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3763
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Bill to raise tobacco age has unlikely allies: Altria, Juul.
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Congress is moving to pass the biggest new sales restrictions on tobacco products in more than a decade, with support from two unlikely backers: Marlboro-cigarette maker Altria and vaping giant Juul Labs.
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true
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AP Top News, Health, General News, Legislation, Politics, Laws, Vaping, Bills, Tobacco industry regulation, U.S. News
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The legislation would raise the minimum age to purchase all tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, from 18 to 21 nationwide, a step long-sought by health advocates. But in the past year Juul and Altria have emerged as the biggest supporters of the measure, blanketing Capitol Hill with lobbyists and advertisements touting their support for a national “Tobacco 21” law. Tobacco critics contend the companies’ support is calculated to head off even harder-hitting government action: a ban on all flavored tobacco products, including fruit and dessert e-cigarettes. Their stance puts them in the unusual position of criticizing a move they long supported, arguing that the sales restriction isn’t enough. “Altria and Juul clearly support this in order to argue that no other action is necessary,” said Matthew Myers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “If you don’t eliminate the flavors that the industry has used to fuel the epidemic, you won’t solve the youth e-cigarette crisis.” The bipartisan legislation, supported by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has been attached to a package of must-pass spending bills that will keep the government running into next year. Juul and Altria — the vaping company’s biggest investor — threw their support behind the bill earlier this year amid a backlash against e-cigarettes at the local, state and national levels. E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that typically heat a flavored nicotine solution into an inhalable aerosol. Current federal law prohibits sales of e-cigarettes and all other tobacco products to those under 18. But more than one in four high school students report vaping regularly, according to the latest government figures. And health officials have called the vaping trend an “epidemic.” Until September, Juul argued that its sweet flavors — including mango, mint and fruit — could help adult smokers switch from traditional cigarettes to vaping. But the company dropped that message as President Donald Trump announced plans to remove virtually all vaping flavors from the market, due to their appeal to children. The Silicon Valley company has halted sales of all but two of its flavors, menthol and tobacco, and pledged not to oppose Trump’s plan. But momentum for the nationwide ban has faded amid pushback from vaping advocates and some conservative groups. And Trump has voiced support for alternative approaches to keep e-cigarettes away from kids, including raising the purchase age to 21. The age hike is expected to limit the supply of all vaping and tobacco products in high schools by putting them out of reach to 12th graders. Myers’ group and other health advocates say Congress should both raise the age limit and ban all “kid-friendly” flavors. Even with most of Juul’s flavors off the market, smaller companies continue to market an array of flavored products, including “grape slushie,” “strawberry cotton candy” and “sea salt blueberry.” And the industry’s main trade association is suing to keep e-cigarettes, including flavors, widely available. Altria, the nation’s largest tobacco company, said it supports a “clean” Tobacco 21 bill — focused exclusively on raising the age limit — because it is the “quickest and most effective” way to address the recent surge in teen vaping. For decades previously, Altria and other tobacco companies aggressively defended the 18-year-old minimum purchase age. Juul has similarly supported legislation that raises the purchase age without touching flavors. And while the companies say they lobby separately, both quickly backed the Tobacco 21 bill introduced in May by McConnell and Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine. The companies’ support sapped attention away from other proposals that would have gone much further. For example, a bill from New Jersey Democratic Rep. Frank Pallonewould have raised the purchase age to 21 and banned flavors from all vaping and tobacco products — including menthol cigarettes — and prohibited online sales. The bill was endorsed by a dozen health groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association. “Flavors attract kids and kids are the tobacco industry — including the e-cigarette industry’s — future,” said Erika Sward, a vice president with the American Lung Association. But efforts to advance flavor restrictions in the Senate fell flat, including a bill sponsored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, that was withdrawn from committee consideration at the last minute. “Because I wasn’t certain that I had the votes at the time,” Murkowski told The Associated Press. “You don’t want to lose.” The logic for hiking the purchase age for cigarettes is clear: most underage teens who use tobacco get it from older friends. An estimated 90 percent of smokers start before age 18. Delaying access to cigarettes is expected to produce major downstream health benefits, with one government-funded report estimating nearly 250,000 fewer deaths due to tobacco over several decades. Still, anti-tobacco experts say age restrictions are only effective when they are vigorously enforced, and tobacco sales can fall through the cracks amid a patchwork of local, state and federal law enforcement. They point to underage drinking as an example of the limited impact of age-based restrictions. State laws banning tobacco sales to those under 18 evolved over several decades and were reinforced by a federal law in 2009. The same law banned all flavors from traditional cigarettes except menthol, which received a special exception at the behest of tobacco lobbyists. More than a third of U.S. states — including California, Illinois, New York and Texas — and the District of Columbia have already raised their minimum purchase age to 21. Anti-smoking groups have tracked the trend with measured support, noting the role of Juul and Altria lobbyists behind many of the efforts. In several cases, anti-tobacco advocates have flagged provisions that they say undercut the state laws’ effectiveness. These provisions, known as pre-emption, can stop city and county officials from imposing stricter tobacco sales limits that go beyond the state law. Juul and Altria said they supported all state Tobacco 21 laws passed this year, regardless of whether they included such provisions. In Washington, D.C., Juul’s lobbying budget ballooned to more than $3.1 million in the first 9 months of 2019 year, nearly twice the company’s spending for all of 2018. Altria has spent $7.4 million in 2019, roughly even with its lobbying budget for 2018. The company’s political action committee and employees have given $37,000 to McConnell’s 2020 re-election campaign, according to federal records compiled by the non-profit Center for Responsive Politics. Among those lobbying on Juul’s behalf are Jim Esquea, who worked during the Obama administration at the Department of Health and Human Services, and Ted McCann, who was a top policy aide to former House Speaker Paul Ryan. Juul also has directly hired a number of former federal and state government officials as full-time staffers, including Tevi Troy, a former HHS deputy secretary under George W. Bush, and Martha Coakley, the former attorney general of Massachusetts. “Whether you’re a Trump fan or a traditional Republican conservative or a liberal Democrat, they’ve got someone you know,” Myers said.
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2919
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Roche 'brain shuttle' technology offers Alzheimer's hope.
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Swiss drugmaker Roche has found an efficient way for complex antibody drugs to reach and penetrate the brain, raising the possibility of more effective treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
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true
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Health News
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The innovative brain shuttle technology, which has so far been tested in mice, can cross the blood-brain barrier that has been a key obstacle for researchers working on neurological drugs because it acts as a seal against large molecules such as antibodies. Alzheimer’s is a fatal brain-wasting disease that affects 44 million people worldwide, with the number set to triple by 2050, campaign group Alzheimer’s Disease International says. Although there is still no treatment that can effectively modify the disease or slow its progression, a number of companies - including Roche, Eli Lilly, Merck & Co and Johnson & Johnson - are pursuing a variety of approaches to get to the root cause. It is proving an uphill battle. Over the past 15 years more than 100 experimental Alzheimer’s drugs have failed in tests. Industry analysts believe that the prize for a truly effective drug could be a market worth $10 billion in annual sales. Roche’s new technology works by hijacking a natural transport mechanism called receptor-mediated transcytosis, which is normally used by the body to transfer proteins inside the brain. “We have basically designed this module, called shuttle, that binds to this transport mechanism and shuttles a cargo inside the brain,” Luca Santarelli, Roche’s head of neuroscience, ophthalmology and rare diseases, said in a telephone interview. Results of a study published in the journal Neuron on Wednesday found the technology helped to increase the concentration of antibodies in the brains of mice, reducing the amount of amyloid plaque, which is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s. Roche tested a precursor of its experimental Alzheimer’s drug gantenerumab in the pre-clinical trials. The amount of antibody that penetrated the brain increased more than fiftyfold. Santarelli said that the brain shuttle technology is not limited to the memory-robbing disease and could be applied to other neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington’s disease. The drugmaker is in the process of evaluating which therapeutic targets and diseases to prioritize. Roche has struck a deal with U.S. biotech firm Isis to develop treatments for Huntington’s and aims to engineer a shuttle to increase penetration of drugs into the brain. It is also working on a program with Irish company Prothena in Parkinson’s disease. Santarelli said that all projects are still in pre-clinical testing and the company needs to undertake a few more steps before it can begin clinical trials. Turning to Roche’s Alzheimer’s pipeline, he said that its Phase III trial of gantenerumab in patients who have yet to develop dementia is on track, with results expected in the first half of 2016. Roche has two other drugs in clinical testing, including crenezumab, which has been chosen for a U.S. government-backed trial in a group of Colombians with a genetic mutation that leads to Alzheimer’s in their forties.
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32195
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"Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has died of a ""violent heart attack."
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Donald Trump is not dead, as a few seconds’ worth of perusing any U.S. news source quickly reveals. No one else is reporting his death, only his continuing efforts on the campaign trail.
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false
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Junk News, donald trump, election 2016
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The clickbait world of fake news is driven by the crafting of sensationalist and outrage-provoking headlines posted via social media to drive readers into clicking through on article links and generating advertising revenues for the sites that publish such fabrications. Fake news sites typically demonstrate few moral compunctions about what lies they set loose on the Internet, and falsely reporting the deaths of celebrities and other notable personages is one unsavory ploy they all too commonly resort to in the quest for clicks. This trend may now have bottomed out with one such site’s false report (from a fake news generator) that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has died of a “violent heart attack”: Donald Trump was pronounced dead today at 11am following what some are describing as a violent heart attack. The world famous businessman and TV personality was previously treated for minor cardio vascular issues that followed a mild course of antibiotics. Fans have already taken to social media to express their emotions with hash tags #RIPTRUMP #TRUMPRIP #TRUMP4EVER. Donald’s family and friends have asked to be left alone by all press and media at this present time. PLEASE SHARE THIS ARTICLE TO INFORM EVERYONE OF THE SAD LOSS OF DONALD TRUMP. We’d rather not bother giving such cruel and callous clickbaiters additional publicity (so we’re not linking to anything here), but enough confused readers have asked us about this fake report that we unfortunately need to debunk it here.
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16040
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Keystone means unlocking the Canadian tar sands.
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"Coons said building ""Keystone means unlocking the Canadian tar sands."" Oil production has been steadily growing in the Canadian tar sands without the Keystone XL pipeline. Most experts expect that trend to continue despite current low oil prices. Coons would have been on safer ground if he said Keystone XL would unlock Canada’s ability to further increase its production capacity. The pipeline would offer much lower transportation costs than current transportation methods, which would encourage greater oil production. But his literal words weren’t accurate."
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false
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Environment, National, Energy, Chris Coons,
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"The proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline between Canada and the United States is the first big political battle of 2015. The House passed a bill Friday approving construction of the oil pipeline in spite of a veto threat from President Barack Obama, who has said he is waiting on input from the State Department before making a decision on the pipeline. On Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked an opponent of the project, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., what Keystone XL means for energy and the environment. Coons responded, ""Keystone means unlocking the Canadian tar sands, some of the dirtiest sources of energy on the planet, and allowing those tar sands to go across our American midwest and then reach the international market."" We’ve looked into where Canada would export oil carried through Keystone XL, as well as the pipeline’s effect on the environment. But what about Coons’ claim that Keystone XL would mean ""unlocking"" western Canada’s tar sands? Does the pipeline make a difference between pumping, or not pumping, crude oil from the tar sands? The short story is the impact seems relatively small. Oil drilling companies in Western Canada have been extracting oil from its sands and transporting them to the United States for production for years, and that practice is expected to continue regardless of Keystone XL. But given the right circumstances, the absence of the Keystone XL pipeline could prevent the region from producing at full capacity. A Coons spokesman said ""he might have been better served saying ‘further unlocked’ than simply ‘unlocked.’ "" The basics The 875-mile Keystone XL pipeline, operated by TransCanada, would carry heavy crude oil mixture from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, Neb. Then it would connect with an existing southern leg that opened in early 2014, delivering more than 800,000 barrels of crude oil sands to refineries on the Gulf Coast. The oil would come from the tar sands of Canada’s boreal forests. Extracting this type of dirty, thick crude oil is expensive, energy intensive and produces a significant amount of carbon emissions. Critics say that Keystone XL will elevate greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to climate change by encouraging expansion of tar sands development. However, an oft-cited U.S. State Department report about Keystone XL says the project is ""unlikely to significantly impact the rate of extraction in the oil sands."" This is because Canadian officials and oil producers vow that the oil will be extracted and reach the American marketplace by other means regardless of the proposed pipeline. Already, trains and several existing pipelines carry Western Canadian crude oil into the United States at an increasing rate -- almost 2 million barrels per day produced in 2013, with the United States importing about half of that. ""Keystone XL would only provide a more direct and somewhat less costly method of transporting Canadian heavy crude to the U.S. Gulf Coast for refining and exporting,"" said Anastasia Shcherbakova, a University of Texas Dallas clinical assistant professor in energy economics and energy finance. At most, Keystone XL would allow an increase in oil sands production of about 25 percent from today's levels, said Andrew Leach, a professor of energy policy at the University of Alberta School of Business. He said that tar sands will come out as long as there is someone willing to pay for the oil, and ""that demand doesn’t go away if there’s no pipeline from Canada."" There are several other pipelines under consideration that could carry tar sands oil to the United States. If they are built, Keystone XL on its own wouldn’t have much impact because the oil will get to the United States by other cost-effective means, said James Coleman, a law and business professor at Calgary University. On the other hand, if Keystone XL and the other pipelines aren’t constructed, oil companies could take a sizeable hit to their profit -- about $8 a barrel -- because they would have to transport the oil by rail and other means, which are more expensive, according to the State Department report. But the absence of Keystone XL on its own wouldn’t be enough to induce these added costs. Coons spokesman Ian Koski pointed to a report from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers that shows projected growth to about 8 million barrels per day by 2030 (including U.S.-produced oil that travels on the Canadian pipelines) after adding the several pipelines under consideration, including Keystone. But if those pipelines aren’t included, growth appears stuck at around 5 million barrels per day. Without Keystone XL and the other pipelines, the tar sands could not be fully extracted because the oil would ""have nowhere to go,"" he said. Koski pointed to a couple examples of Canadian oil sands mines that were put on hold due to, in part, rising industry and transportation costs: the Joslyn Mine and the Statoil Corner project. ""Costs for labor and materials have continued to rise in recent years and are working against the economics of new projects,"" Statoil said in a statement. ""Market access issues also play a role -- including limited pipeline access, which weighs on prices for Alberta oil, squeezing margins and making it difficult for sustainable financial returns."" Regardless, experts and the State Department don’t think that Keystone XL will have a major impact one way or another on whether oil companies will continue to exploit the tar sands. However, there is a catch: Low oil prices could potentially curtail production. Cost of oil Oil prices have dropped to about $50 per barrel -- the lowest prices since 2009, the height of the recession. For Canadian oil sands to break even on production costs, oil prices need to be around $70 a barrel. Without the Keystone XL pipeline, transportation costs are high, which exacerbates the hit to revenue after low oil prices. The State Department’s report assumed oil prices staying at around $75 per barrel. It said that if oil prices fall between $65 and $75 per barrel, then the cost of transporting oil without the Keystone XL pipeline might make a difference as to whether or not Canada continues to produce tar sands oil at current rates. But under $65 per barrel -- where prices are now -- it’s more the sheer low price of oil that would negatively impact oil production rather than any pipeline in particular. ""You still need pipes, but Keystone XL or any other individual line in and of itself is not as crucial to likely growth plans,"" Leach said. Additionally, the price of oil is volatile, and many experts think it will go back up again, so a long-term impact on tar sands production due to low oil prices is not likely. ""Under State's analysis, blocking Keystone XL will only have an effect on oil sands production if all the other pipelines are blocked, and oil prices stay below $75 per barrel,"" Coleman said. ""How likely is that? I'd say it's unlikely, but no one really knows."" Our ruling Coons said building ""Keystone means unlocking the Canadian tar sands."" Oil production has been steadily growing in the Canadian tar sands without the Keystone XL pipeline. Most experts expect that trend to continue despite current low oil prices. Coons would have been on safer ground if he said Keystone XL would unlock Canada’s ability to further increase its production capacity. The pipeline would offer much lower transportation costs than current transportation methods, which would encourage greater oil production. But his literal words weren’t accurate."
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7669
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Germany concerned about swine fever cases in nearby Poland.
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Germany’s government said on Friday it is concerned about the spread of the pig disease African swine fever (ASF) in wild boars in Poland close to the German border.
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true
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Health News
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Poland recorded 55 outbreaks of ASF in wild boars in December, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) said on Thursday. The disease was found only 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Germany, one of Europe’s major pork exporters. ASF is harmless to humans but often deadly in pigs. It originated in Africa before spreading to Europe and Asia and has already killed hundreds of millions of pigs, while reshaping global meat and feed markets. Asian countries including China regularly impose import bans on pork from regions where ASF has been discovered, causing huge loss of business for meat exporters. Wild boars are spreading the disease and their meat is popular in Europe. “We are observing the latest proof of African swine fever relatively close to the German border with great concern,” German junior agriculture minister Uwe Feiler said in a statement. “Up to now the joint federal and state efforts have stopped the disease from entering Germany. But we cannot relax.” There was no immediate comment from Poland. Feiler said efforts must be intensified to prevent the disease spreading to Germany and it would support Poland in its efforts to stop the disease spreading. There have been fears in Germany that its major exports of pork to China and other Asian regions could be threatened if ASF arrives in the country. German regional governments have started building fences along the Polish border in an attempt to stop infected wild boar roaming into Germany.
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8572
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U.S. planning ways to 'ease' back to normal if virus efforts work: Fauci.
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U.S. health officials are planning ways for the country to return to normal activities if distancing and other steps to mitigate COVID-19 this month prove successful in curbing the outbreak, the top U.S. infectious disease official said on Wednesday.
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true
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Health News
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The Trump administration has called for 30 days of measures, including staying at least six feet away from other people, that have upended American life as most people stay isolated at home, shuttering schools and closing businesses through at least the end of April, with some states continuing certain closures through May and June. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said such steps must continue but that there are hopeful signs they are working. “If in fact we are successful, it makes sense to at least plan what a re-entry into normality would look like. That doesn’t mean we’re going to do it right now, but it means we need to be prepared to ease into that,” Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, told Fox News in an interview. Fauci and other public health experts have said the strict measures are needed to control the fast-spreading and potentially fatal disease that has already led to about 400,000 confirmed COVID-19 U.S. cases and nearly 13,000 deaths, even as the shutdowns have roiled the U.S. economy. Dr. Deborah Birx, another task force member, said isolation measures must continue for now or else the country could risk a repeated spike despite the allure of warmer spring weather. “What’s really important is that people don’t turn these early signs of hope into releasing from the 30 days to stop the spread. It’s really critical,” she told NBC News’ “Today” program. “If people start going out again and socially interacting, we could see a really acute second wave.” Asked if 30-day distancing practices would be enough or that steps might have to continue longer, she said officials were looking at each area of the country differently as they weigh the data. “Clearly, there are metro areas that are struggling,” Birx said.
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10869
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Walking away from paralysis
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This story reports on a method of rehabilitation after spinal cord injury called locomotor training. This method has been gaining in popularity after the much-publicized improvements in the condition of Christopher Reeve. This story accurately reports on the availability and novelty of the treament, but otherwise gives the reader very little in the way of useful information. The story does not provide the reader with information on the costs or harms of treatment, and what, if any, alternative options may exist. The story does not quote more than one expert and does not quantify the benefits of treatment. Most importantly, however, the story does not discuss the strength of the available evidence to support the use of the treatment. From the story, it is unclear if locomotor training has been studied systematically or if there is just anecdotal evidence to support its use in humans (only animal studies are mentioned).
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false
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"The story does not mention costs. The story does not quantify the benefits of treatment. The story does not mention any possible harms of treatment. Specifically, it would be important to mention that in new spine injuries with fractures, there can be instability that needs to be treated first. Mobilization activities such as these could be harmful in that situation. The story does not adequately describe the strength of the available evidence. It's unclear if locomotor training has been studied systematically or if there is just anecdotal evidence to support its use in humans (only animal studies are mentioned). The story does not appear to engage in disease mongering, although the story could be clearer about who is or is not a candidate for this kind of treatment. The story only quotes one expert. The story should have quoted other experts who could have provided more balance. It could have turned to a spinal trauma expert from one of the many institutions that do not offer this form of treatment. The story does not mention any treatment alternatives. Although there is a brief mention of ""traditional therapy,"" the story does not place locomotor therapy in the context of current care options. The story mentions that locomotor training is only available in a handful of centers in the U.S. and access is limited. The story should not have implied that the treatment has gone ""mainstream"" because it is only available in 17 hospitals in the US. The story implies that locomotor training is not a new idea, but that it is one that is gaining in acceptance. There is no way to know if the story relies on a press release as the sole source of information."
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14233
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A simple review of the Backroom’s health code records will reveal that the restaurant already has a long-standing problem with rodent infestations.
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"O’Connor said the Puritan Backroom restaurant has a ""long-standing problem with rodent infestations."" Inspection records from the last decade show officials have never noted rodents inside the restaurant. While more than five years ago inspectors noted gaps where pests could potentially enter the restaurant, none have been documented inside over the last ten years. That's a far cry from a long-standing infestation."
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false
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New Hampshire, Animals, Ethics, Food Safety, Shawn O'Connor,
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"In a case of Democrat backbiting, congressional candidate Shawn O’Connor says a popular New Hampshire restaurant, known for its chicken tenders and visits from presidential candidates, is full of rodents. It’s one of the latest accusations to fly in the Democratic race for the New Hampshire’s first congressional district. O’Connor is running in the primary against Carol Shea Porter, who has previously held the seat. Of late, both the state Democratic party and O’Connor have accused the other of making false claims. O’Connor put out a statement claiming a Democratic state senator told others that he -- O’Connor -- planned to place rats into the kitchen of the Puritan Backroom restaurant in Manchester. O’Connor denies the allegation. ""Furthermore, a simple review of the Backroom’s health code records will reveal that the restaurant already has a long-standing problem with rodent infestations,"" O’Connor, a businessman from Bedford, wrote in a widely circulated statement on Monday, April 25, 2016. Is there any truth to this claim? O’Connor’s spokesman Logan Barbosa pointed us to the Manchester Department of Health website, which posts city restaurant inspections. Barbosa said the Puritan Backroom has been cited for ""critical item violation #35 (defined as found to have insects or rodents, or areas were identified that would allow the entry of rodents or insects)."" There’s a big difference between having rodents, and having areas that would allow their entry. Let’s take a look. Under city ordinance, restaurants are inspected twice a year. A decade’s worth of inspection records for the Puritan Backroom, a sit-down restaurant that also has an ice-cream window, are available on the Manchester city website. In nine of the 18 inspections since 2006, including the four most recent, the restaurant has had ""no critical violations observed,"" records show. The restaurant was most recently cited in 2013, but for food temperature issues. Over the last decade, records show the Puritan Backroom has never been cited for evidence of rodents on the premises or for any infestation. The restaurant was cited in 2011 and 2007 for an ""outer openings"" violation, which falls under the critical item violation #35. In 2011, inspectors noted the ""facilities outer openings have not been tightly sealed to the outside to prevent the entry of pests."" In 2007, inspectors recommended the restaurant install new weather stripping on the rear door, according to Phil Alexakos, Manchester’s Chief of Environmental Health, who oversees inspections. Neither situation meant the restaurant had pests, Alexakos said. ""If these gaps aren’t repaired, it could introduce pests,"" he said. The city’s public health department hasn’t received any complaints about rodents at the facility, according to Alexakos. Officials have never noted the presence of rodents on site, inspection records show. Restaurant president Arthur Pappas -- who co-owns the Puritan Backroom with son Democratic Executive Councilor Chris Pappas -- disputes the claim. ""It is absolutely untrue,"" Arthur Pappas said. ""Anybody who has been in my kitchen knows there has never been a problem."" Our ruling O’Connor said the Puritan Backroom restaurant has a ""long-standing problem with rodent infestations."" Inspection records from the last decade show officials have never noted rodents inside the restaurant. While more than five years ago inspectors noted gaps where pests could potentially enter the restaurant, none have been documented inside over the last ten years. That's a far cry from a long-standing infestation."
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31645
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The spiral stairway at Santa Fe's Loretto Chapel miraculously stands despite having no discernable means of support.
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Does a stairway at Santa Fe's Loretto Chapel miraculously stand despite having no discernable means of support?
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false
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Horrors, Supernatural Tales
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Fans of made-for-TV movies might recall The Staircase, a film (aired by CBS in 1998) starring Barbara Hershey as Mother Madalyn, a nun whose dying wish to see the construction of her order’s chapel completed comes true through the efforts of a mysterious carpenter known only as “Joad.” The movie was based on the legend of the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the site of the “mysterious staircase” referred to above. The Loretto Academy was a school for women founded in Santa Fe in 1852 by the local Sisters of Loretto. In 1873 construction was begun to add a chapel to the site, a project plagued by some unfortunate incidents (including the shooting death of the main architect). As the builders were finishing up work on the chapel, they found that the plans drawn up by the late architect had not included any means of access to the chapel’s choir loft. This was when, according to Alice Bullock’s book, Loretto and the Miraculous Staircase, the now-legendary events kicked in. The notion of constructing an ordinary staircase up to the choir loft was apparently rejected both because it would have limited the available seating in the loft and because it would have been aesthetically unappealing. As Bullock described the nuns’ dilemma over how to proceed: “Carpenters and builders were called in, only to shake their heads in despair. When all else had failed, the Sisters determined to pray a novena to the Master Carpenter himself, St. Joseph.” As Bullock’s narrative continues, the nuns’ prayers were answered on the ninth day by a humble workman leading a burro loaded with a complement of carpentry tools. The workman proclaimed that, with permission, he could resolve the dilemma, needing only a couple of water tubs to complete the task: Sisters, going in to the Chapel to pray, saw the tubs with wood soaking in them, but the Man always withdrew while they said their prayers, returning to his work when the Chapel was free. Some there are who say the circular stair which stands there today was built very quickly. Others say no, it took quite a little time. But the stair did grow, rising solidly in a double helix without support of any kind and without nail or screw. The floor space used was minimal and the stair adds to, rather than detracts from, the beauty of the Chapel. The Sisters were overjoyed and planned a fine dinner to honor the Carpenter. Only he could not be found. No one seemed to know him, where he lived, nothing. Lumberyards were checked, but they had no bill for the Sisters of Loretto. They had not sold him the wood. Knowledgeable men went in and inspected the stair and none knew what kind of wood had been used, certainly nothing indigenous to this area. Advertisements for the Carpenter were run in the New Mexican and brought no response. “Surely,” said the devout, “it was St. Joseph himself who built the stair” However it came to be built, the solution to the problem at the Loretto Chapel was a winding staircase in the shape of a helix (which both takes up less space than a conventional stairway and is much more aesthetically appealing). Although winding staircases are somewhat tricky to build because the form is not well-suited to bearing weight and generally requires additional support, the one at Loretto is not quite the miracle of architecture that subsequent legend has made it out to be. For starters, the Loretto staircase was apparently not all that fine a piece of work from a safety standpoint. It was originally built without a railing, presenting a steep descent that reportedly so frightened some of the nuns that they came down the stairway on their hands and knees. Not until several years later did another artisan (Phillip August Hesch) finally add a railing to the staircase. Moreover, the helix shape acted like what it resembles, a big spring, with many visitors reporting that the stairs moved up and down as they trod them. The structure has been closed to public access for several decades now, with various reasons (including a lack of suitable fire exits and “preservation”) given for the closure at different times, leading investigator Joe Nickell to note that “There is reason to suspect that the staircase may be more unstable and, potentially, unsafe than some realize.” Although the Loretto legend maintains that “engineers and scientists say that they cannot understand how this staircase can balance without any central support” and that by all rights it should have long since collapsed into a pile of rubble, none of that is the case. Wood technologist Forrest N. Easley noted (as reported by the Skeptical Inquirer) that “the staircase does have a central support,” an inner wood stringer of such small radius that it “functions as an almost solid pole.” As well, Nickell observed when he visited Loretto in 1993 that the structure included an additional support, “an iron brace or bracket that stabilizes the staircase by rigidly connecting the outer stringer to one of the columns that support the loft.” Nickell concluded: “It would thus appear that the Loretto staircase is subject to the laws of physics like any other.” As for the wood used in the stairway’s construction, it has been identified as spruce, but not a large enough sample has been made available for wood analysts to determine which of the ten spruce species found in North America (and thus precisely where) it came from. That the structure may have built without the use of glue or nails is hardly remarkable: nails were often an unavailable or precious commodity to builders of earlier eras, who developed a number of techniques for fastening wood without them. All in all, nothing about Loretto’s design or manufacture evidences any sign of the miraculous. The staircase (and the chapel that houses it) is, however, now part of a privately-owned museum operated for profit, a situation that provides its owners with a strong financial motive for perpetuating the legend of its mysterious origins and substance.
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34098
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List offers useful tips for avoiding contracting the swine flu.
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List offers useful tips for avoiding contracting the swine flu?
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mixture
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Medical, Swine Flu
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The recent swine flu outbreak has prompted a spate of Internet-circulated advice for avoiding the malady, ranging from basic medical advice to all sorts of folk remedies. The list of tips reproduced below has been attributed to a number of different names, primarily that of Dr. Vinay Goyal of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), as well as that of Dr. Mehmet Oz (host of the syndicated TV program The Dr. Oz Show) and a Dr. Subhash Mehta of Bangalore, India. It’s unlikely that any of these men was the actual creator of this swine flu prevention tip list, as the earliest versions carried no attribution, and both Dr. Goyal and Dr. Oz have disclaimed authorship. We suspect that this list wasn’t written by a doctor at all, but some of the people whose inboxes it passed through added various doctors’ names to it in order to lend it an air of authority and credibility. Regardless of who issued them, are these tips valid? Example: [Collected via e-mail, October 2009] Prevent Swine Flu – Good Advice Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS, DRM, DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital, Bombay Hospital, Saifee Hospital, Tata Memorial etc. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid Clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W). The following message given by him, I feel makes a lot of sense and is important for all to know. The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it’s almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is. While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu): 1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications). 2. “Hands-off-the-face” approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap). 3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don’t trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don’t underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method. 4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water . *Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti but *blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population. * Neti pots and sinus rinse kits are available at the drug store and relatively inexpensive..under $15. 5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption. 6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc.) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm. Points #1 and #2 given above for avoiding the swine flu are standard advice offered by many health care professionals. The flu.gov web site operated by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, for example, offers these “everyday steps to protect your health” against the H1N1 flu virus: (We note that some skepticism has been expressed about how effective hand-washing with soap and water is in stopping the spread of influenza.) The efficacy of the remaining points is questionable, however. Relatively few medical professionals advocate them, and none of the last four tips (i.e., gargling, nasal irrigation, vitamin C intake, or drinking warm liquids) is offered as a method of flu avoidance by health organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) or the World Health Organization (WHO), or even by Dr. Oz (although he does recommend vitamin D supplements). And when San Diego television station KFMB put the question of these last four tips to the clinical director of infectious diseases at UCSD Medical Center, he told them: “I don’t even know of any evidence basis for gargling preventing influenza,” Dr. Randy Taplitz [clinical director of infectious diseases at UCSD Medical Center] said. The email also suggests drinking warm liquids to wash viruses off and into the stomach, where they cannot survive. Another recommendation is to boost your natural immunity with foods or supplements rich in vitamin C. But Dr. Taplitz says again there’s no evidence to support doing those things will help. “We do a lot of things symptomatically to make us feel better. Taking a hot bath, gargling with salt water … if it makes you feel better there’s no reason not to do it, but I wouldn’t do it thinking that you’re preventing yourself from acquiring influenza,” Dr. Taplitz said.
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14905
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"Baby Got PAC Says Hillary Clinton and the Democrats ""admitted there’s one candidate who scares Hillary Clinton, and that’s Sen. Marco Rubio."
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"Baby Got PAC’s ad said Democrats ""admitted there’s one candidate who scares Hillary Clinton, and that’s Sen. Marco Rubio."" There’s no actual statement from Hillary Clinton saying as much, so that part of the commercial is a stretch. The commercial does share some sources that quote Democratic politicians and operatives, and leans heavily on former Obama campaign director Schale, who wrote a blog post expressing some anxiety about Rubio. Schale, it’s worth noting, favored Biden over Hillary Clinton initially. Baby Got PAC further puts a lot of faith in an anecdote involving Bill Clinton that is largely unsubstantiated. With those caveats, it’s still clear Rubio’s campaign is a concern to strategists on the left."
