July 18 2020, a rumor began spreading on “WitchTok” (a TikTok witch community) that a group of “baby witches” endeavored to “hex the moon” and “hex the fae,” setting off moral panics and fevered discussions online. We take a look at the rumors.‘Hexing the Moon’ and ‘Hexing the Fae,’ the RumorRumors about a group effort to place a hex on both the moon (as in, the astronomical body orbiting Earth) and the fae (fairies, for example) began spreading on TikTok’s WitchTok, primarily among users condemning the alleged behavior.It didn’t take long for the rumor to spread to other platforms, including:In nearly all versions, the discourse about the rumor consisted of opposition to any plans to “hex the moon” or “hex the fae.”What’s a Hex?Typically, a “hex” is a spell or working designed to cause harm, malice, or impose a restriction on a person or thing.What’s WitchTok?WitchTok is the name for the witchcraft-centric portion of TikTok, a social network centered around the sharing of videos. As noted in other posts, WitchTok is busy enough to cause massive, otherwise inexplicable engagement trends on the subjects it addresses:Does ‘Qabalista’ by Selki Girl Trigger ‘Out-of-Body Experiences’?Who Are ‘the Fae’?In folklore, particularly (but not exclusively) folklore from Celtic cultures, “the fae” are known by many names: fair folk, faeries (or fairies), or Tuatha Dé Danann. The fae are purported supernatural beings, known for their mischievous nature, risky bargains, and supposed ability to cause tremendously inconvenient or tragic circumstances for humans who anger them.The word “fairy” is now generally associated with benign characters — but there was a time in reasonably recent history when fear of the fae was significant and the risks posed to humans by them were thought to be severe:In parts of England and Britain, it was believed that if a baby was ill, chances were good that it was not a human infant at all, but a changeling left by the Fae. If left exposed on a hillside, the Fae could come reclaim it. William Butler Yeats relates a Welsh version of this story in his tale The Stolen Child. Parents of a new baby could keep their child safe from abduction by the Fae by using one of several simple charms: a wreath of oak and ivy kept faeries out of the house, as did iron or salt placed across the door step. Also, the father’s shirt draped over the cradle keeps the Fae from stealing a child.In Celtic folklore and beyond, stories about “the fae” can often represent cultural fears of “the other” interwoven with collective memories and storytelling, as Welsh poet and scholar William John Gruffydd pointed out in a 1950 lecture at the National Museum of Wales, one of a series that was later published as Folklore and Myth in the Mabinogion:The stories current in Wales about the Tylwyth Teg fall into three well-defined classes which owe their origin to three different sources; in other words the Tylwyth Teg like many more politically important nations is composed of at least three different ‘racial’ elements. The first two may be regarded as forming together the main body of the Tylwyth Teg, and the third element is perhaps an alien immigration in later times. The first element is derived from mythology, whether at one remove or more it is unnecessary here to decide; the second element is derived from history, not indeed recorded history, but the imaginatively distorted recollection of the folk. Shelley speaks of Time as ‘like a many-coloured dome of glass staining the white radiance of eternity’; his great phrase may be justly applied to humbler things. Time also stains with its own colours the white radiance of historical facts.The three elements are:1.) The Welsh Annwfn (the Other-world of gods and heroes.) I cannot give here a precise definition of what Annwfn meant to our ancestors. Sometimes it is regarded as the Land of the Dead, something like the Greek Hades, presided over by ‘dark’ divinities; sometimes it is the Land of Youth and Promise, Tír na nÓg, the home of bliss and harmony; sometimes it is a mysterious border country, menacing the land of the living, the actual world. As we shall see, a great part of the Four Branches is concerned with the affairs of Annwfn and its lords.2.) The second element is a folk recollection of an aboriginal people living in inaccessible parts of the countryside, having no contact with the dominant race, and living in fear and suspicion of them.3.) The third element which seems distinct from the first two, may for the sake of convenience be called by a name borrowed from our Cornish brothers, –the Pixies. Whether these are part of the Welsh folk tradition or have been introduced later through England from Teutonic folklore I am unable to decide. They comprise the mischievous, puckish and irresponsible portion of the fairy population of Wales. Whatever their origin and at whatever period they joined the men of Annfwn and the men of the moorland solitudes they are definitely authenticated in Welsh folklore.According to some scholarly interpretations, fairies and fairy tales can even be used as proxies for introducing new ideas into cultures and societies:Technological inventions, in particular, enabled the fairy tale to expand in various cultural domains, even on the Internet. Like the whale, the fairy tale adapted itself and was transformed by both common nonliterate people and upper-class literate people from a simple, brief tale with vital information; it grew, became enormous, and disseminated information that contributed to the cultural evolution of specific groups. In fact it continues to grow—embracing, if not swallowing, all types of genres, art forms, and cultural institutions, and adjusting itself to new environments through the human disposition to re-create relevant narratives, and via technologies that make its diffusion easier and more effective. The only difference between the whale and fairy tale is that the tale is not alive and does not propel itself. It needs humans—and yet at times, it does seem as though a vibrant fairy tale can attract listeners and readers and latch on to their brains and become a living memetic force in cultural evolution.So What Did the Baby Witches Do?And so these motifs and themes worked their way online. Discourse about the rumor intensified late on July 18 2020 into the following day. A post on 4Chan’s paranormal board /x/ appeared on the night of July 18 2020, beginning:Apparently, teen witches on Tik Tok are “hexing the moon” & Artemis meanwhile Reddit is freaking out.Of that statement, at least one thing was demonstrably true — Reddit was, indeed, freaking out. Posts began popping up across the site seeking information about the purported plans. On r/Drama:Twitter witches get mad at other witches for hexing the moon from DramaAnd on r/Witch:This Hex the Moon stuff is hilariously stupid from Witchr/Wicca:Can someone explain to me why the tiktok witches are trying to…. hex??? the moon??? I feel so old from WiccaAnd even r/OutOfTheLoop, a self-explanatory subreddit unrelated to the occult:What’s going on with ""hexing the moon""? from OutOfTheLoopA July 19 2020 Twitter thread by @heyyadoraa was perhaps the most organized discussion about “baby witches” deciding to “hex the moon” and “hex the fae”:BASICALLY —in the past few days, a group of FRESH baby witches* decided to band together, and hex the fae. and then the moon. and they did! (theyre now planning to hex the sun. too)*inexperienced witches who should only be researching and doing protection work— jupiter ✿ (@heyyadoraa) July 19, 2020WHAT’S A HEX?a hex is essentially spellwork that is a collection of negative energy and is directed to someone, something, or a group of someones/somethings. these are intended to have negative effects and cause HARM to them and their lives.— jupiter ✿ (@heyyadoraa) July 19, 2020But Now What?Last we looked, the moon was still there and there was no uprising of annoyed supernatural beings.That said, there is another element of the discussion that we found intriguing from a folklore perspective. Thousands on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok decried the purported plot among baby witches to “hex the moon” or “hex the fae.”In that discourse, almost none of it contained any firsthand information from any individual person claiming to have engaged in any such rite or ritual. Readers clearly heard about and reacted to rumors that there were efforts to “hex the moon,” but no one managed to grab any citation or proof. Claims to the contrary from after July 18 2020 likely represented attempts to ride the coattails of the viral rumor, turning it into a fairy story of its own.TL;DRAround July 18 2020, WitchTok and occult groups across social media were awash in a rumor “baby witches” endeavored to “hex the moon” or “hex the fae.” Innumerable posts about the rumor appeared, but we were unable to find any credible evidence the rumor stemmed from any actual stated intent or organized efforts to cause anything but a lively discussion bordering on a moral panic — but with deep folkloric roots.Comments"
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10381
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Chew On This: Sticking With Nicotine Gum for the Long Haul
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The story explained in clear terms why nicotine gum is under scruitny right now and who is pushing for its expanded use. It listed many of the side effects of using the gum and explained nicotine addiction simply and elegantly. We wish, though, that it had presented more of the hard data from some of the studies that receive only fleeting mention, that it had provided cost information and that it had done more to discuss alternatives to nicotine gum. On the safety record for nicotine gum all we got in this story was one health behavior specialist saying, “There really doesn’t appear to be any great harm.” And a British regulatory proclamation that “there are no grounds to suspect appreciable long-term adverse effects.” Statements like “doesn’t appear to be” and “no grounds to suspect” could be haunting some day. The story states that NRT products have “amassed a strong safety record” but we’re never given any details. We also wish it had presented a more balanced perspective from the sources quoted. The two nicotine replacement users are probably not examples of how nicotine products are used widely. The use of nicotine replacement at high dose for 15 years is well outside any regulatory boundaries anywhere. As the story points out, “About one in five American adults smokes—a rate that has remained virtually unchanged since 2004.” As other studies have found, about 1 out of every 5 preventable deaths is also due to smoking. This is a massive public health challenge. People take up smoking and continue to do so despite the known risks for a variety of reasons. Just about 50% of smokers attempt to quit each year. Most fail. A major reason for the failure is the addictive power of nicotine. A story that highlights the public and personal health issues associated with smoking and smoking cessation is always welcome.
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mixture
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Wall Street Journal
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The story did not discuss costs, and this was a missed opportunity. Cigarette smoking creates a huge burden on our health care system. The cost of the gum – $50 to $70 for a box of 100 pieces – may be a drop in the bucket compared to the costs of people developing cancer and other disorders from smoking. A study mentioned in the story has a nice section on costs that we wish the story had quoted: “…the incremental cost of extended versus standard therapy was $2482 per additional quitter at 24 weeks.” The benefits are the whole reason for this story and yet they are not quantified in any way. The story says, “A few studies have examined the use of NRT beyond the current recommendations. Last year, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania published a study in Annals of Internal Medicine that found that smokers who use a nicotine patch for 24 weeks may be more likely to stay off cigarettes than those treated for eight weeks.” Readers deserved to see the hard numbers. Although some potential harms are mentioned, none are quantified. The story states that NRT products “have amassed a strong safety record” but we never get any details on that record. We wish the story had delivered a deeper exploration than one health behavior specialist saying, “There really doesn’t appear to be any great harm.” And a British regulatory proclamation that “there are no grounds to suspect appreciable long-term adverse effects.” Statements like “doesn’t appear to be” and “no grounds to suspect” could be haunting some day. The story mentions numerous studies and could not possibly evaluate all of them in detail, but we felt that more time could have been spent with at least one or two of the studies to help readers understand the types of studies that have been done and the relative strength of the findings. The way the story reads, all the studies are essentially given equal weight. And then there is this curious bit of information. “The warnings date back to when nicotine gum first received FDA approval back in 1984. They weren’t based on hard science connecting health hazards to long-term nicotine addiction, but were set to mirror the length of use in clinical trials.” Were the clinical trials themselves not hard science? Wasn’t this, in effect, a conservative approach based on what hard evidence was available? The University of Pennsylvania study, which studied the nicotine patch and not gum, failed to show any difference in smoking rates at the end of one year, even though it did show a difference up to the 24 weeks of treatment. So, the bottom line suggested in the story is that people are likely to stay off cigarettes as long as they can get nicotine in some other form. While that seems reasonable on face value, we are only given a couple of anecdotes and a partial rendering of a single study. The two anecdotes provided strongly suggest that continuing an ongoing use of nicotine replacement for years is both acceptable and safe. The story does not engage in disease-mongering. The story only quoted one scientist in a story that was ostensibly all about the science. Instead, it spent more time with nicotine gum users and a blogger. We thought that had more space been devoted to independent experts, the evidence would have been more clearly sorted out. We did appreciate, though, that the story took pains to point out the extent of drug industry funded research in this area. It says, for example, “However, the study reported no difference in the quit rates of the two groups when they were checked at the one-year mark, revealing the fact that many people began smoking again. The senior author of the study, funded by federal grants, has served as a consultant for GlaxoSmithKline.” The story did not do a good job comparing nicotine gum to going cold turkey, counseling or other therapies. Some of the studies mentioned talk about a combination of therapies that include gum and counseling. We would have liked to have seen a better comparison to give readers the best sense of what choice they should make if considering quitting smoking. The story makes it clear that these over-the-counter drugs are widely available and that Nicorette is the market leader. ‘Glaxo products—which include Nicorette gum and lozenges and NicoDerm patches—account for more than half of the $835 million market in annual U.S. retail sales of over-the-counter smoking-cessation aids, according to market-research firm Euromonitor International. Pfizer Inc. and Novartis AG also market NRT.” The story does a good job establishing what’s truly novel here – “Public health officials are backing away from recommending against the long-term use of nicotine gum, lozenges and patches. The Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to eliminate the 12-week warning and instead recommend nicotine-based quit-smoking aids for extended—perhaps even permanent—use.” It’s clear that the story didn’t rely on any news release.
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26784
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Facebook post Says the coronavirus can be slowed or stopped with the “immediate widespread use of high doses of vitamin C.”
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The claim was originally shared on an alternative medical website that promotes nutritional supplementation. There’s currently no vaccine or medicine recommended to treat the current coronavirus, and there’s no evidence high doses of vitamin C has any effect.
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false
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Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts,
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"Dubious methods to treat the coronavirus continue to spread online. The most recent alleged miracle cure? Vitamin C. A Facebook post by Andrew Saul, the self-proclaimed ""Megavitamin Man,"" states: ""The coronavirus pandemic can be dramatically slowed, or stopped completely, with the immediate widespread use of high doses of vitamin C."" The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) While vitamin C may slightly help ward off common illnesses, there is no evidence high doses of the supplement can slow or stop the current coronavirus. The story appears to have originated with a press release that Saul wrote for a website called Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, of which Saul is listed as an editor. (Orthomolecular medicine is a form of alternative medicine that aims to maintain human health through nutritional supplementation.) Despite the blog’s lengthy claims about the powers of vitamin C, there’s no credible evidence that a high intake of it will have any impact on the virus. Health professionals have even said the mineral has a marginal effect on the common cold. The CDC and World Health Organization both state that there’s currently no vaccine or specific medicine recommended to prevent or treat the new coronavirus. (WHO also has a page dedicated to some of the most common coronavirus myths.) The organizations say the best way to prevent the illness is to avoid being exposed. Everyday preventive measures that are recommended include: avoiding close contact with people who are sick, covering your cough or sneeze, avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, washing your hands thoroughly and often, and staying home when you are sick. A Facebook post says that taking high doses of vitamin C will slow or even stop the coronavirus. There’s no evidence that the supplement has any effect on the coronavirus. There is currently no vaccine or medicine recommended for the virus."
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34186
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"A photograph shared on social media in mid-2019 shows a ""skinhead"" police officer with a ""right-wing militia"" tattoo. "
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"What's undetermined: We have found no evidence demonstrating that the officer wears the ""ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ"" tattoo as an expression of support for right-wing or militia groups or ideology, and the slogan is more commonly associated with Second Amendment activism and opposition to gun control. We also have found no evidence that he is involved in what could be described as a ""skinhead"" movement or group."
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unproven
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Fauxtography
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In July 2019, concerned and outraged Facebook users shared a post that purported to show a Jewish woman, protesting the Trump administration’s U.S. border-detention policy, being arrested by a “skinhead cop with a right-wing militia tattoo.” The photograph was accompanied by the caption “Nothing to see here, just a skinhead cop with a right-wing militia tattoo arresting a Jewish woman for protesting a concentration camp”: The caption of user Emily Connor’s July 3 post appeared to have been borrowed from a tweet, posted two days earlier, by the @vmWareWolf account: How much can you fit in one image? “Skinhead cop with right-wing militia slogan tattoo arrests Jewish woman for protesting concentration camps.” We’re living in Bizarro world. — Chritopherr 🌹 (@vmWareWolf) July 1, 2019 We received multiple inquiries from readers as to whether the photograph was authentic, and whether it truly showed a “skinhead” police officer bearing a “right-wing militia tattoo.” The photograph is certainly authentic, but we found no evidence to support the description of the officer in question as a “skinhead,” and the meaning and significance of his tattoo is complicated. The photograph posted by @vmWareWolf and Connor was originally published on the Facebook account of “Never Again Action,” a group of Jewish activists opposed to what they described as the “mass atrocity” of President Donald Trump administration’s immigration and border-detention policies. “Never Again Action” characterized U.S. government detention facilities along the southern border with Mexico as “concentration camps.” On June 30, members of that group protested outside an Elizabeth, New Jersey, immigrant-detention facility. According to a spokesperson for the city, police arrested 36 demonstrators on suspicion of blocking a public passage, after they allegedly blocked entry into the facility. One of the photographs posted to the group’s Facebook page showed a bald, male officer with the last name Toro escorting a handcuffed female protester away from the demonstration. The officer had a tattoo on his right forearm: The same officer was captured in a second photograph handcuffing another protester, and the tattoo on his right forearm was again clearly visible. Taken from different angles, with the officer’s forearm shown in different postures, these two photographs provided mutual corroboration and allowed us to conclude they were both authentic: The tattoo read “ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ” (“Molon labe”), an Ancient Greek phrase meaning “having come, take” or “come and take [them]” that originated with the writings of the historian Plutarch. In his “Moralia” (“Morals”), Plutarch recounted the lead-up to the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., a milestone in military history that might be familiar to readers who have seen the 2007 film “300.” Before the fighting began, Xerxes, ruler of the Persian empire, encouraged Leonidas, king of the militaristic city-state of Sparta and leader of an alliance of outnumbered Greek forces, to surrender. Plutarch recorded of that event: “When Xerxes wrote again, ‘Hand over your arms,’ [Leonidas] wrote in reply, ‘Come and take them.’” Over the centuries, Leonidas’ retort has become a maxim of defiance and determination, especially in a military context, and in recent years has gained popularity in the United States among some advocates of the Second Amendment’s protection of the right to bear arms, especially those advocates vehemently opposed to enhanced gun-ownership restrictions or fearful of hypothetical future government attempts at widespread firearm confiscation. The Greek phrase is commonly emblazoned on t-shirts and used in tattoos, often accompanied by images of firearms or Spartan helmets. Although the slogan is primarily associated with the more extreme elements of the gun-rights movement, both “Molon labe” and its Anglicized version, “Come and take it,” have also been used by and associated with white supremacist and far-right groups. The anti-immigrant, white nationalist group the American Guard, for example, uses “Come and take it” in their logo, and “come and take it” has appeared regularly on white supremacist and far-right online forums such as Daily Stormer. The San Francisco Bay-area, far-right protester Kyle Chapman, known for his violent participation in protests and counter-protests including those that took place in Berkeley, California, in spring 2017, has prominently displayed “ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ” on helmets he wears in street clashes. Some overlap exists between right-wing, anti-government militia symbolism and rhetoric, on the one hand, and pro-Second Amendment activism, on the other. However, the slogan “ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ” is most commonly and prominently associated with the latter, and someone who uses it or displays it on a tattoo or t-shirt as part of an opposition to gun ownership restrictions or would-be gun confiscation does not necessarily have any involvement or sympathy with “right-wing militia” or skinheads. The claim that the pictured officer is a “skinhead” appears to be based only on the fact that he is bald, rather than any evidence that he is (or has been) a member of a skinhead group, or has taken part in the skinhead subculture, which in the United States is typically associated with far-right, white supremacist ideology. Most bald men are not skinheads, and skinheads need not be bald in order to identify as such. We do not know what motivated or inspired the “ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ” tattoo worn by the Elizabeth, New Jersey, police officer shown in the June-July 2019 arrest photographs. On Facebook, we contacted an Elizabeth man who has the same last name and first initial as the officer in question and who bears a striking resemblance to him, whom we strongly suspect to be the officer in question. (We have not yet been able to definitively identify the officer, and due to the unique sensitivities inherent in publicly identifying law-enforcement officers, we are not naming him.) We asked the man in question whether he was the officer shown in the photographs, as well as several questions relating to his views on gun control, right-wing politics, and anti-government militia groups, as well as the motivation behind his tattoo, but we did not receive a response of any kind. Without confirmation as to his motivations and ideology, or evidence demonstrating an association with skinhead, right-wing, or militia groups, we cannot confirm that the officer in question is in fact a “skinhead” or that he wears the tattoo due to support for “right-wing militia,” as was claimed in the viral Facebook and Twitter posts. Thus, this element of the claim remains unproven for now. It is not prohibited, in all cases, for Elizabeth police officers to have visible tattoos, but it does appear to be frowned upon. The department’s 2017 policy manual states that “While on-duty or representing the Department in any official capacity, every reasonable effort should be made to conceal tattoos or other body art. At no time while on-duty or representing the Department in any official capacity, shall any tattoo or body art considered offensive be visible. Examples of offensive tattoos would include, but not be limited to, those which depict racial, sexual, discriminatory, gang related or obscene language.” In an effort to inquire as to whether the officer’s “ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ” tattoo might have constituted a violation of the policy, and what the department’s stance was towards tattoos and insignia of a controversial or political nature, we made repeated attempts to contact any individual responsible for handling media inquiries at Elizabeth Police Department. Unfortunately, we were told that only one person had that authority, and that that person, a police sergeant, was absent from work. When we attempted to leave a voicemail message, we discovered that that person did not have a voicemail-messaging system set up. When we asked for the email address of that individual or anyone else who was authorized to handle media inquiries, a dispatcher provided us the web address www.elizabethnj.org. When we pointed out that that was a website URL, not an email address, the dispatcher refused to provide further assistance. When we made a final attempt to reach a responsible staff member at the police department, a second dispatcher said, “Do not call here again” and hung up on us.
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520
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South Africa's Karoo drills and prays as taps run dry.
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South Africa’s Karoo region has always been parched - it means land of thirst in the language of its earliest inhabitants, the Khoisan hunter gatherers.
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true
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Environment
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Yet nothing prepared residents of its oldest town, Graaff-Reinet, for their worst drought in more than a century. As the dry spell entered its fourth year, tap water turned brown and smelled like rotting fish. When the water behind the Nqweba Dam dried up, depositing tens of thousands of dead fish onto cracked earth, queues began forming at municipal bore holes and farm animals died in their hundreds. The bleak choices facing millions of people in drought-stricken southern Africa - whether to flush toilets or not, or to keep animals alive or let them die - could soon be faced by other places on a warming planet with shrinking water supplies. “This area is dry but our taps have never been completely empty. Never,” said Bukelwa Booysen, who has had to send staff in search of borehole water for her school for disabled children, and send the kids home when they can’t find any. An abnormally hot summer with rainfall 75% below average, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has struck the whole region. The United Nations says 45 million people in southern Africa face hunger. Bushes and trees clinging to the Karoo’s rocky ravines are withered and grey - even hardy acacia thorns are dying. Signs mark rivers that are now dry beds. At one farm, Gerrie Snyman, 65, was feeding grain to sheep and goats that couldn’t find pasture. More than a third of his couple-thousand goats and sheep had either died or been sold this year. His 80 cows were now 15. He loaded a calf that was starving - its mother had stopped producing milk - onto his truck to take home and shoot. A friend had shot himself dead after his animals died of thirst. “We are grateful to the Almighty for our borehole water,” he said. “We don’t know what we’ll do when it runs out.” When Cape Town’s reservoir nearly ran dry 18 months ago, it made international headlines and authorities rationed water. Yet Karoo is long past water rationing. For Valentia Esho, 45, an unemployed mother of seven in the township of Umazisakhe, it means letting her toilet fill up instead of flushing, never washing clothes and only washing plates that stink. Water is just for drinking. “The house is really smelling,” she said, inside her one-room brick-and-tin home. “Everyone is paining from stomach aches and diarrhoea.” In another township, Asherville, where wind kicked up dust devils, school headmaster Basil Vaaltyn was overseeing water distribution from a truck. He’d done everything to cut down on his usage: “I’m down to a minute showering instead of two.” His wife saves dirty dishwater to fill the cistern. A spokesman for the municipality said it was drilling boreholes, installing pipelines and building an 18-million-litre reservoir, adding: “Usage of water is still very high. The community is requested to use water sparingly.” With municipal authorities overwhelmed, South African charity Gift of the Givers is trucking water to townships and drilling boreholes. Gideon Groenewald, a geohydrologist for the charity, uses science and spirituality to look for groundwater. When he was growing up on a farm, he used to dowse with wet twigs. Nowadays he prefers magnetic detectors. “I open Google maps and look for the lines of trees. I ask God in prayer which lines hold water, then I go down to that GPS location,” he said while a forked stick turned in his hand over an arid patch of shrubs. “You see the stick moving where the magnetic field is? There’s water here,” he continued. “It’s pure science.” The charity has drilled 1,800 boreholes in the past three years, Groenewald said, only a third of them dry. But Louise Stafford, water director for the Nature Conservancy in South Africa, urged caution with boreholes, because groundwater is a finite resource. Water-intensive agriculture like citrus farms can make droughts worse, she said, and leaky pipes are losing a billion litres a year - problems Water Minister Lindiwe Sisulu pledged to tackle in a new water masterplan she delivered on Thursday. One Sunday, as clouds formed over Graaff-Reinet, its Assembly Church prayed. The clouds spat but didn’t pour. “We pray for God to open heaven and send rain,” Pastor Dolan Cochrane said. The congregation bowed. “Lord,” Cochrane continued. “We know that, in your time, you will come to our rescue.”
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33285
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"A teenager was given a 25-year prison sentence for a prank known as ""swatting."
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Fake news reports that a teenager was given a 25-year prison sentence for a prank known as 'swatting.'
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false
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Junk News, national report, paul horner, swat
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“Swatting” is a type of prank whereby someone falsely notifies police of a serious threat, such as bomb-making or a hostage situation, in an attempt to have police respond with a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team to a targeted address: Example: [Collected via e-mail, August 2014] This story is circulating all over the web; it claims a 15 year old got 25 year in jail as a domestic terrorist for “Swatting”. On 30 August 2014, the National Report published an article positing a teenager was convicted on terrorism charges and sentenced to a quarter-century in prison for a swatting prank: What many teenagers these days are considering a harmless prank, has landed one online gamer in more trouble than he could have ever imagined. In a Louisiana courtroom today, 15-year-old Paul Horner broke down in tears after a judge found the young man guilty on two counts of domestic terrorism and was sentenced to twenty-five years to life in federal prison. Horner is the first person in history to be charged with what is known as “‘swatting,” a growing trend in which a person anonymously files a false police report, such as a murder or bomb threat, in hopes of provoking the police to raid an individual’s home or business. Prosecutors in the case proved that Horner called in multiple false threats against rival online gamers, resulting in SWAT team raids of their residence. Soon afterwards links and excerpts referencing this article were being circulated via social media, with many of those who encountered such references mistaking them for genuine news reports. However, the article was just a bit of fiction from the National Report, spoofing rumors about the government monitoring of social media. The National Report is a fake news web site that publishes outrageous stories such as “IRS Plans to Target Leprechauns Next,” “Boy Scouts Announce Boobs Merit Badge,” and “New CDC Study Indicates Pets of Gay Couples Worse at Sports, Better at Fashion Than Pets of Straight Couples.” The National Report‘s disclaimer page notes: National Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental.
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14356
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Twenty-seven out-of-state pharmaceutical companies have raised more campaign dollars (against a drug price control measure) than all other state ballot measures have raised to date, combined.
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"Californians for Lower Drug Prices is backing a drug price control measure on the November ballot. In late March, it claimed: ""Twenty-seven out-of-state pharmaceutical companies have raised more campaign dollars (against the drug measure) than all other state ballot measures have raised to date, combined."" From our research, it’s clear that 27 of the 30 companies backing Californians Against The Misleading Rx Measure are, indeed, from outside California. Together they’ve amassed nearly $53 million, which dwarfs the $33 million spent on all other initiative campaigns during the 2015-2016 election cycle. But what’s also clear is that Californians for Lower Drug Prices did not count a large pot of money, nearly $59 million, collected by a hospital association for a separate ballot measure. It says it simply ""missed"" these funds because it was focused on the current election cycle. Much of the $59 million was contributed outside the timeframe used to make the claim, but it is money that was gathered to be spent on a November ballot measure. This doesn’t take away from the fact that pharma firms have aggressively spent funds, so much that their totals already are in the top 20 for cash contributed for any California ballot measure. But the omission of the hospital association money leaves out important details that would give a different impression."
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mixture
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Campaign Finance, Drugs, Elections, California, Californians for Lower Drug Prices,
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"Big-time spending is expected in the fight over California’s ballot measures this election year. One expert estimates campaigns could dole out nearly a half billion dollars to influence the fate of the dozen or more initiatives expected on the November ballot. Eight have already qualified. They include a measure to overturn the state’s ban on single-use plastic bags; one to raise funds for school facilities; and another that would regulate the cost the state pays for prescription drugs. Campaigns for a dozen additional initiatives, including a proposed tobacco tax hike, are gathering signatures and could qualify their measures later this year. As money pours in for and against these initiatives, a claim by Californians for Lower Drug Prices caught our attention. The campaign is backing a measure on the November ballot that would impose price controls on state prescription drug purchases. Supporters call the initiative the California Drug Price Relief Act. And they say spending by the measure’s opponent has dwarfed all other fundraising. ""Twenty-seven out-of-state pharmaceutical companies have raised more campaign dollars (against the prescription drug measure) than all other state ballot measures have raised to date, combined,"" Californians for Lower Drug Prices said in a March 21 press release. That campaign is funded by the Los Angeles-based nonprofit AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which offers health services and is often at odds with the pharmaceutical industry. We wondered was its claim about Big Pharma true? Had a group of pharmaceutical companies really outspent all other ballot campaigns, combined? How much did all that spending add up to? We set out on a fact check. Our research Californians Against The Misleading Rx Measure is the campaign opposing the ballot measure. It’s the one that is claimed to have outraised everyone by a wide margin. First, we checked to see if it’s contributions came from 27 ""out-of-state pharmaceutical companies,"" as claimed by Californians For Lower Drug Prices. We found the campaign in question is sponsored by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturer’s Association of America, an industry group based in Washington D.C. And 27 of the 30 companies that had contributed to it are, indeed, from outside California, according to records on the secretary of state’s website. Johnson & Johnson of New Jersey and Pfizer, Inc., of New York, made the largest single contributions at $5.7 million each last year. Big Pharma is uniquely positioned to influence America’s political system. The pharmaceutical and health products industry spent more than $3.2 billion on lobbying from 1998 through 2015, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington D.C. based nonprofit that tracks money in politics. That was $1 billion more than the next sector, insurance. Also last year, the pharmaceutical industry had nearly 1,400 lobbyists working for it, the center reported. Capital Public Radio / file photo More than everyone, combined? Looking back at the California drug price measure, records show pharmaceutical companies spent nearly $53 million against it by mid-March. It’s a big sum, especially this early in the election year. The total ranks among the top 20 largest sums contributed by a campaign for or against a California initiative, according to the research group MapLight. But as we dug deeper, we found it’s not necessarily more that what’s been spent on all other 2016 ballot measures in the state, combined. It’s not even the highest total raised for an individual measure on this year’s November ballot. Another big money pot The $53 million from the pharma firms is certainly more than what’s been spent on all other ballot measures (about $33 million), but only if you look at what’s been doled out during the 2015-2016 election cycle. What’s missing is the huge sum -- nearly $59 million -- contributed by a California hospitals association over the past three years for a hospital fees measure on November’s ballot. Most of that money streamed in before this election cycle, because the measure was initially intended for the November 2014 ballot. When making its claim about the pharma cash, it appears Californians for Lower Drug Prices missed a big pot of money, said Ned Wigglesworth a Sacramento-based campaign strategist, who is not associated with either side on the prescription drug measure. ""The statement (by Californians for Lower Drug Prices) doesn’t appear to be accurate,"" he said. ""When you take a closer look at the (campaign) filings … you realize far more money has been raised."" He estimated spending could eventually top $450 million for all measures on this year’s ballot. Representatives for the Californians for Lower Drug Prices campaign said they only looked at the 2015-2016 cycle, and ""missed"" the early money contributed by the hospital group. Kathy Fairbanks, a spokeswoman for the campaign backed by the pharma companies, said the claim about its spending ""is an early snapshot,"" noting it’s expensive to campaign in a state as large as California. But because other campaigns are expected to pour in hundreds of millions of dollars in more spending, she said the claim ""ignores the bigger picture. Look at (spending totals) in October."" Our ruling Californians for Lower Drug Prices is backing a drug price control measure on the November ballot. In late March, it claimed: ""Twenty-seven out-of-state pharmaceutical companies have raised more campaign dollars (against the drug measure) than all other state ballot measures have raised to date, combined."" From our research, it’s clear that 27 of the 30 companies backing Californians Against The Misleading Rx Measure are, indeed, from outside California. Together they’ve amassed nearly $53 million, which dwarfs the $33 million spent on all other initiative campaigns during the 2015-2016 election cycle. But what’s also clear is that Californians for Lower Drug Prices did not count a large pot of money, nearly $59 million, collected by a hospital association for a separate ballot measure. It says it simply ""missed"" these funds because it was focused on the current election cycle. Much of the $59 million was contributed outside the timeframe used to make the claim, but it is money that was gathered to be spent on a November ballot measure. This doesn’t take away from the fact that pharma firms have aggressively spent funds, so much that their totals already are in the top 20 for cash contributed for any California ballot measure. But the omission of the hospital association money leaves out important details that would give a different impression. CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the pharmaceutical and health products industry spent more than $3.2 billion on lobbying efforts in 2015. The industry spent that total from 1998 through 2015. It spent $240 million in 2015, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Source: California Secretary of State"
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7836
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4D scans show fetuses yawn in the womb.
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Growing into a fully formed human being is a long process, and scientists have found that unborn babies not only hiccup, swallow and stretch in the womb, they yawn too.
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true
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Science News
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Researchers who studied 4D scans of 15 healthy fetuses also said they think yawning is a developmental process which could potentially give doctors a new way to check on a baby’s health. While some scientists have previously suggested that fetuses yawn, others disagree and say it is nothing more than a developing baby opening and stretching its mouth. But writing in the journal PLOS ONE on Wednesday, British researchers said their study was able to clearly distinguish yawning from “non-yawn mouth opening” based on how long the mouth was open. The researchers did this by using 4D video footage to examine all the times when fetuses opened their mouths. Nadja Reissland of Durham University’s department of Psychology, who led the study, said the function and importance of yawning in fetuses is still unknown, but the findings suggest it may be linked to fetal development and could provide a further indication of the health of the unborn baby. “Unlike us, fetuses do not yawn contagiously, nor do they yawn because they are sleepy,” she said. “Instead, the frequency of yawning in the womb may be linked to the maturing of the brain early in gestation.” The study was carried out on eight female and seven male fetuses from 24 to 36 weeks gestation. The researchers found that yawning declined from 28 weeks and that there was no significant difference in how often boys and girls yawned.
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3375
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Health officials: New HIV diagnoses on decline in Chicago.
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New HIV diagnoses in Chicago continue to go down and have declined for four consecutive years, according to figures released by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago’s health department.
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true
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Chicago, Health, General News, Epidemics, Lori Lightfoot, Public health
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The 734 new diagnoses reported in 2018 among Chicago residents are the lowest number since 1988, health officials said Monday. “A world where we end the HIV epidemic is within our reach, and these latest findings prove that Chicago is on track to end the HIV epidemic by 2030,” Lightfoot said in a release. “Chicagoans will not rest until we achieve functional zero, meaning we will continue to increase access to care and services, expand our work with community partners and strengthen the quality of life for every city resident.” Chicago Department of Public Health’s 2019 HIV/STI surveillance report shows 23,580 people were living with HIV through the end of 2017, the year for which most current data is available. The health department’s HIV Services Portfolio is awarding more than $40 million annually to over 60 community-based and health care organizations. “Our funding follows the epidemic to ensure resources are allocated to areas and populations with the greatest needs,” health department acting commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said. “Through integration of funding and programming, we can reach more people and make sure no one falls through the cracks.” While HIV rates are declining in Chicago, other sexually transmitted infections are rising. More than 30,600 cases of chlamydia, nearly 12,700 cases of gonorrhea and 877 primary and secondary cases of syphilis were reported to the health department in 2018.
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10899
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Targeted Breast Cancer Drug Shrinks Tumors
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This article describes the early results from a preliminary study of a novel compound for the treatment of a form of metastatic breast cancer. It provides solid background regarding the components in the compound and how it works. However, the article provides inadequate context, misinterprets a key result, and does not provide balance regarding potential serious harms and the lack of data for overall survival. We also question the sole outside source being an investigator who receives funding from the same drug company that funded this study. Patients with metastatic breast cancer have a poor prognosis, and there is a need for new effective treatments.
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false
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"Costs are not mentioned in the article. As the expense of Herceptin (trastuzumab) alone has come up in public discourse, such as in this Atlantic article, it stands to reason that a novel compound including trastuzumab would have economic considerations. While the article does present numbers for the outcomes, it does not mention the number of subjects in the study, a key piece of information needed to put the outcomes in perspective. There are further concerns about the language used to describe the results. Most importantly, the article claims that ""Women remained cancer-free for an average of seven months."" This sentence appears to be a significant misinterpretation of the data because the Dana Farber press release states that the median time to progression was 7.3 months. That doesn’t mean the cancer vanished in these subjects for 7 months: it was there but it just didn’t progress. The study abstract from the conference does not provide the relevant data, and thus we cannot confirm the numbers and metrics presented by the author. If, however, this was a misinterpretation, it’s significant because a reduction in tumor size (only observed in one third of women) is not the same as being cancer free. There are several other points of critique regarding how potential benefits are described. The key result that ""Tumors shrank in one-third of women with metastatic breast cancer given T-DM1"" fails to mention that this population was a minority subset of metastatic breast cancer: those with HER2-positive disease. Perhaps readers would infer this caveat from the discussion of HER2 prevalence in the article’s second section, but it should have been stated much earlier, at the very least when the study population was described. Otherwise it overstates the potential applicability of the benefits. The title of the article ""drug shrinks tumors"" is an exaggeration: tumors only shrunk in one third of subjects. Growth was stable in another 12% of subjects, which means that the other half of subjects progressed during the study. The editorial definition of the term ""refractory"" as ""sick"" is overly simplistic and perhaps misleading."
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2602
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Jacobs Ladder climbers reap tough fitness rewards.
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Jacobs Ladder, a moving, angled, climbing machine, may be named after the Biblical stairway to heaven, but it packs such a challenging workout people have dubbed it the stairway to hell.
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true
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Health News
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Fitness experts say users of the fitness machine, which is a favorite among Army Rangers, Navy Seals, and “The Biggest Loser” television series, reap total body, calorie-busting rewards. “It’s a great and tough cardio piece,” said Neal Pire, an exercise physiologist with the American College of Sports Medicine. “Picture a step mill that combines the lower and upper body, and you have Jacobs Ladder. Except instead of steps, you have rungs.” Because the user climbs with arms as well as legs more muscles are working and more calories are burned. “As a rule the more muscle mass you utilize during any activity, the greater the oxygen consumed, which is directly correlated to the calories you consumed,” said Pire, president of Inspire Training Systems, in New Jersey. “Unlike stair climbers, you can’t hold on to the sides.” Jacobs Ladder was invented by Steve Nichols, a fitness champion who injured his knees and back, according to Bob Palka, president of Jacobs Ladder, LLC. “He wanted to come up with a good workout that didn’t impact back and knees.” said Palka, who bought the patent and assets from Nichols in 1994. “Effectively it’s just climbing a ladder,” Palka said. People using the machine are placed at a 40-degree angle to put the spine in a more neutral position, relieve the back of stress and engage core muscles. Palka said on Jacobs Ladder the person’s body weight is lifted over a 12-inch (30.5-centemeter) step for fuller range of motion than the eight-inches of a step mill. “You control the speed,” he said.” The faster you go the faster the runners (on the ladder) come.” Palka said about 50 to 60 percent of his Jacobs Ladders go to health clubs; some 10 to 15 percent go to the military and physical therapy facilities, respectively. Jacobs Ladder landed a recurring role on the TV show “The Biggest Loser” after trainer Jillian Michaels fell in love with it. “It tends to get your heart rate up,” said Palka, adding that other users, such as the FBI and the Army Rangers, are drawn to the intensity of the workout. John Trail, general manager of a Fitness First health club in Arlington, Virginia, uses Jacobs Ladder in functional circuit and interval training. “You can go for time or you can go for feet,” said Trail. “It’s not a fast-moving piece, but the fact that you’re using every muscle group means you can do 100 feet, rest, jump off, do 10 kettlebell swings, 10 short interval sprints, and burn a lot more calories than you would on an elliptical.” Trail said a rock climbing buddy likes to climb Jacobs Ladder wearing a back pack for an endurance workout. A self-described competitive person, Trail has even raced with it. “We have two machines side-by-side, so we’ll go for 1,000 feet as fast as possible,” he said. “In under 10 minutes you can get a really good workout.” He also uses it on clients with joint issues to get their heart rates up quickly. But despite its virtues, Pire said it’s unlikely Jacobs Ladder will supplant the treadmill anytime soon. “The tougher the machine, the more seldom you see it,” he said. “I haven’t seen many seniors hop on. The older population is concerned about balance and falling. And there’s some skill involved in climbing a ladder. But fans are ardent. “Those who use it are almost religious,” he said.
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9636
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Reviving Memory With An Electrical Current
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This story describing research on deep brain stimulation (DBS) to treat Alzheimer’s disease centers on a phase 2 safety trial that was the subject of a news release evaluated by HealthNewsReview.org in March. The study involved a procedure in which an implanted neurostimulator delivered electrical signals to the fornix area of the brain to help regulate abnormal signals in patients with potential mild Alzheimer’s. A similar procedure is used to treat Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. The story provided some compelling details, but could have used a jolt of skepticism as it examined the challenge of applying a treatment that works for some diseases to an altogether different medical condition. Like the release, the story didn’t describe serious adverse effects of the treatment. The story also didn’t include costs and conflicts of interest. Moreover, its positive tone about the prospects of this treatment for Alzheimer’s doesn’t seem warranted by the evidence and at times strays into editorializing. DBS is a procedure used to treat a variety of neurological conditions by delivering electrical impulses to specific areas of the brain through implanted electrodes. The possibility of using it treat Alzheimer’s disease, an irreversible, progressive brain disorder that slowly erodes memory and cognitive skills, seems like a natural area of inquiry.
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false
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alzheimer's disease,deep brain stimulation,dementia
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The story does not discuss what this treatment might cost, even though DBS is widely used for other conditions. A DBS surgery for Parkinson’s, for example, can cost a minimum of $35,000, including hospital and physician fees, according to the National Parkinson Foundation. It’s unclear what if any benefit DBS might offer for Alzheimer’s patients, a point that could have been made more explicitly. There were no quantified benefits included, instead the story states that results for the phase 2 study were “mixed but encouraging.” It does not explain that the trial was aimed at determining only the 90-day postoperative safety of the procedure, not its efficacy, and that it included only patients with mild Alzheimer’s. It further states that after one year there “were no significant differences in cognition” between the treatment groups, but differences “may take time to become noticeable” because the disease progresses slowly. While some researchers hope DBS might be able to slow progress of the disease, the story suggests it might actually reverse memory loss. It likens DBS to “retrieving memories by hot-wiring the brain” and leads with an anecdote about a 63-year-old women with Alzheimer’s who retrieved a latent childhood memory as a result of deep brain stimulation, though apparently under a “lofty voltage” only safely achievable in a hospital. The story states that a finding of increased glucose utilization in patients who have received brain stimulation “could mean there’s a way to overcome some of the damage from Alzheimer’s.” Given there was no clinical correlation, it doesn’t seem relevant, and we’re not sure why it was included as a sign of benefit. The story states that the study showed “both the surgery itself and DBS of the fornix appear safe” and “no serious, long-term side effects were seen in either patient group, supporting further research in the field.” But the story doesn’t mention that 26 (61.9%) of the 42 patients in the study experienced one or more adverse effects. Five patients (11.9%) experienced one or more serious adverse effects, and four of those patients required a return to surgery. The story states that the phase 2 trial was a randomized, blinded trial involving 42 patients, but it does not adequately caution readers about limitations, such as its focus on safety and inclusion of only patients with mild Alzheimer’s. The story cites other “mounting evidence” in favor of DBS, but supports that idea with one study that did not include Alzheimer’s patients, one study that included just six Alzheimer’s patients, and one study that was conducted on rats. Despite skimpy efficacy data and clear risks, the story calls early findings “intriguing” and is bullish on more research: “Yet the fact that the therapy can in some people rescue recollections — albeit random ones — and possibly induce new neuron growth in memory regions of the brain seems reason enough to pursue it further.” To us, this seems like editorializing. We did appreciate, however, a skeptical source who says, “Unfortunately, [the findings] suggest that the therapy may not be as robust as initially proposed” and other statements of caution. No disease mongering here. The story cites multiple sources but fails to mention research funding or potential or conflicts of interest. Notably, it omits the fact that one researcher at the center of this story, University of Toronto neuroscientist Andres Lozano, M.D., has a financial interest in the deep brain stimulation as co-founder and director of Functional Neuromodulation Inc, which makes the deep brain stimulation device. Are there alternatives to deep brain stimulation for treating Alzheimer’s? This story doesn’t say. The story acknowledges the preliminary nature of the research, but we’d have liked to see it near the top rather than in the third-to-last paragraph, which states: “DBS for treatment of Alzheimer’s and other dementias is a field in its infancy. Unlike on TV, in all likelihood it won’t be widely used anytime soon to retrieve specific memories.” The story appropriately states that deep brain stimulation is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It also included a description of research on DBS in dementia, which helps provide context. The story does not rely solely on a news release.
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6277
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Investigation: Lead in some Canadian water worse than Flint.
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Hundreds of thousands of Canadians have been unwittingly exposed to high levels of lead in their drinking water, with contamination in several cities consistently higher than they ever were in Flint, Michigan, according to an investigation that tested drinking water in hundreds of homes and reviewed thousands more previously undisclosed results.