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mixture
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Candidate Biography, Florida, Baby Got PAC,
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"A Republican millionaire with an apparent fondness for '90s rap has thrown his support behind U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign. California winery owner John Jordan’s new super PAC released a one-minute commercial before the Nov. 10, 2015, GOP primary debate. The political action committee is cheekily named Baby Got PAC, a reference to the 1992 Sir Mix-a-Lot magnum opus Baby Got Back. In the ad, reportedly written by Jordan, a narrator explains the PAC is pulling for Rubio over the rest of the Republicans because the Floridian is the one that Democrats fear most in the general election. ""It’s a tough choice. So you know who we asked? Hillary Clinton and the Democrats,"" the ad said while flashing three lines as proof of their point. ""For once, they told the truth. They admitted there’s one candidate who scares Hillary Clinton, and that’s Sen. Marco Rubio."" Cue Sir Mix-a Lot: Now, we like checking campaign statements, and we cannot lie! But is this a charge Democrats just can’t deny? (Sorry, we just had to get that out of the way.) We should note we didn’t find any instance of Hillary Clinton saying she was afraid of Rubio or any other candidate, and her campaign did not return our requests for comment. That’s important to keep in mind, since the ad mentions her by name. Saying ""there’s one candidate who scares Hillary Clinton"" implies her campaign is unconcerned with the rest of the GOP field, which likely is not the case. A November 2015 story from the Daily Beast included Democratic donors and strategists saying Clinton’s campaign was until recently more occupied with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and is now focusing on Rubio as Bush fades. Florida-based Republican media consultant Rick Wilson produced the ad and confirmed with PolitiFact Florida where each of the three lines featured in the commercial came from. Let’s take them one at a time: ""A Hillary Clinton match-up with Marco Rubio is a scary thought for Democrats."" — the New York Times: On May 22, 2015, the New York Times published an article about Democratic strategists discussing Rubio, who announced his candidacy in April. The commercial’s quote is the headline word for word. Every source in the story at least acknowledged Rubio was a candidate worth addressing, while some said he would be a tough opponent. That’s not to say Rubio is the only candidate they are worried about, which the ad comes close to implying, but the article highlighted his strengths in contrast to Hillary Clinton. For example, the New York Times piece said Clinton is working harder on winning the Hispanic vote. The story included comments from 2008 Hillary Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle; Democratic strategist Christopher Lehane; former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson; former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and his millionaire donor John Morgan; former Florida House Democratic leader Dan Gelber and more. Crist, who lost a Senate race to Rubio in 2010, called Rubio’s story of a blue-collar upbringing ""compelling,"" while Gelber said Rubio could make ""young women swoon, old women pass out, and toilets flush themselves."" The New York Times also interviewed Steve Schale, formerly Barack Obama’s Florida campaign director, who had written a blog post about the state’s Hispanic voters the same month the paper published its story. In that blog post, Schale wrote: ""Marco Rubio scares me. I’ve been pretty consistent on this one. If you are a Democrat, he should be the one you don’t want to face, because I do think, if he is the nominee, he is the one who could significantly change the Hispanic math in Florida and the Latino math out west. Why? I truly believe he will benefit from the same identity politics that galvanized African American voters behind Obama."" That brings us to the next piece of evidence ... ""Marco Rubio scares me … If you’re a Democrat, he should be the one you don’t want to face."" — Obama strategist to Cokie Roberts: This quote from Schale’s blog post appeared in one of Roberts’ syndicated columns with her husband, Steven. The headline on the column was ""Why Rubio scares the Democrats."" Now, we must note Schale didn’t say this to Roberts, as the PAC ad claims, and Schale told us he hadn’t spoken to her. She only quoted him and linked to his post. Roberts pointed to Rubio’s personality, storytelling ability and defense of his Hispanic heritage as strengths. ""Rubio is the best storyteller in the Republican field. The tales he tells — of his father the bartender and his mother the hotel maid — send a powerful message: I know what your lives are like. I'm just like you,"" Roberts wrote. That jibed with what Schale thought, and still does. ""I definitely did say I'm scared of Marco, and I still think he's our party's biggest threat,"" Schale told PolitiFact Florida. Keep in mind, however, that Schale worked for the Draft Biden 2016 super PAC to convince Vice President Joe Biden to run for president. He thinks Rubio is a threat not just to Hillary Clinton, but to any Democratic hopeful. ""I believe he is their strongest candidate,"" he said. ""Bill Clinton believes Marco Rubio is Hillary’s biggest threat."" — Fox News: The ad is referring to author Ed Klein’s Oct. 14, 2015, appearance on Fox & Friends. After the first Democratic primary debate, Fox interviewed Klein, who wrote the book Unlikeable: The Problem With Hillary. During the segment, Klein described an anonymously sourced story from the book, in which Bill Clinton allegedly said Rubio was his wife’s greatest challenger because of Rubio’s age and appeal to Hispanic voters. (Fox News’ online headline was ""Author: Bill Clinton Believes This GOP Contender Is Hillary's Biggest Threat."") Klein’s description of the incident in his book quotes Bill Clinton thusly: ""He’s young, Hispanic, and a good speaker. He’d pose a generational challenge (to Hillary, who will turn 69 in 2016) and a challenge for the Hispanic vote, which we need to win…. We’ve got to destroy him before he gets off the ground."" The author previously had written very critical books about the Clintons and the Obamas, and has faced criticism from both liberal and conservative camps over thin sourcing and sensational allegations. Bill Clinton’s office told us it questioned Klein’s credibility, and therefore the claim. A Clinton spokesman called Klein’s version of events an ""alternate reality."" Baby Got PAC is putting a lot of faith in one anonymously sourced anecdote for its ad. The story also doesn’t constitute asking either Hillary or Bill Clinton directly whether they feel Rubio is a threat. But Klein insists the former president made the comment. ""I stand by the quote, which was related to me by a very reliable source who was in the room and heard Bill Clinton talk about Rubio,"" Klein told PolitiFact Florida. Our ruling Baby Got PAC’s ad said Democrats ""admitted there’s one candidate who scares Hillary Clinton, and that’s Sen. Marco Rubio."" There’s no actual statement from Hillary Clinton saying as much, so that part of the commercial is a stretch. The commercial does share some sources that quote Democratic politicians and operatives, and leans heavily on former Obama campaign director Schale, who wrote a blog post expressing some anxiety about Rubio. Schale, it’s worth noting, favored Biden over Hillary Clinton initially. Baby Got PAC further puts a lot of faith in an anecdote involving Bill Clinton that is largely unsubstantiated. With those caveats, it’s still clear Rubio’s campaign is a concern to strategists on the left."
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9900
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Gardasil Vaccine Guards Against HPV in Boys
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The story is amazingly silent on the message that there is controversy about vaccinating young men. The story states that the FDA approved the vaccine, but the CDC does not routinely recommend it. That begs an explanation to readers of why. In contrast, the competing WebMD story pointed out that this study just adds to the larger debate over whether there should be universal vaccination of young men. Since Gardasil (and competitor, Cervarix) debuted a few years ago, there have been heated disagreements about the price and most helpful distribution of the vaccines and whether both sexes should receive them. This major study, demonstrating effectiveness in young men, adds important information to complex questions of cost and prevention. But it needs to be reported in a way that provides some of the history and context for readers. HPV infection is transmitted sexually, so questions of prevention within the entire US population of men and women involve potentially vaccinating both sexes. However, both sexes are not at the same level of risk for potentially deadly cancers years later. Women bear the brunt of the health risks, but men can pass the infection to their partners and can suffer from cancerous and non-cancerous effects of the virus.This new study provides additional information for the ongoing discussion of the public health role of immunizing young men against HPV.
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mixture
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"Yes, the story provides the retail price of the vaccine. But we would have liked mention of the deeper economic questions. Are insurers covering it for young men? Does the overall economics of paying for young men to get it makes sense for society? Cost is part of the reason that only a minority of young women have chosen to get Gardasil, even though it is both available and recommended (by many) for them. Cost is a central issue in how these vaccines will or won’t achieve medical goals of prevention. When writing about vaccination programs, these larger system-wide costs and benefits are an important part of public discussion. The editorial that accompanied the published study in the journal provides additional information on the cost effectiveness of HPV vaccination in boys and girls – which could have been tapped. Neither this nor the WebMD story gets high marks on describing the potential benefits seen in the study. Although a total of seven endpoints were described in the study results, the writer chose to use the most optimistic of the lot. The 90% efficacy quoted is a far cry from the actual 60% efficacy based on an intention to treat analysis. The study results are complicated and simply picking one number of the many does not provide the reader with the correct information. THe vaccine was not shown to be 90% effective overall. There wasn’t a single mention of potential harm to any study participants, and there wasn’t a sentence saying, ""Researchers did not find any significant harm for those who received the vaccine."" In the broader social context, there was no mention of whether the vaccine might falsely lead young men to feel they are ""safe"" from a sexually transmitted disease, when the vaccine only covers four types of the human papillomavirus, and there are many more that are not covered. It was good to see the story included the size of the study population and the fact that it was randomized and included three-year follow up. Barely satisfactory because the story skated close to an edge. For example, ""HPV is the leading cause of cervical cancer in women but also has been linked to penile and OTHER malignancies."" What other malignancies? How common are cervical and penile cancer? It would have been better if the sentence about ""most people will clear the virus naturally"" had been higher in the story. Barely satisfactory. The story notes that the research was partially funded by Merck, the manufacturer of the vaccine. It quotes only one expert not affiliated with the study, and would have been stronger if that single expert was not from the American Social Health Association, which lists advocacy for these vaccines as one of its stated positions. The story does not explain the existing treatment (or lack of treatment) for HPV infections in young men. Although far from perfect as a preventive, the use of condoms could have been given some space in the story along with limiting the number of sexual partners or abstinence. The story met this standard by telling us the vaccination is ""approved"" by the FDA, but not ""recommended"" by the CDC advisory board. Some readers will be a bit confused processing that seeming contradiction. Even better would be telling us why these two ""expert"" bodies appear to disagree about the widespread benefits to most young men. How about saying: ""While the FDA labeled the vaccine as safe, the CDC’s advisers do not recommend it for routine use."" Why not? Even better would be a quote from one of those advisors about the why not, and whether this new evidence has the potential to change CDC recommendations. The story did not provide any information about the novelty of Gardasil, one of the first vaccines of its type. It also does not mention that there is another vaccine, Cervarix, which also exists against some HPV. WebMD did a better job of this. The story shows evidence of original reporting."
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8587
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U.S. official urges China to allow direct work with Wuhan labs on coronavirus.
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A senior Trump administration official urged China on Tuesday to allow the United States to work directly with laboratories in Wuhan on research into the novel coronavirus, saying this was critical to saving lives globally.
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true
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Health News
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On Sunday, China’s ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, said in a New York Times opinion piece there had been “unpleasant talk” between the two countries about the virus but that now was the time for “solidarity, collaboration and mutual support.” “If Ambassador Cui is saying that China is willing to cooperate with the U.S., we would appreciate the opportunity to work directly with their Virology labs in Wuhan to share whatever research they have, since they’ve known about it and have been fighting it for at least a month longer than our scientists here in the U.S.,” the official said. The comments come a day before Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak originated late last year, was poised to lift its lockdown after reporting only two new infections in the past fortnight. “Since the pandemic originated in Wuhan, we think cooperation with PRC medical and disease experts there is critical to saving lives globally,” the administration official added.
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10639
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For Some Prostate Cancer Patients, Combo Treatment Improves Survival
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This story details the outcomes of a recent study examining whether the addition of male hormone therapy to radiation therapy improves outcomes for men with prostate cancer, and that the risk level of the man’s prostate cancer determines whether short term male hormone therapy is of benefit. The clear discussion of the study results should better enable readers to understand that not all prostate cancers are the same and that the approach to treatment should take into account the risk characteristic of the individual’s cancer. It is important for men to understand that prostate cancer is not a monolith and that various therapies benefit specific groups of patients. It is not a one size fits all prospect. The lack of benefit of combined therapy for low-risk patients should be placed in the context that any treatment for low risk patients may be unnecessary.
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true
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Cancer,HealthDay
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There was no discussion of costs. Over and over again – more than 70& of >1,500 stories we’ve reviewed fail to adequately discuss costs. This has to change. The story provided a clear description of the potential benefit seen in the group of men with intermediate risk prostate cancer who were treatment with male hormone therapy in addition to radiation therapy alone. The harms associated with male hormone therapy were listed. The story did a stellar job presenting information about the outcomes of chance of dying and chance of dying of prostate cancer in 10 years differed for men treated with either radiation therapy alone or in conjunction with male hormone therapy depending on whether their prostate cancer was low, intermediate, or high risk at diagnosis. The story did not specifically mention that the study it was reported on was a randomized trial. And the information provided by the lead author indicating that the chance men with low risk prostate cancer had of surviving alone was almost 99% chance should have been that they an almost 99% chance of not dying of prostate cancer. Because the study did not include an active surveillance control group, it cannot be concluded that even radiation alone was beneficial to men with low-risk prostate cancer. This story did not engage in overt disease mongering. The story included quotes from the lead author of the study reported on along with quotes from the expert in the field who wrote an editorial about the study which accompanied its publication. There was some discussion about how current radiation therapy differs from that received by the men in the study reported on. However there was no mention of some of the other forms of radiation therapy that are often used for men with low-risk prostate cancer such as brachytherapy. There was no discussion of alternative approaches to prostate cancer such as surgery or delay of invasive treatment called active surveillance. The story explained about the treatment used in the study reported on as well as how radiation therapy has changed since the men in the study were treated. The story was clear that the treatments in the study, with some modification, are currently available. Does not appear to rely solely on a news release.
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9845
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The Healthy Skeptic: Promise of ChromaGen lenses for dyslexia a bit blurry
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The column allows a manufacturer to make its claims but then turns to a literature search and four sources to examine the evidence. Reading is an essential tool in a child’s development. Given the economic, social, and and academic impact of poor reading skills, it is not surprising that parents will seek out opportunities to improve their child’s skills. Because dyslexia is “a complex and controversial condition” as the column explains, it is important to scrutinize the evidence for products and approaches promoted as being able to help about half the people with the condition.
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true
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Los Angeles Times
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The story explains the cost of the glasses and lenses and that the lens costs could be recurring. It did not explain if insurance covers this approach. The story allows the manufacturer to state that the lenses can help about 50% of people with dyslexia but that “the true rate is probably much higher.” But then it added repeated notes of skepticism from others: Not applicable. We don’t know what the harm would be, other than consumers pursuing a costly approach for which the evidence base is questioned. The story explains “A search of the medical literature found a single, company-funded study suggesting that ChromaGen lenses could improve the reading skills of people with dyslexia. The study of 47 dyslexics, led by optician and lens inventor David Harris, found that ChromaGen lenses worked significantly better than placebo lenses.” In addition to the study cited in the story, we found another recent article that showed no improvement in reading skill in 44 children aged 7-12 with Irlen Syndrome (a proposed disorder involving distortion of text when reading). (Pediatrics. 2011;128(4):e932.) But, as noted in the “Benefits” criterion above, the story also includes others’ cautions: No disease mongering. In fact, the story explained that dyslexia “is a complex and controversial condition” and that one optometrist said “there are different types of dyslexia, and only people who have trouble with visual distortions while reading are likely to benefit.” The story didn’t settle for the manufacturers’ claims. It turned to four other sources. The column ended with one alternative suggestion from a professor of opthalmology: “It would make more sense to spend your money on something that’s proven to help. Like a tutor.” The column explained that the lenses are marketed on a company website, which also gives a list of providers. Not applicable. No claims of novelty are made in the column. It’s clear that independent research and reporting was done by the writer.
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2880
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Fighting halts polio vaccination in northern Syria.
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Heavy fighting has prevented health workers from getting polio vaccine to an estimated 100,000 Syrian children in the northeastern province of Raqqa, United Nations aid agencies said on Monday, appealing for access.
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true
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Health News
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The crippling infectious disease was confirmed in 17 children in Syria in October, the first outbreak there since 1999. A nationwide campaign was launched in November to vaccinate some 2 million Syrian children under five each month until May. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) condemned the halt of the immunization campaign in Raqqa province due to intense fighting in Syria’s civil war. Polio poses a “serious risk” in Syria and the region and all children have the right to be protected from the disease, which can paralyze a child within hours, they said in a statement. “We haven’t reached Raqqa town in this second round of immunization. There are approximately 100,000 children out of reach in the town and its outskirts,” Elizabeth Hoff, WHO representative in Syria, told Reuters from Damascus. Raqqa is the only provincial capital under rebel control and WHO has no direct contact with Islamist groups there, she said. The al Qaeda-linked Islamist State of Iraq and the Levant executed dozens of rival Islamists over the last two days as the group recaptured most territory it had lost in Raqqa, activists said on Sunday. Some 2.15 million children across Syria were reached last week with polio vaccine during this second round of mass immunization, including some in Raqqa province, Hoff said. “The information campaign has been very strong, parents are bringing their children. The uptake is very good,” Hoff said. “At least we haven’t seen any new cases since October,” she added. That month saw 15 cases in Deir al-Zor, in the east, and single cases in Aleppo, in the north, and Douma (Rural Damascus). Syria’s government and some rebels may be willing to permit humanitarian aid to flow, enforce local ceasefires and take other confidence-building measures in the nearly three-year-old conflict, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday. Kerry held talks in Paris with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi, who has convened peace talks in Switzerland next week in an attempt to end the conflict that has killed more than 100,000 people and forced millions to flee. Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), appealed for greater access for aid workers at the end of a three-day visit to Syria. “Health supplies, food and other basic necessities are running dangerously short, especially in besieged areas, where the situation is critical,” Maurer said in a statement. (Corrects figures for polio cases in 2nd and 9th paragraphs)
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6361
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Denver resident’s death linked to outbreak of hepatitis A.
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Officials say the death of a Denver resident from hepatitis A is the first reported fatality linked to an outbreak in the city.
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true
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Colorado, General News, Hepatitis, Denver, Public health
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The Denver Post reports the death comes two months after Denver health officials announced the city was facing an outbreak of the contagious liver infection. No additional information was reported about the victim. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says the risk of contracting the disease in the outbreak is higher in people who are homeless, incarcerated or dealing with substance-use issues. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hepatitis A is transmitted by consuming the virus through contaminated objects, food or drinks. Symptoms include fatigue, limited appetite, stomach pain, and nausea. A state epidemiologist says hepatitis A deaths are rare. ___ Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com
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34322
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Ronald Reagan, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease five years after he left the presidency, was actually suffering from the disease while he was in office.
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While the language complexity declines we observed are consistent with what you may expect to see in individuals with early signs of dementia, it is impossible to make any conclusive diagnosis based on our study. It’s certainly possible that President Reagan deliberately simplified his language because he found it to be politically advantageous.
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unproven
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History, alzheimer's disease, ronald reagan
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The publication in 2018 of a tell-all book about the Trump White House in which aides are reported to have questioned President Trump’s mental stability has revived longstanding rumors holding that Ronald Reagan suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease during his presidency. He was diagnosed with the condition, but not until 1994, five years after leaving office. Reagan was 69 when he won his first presidential election. Trump was 70, making him the oldest person to be elected to the presidency (excluding Reagan’s re-election at 73). Trump was given a clean bill of cognitive health in January 2018 by White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson, who had tested him for cognitive impairment and said he had no concerns about the president’s mental fitness. Reagan’s doctors said much the same thing while he was in office despite the former president’s memory lapses and bouts of confusion in public, most visibly during the 1984 presidential debates and his 1990 Iran-Contra testimony. Incidents such as these led to speculation that he was undergoing a gradual mental decline that those around him didn’t want to admit. A 1987 article in the New Republic posed the troubling question outright: “Is Reagan Senile?” That was precisely what CBS News reporter Lesley Stahl was asking herself during a 1986 visit with a president she would later describe in her 2000 memoir, Reporting Live, as “shriveled” and verging on catatonic. “Reagan didn’t seem to know who I was,” she wrote. “He gave me a distant look with those milky eyes and shook my hand weakly. Oh, my, he’s gonzo, I thought.” But a few minutes later, he snapped out of it and from that point on seemed perfectly fine. When asked, White House aides admitted to Stahl that they had witnessed similar episodes. Even Reagan’s own son, Ron, sensed something was wrong at the time. He wrote in his 2011 book, My Father at 100: A Memoir, that he first became concerned that “something beyond mellowing” was afflicting his father three years into Reagan’s first term. Of the latter’s bumbling debate performance against Walter Mondale in 1984, the younger Reagan observed: At 73, Ronald Reagan would be the oldest president ever re-elected. Some voters were beginning to imagine grandpa — who can never find his reading glasses — in charge of a bristling nuclear arsenal, and it was making them nervous. Worse, my father now seemed to be giving them legitimate reason for concern. My heart sank as he floundered his way through his responses, fumbling with his notes, uncharacteristically lost for words. He looked tired and bewildered. But Ron Reagan isn’t a physician, much less one trained to diagnose the symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease. His half-brother Michael Reagan vehemently disagreed with Ron’s armchair diagnosis and accused him of trying to “sell out his father to sell books.” Ron later softened his claims in remarks to the New York Times, insisting he never meant to say his father was suffering from dementia while still in office, but rather that the disease was “likely present in him” long before it was diagnosed. Experts say physiological and neurological changes linked to Alzheimer’s start showing up in the brain years before outward symptoms appear. However, the physicians who directly attended Ronald Reagan while he was president agreed unanimously that he never displayed signs or symptoms of dementia the whole time he was in office, the New York Times reported in 1997: …even with the hindsight of Mr. Reagan’s [Alzheimer’s] diagnosis, his four main White House doctors say they never detected any evidence that his forgetfulness was more than just that. His mental competence in office, they said in a series of recent interviews, was never in doubt. Indeed, they pointed out, tests of his mental status did not begin to show evidence of the disease until the summer of 1993, more than four years after he left the White House. “There was never anything that would raise a question about his ability to function as President,” said Dr. Lawrence C. Mohr, one of Mr. Reagan’s physicians in his second term. “Ronald Reagan’s cognitive function, belief structure, judgment, ability to choose between options, behavior and ability to communicate were totally and completely intact.” […] He “never forgot appointments, misplaced or lost things, where he put his glasses, never forgot to put his hearing aids in, never forgot to put his contact lenses in, and these are things he did for himself,” Dr. Mohr said. “I saw him saddle and bridle horses at the ranch and later put things back exactly where they belonged.” And Mr. Reagan, the doctors stressed, was punctual, never depressed and had no difficulty with language or understanding what was going on around him. Although no cognitive tests were administered to Reagan during his time in office (his doctors saw no need for them), he did begin receiving annual mental and psychological assessments in 1990, after undergoing surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain. The four-hour battery of tests, which would have detected signs of dementia, found nothing amiss for the first three years they were administered. “All parameters for his age absolutely were within the normal range,” one of Reagan’s doctors said. It was Reagan himself who announced the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s in 1994. There were certainly no indications of dementia (age, perhaps, but not dementia) when the 81-year-old former president delivered a 35-minute speech at the 1992 Republican National Convention, a performance Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward described as “flawless.” It must also be said that given that the average life expectancy of a patient diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease is eight to 10 years, Reagan, who died in 2004 (10 years after his diagnosis), would have been extraordinarily long-lived for an Alzheimer’s patient if he was already suffering from the disease, as some claim, in 1984. Two academic studies, one published in 1988 and the other in 2015, analyzed transcripts and recordings of Reagan speaking in debates and press conferences to see if his speech patterns betrayed otherwise imperceptible signs of cognitive decline. The first, which compared Reagan’s speech patterns to those of other politicians, found that Reagan had “significantly higher levels of cognitive impairment scores” than other subjects in the study (including President Carter and Vice President Mondale). The second found that changes in Reagan’s speaking patterns known to be associated with the onset of dementia were detectable “years before clinical diagnosis.” But although these findings indicate that Reagan did display subtle linguistic signs of cognitive decline while still president, they are experimental and do not suffice to push back the post-presidency diagnosis of Alzheimer’s into his time in office. Visar Berisha, assistant professor of science and hearing at Arizona State University and the lead researcher in the 2015 study told us:
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39799
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Black mold has been found inside eos lip balm containers.
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Customers Find Black Mold Inside Eos Lip Balm.
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true
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9/11 Attack on America
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It’s true that eos lip balm users have reported finding black mold inside the product. Reports of black mold found inside eos lip balm have sporadically appeared on social media for years. In February of 2015, one eos lip balm user’s account of finding black mold inside a container of half-used lip balm gained a lot of attention on Facebook: “I really liked your lip balm, until I got to the middle of mine and found the bottom was full of mold. I thought there was an air bubble in the middle, but it turns out it was a blob of mold. I tried to scrape it off, but it went all the way down to the bottom of the container. Super disappointed and disgusted. That was a waste of my money, and I won’t be buying any of your products again.” In the comments section under the post, many people uploaded photos of eos lip balm speckled with what they call black mold. And these reports aren’t necessarily new, either. Online reports of black mold found inside of eos lip balm date back to 2012. For its part, eos responded on Facebook that it “very occasionally” gets reports of its lip balm users finding black mold because it’s a natural product that doesn’t contain any preservatives: “We do very occasionally hear of this. Mold will grow on many surfaces, especially warm and moist places and on products with natural ingredients. The best way to prevent this is to try to not get the lip balm itself wet when applying it (apply to dry lips) and/or let any moisture that’s on the lip balm dry before you put the top back on. I hope this helps and thank you for using our products. “While mold very rarely grows on our lip balm, it has been known to happen, especially with all-natural ingredients. Our policy is that we’re happy to replace any defective lip balm so long as the customer provides a picture. So if you want to send a picture of the moldy lip balm to [email protected], we’d be happy to send a coupon for a replacement. Thanks again for the feedback as it helps us improve.” The USDA reports that most molds found on food and consumer products are not toxic, but it is possible for some varieties to cause allergic reactions or respiratory problems. Comments
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11942
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"Edward Markey Says HIV and AIDS rates have spiked ""due to increased heroin and fentanyl use."
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"Markey said, HIV and AIDS rates have spiked ""due to increased heroin and fentanyl use."" There are risks for HIV transmission among people who share needles and syringes to inject opioids. An Indiana county recently had an HIV outbreak linked to the injection of opioids, including heroin. At least 220 U.S. counties may be at risk of similar outbreaks. But the CDC said it does not have national data addressing Markey’s heroin and fentanyl claim, and estimates that HIV and AIDs diagnoses have declined in recent years among people who inject drugs. Markey’s statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression."
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false
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National, Public Health, Edward Markey,
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"Democratic Sen. Edward J. Markey said that the Trump administration’s plan to use funds from HIV and AIDS programs to fight the opioid addiction crisis is unsound. Specifically, the Massachusetts senator said that increased opioid abuse has led to an increase in HIV and AIDS. The administration’s Oct. 26 declaration of the opioid epidemic as a national public health emergency allows flexibility in the use of resources in HIV and AIDS programs to allow people eligible for those programs to get substance abuse treatment. ""The administration’s proposal to reallocate funding from HIV/AIDS programs to the opioid crisis is robbing Peter to pay Paul, especially as HIV and AIDS rates spike due to increased heroin and fentanyl use,"" Markey said in an Oct. 26 statement. We wanted to know if increased use of heroin and fentanyl have led to increased rates of HIV and AIDS. We found some truth to Markey’s claim but not enough national data to fully back it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told us it does not have data specific to heroin and fentanyl, and estimates that HIV and AIDs diagnoses have declined in recent years among people who inject drugs. Still, there are risks associated with opioid injections and HIV transmissions, as was the case in an Indiana county. More than 64,000 people died in 2016 from drug overdoses, the majority linked to opioids, which include the synthetic opioid fentanyl and the illicit drug heroin, according to the CDC. Increased availability, a relatively low price and the high purity of heroin in the United States are driving increased use of heroin, the CDC said. Fentanyl use, including illicitly-made fentanyl, has also increased in recent years. People who inject drugs are at risk for infectious diseases that can be transmitted through used needles and syringes. Human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, is most commonly acquired or transmitted through sexual behaviors and needle or syringe use. If not treated, HIV can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS. The CDC’s HIV Surveillance Report, 2015, noted that HIV and AIDS diagnoses tied to injection drug use declined from 2010 to 2015. The report did not specify diagnoses by types of drugs injected. From 2008 to 2014, estimated annual HIV infections among people who inject drugs declined 56 percent (from 3,900 to 1,700), according to February 2017 data from the CDC. That report did not include AIDS data. Experts we reached said they were not aware of reports showing a national spike in HIV and AIDS among injection drug users, but noted that data collection and reporting tends to lag. ""It is very possible that increased HIV transmission due to fentanyl and/or heroin use is occurring"" but have not yet been identified through HIV testing and screening or have not yet been reported to CDC, said Brandon Marshall, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health. When we contacted Markey’s office, they highlighted reports about HIV spikes in Scott County. Scott County historically had fewer than five cases of HIV infection reported annually, CDC reported. By April 21, 2015, Indiana officials had diagnosed HIV in 135 people in a small community within Scott County. Most of them reported injection drug use with oxymorphone as their drug of choice, said CDC’s May 2015 report, adding that some reported injecting heroin. Since early 2015, at least 191 people had tested positive for HIV in Scott County, the Indiana State Department of Health said in April 2016. ""The outbreak in Scott County turned a floodlight on the intertwined nature of opioid use, HIV, and (hepatitis C virus) … It’s possible that the opioid epidemic could already be having a similar impact in other communities,"" said a June blog post by Richard Wolitski, director of the office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A CDC analysis published November 2016 found that at least 220 counties in 26 states are ""potentially vulnerable"" to HIV and hepatitis C infections among persons who inject drugs ""in the context of the national opioid epidemic."" Markey said, HIV and AIDS rates have spiked ""due to increased heroin and fentanyl use."" There are risks for HIV transmission among people who share needles and syringes to inject opioids. An Indiana county recently had an HIV outbreak linked to the injection of opioids, including heroin. At least 220 U.S. counties may be at risk of similar outbreaks. But the CDC said it does not have national data addressing Markey’s heroin and fentanyl claim, and estimates that HIV and AIDs diagnoses have declined in recent years among people who inject drugs. Markey’s statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression."
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14214
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"If Austin voters reject Proposition 1, a ""completely new City-run"" criminal background check ""process will cost millions in processing fees, additional staff, and bureaucracy"" with taxpayers getting ""the bill."
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"The Ridesharing Works group said that if voters reject Proposition 1, a ""completely new city-run"" criminal background check ""process will cost millions in processing fees, additional staff and bureaucracy"" with taxpayers getting ""the bill."" This claim isn’t backed up by Houston’s avowed experience or available facts about Austin’s approach. What happens next does seem a bit unsettled. For instance, it's up in the air who’s going to pay for each background check reviewed by the city. We also found no authoritative cost estimate for the city’s oversight. Additional staff might be needed, we learned, yet the relevant department also advises it can lean on existing staff. However, we neither fielded nor found evidence the city’s contemplated reviews of background checks will cost millions. Significantly too, taxpayers aren't poised to get the bill; city costs are to be covered from a fee-backed fund, not tax revenue."
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false
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City Budget, City Government, Transportation, Taxes, Texas, Ridesharing Works for Austin,
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"Austin taxpayers are in for millions of dollars in regulatory costs if voters decide not to change what the city requires in background checks of drivers for ride-hailing services, a pro-proposition group says. Ridesharing Works for Austin says in a mailer to voters: ""A completely new City-run"" criminal background check ""process will cost millions in processing fees, additional staff, and bureaucracy."" The mailer, which came to our attention from a reader, is headlined: ""Keep Taxpayers From Having to Pay."" Proposition 1, which landed on the May 7, 2016, ballot after a petition drive led by Ridesharing Works for Austin, centers on whether to require fingerprinting of drivers for popular services, like Uber and Lyft, that enable customers to summon a ride using a mobile app. Vote ""yes"" and company-provided name-based national criminal background checks would continue -- without a fingerprinting element. Vote ""no"" and driver fingerprints would be gathered and run through the FBI. Rejecting the proposal, the mailer suggests, gives ""the City a blank check to fund a takeover"" of background checks ""and sends taxpayers the bill."" So, hide your pocketbook? Not so fast, we found. Council member: Taxpayers not on barrel Before we saw the mailer, an Austin City Council member disputed the notion that taxpayers will be charged for fingerprinting drivers. An April 19, 2016, Austin American-Statesman news story quoted Ann Kitchen, sponsor of the ordinance the proposition would repeal, saying the council agreed to levy a 1 percent fee on the ride-hailing companies’ gross local revenue to go to a city fund to ""assist and incent drivers to become compliant"" with the new rules. Then again, according to an April 22, 2016, commentary by Ben Wear, the American-Statesman’s transportation writer, that’s to be charged only if companies fail to take certain steps to get drivers fingerprinted as quickly as possible. The incentive fee was created to help allay ride-hailing drivers’ concerns about the costs of the fingerprint check — expected to be nearly $40 per driver, city spokeswoman Alicia Dean told us by email. Dean added: ""This is what it costs for checks we do for other driver background checks for other vehicles for hire."" We asked if the city or council had decided to cover the costs. Dean replied: ""No."" There’s also a separate 1 percent fee, to be in place if the proposition passes or not, ""to cover the city’s administrative costs and infrastructure needs,"" the Statesman reported. Upshot: Ride-hail companies could be paying up to 2 percent of gross local revenue to the city though another April 2016 American-Statesman news story says ride-hail companies aren’t expected to owe any general fees until at least the end of 2016. The same story quoted a former council member, Chris Riley, saying that when the council approved its first ride-hail regulations in August 2014, the intent was that any such fees cover city administrative costs. Of course, all this not-so declamation comes from city-connected officials. We were curious how Ridesharing Works for Austin arrived at its millions-of-dollars’ conclusion. To our query, spokesman Travis Considine pointed out by email that prospective-driver fingerprints are to be run through the FBI, according to the ordinance adopted by the council in December 2015. Specifically, the ordinance authorizes the city or an approved ""third party"" to submit each driver-applicant’s fingerprints to the Texas Department of Public Safety for a search of state criminal records and to forward the fingerprints to the FBI for the national check. ""The results of the FBI check will be returned to the DPS,"" the ordinance says, ""which will disseminate the results of state and national criminal history checks to the City."" Next, the ordinance says, the department shall use each result to determine if the applicant is prohibited from driving for a Transportation Network Company, as in ride-hail service. Not that the city expects all of this in a hurry. During a phase-in, the ordinance says, the city’s Transportation Department is to implement procedures to help drivers obtain fingerprints and background checks with each company expected to have 99 percent of its drivers checked by February 2017 or be subject to financial penalties. Considine suggested city reviews of each completed check will entail massive upticks in staff and spending to process thousands of reports coming back from the DPS. The services currently conduct name-based checks on their own. Uber lobbyist: 50,000 background checks will burden city Considine also put us in touch with Adam Goldman, an Austin lobbyist for Uber, who said by phone the few city workers who currently review applications for chauffeur licenses can’t possibly be expected to handle the surge in applications likely to come from ride-hail drivers seeking to fulfill the city’s requirements. If voters say ""no"" to the proposition, Goldman said, city staff stand to see fingerprint-fueled checks submitted for 50,000 drivers -- a figure he said reflects the number of Austin-area residents who have driven at least once for Uber. Hold that count. An Uber spokeswoman, Jaime Moore, previously told us it has 15,000 Austin-area drivers though that total fluctuates. Moore, informed of Goldman’s 50,000 figure, replied by email that nearly 50,000 Austin-area people went through the Uber screening process in the last year -- though many of them didn’t make it through. Still, Moore suggested we put stock in the ""50,000"" because Goldman didn’t consider Austin-area Lyft drivers. So, Moore said, ""we would expect the number"" of individuals whose background checks would require the city’s final review ""to be much higher than 50,000."" Goldman didn’t offer a calculation to back up the predicted ""millions"" in city costs. But Considine, asked for an equation behind the group’s claim, suggested multiplying 50,000 times the possible $40 charge per background check, which plays out to $2 million. Alternatively, we noted, if you go with the low-end count of 10,000 drivers, you get $400,000 in possible costs. We asked Considine if it’s fair to consider either total a city cost in that the city, far as we can tell, hasn’t said it’s funding the checks. He didn’t reply. It also occurred to us there might be fewer ride-hail drivers if the proposition fails; some might resist fingerprinting. Considine agreed, saying by phone: ""That is what happened in Houston. Uber in Houston is different than Austin; the wait times are longer, the surge pricing,"" pricing at peak travel times, ""is higher."" Houston official: No spike in taxpayer-funded costs It made sense to us to consider Houston’s experience. The Bayou City has required fingerprint-driven background checks of ride-hail drivers since November 2014, also demanding drug tests, physicals and vehicle inspections. So we reached out to the city’s Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department to ask if administrative costs spiked. By phone, spokeswoman Lara Cottingham said the city experienced an ""enormous spike"" in applicants after Uber agreed to comply with the city’s security requirements. However, she said, the department didn’t add staff for its final reviews; as before Uber arrived in Houston, a single employee looks over 200 to 300 driver background checks a day. If a background check shows any offense disqualifying a person for a license, the application is denied, Cottingham said, but the city also sets up a hearing for the driver to seek reconsideration, in accord with state law, she said. ""There’s been no real change other than she’s a lot busier than before,"" Cottingham said. Cottingham said driver-applicants are allowed to get fingerprinted by a designated private vendor or may visit the DPS in Austin to be fingerprinted. Generally, Cottingham said, fees paid by Uber, the amount of which she said the company doesn’t consider public information, more than cover city costs. Austin official: Staff can 'flex' Next, we asked Austin’s Transportation Department if the pro-proposition group’s cost claim comports with its expectations. We sought elaboration about flexing up; Dean replied that the department has 12 employees including about eight ""administrative personnel"" who could process such applications plus at least five professional staff who ""could be flexed to review reports."" Gordon Derr, an assistant director in the department, earlier said by email: ""Possibly, the number of staff may need to increase to handle large numbers of applications, but the activities overseeing vehicles-for-hire are funded by the enterprise fund for the city."" That’s not tax revenue, we recognized. By email, a department spokeswoman, Cheyenne Krause, said the ride-hail fees authorized by the council would go into the department’s enterprise fund which to date brings together parking revenue and fees paid by ground transportation service companies and drivers, funding department staff and administration. Derr earlier said: ""Possibly, the number of staff may need to increase to handle large numbers of applications, but the activities overseeing vehicles-for-hire are funded by the enterprise fund for the city,"" which applies to programs generally funded from fees, not taxes. ""Costs would not be paid from the general fund,"" which supports tax-backed activities, ""therefore the costs would not be billed to the taxpayers,"" Derr said, adding: ""It has yet to be determined who would be responsible for paying for background checks."" Derr said the city has ""engaged"" a DPS contractor, Morphotrust, to take fingerprints from prospective drivers. Once prints are taken, he wrote, ""Morphotrust works through DPS to process the background checks through DPS for the state background check and the FBI for federal background checks."" Next, Derr said, the DPS sends results to the city where staff review them. Generally, Krause later told us by email, staff don’t know ""what will be required and cannot speculate as to the number of background checks that the City will review or the resources that will be required to review the checks. Any potential costs to the City are purely speculative."" Our ruling The Ridesharing Works group said that if voters reject Proposition 1, a ""completely new city-run"" criminal background check ""process will cost millions in processing fees, additional staff and bureaucracy"" with taxpayers getting ""the bill."" This claim isn’t backed up by Houston’s avowed experience or available facts about Austin’s approach. What happens next does seem a bit unsettled. For instance, it's up in the air who’s going to pay for each background check reviewed by the city. We also found no authoritative cost estimate for the city’s oversight. Additional staff might be needed, we learned, yet the relevant department also advises it can lean on existing staff. However, we neither fielded nor found evidence the city’s contemplated reviews of background checks will cost millions. Significantly too, taxpayers aren't poised to get the bill; city costs are to be covered from a fee-backed fund, not tax revenue. – The statement is not accurate.
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10117
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Tonsil-Adenoid Surgery May Help Behavior, Too
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In this story, we learn about a new study showing that a common surgery for sleep disturbance in children, adenotonsillectomy, may be effective for children with ADHD. Any new information on the treatment of ADHD is big news. According to the NIH: “between 3 and 5 percent of children have ADHD, or approximately 2 million children in the United States. This means that in a classroom of 25 to 30 children, it is likely that at least one will have ADHD.” The story is clear that adenotonsillectomy is a common surgery for sleep apnea in the U.S., but that it is now being conisered for treating ADHD as well. This story leads the reader to believe that adenotonsillectomy could be used for all children with ADHD, a very large population given recent trends in diagnosis and treatment. However, this story is really about a research study that looked at children with sleep disturbance who also have ADHD, a much narrower population. The story also does not accurately represent the strength of the available evidence that adenotonsillectomy is effective for ADHD. The opening line of the story refers to “strong evidence,” which is really an overstatement. Although it is true that this is a randomized clinical trial, there are several limiting factors that are not addressed in this story. Specifically, this was a small study and the psychiatrists who assessed the children were not blinded to surgical status, potentially biasing the results. Furthermore, the story does not mention that sleep disturbance at baseline and at one year follow-up did not correlate with behavioral outcomes. This suggests that either there are problems with how sleep disturbance or behavior was measured in this study or that there is some other mechanism other than sleep that is mediating the relationship between the treatment and behavioral outcomes. These issues are not discussed in the story. The story does not mention any harms associated with the surgery. The harms, although rare, include infection and respiratory complications, and are more common in children with obstructive sleep apnea, the target population in this story. The story does provide the reader with adequate quantification of the benefits of treatment. Specifically, the number of children with ADHD is provided in the control and surgery group at baseline and at one year follow-up. We don’t know if the author relied on text from a press release. Only a single expert is quoted, the author of the research article in the journal Pediatrics, so the reader is not provided with balanced perspectives on the importance of these new findings for clinical practice. There is also no mention of other treatment options. For example, CPAP machines should have been mentioned as a non-surgical alternative. Finally, there is also no mention of costs.
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false
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There is no mention of costs. The story does provide the reader with adequate quantification of the benefits of treatment. Specifically, the number of children with ADHD is provided in the control and surgery group at baseline and at one year follow-up. The story does not mention any harms associated with the surgery. The harms, although rare, include infection and respiratory complications, and are more common in children with obstructive sleep apnea, the target population in this story. The story does not accurately represent the strength of the available evidence that adenotonsillectomy is effective for ADHD. The opening line of the story refers to “strong evidence,” which is really an overstatement. Although it is true that this is a randomized clinical trial, there are several limiting factors that are not adressed in this story. Specifically, this was a small study and the psychiatrists who assessed the children were not blinded to surgical status, potentially biasing the results. Furthermore, this story does not mention that sleep disturbance at baseline and at one year follow-up did not correlate with behavioral outcomes. This suggests that either there are problems with how sleep disturbance or behavior was measured in this study or that there is some other mechanism other than sleep that is mediating the relationship between the treatment and behavioral outcomes. These issues are not discussed in the story. This story leads the reader to believe that adenotonsillectomy could be used for all children with ADHD, a very large population given recent trends in diagnosis and treatment. However, this story is really about a research study that looked at children who were scheduled for adenotonsillectomy and found a high proportion of them had sleep disturbance and ADHD, a much narrower population, and the cause and effect is not clear. In the story, only a single expert is quoted, the author of the research article in the journal Pediatrics. In the story, there is no mention of other treatment options for ADHD or for sleep apnea. For example, CPAP machines should have been mentioned as a non-surgical alternative to adenotonsillectomy for sleep apnea. The story is clear that adenotonsillectomy is a common surgery in the U.S. The story makes it clear adenotonsillectomy is not a new treatment for sleep apnea, but that it is a new application when used to treat ADHD. We can’t judge if the story relied on text from a press release.
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10771
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Drug for diabetes works, but it has serious side effects
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The story reports findings from a trial comparing a newer diabetes medication, rosiglitazone, to older medications to treat newly diagnosed people with type 2 diabetes. Unfortunately, most of the reporting criteria were not met. The story does provide absolute rates for treatment effects, which is to be commended, but importantly, the treatment effects between rosiglitazone and metformin have uncertain clinical importance, which is not mentioned. While on the surface it appears that because this study is a randomized controlled trial the findings should be robust, there are a couple of important design or methodological weaknesses that really limit the conclusions and were not discussed. One was the outcome measure chosen, which could have made the treatment effects appear more important than they are, and the second was the large number of people who withdrew from the study, so that outcomes for the entire group are not known. Additionally, harms of treatment are minimized and not even named. Other areas for improvement include the lack of an independent source, lack of cost info, lack of availability info, lack of any information about what diabetes is or its seriousness, and lack of information on lifestyle changes, which are an important intervention to make in addition to medications.
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false
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"The story reports that the new drug, rosiglitizone, is more expensive than older diabetes drugs, yet does not provide any cost information or cost comparisons. The story does report absolute numbers of people who needed a second medication after five years for each of the three treatment groups. However, the study used fasting blood glucose levels as the unit of measurement for definining when a second medication was needed rather than the more appropriate measure of A1C, a measure of average blood sugar levels over the past 2 to 3 months. Because of this, the treatment effects seem larger than they are if one looks at the absolute difference in A1C between the rosiglitazone and metformin groups. There is no mention of this, nor is there mention that the results should probably be interpreted with some caution since a large number of patients withdrew from the study and these outcomes don't reflect outcomes for the entire group. The story mentions ""heart problems"" as a side effect of the new drug and does provide an absolute number of people who experienced this problem in each group. However, the story only provides the number experiencing this problem and readers don't know what proportion of the group this represents or how significant this is. The heart problem in question is heart failure, which should be named and isn't. Other side effects included weight gain and fluid retention and these were also not mentioned. Although the story does describe the number of participants involved and that they were randomized into three groups that then received different medications, the story does not discuss any study design or methodological weaknesses. Even though this study is a randomized, controlled trial, there are some important limitations: 1) the primary outcome selected could have made treatment effects seem bigger and more clinically important than they really are (at least for comparing treatment effects of rosiglitazone and metformin) and 2) a high proportion of patients withdrew from the study, making any findings weaker, since the outcomes of the entire group cannot be known. There is no description of what diabetes is or how it affects people. This is a serious condition with serious complications and the number of people with diabetes is only increasing, particularly as obesity rates increase. The treatment effects are overestimated, e.g. the story does not explain that the clinical significance of the effects are marginal, at least when rosiglitazone is compared to metformin. This could be considered ""treatment mongering"" but will be covered elsewhere. The only source of information is the lead author, who has received funding from the drug's manufacturer and potentially has a conflict of interest. There is no independent comment on the study's findings. There is mention of two other diabetes drugs which might be used in a newly diagnosed person. However, there is no mention of lifestyle changes, which is an important intervention to coincide with medication. The story does not state whether rosiglitazone (Avandia) is widely available to the public, FDA-approved, or only available in research settings. The story only describes the drugs as ""newer"" or ""older"" and doesn't really provide any details of its novelty, e.g. when did this come on the market, etc. We can't be sure if the story relied solely or largely on a news release, although the only person quoted is the principal investigator."
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11228
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Experimental shot shows promise against cancer
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This story reports on a wide range of new cancer treatments that fall under the general category of immunotherapy. These therapies use the body’s own immune system to selectively attack cancer cells. The concept of immunotherapy is not a new one, but it is a growing research area that has yet to live up to its hype. This story attempts to outline the controversies surrounding this field, but is flawed in several ways. The story claims that many immunotherapies are almost ready to go up for FDA approval, but this is not sufficient information on availability. The story should have made it clear that these therapies are currently only available through clinical trials. Furthermore, the story should have cautioned the reader that these therapies would only be appropriate after first-line treatments have failed (except in certain rare cases). Although the story mentions several clinical trials, the story does not give the reader enough information on the strength of the available evidence from any of the trials. Furthermore, the story does not quantify the benefits of immunotherapy. The story also does not mention costs, which are likely to be very high. The story does provide some balance in perspective by quoting two MD Anderson researchers as well as a scientist at the NCI, who cautions the reader about “making claims before the real data’s in.”
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mixture
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The story does not mention costs, which are likely to be very high. The story does not quantify the benefits of immunotherapy. The story claims that “immunotherapy’s great appeal is its nontoxicity” and that a patient has had no side effects. This is not enough information on the harms of treatment. Although the story mentions several clinical trials, the story does not give the reader enough information on the strength of the available evidence from any of the trials. The story does not engage in disease mongering. The story quotes two MD Anderson researchers as well as a scientist at the NCI, who provides much needed balance at the end of the story. The story mentions chemotherapy and radiation as alternatives. The story claims that many immunotherapies are almost ready to go up for FDA approval. This is not sufficient information on availability. The story should have made it clear that these therapies are currently only available through clinical trials. Furthermore, the story should have cautioned the reader that these therapies would only be appropriate after first-line treatments have failed (except in certain rare cases). The story clearly states that the idea of immunotherapy has been around for a long time but that recently the field has been burgeoning with new approaches. There is no way to know whether the story relied on a press release as the sole source of information.
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11968
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Opioid crisis (is) the worst in ObamaCare expansion states!
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"Gaetz said the ""opioid crisis (is) the worst in ObamaCare expansion states."" Gaetz is isolating on one year’s worth of data that, by itself, is flawed. The CDC data at the heart of this claim includes drug overdoses from illicit drugs that are not prescription opioids. And by ignoring a larger window, Gaetz misses the fact that the Medicaid expansion states he’s talking about had an opioid problem before the health care legislation took effect. Experts were universal in saying that the evidence that Medicaid expansion is somehow fueling the opioid crisis doesn’t exist. In some ways, it’s not much different than saying that the opioid crisis is worst in states in the eastern time zone. You wouldn’t blame a clock."
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false
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Medicaid, Florida, Matt Gaetz,
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"As Florida’s lawmakers grapple with the opioid crisis, one U.S. representative says there’s a correlation between states that expanded Medicaid through Obamacare and states affected the worst by the epidemic. Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz shared this factoid on Twitter on Oct. 17: ""Opioid crisis the worst in ObamaCare expansion states!"" Gaetz’s claim quoted a Tucker Carlson tweet that questioned if ""big pharma"" is responsible for Congress’ inaction toward the opioid crisis. Information supplied by Gaetz’s office rests on the notion that patients in states that expanded Medicaid through Obamacare have more access to legal prescriptions that fuel the opioid epidemic. Experts said the theory ignores critical facts and does not take into account the other factors that have led to an increase in opioid deaths. ""It is important to avoid confusing association with causation,"" said David A. Fiellin, a professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine. ""Just because one event (Medicaid expansion) occurred during a period of increasing opioid deaths, many from illicit sources doesn't mean that it caused the increase in deaths."" Thirty-two states plus D.C. currently have adopted Medicaid benefits to all adults. The expansion for most states went into effect in January 2014. The timeframe matters because the most recent data is from 2015, meaning there’s not a lot of data to work with. In 2015, the five states with the highest rates of death due to drug overdose were West Virginia, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Ohio and Rhode Island, according to the Centers for Disease Control. All of those states expanded Medicaid. But there’s little evidence Medicaid expansion is the reason why. Many researchers, for instance, have noted that the overdose death rates were higher to begin with in those states. Richard Frank, a professor of Health Economics in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School sent PolitiFact Florida a research memo he co-wrote on the issue. Data he compiled from the CDC showed that the states that expanded Medicaid were experiencing higher levels of deaths due to opioids than non-expansion since 2010. (Chart courtesy of Richard Frank) ""The opioid epidemic had already hit those states hardest before the ACA even passed and well before the expansions were implemented,"" the memo said. Vanderbilt University economist Andrew Goodman-Bacon and Harvard’s Emma Sandoe posit that other factors, including the opioid epidemic itself, led states to adopt the ACA Medicaid expansion in their look on the issue. ""A state with rapidly rising opioid deaths may have decided to expand Medicaid in order to provide drug treatment to more residents,"" the pair wrote. Frank and his colleague also found another problem with the Medicaid theory. The memo said since 2013, nearly all the increases in opioid overdoses in the United States is due to heroin and synthetic heroin substitutes. In other words, it treats all drug overdoses the same. The data Gaetz cited from the CDC includes prescription and illicit drugs. Medicaid coverage does not provide access to illicit drugs. Data from the CDC shows that since about 2010 the number of deaths from commonly prescribed opiates has not fluctuated one way or another. In contrast, opioid deaths from heroin and other opioids, such as Fentanyl, have increased dramatically in that same time period. ""A significant portion of the increase in deaths was due to deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone, which includes Fentanyl,"" the CDC says. Gaetz’s team also cited CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that said: ""opioid prescribing rates among Medicaid enrollees are at least twofold higher than rates for persons with private insurance."" But the data they cited was last updated in 2009, so Gaetz’s evidence was before the Affordable Care Act was even passed. This argument is common among individuals who believe Medicaid makes drug abuse worse, but it’s not accurate, according to the Goodman-Bacon and Sandone analysis. ""Medicaid patients, especially those who qualify through a disability and many who do not, are more likely to have chronic conditions and comorbidities that require pain relief,"" the duo wrote. Lastly, it’s worth noting that Medicaid expansion helps pay for opioid addiction treatment, said Brendan Saloner of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Medicaid expansion covers costs treatments like detoxification, outpatient treatment, and treatment for masked health conditions. Gaetz said the ""opioid crisis (is) the worst in ObamaCare expansion states."" Gaetz is isolating on one year’s worth of data that, by itself, is flawed. The CDC data at the heart of this claim includes drug overdoses from illicit drugs that are not prescription opioids. And by ignoring a larger window, Gaetz misses the fact that the Medicaid expansion states he’s talking about had an opioid problem before the health care legislation took effect. Experts were universal in saying that the evidence that Medicaid expansion is somehow fueling the opioid crisis doesn’t exist. In some ways, it’s not much different than saying that the opioid crisis is worst in states in the eastern time zone. You wouldn’t blame a clock."
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17134
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Georgia has the nation's fifth largest Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Supplemental Nutrition program, serving more than 270,000 mothers, babies and children every day.
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Georgia's WIC program ranked 7th largest
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true
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Georgia, Welfare, Georgia Department of Public Health,
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"One government program putting food on the table for the needy is the Women, Infants and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program, most often known by the acronym WIC. The program targets low-income, nutritionally at-risk groups -- mostly pregnant women, new moms, babies and children up to age 5. Participants receive vouchers to buy qualifying healthy foods -- such as fruit, vegetables, peanut butter and milk. (No lobster allowed under WIC, unlike the food stamp program. See food stamps Politifact, March 21.) As its name suggests, the WIC program, which is 100 percent federally funded, is meant to supplement what’s already in the pantry. The average WIC participant received $45.47 worth of groceries a month in 2013, probably not enough on its own to keep body and soul together. During the recent General Assembly session, when GOP lawmakers were pushing through a bill to require drug tests of some food stamp recipients, a reader asked for a fact check on WIC. He jogged our memory last week after seeing a blog from the state Department of Public Health, the agency that administers the program. The post stated: ""Georgia has the nation's fifth largest Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Supplemental Nutrition program, serving more than 270,000 mothers, babies and children every day."" ""Could this be true?"" the reader asked. ""Dare I ask what that’s costing us?"" We reached out to Nancy Nydam, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Health. Based on costs, Georgia’s program ranked fifth among the 50 states, the U.S. territories and the District of Columbia for four years, from 2009 to 2012, Nydam said. But that’s no longer the case. New data show that the Georgia program dropped to seventh in the rankings for 2013, she said. (The blogger was going on 2013 projections, not actual data for the year, Nydam said.) The new data, provided by the Department of Public Health, show that, for 2013, Georgia ranked seventh behind: California, $1,095,910,535; Texas, $482,192,108; New York, $445,559,283; Florida, $354,990,320; Puerto Rico, $242,747,993; and Illinois, $215,142,474. Georgia spent about $215.1 million for food and other services for 289,527 WIC recipients, including nutrition and breast-feeding education, and referrals for health and social services, Nydam said. Enrollment in the program was down 14,340 from 2012. It peaked in 2009, as the economy was crumbling, at 323,353, state data show. Costs for the Georgia program fell by more than $59 million, from $274.5 million in 2012, due to a couple of factors, Nydam said. Besides having fewer women and children on the rolls, Georgia has been working with manufacturers to lower the program’s costs for food. As a result, state spending on food for program participants was reduced from $225 million in 2011 to $204 million in 2012 and to $157 million for 2013, state data show. The feds also have pushed states to do more to combat fraud. After it became a stand-alone agency, the Department of Public Health created an inspector general’s office to investigate fraud in the WIC program and developed and issued new WIC vouchers, complete with a foil seal and watermark designed to deter counterfeiting, Nydam said. The inspector general’s office has prosecuted 16 people for WIC vendor fraud, terminated 183 vendors and recouped $17 million as restitution. Our conclusion: The blog statement said Georgia ranks fifth among the states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories based on the cost of its WIC program. That was true for four years, through 2012. Once Politifact inquired, state officials said there was new data showing the state dropped to seventh for 2013."
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35516
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Former U.S. Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden called for an end to shareholder capitalism in July 2020.
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"What's true: In a speech on July 9, Biden proposed to ""put an end to the era of shareholder capitalism — the idea [that] the only responsibility a corporation has is to its shareholders."" What's false: Biden did not propose abolishing the stock market nor barring individuals from buying and selling shares. Rather, Biden was advocating a stakeholder-driven approach to capitalism and calling for an end to the predominance of the shareholder-driven approach, a position that has grown in popularity in recent years, even among the CEOs of the largest companies in the United States."
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false
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Politics
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In the summer of 2020, multiple readers asked Snopes to investigate claims that former U.S. Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden had called for an end to “shareholder capitalism.” In July and August, Facebook users shared posts that contained the following text: “Biden wants to end Shareholder Capitalism…that’s your 401[k]…your pensions…your retirement…are you voting for that?” Another social media meme suggested that Biden’s proposals would result in the destruction or liquidation of 401(k) pension savings: Those memes did not accurately reflect remarks made by Biden in July 2020 on the subject of “shareholder capitalism.” At a July 9 event in Dunmore, Pennsylvania, Biden gave a relatively conventional stump speech, hitting on several familiar themes — his working-class upbringing in nearby Scranton, the values he inherited from his family, and his vision for an American economy that, according to him, places less emphasis on corporate profit, and a greater emphasis on rewarding hard work and smaller-scale entrepreneurship, especially in the context of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, which devastated some smaller businesses and left millions unemployed. As part of this broader “Wall Street versus Main Street” theme, Biden said the following (emphasis added): Enough is enough, it’s time reverse the priorities in this country. It’s time to help small businesses, middle-class folks, manage their way through a pandemic, and let’s help millions of would-be entrepreneurs get out from under their debts so they can start businesses. And it’s time corporate America paid their fair share of taxes…The days of Amazon paying nothing in federal income tax will be over. Let’s make sure that workers have a power, and the voice. It’s way past time to put an end to the era of shareholder capitalism — the idea [that] the only responsibility a corporation has is to its shareholders. That’s simply not true, it’s an absolute farce. They have responsibility to their workers, their community, to their country. That isn’t [a] new or radical notion. These are basic values and principles that helped build this nation in the first instance. Now the challenge is to take these fundamental values, and apply them to the new economy we have to build in the years ahead…” Biden did not propose dissolving the stock market, or prohibiting the public trading of companies, or shareholder investment and dividend. In saying “It’s way past time to put an end to the era of shareholder capitalism,” Biden was taking a position in a long-running ethical debate between “shareholder” and “stakeholder” theories. One academic has helpfully summed up that philosophical conflict as follows: Shareholder theory asserts that shareholders advance capital to a company’s managers, who are supposed to spend corporate funds only in ways that have been authorized by the shareholders. As Milton Friedman wrote, “There is one and only one social responsibility of business — to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it … engages in open and free competition, without deception or fraud.” On the other hand, stakeholder theory asserts that managers have a duty to both the corporation’s shareholders and “individuals and constituencies that contribute, either voluntarily or involuntarily, to [a company’s] wealth-creating capacity and activities, and who are therefore its potential beneficiaries and/or risk bearers.” Although there is some debate regarding which stakeholders deserve consideration, a widely accepted interpretation refers to shareholders, customers, employees, suppliers and the local community. In the short video below, philosopher and professor of business administration R. Edward Freeman — arguably the primary advocate for stakeholder theory — outlines the approach: Biden characterized the era of shareholder capitalism as one in which the following idea holds sway — “[that] the only responsibility a corporation has is to its shareholders.” His rejection of that principle was classic stakeholder theory: “That’s simply not true, it’s an absolute farce. They [companies] have responsibility to their workers, their community, to their country.”
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36333
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"It's better to find a ""flat"" bag of salad or lettuce at the supermarket, because the ""puffy"" ones contain older produce."
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Should You Avoid Puffy Bags of Salad or Lettuce in Favor of Flat Ones?
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false
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Fact Checks, Viral Content
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On June 13 2019, the Facebook page “Crafty Morning” shared the following meme (archived here), featuring an image of salad and lettuce in bags at a supermarket along with purported tips for selecting the freshest produce:Above an image of Fresh Express bagged lettuce varieties such as “Veggie Lover’s” and “Field Greens,” text said:If you buy bagged lettuce or salads, choose the bag that is the flattest. When the greens are packaged, all of the air is sucked out of the bag. Then as they age, they give off [gas], making the bag puffier. Choose the flattest bag and your salad will be fresher, and last longer in the fridge without going bad.That advice perhaps sounded intuitive to many commenters, but Crafty Morning included no source or citation supporting the claim — simply a comment in the original post, “Good to know!”As it turns out, the “advice” proffered originated on the Reddit subreddit r/LifeProTips in April 2018. However, the original thread was unavailable as of June 2019, although the title was intact:LPT: If you buy bagged lettuce or salads, choose the bag that is the flattest. When the greens are packaged, all of the air is sucked out of the bag. Then as they age, they give off gas, making the bag puffier. Choose the flattest bag and your salad will be fresher, and last longer in the fridge. from LifeProTipsA stickied comment at the top of the thread simply read:Removed as wrong.Beneath that, a separate user commented at length in response to both the original poster and the comment about removal. That poster claimed to be a lettuce packaging expert, and made a number of claims about the shelf life of bagged salads and how leafy greens are processed:Hi there! I’m an engineer who designs the plastic structures used to package salads and cut veggies for a living. While the LPT is indeed wrong as many have pointed out, so are the vast majority of people in the comments saying that the bags are flushed with nitrogen. Basically no one here was 100% right.First of all, it is actually pretty rare for produce companies in the US to gas flush their salad and veggie bags. Instead, packers and copackers rely on the product itself to modify the atmosphere inside the package. This is possible because salad and other veggies are still alive when packaged and still respire–consuming oxygen and emitting carbon dioxide (and sometimes ethylene). This is where OP got his/her theory about the bigger bags being bad. The truth is, the amount of air in a bag is more a function of how the much the packer’s VFFS (vertical form fill seal) line happens to squeeze the bags during the sealing cycle than anything to do with atmospheric composition or gas/nitrogen flushing.The reason that these companies don’t gas flush is because the optimal gas concentration is often in the range of 3-5% oxygen in the bag (our atmosphere is roughly ~21%). At this range, the lettuce will respire at a slower rate, extending its life, without ‘suffocating’. See, if you were to gas flush the bags below about 1-2% oxygen, the lettuce would switch to anaerobic respiration and break itself down prematurely. On the other hand, if the package were left open to the atmosphere, the produce would continue to respire normally and age quickly, would potentially foster microbial growth, and the more delicate varieties could undergo enzymatic browning.When the salad or veggies modify the internal atmosphere to a low oxygen level, it creates a concentration gradient across the plastic film, driving oxygen into the package. There are two primary methods of achieving this–through passive transmission achieved through of specific low density polymers, or through micro perforation using a laser. Thus, the respiration of the product inside the bag will cause the internal air composition to reach equilibrium at an ideal oxygen level if the plastic film has been designed properly. At the end of the day though, the ‘cold chain’, or the ability to maintain temperature below 40 F throughout the distribution chain, is the most critical part of preserving shelf life.Here’s a fun fact. If you go into a grocery store, feel the difference between material that spinach is bagged in compared to and ice berg lettuce blend. The spinach film is going to feel stiffer and more crinkly, because it is a different structure, typically all biaxially oriented polypropylene, and it will have several micro perforations to let oxygen in. This is because spinach generally breaths too heavily for passive transmission to be sufficient. On the other hand, iceberg lettuce, romaine, and spring mixes will often be in laminations of oriented polypropylene and polyethylene where passive transmission is used to match the considerably lower oxygen demands of those leafy greens.However, the commenter’s identity and credentials were just as opaque as those of the original poster. Other commenters also disputed the original tip, pointing out, for example, that bags of lettuce often contain small holes for breathability. A number of posters linked to a since-removed article on TampaBay.com about the processing and storing of bagged lettuce and salad mix.Other articles about the process of bagging and preserving produce and salad kits included information about the process. In 2016, NPR reported:The bagged greens also benefit from a crucial technological innovation, called “modified atmosphere packaging.” Essentially, the plastic packaging is engineered in such a way that it “breathes” but also maintains an atmosphere inside the package that will minimize browning and spoilage. Typically, that means a lower level of oxygen, and more carbon dioxide, than the natural atmosphere.The same claims appeared on the University of Arizona’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences page “Lettuce 101.” In that explainer, CALS stated:… if oxygen can be partly excluded from a ready-to-eat lettuce bag, the reaction will run at a slower rate.This is where modified atmosphere packaging comes into play, and it’s not just used for salads. The useful life of many food products—from potato chips to wine, or for that matter any oxygen-sensitive item (even historical documents)—can be extended in many cases when packaged in a modified atmosphere. A “normal” atmosphere contains 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% of other gases like carbon dioxide (CO2). So any atmosphere that has intentionally different percentages (typically with a lower oxygen percentage) can count as a modified atmosphere. The amount and type of gas used varies depending on the application. For example, nitrogen gas replaces the oxygen in potato chip bags for preservation.Bagged salad producers don’t have worry about adding any gasses, though. The lettuce adds this gas to the package itself. When lettuce is cut, the cells rupture which induces a host of physiological changes, including an increased rate of CO2 release … Lettuce is shredded, washed, and packaged within hours of being harvested. It is then put into transparent bags that are specially designed to retain the right ratio of CO2 and O2. So, as the amount of CO2 builds up in the bag from the respiring lettuce, some of the CO2 passes right through the plastic bag and into the outside air. Heavy “breathers” such as broccoli and cauliflower are put into a different type of bag than veggies with a lower respiration, such as peppers and onions. Lettuce falls somewhere in between these two categories.So, for bagged salads and anti-browning, the trick is to keep the right balance of gases inside the package. And, a “bag that breathes” is part of the story behind the preservation of our vegetables.Lettuce and bagged salads are delicate, and are not likely to vary tremendously in their shelf lives once brought home. The best available advice seems to be scouring best-by dates, not looking for “puffy” bags of greens. Although bagged produce extrudes gases, many bagged vegetables are indeed packaged in “breathable” containers. Some are packed flat and others are not, but the tip did not stand up to scrutiny and was later removed for inaccuracy.