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true
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Science, Michigan, Flint, Weekend Reads, General News, Health, Canada, Montreal, AP Top News, International News, U.S. News
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Residents in some homes in Montreal, a cosmopolitan city an hour north of the U.S.-Canada border, and Regina, in the flat western prairies, are among those drinking and cooking with tap water with lead levels that exceed Canada’s federal guidelines. The investigation found some schools and day care centers had lead levels so high that researchers noted it could impact children’s health. Exacerbating the problem, many water providers aren’t testing at all. It wasn’t the Canadian government that exposed the scope of this public health concern. A yearlong investigation by more than 120 journalists from nine universities and 10 media organizations, including The Associated Press and the Institute for Investigative Journalism at Concordia University in Montreal , collected test results that properly measure exposure to lead in 11 cities across Canada. Out of 12,000 tests since 2014, one-third — 33% — exceeded the national safety guideline of 5 parts per billion; 18% exceeded the U.S. limit of 15 ppb. In a country that touts its clean, natural turquoise lakes, sparkling springs and rushing rivers, there are no national mandates to test drinking water for lead. And even if agencies do take a sample, residents are rarely informed of contamination. “I’m surprised,” said Bruce Lanphear, a leading Canadian water safety researcher who studies the impacts of lead exposure on fetuses and young children. “These are quite high given the kind of attention that has been given to Flint, Michigan, as having such extreme problems. Even when I compare this to some of the other hotspots in the United States, like Newark, like Pittsburgh, the levels here are quite high.” Many Canadians who had allowed journalists to sample their water were troubled when they came back with potentially dangerous lead levels. Some private homeowners said they plan to stop drinking from the tap. “It’s a little bit disturbing to see that there’s that much,” said Andrew Keddie, a retired professor who assumed his water was clean after replacing pipes years ago at his home in Edmonton, a city of almost 1 million in western Canada. What he couldn’t do is replace public service lines delivering water to his house. After learning his water lead levels tested at 28 ppb, Keddie said he was “concerned enough that we won’t be drinking and using this water.” Sarah Rana, 18, was one of tens of thousands of students who weren’t alerted when her brick high school in Oakville, a town on the shores of Lake Ontario, found lead levels above national guidelines in dozens of water samples, the highest at 140 ppb. She found out on her own, looking at reports posted online. “I was getting poisoned for four years and did not know about it,” she said. “As a student, I think I should be told.” Leona Peterson learned of the contamination in her water after journalists found excessively high lead levels in 21 of 25 homes tested in her small, northwest port town of Prince Rupert. Peterson, who lives in subsidized housing for Indigenous people, had water that registered at 15.6 ppb. “I was drinking from the tap, directly from the tap, without any knowledge that there was lead in the water,” said Peterson. Her son was as well. Her response: “Hurt, real hurt.” The town of Prince Rupert, where whales, grizzly bears and bald eagles are common sights, is among more than a dozen communities along Canada’s wild west coast where residents — many Indigenous — are living in homes with aging pipes, drinking corrosive rainwater that is likely to draw lead. But their province of British Columbia doesn’t require municipalities to test tap water for lead. Canadian officials where levels were high said they were aware that lead pipes can contaminate drinking water and that they were working to replace aging infrastructure. And some localities are taking action. Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante vowed to test 100,000 homes for lead and speed up replacement of lead-lined pipes immediately after journalists sent her an analysis of the city’s internal data revealing high lead levels across the city. The media consortium filed more than 700 Freedom of Information requests and took hundreds of samples in people’s homes to collect more than 79,000 water test results. But the findings are neither comprehensive nor an indication of overall drinking water quality in Canada. That doesn’t exist. “Because there is no federal oversight, everybody does what they want,” said engineering professor Michèle Prévost, who quit working on a government study of school drinking water in frustration over the lack of lead testing. “Most provinces ignore this very serious problem.” The government’s approach to limiting lead in drinking water in Canada is starkly different from the U.S., where the Environmental Protection Agency sets legal standards under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, and every person is supposed to receive an annual Consumer Confidence Report from their water provider by July 1 detailing lead test results. There’s no similar, routine testing or notice in Canada, with the exception of the 14 million-person province of Ontario, bordering the U.S. and the Great Lakes, which post results online. “If that’s not public, that’s a problem,” said Tom Neltner, a chemical engineer at the Environmental Defense Fund, a U.S.-based environmental group. “The public is more sensitive to the risks of lead, especially on children’s development. Where you have transparency you have advocacy, and where you have advocacy you have action.” In the U.S., however, even public water quality reports weren’t enough to prevent the Flint, Michigan, drinking water crisis, brought on by a 2014 decision to temporarily pull water from a river as a cost saver while installing new pipelines. Some doctors raised concerns in Flint after noticing elevated lead levels in children’s blood tests. Flint’s water problems went well beyond lead: Excessive microbes turned the water reddish brown and led to a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak that caused at least 12 deaths and sickened more than 90 people. The Flint crisis sparked congressional hearings, lawsuits and scrutiny of lead testing across the country. Now officials in Newark, New Jersey, are scrambling to replace about 18,000 lead lines after repeated tests found elevated lead levels in drinking water. Other communities are also responding. Nearly 30 million people in the U.S. were supplied drinking water that had excessively high levels of lead, from Portland, Oregon to Providence, Rhode Island between 2015 and 2018, according to an analysis of EPA data by the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. Hundreds of people in the U.S. are suing local water authorities over the contamination. Virginia Tech professor Marc Edwards, whose study of the Flint water system helped reveal the dangerous lead levels, reviewed the Canadian media consortium’s findings. “This is a significant health concern, people should be warned,” said Edwards. “Something should be done.” In Canada, where lawsuits are less frequent and provinces — not the federal government — set water safety rules, the main source of lead in drinking water is antiquated pipes. At one government hearing, an expert estimated some 500,000 lead service lines are still delivering water to people in the country. Some cities, like Montreal, are already working to replace them, tearing up streets and sidewalks with massive and expensive construction. But homeowners are almost always responsible for paying the cost of replacing the section of pipe between their property lines to their homes, a cost that can range from about $3,000 to $15,000, according to provincial studies. Several other short-term solutions include having suppliers add anti-corrosives or altering water chemistry so it’s less likely to leach lead from the insides of pipes as it heads for the tap. These are widely used and often mandatory in the U.S., but in Canada only the province of Ontario requires anti-corrosives in communities with older buildings and sewerage. Studies have documented over years that even low levels of lead exposure can affect a child’s IQ and their ability to pay attention. Children who are younger than 7 and pregnant women are most at risk from lead exposure, which can damage brains and kidneys. Yet the consortium’s investigation found day cares and schools are not tested regularly. And when they are tested, those results are also not public. Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information laws included a 2017 pilot study of tap water at 150 day cares in the picturesque, lake-laden province of Alberta. It showed 18 had lead levels in drinking water at or above 5 ppb, which the researchers considered risky for the infants and toddlers. The highest was 35.5 ppb. Canada is one of the only developed countries in the world that does not have a nationwide drinking water standard. Even countries that struggle to provide safe drinking water have established acceptable lead levels: India’s is 10 ppb and Mexico and Egypt’s are 5 ppb, according to those country’s government websites. Joe Cotruvo, a D.C.-based environmental and public health consultant active in the World Health Organization’s work on drinking water guidelines, hadn’t realized that some provinces in Canada don’t routinely test tap water for lead. “Really? No kidding,” he said. “In the U.S., if there is a federal regulation, states are required to implicate it. If they don’t, they’re functioning illegally.” Drinking water testing and treatment methods are also inconsistent in Canada. In the U.S., in-home tests are taken first thing in the morning, after water has stagnated in pipes for at least six hours. This provides a worst-case scenario, because after water runs through pipes for a while, lead levels often decline. In Canada, provinces have set their own rules, which range from not testing at all, to requiring a sample to stagnate before testing. Few are treating the drinking water itself to lower lead levels. Maura Allaire, an assistant professor of water economics and policy at University of California, Irvine, was surprised Canada’s major water suppliers aren’t routinely required to add anti-corrosives to drinking water. “Yikes, I could imagine in older cities if they’re not doing corrosion control what can happen when acidic water touches lead pipes in homes,” she said. She recommends Canadian officials start to address the problem by collecting better information. “Once you have better information, there can be targeted efforts, to really try to prevent corrosion,” she said. “The big discussion in the U.S. among politicians is to replace the pipes, but that takes time and is costly. If there’s lead in the water, you’ve got a public health problem that needs to be dealt with now.” ___ The Institute for Investigative Journalism at Concordia University in Montreal members: concordia.ca/watercredits
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27895
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Target does not allow Salvation Army bellringers to solicit donations on stores premises.
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"Since 2004 the retail chain's ""no solicitation"" policy has kept Salvation Army bellringers away from Target stores."
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true
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Inboxer Rebellion, charity, salvation army, target
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In 2004, the Target retail chain announced a new corporate policy that banned Salvation Army bellringers and their collection kettles from Target storefronts, a move that drew immediate criticism and condemnation from many shoppers: Target has decided to NOT allow the Salvation Army to ring the bell for the holiday season. I love the bell ringers and what they stand for. Each person gives up their time to collect money for the needy. The holiday season is the perfect time to remind us to share our blessings with others. I try to give something to each bell ringer, no matter how small I know the Salvation Army will put it to good use. Target announced this week that Salvation Army bell-ringers will no longer be allowed in front of their stores during the holiday season. The retailer tells Channel 8 Eyewitness News, “…Like many nationwide retailers, Target Corporation has a long standing no solicitation policy that must be applied across all of its stores.” The Lancaster County Salvation Army says there’s no hard feelings, just a rethinking of ways to keep the kettles out and the bells ringing. Nearly a quarter of all donations came from Lincoln’s two Target stores. Last year, the Lincoln/Lancaster County Salvation Army raised more than a 120-thousand dollars during their kettle drive. If you believe in the Salvation Army and want to encourage Target to rethink their decision then go to the link above and send them your comment. And forward this email. The Salvation Army will not be allowed to have their bell-ringers and kettles outside Target stores this Christmas season. I can’t think of a better example of the joy of Christmas than the work of The Salvation Army. Founded in 1865 as a religious and charitable mission, it provided over $2.5 billion in service throughout the U.S. during the past year. Last year they collected about $9 million outside the 1300+ Target stores. Three years ago Wal-Mart restricted soliciting by the Salvation Army & others to 14 days a year. They remain the number 1 collection site for the Salvation Army, with $12 million in donations last year. My response is to make Target a “target” to avoid, and when I see the bell-ringers from the Salvation Army at other stores to drop in a little more and tell them that is my contribution for Target. If you agree, please pass this on. P. S. Target says they give over $67 million per years to various worthy causes — one of them being sending drops to the contestants of the show “Survivor” — a really needy cause!!!! The retailer already had a no-solicitation policy in place at their stores, but they previously had made an exception for the Salvation Army. That exception finally went by the wayside when in a September 2004 statement, Target spokesperson Carolyn Brookter said the chain “determined that if we continue to allow the Salvation Army to solicit, then it opens the door to other groups that wish to solicit our guests.” “It’s becoming increasingly difficult to have an exception to our policy, so we decided we would have no exceptions,” Brookter said. “This year we just said it’s time to … make our solicitation policy consistent.” A copy of Target’s corporate “No Solicitation Policy,” as found on their web site, now explains: Based on Target’s commitment to maintaining a distraction-free shopping experience for our guests, we do not allow Salvation Army bell ringers outside our store nationwide. However, Target proudly supports The Salvation Army, which serves more than 30 million people across the United States each year. Some of our year-round efforts include grants to local chapters, volunteerism and in-kind donations to help those who need it most. Target also partners with The Salvation Army to support its disaster relief efforts in communities across the country. Target’s change in policy was undoubtedly detrimental to the Salvation Army’s kettle campaign, which raises up to 70 percent of the Salvation Army’s total annual income for efforts such as funding shelters, offering meal programs, and providing Christmas toys, after-school programs and emergency assistance: The “miracle” of Christmas is repeated over and over again through the joy of caring and sharing. The traditional red kettle is an integral part of the Christmas scene, with millions of dollars donated each year to aid needy families, seniors, and the homeless, in keeping with the spirit of the season. Donations provide Christmas dinners, clothing, and toys for families in need. Financial assistance also helps with basic necessities, along with seasonal aid. Families of prisoners often are included. Volunteers distribute gifts to shut-ins in hospitals and nursing homes, and shelters are open for sit-down dinners. The Salvation Army endeavors to bring spiritual light and love to those it serves at Christmas so that the real meaning of the season is not forgotten. Many families receive aid over a period of months after the Christmas season as well, people struggling with difficult family, emotional, or employment problems. In November 2006, the Salvation Army announced Target had launched a multi-faceted Christmas partnership with it that would include an online version of The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Program and a donation by the retailer of $1 million to get that program up and running. Target also promised to donate 100% of proceeds from the sales of a limited edition Harvey Lewis angel ornament accented with red Swarovski crystals to the Sally Ann. As of 2011, Target proclaimed that they were providing $250,000 in gift cards to Salvation Army chapters as part of their partnership with that organization: With gift-giving season in full swing, we took a short break to spend some time with longtime Target partner The Salvation Army. During this time of year, people across the country gather together to give the most important kind of gift – helping those in need. For each of the last two years, Target has provided $250,000 in gift cards to 96 Salvation Army Chapters to assist their holiday toy drives and Angel Tree program. But, the holidays aren’t the only time to lend a hand. Year-round, Target proudly supports The Salvation Army as it serves more than 30 million people in the United States. Grants to local chapters, support from team member volunteers, donations and support of disaster relief efforts are just a few of the ways Target helps out. In fact, over the past five years, Target has provided cash and in-kind donations totaling more than $13.6 million to all The Salvation Army locations nationwide.
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11108
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Alzheimer's Disease Prevention: New Journal Article Highlights Benefits of Meditation and Spiritual Fitness
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This news release — and the review article on which it’s based — from the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation claims that practicing a type of singing meditation called Kirtan Kriya for 12 minutes a day reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and improves the memory of people with mild cognitive impairment. One of the precepts of holistic medicine organizations such as the Foundation is that spirituality and emotions play as big a part in a person’s health as their physical symptoms. While it’s generally accepted that meditation can reduce stress levels in some people, which may in turn lead to better general health and well-being, this news release goes too far in claiming that Kirtan Kriya can improve memory and is a “key component” in reducing Alzheimer’s disease risk. It would take a randomized controlled trial that followed people with no memory impairment or with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to see if those practicing meditation developed Alzheimer’s less frequently than those who did not. Such a trial has not been done. The major risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease are age, family history and heredity. The evidence that meditation can reduce these risk factors remains inconclusive. Any news of a simple way to prevent Alzheimer’s disease is likely to generate interest and hope. About 5 million Americans and 44 million people worldwide have Alzheimer’s and related dementia. The numbers are expected to rise with an aging population. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, the cost of caring for Alzheimer’s patients will be about $226 billion in the U.S. in 2015, and $605 billion globally.
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mixture
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Alzheimer's disease,Foundation/nonprofit news release
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The Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation states that the yoga technique is “affordable” in the news release. That’s a step toward satisfying this criterion, but it’s not clear whether the Foundation’s definition of “affordable” is the same as readers’ definition. Some numbers would have helped here. The Foundation’s website provides instructions online on how to practice Kirtan Kriya yoga in six steps, and provides a link on how to order an accompanying CD for $20. Including a brief reference to that info in the release would have earned it a Satisfactory rating. The news release claims that the 12-minute meditation has been successfully used to “improve memory” in people with subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment. There’s no quantification offered. What was the health status before and after performing the meditation exercises? The headline is particularly concerning, suggesting that a research journal article finds meditation and spiritual fitness beneficial in preventing Alzheimer’s. But the news release mainly focuses on vague claims and a description of the technique without explaining “how” the technique benefits the brain other than activation of a certain area. When we looked at the review article that the release is based on, we found that the few actual studies cited on meditation were very small. There was no mention of randomization, and again no design where development of dementia was compared between those practicing meditation and not. The studies themselves mentioned they were “pilot” or “preliminary.” Harms are not addressed in the release but meditation is not associated with any common health risks. We’ll rule this Not Applicable. The quality of evidence is not established. How many people were included in the studies? What were their ages? How was progress measured? What kind of studies were they? The news release states that Kirtan Kriya is an “evidence-based practice” but doesn’t provide any evidence. It states that SPECT scans showed the technique “activates the posterior cinglate gyrus, an important region of the brain that helps regulate memory and emotional function” and claims other benefits including “a diminished loss of brain volume with age, significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms, and greater improvement of mental health, well-being and memory.” These findings, while interesting, were in very small studies with significant limitations — none of which were even hinted at in the release. It’s a jump to suggest that these results mean that meditation will decrease risk of Alzheimer’s Disease-mongering was not among the problems with this news release. It’s clear that the release came from the Alzheimer’s Research & Prevention Foundation, and that the study author is also the Foundation’s president and medical director, Dharma Singh Khalsa, MD. The release states that the Foundation supports holistic and lifestyle approaches to dementia prevention, which distinguishes it from the vast majority of prevention/treatment efforts that are based on drugs. The news release focuses on only one technique — the Kriya Kirtan. However, the news release could have provided more context, as given in the article, on the importance of other lifestyle factors including diet, physical activity, cognitive training, and social engagement. The combination of these lifestyle factors actually does have some randomized controlled trial evidence supporting it now, with recent publication of the FINGER study. The release establishes that the Kirtan Kriya meditation technique is currently in use. Instructions can be found on the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation’s website. We’ll give the benefit of the doubt here. Quoting the study author, the release states, “We’ve been studying the impact of meditation on memory for more than 20 years, and are as encouraged as we’ve ever been on its powerful role in maximizing brain health.” So the release is not claiming any breakthrough advance, and appropriately suggests that the study is summarizing a body of existing research. The release could have noted that meditation has been around for thousands of years, and that its popularity has spread globally in recent decades. The other aspect worth commenting on is that traditional medicine and research is overwhelmingly focusing on a search for drug interventions — so lifestyle approaches in general are novel. In order to accept several of the release’s claims such as “Kirtan Kriya is a safe, affordable, fast, and effective way to keep the brain spiritually fit” you have to be open-minded to the precepts of holistic medicine — that optimal health can be achieved by giving balanced attention to a person’s body, mind, spirit, and emotions. We are open-minded to exploring claims and research by all, as long as it’s backed up by good evidence. This wasn’t.
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12186
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Ted Kaczynski has less restrictive confinement than the youth at Lincoln Hills.
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"Peterson said: ""Ted Kaczynski has less restrictive confinement than the youth at Lincoln Hills."" His claim is on target for those Lincoln Hills inmates placed in solitary confinement, which was the issue at hand when the claim was made. The caveat: Those inmates not in solitary confinement would fare differently."
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true
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Children, Civil Rights, Criminal Justice, Legal Issues, Wisconsin, James Peterson,
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"When a federal judge issued a sweeping decision to curb the use of solitary confinement, pepper spray and use of restraints at Wisconsin's teen prison complex, he included a sweeping claim to condemn the conditions at the facility: ""Ted Kaczynski has less restrictive confinement than the youth at Lincoln Hills,"" James Peterson, chief U.S. district judge for the western district of Wisconsin, said from the bench. Kaczynski, of course, is the Unabomber, the man that killed three and injured two dozen more in letter and bomb attacks. He is serving a life sentence at a federal ""supermax"" prison in Colorado known as the ""Alcatraz of the Rockies."" In issuing his June 23, 2017 ruling, Peterson said the problem with the use of isolation -- that is, solitary confinement -- as a form of punishment at Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls is ""acute, immediate and enduring."" The ruling was part of a lawsuit filed on behalf of inmates at the two facilities, which share a campus 30 miles north of Wausau. They house about 170 inmates. In the ongoing lawsuit, the inmates claim abuse by prison officials in the form of excessive use of pepper spray and confining inmates to solitary confinement for weeks or months at a time. A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found state officials missed repeated warning signs at Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake, where lax management, confusion over policies, lack of communication and chronic staff shortages contributed to the problems. Both facilities have been the subject of an FBI criminal investigation involving child abuse and neglect for two years. Prosecutors haven’t said whether or when they might file charges. Kaczynski is serving a life sentence at the ADX-FLORENCE prison for his decades-long letter and bomb attacks. The prison houses the nation’s worst offenders, such as Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui. Is Peterson on the mark with his comparison? Lincoln Hills conditions Peterson declined to comment on his statement, since the case is still before him. However, documents in the lawsuit and court proceedings in the days leading up to his ruling shed light on the judge’s comments. For instance, the bulk of the arguments that preceded his comment focused on the use of solitary confinement. The lawsuit itself focuses on three issues separately: use of solitary confinement; use of pepper spray; and use of restraints. Between 15 percent and 20 percent of inmates at Lincoln Hills are housed in solitary confinement at any given time, according to court documents. The cells are 7-by-10 feet and, prior to Peterson’s ruling, inmates spent 20 hours or more -- sometimes an entire day -- inside them. Under Peterson’s ruling, prison officials have to give youth more out-of-cell time, according to the Journal Sentinel. When they are let out of their segregated cells for classes, many of those inmates were handcuffed to a desk, according to the lawsuit. These inmates receive an hour of classroom work a day, compared to the usual four to five hours. The court documents also claim the physical conditions of those cells are dirty and smell like sweat and urine. Meanwhile, pepper spray was used nearly 300 times throughout the prison complex, not just in solitary confinement areas, from January 2016 to April 2017, according to a June 9, 2017 Journal Sentinel report. In May 2017, the state acknowledged some of these claims in court documents, including that some youth have spent more than 180 days in solitary confinement and that staff had used pepper spray on youths who were already restrained. Wisconsin Department of Correction spokesman Tristan Cook said in an email that the department has made changes at the prison and that improvements are ongoing. Ted Kaczynski conditions Court filings regarding inmate treatment in the federal supermax in Colorado and reports by news outlets such as The Boston Globe, The New York Times Magazine and The Atlantic paint a bleak picture inside the nation’s most secure prison. Several of the prison’s 400 inmates spend 23 hours a day in a 7-by-12 foot cell that has a slot for food and small window slit, according to The Boston Globe. Inmates at ADX have claimed denial of psychological medical treatment. Todd Chapman, public information officer for ADX, disputed these reports in an email. However, we’re looking specifically at the Unabomber’s prison conditions, since that is the comparison Peterson made. In an email, Chapman said Kaczynski has a minimum of 30 hours a week outside his cell. Chapman also said that Kaczynski and other inmates are housed singularly and generally have a bed, TV, desk, stool, shelf and a storage area. Inmates at Lincoln Hills in solitary confinement had less outside time than Kaczynski before Peterson’s ruling, no access to paper or writing material, their lights are kept on 24 hours a day and they have few of the amenities that Kaczynski has. Those in general population at Lincoln Hills have access to a desk in their room, TV in the dayroom and are outside their cells for significant portions of the day. Our rating Peterson said: ""Ted Kaczynski has less restrictive confinement than the youth at Lincoln Hills."" His claim is on target for those Lincoln Hills inmates placed in solitary confinement, which was the issue at hand when the claim was made. The caveat: Those inmates not in solitary confinement would fare differently."
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9342
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Multigene test may find risk for heart disease, diabetes and breast cancer
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This Associated Press story describes a new approach aimed at analyzing genetic data to assess the risk to patients of developing five specific diseases, and giving people a “polygenic score.” The new approach looks at multiple genes at the same time, and the role they play, in developing these diseases. Many current genetic tests focus on seeking individual genes that have been changed. The story needed more caution–there are plenty of unknowns here. For example, even if a person knows their score, there’s no proof that having that number will improve health outcomes. What, for example, should a person do if they find out they’re at high risk for heart disease, but don’t have any signs of it? Also, false-positive and false-negative results could be significant. Predicting a person’s risk for serious and life-threatening diseases is valuable, both to the individual and to public health. So any refined improvement in how we gauge that risk is a true benefit. But this story uses the findings from one effort looking at a British database and extrapolates too broadly without offering readers the kinds of information they need to gauge whether there is great promise here, or just more hype.
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mixture
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breast cancer,diabetes,genetic testing,heart disease
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The story does say that the new approach “doesn’t require the most sophisticated type of genetic testing” — which is considerably expensive — adding that they (the researchers) can calculate “risk scores for those five diseases — eventually maybe more — simply by reanalyzing the kind of raw data people receive after sending a cheek swab to companies like 23andMe,” an at-home genetic test kit currently available. But it fails to point out that such kits themselves can be relatively expensive and currently wouldn’t be covered by most medical insurance plans. The story has the researchers estimating that as many as 25 million Americans may have three times the average risk for coronary artery disease, even though their research used “a DNA database from Britain.” The story also says that the “scoring system also can predict an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, breast cancer and an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation,” but doesn’t offer what those increases might be. The big question goes unaddressed and unanswered: Is there proof this test will help anyone? There’s no mention in the story about possible false positives or false negatives although both represent considerable concerns for individuals. False positives can cause patients unnecessary concern while false negatives may embolden persons to be careless in controlling other risk factors that can lead to disease. For example, people with a high score may want to take cholesterol-lowering medications, which will have costs and potential side effects, without knowing whether they are effective. There also can be psychological harms of telling someone that that they have a high risk for cardiovascular disease or other diseases. This story describes a new way of analyzing genetic data to supposedly better assess the risk a person has of developing specific diseases. They did that by running the data, “DNA and medical records from 400,000 people stored in Britain’s UK Biobank,” through their new “computerized system.” But the story fails to provide information on how well the new system predicted disease in those people. At the end of the day, what is important to most people is what exactly their individual risk might be, and the story offers no information on how well it evaluates that. The story says that low-risk patients have a 1% risk of being diagnosed with coronary artery disease vs. 11% of those in the high-risk group. However we don’t know the time period over which diagnoses were made, nor exactly what is meant by coronary artery disease. This could range from a positive stress test to a massive heart attack. No apparent disease mongering here. The story does quote one source unaffiliated with the research effort and also points out that two of the researchers “are co-inventors on a patent application for the system,” so their potential for conflicts is clear to the reader. The story does offer the following: “Other scientists and companies have long sought ways to measure risk from multiple, additive gene effects — the “poly” in polygenic — and Myriad Genetics has begun selling a type of polygenic test for breast cancer risk.” And there are multiple other methods for assessing the risk of a person developing specific diseases, although the story doesn’t offer any comparison between those methods and the new one it touts. One of the researchers suggests that “in five years, each person will know this risk number, this ‘polygenic risk score,’ similar to the way each person knows his or her cholesterol,” making clear that the technology isn’t available to patients now. Moreover, the story adds that he “hopes to open a website where people can send in such data to learn their heart risk,” something that clearly doesn’t exist yet. A genetic test capable of gauging a person’s risk of multiple diseases, based on a test looking for multiple genes, is clearly interesting enough to warrant a story, although the success of the test in actual practice with patients may be far less than the optimistic statements the story allows the researchers to make. There’s no indication that this story relied on a news release.