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6984
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Global summit rebukes Trump, cheers on work to aid climate.
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Thousands of mayors, climate activists and business leaders from around the world descended Thursday on San Francisco to cheer on efforts to reduce global warming, even after U.S. President Donald J. Trump signaled his disdain for the issue.
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true
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Harrison Ford, Climate, San Francisco, Paris, Summits, North America, New York, Business, California, Science, Jerry Brown, U.S. News, Barack Obama
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The Global Climate Action Summit, organized by California Gov. Jerry Brown, included a report that 27 major cities around the world have seen emissions decrease over a five-year period and are now at least 10 percent lower than their peak. The cities include Berlin, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris and San Francisco. Together the cities include about 54 million people. The star-studded conference included a rousing call to action by Harrison Ford, who implored the audience to protect forests, fisheries and other natural wonders. Former President Barack Obama, under whose watch the U.S. agreed to the landmark Paris climate accord, made a brief appearance by video. The goal of the conference is to showcase actions already being taken to prevent climate change and to “inspire deeper commitments” among attendees. It was unclear what specific actions might be taken before the summit ends Friday. “Doing nothing is not an option. Going green is a must. Cities all over the world are on the front lines of climate change,” said Frank Jensen, lord mayor of Copenhagen, adding that the bicycle-friendly city wants even more bike lanes. Giuseppe Sala, the mayor of Milan, Italy, talked up plans to reduce waste from food and other sources. “I’m very, very proud of waste management. I know it is not a sexy issue, but we commit to a future without waste,” he said. Milan and Copenhagen are among the 27 major cities cited by C40 Cities Climate Leadership, a group whose board is headed by philanthropist and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. In a speech, Bloomberg called the conference a way to broadcast that the U.S. is still committed to the cause. “Climate change is a global challenge and Washington ought to be leading from the front,” Bloomberg said. Many people around the world wrongly concluded that America was “walking away from climate action” when Trump pulled the country out of the Paris climate accord, Bloomberg said, stressing that “nothing could be further from the truth.” The 2015 Paris agreement commits countries to set their own plans for cutting emissions. Bloomberg and Brown said they calculate the U.S. is within striking distance of the reduction in greenhouse gases it previously promised. Trump announced last year that he was withdrawing from the l climate accord. His administration is also pursuing policies that would boost methane emissions and roll back California’s strict vehicle emissions standards. In response to a question Thursday at a news briefing, Brown, Democrat, said Trump will likely be remembered poorly when it comes to the environment. “I think he’ll be remembered, on the path he’s now? I don’t know. Liar, criminal, fool,” the governor said. The CEO of Salesforce, one of the world’s largest online business software companies, urged fellow technology leaders at the conference to help fight climate change. CEO Marc Benioff announced that Salesforce and 20 technology companies have signed a pact to “decarbonize” by reducing greenhouse gas emissions worldwide through supply chains, regulations and customer efforts. Salesforce recently opened a 61-story office tower in San Francisco that it says relies on clean energy to operate. Outside the conference, hundreds of protesters said Brown could do more in California, and about a dozen briefly interrupted Bloomberg’s speech with chants that natural resources were not for sale. “America’s a wonderful country. Here we have environmentalists protesting an environmental conference,” Bloomberg said earlier in the day. Police escorted 10 demonstrators from the meeting hall and briefly detained two protesters outside who were cited for misdemeanors and released. Protesters also called on Brown to ban the practice known as fracking, which injects high-pressure liquid into the ground to extract gas. In response, the governor said California has the most integrated and comprehensive oil reduction plan in America. “You don’t snap your fingers and say now it’s done,” Brown said. “We’re definitely moving in the same direction as the critics. They just like us to go a little faster and we would like to go a little faster ourselves.” The U.S. Climate Alliance, which involves 17 governors, announced Thursday that it would commit to several actions, including making clean energy cheaper for consumers and promoting vehicles and transit that rely on renewable energy. The summit came with 2018 on pace to be the fourth hottest year on record globally. The eight warmest years in more than a century of record keeping have all been in the past 13 years. ___ Associated Press writer Juliet Williams contributed to this report.
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10336
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CD34+ cell treatment reduced angina frequency for 'no option' patients
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The release focuses on a recent paper published online in Cell Transplantation. According to the release, the paper reports that a clinical study found the use of CD34+ cells reduced the frequency of “refractory angina” — chronic chest pain caused by reduced blood flow to the heart. However, the release does not quantify benefits, address potential risks, discuss costs, discuss how this compares to alternative treatments, or explain the research in language that would be accessible to non-expert audiences. We were confused about where the release originated because the source of the release, the “Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair,” is misleading. A journal editor explained that Cell Transportation journal is co-housed with the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair, part of the University of South Florida. But the research wasn’t conducted by USF. [Editor’s Note: The release states that an “unedited” version of the study is available at: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct/pre-prints/content-CT-1584_Henry_et_al. A study co-author confirmed that the link above is to the final version of the trial results.] A 2012 paper on refractory angina noted that approximately 1 million people in the U.S. are thought to suffer from the condition, which can have a significant impact on quality of life. It is, in short, a fairly common condition and — for that reason alone — it is worth writing about emerging treatment options. However, it is important to place such emerging treatment options in context. How promising are they? How far removed are they from clinical application? Do they pose risks? These are fundamental questions, and this release does not address them in a meaningful way. The release also uses language incomprehensible to the lay audience and does not define many of the key concepts.
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false
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Academic medical center news release,cardiovascular disease
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The release does not discuss costs at all. Given that this was a phase II study, meaning it is still at least one step removed from clinical use, we don’t necessarily expect a release to give a precise cost to the treatment. However, we do expect cost to be addressed in at least some capacity. For example, is there an expectation that this treatment would be comparable in cost to other treatment options for angina? Given that this was industry-funded study, the release could have addressed this in at least broad terms. As the release appears to be comparing this procedure to bypass surgery, it would be helpful to know exactly what is involved in obtaining “autologous” (self donated) cells and “intramyocardial delivery into the ischemic zone” later referred to as “injected.” It is unclear if this is a surgical procedure, inpatient hospital treatment or clinic visit, all of which would influence the final cost. The release does not quantify benefits at all. The headline tells readers that the treatment “reduced angina frequency.” The body of the release notes that there was “a significant reduction in angina frequency” and that “significant improvement in both angina frequency and exercise at 12 months and a trend toward decreasing major cardiac events.” However, there are no numbers here. How much improvement was there? How much less frequent were episodes of angina in patients who received the treatment relative to patients who received a placebo? The release doesn’t tell us. The release also says there was some effect at 6 months for the placebo group that dropped off over time, but how much and what was the benefit compared to the group that received treatment? The release does not address potential risks associated with CD34+ treatment. The Cell Transplantation paper did not report significant adverse effects associated with the treatment, but noted that “the longer-term effects of this treatment are unknown.” Even if there are no additional risks associated with a treatment, a release needs to tell readers that — and, in this case, the researchers themselves make clear that they do not yet have a clear assessment of potential risks. The release describes the study succinctly, stating that the study was “a two-year, phase II, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial” of 167 patients. That’s good. But it’s important to explain to readers what phase II study is — namely, a study of an experimental drug or treatment designed to determine if the treatment is effective and to evaluate its safety. The release doesn’t tell us much about the study participants, other than that they had been diagnosed with “class III-IV refractory angina.” Were the patients men? Women? Old? Young? Those details are relevant. Similarly, the release doesn’t tell readers what “class III-IV refractory angina” is. Perhaps more importantly, the release doesn’t tell readers that the initial clinical trial was completed in 2009 and was, according to federal clinical trials data, designed to “evaluate the efficacy and safety of intramyocardial injections of adult stem cells in patients with refractory chronic myocardial ischemia.” Later, the researchers launched a follow-up study focused on quality-of-life impacts related to the treatment. Myocardial ischemia, as the Mayo Clinic explains, “occurs when blood flow to your heart is reduced, preventing it from receiving enough oxygen.” It can damage the heart and contribute to heart attack or irregular heartbeat. Angina is a symptom of myocardial ischemia, not a causal factor. Since the study was originally designed to address how effective CD34+ treatment was against myocardial ischemia, it’s worth mentioning that this paper focuses on the treatment’s effect only against a symptom. The release never defines or describes angina at all. The release treats angina like a disease, rather than as a symptom of underlying health problems. That’s problematic. We do not want to downplay the condition in any way, but it is important to distinguish between symptoms (such as significant chest pain) and underlying causes (such as reduced blood flow to the heart). The release does not mention funding sources or address potential conflicts of interest. For example, as the relevant journal article notes: “Baxter Healthcare sponsored the study and was responsible for the conduct of the investigation.” At least two study co-authors were former Baxter employees. Another author is listed in the paper as being an employee of Caladrius Biosciences, but a cursory search finds that he was previously a vice president at Baxter. Yet another author has received an honoraria from Baxter, and another has received research funding from Baxter. The paper was not as transparent about these conflicts of interest as it should have been, and the release fails to address them at all. In addition, the release appears to have been issued by the “Cell Transplantation Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair.” Given that the researcher cited in the release is based at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, one could assume that the center is located there. But that would be wrong. There is no center by that name. Instead it appears to be a hybrid of the journal name and the name of the center where it is housed. This is confusing (at best) and misleading (at worst), since the center had nothing to do with the research. Frankly, this is very confusing for readers. In order to fully appreciate any new or emerging treatment, it’s important to compare it to existing techniques that address the same problem. The release does mention “conventional medical treatments” and “revascularization” but doesn’t explain what those things are nor does it offer any comparisons with this developing therapy. There are a host of other treatments out there, from surgical interventions to pharmaceutical treatments. The release notes that this paper stemmed from a phase II clinical trial. It didn’t tell readers how long ago the trial took place, or what the treatment’s prospects are (even in general terms) for potential clinical use. In 2012, Baxter issued a news release announcing plans to launch a phase III trial for CD34+ treatment to ” increase exercise capacity in patients with chronic myocardial ischemia.” That trial appears to be related to this research, although that’s not entirely clear. Is it related? And, if so, has that trial moved forward? As we noted under “Compare Alternatives,” there are a host of other angina treatments out there. Because they aren’t addressed, it’s not clear what makes this treatment novel. The release tells readers that some “patients with advanced coronary artery disease…frequently have symptoms after having had standard therapies and are left with limited treatment options.” The release also states that CD34+ treatment “is an attractive treatment option” for these patients. But it doesn’t tell readers why. Nor does it mention how CD34+ differs from the other “limited treatment options.” The release also does not establish what makes CD34+ cells attractive as a treatment. It says “because recent studies pointed to the importance of CD34+ cell content in the bone marrow of patients with risk factors for coronary artery disease.” Risk factors do not mean the person will get the disease, nor is there a clear connection between bone marrow and the heart here. This is satisfactory, but barely. The release headline tells readers that this treatment reduces angina frequency for “no option” patients. But it doesn’t clearly describe the treatment, the condition or the extent to which frequency is reduced — and it’s a little unclear as to why these are “no option” patients. The body of the release says that some patients have “limited” options, but not that they have no options. And it doesn’t articulate what those limited options might be. However, the last sentence of the release provides some needed clarity: “The researchers concluded that for ‘no option’ patients with class III/IV angina refractory that was unresponsive to conventional medical therapy and who were not candidates for revascularization, injection of CD34+ cells resulted in persistent improvement in angina at two years post-treatment.”
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29775
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An Indianapolis woman give birth to 17 children at once.
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The record for most surviving children produced in a single pregnancy remains eight, a feat accomplished in 2009 by Nadya Suleman, more commonly known as “Octomom.” (A few instances of the live birth of nine children stemming from a single pregnancy have been recorded, but those children all died shortly afterwards.)
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false
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Junk News, world news daily report
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The tale of a woman named Catherine Bridge, who supposedly “holds the World Record for the most babies in a lone pregnancy by giving birth to 17 babies,” has been making the rounds of social media since 2014: Of course, this account did not originate with any real incident or news report, but with a 20 January 2014 article published by World News Daily Report (WNDR), a notorious purveyor of junk news: USA: MOTHER GIVES BIRTH TO 17 BABIES AT ONCE! An American woman has totally annihilated the former World Record for the most babies in a lone pregnancy by giving birth to seventeen babies over 29 hours last weekend at the Indianapolis Memorial Hospital. Catherine Bridges and her husband had been trying to have a child for many years and had decided last year to use medical assistance from a fertility clinic in Rhodes Island. The insemination process was definitely successful, as the couple got an entire litter of seventeen beautiful and identical boys. The original WNDR article included only the photograph of 17 blue-clothed babies shown above; someone latter embellished the social media version by adding a (manipulated) image of a pregnant woman and a picture of a man sitting on a sofa amidst a multitude of diaper-clad infants.
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8209
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Mexico government urges public to keep distance over coronavirus; president embraces crowds.
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Mexico’s health ministry reported more coronavirus cases on Sunday, urging people to maintain a “healthy distance” to avoid infection, even as the president held rallies in the country, shaking hands with and hugging dozens of people.
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true
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Health News
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In contrast to the United States and much of Central America, Mexico has not imposed significant travel curbs to fight coronavirus, opting for a less intrusive approach. Still, on Saturday, officials at the health ministry began ramping up measures aimed at containment, setting out an initiative known as “Sana Distancia” (Healthy Distance) to encourage the public to avoid infecting each other. The health ministry said the Sana Distancia program would take effect for four weeks starting March 23 as the government brought forward Easter holidays to close schools early. “It’s social distancing, it’s about distance to keep us healthy,” Ricardo Cortes, a health ministry official said in a Sunday evening news conference that announced Mexico’s tally of coronavirus infections had risen to 53 from 41 a day earlier. Meanwhile, leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador kept up his busy schedule of rallies around Mexico at the weekend, touring towns in the southwestern state of Guerrero. Some critics and health experts expressed alarm at the sight of the president hugging supporters and kissing their children on Saturday, arguing he was setting a bad example. On Sunday, Lopez Obrador shook hands with dozens of people at a rally in the town of Marquelia, embracing many others as they reached out to take selfies. Speaking at two rallies, Lopez Obrador made no direct references to the virus as he renewed his attacks on critics, telling the Marquelia crowd the days when his “conservative” opponents could defraud the public and steal were over. “That’s why I have great faith that we will move our beloved Mexico forward; the misfortunes, the pandemics, they won’t do anything to us, forget it,” the president said. Later, in videos posted on Twitter, he praised the beauty of the Pacific beaches, and laughed and joked with local residents.
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8747
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Pelvic disorders common among women: study.
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Nearly one quarter of all U.S. women have some sort of pelvic floor disorder such as urinary or fecal incontinence, and more cases are likely as the population ages, researchers said on Tuesday.
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true
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Health News
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Urinary incontinence or loss of bladder control is by far the most common problem, and childbirth, which can weaken pelvic floor muscles, is the most frequent cause. “What stands out is such a large number of women had symptoms of a moderate-to-severe pelvic floor disorder,” said Dr. Ingrid Nygaard of the University of Utah, whose study appears in Journal of the American Medical Association. “We know many women leak urine once in a blue moon if they are doing strenuous exercise. That such a large number leaks on a regular basis was surprising to see,” she said by telephone. Nygaard’s team studied 1,961 nonpregnant women aged 20 and older who were part of a national health survey in 2005-2006. They were examined for symptoms of urinary and fecal incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, in which an organ such as the bladder drops and pushes against the walls of the vagina. Overall, 23.7 percent of women reported symptoms of at least one pelvic floor disorder. Of these, 15.7 percent had urinary incontinence, 9 percent had fecal incontinence and 2.9 percent had pelvic organ prolapse, in which women reported seeing or feeling a vaginal bulge. Age plays a major role, with just 10 percent of women 20 to 39 reporting at least one disorder, compared with about a quarter of women 40 to 59, 37 percent of women 60 to 79, and nearly half of women 80 and older. Women were considered to have urinary incontinence if they had at least weekly leakage, or monthly leakage of volumes of more than just a few drops. If women with occasional leakage were included, the numbers might be much higher, the researchers said. “The study results underscore the need to identify the causes of pelvic floor disorders and the means to prevent and treat them,” Dr. Duane Alexander, director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said in a statement. Treatments for urinary stress incontinence — the kind linked with laughing, coughing, sneezing or exercise — range from exercises to surgical options. Urge incontinence or overactive bladder can be treated by lifestyle changes and a number of drugs, including tolterodine or Detrol made by Pfizer Inc; Vesicare or solifenacin made by GlaxoSmithKline and Astellas Pharma Inc; and Enablex or darifenacin by Novartis AG.
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36334
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"The word ""homosexual"" was only added to the Bible in 1983, and Leviticus 18:22 originally condemned pederasty (not homosexuality.)"
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Was the Word ‘Homosexual’ Only Added to Leviticus 18:22 in 1983?
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unproven
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Fact Checks, Viral Content
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On June 11 2019 Twitter user @n_robe shared the following tweet, claiming that the word “homosexual” was only added to the Bible in 1983 as a pretext for codifying anti-gay sentiments in Christianity:happy pride month everyone. the word “homosexual” didn’t appear in the Bible until 1983 & the original Leviticus 18:22 verse that thumpers like to toss around said “man shall not lie with young boys as he does with women” referring to pedophiles not gays. the scam of all scams.— nat (@n_robe) June 11, 2019According to the tweet, “the word ‘homosexual’ didn’t appear in the Bible until 1983, replacing a verse stating that “man shall not lie with young boys as he does with women” referred to pedophilia rather than homosexuality. The tweet did not specify which version of the Bible had been changed, what parties were responsible for the changes, or how purported Biblical doctrine was widely changed without notice.Leviticus 18:22 is one of several texts colloquially called “clobber passages” because of their popularity among those wishing to argue against LGBTQ+ inclusivity. The relevant verse is widely referenced as having said in the King James Bible:Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.As of June 17 2019, the tweet accrued nearly 90,000 retweets and over 280,000 likes. In a reply, the original poster linked to a March 2019 interview on ForgeOnline.org, a website created by a self-identified gay Christian seeking answers about faith and sexuality. A brief blurb on the site explains:FORGE IS A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION THAT CREATES SPACE FOR POST-EVANGELICAL CONVERSATIONS, WHICH INCLUDES TOOLS AND RESOURCES FOR LGBTQ+ INCLUSION IN THE CHURCH.In other words, the site’s purpose was facilitating conversations about reconciling tenets of Christianity with topics of LGBTQ+ inclusion. In March 2019, it published an interview with Ed Oxford, an openly gay Christian who discussed his purported findings about Leviticus 18:22 in an interview with Forge:YOU HAVE BEEN PART OF A RESEARCH TEAM THAT IS SEEKING TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE DECISION WAS MADE TO PUT THE WORD HOMOSEXUAL IN THE BIBLE. IS THAT TRUE?Ed: Yes. It first showed up in the RSV translation. So before figuring out why they decided to use that word in the RSV translation (which is outlined in my upcoming book with Kathy Baldock, Forging a Sacred Weapon: How the Bible Became Anti-Gay) I wanted to see how other cultures and translations treated the same verses when they were translated during the Reformation 500 years ago. So I started collecting old Bibles in French, German, Irish, Gaelic, Czechoslovakian, Polish… you name it. Now I’ve got most European major languages that I’ve collected over time. Anyway, I had a German friend come back to town and I asked if he could help me with some passages in one of my German Bibles from the 1800s. So we went to Leviticus 18:22 and he’s translating it for me word for word. In the English where it says “Man shall not lie with man, for it is an abomination,” the German version says “Man shall not lie with young boys as he does with women, for it is an abomination.” I said, “What?! Are you sure?” He said, “Yes!” Then we went to Leviticus 20:13— same thing, “Young boys.” So we went to 1 Corinthians to see how they translated arsenokoitai (original greek word) and instead of homosexuals it said, “Boy molesters will not inherit the kingdom of God.”I then grabbed my facsimile copy of Martin Luther’s original German translation from 1534. My friend is reading through it for me and he says, “Ed, this says the same thing!” They use the word knabenschander. Knaben is boy, schander is molester. This word “boy molesters” carried through the next several centuries of German Bible translations. Knabenschander is also in 1 Timothy 1:10. So the interesting thing is, I asked if they ever changed the word arsenokoitai to homosexual in modern translations. So my friend found it and told me, “The first time homosexual appears in a German translation is 1983.” To me that was a little suspect because of what was happening in culture in the 1970s. Also because the Germans were the ones who created the word homosexual in 1862, they had all the history, research, and understanding to change it if they saw fit; however, they did not change it until 1983. If anyone was going to put the word in the Bible, the Germans should have been the first to do it!In a subsequent portion, Oxford explained that further digging led to a purported selective Bible translation commissioned by a company called Biblica in 1983:As I was talking with my friends I said, “I wonder why not until 1983? Was their influence from America?” So we had our German connection look into it again and it turns out that the company, Biblica, who owns the NIV version, paid for this 1983 German version. Thus it was Americans who paid for it! In 1983 Germany didn’t have enough of a Christian population to warrant the cost of a new Bible translation, because it’s not cheap. So an American company paid for it and influenced the decision, resulting in the word homosexual entering the German Bible for the first time in history. So, I say, I think there is a “gay agenda” after all!The claim that the Bible did not originally condemn homosexuality was not new in 2019. As Oxford referenced, efforts to pin down accurate translations of passages relevant to sexuality have been underway for years, and the same argument appears in a college essay from 2016. An undated PBS Frontline item (archived as early as March 2000) began:In recent years a few adventurous interpreters have boldly claimed that the Bible actually does not oppose homosexuality. Here we are clearly in a different kind of argument, now not over the hermeneutical principles of the application of Scripture but over the directly interpretive task of determining just what Scripture says.A June 2015 New York Times piece contrasted interpretations of verses, including the aforementioned Leviticus 18:22. It featured commentary from two separate theologians on the selected passages:Matthew Vines, an openly gay, evangelical Christian and the author of God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships, has been actively encouraging conservative Christians to re-evaluate their beliefs about homosexuality. He has engaged them in private conversations, in public talks and through the organization he founded, the Reformation Project.He was recently invited by the Rev. Caleb Kaltenbach, lead pastor of Discovery Church in Simi Valley, Calif,, to talk privately with a small group of evangelical leaders to discuss what the Bible says about gay relationships. Mr. Kaltenbach is the author of the forthcoming book Messy Grace, which is about how he reconciles his conservative Christian convictions with his experience as the child of gay parents.In that article, Vines provided a different argument against modern interpretations of Leviticus 18:22 in 2015, holding held that the New Testament amounted to a complete overhaul of the old laws and never applied to Christians in the first place:Christ fulfilled the Old Testament law, and the New Testament teaches that Christians should live under the new covenant rather than the old one. Consequently, this verse has never applied to Christians. For a man to lie with a man “as with a woman” violated the patriarchal gender norms of the ancient world, which is likely why Leviticus prohibited it. But the New Testament casts a vision of God’s kingdom in which the hierarchy between men and women is overcome in Christ. So not only is Leviticus’s prohibition inapplicable to Christians on its own, the rationale behind it doesn’t extend to Christians, either.A separate July 2018 Times editorial, “The Secret History of Leviticus,” also made an entirely different argument against modern interpretations of the verse. In that op-ed, biblical scholar Dr. Idan Dershowitz maintained that a close study of the chapter revealed evidence of revisions:Like many ancient texts, Leviticus was created gradually over a long period and includes the words of more than one writer. Many scholars believe that the section in which Leviticus 18 appears was added by a comparatively late editor, perhaps one who worked more than a century after the oldest material in the book was composed. An earlier edition of Leviticus, then, may have been silent on the matter of sex between men.But I think a stronger claim is warranted. As I argue in an article published in the latest issue of the journal Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel, there is good evidence that an earlier version of the laws in Leviticus 18 permitted sex between men. In addition to having the prohibition against same-sex relations added to it, the earlier text, I believe, was revised in an attempt to obscure any implication that same-sex relations had once been permissible.The chapter’s original character, however, can be uncovered with a little detective work.Dershowitz explained that careful readings of the text suggested that the presence and absence of specific scenarios hinted at revisions:If a later editor of Leviticus opposed homosexual intercourse, you might wonder, wouldn’t it have made more sense for him (and it was probably a him) to leave the original bans on homosexual incest intact?No. The key to understanding this editorial decision is the concept of “the exception proves the rule.” According to this principle, the presence of an exception indicates the existence of a broader rule. For example, a sign declaring an office to be closed on Sundays suggests that the office is open on all other days of the week.Now, apply this principle to Leviticus 18: A law declaring that homosexual incest is prohibited could reasonably be taken to indicate that non-incestuous homosexual intercourse is permitted.The original tweet referenced one argument put forth about Leviticus 18:22 and an allegation that a private company commissioned a new German version in 1983. Theologians have made many claims about that specific passage, among them that no interpretation applies to Christians due to the covenant of the New Testament, and that studying its revisions suggests that the original had been changed. But the issue is far from settled, and the “1983 change” claim is one of many that some scholars embrace in ongoing debate over the genuine meaning of Leviticus 18:22.
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41714
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There will be 50,000 more nurses going into the NHS.
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The government has committed to do this by 2024/25. Not all of these nurses will be ‘new’.
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true
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health
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There will be 50,000 more nurses going into the NHS. The government has committed to do this by 2024/25. Not all of these nurses will be ‘new’. The government have announced the end of hospital parking charges for patients. In December it was announced that hospitals in England will have to provide free car parking to frequent hospital visitors, blue badge holders and at certain times to staff and parents of child patients. The government will build 40 new hospitals. Six hospitals in England are getting the money to upgrade their buildings within the next five years. Up to 38 hospitals are getting money to develop plans for their hospitals between 2025 and 2030, but not to actually begin any building work. The government is putting 20,000 more police on the streets. The government has committed to do this. If this happens it will take the number of police in England and Wales to almost, but not quite the same level as it was at in 2010. The government gave the police much more use of Tasers to help deal with street crime. The Home Office announced police in England and Wales can bid for part of a fund to equip their force with more Tasers. Final funding allocations will be announced in February. The government are lifting the living wage by the biggest ever amount, up to £8.72, and it will go up to £10.50. The national living wage set by the government is set to rise to £8.72 in April, the largest rise since it was put in place in 2016. It was also announced at last year’s Conservative party conference that it would rise to £10.50 within the next five years. Claim 1 of 7
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3394
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Massachusetts high court delays hearing on vaping ban suit.
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Massachusetts’ highest court is holding off hearing arguments in the vaping industry’s challenge of the state’s temporary ban on vapor products.
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true
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Health, Charlie Baker, Massachusetts, Vaping, Public health
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The state Supreme Judicial Court said in an order released Friday that Monday’s planned court hearing in an appeal brought by the Vapor Technology Association will be postponed until further notice. The court is awaiting the results of new vaping regulations the state plans to issue next week before making a decision on the case. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker last week signed into law new restrictions on flavored tobacco and vaping products and promised to rescind the state’s emergency ban of the sale of all vaping products. Baker said the state’s Public Health Council will meet Wednesday to adopt new regulations as part of the new state law, at which point he’ll lift the emergency ban. The ban was imposed in September and set to last until the end of December. Neighboring Rhode Island also has a temporary ban on the sale of flavored vaping products. Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo signed an executive order in September and the health department issued emergency regulations Oct. 4 to implement a four-month ban, with an optional two-month extension. Rhode Island lawmakers have said they’ll address vaping in the next legislative session, which begins in January. Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont of Connecticut is trying to figure out how to regulate vaping, after expressing an interest in banning flavored vaping products. A new law recently took effect in Connecticut that increased the age to 21 for someone to purchase vaping products.
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35093
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Jared Kushner’s brother, Joshua Kushner, owns a company involved in COVID-19 testing.
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What's true: Jared Kushner’s brother, Joshua, is co-founder of the health insurance start-up Oscar, which recently released an online tool to locate COVID-19 testing centers in some areas. At least in the past, Jared Kushner has had a financial interest in Oscar. What's false: Oscar is not involved in the actual process of COVID-19 testing or in the manufacturing of such a test. Oscar created a website — open to the public — that screens users to see if they qualify for a test and then provides a list of testing sites nearby.
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mixture
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Medical, COVID-19
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Compared to the output of most other developed countries, the United States’ ability to test for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has been extremely limited. This reality has led to rumors that President Donald Trump’s administration, or some of its members, have a financial interest in promoting specific tests as opposed to others that would be more widely available or more easily distributed. One claim that has emerged in this vein came from a report by Raw Story that asserted “the Kushner family is trying to cash in on the pandemic that could kill millions of us.” The basis for this claim concerns the health insurance startup Oscar co-founded by Jared Kushner’s brother, Joshua Kushner. Jared Kushner is the son-in-law of and special adviser to Trump. On March 13, 2020, Oscar announced that it would be launching a testing-center locator for COVID-19: Today, Oscar, a tech-driven health insurance company, launched the first testing center locator for COVID-19 in the U.S., featuring more than 100 centers today. It is accessible to the general public and more testing centers are being added every day. However, the details of Oscar’s testing locator have been described incorrectly in several viral social media posts alleging profiteering from the Kushners during the coronavirus pandemic. A well-shared post by a user named “Boston Judy,” for example, asserted that “we didn’t have testing because the Trump family circle wanted to wait till they could make a profit.” Even if this assertion had merit, the actions Oscar took merely help locate unaffiliated testing centers. As an insurance company, Oscar does not manufacture, perform, analyze, or sell any actual COVID-19 test. Further, the test-center locator that Oscar developed is open to the general public and is not limited to people who get insurance through Oscar. Once a user has taken a short survey, the locator will provide the closest locations for testing in areas in which they operate. While the service also acts as a promotion for the company, it can serve as a testing center locator for any interested party. “Boston Judy” later clarified that Oscar was not producing tests, but that the company would get to “bill the feds for evaluating people for COVID and referring them to a testing center if they meet the criteria [for testing].” While the legislation that would allow for such a reimbursement likely will include a fund for covering the cost of these tests, the legislation has not yet been finalized, and it’s unclear that it would really be a windfall for Oscar, either. On March 13, 2020, U.S. House Democrats and the White House reached a deal on a package of legislation that included a requirement that insurance companies cover the full cost of COVID-19 with no cost sharing. As described by the Brookings Institute, this legislation, if and when it is passed by the Senate and signed by the president: Would offer financial support to state governments by temporarily increasing the share of Medicaid spending financed by the federal government, require almost all forms of health insurance to cover COVID-19 testing without cost-sharing, and create mechanisms to pay for COVID-19 testing for uninsured people. In other words, while the government will likely be subsidizing insurance companies like Oscar, they are doing so to cover losses incurred by the requirement for full reimbursement to members. These laws, and the federal reimbursement they would authorize, would apply to any health insurance company in America, not only Oscar. Joshua Kushner co-founded Oscar in 2012. His venture capital firm, Thrive Capital, holds a significant ownership share. According to financial-disclosure forms released by Jared Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, covering the year 2018, the couple owned and received profit from shares of Thrive: This document also appears to assert that the couple divested from Thrive during the 2018 financial year:
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35482
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"Carsyn Leigh Davis died of COVID-19 shortly after attending a ""COVID party"" at her youth church. "
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"What's true: Carsyn Leigh Davis did die of complications from COVID-19 and did, 13 days earlier, attend a large party at her youth church, during which social distancing appears to have been relaxed. What's false: However, it cannot be assumed that Davis contracted COVID-19 at the June 10 church event, which the organizers described as a ""Release Party,"" not a ""COVID party."" The latter description originated from other commentators critical of the church and its purported COVID-19 policies. What's undetermined: It's not clear what rules or guidelines, if any, were implemented or enforced by organizers of the June 10 ""Release Party,"" or what proportion of the young attendees wore masks and observed social distancing."
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mixture
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Medical, COVID-19
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"In July 2020, readers asked us about the circumstances surrounding the passing of Carsyn Leigh Davis, a 17-year-old from Fort Myers, Florida, who died after contracting the COVID-19 coronavirus disease weeks earlier. In particular, readers asked us to examine the accuracy of news reports and online posts that claimed Davis had died 13 days after attending a “COVID party” at her family’s church. The website Raw Story published an article with the headline “Florida Teen Dies After Conspiracy Theorist Mom Takes Her to Church ‘COVID Party’ and Tries to Treat Her With Trump-Approved Drug: Report.” The article went on: “A Florida mother took her high-risk teenage daughter to a ‘COVID party’ at their church, tried treating the girl at home with unproven drugs when she got sick — and then hailed her as a patriot after she died.” The claim that Davis had attended a “COVID party” appears to have originated in a July 5 blog post on the website FloridaCovidVictims.com, which wrote that: “She [Davis] had survived cancer, her mom reported, and was a caring and giving person. She was known for her huge heart and good nature, despite all of her health problems. She had nearly died as a child, but developed a strength and love of life that made everyone around her smile. So then why in God’s name did her mother take her to a ‘COVID Party’ at their church on June 10 to intentionally expose her immuno-compromised daughter to this virus? … On June 10, Carysn’s [sic] mom, Carole, took Carsyn, a 16-year-old girl who was immuno-compromised with a history of health issues (including cancer), to a ‘COVID party’ at her church, where more than 100 children without masks were in attendance.” The “COVID party” claim was subsequently repeated in articles and posts published by Newsweek, the Daily Kos, and Alternet. Davis did die of complications from COVID-19, with several underlying health problems as contributory causes. On June 10, she did attend an event at her local youth church at the First Assembly of God in Fort Myers. However, reports that it was a “COVID party” were inaccurate and based on a gross misrepresentation of real descriptions of the event. An investigations report by the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner Department provided the following account of Davis’ death: 17 year old female with a complex medical history including opsoclonus myoclonus syndrome (resolved at 5 years of age), hypothalamic-pituitary axis dysfunction, precocious puberty, morbid obesity who present [sic] with respiratory failure. The decedent’s mother and father are a nurse and physician’s assistant, respectively. On June 10, the decedent attended a church function with 100 other children. She did not wear a mask. Social distancing was not followed. The parents prophylactically treated her with azithromycin (6/10-6/15). On June 13, she developed frontal headache, sinus pressure, mild cough. The family thought her symptoms were due to a sinus infection. The symptoms persisted. On June 19, the mother noted she looked “gray” while sleeping. She tested the decedent’s O2 saturation and it was in the 40s. The mother borrowed the decedent’s grandfather’s home oxygen (he has COPD) and her O2 saturation rose to the 60s on 5L. The parents gave her a dose of hydroxychloroquine. The parents took her to Gulf Coast Medical Center and she was transferred to Golisano Hospital PICU. On June 19, 2020, she was found to be positive for SARS CoV-2. Her LFTs [liver function tests] were significantly elevated. The parents declined intubation. The decedent received convalescent plasma therapy on June 20 and 21st. On June 22, 2020 the decedent’s condition had not improved and intubation was required. The decedent was intubated. Her cardiorespiratory status continued to decline. On June 22, 2020, despite aggressive therapy and maneuvers, her best O2 saturation was low 70s. The mother requested heroic efforts despite knowing she had low chance of meaningful survival. Preparations were made to perform ECMO [extracorporeal membrane oxygenation] on the decedent. The decedent was transferred from Golisano Hospital to the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital for ECMO. She was transported without incident directly to the cath lab at Nicklaus Children’s for ECMO cannulation. After cannulation she required escalation of inotropic support and vasopressor support. She was transferred to the PICU after the procedure and continued to deteriorate requiring increasing doses of pressors. Chest X-ray was performed and showed severe bilateral infiltrates and subcutaneous emphysema. She developed worsening distributive shock and multiorgan failure. She was to undergo dialysis and plasmapheresis however due to rapid deterioration and inability to bring up oxygen saturation, these interventions were unable to be performed. Echocardiogram was performed and showed no cardiac function, pupils were 5 mm and fixed. She was pronounced dead on 6/23/2020 at 1306. The report specified that Davis’ cause of death was “Complications of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) Pneumonia,” with the following listed as contributory causes: “Hypothalamic-Pituitary Axis Dysfunction, Morbid Obesity, Bronchial Asthma.” It’s not clear how or where Davis contracted COVID-19. According to the medical examiner’s report, she first developed symptoms three days after attending a church event with 100 other children. However, COVID-19 symptoms can take between two and 14 days to appear after exposure, so it cannot be assumed that Davis caught the virus at the June 10 church event. It’s true that Davis’ parents did attempt to treat her illness with azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine, a controversial proposed treatment for COVID-19 that has been touted by President Donald Trump. That aspect of the news reports mentioned above was accurate. However, no evidence has been presented to support the claim that the June 10 church event was billed as a “COVID party,” or was designed as a forum for young people to intentionally or wantonly expose themselves and others to the disease. Rebekah Jones, a data scientist who was fired by the Florida Department of Health after what the department told Snopes was a “a repeated course of insubordination” and “blatant disrespect” for her colleagues, first uncovered the medical examiner’s report on Davis’ death. (Jones has insisted she was fired for refusing to manipulate COVID-19-related data, while the Associated Press reported she had repeatedly made unauthorized public comments on the state’s COVID-19 data-collection methods.) That document was first published on FloridaCovidVictims.com, which is run by Florida Covid Action, an alternative provider of COVID-19 data in Florida, and an initiative by Jones and others. On Twitter, Jones posted what appeared to be a screenshot taken from the Facebook page of First Youth Church at the First Assembly of God in Fort Myers — the Davis family’s church. In a June 10 post, First Youth Church wrote: “Service is back and better than ever! We will be having our Release Party in the gym TONIGHT at 6:45. There will be games, awesome giveaways, free food, a DJ and music, and the start of our new sermon series. AND we’ll be starting Summer Nights afterwords [sic] with karaoke and basketball! We hope to see you there!” Church called their covid party a ""Release Party,"" and hosted hundreds of people, including more than 100 children, often wrote about covid being God's will pic.twitter.com/UrODqAozMX pic.twitter.com/zNvrt9tXOQ — Rebekah Jones aka #Insubordinate #scientist (@GeoRebekah) July 7, 2020 It was Jones, and not the church itself, who described the June 10 event as a “COVID party,” and the screenshot, presented as evidence by Jones, actually undermines her own contention that the event attended by Davis and others was a “COVID party.” The FloridaCovidVictims.com blog post was especially misleading, because it placed quotation marks around the phrase “COVID party,” falsely indicating that that description originated with the organizers themselves. On July 7, in response to the news reports mentioned above, the First Assembly of God posted a strongly worded news release on Facebook, firmly rejecting claims that the church had hosted a “COVID party”: “Over the past 24 hours First Assembly of God of Fort Myers has been accused of hosting ‘COVID-19 parties.’ Nothing could be farther from the truth. First Assembly of God of Fort Myers is following all of the health protections and protocols recommended by the state and local government with regard to holding its church services. Let us be clear — media reports and postings accusing the church of ignoring protocols or actively engaging in behavior intended to expose our congregation to the virus are absolutely false and defamatory.” The statement added that claims of a “COVID party” were “based upon irresponsible speculation and inaccurate information.”"
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36471
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Luke Perry died of a stroke after receiving a pneumonia vaccine.
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Did Luke Perry Die After a Pneumonia Vaccine?
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false
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Disinformation, Fact Checks
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Actor Luke Perry died following a stroke on March 4 2019. That same day, a screenshot (archived here) suggesting Perry had received a pneumonia vaccine just before his stroke appeared and quickly began circulating:The post, captioned “In case someone was wondering!”, displayed what appeared at first glance to be an article reporting Perry was hospitalized due to a vaccine-related illness. The highlighted portion read:Luke Perry suffers a massive stroke and is recovering in the hospital | MyFox8 |4 days ago [-] LOS ANGELES — Actor Luke Perry suffered a massive stroke … legend, hospitalized after pneumonia vaccination.The original search string was visible in the post: “Luke Perry stroke pneumonia vaccination.” (The last word, “vaccination,” was cut off.) In an attempt to retrieve the same result, we searched: “Luke Perry MyFox8 pneumonia vaccination.” Our returned result was slightly different:Perry was indisputably a “heartthrob” and had been since he was first introduced to teenagers in 1991 as the intriguingly troubled Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills 90210. Memes circulating on the day he died said things to the effect of “check on your female friends who were teenagers in the 1990s, because they are not okay today.” But a bodybuilder?We clicked on the same article seen in both the poster and our own search results, a MyFox8 (WGHP) article published on February 28 2019 and titled “Luke Perry suffers a massive stroke and is recovering in the hospital.” Nowhere in the body of that article did it mention bodybuilding or a vaccine:LOS ANGELES — Actor Luke Perry suffered a massive stroke on Wednesday and is recovering in the hospital, according to TMZ.Emergency responders were called to his home Wednesday morning in the Los Angeles area and he was taken to a nearby hospital.Authorities have not released a current condition of the 52-year-old actor who starred in Beverly Hills, 90210.”But by using a little-known fact-checking tool (which we like to call “Ctrl+F”), we did uncover the words “bodybuilder” and “pneumonia vaccine.” They were attached to an unrelated article about Lou Ferrigno from December 2018:Nothing can stop Hulk!Lou Ferrigno is out of the hospital after a vaccine shot for pneumonia left fluid in his bicep. [In December 2018], the star of the late 1970s TV series “The Incredible Hulk” posted a photo on Twitter of himself wearing a green hospital gown with an IV in his arm.“Went in for a pneumonia shot and landed up here with fluid in my bicep,” Ferrigno tweeted. However, he said he’d be OK.In a follow-up post [that month], he told fans that he was out of the hospital in time to make it to an event where he posed for pictures with actor Dolph Lundgren.Representatives did not immediately respond to a request for additional details.According to the piece, Ferrigno was given a pneumonia vaccine and was subsequently (but briefly) hospitalized for “fluid in his bicep.” Perry was not reported to have received a pneumonia vaccine, as the post inaccurately and misleadingly suggested. We were unable to locate any evidence anywhere that Perry had received a vaccine immediately before the stroke that led to his death.It remains uncertain whether the original poster deliberately intended to be misleading when claiming that Luke Perry suffered a stroke and died after he was vaccinated for pneumonia. It’s not clear why they searched for those terms, but the search result they displayed occurred when a search engine generated a page featuring both terms. WGHP covered Ferrigno’s illness in December 2018 and Perry’s ultimately fatal stroke in February 2019, leading to a preview that inadvertently combined two unrelated articles about two different people.
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10291
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Melatonin reduces blood pressure and tunes up disrupted circadian rhythms in the elderly
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In a small study of nearly 100 residents of a facility for the elderly, Russian researchers found that low doses of melatonin every night for two weeks reduced participants’ blood pressure levels and rendered circadian rhythms “less irregular.” While the study, albeit modest in size, has both strengths and weaknesses (for example, it utilized a control group but did not appear to “blind” the researchers to treatment/nontreatment conditions), the findings reflect patterns that have been well established by researchers over the years concerning melatonin and circadian rhythms. We’re concerned that the release doesn’t point out the serious complications that can arise when taking melatonin with other drugs, particularly since the elderly are the most likely to be on multiple medications, including drugs for high blood pressure. Among the frustrations of aging is increased difficulty sleeping, driven in part by fluctuations in blood pressure levels. This small, brief study does not establish whether melatonin is of value in treating either insomnia or fluctuating blood pressure. It is unclear whether the physiologic changes observed in this short study will translate to any patient-level outcomes that matter.
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false
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Academic medical center news release,cardiovascular disease
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The release doesn’t mention cost. Melatonin is widely available over-the-counter and a range of costs should be reported. According to GoodRX, a bottle of 100 1mg melatonin tablets cost around $7. (We acknowledge that the study was conducted in a country that has a different health system including different price supports. But since the news release is aimed at a U.S. audience, the cost criteria — as well as availability and alternatives that apply in the US but not elsewhere — are fair game.) The release provides the absolute decrease in BP that was achieved in 63 participants. However, the way the benefit was quantified may not be useful to readers. The statement: “Nighttime and morning BP decreased more profoundly on average -8/3.5 mm Hg for SDP/DBP, respectively” may be too technical for most readers. There is clearly a downside to any supplement use, particularly in older people who may already be on multiple interacting medications. Although melatonin is probably safe for many adults, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center, a physician should be consulted before taking melatonin if you’re already taking medications for high blood pressure, antidepressants and blood thinners, among others. A Web MD article states that melatonin can worsen symptoms in those suffering from bleeding disorders, diabetes, and seizures, and, perversely, may increase blood pressure levels in individuals taking medication to control those levels. Given the availability of melatonin supplements, ignoring the downsides for individuals with these common health problems is significant. Although the news release offers some details about the study design, including the length of the study and the dose of melatonin used, it offers no information about the limitations of the study. Fewer than 100 individuals were involved, and these seniors all resided in the same facility in Russia. Three weeks is a relatively short time period, making longer term predictions difficult. And it appears that the researchers knew who was getting melatonin and who was not (in the case of the control group) and, among those receiving the supplement, when they received it and when they did not. These are limiting factors that detract from the evidence. The news release is correct to note that circadian rhythms in the elderly get disrupted and can make getting a good night’s sleep more challenging. But should we regard this process as an illness requiring treatment? Those with hypertension should certainly care, but it is not clear that waking up more often during a night qualifies as a medical problem for many older individuals. We found this quote a bit troubling: “The older we get, the more likely our circadian rhythms are disrupted. For example, blood pressure (BP), not only tends to increase but as well become more irregular. Luckily, as we show in our research, melatonin helps to ameliorate both trends.” This ‘process’ of blood pressure variability may in fact be normal physiology and is not necessarily the culprit for poor sleep. The release is written as if the lead researchers wrote it themselves since the text contains no citations to sources but does offer the occasional second-person pronoun (“we”). The text contains no references to funding sources or possible conflicts of interest. The only mention of alternatives occurs in the last sentence, which mentions “basic medication” for hypertension sufferers and offers up circadian pacemakers as “a new strategy in the treatment of hypertension.” There are established treatments for people with hypertension and for those with insomnia. The former may range from changes in diet and the addition of exercise to a variety of medications to manage blood pressure. When insomnia becomes a regular occurrence, some people get help from behavioral changes (including diet, exercise and stress reduction) or a variety of prescription or over-the-counter sleep aids that are available. Melatonin supplements are available almost everywhere. The news release doesn’t make a claim to novelty, but then it shouldn’t as this study doesn’t appear to offer anything new. Melatonin’s main job in the body is to regulate night and day cycles or sleep-wake cycles. Many researchers have explored the effects of melatonin supplements, and one 2010 review noted that its use was well established “especially” for sleep disorders, including those related to aging. Much research has also determined that melatonin reduces night-time blood pressure levels in those with hypertension. The news release concludes with cheerleading on behalf of melatonin use. The claim that “melatonin can be of great value” for older folks with hypertension is more than a stretch based on the limited evidence.
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24814
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"The Rev. Rick Warren ""has called Christians who advance a social gospel Marxists."
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Group says Warren called some Christians Marxist
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false
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National, Religion, People for the American Way,
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"President-elect Obama's selection of evangelical Rev. Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration drew sharp rebuke from some of Obama's liberal supporters due to Warren's hard line against abortion and gay marriage. Warren, senior pastor of the evangelical Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of the bestselling The Purpose Driven Life , is viewed in many circles as a social moderate, but he is on the outs with many liberal groups due to his outspoken support for California's recently passed Proposition 8, which amended the state constitution to ban same-sex marriages. Among the groups that expressed ""grave disappointment"" over Obama's inclusion of Warren at the inauguration was People for the American Way, a liberal advocacy group. In a news release issued on Dec. 17, the organization warned that despite an ""affable personality and his church's engagement on issues like AIDS in Africa,"" Warren has ""promoted legalized discrimination and denigrated the lives and relationships of millions of Americans."" The organization attributes several recent statements to Warren to back its contention that Warren is more of an extremist than many people know. ""He has recently compared marriage by loving and committed same-sex couples to incest and pedophilia,"" the release states. And, ""He has called Christians who advance a social gospel Marxists."" We looked at the contention that Warren ""has recently compared marriage by loving and committed same-sex couples to incest and pedophilia"" when U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., made similar comments (see PolitiFact statement ""Warren on gay marriage and incest""). Here, we'll look at the claim that Warren ""has called Christians who advance a social gospel Marxists."" The statements come from an interview of Warren in mid December by Beliefnet editor in chief Steven Waldman. In the interview, Warren sought to provide historical perspective for the split between main-line Protestants and evangelicals a century ago. As with the incest comment, the Warren comments in question come in the middle of a fairly long quote to make a larger point, so bear with the lengthy excerpt, because we think context is critical. ""Along about the beginning of the 20th century there were some Protestant theologians who started using the term 'social gospel,' "" Warren said. ""And what they meant by that was, 'We don't really need to care about Jesus' personal salvation any more. We don't really have to care about redemption, the cross, repentance. All we need to do is redeem the social structures of society and if we make those social structures better, the world will become a better place.' Really, in many ways, it was just Marxism in Christian clothing. And it was in vogue at the time. If we redeem society then man will automatically get better. It didn't deal with the heart. And so they said, we don't need this personal religion stuff. So Protestants split into two wings. The main-line Protestants — Methodists, Episcopalians and Presbyterians — said, ‘We're going to take the body, and we're going to care about poverty and disease and charity and social justice and racial justice. And the evangelicals and fundamentalists ... said ‘We're going to take the soul and we're going to care about personal morality and pornography and protecting the family and personal moral issues and personal salvation.' Who's right? Well, in my opinion, they're both right. And part of my desire as a leader is to bring these two wings back together."" Warren did liken the social agenda of some early 20th century Protestant theologians to ""Marxism in Christian clothing."" But Warren is referring to the ideas and agendas of theologians at a time when socialism and Marxism were part of the national dialogue. To put Warren's comment in the present tense — saying Warren ""has called Christians who advance a social gospel Marxists"" — is a serious distortion of his comment. And we note that Warren concludes his thoughts by saying he believes both positions are right, and that he'd like to bring both wings together."
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4786
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Child advocate sees lack of oversight at youth treatment hub.
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New Hampshire’s only residential treatment center for teens struggling with addiction operated with an apparent lack of oversight before it was shutdown earlier this month, the director of a state watchdog office said Tuesday.
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true
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Health, New Hampshire, General News, Child welfare
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Moira O’Neill, director of the Office of the Child Advocate, said the center operated by Granite Pathways was unusual in that it was licensed by the Department of Health and Human Services but was not certified by the division that oversees child welfare. While that’s not a requirement because the Division for Children, Youth and Families didn’t directly place children at the facility, without that certification, it is unclear who had oversight over quality and safety, O’Neill said. “We have issues with the extent of oversight DCYF provides to certified agencies, but at a bare minimum, they know who’s there, they re-certify them every two years, they provide technical assistance. There’s some expectation that someone has an idea of what’s going on in the program,” she said in an interview. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu and the health department announced on Nov. 27 the state was canceling its contract with Granite Pathways, which had been operating the 36-bed facility in Manchester for just over a year. A summary report released by the department Monday said that in a span of less than two weeks, four of the 10 residents were taken to hospitals after taking drugs one of them smuggled in, a fifth took multiple doses of prescription medication in an apparent suicide attempt and a sixth drank a bottle of hand sanitizer. The remaining residents have since been transferred, and the contract officially ends Dec. 27. Some of the residents at the center were known to the child welfare agency, said O’Neill, who has been reviewing their records. “In our preliminary review, we found that there were children who were placed there who have really complicated needs, and we don’t know if that program had the capacity to serve those needs,” she said. O’Neill said she sent the Department of Health and Human Services a list of questions in late November about what the facility knew about the children, its capacity to meet their needs and how the program was supervised. As of Tuesday, she had not received answers. “If we are going to understand the circumstances that prompted seven ambulance transports, we must understand how those children came to be at the facility and what transpired in assessing and treating them,” she said. Jake Leon, spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said the department agrees with O’Neill that it is important to ensure that children get the services they need. He said the department has addressed and continues to address similar questions, but responses must remain confidential to protect clients’ privacy. “DHHS monitored Granite Pathways’ compliance with its contractual obligations and is still compiling information regarding the organization’s noncompliance. There is also an ongoing investigation by DCYF that must be kept confidential,” he said in an email. Patrica Reed, state director at Granite Pathways, said the nonprofit’s leaders and board of directors were still reviewing the health department’s report. “The end of this contract does not end Granite Pathways’ commitment to its mission of supporting individuals with substance use disorders and mental illness in achieving their life goals as valued members of their communities,” she said in a statement. But the trouble at the youth treatment center has raised questions about the state’s approach to funding substance abuse treatment in general and Granite Pathways in particular. Since 2016, it has been a subsidiary of The Fedcap Group, a New York-based nonprofit that focuses on helping people overcome barriers to economic well-being through workforce development, education, occupational health and economic development. With close to $300 million in annual revenue, the parent organization has government contracts in 22 states, and its acquisitions include Easterseals programs New York, Rhode Island and parts of Texas. In New Hampshire, Granite Pathways was a year into a four-year, $15.6 million contract for the youth treatment center. According to the state expenditure register, the organization has been paid $4.1 million since 2012, including just under $900,000 in the current fiscal year. Under the hub-and-spoke system the state launched this year to connect people to opioid addiction resources, Granite Pathways was awarded $5 million in federal funding over multiple years to run the two largest hubs, in Manchester and Nashua. Contracts are approved by the five-member Executive Council, and at least one member has expressed concern about Granite Pathways in the past. In June, when the council approved a $345,000 contract related to treatment for adolescents, Councilor Andru Volinsky noted that the organization already was running the opioid response hubs and called for “continued vigilance” to ensure it could keep up with all its responsibilities. “We’ve had, in particular when trying to quickly build out our substance abuse response, a number of instances where the financial management of private nonprofits was not strong. We haven’t really had strong capacity to oversee that at DHHS,” he said in a recent interview. “My concern at the time of this Granite Pathways contract was that we were again placing what I think are state responsibilities onto a private contractor, and we still haven’t built an infrastructure to oversee those private contractors.” Volinsky, a Democrat, said he doesn’t know whether the state should build out its own capacity to respond to the substance abuse crisis, or whether it’s enough to rely on outside groups and closely monitor them. “I could legitimately understand the arguments either way,” he said. “But to almost blithely continue to invest in outside agencies without oversight doesn’t make sense.” In announcing the closing of the youth treatment center, officials said the state is taking 30 days to review all of its contracts with Granite Pathways and may take further action. The health department also has increased its oversight of substance use disorder treatment centers in the last year after one of the largest facilities closed. Those efforts have included financial audits and the appointment of a new director at the Office of Program Integrity.
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9588
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You Could Skip Your Colonoscopy If You’re Willing To Collect Your Poop
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This story points out that, based on available data, two at-home screening tests appear to be equally effective compared to the more traditional, and more invasive, sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy. We have only minor quibbles with the story–overall, it provided an excellent assessment of the at-home test options, particularly the fecal immunochemical test. However, for any story about screening methods, particularly blood tests, we think it’s important to include the risks of false-positive and false-negative results, which carry harm. The story didn’t go there. Given that the public has reservations about aspects of the invasive screening methods, information suggesting that they might be adequately replaced by non-invasive approaches is important to the public’s health. All too often, colonoscopy is promoted as the “gold standard” and no mention is made of effective alternatives. This news story does a good job explaining options, and also explores the reasons why so many Americans think that screening with colonoscopy is the best way to be screened for colon cancer and why that attitude is not supported by the evidence and may (in rare cases) be much worse than non-invasive screening methods.
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true
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colon cancer,uspstf
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We’ll give this story a Satisfactory rating in this category since it does mention the $1,000 cost of a colonoscopy and that one of the two at-home screening tests costs about $25. But readers would benefit more by knowing the average costs of the two alternatives, rather than just the cost of one. This story focuses on the available methods of colorectal screening, comparing them based on available data, and points out that the two at-home screening kits are comparably effective to the two invasive procedures: sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy. One of the at-home tests — the FIT, or fecal immunochemical test — when used, is estimated to prevent 20-23 deaths per thousand people screened, while estimates among those using colonoscopy suggest 22-24 deaths are prevented per thousand people screened. The story is clear in saying that there has been no head-to-head comparative study pitting the techniques against each other. The story gets a Satisfactory rating here since it does mention that with colonoscopy, there’s “a small but real risk of harm, such as a perforation” from the screening test. But, as with all screening methods, there is the possibility of false positives or false negatives with the at-home tests which could produce either false confidence or needless worry, not insignificant issues. We would have liked the story even better had it mentioned these factors. The story is quite open with the fact that comparative data assessing the various screening methods against each other are not available, but it strengthens its offerings by citing recommendations from both the US Preventive Services Task Force and the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care. The recommendations of these independent groups are based on a rigorous evaluation of the highest-quality evidence available. Colon cancer is the second-leading form of cancer-related death in the country; the story does not disease monger. The story quotes three independent sources for information and the recommendations of agencies from two different governments. There is no suggestion that in a story offering a selection of screening techniques, with no one preferred above another, that there is any issue with conflicts of interest. Since this story is totally about the available alternatives for colorectal cancer screening, it easily gets a Satisfactory rating. Both colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy have been available for years and the at-home screening tests mentioned in the story are said to be available through a patient’s doctor’s office. These details establish the methods’ availability. It also quotes one source as recommending against the use of over-the-counter home screening tests for this disease. The story notes that what’s novel here is that the U.S. Preventive Task Force recently finalized their guidelines on colon cancer screening. There is no indication that this story relied on a news release.
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11384
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Report Questions Need for 2 Diet Supplements
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In one particularly effective passage, the story quoted a representative of a supplement industry group who disagreed with the report, saying that higher levels of vitamin D could be beneficial. But it then segued immediately into an explanation of why claims from supplementation advocates “are not supported by the available evidence.” The key problem, as the story points out, is that these claims are based almost exclusively on observational studies that can’t prove cause and effect and are often skewed by factors the researchers haven’t accounted for. Proponents of supplementation also have tended to downplay the possibility that higher doses of vitamin D and calcium might cause harm–a stance which the story notes may not be justified. We applaud this story’s effort to show readers where the weight of the evidence lies on this issue. Vitamin D is the latest in a long line of “miracle” nutrients that people have turned to in the hope of improving their health. As we’ve learned from copious previous experience, these supplements rarely work as advertised and can sometimes cause harm at the higher doses people often think will be beneficial for them. More isn’t necessarily better when it comes to vitamin D–or most other health care interventions for that matter.
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true
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New York Times,Supplements
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Most people know roughly what a bottle of vitamin D supplements might cost them, so the lack of information on cost is not a significant gap. We appreciate that the story provided data showing the large and growing amount our society is spending on vitamin D supplements ($430 million in 2009), with apparently little health benefit to show for it. The story was mostly concerned with discussing the lack of benefit from taking extra vitamin D and calcium. And in this area it excels. While the story does lack precision when it suggests that adolescent girls should be getting more calcium (it never specifies how much they are getting now, how much more they’d need to meet the recommendations, or what benefits they might expect from this increased intake), it would be difficult for a journalist to come up with any sort of quantifiable benefit or harm estimate from the IOM report. The story captured the overall gist of the problem, which is that the evidence base is complex and still inadequate. The story notes that, contrary to the claims of many advocates for increased supplemental vitamin D, there is evidence that high levels of vitamin D may have adverse effects, such as increased risk for fractures and an increase in the overall death rate. The story also explained that too much calcium has been linked to increased risk of kidney stones and, more tentatively, heart disease. The story did a good job of describing how the expert committee conducted its review and what evidence they found. Importantly, it noted that claims of benefit from extra vitamin D are based on observational studies that most scientists agree “cannot determine cause and effect.” We also like that the story solicited opinions from a variety of experts with no obvious stake in the controversy. This produced a number of quotes that emphasized the need for restraint when interpreting the research on vitamin D. Examples: “I think this report will make people more cautious” and “The onus is on the people who propose extra calcium and vitamin D to show it is safe before they push it on people.” Although we agree with the story’s skeptical overall message, we think it may have slammed the door just a bit too hard on the possibility of benefit from supplemental vitamin D. While claims of benefit may not be supported by the currently available evidence, they have not been conclusively disproved in randomized controlled studies, either. In fact, research is now underway to determine whether the benefits found in observational studies of vitamin D can be replicated in more rigorously designed trials. The story probably should have mentioned this research, and left the door to potential benefits open just a crack. No disease-mongering here. The diversity of independent voices included in this story is a real strength. Although it solicits the obligatory comment from a supplement industry spokesman, it didn’t go out of its way to find any of the more widely known vitamin D experts, some of whom have been issuing recommendations that are untenable based on current evidence. The enthusiasm of some of these researchers might be explained by their significant career and financial interests in promoting vitamin D. Not applicable for this story. The approaches discussed are not new, and there’s not really any alternative to getting adequate amounts of these essential nutrients. The availability of vitamin D from diet, sunlight and supplements is clear from the story. The novelty of vitamin D and calcium is not really in question, so we’ll call this not applicable. This story was not based on a news release.
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10321
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Chicken Collagen Tested As Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment
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This is a story reporting on a study comparing oral dosing with chicken collagen (daily) to methotrexate (weekly) for symptom relief for people with rheumatoid arthritis. While doing a good job reporting about the study, the story did not clearly explain the nature (beyond mentioned that they were ‘standard measures’) or extent of the benefits observed. People with arthritis would want to know what was actually measured. Also, the story discussed availability of chicken collagen as a nutritional supplement but didn’t explain if that is similar to the stuff used in the study. This is an important area for research because the standard treatments for rheumatoid arthritis are associated with substantial toxicity, and in the case of methotrexate, are unsafe in pregnancy. That is a particular problem because RA often is diagnosed in younger people and is more common in women.