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9898
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More stress tests needed before angioplasties, study says
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"Clinical guidelines from the American Heart Association and other societies recommend routine non-invasive stress testing prior to percutaneous cornonary intervention (PCI, i.e., angioplasty, with or without stenting). However, according to a new study published in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association, stress testing was used in less than half the patients who underwent PCI in 2004. Furthermore, the rates at which stress testing was performed varied depending on geography and physician characteristics in addition to patient characteristics. These findings suggest that referral to stress testing is sub-optimal and depends – at least in part – on physician prescribing patterns that are not consistent with guidelines and evidence-based medicine. This story does a laudable job of explaining the design of the current study and the relevance of the findings to patients. It does a good job of comparing the costs of stress testing and angiography. The story could have done more to describe the harms of stress testing and provide more information on the pros and cons of angiography versus stenting. The story quotes multiple experts who have differing opinions on the significance of the study’s findings. The quote from Dr Gibbons sums up the issue quite well. ""If everybody thinks they are providing good care, why is there such a difference between doctors?"""
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true
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The story does a good job of describing the costs of angiopasty compared to a stress test. The story could have discussed out of pocket costs for patients. The story could have quantified the benefit of stress testing in its ability to avoid angiography and angioplasty associated with it. The story mentions missing cases of heart disease and difficulties of performing the test in older patients as potentional harms of stress testing, but there are other harms that the story should have mentioned. The story adequately describes the design of the current study and points out some important caveats inherent in a database-based study. The story does not exagerrate the seriousness or prevalence of stable heart disease. The story quotes multiple sources. The story mentions angiography as the alternative to stress testing. The story could have done more to describe the pros and cons of angiography compared to stress testing. Clearly stress tests are available. Clearly stress testing is not a new idea. Because the story quotes multiple experts, the reader can assume the story did not rely on a press release as the sole source of information.
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8689
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'I thought I would never wake up,' Belgian doctor says after surviving COVID-19.
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A Belgian urologist has spoken of his “incredible” experience, having survived COVID-19 and been discharged from intensive care after three weeks in a coma.
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true
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Health News
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“I was seeing my end,” Antoine Sassine said from his room at Brussels’ Delta Chirec hospital, where he used to work. “I thought I was going to die and would never wake up.” The 58-year-old and his team were all diagnosed at the hospital and he was admitted to the intensive care unit when his symptoms worsened. Sassine was placed in an induced coma, but says he was aware of his desire to fight the disease and that he also had visions of his late father. Describing the experience as “incredible”, Sassine, who was moved out of intensive care on Tuesday, said: “I saw my father, who died four years ago. I spoke with him.” “My greatest joy was when I woke up and saw the faces of my friends, it was indescribable.” Now he is looking forward to hugging his family, who he has not seen since he was diagnosed, and recuperating at home. Belgium has reported 38,496 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 5,683 deaths.
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7830
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Solar-powered plane takes off for flight across U.S.
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A solar-powered airplane that developers hope to eventually pilot around the world took off early on Friday from San Francisco Bay on the first leg of an attempt to fly across the United States with no fuel but the sun’s energy.
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true
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Environment
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The plane, dubbed the Solar Impulse, departed shortly after 6 a.m. local time from Moffett Field, a joint civil-military airport near the south end of San Francisco, heading first to Phoenix on a slow-speed flight expected to take 15 to 20 hours. The spindly looking plane barely hummed as it took flight in the still northern California morning as the sun was just beginning to peek out over the Santa Cruz Mountains to the east. After additional stops in Dallas, St. Louis and Washington, D.C., with pauses at each destination to wait for favorable weather, the flight team hopes to conclude the plane’s cross-country voyage in about two months at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Swiss pilots and co-founders of the project, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, will take turns flying the plane, built with a single-seat cockpit, with Piccard at the controls for the first flight to Arizona. He is tentatively scheduled to land in Phoenix at 1 a.m. local time on Saturday. The project began in 2003 with a 10-year budget of 90 million euros ($112 million) and has involved engineers from Swiss escalator maker Schindler and research aid from Belgian chemicals group Solvay - backers who want to test new materials and technologies while also gaining brand recognition. Project organizers say the journey is also intended to boost worldwide support for the adoption of clean-energy technologies. “I hope people understand the potential of this technology and use it on the ground,” Borschberg, who flew for the Swiss Air Force for more than 20 years, told reporters as Piccard suited up for the flight nearby. “If we don’t try to fly today using renewable energy, we never will.” With the wingspan of a jumbo jet and the weight of a small car, the Solar Impulse is a test model for a more advanced aircraft the team plans to build to circumnavigate the globe in 2015. The plane made its first intercontinental flight, from Spain to Morocco, last June. The aircraft runs on about the same power as a motor scooter, propelled by energy collected from 12,000 solar cells built into the wings that simultaneously recharge batteries with a storage capacity equivalent to a Tesla electric car. In that way, the Solar Impulse can fly after dark on solar energy generated during daylight hours, and will become the first solar-powered aircraft capable of operating day and night without fuel to attempt a U.S. coast-to-coast flight. But the plane, which from a distance resembles a giant floating insect in the sky, is unlikely to set any speed or altitude records. It can climb gradually to 28,000 feet and flies at an average pace of just 43 miles per hour (69 km per hour). The current plane was designed for flights of up to 24 hours at a time, but the next model will have to allow for up to five days and five nights of flying by one pilot - a feat not yet accomplished. Meditation and hypnosis were part of the training for the pilots as they prepared to fly on very little sleep. Asked about the downside of solar-powered flight at a news conference in March to unveil the current plane, Piccard acknowledged there was a price paid for the tiny carrying capacity and massive wings. “In that sense, it is not the easiest way to fly,” he said. “But it is the most fabulous way to fly, because the more you fly, the more energy you have on board.” He added: “We want to inspire as many people as possible to have that same spirit: to dare, to innovate, to invent.” The plane’s four large batteries, attached to the bottom of the wings along with the plane’s tiny motors, account for a quarter of its overall heft. The aircraft’s lightweight carbon fiber design and wingspan allow it to conserve energy, but also make the plane vulnerable to being tipped over. A ground team of weather specialists, air traffic controllers and engineers track the plane’s speed and battery levels and help the pilot steer clear of turbulence. Solar Impulse cannot fly in strong wind, fog, rain or clouds. Its machinery is not even designed to withstand moisture.
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2547
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Rules call for swing to healthier snacks in schools.
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Snacks sold in U.S. schools would need to be lower in fat, salt and sugar and include more nutritious items like fruits, vegetables and whole grains, under standards proposed on Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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true
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Health News
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The proposal, more than a year overdue, also calls for a limit of 200 calories on items sold during the school day at vending machines or other venues outside the school lunch line. The proposed rules are the second step in a larger effort to improve the foods U.S. students have access to during the school day under a 2010 child nutrition law. One-third of U.S. children and teenagers are overweight or obese. The proposed rules would cover some 50 million children attending more than 100,000 schools that are part of the school lunch program. Many U.S. children eat more than half of their calories at school. There was wide agreement by food and beverage companies, consumer advocates and public health experts on the need to offer students healthier choices “If a student buys a snack from a vending machine or a slice of pizza from the a la carte line, it should be healthy,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, head of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which focuses on health care. “These proposed nutrition standards, the first update in more than 30 years, are long overdue and badly needed.” Children buy an estimated 400 billion calories of junk food a year at school, the same calorie count that could be found in 2 billion candy bars, said a group of retired military leaders who back the proposed rules. The group, called Mission: Readiness, has warned that one in four young Americans is too heavy for military service. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who has described his own struggles with weight as a child, said the higher standards for snack bars, vending machine and cafeterias will mean “the healthy choice is the easy choice for our kids.” USDA said the rules would not cover items sold at after-hours activities, such as sporting events. They also would allow for “important traditions,” such as parents sending cookies or cupcakes to school for a child’s birthday, or “occasional fundraisers and bake sales.” In general, foods sold at school could not provide more than 35 percent of their calories through fat or sugar. Salt content also would be limited. For beverages, USDA called for schools to be able to sell water, low-fat and fat-free milk, and 100 percent juices, with smaller 8-ounce (240-ml) portions created for younger students. High school students could buy 20-ounce servings of various calorie-free beverages, and 12-ounce servings of drinks that have 75 calories or less but not during lunch or breakfast. The soft drink industry said it has shifted to lower-calorie drinks in school vending machines and it welcomed USDA’s proposal. The number of calories shipped to schools in beverages is down by 90 percent in six years, it said. The public has 60 days to comment on the proposal before USDA issues any final ruling. USDA said schools will have at least one full school year after the final rule is issued to implement the changes. Vending machines are in just 13 percent of U.S. elementary schools but are in two thirds of middle schools, where student are 11 to 14 years old, and in 85 percent of high schools. USDA says more than 80 percent of school districts have restricted or banned sugary drinks and more than 75 percent put limits on snack foods or banned them.
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17358
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"As a result of climate change, ice fishermen in Wisconsin ""are already noticing fewer days they can be out on our ice covered lakes."
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It’s been a longer and colder winter than in recent years. But that doesn’t erase a trend that’s been well-established. The number of days that the lakes have ice on them -- making them safe for ice fishing -- has declined.
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true
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Environment, Climate Change, Wisconsin, Mark Pocan,
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"Severe cold snaps followed by snowstorms and then another blast of cold. For many, this Wisconsin winter can’t end soon enough. So when U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, took to the floor of the House of Representatives on Jan. 16, 2014, a speech about global warming was the last thing many folks wanted to hear. Pocan, a member of the House’s Safe Climate Caucus, spent his one-minute speech ticking off what he said were clear signs of climate change. This claim caught our attention: ""Ice fishermen are already noticing fewer days they can be out on our ice covered lakes."" It feels like Wisconsin has been frozen solid for months, and many folks wouldn’t be surprised to see ice fishermen tromping around on Memorial Day. But Pocan’s claim is about more than this winter. His statement is about long-term trends and what is driving them. Is he right about climate change and fewer days on ice-covered lakes? When we asked Pocan for backup for the claim, his staff pointed us to Climatewisconsin.org, a web site that highlights research and reports prepared by environmental groups. The site includes interactive features that focus on the two largest lakes in Madison -- Mendota and Monona. It includes the amount of time they have been covered by ice in past years. ""The records show significant year-to-year variability in the length of the ice-cover season, but there is a clear trend of fewer ice-cover days over time,"" the site says. ""Overall, the average number of days of ice cover on the Madison lakes has decreased by around 29-35 days over the past 150 years. Significantly, the longest ice seasons on record are all clustered in the first few years of the record, while most of the shortest seasons fall towards the end of the record."" The site also includes this statement, which is pretty similar to that made by Pocan: ""With climate change models predicting warmer temperatures, we can expect to see a trend towards fewer days of ice-covered lakes as each year passes. In fact, with the aid of a remarkable dataset from Madison’s lakes, scientists infer that a change in ice duration has already taken place."" Information posted on the site comes, at least in part, from the work of John J. Magnuson, Emeritus Professor of Zoology and Limnology, who has been at UW since the late 1960s and helped found the UW-Madison Center for Limnology in the early 1980s. Limnology is the study of freshwater lakes, and the UW center says it’s the birthplace of the field of study, dating back to the 1870s. Magnuson is an expert on the effects of climate change on freshwater lakes, and has published numerous academic papers on the effect of climate change on lakes and fish. In an interview, Magnuson said researchers around the world, including Canada, Finland, Sweden, Russia, Japan and Madison, have studied lake ice for years. Researchers note the day lakes freeze and the day the ice goes out. It’s a more official version of what is waged in a less academic way by lakefront bars that stage ice-out guessing contests. Madison researchers have records for Mendota and Monona that go back to 1855. The long term trend for Lake Mendota is that, on average since 1855, there are 29 fewer days that the lake is covered with ice, according to Magnuson. Six of the shortest seasons for Mendota have been in the years since 1980. Five have been since 1995, including the two shortest seasons ever -- 21 days in the winter of 2001-02 and 47 days in 1997-98. Lake Monona has seen on average of 35 fewer ice-covered days, and also has seen a cluster of shorter seasons in recent years. ""The breakup of the ice is occurring, on average, two weeks earlier. And the freezing of the lakes have come two weeks later, on average,"" Magnuson said. ""The result is that four months of ice is reduced to about three months."" To be sure, Wisconsin has some 15,000 lakes, and we cannot check each one. ""This is highly variable with every water body having different characteristics, and is obviously very weather dependent as well,"" said Thomas Van Haren, of the state Department of Natural Resources Bureau of Law Enforcement. But it seems reasonable to focus on Lake Monona and Mendota given their size and because they are in Pocan’s district. So what about this throwback winter? Magnuson said it’s a statistical blip. Some years the ice stays around longer than others, but over time the trend has been toward shorter ice seasons. ""The variability is very high"" in terms of the length of the seasons, he said. ""Not only does lake ice respond to the warming climate, it also responds to local weather."" Lake Mendota iced over Dec. 16, 2013 -- about a month earlier than the previous year and four days earlier than the median date. Lake Monona froze Dec. 10, 2013, compared with Dec. 31 the previous year and a median date of Dec. 15. National Weather Service records from the weather office in Sullivan indicate this was the 9th coldest winter on record, so far, in Madison, and the coldest in 35 years. The average temperature was 15.8 degrees below normal. ""This is the sort of winter that’s typical of 50 or 100 years ago,"" Magnuson said. Going global So what about the connection Pocan made between shorter ice fishing seasons and climate change? Magnuson said the shorter seasons are a symptom of global warming -- one consistent with many others, such as changed bird and butterfly migration patterns, plants that bloom earlier, and disappearing glaciers. ""We can’t take this ice data and say ‘therefore we say greenhouse gas is causing this,’"" he said. ""That’s a question for the atmospheric physicists. Our data is consistent with what other people are finding, with the kind of things that atmospheric scientists are seeing from C02."" He added: ""There’s abundant evidence that it’s getting warmer and that spring is coming sooner."" Unfortunately, he’s talking about long-term trends. Not what is going to happen this year. Our rating It’s been a longer and colder winter than in recent years. But that doesn’t erase a trend that’s been well-established. The number of days that the lakes have ice on them -- making them safe for ice fishing -- has declined."
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28073
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A pair of photographs shows a severely dehydrated homeless veteran on the streets of Los Angeles.
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What's true: Photographs show a severely malnourished homeless man, who said he was a veteran, lying on a street in Los Angeles. What's false: Whether the homeless man is actually a veteran is uncertain.
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true
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Fauxtography, facebook, homeless, homeless veteran
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A pair of photographs reportedly showing a severely dehydrated homeless veteran named Kent near death on the streets of Los Angeles started making their way around social media in September 2018: These images were apparently so shocking to some viewers that they suggested the photographs perhaps showed an artwork or a Halloween decoration as opposed to a real human being. Unfortunately, these pictures are genuine. The photographs were first posted online by Facebook user Nick Spano on 22 September 2018. The original Facebook post contained a lengthy bit of text which was largely concerned with Spano’s view on how the homeless (especially homeless veterans) are treated in the United States, along with a few details about the pictured individual, who was said to be a 68-year-old man named Kent. The man told Spano that he was a veteran and that he was “looking for a place to die” when Spano brought him some water before paramedics arrived to take him to the hospital: This is America: “Kent,” a 68 year old veteran dying under a bush outside million dollar properties in LA. The softball size tumor on the side of his face is now a gaping hole. Dried blood covers his hands and face. Flies swarm around his head, not bothering to wait for him to die before laying their eggs in the open wound that is crawling with hundreds of maggots. He tries to speak, but I can no longer understand him. This is fucking America! “I’m just looking for a place to die,” he said. Those were his first words to me when I first discovered “Kent” about a month a go in shallow bed under the bushes outside my place. Like many people, my initial gut reaction was, not in my backyard! But I know better. I’m aware that homelessness is a symptom of our broken and wasteful system, and the basic lack of decency, and compassion towards one another. We treat people like trash. We want to discard the parts of society we don’t want, but like plastic, it’s never going to go away. All we do is make the problem worse, rather than realizing that our own habits are the problem. The way we treat people is the problem. We speak to one another through our own filters, and judgements before we even get to know them. So, instead I brought “Kent” water, and sat down to talk with him for awhile. He pulled his hoodie aside and showed me the tumor on the side of his face. “I did it to myself,” he said. Years of smoking was the likely cause. He went to the VA for medical care, but he said that he felt like they were just waiting for him to die so he left. I asked if I could get him some help, but he didn’t want it. “I’m just looking for a place to die,” he said. We are all full of shit, guys. Let’s be honest with ourselves. Between the look-at-me-now Instagram selfies, the woke AF Facebook posts, and the heated political rants over which party is more American, we have lost our souls. We’ve sold out. We’ve forgotten that real wealth comes from investing in one another. This isn’t the “Me Too” era, it’s just the “Me” era. We are the wealthiest, and most wasteful consumer culture in the history of humankind, and we buy everything they sell us, even their excuses. “We can’t fix every problem! It’s too big! It’s too expensive! Get a job! I had to work for it, why shouldn’t they? !” Bullshit!!! Each bomb we dropped on Syria costs us $100 million, and we’ve dropped dozens. The Iraq War cost American taxpayers over $2.5 trillion dollars and counting, and it was a lie! We have our own national emergency right here in the City of Dreams, but we don’t have enough money to fix it. Could you imagine what would happen if we took funding for just one of those bombs, and dropped it into social services for American communities; into shelters for the homeless; medical care for our vets; clean water for Flint?!?! Don’t say we can’t fix the problem, because that’s bullshit. We can!!! We are just so god damn brainwashed and complacent that we don’t think we actually have any power to change it. But change starts when we stop ignoring the problem, and realize that we are the ones to fix it. Even the smallest act makes a big difference. There is no one else to call! Tag! You’re fucking it! The irony of the fact that I took a photo of “Kent” as he lie dying outside my house while waiting for paramedics to arrive, and posted it here for all to see, isn’t lost on me. This might appear hypocritical to some, but that won’t change my commitment to people like “Kent” in my community. I will continue to treat these people with dignity and respect, and be of service anyway I can, and if in the process, this post gets at least one of you, the next time you see someone camped out on the street, to stop and talk to them; to put your hand on their shoulder; to call them brother or sister; and to restore even the slightest sense of dignity in them through a simple act of compassion, then it’s worth it. Not everyone can help in the same way, and sometimes people don’t want help, but we all can be human to one another. As they lifted Kent onto the stretcher, he raised his hand, and gave me a peace sign. I don’t know his status at this time, but I will post an update as soon as I can. People over Profits — Compassion over Comfort Spano updated his post a few days later but he didn’t have much additional information to report: Unfortunately, there isn’t much to share at this time. I finally found the hospital where Kent was taken and being treated, but due to patient privacy laws (HIPPA), and the fact that I don’t know Kent’s full name, they wont not give me any information at this time. I don’t know if he has passed, or if he is still in their care. I have made a request to a supervisor to share my information with Kent so that he can grant me access. I’ve also made it clear that there are many people who want to show their support, so I’m hoping they help us make that happen. Without Kent’s last name, it’s difficult to verify some of the details in this Facebook post, but it doesn’t bear any of the hallmarks that have revealed similar posts to be hoaxes. For instance, we could not find any record of these photographs appearing online prior to Spano’s post, which supports that Spano truly was the person who took them. This post also doesn’t include a call to action urging users to share it (which is a common tactic for disingenuous clickbait). We contacted Spano for more information about Kent, and he provided us with security camera footage to verify that his photographs were authentic and noted that Kent had told him during previous interactions he was a veteran. Spano never got Kent’s last name, however, and Kent didn’t have any ID on him when he was taken away by paramedics. While we can’t officially verify whether or not Kent was a veteran, his story is, unfortunately, rather plausible. According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, approximately 40,000 veterans in the United States are homeless on any given night.
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26783
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“Hair weave and lace fronts manufactured in China may contain the coronavirus.”
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China is a major source of hair extensions, and the industry has been affected by the 2019 coronavirus outbreak. The Food and Drug Administration has found no evidence that the virus is spreading via imports.
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false
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Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Bloggers,
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"A contributor for a popular morning radio show says bad hair days could be a side effect of the 2019 coronavirus. An article published on a site called Toine360 claims that ""hair weave and lace fronts manufactured in China may contain the coronavirus."" The site is run by radio personality Toine the Don, a contributor to the Rickey Smiley Morning Show. ""It may be time to show us what your scalp and edges really look like, ladies!"" the article reads. The article was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Since emerging in Wuhan, China, in December, the 2019 coronavirus — officially known as COVID-19 — has infected more than 82,000 people in 46 countries, and 2,804 have died. China is a major source of hair extensions. But there is no evidence that synthetic or human hair is being shipped with the coronavirus. On Feb. 24, CNN reported that the human hair market has been affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Some hair extension factories in China have temporarily closed amid fears that they could be breeding grounds for the coronavirus. Other manufacturing sectors have been similarly affected. It works with agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration to prevent the importation of diseases. The FDA announced alternative steps to screen products imported from China. The agency said there’s no evidence that the coronavirus can spread through imports. ""Fortunately, currently, we are not seeing the impacts of this outbreak resulting in an increased public health risk for American consumers from imported products,"" the FDA wrote. ""There is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with imported goods and there have not been any cases of COVID-19 in the United States associated with imported goods."" The Toine360 article is inaccurate."
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34391
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Jelly sandals sold by Walmart contain unsafe amounts of lead.
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Walmart takes product safety seriously. All products in question were tested before being placed on our shelves, and we initiated over 200 additional tests in the past month to further confirm the safety of the shoes. All tests once again have shown these shoes are safe and meet applicable standards.
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unproven
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Medical, jelly sandals, lead, sandals
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A series of Facebook posts claiming that jelly sandals (or jellies) sold at Walmart stores contain a dangerous amount of lead circulated in June 2017, such as the following post: BEWARE PARENTS! I took Adelynn to her well checkup the other day and her routine lead screen came back positive. They took a capillary sample from her toe and the first test resulted in a 14.3 and on repeat it was 8.6 (a normal result is less 3.3) of course I was shocked and began racking my brain for what could be the cause. After a google search I saw some people talking about their kids having a positive lead screen from wearing Walmart jellies. Adelynn was wearing these Walmart jellies the day of her screen. I bought a lead test from Lowes and sure enough the jellies tested positive for lead. We had a venous sample drawn to see if she was absorbing it systemically but the results aren’t back yet. UPDATE! The health dept called me today and said that her serum lead levels were thankfully normal! So it was obviously something her skin came into contact with. Am I 100% sure it was these shoes…no…but these $5 shoes are not worth the stress. Sadly, Walmart and jellies aren’t the only culprits here and I encourage all parents to just be aware of things they put on their kids that aren’t made in the US. Similar claims were made by other Facebook users. One, for instance, reported that her daughter, who “basically only wears” Jellies, also demonstrated elevated lead levels: None of the postings holding that Walmart’s jellies contained lead came from or cited an official source, such as the Food and Drug Administration, the Consumer Protection Agency, or Walmart, nor did they rely upon confirmed laboratory testing. Rather, one posting was based on a home test kit and the other on speculation. While some social media users asserted that they tested jellies and found that they contained unsafe levels of lead, others performed the same testing and found that the products were apparently safe: Tamara Rubin, a lead-poisoning prevention advocate, also tested the jelly shoes and found that they were lead free. It should also be noted that this rumor is based on the testing of individual products, and not all jelly sandals. Walmart has not issued a recall on any of their jelly shoe products: We haven’t come across any recalls for jelly shoes. However, please be assured that whenever recalls are issued, we take immediate steps to comply with them. If you ever have questions about a product, you can visit http://corporate.walmart.com/recalls to check the recent recall list issued by government regulatory agencies responsible for product recalls. On 24 July 2017, Megan Krigg, Walmart’s Senior Director of Corporate Affairs, told us that the jelly shoes in question had undergone additional testing to confirm that these products did not contain unsafe amounts of lead:
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24459
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Forcing Americans off of their current health coverage and onto a government-run plan isn't the answer, but that's exactly what the Democrats' plan would do.
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Health care reform will not force people into a government-run plan
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false
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National, Health Care, John Boehner,
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"When Democratic Sen. Harry Reid announced this week that he was including a form of a public option in health care reform, Republicans didn't like it. ""Whether you call it a public option, an opt-out, a trigger, or a co-op, the fact is all of these proposals put us on the path to government-run health care,"" said Republican House leader John Boehner. ""Forcing Americans off of their current health coverage and onto a government-run plan isn't the answer, but that's exactly what the Democrats' plan would do."" We've been studying the health care reform proposals in both the House and the Senate for some time now. All the plans have rules that would prevent people from being ""forced"" off their current health coverage and into a government-run plan. We asked Boehner's office for a response. Staffers sent us to a study by the Lewin Group , which predicts that 123 million people would be enrolled in a public plan three years after the exchange is opened. (The Lewin Group is respected by many health care analysts and operates with editorial independence, but it is a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, whose primary business is private health insurance.) Here's an outline of the general argument on how 123 million people could become enrolled in a public plan: The public option will be a health insurance plan backed by the U.S. government, so it will have access to unlimited taxpayer funds and have unsurpassed bargaining power with hospitals and doctors. It will be able to force providers to accept low payments, such as what Medicare, the government-run health program for seniors, pays. So the public option will be the cheapest insurance option available on the exchange. Employers will see this and decide to sign up all their workers for the public option. The private insurance industry will wither and die. A single-payer system is upon us. The problem with this line of reasoning is that the Democratic proposals so far include rules specifically to stop this from happening. We'll take it point-by-point: • The public option is not to be supplemented with unlimited taxpayer funds. The House and Senate bills say the federal government can support its administrative expenses when it begins, but it will have to be self-sustaining with patient premiums. • It will not be able to force hospitals and doctors to accept Medicare rates. The details of how the public option will work are still being developed, but committees in the House and Senate have indicated the public option should have to negotiate rates with providers, not pay Medicare rates. • Most employers will not have access to the health care exchange. The Senate Finance Committee proposal is very clear on this point; only small businesses will have access to the exchange. The House proposal is a little less clear. In the third year, it gives a health commissioner the power to allow businesses into the exchange. But the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office seemed to think the exchange would continue to be restricted to smaller businesses. The CBO projected only 30 million people would be in the exchange by 2019, a number too small to imply that all employers would be given access. • Employers can't sign up their employees for a health care plan. The House and Senate proposals specifically forbid that. The employer can provide a set amount of money as a benefit, but the employee decides which plan to buy. If an employee is willing to pay more for a more generous plan, the employer can't stop him. And employers definitely can't force employees to enroll in the public option against their will. An argument others have made along these same lines: If a public option is offered on the exchange, employers will dump their coverage and send them into the exchange to buy their own insurance. This is a largely speculative argument, however. Employers are under significant competitive pressure to offer health plans to recruit and retain workers, according to experts we've spoken with. Surveys show that workers see health insurance as the top benefit affecting their decisions on where they work. If there's evidence to indicate that the availability of a public option would overcome that dynamic, we haven't found it. There's another argument specific to seniors that Boehner's staff pointed to as evidence for his statement. They said that under the Democratic plans, seniors in Medicare Advantage would have to switch to regular Medicare. We've looked at this argument before: Medicare Advantage is a government program that pays private insurance companies a set rate to treat Medicare beneficiaries. It was conceived as a cost-containment measure on the theory that competition among private plans would drive down costs. That has not happened. The health care proposals would stop the extra payments that Medicare Advantage receives. (About 23 percent of all Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage.) So it is conceivable that some people in Medicare Advantage will lose some of their current benefits , and they might have to enroll in regular Medicare. But does this really fit the criteria of ""forcing Americans off of their current health coverage and onto a government-run plan""? While private companies are contractors in the Medicare Advantage program — so it does have more of a free market element to it — at the end of the day, Medicare and Medicare Advantage are both government-run plans, where the government decides how much it will pay for a basic package of benefits. In refuting this argument, we are not trying to imply that no one will ever have to switch plans if health care reform passes. Indeed, we looked at President Obama's statement, ""If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan ,"" and rated it Half True, because health care reform will change many aspects of health care regulation, and it seems likely that will prompt insurers, employers and consumers to re-evaluate their health care plans and make changes. Obama later made a more accurate statement, that if you ""already have health insurance through your job, or Medicare, or Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have."" But we've also found nothing in the proposals so far that would force people off their current coverage into a government-run plan, if they prefer and can pay for private coverage. Boehner said that was ""exactly what the Democrats' plan would do.""."
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10405
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Study hints multivitamins aid women’s heart health
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This is a story reporting on the results of study that looked to see whether regular consumption of multivitamins had any impact on how likely it was that a woman would have a heart attack in the future. The study found and the story reported that multivitamin use by women who already have heart disease did not appear to be associated with the likelihood they would have a heart attack. On the other hand, multivitamin use by women who did not have heart disease appeared to be associated with lowered risk of having a heart attack. However, the claims about potential benefits in the headline and lead are undercut by an author of the study who is quoted at the end of the piece as saying it is really still an open question as to whether multivitamins have any benefit. The story includes some statistics that are helpful, but also others that may confuse readers Multivitamins and the controversy over whether to take them for prevention of heart disease or cancer is important because it affects a large segment of the population and there is potential for harm.
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mixture
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There was no insight about the costs of various multivitamin formulations. The story provided the numbers so that readers could calculate the absolute reduction in heart attacks in the group of women taking multivitamins who did not have heart disease (with multivit = 2.6%; without multivit = 3.4%). However, it is unfortunate that instead of choosing to report that there was a1% reduction in heart attacks, a decision was made to report it as a 27% reduction in heart attacks. While a 27% difference sounds pretty exciting, it is a bit misleading. There was no discussion of possible harms associated with the use of multivitamins. In an era where so very many foods are fortified with various nutrients, the consumption of yet another source of micronutrients may not be without potential down sides. The story failed to adequately explain about the type of study conducted and the quality of the evidence. Since the study was observational and, as the story noted, it could not rule out other factors in the women’s lives that might explain the results, it is inappropriate to tell readers that it provided evidence that vitamins can boost health or cut risk. The study had limitations, including a lack of information about the types and quantities of vitamins the women were taking as well as the potential that other health behaviors may have been responsible for the differences seen. The story did not engage in overt disease mongering. No independent sources appear to have been used to put the current study results in context. Comments from experts in the field could have shed valuable light on this topic. There was no discussion of the impact of other lifestyle choices beyond consumption of multivitamins that have demonstrate effect on reducing the risk of heart attack. Adopting other risk reduction behaviors is a more powerful way to reduce risk of heart attack. The availability of multivitamins is assumed. However, the researchers did not collect deatiled data about which vitamins the women took or in what amounts, so it is unknown whether the results truly reflect on typical multivitamins or possibly other products. The story accurately conveyed the lack of novelty of this treatment studied. The story includes quotes from one of the researchers.
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35189
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Dr. Abdu Sharkawy, an infectious diseases specialist, penned a viral Facebook post warning about the loss of reason in the face of panic over the new coronavirus in 2020.
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I implore you all. Temper fear with reason, panic with patience and uncertainty with education. We have an opportunity to learn a great deal about health hygiene and limiting the spread of innumerable transmissible diseases in our society. Let’s meet this challenge together in the best spirit of compassion for others, patience, and above all, an unfailing effort to seek truth, facts and knowledge as opposed to conjecture, speculation and catastrophizing.
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true
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Medical, COVID-19
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On March 6, 2020, a Facebook post by Dr. Abdu Sharkawy, internal medicine and infectious diseases consultant with Toronto’s University Health Network and an assistant professor at University of Toronto, went viral, garnering over 1.3 million shares at the time of our reporting. The post began with this text: I’m a doctor and an Infectious Diseases Specialist. I’ve been at this for more than 20 years seeing sick patients on a daily basis. I have worked in inner city hospitals and in the poorest slums of Africa. HIV-AIDS, Hepatitis,TB, SARS, Measles, Shingles, Whooping cough, Diphtheria … there is little I haven’t been exposed to in my profession. And with [the] notable exception of SARS, very little has left me feeling vulnerable, overwhelmed or downright scared. I am not scared of Covid-19. I am concerned about the implications of a novel infectious agent that has spread the world over and continues to find new footholds in different soil. I am rightly concerned for the welfare of those who are elderly, in frail health or disenfranchised who stand to suffer mostly, and disproportionately, at the hands of this new scourge. But I am not scared of Covid-19. The post, which can be read in full here, implores the public not to succumb to panic in response to the new coronavirus, which is responsible for the disease COVID-19 and first discovered in Wuhan, China, in late 2019. Sharkawy’s post continues: Covid-19 is nowhere near over. It will be coming to a city, a hospital, a friend, even a family member near you at some point. Expect it. Stop waiting to be surprised further. The fact is the virus itself will not likely do much harm when it arrives. But our own behaviors and “fight for yourself above all else” attitude could prove disastrous.
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35176
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Eating carrots results in significantly improved vision.
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British Intelligence didn’t want the Germans to find out about the superior new technology helping protect the nation, so they created a rumor to afford a somewhat plausible-sounding explanation for the sudden increase in bombers being shot down. News stories began appearing in the British press about extraordinary personnel manning the defenses, including Flight Lieutenant John Cunningham, an RAF pilot dubbed “Cat’s Eyes” on the basis of his exceptional night vision that allowed him to spot his prey in the dark. Cunningham’s abilities were chalked up to his love of carrots. Further stories claimed RAF pilots were being fed goodly amounts of this root vegetable to foster similar abilities in them.
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false
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Food, Odd Ingredients
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Carrots have long been touted for their efficacy in improving eyesight, and generations of kids have been admonished to not leave them on their plates lest they end up needing glasses. But are carrots the sight-boosters popular wisdom asserts them to be? And if not, where did this belief begin? While carrots are a good source of vitamin A (which is important for healthy eyesight, skin, growth, and resisting infection), eating them won’t improve vision. The purported link between carrots and markedly acute vision is a matter of lore, not of science. And it’s lore of the deliberately manufactured type. In World War II, Britain’s air ministry spread the word that a diet of these vegetables helped pilots see Nazi bombers attacking at night. That was a lie intended to cover the real matter of what was underpinning the Royal Air Force’s successes: Airborne Interception Radar, also known as AI. The secret new system pinpointed some enemy bombers before they reached the English Channel.
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8312
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China's Wuhan to keep testing residents as coronavirus lockdown eases.
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China’s Wuhan city, where the global coronavirus pandemic began, is still testing residents regularly despite relaxing its tough two-month lockdown, with the country wary of a rebound in cases even as it sets its sights on normalising the economy.
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true
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Health News
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Concerns remain over an influx of infected patients from overseas as well as China’s ability to detect asymptomatic patients, and the government in Wuhan has tried to reassure the public that it remains vigilant. Feng Jing, who runs a group of community workers looking after the Tanhualin neighbourhood in Wuhan, said during a government-run tour for journalists on Friday that they would continue to carry out extensive checks on residents. “We carry out comprehensive health checks everyday and keep detailed records of their health condition,” she said, adding that there is no likelihood of asymptomatic cases in her community. “Currently our neighbourhood is an epidemic-free community - it’s been 45 days so far, so we don’t have this situation,” she said. China reported a fall in new coronavirus cases on Friday after leaders promised to accelerate the country’s economic recovery, boost domestic demand and put more people back to work. The country reported 42 new cases on Thursday, down from 63 a day earlier. Of the daily total, 38 were imported, down from 61 on Wednesday. China’s central government coronavirus taskforce chaired by Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday that they would speed up efforts to revive the economy while at the same time introducing targeted measures aimed at preventing infected people from crossing the country’s border. It said China now needed to “actively create favourable conditions” to restore normality in the economy, though it warned there was still a risk of a rebound in cases. In Shanghai, state media have also been deployed to dispel online rumours that the city has now become “the most dangerous place in the country” as thousands of people flood in from Wuhan, including many asymptomatic and recovered patients. With the government now promising to deploy resources to tackle high-risk areas, much of the focus has shifted to Heilongjiang, which reported 28 new imported cases crossing the border from Russia on Thursday. The province has so far found 154 cases of imported infections. The virus, which first broke out in Wuhan in late 2019, has since spread around the world infecting more than 1.4 million people, killing more than 87,700. Officials in Wuhan said on Friday the city will spend 200 million yuan ($28.4 million) to upgrade the city’s 425 farmers’ markets, as part of a campaign to improve hygiene. Several of the early cases of Covid-19 were linked to a seafood market in Wuhan that also sold other species, suggesting that the new virus may have jumped from an animal traded there to people. “Once reopened, the farmers markets should ensure no trade in wild animals and no trade in live poultry,” Hong Zhihua, vice director of Hubei’s Patriotic Health Campaign Committee Office, told a press briefing. Liu Qingxiang, vice director at Wuhan’s health commission, said infrastructure in the markets would be improved and become more similar to supermarkets. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the global economy as governments imposed lockdowns to rein in its spread. (This story corrects quote from Hubei official in paragraph 15 to say live poultry, not live animals.)
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33832
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Anti-perspirants have been identified as the leading cause of breast cancer.
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The American Cancer Society is not aware of any evidence that shows substances in deodorants or antiperspirants to be toxic or that cause DNA damage that could lead to cancer.
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false
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Medical, Toxin Du Jour
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Breast cancer is scary stuff. It’s the second most common type of cancer (after skin cancer) among women, and it’s also the second most common cause of cancer death (after lung cancer) among women. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), in the current year about 231,840 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in the U.S., and about 40,290 women will die from breast cancer. Those numbers are enough to scare anyone, especially since we still don’t know what causes breast cancer. Researchers have identified many risk factors (such as age, diet, cigarette smoking, alcohol intake, and family history), but the specific causes of breast cancer remain elusive. So when someone purports to have found a cause (maybe even the cause) of breast cancer, naturally we take note of it: BREAST CANCER PREVENTION Not just for women — men don’t forget to tell mom, cousins, etc. Deodorants (non-antiperspirants) are very hard to find but there are a few out there. I just got information from a health seminar that I would like to share. The leading cause of breast cancer is the use of anti-perspirant. What? Yes ANTI-PERSPIRANT. Most of the products out there are an anti-perspirant/deodorant combination so go home and check your labels. Deodorant is fine, anti-perspirant is not. Here’s why: The human body has a few areas that it uses to purge toxins; behind the knees, behind the ears, groin area, and armpits. The toxins are purged in the form of perspiration. Anti-perspirant, as the name clearly indicates, prevents you from perspiring, thereby inhibiting the body from purging toxins from below the armpits. These toxins do not just magically disappear. Instead, the body deposits them in the lymph nodes below the arms since it cannot sweat them out. This causes a high concentration of toxins and leads to cell mutations: a.k.a. CANCER. Nearly all breast cancer tumors occur in the upper outside quadrant of the breast area. This is precisely where the lymph nodes are located. Additionally, men are less likely (but not completely exempt) to develop breast cancer prompted by anti-perspirant usage because most of the anti-perspirant product is caught in their hair and is not directly applied to the skin. Women who apply anti-perspirant right after shaving increase the risk further because shaving causes almost imperceptible nicks in the skin which give the chemicals entrance into the body from the armpit area. PLEASE pass this along to anyone you care about. Breast Cancer is becoming frighteningly common. This awareness may save lives. If you are skeptical about these findings, I urge you to do some research for yourself. You will arrive at the same conclusions, I assure you. An apparent large increase in the incidence of breast cancer in the years since World War II (which may in large part be due to more reliable methods of detection and diagnosis) has caused many to focus on changes in our society that have occurred since then as the primary causes of breast cancer, such as the increased use of pesticides, the advent of birth control pills, changes in diet, and different styles and materials in women’s clothing. It’s compelling to think that anti-perspirants might be one of these causes: their use (in their current formulation) is a relatively recent phenomenon, and the explanation given for how they might cause breast cancer (i.e., allowing chemicals to enter the body through nicks in the skin, and preventing the excretion of bodily toxins through sweating, thereby causing them to build up in the lymph nodes) seems to make sense to many, just as Sydney Ross Singer’s 1995 book Dressed to Kill theorized that the wearing of tight-fitting bras has led to a concentration of carcinogenic compounds in the breasts and lymphatic systems of women. However, the ACS noted that many aspects of rumors linking anti-perspirant use with an increased risk of breast cancer were false or unsupported: There have been many extremely thorough epidemiological studies of breast cancer risk factors published in medical journals. We are not aware of any among these proving or even suggesting anti-perspirant use as a risk factor for breast cancer, much less the “leading cause” of the disease. Lymph nodes clear some toxins from the body. But, they are not released through sweating. The American Cancer Society is not aware of any evidence that shows substances in deodorants or antiperspirants to be toxic or that cause DNA damage that could lead to cancer. Such products are rigorously tested before they can be marketed. About half of breast cancers are in the upper outer quadrant (UOQ). The reason is entirely unrelated to lymph nodes and is because most of the breast tissue is located there. The breast quadrants are not of equal size; the nipple is not in the true center of the breast and a significant amount of breast tissue, called the “axillary tail,” extends toward the underarm. Men are about 100 times less likely than women to develop breast cancer. This is because they have about 100 times less breast tissue. Hormonal factors also play a role. Deodorants or antiperspirants are not cancer risk factors to men or women. Razor nicks can increase the risk of infection but not cancer. “There is absolutely no scientific evidence that anti-perspirants cause or even increase a woman’s risk for breast cancer,” said Debbie Saslow, PhD, director of breast and cervical cancer for the American Cancer Society. “Unfortunately the ‘leading’ risk factors for breast cancer are things that women cannot do anything about: being a woman, aging, and having a personal or family history of breast cancer.” Studies of possible links between anti-perspirant/deodorant use and breast cancer conducted in the years since then have provided conflicting results: The National Institute of Health’s (NIH) National Cancer Institute (NCI) currently notes that no conclusive evidence has yet been found between the function or ingredients of anti-perspirants/deodorants and breast cancer: Articles in the press and on the Internet have warned that underarm antiperspirants (a preparation that reduces underarm sweat) or deodorants (a preparation that destroys or masks unpleasant odors) cause breast cancer. The reports have suggested that these products contain harmful substances, which can be absorbed through the skin or enter the body through nicks caused by shaving. Some scientists have also proposed that certain ingredients in underarm antiperspirants or deodorants may be related to breast cancer because they are applied frequently to an area next to the breast. However, researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a part of the National Institutes of Health, are not aware of any conclusive evidence linking the use of underarm antiperspirants or deodorants and the subsequent development of breast cancer. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates food, cosmetics, medicines, and medical devices, also does not have any evidence or research data that ingredients in underarm antiperspirants or deodorants cause cancer.
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29969
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When ingested orally or applied topically to an open wound, cayenne pepper can stop serious bleeding.
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Do not put cayenne pepper in an open wound or ingest it to stop bleeding. That’s not how it works.
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false
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Medical
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Cayenne pepper powder is produced from capsicum peppers and contains capsaicin, the chemical responsible for a pepper’s spiciness. It is also, according to some corners of the internet, extremely popular as an herbal remedy for just about every ailment under the sun. One particularly dubious claim regarding cayenne pepper comes from the website of David Wolfe, which is already well-known as a safe harbor for flawed scientific premises. In a widely shared article first published in February 2016 and titled “How to Stop Serious Bleeding in 10 Seconds!” the website asserted the following treatment for stopping bleeding: If a person applies cayenne pepper to an open wound, it will stop bleeding. This even works for deep cuts that are a serious cause for concern … Cayenne pepper returns blood pressure to normal so that clotting is easier. It can be used on any cut to stop bleeding and can be applied topically or taken orally. Credible evidence provided in support of this assertion was scant. Citing a dead “eHow” link, the website “cayenne-pepper.info”, and an herbal remedy book originally published in the 1970s, the article made two broad claims about how cayenne pepper might affect bleeding. The first claim was that cayenne pepper can stop bleeding when it is put directly in an open wound: “Cayenne pepper … can be used on any cut to stop bleeding and can be applied topically or taken orally,” the article reads. Though the mechanism was not clearly explained on DavidWolfe.com, other sources making similar claims suggest that “capsicum is so ‘hot’ that it has an ability to actually cauterize a wound in some cases” or that “it also brings blood to the area to which it is applied and therefore can enhance your healing [because] blood circulation brings nutrients and oxygen and is imperative to the process of tissue healing.” The second claim suggests that cayenne pepper can stop bleeding when it is ingested orally. Quoting the website “cayenne-pepper.info”, the Wolfe article repeated the claim that “whether the bleeding is internal or external, a teaspoon of cayenne taken orally in a glass of hot water will stop the bleeding quickly.” Wolfe’s article suggested that the mechanism for both oral ingestion and the aforementioned topical application was the same: that the capsaicin “equalizes” blood pressure. The article maintained that capsaicin “reacts with the body to equalize the blood pressure, meaning an extra gushing of pressure will not be concentrated in the wound area as it normally is,” adding that “blood will quickly clot when the pressure is equalized.” None of that is how any of this works. The notion that the heat perceived by a human who experiences cayenne pepper in an open flesh wound could cauterize that wound is absurd. Capsaicin does not actually create heat, but rather it binds to a specific pain receptor in a way that mimics the sensation of pain and heat. Cauterization, the process of burning (or freezing) skin with metal or chemicals to stop bleeding and prevent infection, requires actual heat, cold, or specific acids that produce chemical burns, none of which is provided by cayenne pepper powder. It is for related reasons that capsaicin has been investigated as a possible topical pain reliever. Several studies have shown the chemical is capable of reducing pain, likely through a process that involves depleting the chemicals responsible for sending pain signals after they are overstimulated. A reduction in pain, however, is significantly different than a reduction in bleeding. The top Google search results for the vaguely medical-sounding phrase “equalize blood pressure” are links to the very same articles about capsaicin’s ability to stop bleeding that we are working to debunk. However, in the herbal remedy world, the term appears most commonly to mean “lowering or raising [blood pressure] to normal levels,” according to the 2001 book Herbal Remedies: A Quick and Easy Guide to Common Disorders and Their Herbal Treatments. The effect capsaicin has on blood pressure is a complicated and poorly understood area of science, and various studies suggest it has an ability to both raise or lower blood pressure depending on how and/or when it is administered. The potential ability for capsaicin to raise or lower blood pressure, however, is wholly irrelevant to the issue of wound healing, according to Lawrence Fine, a scientist with the Division of Cardiovascular Science at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. “I am unaware of any science information [holding] that any change within the normal range of blood pressure will affect wounding healing,” he told us via email. With the mysterious “equalizing blood pressure” mechanism squarely behind us, we can attempt to make sense of the claim that “blood circulation brings nutrients and oxygen and is imperative to the process of tissue healing.” Blood’s role in transporting oxygen and other important chemicals within the human body is obvious and not controversial. However, specific chemicals (not scientific platitudes) are associated with the process of coagulation. “Clotting is easier” after ingesting cayenne pepper, Wolfe’s article suggested without evidence. “I’m unaware of any scientific data to support the claim that cayenne pepper can stop bleeding,” Donna Di Michele, the Deputy Director of the Division of Blood Diseases and Resources at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, told us via email. “Capsicum, which is a species of pepper, is sometimes listed as a food or supplement that may increase the likelihood of bleeding in individuals who are so predisposed, particularly when on an anticoagulant,” she said, adding that some uncertainty in this area of research still exists. Indeed, this is perhaps the most perverse part of Wolfe’s clickbait: the fact that the purported remedy he selected for curtailing bleeding time may in fact be associated with the risk of increasing the time it takes to stop bleeding.