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mixture
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"The story provided information about the costs of both methotrexate and chicken collagen. Although the story presented quantitative information about the benefit observed for the chicken collagen and methotrexate groups, it didn’t fully explain the nature of the ‘benefit’ it was reporting on. In this case, it was the percentage of individuals in each group who demonstrated 20% improvement in the American College of Rheumatology response criteria. Absolute improvements in scores for the two treatment could have been reported. The story mentioned that the methotrexate group had more gastrointestinal discomfort. However there was no comment about possible observed specific harms with the chicken collagen. The story included sufficient detail about that study it reported on. The criticism about some of the benefit observed possibly being the results of a placebo effect is germane not only to that improvement seen for those taking chicken collagen but those taking methotrexate as well. The story did not engage in overt disease mongering. Perhaps a brief comment on the prevalence and morbidity associated with rheumatoid arthritis would have been useful for understanding why the study results may be of interest. No comments from independent sources. The story indicated that the study authors reported no conflicts of interest. But it wasn’t evident that anyone was interviewed for this story. The study itself compared chicken collagen with methotrexate, which is an older treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. But the story did not include mention of any of the disease modifying therapies that are increasingly popular. The story provided availability information about both methotrexate and chicken collagen. However -while mentioning that chicken collagen was available as nutritional supplement in the US, not a drug – the story could have mentioned that there is no oversight to ensure that such a ""nutritional supplement"" actually contains what is indicated on the label. It might have also indicated that the chicken collagen used in this study was prepared in the laboratory of the study investigators. The idea of using oral dosing with collagen as a means of managing or treating rheumatoid arthritis is not quite as new and potentially exciting as the story seemed to suggest. There have been a scattering of research studies published over the past 8 or 9 years which have looked at this question. We can’t be sure of the extent to which the story may have relied on a news release."
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40945
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Italy has become the first country in the world to conduct a post-mortem on a Covid-19 patient.
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Incorrect. China performed autopsies on Covid-19 patients before Italy had its first Covid-19 death.
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false
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online
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Italy has concluded Covid-19 is not a virus, and people are actually dying of amplified global 5G electromagnetic radiation poisoning. Italy disobeyed world health law from the WHO saying not to carry out autopsies on Covid-19 patients. The WHO never said autopsies couldn’t take place. Italy has found that Covid-19 is actually disseminated intravascular coagulation (thrombosis). The way to cure this is antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and anticoagulants. Antibiotics do not directly treat Covid-19, which is caused by a virus. The anti-inflammatory ibuprofen is being trialled for use against Covid-19 and an anticoagulant has been used in some Covid-19 cases. Aspirin is not a specific cure. Covid-19 is not a virus, but a bacterium being amplified by 5G which causes inflammation and hypoxia. Covid-19 patients can get secondary infections from bacteria. Hypoxia and types of inflammation can be symptoms of Covid-19. There’s no proof Covid-19 is in any way related to 5G. People with Covid-19 should take aspirin 100mg and Apronax or paracetamol. Trials into both of these drugs’ effectiveness in treating Covid-19 are ongoing, but haven’t concluded yet. Paracetamol can ease symptoms but isn’t a specific treatment. Covid-19 clots the blood causing thrombosis, stopping blood flow and oxygenating the heart and lungs. Severe Covid-19 can cause blood clotting problems and issues like this have been seen in Covid-19 patients, but this is not the only thing that can be fatal in patients. In a day, Italy sent home more than 14,000 patients after treating them with Aspirin and Apronax. The Italian Medicines Agency doesn’t mention aspirin or apronax in its list drugs used to treat Covid-19 outside of clinical trials. And there’s no record of a day when 14,000 people were sent home from hospital in Italy. There is an order to incinerate or immediately bury Covid-19 bodies without autopsy. There is no such order. Claim 1 of 10
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16898
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Congressman Duffy has long record of voting against VA backlog fixes.
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"The DCCC said ""Congressman Duffy has long record of voting against VA backlog fixes."" The DCCC points to some votes that went against funding certain veterans’ services or addressing the backlog. However, the DCCC ignores that Duffy took other votes in favor of increasing funding for veterans’ services -- just not as much as Democratic proposals would have offered. The bigger issue is that most of these votes came within elaborate games of tit-for-tat, in which each side offers proposals that they expect will fail, just to get lawmakers on the other side to take votes that look superficially bad. The reality of Duffy’s voting record is much more nuanced than the DCCC’s cherry-picked account would suggest. This, combined with the ""A-minus"" rating he's received from a veterans' advocacy group, undercut the DCCC's claim that he has a ""long"" voting record of voting against the interests of veterans."
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false
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Veterans, Wisconsin, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee,
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"As President Barack Obama faced attacks over long waits for appointments at Veterans Administration health centers, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee -- the House Democrats’ campaign arm -- engaged in some finger-pointing. The DCCC sent out a news release claiming that U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) -- and other Republicans -- voted against fixing the VA backlog. Here is part of the June 2, 2014 news release, which was headlined ""Congressman Duffy has long record of voting against VA backlog fixes."" ""As House Republicans shamelessly try to score political points over the crisis in veterans care, Congressman Sean Duffy’s votes tell the true story of his record: when he had a chance to fix this problem, he voted against the fixes."" The release went on to quote DCCC spokesman Josh Schwerin saying, ""It’s a shame that when Congressman Duffy had a chance to do something to help shorten the wait time at the VA he voted no. Congressman Duffy voted against a commonsense solution to this problem and our heroes deserve better."" PolitiFact National rated a similar DCCC claim against U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami and rated it . (The DCCC issued a series of virtually identical news releases) Leaning heavily on PolitiFact National’s work, here is a look at how the claim fares when used against Duffy. VA backlog In the item on Ros-Lehtinen, PolitiFact reporter Amy Sherman wrote: We should start by distinguishing between two related, but separate, issues relating to veterans. One concerns longstanding problems with handling benefits claims from veterans, including disability compensation, pensions, and compensation for surviving spouses or children of veterans who die as a result of their service. The other concerns long waits for service at VA hospitals. On the first issue -- benefits -- the backlog refers to requests that go unaddressed by the government for at least 125 days. PolitiFact found that the backlog nearly doubled from roughly 36 percent in the summer 2010 to 65 percent in June 2012. In April 2014, the Obama administration released numbers suggesting the backlog was shrinking, but veterans groups said they had serious doubts about the numbers. The second issue -- the wait for health care -- stemmed from news reports that revealed secret waiting lists at VA hospitals, and that some veterans died while awaiting care. This is what ultimately led to the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki on May 30. The DCCC essentially conflates the two issues in the quest to highlight any vote that portrays Duffy as voting against veterans’ interests. Of course, political groups tend to cherry-pick the records of their opponent. As the Ros-Lehtinen item noted: It’s possible to dig up a vote made by virtually any member of Congress of either party and claim that the politician is for -- or against -- anything, including veterans benefits. So, just as the Democrats were able to find some votes in which Duffy voted against a service for veterans, there are other votes which he voted for veterans’ services. Many of the votes that the DCCC cited were procedural moves or one particular vote out of a series of votes. In most of the instances, the votes broke down overwhelmingly on party lines, with Duffy joining his Republican colleagues. That said, let’s start with the votes that are directly about the backlog: The votes • Veterans Backlog Reduction Act: A bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. William Enyart, D-Ill., ordered the VA to provisionally pay any disability claim if the VA didn’t respond within 125 days. Enyart introduced the bill in April 2013 and it was referred to the House committee on Veterans Affairs. It never received a vote. The DCCC said Duffy voted against considering that bill by pointing to a vote on the ""previous question"" -- a parliamentary move to force a vote. During a debate about a higher education bill, Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y. stated ""if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to the rule that will allow the House to vote on the Veterans Backlog Reduction Act."" Enyart then explained his veterans’ bill and urged a ""no"" vote. His fellow Democrats complied and all voted ""no"" while the Republicans voted ""yes,"" which defeated his effort. Something the DCCC omitted is that in October 2013, Duffy had voted to establish a commission or task force to evaluate the backlog of disability claims of the Department of Veterans Affairs. That measure passed, 404-1. • Increasing funds to reduce the backlog in disability claims: The DCCC said Duffy voted no, along with nearly every Republican, on a motion that would have added $9.2 million to hire an additional 94 VA claims processors tasked with reducing the disability claims backlog. The June 2013 motion was a ""motion to recommit"" on an appropriations bill to fund military construction and veterans affairs. A ""motion to recommit"" in the House refers to a last-ditch attempt by the minority party to amend a bill before it passes. Left unsaid: The overall bill, which did pass, provided money to address the backlog, just not as much as Democrats proposed. • Mental health funds: On June 2, 2011, Congress agreed in a voice vote to set aside $20 million for suicide prevention for veterans. On June 14, 2011, Duffy voted against a Democratic motion to recommit that would add $20 million for veterans’ suicide prevention. The GOP argued that such services were already funded, and the motion failed. Duffy, along with nearly every member of Congress, voted for the overall bill, which increased money for the military. The bill included an additional $20 million for suicide prevention outreach, according to Congressional Quarterly. • Medical and prosthetic research: In May 2012, Duffy joined all but three Republicans in voting against a motion to recommit that would have increased funding for veterans’ medical and prosthetic research by $28.3 million. Here too, Duffy joined the overwhelming majority in passing the overall bill. The bill provided a $1.7 million increase for medical, rehabilitative, health services and prosthetic research -- an amount equal to the Obama administration’s request, according to CQ. The DCCC also cited votes Duffy took leading up to the October 2013 federal shutdown. In August, he voted for a House Republican ""continuing resolution"" -- a stopgap funding bill -- that the Associated Press reported would ""likely result"" in the shutdown of the federal government. The bill passed 230-189. The shutdown led to a delay in death benefits for veterans among other delayed services, the Washington Post reported. DCCC also cited a pair of votes Duffy took in September, including one on a motion to commit to H.J. Res. 59, to make continuing appropriations that would have ensured veterans benefits wouldn’t be delayed during a shutdown. All but one Republican voted ""no."" However, left out of the DCCC’s account is that Duffy voted for in favor of H.J. Res. 72, the ""Veterans Benefits Continuing Appropriations Resolution"" -- a mini-funding resolution favored by House Republicans to reopen slices of the government. The measure passed the House with unanimous Republican support and overwhelming Democratic opposition. (Showing how both sides play this game, the RNC plucked out that vote to attack DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a claim we rated .) Democrats also cited multiple other votes including a few that related to housing for veterans but Republicans could point to other votes on bills that did provide housing assistance. Veterans’ group report card Meanwhile, we found a veterans’ organization that issue voting ""report cards"" for members of Congress: The American Veterans (Amvets) gave Duffy an A-minus in 2013, based on eight pieces of legislation. In response to questions from PolitiFact National, DCCC spokeswoman Emily Bittner said, ""These Republicans’ votes speak for themselves. Taken in their totality, they show an unfortunate pattern of refusing to cross party lines and vote for commonsense fixes to the problems at the VA."" However, we don't think the votes chosen show the ""totality"" of Duffy’s record. Our rating The DCCC said ""Congressman Duffy has long record of voting against VA backlog fixes."" The DCCC points to some votes that went against funding certain veterans’ services or addressing the backlog. However, the DCCC ignores that Duffy took other votes in favor of increasing funding for veterans’ services -- just not as much as Democratic proposals would have offered. The bigger issue is that most of these votes came within elaborate games of tit-for-tat, in which each side offers proposals that they expect will fail, just to get lawmakers on the other side to take votes that look superficially bad. The reality of Duffy’s voting record is much more nuanced than the DCCC’s cherry-picked account would suggest. This, combined with the ""A-minus"" rating he's received from a veterans' advocacy group, undercut the DCCC's claim that he has a ""long"" voting record of voting against the interests of veterans."
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11026
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Women taking antidepressants may see some sexual benefit from Viagra
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In the space of less than 600 words, this story meets most of the criteria for a well constructed and objective report. With some minor exceptions, the story provides readers with the results of a published research study in a balanced way and, importantly, places the new findings into context with previous research and available treatment options. Issues could be taken with several minor points (the severity and incidence of sexual dysfunction related to the antidepressants and the drop out rate) but overall this is a well written, brief yet concise and complete overview of a rather complicated published research.
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true
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There is no discussion of costs of treatment. The story provided data on the percentage of women who reported improvement. Also – the story was very clear about the scope of the benefit. The story provided data on the side effects of the treatment. The story presented sufficient information about the size of the study and the study design. However, itt would have been desirable to note the study was based on an intention to treat analysis. About 20% of the subjects in each arm of the study did not complete the 8 weeks of treatments either due to lack of effectiveness or simply lost to follow up. While the story doesn’t commit overt diseas-mongering, it does provide an unverified statistic (more than half) on the incidence of sexual dysfunction while on antidepressant treatment. What is unstated is that the incidence of sexual dysfunction related to depression is as high in some series. While the SSRI antidepressants are associated with sexual dysfunction the true incidence related solely to drug treatment is unclear. A clarifying statement related to the incidence of dysfunction related to the underlying disorder would have been helpful. In addition to relevant information from a company spokesperson and the lead author of the study reported on, the story included quotes from two individuals with relevant expertise who had no ties to the study. The story explained that sexual side effects were among the reasons why women may discontinue use of anti-depressant medication. The story mentioned a few other means for managing this medication side effect other than the medication that was the focus of the piece. The story did not explicitly explain that Viagra is a prescription medication which is FDA approved for treating erectile dysfunction. However, this omission is reasonable giventhe vast marketing and publicity about Viagra. Further, regarding availability, the story had a quote from a company spokesperson that the company would not be pursing approval for the use of this medication as a treatment for sexual dysfunction in women The story put the recent research finding in an accurate perspective by reporting results from previous studies had been ‘inconclusive’. This story does not appear to be based on a press release.
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25664
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The CDC “adjusted the US Covid deaths from 153,504 to 9,210.”
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President Donald Trump retweeted multiple posts that falsely claimed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention decreased the number of U.S. coronavirus deaths to 9,210. Those posts misconstrue data from the CDC, which shows that the vast majority of coronavirus-related deaths occur in patients who have comorbidities like influenza or pneumonia. As of Aug. 31, the CDC reported that 182,622 Americans have died since the start of the pandemic. Some estimates put the death toll even higher.
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false
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Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts,
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"Over the weekend, President Donald Trump shared two posts that falsely claimed COVID-19 deaths are not as high as previously thought. The posts claimed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its COVID-19 death numbers to show that only 9,210 Americans have died from the virus. Twitter removed the first tweet for violating its rules. Another post from Jenna Ellis, a senior legal adviser for the Trump campaign, linked to a story from the Gateway Pundit, a conservative news site. That tweet was still up as of publication. The tweets misconstrue federal data on COVID-19 victims. As of Aug. 31, the CDC reported that 182,622 Americans have died since the start of the pandemic — and some estimates put the death toll even higher. The agency told us that the vast majority of deaths involving COVID-19 can be attributed to the virus. Claims that the CDC adjusted its COVID-19 death numbers appear to have originated on Facebook before making their way to Trump’s Twitter feed, according to VineSight, an organization that uses artificial intelligence to surface potential misinformation. Several posts have been shared thousands of times. (Screenshot from Facebook) ""CDC just backpedaled (quietly) and adjusted the US Covid deaths from 153,504 to 9,210,"" said Amiri King, a social media influencer and CBD salesman, in an Aug. 31 post that shows a screenshot of King’s tweet, which was also deleted. ""Admitting that their numbers were so f---ed that they were off by a whopping 94%."" The posts were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The social media posts trace back to an Aug. 26 update from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), which is part of the CDC. The report is updated every Wednesday and outlines provisional death counts for COVID-19. In his post, King cited an older version of a data table about deaths from COVID-19 in combination with other conditions, such as pneumonia and influenza. In a section titled ""Comorbidities,"" the NCHS wrote: ""For 6% of the deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned. For deaths with conditions or causes in addition to COVID-19, on average, there were 2.6 additional conditions or causes per death."" That data comes from death certificates. King cited an older version of the NCHS report that analyzed 153,504 deaths involving COVID-19. Six percent of that figure is 9,210. To some readers, the report may appear to confirm his math. But it doesn’t. In medicine, comorbidities are conditions that patients experience in tandem with a primary condition. According to the CDC, people with preexisting conditions like cancer and diabetes are more at risk of death if they contract the coronavirus. The NCHS report shows that the vast majority of coronavirus-related deaths occur in patients with comorbidities. But that doesn’t mean COVID-19 wasn’t a factor. ""A small number of people have COVID ascribed as the sole cause of death. It may be they had no comorbidities or they were just not noted,"" said Dr. Myron Cohen, director of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. ""However, it is also clear that advanced age and several other underlying diseases lead to bad outcomes with COVID infections. The people dying were not going to die but for the acquisition of COVID."" In a Facebook post addressing claims about the NCHS report, Dr. Mark Halstead, an associate professor of orthopedic surgery and pediatrics at Washington University, broke down how conditions are listed on a patient’s death certificate. They test positive, so COVID would be listed,"" Halstead said in the post. ""Their case progressed where they developed respiratory failure and now are on a ventilator. Respiratory failure can be listed."" Additional conditions may be listed on a patient’s death certificate during the course of their stay in the hospital. For example, if a COVID-19 patient ended up dying from cardiac arrest, that could also be included. ""So now three things are listed on their death certificate,"" Halstead wrote. ""The COVID infection started the process but that led to the heart and lungs failing, which killed that person."" Jeff Lancashire, acting associate director for communications at the NCHS, told us in an email that while 94% of death certificates that mention COVID-19 also listed other conditions, the underlying cause of death was COVID-19 in almost all of them. ""The underlying cause of death is the condition that began the chain of events that ultimately led to the person’s death,"" he said. ""In 92% of all deaths that mention COVID-19, COVID-19 is listed as the underlying cause of death."" We reached out to King for a comment, but we haven’t heard back. A Facebook post claimed that the CDC decreased the number of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. from 153,504 to 9,210. That’s wrong. As of Aug. 31, the CDC counted 182,622 Americans who had died because of the coronavirus. A NCHS report found that, for about 6% of Americans who die from the virus, COVID-19 is the only condition listed on their death certificates. But that doesn’t mean the remaining 94% didn’t die due to the coronavirus. People with preexisting conditions, such as cancer or diabetes, have a higher risk of dying if they contract COVID-19. Complications from those conditions, as well as comorbidities like influenza and pneumonia, can be listed in addition to the coronavirus on death certificates. In 92% of death certificates that mention the virus, COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death, according to the NCHS. The Facebook post is inaccurate and makes a ridiculous claim."
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28744
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The modern policing system in the United States originated from patrols intended to corral escaped slaves.
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However, it is important to note that “the police” do not consist of a homogenous block of the American population, and while the early days of modern-day police forces are undeniable and under-covered facets of its history, the focus and perspective of policing is a complicated and fraught subject. It would be a mistake to assume that police in 2016 are the same as police in the 1870s, and to conclude that the profile of law enforcement in the United States — and around the world — has not changed throughout its existence. It would also be a mistake to assume that law enforcement cannot or will not be changed again in response to popular pressure, given that its focus has varied dramatically since its inception.
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mixture
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Crime, history, labor, police
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As controversy raged over racially motivated violence and law enforcement policies in the United States, a persistent rumor regarding the origins of 21st-century policing appeared online. It showed up, as such things tend to do, in meme form: But how accurate is this? And where did the concept of police as de facto executors of justice (rather than peacekeepers) originate? Law enforcement has always existed in one form or another. The first constables (from the Roman comes stabuli, or “head of the stables”) with duties very similar to today’s sheriffs, were around at least since the 9th century, and traveled to the Americas from Europe to supplant the systems that existed there at the time in the 1600s. The Encyclopedia of Police Science delves into the history of constables in the colonies: In the American colonies the constable was the first law enforcement officer. His duties varied from place to place according to the needs of the people he served. Usually, the constable sealed weights and measures, surveyed land, announced marriages, and executed all warrants. Additionally, he meted out physical punishments and kept the peace. The informal and communal system known as “the Watch” worked (more or less efficiently) on a volunteer basis in the early colonies; there were also private policing systems for hire that functioned on a for-profit basis. As populations grew, so did demands for more functional system of policing towns and cities. Volunteers would often show up to their posts drunk or not at all, and the systems were disorganized or hopelessly corrupt. According to Gary Potter, a crime historian at Eastern Kentucky University, a centralized, bureaucratic police system did not emerge until well into the 1800s, but was quickly adopted by cities around the country: It was not until the 1830s that the idea of a centralized municipal police department first emerged in the United States. In 1838, the city of Boston established the first American police force, followed by New York City in 1845, Albany, NY and Chicago in 1851, New Orleans and Cincinnati in 1853, Philadelphia in 1855, and Newark, NJ and Baltimore in 1857 (Harring 1983, Lundman 1980; Lynch 1984). By the 1880s all major U.S. cities had municipal police forces in place. These “modern police” organizations shared similar characteristics: (1) they were publicly supported and bureaucratic in form; (2) police officers were full-time employees, not community volunteers or case-by-case fee retainers; (3) departments had permanent and fixed rules and procedures, and employment as a police officers was continuous; (4) police departments were accountable to a central governmental authority (Lundman 1980). More than a hundred years earlier, in 1704, the colony of Carolina developed the fledgling United States’ first slave patrol. The patrol consisted of roving bands of armed white citizens who would stop, question, and punish slaves caught without a permit to travel. They were civil organizations, controlled and maintained by county courts. The way the patrols were organized and maintained provided a later framework for preventive (rather than reactive) community policing, particularly in the South: Policing had always been a reactive enterprise, occurring only in response to a specific criminal act. Centralized and bureaucratic police departments, focusing on the alleged crime-producing qualities of the “dangerous classes” began to emphasize preventative crime control. The presence of police, authorized to use force, could stop crime before it started by subjecting everyone to surveillance and observation. The concept of the police patrol as a preventative control mechanism routinized the insertion of police into the normal daily events of everyone’s life, a previously unknown and highly feared concept in both England and the United States (Parks 1976). Patrols in the northern U.S. also became useful for breaking up labor strikes before they became too destructive (Marxist political historian Eric Hobsbawm referred to the mechanisms of violence and destruction of property to agitate for better working conditions as “collective bargaining by riot”) and these services became increasingly utilized as the country became more populated and conditions simultaneously grew more difficult for the United States’ restive economic underclasses. In fact, police duties since the 1800s can be easily traced along the ebb and flow of political pressures as well as social issues: In 1822, for example, Charleston, South Carolina, experienced a slave insurrection panic, caused by a supposed plot of slaves and free blacks to seize the city. In response, the State legislature passed the Negro Seamen’s Act, requiring free black seamen to remain on board their vessels while in Carolina harbors. If they dared to leave their ships, the police were instructed to arrest them and sell them into slavery unless they were redeemed by the ship’s master. Similarly, patrols such as the Mounted Guards (forerunners to what eventually became the Border Patrol) were put in place to maintain minority quotas, among other things: Mounted watchmen of the U.S. Immigration Service patrolled the border in an effort to prevent illegal crossings as early as 1904, but their efforts were irregular and undertaken only when resources permitted. The inspectors, usually called Mounted Guards, operated out of El Paso, Texas. Though they never totaled more than seventy-five, they patrolled as far west as California trying to restrict the flow of illegal Chinese immigration. In March 1915, Congress authorized a separate group of Mounted Guards, often referred to as Mounted Inspectors. Most rode on horseback, but a few operated cars and even boats. Although these inspectors had broader arrest authority, they still largely pursued Chinese immigrants trying to avoid the Chinese exclusion laws. Modern law enforcement evolved out of complex brew of a larger population, shifting sociopolitical class boundaries, and other external issues (such as the labor pressures that created an unhappy underclass) and a shift in the way policing was regarded by business owners and the population at large: proactive rather than reactive.
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34482
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A baby was eaten by giant rats in South Africa.
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What's true: A local newspaper in South Africa cited a police report that a baby died when her mother left her alone overnight. What's false: Neighbors told the reporter that the child was devoured by rats, but this aspect was not confirmed by police.
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unproven
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Crime, child abuse
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On 19 December 2016, the South African local newspaper Kathorus Mail posted a report about a baby who died when her mother left her alone overnight while she was at a tavern: The police have since arrested a 26-year-old woman for child neglect. Communications officer at Katlehong Police Station, Capt Mega Ndobe said: “It is alleged that a woman who has three-month-old twins (a girl and a boy) decided to go to the tavern, taking one child with her and leaving the other alone at home. “When she came back the following day, early in the morning, she found the baby dead.” It is alleged the child was eaten by rats. The story was inevitably picked up by tabloids and other publications who focused on its gruesome twist, repeating the claim that the baby was eaten by rats and cherry-picking or fabricating information to support it. But while a South African infant did die after being abandoned overnight by her mother in December 2016, it’s unclear whether she was attacked by rats and also unclear if the mother was out partying when the baby died. The incident happened in the township of Katlehong, which is south of Johannesburg. According to Kathorus Mail, it was neighbors who alleged the child was attacked by rats, though another neighbor insinuated the child may have been badly abused, not eaten by rats. We have contacted South African police about the incident. The girl’s mother was not named in the report, identified only as a 26-year-old who had twins, a boy and a girl. She reportedly took the boy along with her to the bar on 16 December 2016, but left the girl alone at home. The paper reported that a friend of the woman, Mamokete Matlala, saw her at the bar and forced her to leave the establishment when she realized the mother only had one of her children with her and had abandoned the other: As soon as I realised that she was dancing with one child on her back, I asked her where the other one was. She said the child was with her sister inside a car that was parked outside. I went to check and found there was no car parked outside. Then I chased her away. Even other women who were there at the tavern threatened to beat her up if she did not leave at that time. She left because of the pressure from me and other women. Neighbor Dunyiswa Xhashwe told the paper she didn’t believe it was rats who killed the infant: I think the mother of the child needs to tell us what she did to her child because I don’t buy it that rats can do something like that to the skin of a person. I arrived first at the scene because others were afraid to go inside. I found that the condition of the skin of the dead child was nothing like that of a person who was bitten by rats. It may have been something else. I say that because she showed more love to the boy child than the girl. She would always lock the girl child in and bring the boy along. When the Kathorus Mail reporter went to the bar where the mother was allegedly drinking, the owner and a patron both denied seeing a woman who matched her description on the night in question. The paper reports the mother has been arrested for child neglect and expects to make a court appearance soon.
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41015
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All seven patients who were getting treated for Covid-19 at Safdarjung hospital in New Delhi have recovered.
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There is a news story reporting that seven patients in this hospital in New Delhi had recovered. However, these were not the only Covid-19 patients in the city.
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true
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online
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Doctors in India have been successful in treating coronavirus with a combination of drugs (Lopinavir, Retonovir, Oseltamivir along with Chlorphenamine) and are going to suggest the same medicine globally. India’s ministry of health has advised that the anti-HIV drugs, Lopinavir and Retonovir, are used in some groups of Covid-19 patients. But it is unclear how successful this treatment has been. The other two drugs from the claim are not mentioned in their guidance. Researchers at the Erasmus Medical Center claim to have found an antibody against coronavirus. Researchers in the Netherlands have released research, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, on an antibody against the new coronavirus. A 103 year-old Chinese grandmother has made a full recovery from Covid-19 after being treated for 6 days in Wuhan, China This has been widely reported in the media. Apple has reopened all 42 China stores. Correct. On 13 March 2020, Apple announced that it had reopened all 42 stores in mainland China after a closure of almost six weeks. Cleveland Clinic developed a Covid-19 test that gives results in hours, not days. The number of new cases in South Korea is declining. Italy is hit hard, experts say, only because they have the oldest population in Europe. Whilst it is true that an older population has contributed to a high number of deaths in Italy, it may not be the sole reason. Scientists in Israel are likely to announce the development of a coronavirus vaccine. Scientists in Israel and elsewhere are working on developing a vaccination to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, but it won’t be ready for the public for over a year. Three Maryland coronavirus patients fully recovered and are able to return to everyday life. Correct. On 13 March 2020, Montgomery County, Maryland confirmed that three residents who previously had the virus no longer tested positive. A network of Canadian scientists are making excellent progress in Covid-19 research. At least one group of Canadian scientists has recently announced some progress in understanding Covid-19. A San Diego biotech company is developing a Covid-19 vaccine in collaboration with Duke University and National University of Singapore. Tulsa County's first positive Covid-19 case has recovered. This individual has had two negative tests, which is the indicator of recovery. Correct, this patient has recovered according to official Tulsa County sources. Two negative tests is one of three official indicators of recovery among people with Covid-19 (who showed symptoms). All seven patients who were getting treated for Covid-19 at Safdarjung hospital in New Delhi have recovered. There is a news story reporting that seven patients in this hospital in New Delhi had recovered. However, these were not the only Covid-19 patients in the city. Plasma from newly recovered patients from Covid -19 can treat others infected by Covid-19. This is being used as a treatment in some countries, but clinical trials have not yet proved that this is effective. Claim 1 of 15
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26461
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“Obesity is, like, the No. 1 factor in whether you really get hit hard by COVID-19.”
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Research shows that obesity is a risk factor for COVID-19 hospitalizations. The research comes with caveats including that the studies are limited in scope and it’s early in the pandemic. Early research showed that age is the top risk factor.
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mixture
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Florida, Coronavirus, Ron DeSantis,
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"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to form a task force to look at reopening schools and businesses including gyms. DeSantis said he understands why there were recommendations to close gyms due to the spread of germs. But he expressed concern that people may not be getting enough physical activity amid the shutdowns. ""The No. 1 group of people who have been susceptible to COVID-19 if you look in New York and some of these other (places), obesity is, like, the No. 1 factor in whether you really get hit hard by COVID-19,"" he said at his April 14 press briefing. Overwhelming research shows age as the leading risk factor in the severity of the disease, however early research also shows that obesity is a risk factor in hospitalizations for COVID-19. That’s a cause for concern in the United States, where 40% of the population is obese. Scientists have called attention to the research about obesity and COVID-19 because it’s another sign that age is not the only factor. We found a few studies that examine the role of obesity in COVID-19. These studies come with limitations, including that they were usually limited to a certain geographic region and may not include complete information on patients, such as outcomes after the study period. But they do provide a useful look at what we know so far about obesity and COVID-19. The studies we saw from New York were not yet peer-reviewed. Researchers at NYU Langone Health in New York City conducted two studies about obesity and COVID-19, among the largest examinations of COVID-19 patients to date. Most of the patients in the two studies overlap. The studies appear in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases and on the pre-publication website medRxiv. One study, led by Dr. Christopher Petrilli, examined the factors associated with hospitalization and critical illness among 4,103 patients with COVID-19 for about one month. Nearly half of the patients were hospitalized. The study found that the strongest hospitalization risks were age over 75, obesity and history of heart failure, in that order. ""Age is the most important demographic factor for severity of disease and more important than any single disease, but obesity is among the most important diseases in terms of risk,"" Dr. Leora Horwitz, one of the authors, told PolitiFact. Researchers defined obese as a body-mass index of greater than 30. BMI is a measure of body fat based on a person’s height and weight. Normal weight is a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9. Among the 1,999 hospitalized patients, 33% had a BMI of 30-40 while about 7% had a BMI of more than 40. The rates were similar among those who faced critical illness — as defined by intensive care, mechanical ventilation, hospice and/or death. ""The chronic condition with the strongest association with critical illness was obesity, with a substantially higher odds ratio than any cardiovascular or pulmonary disease,"" researchers wrote. Obesity tends to increase risk for other conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, which are also risk factors for severe disease with COVID-19. ""Separately, it does seem that the severe cases of COVID-19 have a strong component of inflammation — the body reacting (or overreacting) to the infection to cause severe irritation to the lungs,"" Horwitz told PolitiFact. ""It turns out that obesity itself actually increases the amount of inflammation in the body. So it's possible that obesity also directly contributes to worse outcomes in that way."" The other study by NYU Langone examined BMI stratified by age in COVID-19-positive symptomatic patients at the hospital. Researchers found that COVID-19 infected patients under age 60 with a BMI of 30-34 were twice as likely to be admitted to acute or critical care as those at same age with BMIs less than 30. Those who were morbidly obese, defined as having a BMI greater than 35, were three times as likely be admitted to the ICU. ""Though patients aged <60 years are generally considered a lower risk group of COVID-19 disease severity, based on data from our institution, obesity appears to be a previously unrecognized risk factor for hospital admission and need for critical care,"" researchers wrote. In the study, 37% of patients who came to the emergency department had BMI greater than 30. In New York City overall, 22% have a BMI greater than 30, so more people are showing up in the emergency department who are obese, author Dr. Jennifer Lighter told PolitiFact. A spokeswoman for DeSantis cited a news article in USA Today about a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which examined characteristics of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in 14 states in March. The CDC found that among 178 adult patients with data on underlying conditions as of March 30, the vast majority had one or more underlying conditions. The most common underlying conditions in order were hypertension closely followed by obesity. (The other conditions that followed were chronic lung disease, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease.) A DeSantis spokeswoman also pointed to an article by Reuters about New Orleans’ death rate from COVID-19. Reuters reported that obesity was seen in 25% of the COVID-19 deaths in Louisiana, according to the state health department. A paper about obesity in COVID-19 cases at a hospital in Shenzhen, China found that patients with obesity are at increased risk of complications from viral respiratory infections however, the association with severity of COVID- 19 was unclear. Researchers found that obesity, especially in men, significantly increases the risk of developing severe pneumonia in COVID-19 patients. The study examined 383 patients admitted in January and February. We sent the NYU research findings to a few doctors who were not involved in the studies to ask if research so far shows obesity is the No. 1 factor in COVID-19 critical cases or hospitalization cases. ""Not exactly,"" said Dr. Angela Fitch, associate director MassGeneral Weight Center. ""This data shows that in people less than 60 years old, having the disease of obesity increased the need for admission to the hospital and admission to the ICU. Age is still the No. 1 factor so far but in those patients who are younger, obesity is a risk factor for more severe disease."" The early data across many countries show a link between severity of disease and obesity, said Fitch, vice president of the Obesity Medicine Association. However, further research is needed nationwide and across the world, she said. DeSantis said ""obesity is, like, the No. 1 factor in whether you really get hit hard by COVID-19."" DeSantis didn’t explain what he meant by ""hit hard,"" so we looked at research about COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized. We did not find any study that showed that obesity is the No. 1 risk factor. Most research and evidence so far shows age as the top factor. But early research suggests that obesity is also a key risk factor."