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6686
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Trump plan to stop HIV epidemic targets high-infection areas.
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President Donald Trump is launching a campaign to end the HIV epidemic in the United States by 2030, targeting areas where new infections happen and getting highly effective drugs to people at risk.
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true
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Alex Azar, Health, Anthony Fauci, Politics, North America, Campaigns, Epidemics, Infectious diseases, United States, Public health, Donald Trump
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Briefing reporters ahead of Trump’s State of the Union speech, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and senior public health officials said the campaign relies on fresh insights into where about half of new HIV cases occur — 48 out of some 3,000 U.S. counties, and Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and seven states with at-risk rural residents. “We’ve never had that kind of ‘This is the target,’” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s pre-eminent AIDS warrior and head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The government has “been trying to address HIV, but never in such a focused way,” he said. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. “Together, we will defeat AIDS in America and beyond,” Trump said in his speech. He pledged funding in his upcoming budget, but did not say how much. Trump’s move is being greeted with a mix of skepticism and cautious optimism by anti-AIDS activists. They’re flagging his previous efforts to slash Medicaid health care for low-income people, and his administration’s ongoing drive to roll back newly won acceptance for LGBTQ people. “We stand ready to work with him and his administration if they are serious,” said a statement from AIDS United and other groups. “But to date, this administration’s actions speak louder than words and have moved us in the wrong direction.” AIDS United funds and advocates policies to combat AIDS. The ONE Campaign, the global anti-poverty group co-founded by rock singer Bono, called Trump’s pledge a “welcome sign,” but pointed out that the administration has also proposed deep cuts in U.S. funding for efforts to battle HIV in Africa. “While we might have policy differences with the president and his administration, this initiative, if properly implemented and resourced, can go down in history as one of the most significant achievements of his presidency,” Michael Ruppal, executive director of the AIDS Institute, said in a statement. While Azar said significant new funding would be included in the president’s budget, he also emphasized that the campaign is about making more efficient use of existing programs like the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which provides medical care and support services. “The tools are there,” Azar said. “This is about execution.” Today’s HIV treatments work so well they not only can give people with the AIDS virus a near-normal life expectancy, they offer a double whammy — making those patients less likely to infect other people. At the same time, a longtime HIV medication named Truvada can prevent infection if taken daily by healthy people who are at risk from their infected sexual partners, a strategy known as “pre-exposure prophylaxis” or PreP. The people most at risk include men who have sex with men, minorities, particularly African-Americans, and American Indians/Alaska Natives. Azar said the administration’s campaign would rely on public health workers to identify people at risk for HIV/AIDS, get them tested, and on medication. The 48 counties HHS is focusing on are mainly metro areas. The states are Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and South Carolina. Researchers noted that will require working with groups that often shun health services, including injectable drug users. “Trust is a crucial weapon in our fight to eradicate HIV and it’s necessary to encourage people from marginalized groups to get tested,” said Dr. Albert Wu, an HIV researcher at Johns Hopkins University. The initial goal is to reduce new HIV infections by 75 percent in five years. There are about 40,000 new cases of HIV infections a year in the U.S. That’s a dramatic reduction from the crisis years of the AIDS epidemic, but progress has stalled. More than 1 million Americans live with the disease. William McColl of AIDS United said the Trump administration’s goal is “very doable,” based on currently available technology and trends. “I think the HIV community would work with the administration on this issue if they’re serious, but it’s also going to take real action, including possibly regulatory and legislative changes to achieve the goal,” said McColl. Azar said the idea for the new push came from within the ranks of HHS. “There was a recognition that we were facing a unique and historic moment where all the strands were coming together,” said Azar. They took the idea to Trump. “President Trump is personally invested in this,” said Azar. In recent years a number of health organizations, including the United Nations, have called for coordinated steps to end the HIV epidemic by 2030. Trump’s CDC director, Dr. Robert Redfield, told agency employees last March that it would possible to end the AIDS epidemic in less than seven years. Shortly after taking office in 2010, President Barack Obama outlined a national HIV strategy focused on lowering the infection rate and increasing access to care. The administration renewed the five-year plan in 2015, though it did not set a goal of stopping transmission or ending the epidemic. ___ Associated Press writers Matthew Perrone and Lauran Neergaard contributed to this report.
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25653
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Viral image Says Chadwick Boseman was poisoned and his death is being investigated as a homicide.
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Chadwick Boseman died after a four-year fight against colon cancer.
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false
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Pop Culture, Facebook Fact-checks, Viral image,
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"On Aug. 28, a statement from the family of Chadwick Boseman was tweeted from the actor’s verified Twitter account announcing that he had died. ""Chadwick was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, and battled with it these last 4 years as it progressed to stage IV,"" the message said. ""A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much. From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and several more, all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy. It was the honor of his career to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther. He died at home, with his wife and family by his side."" In the days since, Facebook posts like this one have spread misinformation about Boseman’s death, claiming that he was poisoned. An image of the actor above a headline on TorontoToday.net says: ""AUTOPSY: Chadwick Boseman was POISONED, homicide investigation begins."" This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) But Toronto Today is not a credible news source. We found no evidence to suggest an autopsy had occurred, much less that such an autopsy found evidence of poisoning. Colon cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Boseman had not spoken publicly about his diagnosis, and the news of his death startled fans, who grieved his passing on social media. But we found nothing to support the claims that others are now sharing on platforms like Facebook. Rather, they seem to follow the same pattern of other death hoaxes that spread after a high-profile person dies. The Toronto Today story says that ""police are now considering this a homicide, and will be holding a press conference in the next 48 hours,"" but no such news event has happened. If Boseman was actually killed, it would draw wide media coverage. Instead, this post has drawn articles fact-checking it."
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427
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Poland hit by bird flu outbreak on turkey farms.
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Bird flu has been detected in turkeys in eastern Poland, authorities said on Wednesday, and local media reported that the outbreak could require up to 40,000 birds to be slaughtered.
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true
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Health News
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Poland, Europe’s largest poultry producer according to data from Eurostat, has not had an outbreak of bird flu since 2017. Andrzej Danielak, president of Polish Association of Breeders and Poultry Producers, said that three farms might be affected, with up to 350,000 birds at risk in a three kilometer radius. “Veterinary services are implementing virus eradication procedures in this situation,” local authorities in Lubartowski county said in a press release issued on Tuesday, adding that the virus was a subtype of highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu that can also threaten people The authorities said crisis meetings had been held, while footage from private broadcaster Polsat showed police cars blocking a road in the area.
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10743
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Lung ultrasound may be a safe substitute for chest X-ray when diagnosing pneumonia in children
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This Mount Sinai news release describes a small study aimed at testing whether chest ultrasounds are as effective at diagnosing pneumonia in children as chest X-rays, the current diagnostic method of choice. Patients were randomized into either a test group, which received a chest ultrasound and a possible follow-up chest X-ray, versus a control group which received first a chest X-ray and then a chest ultrasound. The release does a good job of explaining the study results, and the potential cost savings here and in lesser-developed countries. Weaknesses are no mention of an investigator’s consulting relationship to an ultrasound company and lack of discussion of study limitations. Pneumonia is the number one killer of children on the planet, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). While chest X-rays are the accepted means of diagnosing pneumonia, WHO points out that in three-quarters of the world, the necessary equipment isn’t available, meaning an alternative that is both more widely available and cheaper than radiography would be a great boon for health care. While this was a small study, it provides evidence that ultrasound technology, being both cheaper and more portable, could help fill the gaps in health care in both richer and poorer regions.
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true
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Hospital news release,Imaging,Screening tests
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This release earns praise for clearly mentioning the cost savings derived from the use of chest ultrasounds versus chest X-rays in treating patients in the study — $9,700 from 191 patients. The release could have been even even more helpful by adding information showing chest ultrasounds cost about two-and-a-half times less than chest X-rays ($140 versus $370 respectively). The release also might have mentioned that there’s a large initial outlay for ultrasound machines that may make them too expensive in the developing world. Another upfront cost not mentioned is the expense of training emergency medicine physicians (and presumably also internal medicine, pediatric and family medicine physicians) to do this procedure. The release clearly stated that chest ultrasounds effectively diagnosed study patients who had pneumonia as well as chest X-rays. There were 38.8 percent fewer chest X-rays required for a pneumonia diagnosis in the investigational arm of the study compared to the control group of the study. The study also showed that stays in the emergency department by ultrasound-only patients were almost a half-hour shorter than those of the control group. We offer a word of caution, however. The release didn’t explain how the pneumonia cases were actually diagnosed so we cannot determine if the ultrasound really was accurate and effectively diagnosed study patients who had pneumonia. The release points out that there was no increase in adverse events reported during the study, nor were there any cases where pneumonia was not appropriately diagnosed. There is the potential for some harms that aren’t addressed, namely missed diagnosis and the identification of small pneumonias that don’t need to be treated (overdiagnosis). “In the era of precision medicine, lung ultrasound may also be an ideal imaging option in children who are at higher risk for radiation-induced cancers or have received multiple radiographic or CT imaging studies,” according to the lead study author. This benefit in terms of harms reduction might have been stressed even more. Ultrasound screening could be safer in the long run for children than X-ray since repeated exposure to radiation presents a cumulative risk for cancer. Radiation oncology experts and the FDA have long called for reduced reliance on routine X-ray and computerized tomography (CT) screening in children unless the benefits outweigh the risks. More than 100 professional organizations including pediatricians, radiation physicists and oncologists have signed on to the “Image Gently” campaign which urges the use of ultrasound instead of radiation when feasible. The release makes clear that this was a randomized, controlled trial comparing chest ultrasound versus chest X-rays as a diagnostic tool for identifying pneumonia in young patients. Participants either received an ultrasound possibly followed by a chest X-ray, if needed, in the investigational arm, or a chest X-ray followed by a chest ultrasound in the control group. However, as noted above, it isn’t explained how the pneumonia cases were actually diagnosed. This reduces the quality of the study. Ultrasound should correctly diagnose the larger pneumonias without problems, but small ones can be missed or they may be overdiagnosed. The published article briefly discusses the lack of accuracy in its discussion section. It appears to rely heavily on a meta-analysis of previous studies involving ultrasound accuracy. The study states: “Second, we were unable to calculate test performance characteristics adhering to the STARD (Standards for the Reporting of Diagnostic accuracy studies) statement due to the fact that 38.8% of the subjects in the investigational arm did not receive a CXR [chest x-ray] that would have served as a practical reference standard. By design, our sonologists were not blinded to CXR results in the control arm so that the information could be used to guide treatment. Lack of blinding to a reference standard could be a potential source of bias in calculated test performance characteristics for LUS.” This release doesn’t engage in disease-mongering. The release notes that the study was conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai but doesn’t disclose sponsors or potential conflicts of interest. According to the journal article, one of the researchers has a consulting relationship with an ultrasound company. This should have been included in the release. The release adequately explains that chest X-rays are the diagnostic method of choice for determining cases of pneumonia, according to the World Health Organization. The study’s primary goal was to determine if chest ultrasounds were an adequate alternative to chest X-rays. A non-imaging method used to diagnose pneumonia is a physical examination. The release does make a point that ultrasound technology is widely available in health care facilities around the world. We would have liked for the release to include the fact that in perhaps three-quarters of the world, there is a lack of facilities that can provide even diagnostic X-rays. This fact, attributed to the WHO in the journal article, is absent in the news release. High resolution ultrasound machines would be even further out of reach in these countries. The novelty of a safe and cheaper alternative to expensive radiography that could provide equivalent diagnostic precision is clearly enough to warrant this release. We don’t believe the news release relies on unjustifiable language to summarize the potential benefit of substituting ultrasound over X-Ray in screening for pediatric pneumonia.
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13593
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As the number of vaccines administered to children has increased in the United States, so has the autism rate.
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A viral meme from NaturalNews.com uses dates, rising numbers in vaccines given to babies, and rising rates of autism to suggest a relationship between vaccines and autism. The meme is inflating the number of vaccines, which stood at 10 in 2008 and 2013, according to the CDC. Meanwhile, the rate of children diagnosed with autism is increasing, though the numbers NaturalNews.com offered are not entirely accurate. The problem with this claim, however, is putting the two numbers together to lead people to believe that vaccines are causing the increase in autism rates. A pediatrician and specialist in infectious diseases said that any connection between vaccines (with or without thimerosal) and autism has been thoroughly dismissed through more than two dozen peer-reviewed studies.
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false
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Autism, Ohio, Viral image,
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"A viral image from the website NaturalNews.com is bouncing along through the echo chamber of Facebook. It suggests a connection between the number of vaccines given to babies in the United States over time, and an increase in people diagnosed with autism. Health memes like this are common on social media, and this particular image’s source, NaturalNews.com, encourages its community to spread the message. The site brands itself as ""the world’s top news source on natural health."" Its founder, entrepreneur Mike Adams, calls himself the ""Health Ranger."" To vet this claim of causality between vaccines and autism, we consulted Dennis Cunningham, an associate professor of clinical pediatrics at the Ohio State University. He is on the physician team on infectious diseases at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. What we found is that the number of autism diagnoses has risen in the past decade, but scientists aren't sure if that represents a true increase in cases or a change in diagnosis. Scientists and experts say the rise in cases, however, is not related to the number of vaccines children are receiving. Small change in vaccines The meme says the number of vaccinations has grown from 10 in 1983 to 46 in 2013. Both numbers are vastly inflated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2013 immunization schedule only lists 10 vaccines recommended for babies up to 24 months of age. ""We’re not really up to 46 vaccines,"" Cunningham said. ""They may be including vaccines administered in multiple doses, like for measles, mumps and rubella. If they are counting every time a child gets a shot as a ‘vaccine,’ I’m not sure that’s an accurate way to count."" PolitiFact Ohio attempted to contact NaturalNews through a form on the website but received no response. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website defines a vaccine as ""a product that stimulates a person’s immune system to produce immunity to a specific disease, protecting the person from that disease."" One vaccine can require more than one shot to achieve the best protection. The mumps, measles and rubella vaccine (MMR), for example, prevents all three diseases. It requires two shots, one at 12 to 15 months and one at four to six years of age. Though it is designed to protect against three diseases, and is administered in two shots, the MMR vaccine is treated as one vaccine. Ian Branam, a communications specialist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told PolitiFact Ohio that vaccines sometimes require more than one shot ""to build high enough immunity to prevent disease, boost immunity that fades over time, help to make sure people who did not get immunity from a first dose are protected, or protect against germs that change over time, such as flu."" For all years, the viral image overstates the number of vaccines recommended for children. The meme says that there were 10 vaccines administered to babies in 1983. Branam gave us the official count: only three vaccines were recommended for babies under two years of age that year. The meme says that the number of recommended vaccines for babies increased to 36 by 2008. Branam corrected that number to 10 -- the same number in 2013. Rise in autism According to NaturalNews’ viral image, the rate of autism has risen from 1 in 10,000 in 1983, to 1 in 150 in 2008, to 1 in 88 in 2013. The viral image’s figures on the prevalence of autism over time are inconsistent with CDC research. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its first report on autism in 2007, and quantified its prevalence as 1 in 150. The most recent report said autism affects 1 in 68 children in 2016. The rise in the rate of the disorder is proportional to the increase in scientific and medical attention it has received, according to epidemiologist Michael Rosanoff. Rosanoff is the director of Autism Speaks, the largest autism advocacy group in the country. The numbers ""suggest that we’ve gotten better at identifying autism in the United States,"" Rosanoff said. ""Ten years ago – when the CDC first started autism surveillance -- the reported prevalence was 1 in 150. We have reason to believe that much of the increase since then is due to improved detection."" Put another way, Rosanoff says it’s not necessarily that more children have autism today, it’s that we are better at identifying it. Breaking the link between vaccines and autism rates NaturalNews’ viral image illustrates two phenomenons -- vaccines given to children, and rates of autism -- stair-stepping upward together over time. But Cunningham, with the Nationwide Children’s Hospital, told PolitiFact Ohio that the relationship is spurious. Autism rates have been going up, said Cunningham. That's partly because the criteria for the diagnosis has widened, encompassing children that would not have been considered autistic when the disease was in earlier phases of detection, he said. Moreover, NaturalNews ""is ignoring the multiple articles in medical literature that show no association between autism and vaccinations,"" Cunningham said. (PolitiFact previously has addressed this question in regards to the Measles vaccine, with scientists saying there is no connection between the vaccine and autism.) Concerns over thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative that was used in some vaccines, sparked the original vaccine scare. Cunningham said thimerosal contains ethylmercury, which is quickly broken down and eliminated by the body. Methylmercury, on the other hand, can build up in cells and tissues over time, to poisonous levels. Though the harm that some feared was based on confusion between the forms of mercury, Cunningham said, thimerosal was nonetheless removed from most vaccines in 2001. ""I was one of the doctors who did not agree with taking it out, because it was not done for a scientific reason,"" Cunningham said. ""Since then, there has been no impact on the rates of autism."" On its website, the Autism Science Foundation features a statement regarding autism and vaccines. ""We’ve asked the autism vaccine question over two dozen times and each time we get the same response: no relationship,"" it says. ""We need to move on. We need to invest in studying genetics, the brain structures of children with autism, and environmental factors that may be playing a role."" Cunningham added, ""Parents absolutely have the right to make decisions for their children, but I get concerned when they move away from science and evidence-based medicine to an emotion-based response. I have seen kids die in the hospital from vaccine-preventable diseases."" Our ruling A viral meme from NaturalNews.com uses dates, rising numbers in vaccines given to babies, and rising rates of autism to suggest a relationship between vaccines and autism. The meme is inflating the number of vaccines, which stood at 10 in 2008 and 2013, according to the CDC. Meanwhile, the rate of children diagnosed with autism is increasing, though the numbers NaturalNews.com offered are not entirely accurate. The problem with this claim, however, is putting the two numbers together to lead people to believe that vaccines are causing the increase in autism rates. A pediatrician and specialist in infectious diseases said that any connection between vaccines (with or without thimerosal) and autism has been thoroughly dismissed through more than two dozen peer-reviewed studies."
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23136
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"David Cicilline Says ""John Loughlin voted to let people accused of domestic violence keep their guns."
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Cicilline says Loughlin voted to let people accused of domestic violence keep their guns
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true
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Rhode Island, Criminal Justice, Voting Record, Guns, David Cicilline,
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"The new spate of political ads that have flooded the airwaves seem better suited to Halloween than the Election Day that follows it. With haunting music and ominous narration, they sound more like ads for horror movies than political commercials. One example is a radio advertisement from David Cicilline's campaign that begins with the narrator's somber warning: ""State Representative John Loughlin is running for Congress."" A worried-sounding woman chimes in: ""I heard his ideas are really out there."" ""How extreme is he?"" asks a second elderly voice, full of alarm. ""So extreme that John Loughlin voted to let people accused of domestic violence keep their guns."" Pause. ""Doesn't he know how dangerous that is?"" a third frightened voice wants to know. We here at PolitiFact aren't easily spooked; we just like to know the truth. So we tuned out the dramatic flourish and got to work checking out the claim. The vote Cicilline's ad talks about was on a 2005 bill in the Rhode Island General Assembly -- now a law -- that allows judges to require those subject to permanent domestic violence restraining orders to surrender their firearms. Rhode Island was the 41st state to enact this law, as part of a push by domestic violence advocates to protect victims. After multiple amendments that carved out exemptions for police officers and active duty military personnel to keep their service weapons while on duty, the Rhode Island bill made it to the floor in June 2005. Once there, it underwent several more changes, one of them spearheaded by Loughlin, a representative from Tiverton, who successfully advocated to exempt on-duty National Guard members from the provision as well. The House bill passed in a 46-20 vote on June 22, 2005, with Loughlin voting no. The Senate approved the same legislation days later and the bill was signed into law in early July. The problem with the Cicilline advertisement's claim is that it incorrectly says the bill applies to those ""accused of domestic violence."" A restraining order is actually a civil document that can be obtained without accusing the subject of a specific crime. ""It may be to prevent something from happening,"" explained Deb DeBare, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence. ""[The victim] may have been threatened or in fear of abuse, but no crime has been committed."" Nowhere does the 2005 bill suggest one must be accused of a crime to have the statute apply. Cicilline overstates the scope of the bill that Loughlin voted against. But he is correct to suggest that if Loughlin's side had prevailed, those subject to domestic violence restraining orders would be allowed to keep their guns. We asked Loughlin's campaign manager to explain why he voted against the 2005 bill. Her answer: ""John is a supporter of the Second Amendment and he voted against this bill because it was too broad and he was concerned that there was no distinction made between handguns and antique collectibles or family heirlooms."" That may be true, but it doesn't change the accuracy of Cicilline's statement."
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9038
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Extending dosing intervals reduces deadly side effect risk from multiple sclerosis drug
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Researchers referenced in this news release presented study findings last week at a national multiple sclerosis (MS) meeting suggesting that giving the drug natalizumab less frequently may dramatically reduce the risk for developing progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a rare but potentially fatal brain infection. The news release describes the study design well but could have served readers better by including more about costs, harms, significant conflicts of interest, and some important limitations of the study. Although there is no cure for multiple sclerosis there are a variety of treatments available that target the symptoms and progression of the disease. Most of these carry significant side effects and are closely followed by people with MS. An unpublished study such as this — which investigates one of the more feared side effects — is likely to generate a great deal of interest. This places a premium on being appropriately cautious in writing a news release about a study that has not been published and raises questions regarding conflicts of interest.
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false
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multiple sclerosis,natalizumab,NYU Langone Health / NYU School of Medicine
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The cost of infusing natalizumab is not mentioned, but this study found the 2-year cost to be $72,120. The news release mentions the main benefit of less frequent dosing of natalizumab (infusions every five to 12 weeks, instead of the standard every 4 weeks) as a “risk reduction for PML as high as 94 percent” up to 6 years. The news release mentions “the optimal extended dose schedule is not known.” What we like news releases and news articles to provide readers are absolute risk reductions, rather than the relative risk reductions provided here. The news release does make it clear that these results only apply to patients who test positive for antibodies to the JC Virus (JCV; the virus that causes PML) and this study did not look at drug efficacy comparing the extended to standard monthly dosing. Other than progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) — the side effect targeted in this study — the other side effects of natalizumab therapy are not mentioned. The most serious include liver toxicity, and infections from immunosuppression. Furthermore, although many other therapies which cause immunosuppression can lead to PML, it might have been helpful for readers to know that natalizumab has proven particularly worrisome in this regard. It’s been pulled from the market in the past because of PML concerns, and it’s recommended by many in the MS field to be used in very limited circumstances. Although the news release does mention these results were presented at a meeting on February 2, 2018, it would help to clarify whether these results have been published yet in a peer-reviewed journal. Besides being an unpublished abstract, this was an observational study, not a clinical trial. A major limitation of this study — not mentioned in the news release — is the inability to control for baseline disease characteristics which might affect the risk for developing PML. This limitation is common to all observational studies, which are unable to demonstrate cause-and-effect, and it’s the reason that descriptions of such studies should avoid cause-and-effect language like we find in the headline, “Extending dosing intervals reduces deadly side effect risk.” There is no disease mongering here. Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a well-documented side effect in MS patients on long-term natalizumab therapy (as well as other treatments which cause immunosuppression). The news release mentions 756 reported PML cases worldwide as of January 2018 with a global incidence rate of about 4 per 1,000 PML cases in people treated with this monoclonal antibody therapy. Although the news release does mention that natalizumab is manufactured by Biogen — and that Biogen “provided the researchers access to their data and statistical support” — it does not mention that the lead author receives research support from Biogen, as well as personal compensation from Biogen for speaker and advisory board activities. It’s also not mentioned that half of the 14 coauthors listed for this study are employees of — and own stock and/or stock options — in Biogen. There is no cure for multiple sclerosis. Most treatment options focus on managing symptoms or slowing progression of the disease. There are several other forms of treatment for MS other than natalizumab. Two of these alternatives (alemtuzumab and ocrelizumab) are mentioned at the very end of the news release. The news release does mention that natalizumab is a ‘commonly-prescribed multiple sclerosis (MS) infusion medication linked to a rare but serious side effect … ” It should have been made more clear, however, that the drug has been pulled from the market before (over PML concerns) and is now FDA-approved only for highly active, relapsing remitting MS. There have been other studies looking at the role of extended-interval dosing (EID) with natalizumab, but the news release does not make it clear if this study is unique in using registry data to explore the relationship between EID and the subsequent development of PML. The news release goes over-the-top in claiming that this preliminary study (whose data are not even released in a peer-reviewed journal) is “practice changing and may save lives.”
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30691
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"New U.S. Army medics will be treating battlefield injuries with ""alternative medicine"" such as homeopathic dilutions and prayer beads."
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U.S. Army medics will not be treating battlefield injuries with homeopathic dilutions and prayer beads.
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false
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Humor, duffel blog
|
On 15 January 2018, the Duffel Blog (the “American Military’s Most-Trusted News Source”) published an article positing that new Complementary Medicine Specialists (or “holistic medics”) in the U.S. Army would be treating battlefield injuries with “alternative medical treatments ranging from aromatherapy to interventional prayer”: FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas — In an effort to match the broad range of medical treatments available to the civilian population, the U.S. Army has introduced a new breed of battlefield medic, the service announced Friday. The new MOS, Complementary Medicine Specialist (69W), or “holistic medic,” will be trained in a variety of alternative medical treatments, ranging from aromatherapy to interventional prayer, and will be authorized to prescribe medications like megavitamins and homeopathic dilutions. “There’s great demand for treating warfighter injuries with more natural, holistic remedies,” said Col. Thomas Sorrenson, commander of the new program. “So where a traditional combat medic treats an amputated limb with a tourniquet and hemostatic gauze, our protocol opts for a healing-hands reiki session followed by some cleansing herbs.” “It’s a more integrative approach,” he said. “After all, what’s really more important: stopping massive blood loss and preventing shock, or curing a devastating disruption of a soldier’s chi?” None of this was true, of course. The piece was just another marvelous spoof from the Duffel Blog, a satirical humor site dedicated to skewering all things military, as noted in their disclaimer: We are in no way, shape, or form, a real news outlet. Everything on this website is satirical and the content of this site is a parody of a news organization. No composition should be regarded as truthful, and no reference of an individual, company, or military unit seeks to inflict malice or emotional harm. All characters, groups, and military units appearing in these works are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or actual military units and companies is purely coincidental.
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7950
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For richer or poorer: coronavirus, cheap oil test climate vows.
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Climate change commitments by banks, pension funds and asset managers face their first major test as markets reel from the twin shocks of coronavirus and a sliding oil price.
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true
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Environment
|
The challenge looks formidable. When the 2008 financial crisis tipped the world into recession, carbon emissions fell. But as economies grew again, governments proved unable to halt an emissions rebound. The issue now is that at a crucial moment for international negotiations, the latest global economic blow could put paid to costly ideas for slowing climate change from political leaders and the private sector alike. “When things are more difficult then people are really going to be focused on financial performance,” Hester Peirce, a Republican member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Monday as world markets dived. This time around, money managers interviewed by Reuters say a growing recognition of the prospect of massive disruption, underscored by Australia’s bushfires, has permanently shifted the dial and put environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues front and center. “People look at ESG as a luxury and when recession hits it gets thrown out of the window,” said Michael Lewis, who heads research into environmental issues at German asset manager DWS. “There’s still going to be significant pressure on policymakers not to take their eye off the ball, because of the financial materiality of climate change,” he added. The initial stages of the epidemic in China have already had a dramatic impact on the world’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, as Beijing locked down whole areas, shutting down factories and preventing travel. Finland’s Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air says Chinese CO2 emissions fell by a quarter, or an estimated 200 million tonnes in the four weeks to March 1. Satellite data also showed a sharp fall in Chinese emissions of nitrogen dioxide, a noxious gas emitted by power plants, cars and factories, starting in Wuhan and then spreading over other cities, including the capital, noticeable over a fortnight in mid-February. “There is evidence that the change is at least partly related to the economic slowdown following the outbreak of coronavirus,” NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center said in a report. But China has since began to resume business as usual and globally scientists say it is too early to estimate what the coronavirus outbreak’s economic impact may mean for emissions. In 2009, global carbon emissions fell to 31.5 gigatons from 32 gigatons, the Global Carbon Project said. But as the global economy recovered, emissions jumped to 33.2 Gt in 2010 and to a projected 36.8 Gt in 2019, a record high. Graphic - Global carbon emissions: here For an interactive version of the graphic, click here The recession's impact in the United States was particularly marked, with CO2 emissions falling 10% between 2007-2009, due to factors including less consumption of goods and services, a paper here published by science journal Nature Communications said. Steve Davis, an associate professor at the University of California at Irvine and one of the paper’s authors, said the growing U.S. usage of natural gas helped suppress the rebound. “The conclusion that the Great Recession helped decrease emissions is still true,” he said. “But that’s not the way we want to win the war on climate change.” Coronavirus and the oil price fall come at a fraught time for international talks to avoid catastrophic global warming. Observers fear governments will delay making ambitious pledges at a make-or-break U.N. summit in Glasgow in November. “A recession is likely to complicate the politics of environmental policy, as it will drop in priority relative to the economy,” Ruben Lubowski, chief natural resource economist at the Environmental Defense Fund, a Washington, D.C. advocacy group, said. Others see the drop in oil prices as an opportunity to impose more extensive carbon taxes. “The money raised can be used to support fossil fuel workers and retool the economy,” said Kingsmill Bond, energy strategist at financial think-tank Carbon Tracker. The price plunge in oil triggered by a Saudi-Russia price war could also affect the shift away from carbon. With shares in oil majors hit hard this week, some investors question the wisdom of new oil and gas exploration, climate issues aside. At the same time, low oil and gas prices could reduce incentives for big emitters such as the European Union, Japan, China and India to wean themselves off fossil fuels. “A lower oil price will stall the green revolution in the world,” Michel Salden, senior portfolio manager at Vontobel Asset Management, said. But rapid renewable energy cost falls could give decarbonisation more momentum than in past downturns. Steve Young, chief financial officer of Duke Energy Corp, (DUK.N), a major U.S. electric utility, told Reuters the coronavirus so far does not seem to affect progress toward its goal of reducing its carbon footprint by 50% by 2030 and reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Investors will also watch if any government stimulus packages aim to accelerate decarbonisation or simply encourage more high-emitting projects. Changed social attitudes could make it hard for politicians to dismiss climate concerns, Keith Skeoch, chief executive of Standard Life Aberdeen, said. But low oil prices will have some influence. “Cheap oil and cheap petrol probably does make (it), from a consumer’s perspective, potentially a little bit more difficult to decarbonise,” Skeoch said.
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34793
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"Walter Reed Hospital will accept Christmas cards addressed to ""A Recovering American Soldier."
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Walter Reed Hospital no longer accepts Christmas cards addressed to 'A Recovering American Soldier.' Alternate programs have been established for sending holiday greetings to hospitalized service members.
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mixture
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Holidays, christmas, holiday mail for heroes, walter reed
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Perennial open-hearted entreaties are circulated online every year just before the holiday season, suggesting that Americans add “A Recovering American Soldier” to their Christmas card lists: A Great Idea!!! When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following: A Recovering American Soldier c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center 6900 Georgia Ave., NW Washington, D.C. 20307-5001 If you approve of the idea, please pass it on to your e-mail list. While no one can fault the sentiment behind the suggestion (not only to remember the less fortunate during the holiday season but to make a special effort to reach out to those who have been wounded in the service of their country), such exhortations are outdated: in these times of heightened security, mail from strangers to unnamed soldiers must be discarded unopened for everyone’s safety. The U.S. Postal Service will not accept mail addressed to “Any Soldier,” “Any Wounded Soldier,” or the like because if they did, it could be providing a conduit for those who might do harm to armed services members. Such offerings are either returned to sender (if a return address has been provided or if one is found within the package) or donated to charities (if no address for the sender is found): Programs that allowed people to send mail to servicemembers unknown to them were discontinued following the terrorist attacks of 2001. Mail addressed as “Any Service Member,” “Any Soldier, Sailor, etc.” will not be accepted. If this mail is deposited into a collection box it will be returned to sender. Items without return addresses are opened in our Mail Recovery Center Network to determine the sender’s address. If it is impossible to determine the sender’s address, we donate care items to local charities. Similarly, military hospitals will not accept letters, cards, or packages addressed in such manner for the same reason. Such beneficences, no matter how kindly meant, are not permitted to reach the soldiers they were intended for. Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) officials echoed this information in a statement regarding public efforts in sending cards to unnamed soldiers who are recovering in the facility’s care: Mail to Wounded and Recovering Soldiers Walter Reed Army Medical Center officials want to remind those individuals who want to show their appreciation through mail to include packages and letters, addressed to “Any Wounded Soldier” that Walter Reed will not be accepting these packages in support of the decision by then Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Transportation Policy in 2001. This decision was made to ensure the safety and well being of patients and staff at medical centers throughout the Department of Defense. In addition, the U.S. Postal Service is no longer accepting “Any Service Member” or “Any Wounded Service Member” letters or packages. Mail to “Any Service Member” that is deposited into a collection box will not be delivered. Instead of sending an “Any Wounded Soldier” letter or package to Walter Reed, please consider making a donation to one of the more than 300 nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping our troops and their families listed on the “America Supports You” website, www.americasupportsyou.mil The former Walter Reed Army Medical Center closed in August 2011 and merged with the National Naval Medical Center to form the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) in Bethesda, Maryland. The “Holiday Card Drive 2016” page on their web site instructs the public that holiday cards for service members should be sent through the Red Cross and the “Holiday Mail for Heroes” program: Every year there is a Facebook Post that goes viral asking citizens to send Holiday Cards for service members, veterans and families receiving care to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Walter Reed Army Medical Center, on Georgia Ave closed more than 5 years ago. Any cards sent to 5900 Georgia Ave addressed to “Any Soldier,” or to “A Recovering American Soldier” will be returned to sender because the address no longer exists. Also, if you see the Facebook Post, please help us by responding to correct it. This year you can also assist a service member, veteran and their families by providing cards they can send home to their loved ones this holiday season. The deadline for all cards including Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa is Friday, November 30, 2016. Items to include in each bundle: 3 blank holiday cards (same holiday per bundle and no glitter) 3 blank envelopes with postage stamps 1 short message to the service member (do not included contact information, only first name) Bundled with a ribbon Please drop off or mail completed bundles to: American Red Cross in the National Capital Region ATTN: Holiday Mail for Heroes 8550 Arlington Blvd Fairfax, VA 22031 If you would like to continue sending signed holiday cards in the traditional sense, please contact your local Red Cross office, Military Treatment Facility or VA Hospital to obtain the local guidelines.
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10475
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Quality of Life Found Equal With 2 Breast Cancer Drugs
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This story follows up on earlier reports released by the National Cancer Institute announcing results of the STAR breast cancer prevention trial, which compared tamoxifen with raloxifene in women at higher-than-average risk. Initial reports from NCI suggested that while the two drugs were equally good at lowering breast cancer risk, raloxifene offered an advantage because it caused fewer blood clots and uterine cancers. With the release of the peer-reviewed results in the Journal of the American Medical Association, raloxifene still appears to be clearly better. It was just as good at preventing invasive breast cancer, and had a lower risk of blood clots and perhaps also of uterine cancer. The article incorrectly states that the difference in the number of blood clots was not statistically significant. In fact, that difference was significant. On the other hand, the difference in the number of uterine cancers was not. For readers who may not know what it means when a difference is or is not “statistically significant,” the story could have noted that although there were fewer uterine cancers among women who took raloxifene than among those who took tamoxifen, the difference was small enough that it could have happened just by chance. That means that the risk of uterine cancer might be about the same with the 2 drugs. The article seems to approach disease mongering (in the sense of exaggerating the risk of disease) by implying that any woman with an increased breast cancer risk would be foolish not to choose one or the other of these treatments. Some balance is provided by the comment that some patient advocates question whether women should take a drug to lower their risk. By focusing primarily on the debate about which drug has the more favorable side effect and quality of life profile, the story may have missed an opportunity to draw attention to another issue–what women themselves think about taking a drug that has a relatively small chance of offering any individual woman a real benefit. NOTE: this review does not address the portions of this article that related to the cervical cancer vaccine.
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mixture
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There is no mention of the costs of either drug, nor of the overall cost-effectiveness of this approach to preventing breast cancer, including savings on cancers prevented compared with no treatment. This would also have included an estimate of the costs of monitoring and treatment for the possible side effects, particularly uterine problems–which led to hysterectomy in more than 350 women during the trial. The article states that both tamoxifen and raloxifene cut the risk of breast cancer in half, but does not indicate how many fewer cases that reduction represents. For balance, it would have been useful to have stated more explicitly how many women would have to take the drug to prevent one case of cancer, and how many women will experience a serious side effect. While the story lists the possible side effects and harms of the study medications, it does not mention how often these problems happened, nor how much they bothered women who had them. The article distorts the findings of the study by focusing on the quality of life data while downplaying or misrepresenting the data on outcomes for serious or life-threatening problems such as uterine cancer and blood clots. There is an error in the article’s statement about blood clot risk. The difference favoring raloxifene WAS statistically significant; that is, women taking it had fewer blood clots than women taking tamoxifen. Also the story implied that tamoxifen’s benefit for noninvasive breast cancer was statistically significant, but it was not, though there was a strong trend. Finally, the statement about lack of significance of reduced uterine cancer risk with raloxifene, while technically true, is not a good summary statement. The JAMA article’s authors pointed out that the estimate of uterine cancer risk for various reasons was likely an underestimate of the difference between the two drugs; that is, it likely underestimates the advantage of raloxifene over tamoxifen. There are no elements of disease mongering noted. However, the article missed an opportunity to provide some context by failing to mention that out of nearly 20,000 women in the trial, about 4 per 1000 women each year (a total of 331 over 4 years) developed breast cancer. If compared with the number of women who experienced side effects, this information would have helped readers understand better how many women would need to take preventive medication in order for some to get the benefits. The comment on patient advocates’ questioning does provide balance in the article. The story cites information from both the editorial that accompanied these studies as well as the researcher who presented the results at a professional meeting. It might have been helpful to note that neither the authors of the editorial nor the presenter appear to have any financial relationship with either drug manufacturer; this information was available in the published articles. It’s not clear from the article whether women have other options for lowering breast cancer risk. Explaining how few options there are would have helped readers to understand why these findings are important. The article notes that both tamoxifen and raloxifene are currently available, and notes the conditions for which they are approved. It is clear from the story that neither drug is new. The story cites information from both the editorial that accompanied these studies as well as the researcher who presented the results at a professional meeting. It might have been helpful to note that neither the authors of the editorial nor the presenter appear to have any financial relationship with either drug manufacturer; this information was available in the published articles.
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30790
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"A photograph shows a ""new hand sign"" that is being used by teenagers to signal that they wish to buy or sell drugs."
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The claim that this hand gesture was being used to acquire drugs did not originate with a police department, school, or any other authoritative body — it was simply posted to troll overly worried parents and trick his followers into a digital round of an online game.
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false
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Crime, circle game, facebook, hand signal
|
A significant subset of common rumors and legends prey on parents’ concerns about the safety and well-being of their children, because parents are typically prone to a “better safe than sorry” stance and therefore often take any seemingly credible warnings positing danger to youngsters at face value. Due to that tendency, we regularly remind our readers that no one is ever known to have died from receiving randomly poisoned Halloween candy, that teenagers are not smoking bedbugs to get high, receiving temporary tattoos laced with hallucinogens, or rubbing Burt’s Bees lip balm under their eyelids for an easy buzz. In November 2017, a Facebook user named David Samson took advantage of this form of parental overconcern when he shared an image of a common hand gesture along with the claim that it was being used by teenagers to help them acquire drugs: “PARENTS BE WARNED: This is not a joke! This is a sign our kids are using nowadays for drug communication of cocaine and acid! If your kid does this hand sign it’s their way of asking “do you have the goods?” please spread this to other parents! My 10 year old little Susan and her friends were caught up in this and thankfully the wife and I caught it and got them all the help and support they needed.” Despite the first sentence of the post, the warning was not based in reality. Although the pictured hand gesture may have different meanings to different people, it is most commonly used by youngsters in conjunction with “The Circle Game,” a sort of “made you look” prank that appears to be experiencing a surge in popularity. The Urban Dictionary explains the game as follows: A game of peripheral vision, trickery and motor skills. The game starts out when the Offensive Player creates a circle with their thumb and forefinger, not unlike an “A-Okay” signal, somewhere below his waist. His goal is to trick another person into looking at his hand. If the Victim looks at the hand, he has lost the game, and is subsequently hit on the bicep with a closed fist, by the offensive player. As it turned out, this “warning” was an online version of the aforementioned “Circle Game”: the person who posted the original (and fake) “warning” declared himself the “BEST troll” in a message posted a few days after the original post went viral: I’m not a troll, I am the BEST troll. Half of the people believe the post, half don’t believe it, and at the end of the day, I still get to punch you all the same 😜☃️🕊️
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14286
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"Statistics show ""you are about nine times more likely to be assaulted by a taxi driver"" in Austin than a driver for a ride-hailing service."
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"Troxclair said statistics show ""you are about nine times more likely to be assaulted by a taxi driver"" in Austin than a driver for a ride-hailing service. This claim shakes out to dividing oranges into apples and getting grapefruits--a ridiculous notion. Vital data, at the least about the number and length of trips by taxi cabs or ride-hailed vehicles, remains to be seen, making it impossible to definitively say which type of driver or ride more likely risks an assault. It's also worth mention that the chances of assault in either seem very low. This leaves the ""nine times"" statement incorrect and ridiculous. The statement is not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim."
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false
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Crime, Transportation, Texas, Ellen Troxclair,
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"An Austin City Council member made a honk-the-horn statement about passenger assaults as she advocated for voter approval of a proposition that would shrink what the city requires in background checks of drivers who work with ride-hailing services. If approved, the proposal on Austin’s May 7, 2016, ballot would rescind a city ordinance requiring ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft to submit drivers to background checks that include fingerprinting. The revised mandate, preferred by the services, would require background checks but not fingerprinting--unlike what the city requires of taxi drivers and ride-for-hire workers like shuttle, limousine and pedicab drivers. The pro-proposition member, Ellen Troxclair, opened by saying ""ride-sharing is safe"" during her appearance at an April 10, 2016, forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Austin Area. Troxclair, who represents District 8 in southwest Austin, elaborated: ""The truth is, if you look at the statistics, based on when TNCs came to town and today, you are about nine times more likely to be assaulted by a taxi driver."" TNC means a Transportation Network Company summoned through a mobile phone app. ""Let me say that again,"" Troxclair said. ""When you look at the number of taxi drivers and the number of TNC drivers and the number of complaints that APD,"" the Austin Police Department, ""has received over that time, you are about nine times more likely to be assaulted by a taxi driver."" Is this so? We ultimately found no one can definitively rule on the relative chances of an assault resulting from riding in an Austin taxi versus a ride-hailed vehicle. Meantime, experts on statistics agreed that Troxclair relied on the wrong indicators to reach her dramatic conclusion. Those analysts included Matthew Hersh, a University of Texas lecturer and proposition opponent who called the calculation fueling Troxclair’s statement one of the worst misrepresentations of statistics he’s seen. Austin Police Department data To our request for Troxclair's backup information, her aide Michael Searle emailed a document he said Troxclair received from the Austin Police Department listing all reported complaints to the police about assaults in taxi cabs or ride-hailed vehicles since 2014. Searle told us Troxclair’s office fielded the APD document in a Jan. 27, 2016, email from Brian Manley, APD’s chief of staff, who wrote: ""Please find attached the information you requested on sexual assault allegations against cab drivers and TNC drivers."" Manley’s email also included a cautionary note about making safety comparisons based on the raw counts--a note he re-sounded when we asked him about the council member’s ""nine times"" analysis. His email to Troxclair’s office said: ""Keep in mind these are only allegations of a crime, not cases that have been prosecuted,"" he said. ""Also, it is hard to say whether there are more allegations against cab drivers than TNC drivers because we don't know how many rides each provider gave in a given year so we cannot come up with a rate, only the raw number."" The document lists 37 reported incidents from Feb. 26, 2014, through Jan. 21, 2016, breaking out to 14 complaints about cabs, 21 complaints tied to vehicles driven for Uber or Lyft and two complaints related to ""independent"" ride-hailed vehicles. Each date-and-time entry indicates a crime ranging from assault ""sexual nature"" to sexual assault to rape. Noted: The presented timeframe rolled in a stretch of months before ride-hailing services were city-approved though Searle pointed out that the council approved a resolution in March 2013 stating Austinites had been using phone apps to share rides. Uber has said it routinely offered rides in Austin starting in June 2014. But it wasn’t until October 2014 that the council gave permission to the Uber and Lyft companies to operate, effective a month later. If we limit our focus to the 15 months through January 2016 that taxi cabs and ride-hailing services each rolled with city permission, APD's count of cab-connected assault complaints decreases to six. Shrinking the timeframe leaves unchanged the 23 assault complaints the department lists as related to ride-hailed vehicles. Troxclair’s equation So, how did Troxclair reach her conclusion about the chances of an Austin assault being nine times higher with a cab driver? Searle wrote: ""If the estimate is that there are 15,000 TNC drivers, subject to name-based background checks, and there are 913 cab permits, subject to fingerprint background check, then you are 9 times more likely to be assaulted by a cab driver than a TNC driver in Austin."" A city spokesman, Bryce Bencivengo, told us by phone the city had issued 915 cab permits at the time Troxclair spoke at the forum though he also said that shouldn’t be read as a count of taxi drivers. Bencivengo said the city also has fielded figures from Uber and Lyft indicating their respective counts of Austin drivers, but each company also says the tallies are proprietary, not to be released to the public. We asked Uber and Lyft for such counts; an Uber spokeswoman, Jaime Moore, said by email it has 15,000 Austin-area drivers, though she later said it’s accurate to say it has over 10,000 drivers in that the count fluctuates. Searle said Troxclair reached her ""nine times"" conclusion by dividing the 14 cab-connected complaints since June 2014 by the 913 cab permits (getting 0.015) and comparing that to what you get from juxtaposing the 23 ride-hail complaints versus 15,000 ride-hail drivers in Austin (or 0.0015) -- which actually suggests a 10-fold difference. Other analysts We ran Troxclair’s equation and statement past experts on statistics, each of whom flinched. Hersh, who told us he’s donated services to an anti-proposition group, brought up the timeline weakness in considering several months when taxi cabs were legally operating but ride-hailing services were not. He further said it’s not logical to assume driver counts deliver sufficient information to reach relative safety conclusions. Separately, Rachelle Wilkinson, an adjunct professor of statistics at Austin Community College, said the calculations offered by Troxclair aren’t valid ways to gauge the relative incidences of sexual assaults. It’s ""comparing apples to oranges (number of sexual assault reports to number of drivers),"" Wilkinson said by email. ""A much more valid way to look at the data would be to compare the sexual assault reports to the number of rides given---NOT the number of drivers. Taxi drivers tend to drive as their profession or job whereas ride-hailing drivers often do it on the side."" That is, the number of rides ""given by taxi drivers is likely much higher (per driver) than the number of rides given by ride-hailing drivers (per driver),"" Wilkinson wrote, adding that ride counts didn’t appear to be part of Troxclair’s backup. Also, Wilkinson suggested, the probability of such assaults appears to be extremely small whether riding in a taxi or a ride-hailed car, she wrote. Carol Gee, a math professor at Austin’s St. Edward’s University, similarly said by email that from the perspective of a passenger seeking a safe ride, ""it is likely more appropriate to measure safety by the number of incidents per trip, rather than the number of incidents per driver."" But absent trip data, the experts concurred, there isn’t a fact-backed justification for Troxclair’s statement. Comparisons possible? So, is there a way to compare the chances of assault in the different kinds of rides? Hersh suggested we consult Julio Gonzalez Altamirano, who writes the Keep Austin Wonky blog. By phone and email, Altamirano noted that Austin ride-hailing services lately carry 200,000 ""riders"" a month, according to a pro-proposition video ad posted April 7, 2016. Meantime, he noted, the Austin Business Journal earlier posted data leading him to estimate there were about 353,000 Austin taxi riders a month in a recent 12-month period. Still, Altamirano said, passenger estimates don’t speak to the types or lengths of trips in taxi cabs versus ride-hailed vehicles. ""The more relevant measure for risk assessment is the share of trips or or time spent in vehicle that lead to an incident. We also have to account for potential differences in the underlying populations,"" Altamirano said. ""If almost everybody that takes a taxi is a businessperson going from or to the airport, there might be fewer drunk men and women relative to"" passengers in ride-hailed vehicles. ""If so, assessing the true risk of each service gets more complicated,"" he said. ""And given that there are millions of trips for both services and a relatively small number of reported incidents, it's very hard to feel confident that there are any clear patterns."" We reached out to Uber and Lyft about Troxclair’s statement, also asking for data on trip counts and lengths. By email, Uber’s Moore said Uber trip counts are ""not public."" A Lyft contact didn’t respond. We also heard back from Troxclair, who stressed by phone that she was clear at the forum that she was qualifying her conclusion by saying it was based on the driver counts for taxi cabs and ride-hailing services. She agreed it would be helpful to have detailed trip-count information. Our ruling Troxclair said statistics show ""you are about nine times more likely to be assaulted by a taxi driver"" in Austin than a driver for a ride-hailing service. This claim shakes out to dividing oranges into apples and getting grapefruits--a ridiculous notion. Vital data, at the least about the number and length of trips by taxi cabs or ride-hailed vehicles, remains to be seen, making it impossible to definitively say which type of driver or ride more likely risks an assault. It's also worth mention that the chances of assault in either seem very low. This leaves the ""nine times"" statement incorrect and ridiculous. ! PANTS ON FIRE – The statement is not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim."