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"Mandalay Bay security guard Jesus Campos is ""missing."
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This is not the first time a person’s lack of desire to speak to the media has been misconstrued as that person being “missing.” For months in late 2016, online conspiracy theorists set about searching for signs of Eric Braverman, a former Clinton Foundation executive officer they believed had disappeared due to nefarious activity by the Clintons in an effort silence potential critics. After intense online speculation about his whereabouts, Braverman surfaced in mid-January 2017 to publicly announce he was taking on a new job.
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false
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Uncategorized, 1 October shooting, las vegas, las vegas conspiracy theories
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In the days following the 1 October 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas, various conspiratorial web sites and Internet personalities began casting aspersions on a wounded Mandalay Bay security guard, falsely claiming he was an “accomplice” to gunman Stephen Paddock, 64, who killed 58 people and injured hundreds more in the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history before turning the gun on himself. At about 10:05 P.M., Paddock began firing from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino on a crowd of 22,000 people attending an outdoor country music festival. In the minutes before the mass shooting started, Paddock fired 200 bullets into the hotel hallway, wounding security guard Jesus Campos in the leg. Campos has been hailed as a hero for his actions that night, warning a building engineer about the gunfire and helping police evacuate the floor despite his leg wound. As we have reported, there is no evidence Campos was involved in the shooting other than being victimized when he, along with hundreds of others, was wounded in the attack. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the law enforcement agency leading the investigation, has repeatedly said that Paddock was the only shooter that night. Nevertheless, various disreputable web sites have already been busily spreading misinformation that Campos was implicated as a second gunman, and that authorities had arrested him as such. Both claims are completely untrue and have been roundly debunked. Conspiracy theories were kicked up anew on 12 October 2017, when the 24-year-old Campos abruptly cancelled media interviews, including a scheduled appearance on Sean Hannity’s popular Fox News show. According to his union, Campos went to a walk-in medical clinic that night instead. No other explanation for the cancelled appearances has been offered. Although many may find it unsurprising that a person who narrowly escaped mass murder days earlier would want to lay low, the cancelled appearances caused a cascade of meltdowns among the conspiracy-minded and attention-seeking. For example, in all-capital letters, Ann Coulter tweeted, “MANDALAY BAY SECURITY GUARD, JESUS CAMPOS, NOW MISSING AFTER SCHEDULING 5 MEDIA INTERVIEWS.” Self-deputized “investigative journalist” Laura Loomer declared, “If #JesusCampos is truly a hero, why would he cancel his interview with @seanhannity ? That’s like ripping up a winning lotery [sic] ticket!” Some mainstream news outlets reported that Campos had “vanished,” which implied he had disappeared entirely, leaving no trace behind. However, Campos appears to have merely withdrawn from the public eye, while his current whereabouts remain privately known by some (such as LVMPD). LVMPD officer Larry Hadfield told us that Campos is not missing, and reiterated that Paddock had no accomplices when he rained bullets down on the Route 91 Harvest Festival. Hadfield told us, flat-out: [Campos] is not missing. He’s not under arrest. We tell people what we know. If they don’t believe it but they’re going to believe whatever web site, then I don’t know what else to tell you. David Hickey, international president of the International Union, Security, Police and Fire Professionals of America, the union that represents Campos, told us the last time he saw the injured guard was the day of his scheduled interviews. Hickey described Campos as “humble” and wanting to get his story out so he could leave the traumatic events behind him: When I talked to him he wanted to tell his story, he said he wanted to ‘get it all done in one day and move on with my life.’ But when Hickey emerged from a meeting just hours before Campos was scheduled to go on Hannity’s show, he told us he discovered that the young man, along with another union member and a security guard protecting Campos, had left: We did receive a text from my other officer saying, ‘We’re on our way to [walk-in clinic] Quick Care.’ That was the last response we got. We made multiple calls for two days and received no return calls. We sent an inquiry to Mandalay Bay’s parent company, MGM Resorts International, and they sent us the following statement, noting Campos does not wish to be in the limelight: Jesus Campos wants to tell his story at a time and place of his choosing. He’s asked that everyone respect his request for privacy. We could not be more proud of Jesus. Campos taped an interview on the NBC talk show hosted by Ellen Degeneres which is set to air on 18 October 2017. Appearing with building engineer Stephen Schuck, previews show Campos describing encountering gunfire in the hallway, feeling a burning sensation and noticing that he was wounded. Although Campos’s guard detail created yet another thread to which amateur Internet sleuths could cling, Ryan Graney, who represents the family of Victoria Soto — a teacher killed protecting her students during the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary massacre — told us it makes sense that Campos, now the accidental target of conspiracy theorists and “truthers,” is under guard: In my rational mind [the fact he has security] makes sense because these people, the hoaxers especially, will go out of their way to take this offline. These people have shown up at Vicki’s 5k before. I had a woman follow me into federal court. These people will show up and they will harass the victims. He definitely needs some kind of protection because they will go to great lengths to prove in their paranoid minds what they think is right. They are scary individuals. Sandy Hook “truthers” have been on a crusade to prove that the thoroughly covered and well-documented massacre of children was a “false flag” engineered by the government in the service of the “New World Order,” a ubiquitous but vague conspiracy theory peddled by the likes of InfoWars host Alex Jones, in which a secret but powerful cabal seeks to institute an autocratic global regime which will only be enabled once the government has seized all the guns from Americans. At least two “truthers” have been arrested for things like harassing or sending death threats to victims’ families. Graney said those same “truthers” are currently whipping themselves into an online frenzy over Campos: poring over photographs for supposed discrepancies, attempting to track his whereabouts, and scrutinizing a public database for the Nevada Private Investigator’s Licensing Board (a spokesman for the board told us that agency has no jurisdiction over casino security guards like Campos). Richard A. Patterson, a founding partner of the law firm Owen, Patterson & Owen, which has filed a petition to have the courts appoint a public administrator to oversee Paddock’s assets in lieu of pending litigation on behalf of victims, told us that Campos’s hesitance to speak to the media and maintain a low profile is not surprising: Based on my clients’ experiences, it’s a lot just to have the courage to speak publicly once and deal with the exposure in the media and post-traumatic stress they’re suffering from. It’s reliving the tragedy. It would be very reasonable to expect that Mr. Campos has either been directed by his medical care providers or his family or from his own sense of balance to withdraw from public appearances at this point. I think we owe him the opportunity to get a couple of weeks behind him that will enable him to gather his strength and his emotional focus to be able to deal with these things. In our opinion, he’s a hero.
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26345
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"North Carolina’s health department is ""telling hospitals that if they decide to do elective surgeries, they won’t be eligible to receive (protective equipment) from the state.”"
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The legislator says he got his information from a representative for the NC Healthcare Association. The NCHA rep says she heard about the potential ultimatum from a health department staffer, who she declined to identify. The health department denies Daniel's claim and says the NCHA's rep likely misunderstood their staffer. Hospitals told PolitiFact they never heard of the alleged plan.
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false
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North Carolina, Coronavirus, Warren Daniel,
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"A North Carolina legislator claims that the state health department threatened to withhold equipment from hospitals if they resumed elective procedures. But the health department has denied the claim, and PolitiFact could not confirm that the ultimatum was ever seriously considered or even communicated to hospitals. Mandy Cohen, secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services, requested on March 23 that hospitals suspend non-urgent procedures. The goal was to prevent unnecessary human contact, ensure COVID-19 patients got the care they needed, and preserve the state’s limited supply of protective equipment. At the same time, halting elective procedures meant hospitals lost out on revenue generated from those procedures. So it makes sense that they’d want to resume them. This is where state Senator Warren Daniel comes in. Daniel, a Republican from western North Carolina, tweeted on April 23 that hospitals might be punished if they choose to resume those procedures. ""It’s being reported that NC DHHS is telling hospitals that if they decide to do elective surgeries, they won’t be eligible to receive PPE from the state,"" Daniel tweeted, referring to personal protective equipment. He suggested the alleged threat was contrived by Cohen. Aside from Gov. Roy Cooper, Cohen has been perhaps the state’s most visible government official during the pandemic. Daniel referred to the decision as ""The heavy hand of government,"" adding: ""I hope Secretary Cohen will reverse course."" When PolitiFact reached out to Daniel, he said he got the information from the N.C. Healthcare Association, which represents hospitals across the state. Daniel said the association ""reported to legislators last week that DHHS told them if hospitals began offering elective surgeries again, then the state would not give them additional PPE."" He added: ""When I heard that I was shocked and thought it was something the public deserved to know."" We reached out to the NC Healthcare Association and were referred to Leah Burns, the group’s senior director of government relations. ""I had a conversation with a staffer at DHHS where this notion was discussed that PPE would potentially be withheld from hospitals if hospitals began elective surgeries,"" Burns said. She declined to identify the DHHS staffer she spoke with. ""After my conversation with the DHHS staffer, I spoke with a legislative staffer about it. Since then, this idea has not come to fruition, and I do not believe DHHS is withholding PPE from any hospitals in North Carolina,"" Burns said. She declined to identify the legislative staffer she spoke with. Eight days after Daniel’s tweet, on May 1, DHHS offered guidance to hospitals on how they could resume elective procedures. That letter mentions the lack of PPE across the state, stating: ""If appropriate PPE is unavailable to protect the health care worker or the supply of appropriate PPE is limited, then the non-time sensitive surgery or procedure should be cancelled."" But the letter doesn’t say hospitals would be cut off from resources if they didn’t obey the guidelines. When we asked DHHS about Daniel’s tweet, spokeswoman Amy Ellis denied his claim. ""That is . Secretary Cohen did not say that,"" Ellis said in an email and referred us back to the hospital Association. When we relayed what Burns said, Ellis suggested someone got confused about the department’s plans. ""Secretary Cohen has never indicated that,"" she said. ""Conversations between staffers can easily be misunderstood."" Since Daniel posted his tweet, several North Carolina hospitals announced plans to resume some elective procedures. PolitiFact reached out to several hospital systems to see if DHHS threatened to withhold PPE. ""I’m told that’s not true,"" said Alan Wolf, spokesman for the UNC Health System. He added that UNC Health leaders and providers are growing concerned about further delays in care for some patients. UNC Health has been doing less than half its usual volume of procedures and will probably increase it to 65% to 75%, Linda Butler, the system’s chief medical officer, recently told the News & Observer. Duke Health didn’t receive any correspondence from DHHS indicating the department might withhold PPE, said Sarah Avery, director of Duke’s Health News Office. ""Duke Health hospitals received a letter May 1 from the secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Mandy Cohen, notifying us that the elective and non-urgent procedures and surgeries can be resumed in accordance with guidance developed by the North Carolina Healthcare Association (NCHA),"" Avery said. Novant and Wake Forest Baptist hospitals also plan to resume elective procedures, according to the Winston-Salem Journal. PolitiFact called and emailed those health systems, but neither responded to questions about Daniel’s claim. Sen. Daniel tweeted: ""It’s being reported that NC DHHS is telling hospitals that if they decide to do elective surgeries, they won’t be eligible to receive PPE from the state."" Let’s break that down. The only ""report"" Daniel cited -- and the only report PolitiFact could track down -- was a conversation between a DHHS staffer and a representative for the North Carolina Healthcare Association. DHHS denied that the staffer said what the association’s representative claimed, describing their conversation as a misunderstanding. Daniel said ""DHHS is telling hospitals"" about the conditions for receiving PPE. But hospitals who spoke to PolitiFact said they were never given the alleged ultimatum. Daniel’s tweet also tied the ultimatum to secretary Cohen. But, in her email to PolitiFact, the association’s representative didn’t tie the ""notion"" to Cohen, and we couldn’t find any other evidence that DHHS threatened to withhold PPE from hospitals that resumed elective surgeries. This leaves us with a he said-she said situation about a claim that never came to fruition. Given Daniel’s claim lacks evidence,"
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1920
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Soft drink makers target U.S. youth online: study.
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U.S. children and teenagers are seeing far more soda advertising than before, with blacks and Hispanics the major targets, as marketers have expanded online, according to a study released on Monday.
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true
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Health News
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The report from the Yale University Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity also said many fruit and energy drinks, which are popular with teenagers, have as much added sugar and as many calories as regular soda. “Our children are being assaulted by these drinks that are high in sugar and low in nutrition,” said Yale’s Kelly Brownell, co-author of the report. “The companies are marketing them in highly aggressive ways.” Children’s and teens’ exposure to full-calorie soda ads on television doubled from 2008 to 2010, fueled by increases from Coca-Cola Co and Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc, the report found. Children were exposed to 22 percent fewer ads for sugary PepsiCo Inc drinks, it said. Black children and teens saw 80 percent to 90 percent more ads than white children, including twice as many for the 5-Hour Energy drink and Coca-Cola’s vitamin water and Sprite. Hispanic children saw 49 percent more ads for sugary drinks and energy drinks on Spanish-language television, and Hispanic teens saw 99 percent more ads. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about 15 percent of children are overweight or obese. Children today are likely to have shorter life spans than their parents, which would affect their ability to work and pay taxes, while threatening to drive up healthcare costs. When it comes to energy drinks such as Red Bull and Amp, the marketing is skewed toward young people, even though the American Academy of Pediatrics says such highly caffeinated beverages are not appropriate for children and adolescents, the report said. In 2010, teens saw 18 percent more TV ads and heard 46 percent more radio ads for energy drinks than adults did. The American Beverage Association, whose members include soft drink companies, disputed the study’s findings as it also battles proposed taxes on sugary drinks and public health campaigns aimed at reducing consumption. “This report is another attack by known critics in an ongoing attempt to single out one product as the cause of obesity when both common sense and widely accepted science have shown that the reality is far more complicated,” the group’s Chief Executive Officer Susan Neely said in a statement. Neely said member companies are “delivering on their commitment to advertise only water, juice and milk on programing for children under 12.” She cited recent research conducted by Georgetown Economic Services, an economic consulting firm that is a subsidiary of law firm Kelley Drye & Warren, and sponsored by the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Association of National Advertisers. That research showed that between 2004 and 2010, advertisements for soft drinks decreased by 96 percent, while those for fruit and vegetable juices increased by 199 percent. Brownell, an outspoken critic of the food and beverage industries, said there has been a lot of research on the issue of marketing unhealthy food to children, especially since U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama made fighting childhood obesity her signature issue. Monday’s report, he said, is the first that analyzed data from several firms, including Nielsen Holdings NV, to measure the full picture of youth exposure to marketing and advertising. Brownell said it is important to consider the online interaction children have with brands, especially since they tend to stay on computers longer than they watch TV commercials. The report shows, for example, that 21 sugary drink brands had YouTube channels in 2010, with more than 229 million views by June 2011. Coca-Cola was the most popular brand on Facebook, with more than 30 million fans. The most-visited websites operated by soft drink brands were MyCokeRewards.com and Capri Sun, which is owned by Kraft Foods Inc. Coca-Cola said it has a policy of not marketing to children younger than 12. “This means that we do not buy advertising directly targeted at audiences that are made up of more than 35 percent children under 12,” Coca-Cola said in a statement. “This policy applies to all of our beverage brands and to a wide range of media outlets, including television, radio and print, as well as cinema, the Internet, product placement and mobile phones.” Other findings in the report include an analysis of the drinks themselves. For example, it said an 8-ounce (225-gram) serving of a full-calorie fruit drink has 110 calories and seven teaspoons of sugar — the same amount found in an 8-ounce serving of a soda or energy drink. The full report is available at www.sugarydrinkfacts.org.
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10444
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5-minute colon cancer test could save thousands
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"Don’t get us wrong: this study is a BIG deal. But this story didn’t serve a US audience well at all. Costs not mentioned, even though that could be an important issue in colon cancer screening and even though the researchers made a case for potential cost benefits of their findings. Why would that be left out? And who calls it a ""flexi-scope"" test? It’s flexible sigmoidoscopy – and to call it anything else may only confuse readers. This important study offers the first high-quality evidence supporting the use of endoscopy in colon cancer screening. For the UK and other countries that don’t use currently endoscopy in screening, the benefits of implementing the study’s approach could be enormous. But in the US, endoscopy, including sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy, is already part of the screening recommendations. This study didn’t compare the new sigmoidoscopy schedule to any approach used in America. Thus, there’s no evidence that once-only sigmoidoscopy will save any more lives than other colon cancer screening methods commonly used here. This point may seem like a technicality, but for a US audience reading this headline and the opening sentence, without the context above, we think many readers will get the false impression that a new breakthrough will save 40% of the Americans who die each year because their colon cancers were not caught by the current screening net. And that’s not what the study said."
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false
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"Costs of this once-only technique (combined with periodic fecal blood tests) are not discussed. The study authors themselves argue in the paper for the potential cost benefits of their approach. Why would the story leave this out? The per-protocol benefits in the study are quantified, but — see above — we have to give the story a strike on this criterion for misrepresenting the key benefit of the study for US readers. The study did not show that ""A five minute colon cancer test could reduce the number of deaths from the disease by 40 percent,"" at least not where US readers live. Also, we would have liked to have seen the Number Needed to Treat data published in the study, as opposed to only the relative benefits. Although the rates of complications were low, potential harms of the test, polyp removal, and once-only timing — including rates of false-positives and false-negatives — are not mentioned. The story does point out that further follow-up is necessary to assess how long the protective effect observed in the study lasts. For the world at large, regardless of how they currently screen for cancer, the study offers the first high-quality evidence — a large randomized controlled trial — supporting the use of endoscopy in colon cancer screening. (The article mentions the large population in the study but not the important type of study.) The study is also valuable for validating the idea that removing polyps reduces rates of colon cancer. But, for US readers, we feel the story misplaces the meaning of this evidence. They may read it as saying that this new evidence can suddenly save 40% of the Americans who die from colon cancer each year. An article disseminated widely in the US should have more clearly evaluated what the evidence does and does not mean for US lives. It’s worth pointing out that the study didn’t follow subjects long enough to support the article’s statement that ""Researchers said the test needed to be done just once in a person’s lifetime."" Subjects were followed for about 10 years. The results, therefore, indirectly suggest that a sigmoidoscope every 10 years is as good as one every 5 years. That’s why, as quoted later in the article, Dr. Ransohoff calls for further follow-up. Finally, the article paraphrases a US expert, Dr. Ransohoff, in his suggestion that the evidence may make people rethink how sigmoidoscopy fecal blood tests compares to colonoscopy. That may be true, even in the US. But we feel the story should’ve pointed out that the study itself didn’t compare these two approaches, or that we don’t have strong evidence supporting either one’s superiority. In fact, Dr. Ransohoff himself notes in his editorial that there are some indications that the benefits for the study’s approach may turn out to be less than those of colonoscopy or a periodic schedule (vs. once-only) sigmoidoscopy. Perhaps not, but we just can’t say. (The point.) The story does not exaggerate the burden of colon cancer. The story does interview an outside source, and we give it kudos for consulting the Lancet expert commentary by Dr. Ransohoff. Also,sources of funding are listed. It would’ve been helpful to not only name KeyMed but explain that it’s a company that makes endoscopes. Also, the story claims that ""Experts said the findings could make some authorities reconsider how they look for colon cancer."" That’s a little sweeping. Especially considering that the only expert interviewed said the findings won’t make the ACS reconsider their guidelines. The article mentions the current screening program in the UK and the ACS recommendations in the US. it’s also keen to point out that colonoscopies are preferred over sigmoidoscopies in the US despite any evidence from clinical trials. Yet it fails to acknowledge that this study doesn’t add any data comparing the two. In general, no comparative data — or the lack of such data — are mentioned, only a generally positive coloring of the approach in the brand new study, and an implication of superiority. The story states that the test is available in the U.S. and is one of the screening techniques recommended by the ACS, albeit on a different schedule. The article doesn’t claim that the test is novel. And it does establish that a once-only sigmoidoscope (combined with periodic fecal blood tests) would be novel. But we have to review this story on behalf of the US eyes who come across it, and American readers could believe there’s been a medical breakthrough that could save thousands of US lives. The true novelty for US readers is a bit drier and more subtle: A) it’s the first high-quality evidence supporting the current residence of endoscopy in screening recommendations, and B) there’s a new schedule and combination of screening tests that may be more cost-effective and convenient, although we don’t know yet if it would detect more cancers and save more lives than what we’re currently doing stateside. We don’t see evidence that the story relied on a news release."
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10955
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Tamiflu’s Widespread Use, Effectiveness Is Questioned
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This story discusses findings of a meta-analysis, or review of many studies, of anti-viral medications conducted by European researchers and published in the Lancet. According to this review of 51 randomized controlled trials, antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu are only effective in reducing symptoms of influenza type A and B by about 50%, and not as effective in the cases of “flu-like” illnesses. Doctors can and should test patients to determine if they have influenza type A and B viruses before prescribing anti-viral medications such as Tamiflu; the drugs should not be taken for flu-like symptoms and non-life threatening influenza. In fact, Tamiflu is ineffective for other types of flu-like illnesses. The main disadvantage of the misuse of anti-viral medications is the risk of developing a resistance to these drugs, which is mentioned in this article. However, there is no mention of side effects of anti-viral drugs, which can include gastrointestinal problems, nausea, insomnia and hallucinations. The risk ofthese side effects is greater in older people. No quantitative data is provided on either side effects or benefits on any of the anti-viral medications. The message perhaps not conveyed strongly enough by this piece is that there is no need to stockpile Tamiflu. Considering that WHO, CDC and other health organizations continue to recommend stockpiling Tamiflu, the cost of this practice would be interesting to note. No information on the cost of anti-viral drugs is provided. There was also little discussion to counter the statement: “Roche and the WHO agreed there aren’t yet large human studies showing that Tamiflu is effective against bird flu. But they said animal studies and anecdotal evidence in humans show the drug is active against the H5N1 avian-flu virus.” There is no credible evidence at this time that Tamiflu is effective against avian flu. Anecdotal evidence and animal studies are insufficient, and further controlled clinical trials on humans are needed to determine if these anti-virals aree effective, safe and appropriate for a large population. Tamiflu reduces the symptoms of the flu by only 1-1.5 days and it may not prevent transmission of the virus. While the drug may be appropriate as flu prevention in a household, it would not likely be very effective during a flu epidemic.
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mixture
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No information on the cost of anti-viral drugs for treating non A or B strain viruses. No information on global cost for preventative use. No quantitative estimates of benefits provided in this news story, though they are available in the journal article upon which the story is based. No mention of the incidence or severity of side effects of the anti-viral drugs, which include gastrointestinal problems, nausea, insomnia and hallucinations. More prevalent in older patients. This was a meta-analysis of 50 clinical trials examining treatment efficacy, prophylactic use and side effects of several anti-viral flu drugs. This needs to be clearer: it was a study of studies. There was little discussion of the findings to counter the statement: “Roche and the WHO agreed there aren’t yet large human studies showing that Tamiflu is effective against bird flu. But they said animal studies and anecdotal evidence in humans show the drug is active against the H5N1 avian-flu virus.” There is no credible evidence that Tamiflu is effective against avian flu. Anecdotal evidence and animal studies are insufficient and further controlled clinical trials on humans are needed to determine if these anti-virals are effective, safe and appropriate for a large population. Addresses over-prescription of antiviral drugs in most cases of flu-like symptoms. Story says the study was funded by U.K and Italian health depts. in conjunction with Cochrane Collaboration, an independent, non-profit group. Mentions disadvantages of over-prescribing Tamiflu and Relenza when it not indicated, for example, in the case of flu-like symptoms and non-life threatening influenza. The main disadvantage is developing a resistance to the antiviral drugs. This product is FDA approved to treat Type A and B influenza, but no mention of FDA approval in story. This is relevant to the story if talk of off-label treatment is being evaluated (i.e. other flu strains and avian flu). Mentions that this treatment is not as effective as previously thought at reducing symptoms or for controlling transmission of influenza.
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18535
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Pasco County has the second highest population of homeless in all of Florida.
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"A homeless advocate named Brian Anderson came to Tallahassee to support a bill that would allow people at the DMV to check a box indicating they wanted to donate $1 to homeless programs. Anderson, of Hudson, evoked his home county in his plea, saying ""Pasco County has the second highest population of homeless in all of Florida."" Anderson accurately cites the state’s 2012 county-by-county homeless population report. However, there is enough skepticism about the count itself that we think it’s best to proceed with caution."
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true
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Housing, Florida, Brian Anderson,
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"For Tampa Bay residents, the state’s homeless crisis hits home harder than you may think. Discussion of a measure that would allow people applying for or renewing driver’s licenses or motor vehicle registrations to make $1 donations to homeless outreach programs sparked an interesting claim from a Pasco County resident. ""Pasco County has the second highest population of homeless in all of Florida,"" said Brian Anderson, a homeless advocate from Hudson, on April 9, 2013, before the Senate Rules Committee. Anderson, 30, is a 10-year Army veteran who moved to Hudson in May 2012 to attend Saint Leo University and study social work. He said he just received approval from the Pasco County Commission to hold a ""Stand Down"" event for homeless veterans transitioning into civilian life at Veterans Memorial Park in September 2013. ""We have an epidemic,"" he said of homelessness. PolitiFact Florida was skeptical of Pasco being the No. 2 county in Florida for homelessness. Wouldn’t the number of homeless people be higher in counties with substantially more people, such as Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach? To find out, we consulted the 2012 report of the Florida Council on Homelessness, which makes recommendations to the governor and Legislature for addressing the prevalence of homeless adults and children in Florida. The latest report, submitted June 2012, says families with children are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. In 2012, local homeless coalitions counted 54,300 homeless people living in shelters or on the street on one day and one night in January. Before we get into the data, we’ll stress that the totals are imperfect. Not every county, especially rural counties, has the resources to spread out and tally homeless residents. Still, the report offers the best snapshot we have of how to count the homeless. The homeless count is required every two years by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in order to receive grants for addressing the homeless problem. Using the 2012 report, we found the homeless counts for the biggest counties in the state. In the chart below, we added in the county’s estimated 2012 population as a point of comparison using U.S. Census Bureau data. 2009 2011 2012 Est. 2012 pop. Broward 4,154 3,801 3,801 1,815,137 Duval 3,244 4,284 2,533 879,602 Hillsborough 7,473 7,336 7,336 1,277,746 Miami-Dade 4,333 3,777 3,817 2,591,035 Orange 2,281 2,872 2,281 1,202,234 Palm Beach 2,147 2,148 2,148 1,356,545 Pasco 4,527 4,442 4,502 470,391 Pinellas 4,163 3,971 3,890 921,319 Statewide 57,687 56,771 54,972 19,317,568 ""It just doesn’t make sense for a county with a population under 500,000,"" he said. ""It’s a hard statement to comprehend."" For the most part, Pasco’s homeless live in the woods, Romagnoli said. Law enforcement advised volunteers not to go as far back into the woods to conduct their count in 2013 because of a couple recent murders, so Romagnoli expects the county’s 2013 total will be lower. Rep. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, said he has noticed an increase in people reaching out to his office in recent years because they lost their house. ""It’s surprising to me,"" he said when told about the state’s high homeless count. The higher-than-expected figure may have more to do with how aggressive local coalitions and their volunteers are in getting accurate figures, said Tom Pierce, executive director of the state’s Office on Homelessness. The coalitions need to do the legwork to figure out where the homeless are in advance of the biennial count, he said. A more accurate way to describe the figure may be ""reported homeless population."" ""It’s obviously fraught with its own limitations, but it’s the best we’ve got,"" Pierce said. As for Miami-Dade, the county has been effective getting more homeless people into permanent housing units. Miami-Dade gets more money from the federal government because it raises more money for homeless initiatives from a 1 percent sales tax on food and alcoholic beverage purchases at restaurants and bars. Miami-Dade passed the tax in 1993. ""Our community has had no political will to advance that,"" said Lesa Weikel, Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County spokeswoman. She wanted to dispute a myth that homeless people come to Florida from other states because of the warm weather. In 2009 and 2011, volunteers asked homeless people in what state did they become homeless. In 2009, 88 percent said Florida. In 2011, it was 90 percent. Pasco County has many programs aimed at curbing the homeless program, such as offering hotel vouchers for families, placing people in jobs suited for each person's abilities and criminal record, and offering bus rides to work, said Rev. Jim Campbell, president of the Coalition for the Homeless of Pasco County. Our ruling A homeless advocate named Brian Anderson came to Tallahassee to support a bill that would allow people at the DMV to check a box indicating they wanted to donate $1 to homeless programs. Anderson, of Hudson, evoked his home county in his plea, saying ""Pasco County has the second highest population of homeless in all of Florida."" Anderson accurately cites the state’s 2012 county-by-county homeless population report. However, there is enough skepticism about the count itself that we think it’s best to proceed with caution. As such,"
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9282
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Sibley Memorial Hospital Selects Hitachi for Their Proton Beam Therapy System in Washington D.C.
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This news release from Hitachi Ltd. describes the company’s sale of a proton beam therapy (PBT) system to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, DC, a Johns Hopkins affiliate. PBT is a radiation treatment that uses protons instead of x-rays to treat cancer. At high energy, protons can destroy cancer cells. Hitachi’s claim that the sale of a PBT system to Sibley Hospital represents the first such system in the region must be challenged. The lack of information regarding the cost of the new installation, and negligible mention of the evidence and comparative advantages over existing radiation treatments also beg scrutiny. As noted previously on HealthNewsReview.org, the capital region has become a hub in the “medical arms race,” with Sibley Memorial Hospital, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, and the University of Maryland all investing hundreds of millions in PBT. So Hitachi’s attempt to distinguish this facility by calling it a “multi-room” center is spin. Each major facility can cost $150 to $200 million to build. Many experts question the necessity of these investments in technology that have not been proven to be better than existing and less expensive cancer therapies for the most common types of cancer, and that well-endowed medical institutions are getting a lop-sided share of high tech medical investment while hospitals that serve poorer patients are fighting to acquire standard technology. Proton beam therapy is a small but rapidly growing treatment model for some types of cancers. Protons are most commonly used to treat central nervous system (CNS) diseases, mainly because tumors in the brain and spinal cord tend to be situated close to very sensitive otherwise-healthy organs such as the eyes, brain-stem and optic chiasm where the optic nerves cross. Protons are often used for pediatric radiotherapy, since children are more likely to develop CNS tumors than any other kind of cancer. There has been an ongoing debate over recent years that the volume of these types of cancers doesn’t justify the cost of constructing new PBT systems in close proximity to each other. Many critics of the PBT building boom worry that institutions are promoting PBT treatment for cancers that could be treated more cost-effectively with existing therapies. This is especially true concerning prostate cancer, for which the medical community is adopting less aggressive treatment strategies. In addition, many health insurance companies say they won’t cover PBT for prostate cancer.