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39122
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An email is received alleged to be from a seven year old girl who has lung cancer from second hand smoke and a large brain tumor from beatings. The email says she will die without help but that her family can’t pay. Recipients of the message are asked to forward it to others and that the Make-A-Wish Foundation has agreed to donate 7 cents for each name on the list for Amy’s medical treatment.
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Amy Bruce, a sick little girl, will get help from forwarded emails
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false
|
Computers, Medical, Pleas
|
This is a hoax that has caused no end of wasted time and energy for the folks at the Make-A-Wish Foundation. No evidence has been found of a child named Amy Bruce with cancer. The Make-A-Wish Foundation says it does not participate in these kinds of fund appeals. They primarily try to grant a special wish to a child with a life-threatening illness. Not only is the Amy Bruce eRumor one of the most widely circulated, but has spawned several other rumors using the same text, but changing the names. Last updated 6/20/01 For more information: Make-A-Wish Foundation Comments
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3639
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Former nicotine research monkeys now at primate sanctuary.
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More than two dozen monkeys that were test subjects in nicotine addiction research denounced by British primatologist Jane Goodall have been moved from an Arkansas lab to a Florida primate sanctuary.
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true
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Jane Goodall, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Gainesville, Florida, Health, Science, Primates, Monkeys
|
The Gainesville Sun reported Wednesday that the squirrel monkeys are now at the city’s Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary. The nicotine addiction study by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration started in 2014 and was suspended last year after the agency learned four research monkeys had died. The FDA has said three of the monkeys died from anesthesia-related complications and one death was related to bloat, which can have unclear causes. Goodall wrote to the FDA in September 2017, calling the study “cruel and unnecessary.” “To continue performing nicotine experiments on monkeys when the results of smoking are well-known in humans — whose smoking habits can be studied directly — is shameful,” she wrote. Goodall wrote that the study involved placing devices inside young monkeys that would deliver nicotine directly to their bloodstreams. The animals were then restrained and taught to press levers to receive nicotine, she wrote. FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb quickly suspended the study and in January said an investigation found the lab lacked adequate oversight and wasn’t meeting the agency’s animal welfare standards. He then announced the end of the study and said the remaining monkeys would be placed in a sanctuary. The monkeys — along with about $1 million for their care, arrived in November at Jungle Friends, where they are being introduced to different foods, materials and experiences. In the spring, they’ll move into large outdoor enclosures that mimic their natural habitat. For now, they’re being held in indoor cages as they get acclimated to life outside the lab. Jungle Friends founder and director Kari Bagnall said “If they ask for cigarettes, they are not getting any.” ___ Information from: The Gainesville (Fla.) Sun, http://www.gainesvillesun.com
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1963
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TV product placements termed junk food ad loophole.
|
Companies that have pledged not to market unhealthy food and drinks directly to children may be turning to product placement on television shows instead of traditional ads to target youngsters, a new study showed.
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true
|
Health News
|
Children watch television in the living room of an apartment that is for sale for $4.5 million in New York in this January 13, 2011 file photo. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson This type of disguised advertising, including high exposure to sugary soft drinks on prime-time TV, is a major contributing factor to childhood obesity, according to the Yale University study released Tuesday. “It is a very subtle message that kids aren’t likely to get,” said Jennifer Harris, a co-author of the study and director of marketing initiatives at Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. The Yale study aimed to quantify how many product placements appear on prime-time TV and also determine how many of those that kids actually see. Researchers analyzed Nielsen media data from 2008 and found some 35,000 brand placements had appeared on prime-time television that year. Children tend to see about 14 traditional advertisements for food and beverages each day on television compared to one of these product placements, it said. But children don’t yet have the cognitive ability to understand that the popular soda, candy and snack brands they see on prime-time shows are a means of advertising. “It is even more difficult for younger children to understand this is advertising and that it is persuading them to do something that isn’t the best thing for them,” Harris said. Despite most major food companies pledging not to pay for unhealthy food ads in children’s programing, brand appearances in prime-time shows and sportscasts viewed by a wide audience, including kids, is exposing them to these products anyway, Harris said. Harris said Coca-Cola product placements on popular talent show American Idol was the most viewed brand. Children saw five times as many product placements as they did traditional, paid television commercials for Coca-Cola products. Roughly one-third of children in the United States are overweight or obese, said Harris. Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages puts kids at greater risk for obesity, but also long-term health problems like diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, she said. The study will appear in the September issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
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26815
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High levels of sulfur dioxide in Wuhan “may be a sign of mass cremations of victims of the coronavirus.
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The photo shows sulfur dioxide projections. It is not a real-time satellite image. While it can be produced by burning organic matter, sulfur dioxide mostly comes from burning coal and oil.
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false
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Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts,
|
"A popular Facebook post is taking an image out of context to promote a hoax about the cremation of coronavirus victims. The post, which was published Feb. 15, includes an image that claims to show a ""spike in sulfur dioxide emissions just outside Wuhan."" The image cites Instagram user @conspiracyplots, who published it the same day. ""Sulfur dioxide is a gas that is released when organic matter, such as human bodies, are burned,"" reads text underneath the image. ""This alarmingly high level of the gas may be a sign of mass cremations of victims of the coronavirus."" The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) (Screenshot from Facebook) According to the World Health Organization, the 2019 coronavirus has infected more than 81,000 people in 37 countries. The vast majority of the 2,761 deaths have occurred in China. The Chinese government has ordered for the swift cremation of patients who die after contracting the coronavirus. But the Facebook post does not show sulfur dioxide resulting from cremation. Twitter user @inteldotwav first connected cremations in China with heightened levels of sulfur dioxide near Wuhan. In a Feb. 8 thread, the user posted a screenshot of a map from Windy.com, a website that tracks global wind and weather patterns. It has more than 12,200 retweets. One of the possible reasons for the influx of sulfur dioxide, @inteldotwav said, is that ""dead bodies are being burned on the outskirts of the city."" Several tabloids uncritically reported the false claim and later retracted their stories after fact-checkers debunked them. First, Windy.com provides air quality projections — not real-time atmospheric conditions. Second, China’s National Environmental Monitoring Center has addressed the image in the Facebook post. The state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that environmental officials had recorded sulfur dioxide levels several times lower than what Windy.com showed. Third, while the gas can be produced by burning organic matter, sulfur dioxide mostly comes from burning coal and oil. And there are several coal power plants and oil refineries near Wuhan. The Facebook post is inaccurate and ridiculous."
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1681
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A space odyssey: cosmic rays may damage the brains of astronauts.
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It may not be space debris, errant asteroids, supply shortages, thruster malfunctions or even the malevolent aliens envisioned in so many Hollywood films that thwart astronauts on any mission to Mars. It may be the ubiquitous galactic cosmic rays.
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true
|
Science News
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Researchers said on Friday long-term exposure to these rays that permeate space may cause dementia-like cognitive impairments in astronauts during any future round-trip Mars journey, expected to take at least 2-1/2 years. In a NASA-funded study, mice exposed to highly energetic charged particles like those in galactic cosmic rays experienced declines in cognition and changes in the structure and integrity of brain nerve cells and the synapses where nerve impulses are sent and received. The irradiated particles in galactic cosmic rays, remnants of star explosions called supernovas, can penetrate spacecraft and astronauts’ bodies. Earth itself is protected by its magnetosphere. University of California, Irvine radiation oncology professor Charles Limoli said “without a doubt” people would face the same issues as the mice. “Astronauts may incur cognitive impairments that lead to performance decrements, confusion, increased anxiety and longer-term problems with cognitive health,” said Limoli, whose study appears in the journal Science Advances. This could compromise mission critical activities, especially if unanticipated situations arise during deep spaceflight, Limoli said. The mice, genetically altered to have green fluorescent neurons to help structural analysis, were exposed to the rays at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York and then analyzed six weeks later. In addition to the brain neuron and synapse changes, the mice exhibited decreased performance on learning and memory tests. They also lacked curiosity and were sluggish in experiments involving objects placed in a box with them. “Previous studies show synaptic impairment or loss of synapses is an early and invariant feature of Alzheimer’s disease, and there is a strong correlation between the extent of synapse loss and the severity of dementia,” said University of California, Irvine neuroscientist Vipan Kumar Parihar. NASA says it is developing the capabilities needed to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and Mars in the 2030s. NASA spokeswoman Stephanie Schierholz said a Mars mission would take at least 2-1/2 years: a six-month journey there, a stay on Mars of at least 18 months, and a six-month flight back. Limoli said while Mars-bound astronauts cannot fully escape the rays, it may be possible to design spacecraft with areas of increased protective shielding.
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4894
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Chicago teachers’ strike highlights support staff shortages.
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Demands by striking Chicago teachers for more nurses, librarians and social workers are highlighting concerns that resonate in high-poverty school districts nationwide, where shortages of support staff leave educators feeling stretched.
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true
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AP Top News, Health, General News, Strikes, Chicago Schools, Poverty, Ohio, U.S. News
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Unions and professional groups for such employees say those jobs often are lower priority when budgets are tight, but their absence can have profound effects on student learning and teachers’ work. They contend support staff is vital to properly address everyday student issues such as physical and mental health problems or homelessness. In Chicago, the nation’s third-largest school district, the teachers who have been out on strike since last Thursday are seeking commitments for support staff hiring alongside other demands including higher pay and affordable housing citywide. The demands are part of the union’s “social justice” agenda. Bridget Nelson, a social sciences teacher at a magnet high school in Chicago, said her school is lucky to have a nurse most days but a social worker still is responsible for more than 2,000 students. “Adolescence is a challenging time, and we worry about depression and stress like a lot of educators,” Nelson said. “Some students have support at home, but others don’t. They should have support at school to help give them what they need.” The support-staff issue has come up elsewhere in spring protests by thousands of educators in North Carolina and South Carolina; in Minnesota, where a state survey recently found an increase in students’ mental and emotional health concerns; and in strikes in California, where teachers won promises for hundreds of additional nurses and more counselors in Los Angeles schools and more psychologists and special education instructors in Oakland. Shortages are causing problems in schools across the country, said Melissa Cropper, president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers. While discussing labor unions on a visit this month to a government class in an urban Ohio high school, Cropper said she asked the students what they would want prioritized in negotiations. A girl who had attempted suicide answered first: a counselor. Another student wanted a nurse. “We’ve got kids who are dealing with thinking about committing suicide or coming to school hungry or watched a domestic abuse situation over the weekend,” Cropper said. “We can’t possibly begin to think that we’re going to teach them something that’s going to stick with them until we’ve dealt with these other issues.” Most teachers don’t have specific training to tackle those sorts of concerns, so they’re advocating for schools to add more colleagues who do, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said. The American School Counselor Association recommends one counselor for every 250 students but has found the average ratio to be nearly double that. The National School Nurses Association’s most recent estimates, from a study published early last year, indicated less than 40% of schools had a full-time nurse and about a quarter didn’t employ one at all. In those cases, teachers may have to assess and address issues such as gym class injuries, and preventive care can dwindle, said Donna Mazyck, the executive director of the nurses association. At John Tartan Elementary School in North Las Vegas, an assistant trained in basic first aid often handles minor injuries and distributes basic medications because the nurse splits duty at multiple schools, said Marie Neisess, a veteran teacher and reading specialist there. The school of 400-plus students also has a counselor, a social worker and a psychologist, but they struggle to keep up with the needs of the student body, which includes children facing challenges such as severe behavioral problems, foster care or a parent’s incarceration, she said. “We’re all kind of putting Band-Aids on the very big problem that we have here,” Neisess said. In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot had campaigned with an education plan that included staffing schools with full-time nurses, social workers and librarians, and enabling students to get mental health services. The district has committed to hiring more nurses, social workers and support staff but objected to making that part of the teachers’ contract. The union also has expressed concern about the various roles counselors are expected to fill, including as substitute teachers and lunchroom help, and asked for contract language that spells out that people will only be asked to do the jobs for which they are hired. Pushing for something enforceable in writing makes sense to Matt Mandel, a middle-school English teacher in the Philadelphia School District, who said the local union there has fought to have a nurse and counselor at each school. “In these urban districts like Philadelphia and Chicago, our kids need more,” Mandel said, “and we always find ways to justify giving them less.” ___ Associated Press reporter Kathleen Foody in Chicago contributed to this report.
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7559
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In clamor to reopen, many black people feel overlooked.
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Many African Americans watching protests calling for easing restrictions meant to slow the spread of the new coronavirus see them as one more example of how their health, their safety and their rights just don’t seem to matter.
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true
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AP Top News, Race and ethnicity, Health, General News, Politics, Lifestyle, Business, Science, U.S. News, Virus Outbreak, Weekend Reads, Pandemics
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To many, it seems that the people protesting — who have been predominantly white — are agitating for reopening because they won’t be the ones to suffer the consequences. So far, the facts are proving them right: The consequences of keeping some businesses open have been falling disproportionately on the shoulders of black people and other marginalized groups. “There has always been a small, white ruling class that has been OK with seeing certain populations as disposable,” said LaTosha Brown, founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund, a power-building organization based in the South. The pandemic has highlighted — and often deepened — gaping inequalities in the United States and around the world. Black people are dying in disproportionate numbers from COVID-19 in the United States; people of color are especially exposed because they are more likely to hold many of the jobs that were deemed essential; and, as the reopening starts, they are likely to be among those whose workplaces open first. For instance, in New York City, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, black people make up just under 25% of the population, but more than 40% of public transit workers. Delmonte Jefferson, a black public health professional in Atlanta, said African Americans and other people of color want to mitigate the economic damage as much as anyone else — especially since those groups are among the ones who are suffering the most from the downturn. But they don’t want a return at all costs, he said. “Even the thought of opening the country back up shows that African Americans aren’t being valued,” said Jefferson, executive director of the Atlanta-based National African American Tobacco Prevention Network. Some “reopen” protests have included black speakers, and a handful of black people have attended. But images of the rallies and Facebook pages dedicated to the movement indicate the vast majority of supporters are white. Demonstrators from Alabama to Michigan haven’t focused on race. Instead, they advocate preserving constitutional freedoms and talk about the catastrophic toll on small businesses. The protesters have included organized groups like anti-vaccine advocates, gun-rights supporters and even a militia, and many have expressed support for President Donald Trump, reflecting the way the discussion has become partisan. But many African Americans say the fact that protesters are advocating a riskier path reveals a privileged position — as does their ability to flout social-distancing rules and even brandish weapons. The complaints from protesters that their rights are being trampled, for instance, comes across as misinformed and misguided to racial minorities who have been oppressed for generations, said Nadia Richardson, who heads No More Martyrs, a nonprofit focused on the mental health of black women. “It looks like from that perspective (it’s) a group of people who don’t really understand what it is to have your rights violated,” said Richardson. Groups including the NAACP, meanwhile, have called for greater government action to prevent the virus’ spread in response to statistics showing that COVID-19 is killing disproportionate numbers of black people. An Associated Press analysis of available state and local data shows that nearly one-third of those who have died are African American, with black people representing about 14% of the population in the areas covered in the analysis. The toll in black communities, leaders say, reflects systemic policies that have made many African Americans far more vulnerable to the virus, including unequal access to health care and economic opportunity. That means many will face an untenable choice: go back to work or face unemployment with no benefits, said Antonio Lightfoot, an organizer for the Workers Center for Racial Justice in Chicago. The Rev. William J. Barber, who advocates for groups that often perform front-line jobs, said black people aren’t the only ones being devalued. “The issue is not what these protests are saying to just black people but what they are saying to poor and low-income people who are the most impacted,” said Barber. “Invitations to open up society and encourage people to return to their routines is an invitation to death.” Nearly 70,000 people have died from the coronavirus in the United States, according to a tally compiled by Johns Hopkins University from official government numbers, although the true figure is likely higher. Most people who get infected suffer only mild or moderate symptoms, but some, especially the elderly and those with other health problems, become seriously ill. As the debate over reopening has become increasingly heated, some have used racist language or symbols. Democratic Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is black and has been an outspoken critic of Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to allow some businesses to reopen, recently tweeted an image of a text message that demanded she reopen Atlanta and called her a racial slur. Confederate flags have been visible at some demonstrations, but far more American flags are evident. Although Americans remain overwhelmingly in favor of stay-at-home orders and other restrictions, a survey conducted in mid-April from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research revealed a partisan divide. The survey showed that while majorities of Democrats and Republicans thought restrictions where they lived were about right, Republicans were roughly four times as likely to think they went too far — 22% versus 5%. The largely white protest attendance might simply reflect that divide since black voters are more likely to be Democrats. Deanna Reed, who is black, has helped her church set up drive-thru virus testing and has personal reasons for wanting to maintain social distancing: Her mother works in a shipping facility where she has to provide her own masks and gloves. “Just having to see my mom go out is tough,” said Reed. “I pray for her safety daily.” ___ Associated Press writer Aaron Morrison contributed to this report from New York. Morrison and Reeves are members of the AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. Follow Reeves on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Jay_Reeves. Follow Morrison at http://twitter.com/aaronlmorrison.
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8872
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J&J, FDA warn of liver risk with HIV drug patients.
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Johnson & Johnson and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned of reported liver damage and death in patients taking the company’s HIV drug Prezista, according to a letter released on Wednesday.
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true
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Health News
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The letter, sent by J&J’s Tibotec Therapeutics unit to doctors this month, cited cases of drug-induced hepatitis as well as liver injury and death. “We are issuing a new warning on our labeling,” Tibotec Therapeutics spokeswoman Pam Van Houten told Reuters. The company said in its letter that the problems have not been linked directly to Prezista, a once-daily protease inhibitor that was given in combination with the drug ritonavir. Ritonavir is sold by Abbott Laboratories under the name Norvir. Fifteen cases of liver problems were reported during clinical trials, Van Houten said. She added the company did not provide information on post-marketing cases reported after the drug’s U.S. approval in 2006. Most of the cases occurred in patients with advanced HIV, who were taking multiple medications, as well as those who were also infected with hepatitis B or C, the letter said. The letter and Van Houten did not say how many liver-related deaths occurred. The FDA warning was released on its Web site here
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2976
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California gorilla treated for cataract.
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A team of eye experts has operated on an unusual patient — a gorilla.
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true
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San Diego, Health, General News, Oddities, California, Gorillas
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A cataract was removed on Dec. 10 from the left eye of a 3-year-old western lowland gorilla who lives at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, the park announced Monday. The gorilla, named Leslie, was given a muscle blocker to keep her still while a team that included vets along with anesthesiologists and an ophthalmology team from UC San Diego Health removed the cloudy lens and replaced it with an artificial lens that should last for life. The operation was performed at the San Diego Zoo Global’s Paul Harter Veterinary Medical Center. Cataract surgeon Chris Heichel, who led the team and has performed thousands of operations, said it was his first on a gorilla. “Fortunately, the similarities between the anatomy of human and gorilla eyes are great enough to allow us to safely navigate the procedure without complication,” Heichel said in a statement released by the park. “The remainder of the eye appeared to be in excellent health, indicating exceptional vision potential for the rest of Leslie’s life.” Cataracts can occur naturally with aging. But given that Leslie is a youngster, her problem more likely stemmed from an injury, either from a fall while practicing her climbing or from “an overly rambunctious play sessions with other young gorillas in her troop,” the park said. Leslie will need antibiotics and steroids to prevent infection and inflammation, but she is already back with the troop at the park.
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8378
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Researchers identify two coronavirus strains as China cases dwindle.
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Scientists in China studying the outbreak of disease caused by the new coronavirus say they have found that two main strains of the virus are circulating in humans and causing infections.
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true
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Health News
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The researchers, from Peking University’s School of Life Sciences and the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, cautioned that their study looked only at a limited range of data, and said follow-up studies of larger data sets were needed to better understand the virus’s evolution. The preliminary study found that a more aggressive strain of the new coronavirus associated with the outbreak in Wuhan accounted for about 70% of analyzed cases, while 30% were linked to a less aggressive type. The prevalence of the more aggressive virus type decreased after early January 2020, they said. “These findings strongly support an urgent need for further immediate, comprehensive studies that combine genomic data, epidemiological data, and chart records of the clinical symptoms of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19),” they wrote in a study published on Tuesday in the National Science Review, the journal of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Experts not directly involved in the study said its findings were interesting, but cautioned against drawing firm conclusions from such preliminary research. “It’s difficult to confirm studies like this without a direct side-by-side comparison of pathogenicity and spread in, ideally, an animal model, or at least a greatly extended epidemiological study,” said Stephen Griffin, a professor and expert in infection and immunity at Britain’s Leeds University. Also on Wednesday, one of China’s top medical associations said that the median incubation period of the coronavirus is five to seven days and the maximum 14 days. The remarks by Du Bin, chairman of the critical care medical branch of the Chinese Medical Association, mark the most conclusive assessment of the virus’ incubation period by a government-affiliated medical organization to date. The revelations came amid a fall in new coronavirus cases following crippling restrictions imposed on the world’s second largest economy to stop its spread, including transport suspensions and the extension of the Lunar New Year holiday. Mainland China had 119 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, the National Health Commission said, down from 125 the previous day, in a broad trend that has seen numbers of new cases fall from the middle of February. The total number of cases on the mainland has now reached 80,270. The number of deaths rose by 38 to bring the total toll for mainland China to 2,981 by March 3. All but one new death occurred in Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak. With the number of new daily infections overseas now exceeding new cases in China, Chinese officials have begun to seek ways to control the spread of the virus outside of China and guard against future outbreaks. Authorities have asked overseas Chinese hoping to return home to reconsider their travel plans, while cities across the country have set up quarantine rules for those entering from high-risk places. An infected person is known to have arrived in China from Iran, one of the virus’ new hotspots, last week. China is encouraging domestic producers of medical protective equipment to export protective suits to meet overseas demand as the virus spreads, Cao Xuejun, an official with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday. China’s health authorities are also studying setting up emergency reserves for medical resources and protective materials, Mao Qunan, an official at China’s National Health Commission said at the same briefing.
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