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false
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Johns Hopkins,proton therapy,Sibley Memorial Hospital,University of Maryland
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There is no discussion of costs. PBT typically costs twice as much as traditional radiotherapy so it’s definitely relevant to any announcement of a new facility. Several large insurance companies have ruled out coverage of PBT for prostate cancers. Any reliable reporter covering the business, healthcare or technology beats who writes a story based on this news release would be expected to ask about the costs so why not include at least some ballpark figures in the release? PBT’s advantage over other types of radiation treatment is its ability to focus narrow beams of radiation onto tumors with reduced radiation spillover into other organs. That’s why it’s most beneficial for tumors of the CNS and in pediatric patients where oncologists strive to limit damage to surrounding tissues. Unfortunately, the news release didn’t specify which types of cancers are good targets for PBT. There’s the implication that PBT should be used in a wider number of cancers. However, there’s ongoing disagreement over the evidence that PBT has a significant advantage over other types of radiation treatments in prostate cancer, for which it is coming into wider use. There are two reasons PBT is becoming a common treatment for prostate cancer. With protons, only two fields (or radiation passes) are needed to cover the prostate compared with 7 to 9 fields using photon intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in order to achieve an effective dose. The other reason is that clinics that have an expensive proton facility need to justify having it, and prostate cancer is very common. There is no shortage of available patients. The news release gives the briefest mention of side effects, but we’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. The statement that PBT brings “very few side effects” is understood to be true since proton beams deposit less radiation outside the tumor area than do photon-based treatments. However, there are few (if any) reports of clinical studies comparing the side effects of protons with those from photon treatments. In addition, claiming that patients “experience no pain” when undergoing proton therapy is slightly misleading, since the same can be said for photon-based radiation therapy. It’s important to point out that proton facilities don’t typically use an advanced imaging technique (such as CT or MR) to verify the patient’s position prior to administering radiation; whereas this is standard practice for photon IMRT techniques. That is troublesome, because the consequences of a geometric miss in proton therapy are expected to be greater than they would be for photon IMRT. No evidence is cited. The release does not engage in disease-mongering. It’s clear that the release comes from Hitachi, the PBT system manufacturer and marketer. The news release does not mention the alternatives to PBT. The more widely available alternative to proton therapy is photon radiotherapy. The hardware costs for a proton center are approximately twice that of a photon facility. Several PBT systems are under construction in Washington, DC, proper and within the region. The release did not establish when the newly announced facility is expected to be ready or when those other facilities will be ready. The availability of proton therapy outside the DC area is not discussed. The release fails on two fronts here. First, the news release claims, “This collaboration, which includes a 10-year maintenance service, marks the first multi-room PBT application in the nation’s capital.” The fact that this a “multi-room” system is not a meaningful claim when there are other facilities under construction (at least one of which will apparently open before Sibley’s) nearby. Second, the release did not meet our standard for establishing the novelty of the technology. The release states, “The proton center at Sibley Memorial Hospital will be an impressive demonstration of industry and academic medicine collaborating to bring a new technology and new cancer treatment modality to Washington, D.C. and the surrounding communities.” But PBT is not a new cancer treatment modality, nor will it be new to Washington D.C. Proton therapy has been used clinically since the mid-1950s. The first proton accelerator (cyclotron) was developed in 1932 by E. O. Lawrence and S. Livingston, and Nobel physics laureate Robert Wilson proposed using it for radiation therapy in 1946. The “passive scattering” technique noted in the news release was used initially at the outset. The “spot scanning” technique described in the release was developed and first implemented in Switzerland during the 1990s. Most proton centers can accommodate treatment using both techniques. While there are several questionable claims made in the release, we think those have been addressed in other areas of the review. We didn’t see any examples of over-the-top language.
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33389
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A strange skeleton found in the Atacama desert has baffled scientists and is an a human-alien hybrid.
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A strange skeleton found in the Atacama desert has supposedly baffled scientists, leading to claims that it's a human-alien hybrid.
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false
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Fauxtography, aliens, supernatural
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"The article, referring to partially mummified body found in the Atacama Desert states that ‘The astonishing thing is that 9% of its DNA is unmatched…’ Is that really true and, if so, does it actually mean anything? Interest in the “Atacama entity” (or just “Ata”) is cyclical, the most recent spike coming in the Fall of 2014. Facebook pseudoscience peddler The Mind Unleashed posted a status update linking to a 2013 article about the Atacama entity which renewed attention to the anomaly: (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = ""//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1""; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Since its discovery in 2003, the Atacama skeleton has challenged scientists to fully explain the anomalies in its structure. However, testing has shed significant light on what may have led to the specimen’s puzzling appearance. Although the Atacama skeleton was originally thought to be tens of thousands of years old, testing revealed DNA that was “modern, abundant, and high quality.” Furthermore, matrilineal testing traced that DNA to the west coast of South America, not a distant galaxy. In 2012, Stanford University immunologist and microbiologist Garry Nolan took a crack at unlocking the Atacama specimen’s mysteries. Nolan confirmed Ata was definitively human, addressing a nine percent DNA mismatch as likely the result of “bad reads” or “machine error.” He was unable to identify any genes linked to progeria or dwarfism in the sample, and other experts believe that the specimen may be a mummified stillborn baby. William Jungers, a paleoanthropologist and anatomist at Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York, observed “barely ossified and immature elements” of the specimen’s development and said “This looks to me like a badly desiccated and mummified human fetus or premature stillbirth … Genetic anomalies are not evident, probably because there aren’t any.” Nolan discussed what DNA testing confirmed about the Atacama skeleton, saying that: The sequence that we got from the mitochondria tells us with extremely high confidence that the mother was an indigenous Indian from the Chilean area. The other thing that immediately fell out of the analysis is that it’s male. It probably died in the last century, if I were to make a guess. In March 2018, enhanced DNA analysis revealed that some previous anomalies were due to the degraded condition of the sample, and that the skeleton was that of a young human female: DNA analysis would tell the true story. A sample extracted from the bone marrow of Ata’s ribs was used to conduct a whole-genome sequence analysis. It was compared with human and primate genomes and determined to be a human female, probably a fetus, with Chilean ancestry. Although dating initially estimated the bone age of the skeleton at between 6 and 8 years, the researchers found that the remains had a rare bone-aging disorder that made them seem older than the person they belonged to. At first, 8% of the DNA didn’t match with human DNA. Researchers determined that this was because of a degraded sample. An improved analysis matched up to 98%, Nolan said. Given the exposure and age of the skeleton, this wasn’t surprising. Then, they moved on to diagnosing the abnormalities. The researchers were looking for what might explain the skeleton’s small stature, as well as the abnormal rib count and other bone and skull oddities. [Analysis] revealed a number of mutations within seven genes. Together, these created bone and musculoskeletal deformities, like scoliosis, and skeletal dysplasia, known as dwarfism."
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10478
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Studies Find Withdrawn MS Drug Effective
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This article discusses the results of three studies which led to the re-introduction of the multiple sclerosis drug, Tysabri, withdrawn last spring due to the occurrence of serious adverse events. The story provides no meaningful context such as the variable progression of the disease or the size of the chance it will progress to the point of disbility. The patient quotes in the piece present the view this drug is desired by patients who have experienced its benefit, notwithstanding the potential harms. However, these are a subset of patients experiencing the more severe spectrum of disease symptoms. Selection of this particular set of patient quotes sets an unbalanced tone for the article. Although the new data do highlight the rare occurrence of the brain disease PML associated with the use of this drug, it failed to mention the possibility that PML occurs only after longer-term use than was followed in these studies. As multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease, an expectation of longer-term use is a real factor for inclusion in decision making about the use of this medication and is deserving of mention.
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false
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Failed to mention costs. Although researchers are quoted as saying they would ‘give it to the neediest patient if it went back on the market’ it is unclear whether this means that they would give it to the poorest patients or whether they would prescribe it to those most at risk of MS relapse. Baseline rates of relapse were not presented. The possibility of progressive multifocal leukoencephalophaty was raised; no other potential side effects associated with Tsyabri treatment were mentioned. The vignettes provided imply that the drug improves clincial status rather than preventing relapses. Presented the barest details of three studies in the New England Journal of Medicine on Tysabri; one a randomized clinical trial (RCT) comparing Tysabri with placebo; a second RCT comparing Tysabri with or without interferon; and the third, a retrospective examination of the incidence for the brain disease PML in individuals treated with Tysabri for MS, Crohn’s disease or rheumatoid arthritis. This article opens with a statement about safety outcomes in the three articles discussed, though the longer term follow-up needed to reach this conclusion for the use of a medication to treat a chronic condition is still absent. Presented estimate for the number of Americans with MS (350,000), with the notion that there is no cure and no known cause. However the story does not adequately discuss the probability that MS remains stable, has rare worsenings, the frequency of attacks, or how often it progresses to the point of disability. Mentions that researchers have received fees or support from the marketers of Tysabri. Did not specifically mention that the data from the first paper were analyzed by the makers of the drug. Mention made of interferon treatment as standard in the context of trial comparison with Tysabri. No mention made of other FDA approved medications for treatment, including steroids. Mention is made of recent FDA approval for testing. The FDA has lifted the hold on trials with this drug. Article was not clear that for now, Tysabri is only FDA approved for MS patients participating in clinical trial. This medication is not more widely available due to previous association with adverse outcomes. Article reports on new studies using Tysabri (natalizumab) as a treatment for multiple sclerosis(MS) and indicates that this drug had been on the market but been pulled due to serious adverse events. There is no evidence that this story relied solely or largely on a news release.
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4356
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Health officials testing patrons as TB cases linked to bars.
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Officials are offering $20 gift cards to bar patrons who will come in for testing after health screenings linked tuberculosis to five nightclubs in the southeastern Alabama city of Dothan.
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true
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Health, Alabama, Dothan, Tuberculosis
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The Alabama Department of Public Health says the tests are free and begin Tuesday, with the first 300 participants to get Walmart gift cards. Officials say multiple cases of pulmonary tuberculosis have been reported in Dothan over the past two years. The department says workers have screened hundreds of people, and they’ve discovered that many who were infected visited nightclubs often. The agency says it’s encouraging tests for patrons of five clubs: The Blue Bar, Chill Lounge, Club Escape, The G-spot and Imani Loungebar. It says it’s had little success working with the establishments. Bar owners say they’re cooperating.
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6055
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Nonprofit group commits $30M for new Omaha VA facility.
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A nonprofit corporation announced Wednesday that it’s signed an agreement with federal officials to raise $30 million for a new veterans outpatient clinic in Omaha. Officials said it’s the first of five public-private pilot projects nationwide for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
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true
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Public-private partnerships, Omaha, Health, Nebraska, David Shulkin, Veterans, Veterans affairs, Barack Obama
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The local money will be added to $56 million already appropriated for the new clinic, which will be part of the VA’s Nebraska/Western Iowa Health Care System. The $86 million facility will be built on the campus of the current VA hospital in Omaha. “This project will lay the groundwork for future public-private partnerships aimed at providing veterans access to state-of-the-art facilities and will significantly improve the quality of care we are able to provide to our nation’s veterans,” said Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin in a news release. President Barack Obama in December signed a measure, dubbed the Chip In for Vets Act, that allows the public-private partnership. It was sponsored by U.S. Rep Brad Ashford, who represented Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District until losing his bid for re-election in November. VA officials have said the clinic that will be called the Veterans Affairs Ambulatory Center will offer primary, specialty and ambulatory care and operate radiological and surgical facilities. The current hospital will remain standing, and once the ambulatory care center is built, the hospital will be used primarily for administrative operations with some medical services, said Nebraska/Western Iowa Health Care System spokesman William Ackerman. He couldn’t immediately say where the four other pilot projects will occur. VA officials in Washington didn’t immediately return messages. Design work on the Omaha project will continue through 2017, and officials anticipate site work and construction will begin in early 2018, said Sue Morris, president of Heritage Services, a nonprofit civic group involved in the project. A 2007 study found the current Omaha hospital was plagued by problems in its electrical, heating and cooling systems. In 2011, the VA unveiled plans for a $560 million replacement. Congress approved $56 million to start the project planning, and the new structure tentatively was scheduled to open in 2018. But the plans and work were delayed by funding shortages and changing VA priorities. The public-private project had been projected to cost $136 million — $56 million from federal sources, $80 million from local benefactors. But Ackerman said the figure was decreased after details were refined since the number was discussed after Obama signed the legislation. The local corporation, the Veterans Ambulatory Center Development Corp., which will oversee design, construction and fundraising, was created by Heritage Services. Heritage Services was instrumental in creating major Omaha projects such as the Holland Performing Arts Center and TD Ameritrade Park, where the College World Series is held. ___ Information from: Omaha World-Herald, http://www.omaha.com
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8447
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'Don't go to the ER': how a New York pediatrician is dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.
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When a 3-year-old patient of New York pediatrician Dr. Greg Gulbransen dislocated her arm, he told her parents not to take her to the emergency care center, fearing that could put the family at risk of contracting COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
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true
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Health News
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Instead, he said, he met them on their front lawn, where he popped the girl’s joint back in. “It is a very easy thing to do, but it made a huge difference for them,” he said. Gulbransen has had to rethink how he runs his pediatric practice on Long Island since the coronavirus crisis started. “We’re in the heart of the storm,” said Gulbransen. His practice remains open and now also welcomes some non-pediatric patients who have had trouble being seen by a doctor. He said his practice has been physically rearranged to keep sick patients away from those who are well. Other recent adjustments include doing telemedicine, although he is unsure how insurance reimbursements will work with such consultations. He said he was worried about his pediatric patients picking up on their parents’ anxieties, as well as the health and financial welfare of his staff. “The anxiety level is palpable,” said Gulbransen. “But it’s a privilege,” he said, adding, “you’re here for your patients. You gotta push and do whatever it takes.” New York state, the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, had a coronavirus death toll exceeding 10,000 as of Tuesday, out of more than 28,000 across the country. The disease looks different in children than it tends to with adults, said Gulbransen. “We had a 6-week-old with COVID, and really (the infant had) no other symptom than a runny nose,” said Gulbransen. He has also treated “quite a few toddlers and plenty of schoolage children,” who were all doing well. Cases of the illness involving children are “dwarfed by adult cases, although some of the (child) cases can be quite severe,” according to Dr. Lorry Rubin, director of pediatric infectious diseases at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, part of the Northwell Health network. Sometimes previously healthy children, often adolescents, develop pneumonia “and that can be severe and possibly lead to them needing oxygen or ventilatory support,” Rubin said. Still, most pediatric COVID-19 patients do well. Rubin said he was aware of only one child who had died, who also had a terminal congenital illness. Among infants under 60 days old in whom COVID had been detected, “all of them have done quite well,” he added. “The frequency of pediatric illness requiring hospitalization is low,” Rubin said. “No question, it’s not as bad in children and less common than in adults.” But with New York’s healthcare system at full throttle treating coronavirus patients, Gulbransen wants to take no risks. His motto is: “Whatever you do, don’t send someone from this office to the ER.”
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15261
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"George Will Says Bernie Sanders chose ""to spend his honeymoon in the Soviet Union in 1988."
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"Will wrote that Sanders chose ""to spend his honeymoon in the Soviet Union in 1988."" Sanders and his wife did travel to Yaroslavl, a city in the Soviet Union, after their wedding in 1988. In the sense that the trip came after the couple were married, the trip was a honeymoon. The two have also referred to the trip that way, albeit sarcastically at times. But it was an unusual honeymoon, to say the least. The trip’s primary purpose was diplomacy, not leisure, and included about 10 extra guests. Will’s claim is accurate but is missing context about the trip’s underlying purpose."
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true
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History, PunditFact, George Will,
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"For most couples, the ideal honeymoon getaway might entail a week of unwinding at a beach resort or a stay in a secluded mountainside cabin. Not Bernie Sanders. He chose a colder route. Sanders and his wife, Jane Sanders, spent their first days as newlyweds in the Soviet Union, claims George Will in a recent Washington Post column. Will’s Aug. 7 column focused mostly on the legacy of Robert Conquest, who died Aug. 3 at age 98, and whose writings on Soviet prisons documented the atrocities of the Stalin regime. A reader asked us to look into the accuracy of the final paragraph of Will’s column, which invoked Sanders’ ""honeymoon."" It reads: ""Conquest lived to see a current U.S. presidential candidate, a senator, who had chosen, surely as an ideological gesture, to spend his honeymoon in the Soviet Union in 1988. Gulags still functioned, probably including some of the ‘cold Auschwitzes’ in Siberia, described in Conquest’s ‘Kolyma.’ The honeymooner did not mind that in 1988 political prisoners were — as may still be the case — being tortured in psychiatric ‘hospitals.’ Thanks to the unblinking honesty of people like Conquest, the Soviet Union now is such a receding memory that Bernie Sanders’s moral obtuseness — the obverse of Conquest’s character — is considered an amusing eccentricity."" We wanted to see if Sanders actually honeymooned on the turf of the United States’ former adversary during the final years of the Cold War. Sister cities The trip took place while Sanders was mayor of Burlington, Vt., from 1981 to 1989. Toward the end of his mayoral tenure, the small city on Lake Champlain launched a sister-city program with Yaroslavl, located 160 miles northeast of Moscow. The program, which is still operating today, has facilitated exchanges between the two cities involving ""mayors, business people, firefighters, jazz musicians, youth orchestras, mural painters, high school students, medical students, nurses, librarians and the (Yaroslavl) ice-hockey team,"" according to its website. Along with sister-city relationships with Bethlehem in the West Bank and Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, the Yaroslavl program was part of Sanders’ unorthodox attempt to take on international issues from a small city in New England. Sanders also actively pursued his agenda outside of the country, writing letters to world leaders and even traveling to Cuba to meet with the mayor of Havana. ""Burlington had a foreign policy,"" he wrote in his 1997 book Outsider in the House, ""because, as progressives, we understood that we all live in one world."" The bond between Burlington and Yaroslavl solidified when Sanders and his wife, as members of a 12-person delegation from Burlington, paid their Soviet counterparts a visit in 1988. The timing of the trip was unusual. Bernie and Jane were married May 28, 1988. The delegation left Burlington the next day. ""Trust me,"" Sanders writes in the book. ""It was a very strange honeymoon."" When reached for comment, Sanders’ campaign said that the dates for the trip had already been set, and the couple ""set their wedding date to coincide with that trip because they didn't want to take more time off."" In a 2007 interview, Jane Sanders also recalled the peculiar timing: ""The day after we got married, we marched in a Memorial Day parade, and then we took off in a plane to start the sister city project with Yaroslavl with 10 other people on my honeymoon."" Bernie Sanders also refers to the trip sarcastically as ""quiet and romantic"" in his book. The ""honeymoon"" was dotted with meetings, interviews and diplomatic functions. A June 2015 profile in The Guardian described the former mayor’s meeting with Yaroslavl city officials: ""After receiving a rundown of central planning, Soviet-style, from Yaroslavl’s mayor, Alexander Riabkov, Sanders notes how the quality of both housing and health care in America appeared to be ‘significantly better’ than in the communist state. ‘However,’ he added, ‘the cost of both services is much, much, higher in the United States.’ "" An education in central planning probably wasn’t the only item on Sanders’ itinerary. Yaroslavl is home to historic churches and buildings, and the Sanderses would have been in for some good sightseeing, said Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. Will made it sound as if Sanders was visiting to condone Soviet torture practices, but the Burlington trip was more of a dialogue-building exchange program. The Vermont weekly newspaper Seven Days reported in 2009 that the sister-city relationship ""helped local residents who sought to ease tensions between the United States and Soviet Union by initiating citizen-to-citizen exchanges with a Russian city."" Also, the Soviet Union was barely intact at the time of the trip. Negotiations had opened up between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev a few years earlier. ""It was at the beginning of perestroika,"" said Michael Briggs, a spokesman for the Sanders campaign, referring to the restructuring policy Gorbachev instituted in the mid 1980s. Gulags still existed and political prisoners were still held in 1988, said Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. But a watershed moment came when Gorbachev allowed physicist Andrei Sakharov to return from internal exile two years earlier. ""The power of the Communist Party was being questioned and the confrontation with the West was winding down through negotiations,"" Cohen said. In 1987, Reagan and Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and in 1988, Reagan himself spoke in Moscow’s Red Square. One year later brought the fall of the Berlin Wall. Three years later, the Soviet Union collapsed. Participation in the Burlington-Yaroslavl program has waned over the years, though it was viewed as a ""glamorous endeavor"" by many in Burlington at the time, program leader Howard Seaver said in 2009. Will could not be reached for comment through his researcher. Our ruling Will wrote that Sanders chose ""to spend his honeymoon in the Soviet Union in 1988."" Sanders and his wife did travel to Yaroslavl, a city in the Soviet Union, after their wedding in 1988. In the sense that the trip came after the couple were married, the trip was a honeymoon. The two have also referred to the trip that way, albeit sarcastically at times. But it was an unusual honeymoon, to say the least. The trip’s primary purpose was diplomacy, not leisure, and included about 10 extra guests. Will’s claim is accurate but is missing context about the trip’s underlying purpose."
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35774
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U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris has said she believes women who have accused former Vice President Joe Biden of various offenses, ranging from inappropriate touching to rape.
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"What's true: On April 2, 2019, Harris said ""I believe them,"" in reference to four women who had by then accused Biden of inappropriate touching. What's false: Harris has not said that she believes all of Biden's accusers, in particular Tara Reade, who, almost one year after Harris' remarks, accused Biden of raping her. When questioned about Reade's allegations, Harris did not say that she believed them."
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mixture
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Politics, 2020 election
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In August 2020, readers asked Snopes to examine the accuracy of news articles that claimed that U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., had once said she “believed” women who accused former Vice President Joe Biden of offenses ranging from inappropriate touching to rape. Biden named Harris his pick for vice presidential running mate on Aug. 11, prompting reports, primarily from right-leaning sources, which pointed to Harris’ past remarks. Fox News published an article on their website with the headline, “Flashback: Kamala Harris Said She Believed Women Who Accused Biden of Inappropriate Touching,” writing that: “Sen. Kamala Harris, who was announced as presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s running mate on Tuesday, once said that she believed women who accused Biden of inappropriate touching. “‘I believe them, and I respect them being able to tell their story and having the courage to do it,’ the California senator told reporters in April 2019. Biden had been accused by a number of women of inappropriate touching and kissing, including by a Nevada politician who said he came up behind her at a 2014 campaign stop and kissed her on the back of her head.” Fox News specified, in its headline and article, that the allegations that Harris said she believed related to inappropriate touching, but other outlets were less specific. The Blaze, for example, published an article with the headline “Flashback: VP Pick Sen. Kamala Harris: I ‘Believe’ Biden Accusers” — a formula of words which could have given readers the mistaken impression that Harris had said she believed each and every woman to have accused the former vice president of various offenses. For its part, The Federalist falsely claimed that Harris had said she believed “Biden’s rape accusers.” But in reality, there were not multiple accusers. Only one woman, Tara Reade, has accused Biden of rape, and Harris said “I believe them” nearly a year before Reade first publicly made that particular allegation, which Biden has vehemently denied. When asked about Reade’s accusation, Harris did not say she believed it, and issued a firm defense of Biden’s record on violence against women and women’s rights. Harris did say that she believed women who had come forward to claim that Biden had touched them inappropriately. At an event in Carson City, Nevada, on April 2, 2019, a reporter asked Harris the following question: “As somebody who has a relationship with Vice President Biden, what message would you give the women who feel like their space has been invaded in the past, by the vice president?” Harris replied: “I believe them, and I respect them being able to tell their story and having the courage to do it.” The exchange can be watched in full, here. At that time, four women had publicly accused Biden of inappropriately touching them. On March 29, 2019, Lucy Flores, a former Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Nevada, wrote that in 2014, the then-vice president had put his hands on her shoulders, smelled her hair and kissed her on her head. On April 1, 2019, Amy Lappos, a former aide to U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., said that at a fundraiser in 2009, Biden had “put his hand around [her] neck and pulled [her] in to rub noses with [her].” In an earlier Facebook post, Lappos said the experience had made her feel “incredibly uncomfortable.” In a statement on March 31, 2019, Biden said: “In my many years on the campaign trail and in public life, I have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support and comfort. And not once — never — did I believe I acted inappropriately. If it is suggested I did so, I will listen respectfully. But it was never my intention. I may not recall these moments the same way, and I may be surprised at what I hear. But we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate their experiences, and men should pay attention. And I will…” In a New York Times article published on April 2, 2019, two more women accused the former vice president of inappropriate touching. Caitlyn Caruso, who works for a non-profit organization focused on sexual health information and service for young people, said Biden rested his hand on her thigh, even though she “squirmed” in discomfort, and hugged her so long that it made her feel uncomfortable, during an event at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas at which she had publicly shared her own experience of sexual assault. D.J. Hill told the Times that while she and her husband posed for a photograph with Biden in 2012, the vice president put his hand on her shoulder and moved it down her back. Hill said she did not know what Biden’s intentions were, but that his actions made her “very uncomfortable.” Flores and Lappos have both explicitly stated that although Biden’s touching was unwanted, unacceptable, and made them feel uncomfortable, they did not perceive it as being sexual in nature. Neither Caruso nor Hill described Biden’s actions towards them as sexual assault. On April 3, 2019, Biden released a video on Twitter in which he acknowledged that his characteristic habit of making unsolicited physical contact with others, including strangers — something he called “gestures of support and encouragement” — had made some women and men “uncomfortable,” over the years, adding that: “The boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset, and I get it… I’ll always believe governing, quite frankly, life for that matter, is about connecting…with people. That won’t change, but I will be more mindful and respectful of people’s personal space.” Social norms are changing. I understand that, and I’ve heard what these women are saying. Politics to me has always been about making connections, but I will be more mindful about respecting personal space in the future. That’s my responsibility and I will meet it. pic.twitter.com/Ya2mf5ODts — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 3, 2019 After Harris made the remarks in question on April 2, 2019, three more women publicly accused Biden of having touched them inappropriately, made them uncomfortable, or made inappropriate remarks about their physical appearance. A fourth woman, Tara Reade, alleged in March 2020 that Biden sexually assaulted her at an office in the U.S. Capitol, providing descriptions that some readers might find disturbing. Reade said that when she worked in his U.S. Senate office in 1993, Biden pushed her against a wall, subjected her to unwanted kissing, and digitally penetrated her. (Although Reade did not herself use the word “rape” to describe the latter allegation, digital penetration without consent is included in the definition of rape used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in its Uniform Crime Report. In that context, it is reasonable to state that Reade accused Biden of raping her). Biden has vehemently denied Reade’s allegations, telling MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”: “It is not true. I’m saying, unequivocally, it never never happened…”
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34548
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Placing a bar of soap between your bedsheets will help prevent leg cramps.
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Regarding what to do about an existing leg cramp, folk wisdom once again offers a variety of potential answers:
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unproven
|
Medical, cramps, Home Cures
|
Many people are plagued by nocturnal leg cramps, those involuntary and agonizing muscle contractions that strike in the depths of the night, waking sleepers with jolts of pain that leave them awash in waves of suffering until the kinks finally relax. While many possible causes have been posited for these contractions, those afflicted by them are far more concerned with getting rid of these debilitating cramps than they are with understanding their origin. Over the years, many preventions have been suggested, including: While all of the above have been said to avert the problem in at least some cases, one further suppression trick appears to work, at least according to anecdotal information, for almost everyone so bedeviled: sleeping with a bar of soap in the bed. No one has yet produced a plausible explanation as to why snoozing with one’s Ivory might stave off those devastating nocturnal leg cramps, yet the reports of its doing so are numerous. Slipping a bar of soap into the bed as a leg cramp prevention has been advanced by a number of authorities, both medical and otherwise. Ann Landers has mentioned the soap cure in her column on a number of occasions, with each airing prompting a load of letters from readers thanking her for this information because it worked wonders for them. “They were thrilled and grateful to be liberated from those leg cramps,” said Ms. Landers. As to how this works — or even if it does — we’re still in the dark. Perhaps soap releases something into the air that is beneficial to those predisposed to this condition, with the bedsheets working to contain the helpful emissions to the area where they are needed. Or perhaps this is a case of believing making it so — the soap itself has no effect, but the sufferer’s faith in the procedure serves to effect the miracle. Yet skepticism aside, for those subject to nocturnal leg cramps, this bit of folk wisdom is clearly worth a try, in that the only potential downside is their having to share their beds with slivers of soap. (Well, that and having their spouses think them a bit loony.) As to what sort of product and where to place it in the bed, although some who pass along this bit of housewifely lore indicate specifics such as the soap’s having to be unwrapped or not be a specific brand (Dial and Dove are often mentioned as bars to eschew), those who swear by the procedure have had success whether they used large bars or the small ones commonly found in hotel rooms, whether the cakes of soap were wrapped or unwrapped, and whether the afflicted leg was rested on top of the soap or not. As for which brand is best, cautions against Dove and Dial to the contrary, they all seem to work about the same.
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28258
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In the summer of 2019, the Land of Lincoln Goodwill organization ended the paid employment of disabled workers.
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What's true: In July 2019, Land of Lincoln Goodwill organization did briefly end the paid employment of around a dozen disabled workers. What's false: The decision was reversed within 16 days, back pay was provided, and the CEO behind the plan resigned.
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mixture
|
Politics
|
In the summer of 2019, concerned readers sent Snopes multiple inquiries about the accuracy of reports claiming that a Goodwill organization in Illinois had announced its intention to terminate the paid employment of its disabled employees. On July 16, WCIA reported that the Land of Lincoln Goodwill, headquartered in Springfield, Illinois, would be “pulling the paychecks” of dozens of thrift store workers with disabilities, in response to financial pressures purportedly caused by the state’s recently announced minimum wage increase: “An iconic nonprofit thrift store is crying poor in the face of looming payroll increases, and it is announcing plans to layoff disabled employees in order to take on the extra cost. However, the 501(c)(3) organization pays no taxes, collects state funding, was awarded state contracts, and has special permission from the federal government to pay disabled workers well below the minimum wage floor. “Sharon Durbin, President and Chief Executive Officer at Land of Lincoln Goodwill, told dozens of disabled thrift store workers they would no longer receive a paycheck as a result of the state’s new minimum wage increase, and she warns future job cuts could still be coming to the last 11 remaining disabled employees still on the payroll.” The move attracted criticism from some quarters, as well as national news coverage. Yahoo! News reported that: ” … Durbin … informed participants of the Vocational Rehabilitation Program that they would not be receiving a paycheck in the future due to the new minimum wage increase, according to RochesterFirst.com. She also warned the last 11 disabled employees on payroll that their jobs were in danger as well. Durbin explained to the outlet that the increase in wages would cost their region more than $2 million each year. “‘By making the changes now, we can start offsetting the expense that we’re incurring, not only through Voc. Rehab, but the other things that we’re doing in the organization,’ said Durbin, who runs the Central Illinois nonprofit branch that oversees 15 retail locations and more than 450 total employees.” A viral Facebook post by Ameika Zahra Black contained an earlier tweet by Mark Maxwell, the author of the aforementioned WCIA article, who wrote: “The President and CEO at Goodwill defended her decision to pull paychecks from disabled workers: ‘It really was not a job,’ she said. ‘We gave them through grace out of our budget to pay them so they had a paycheck to go home with. '” Black’s Facebook post and the original WCIA story were both largely accurate descriptions of the decision by Land of Lincoln Goodwill’s CEO to end the paid employment of some disabled workers. However, as of Aug. 13, both had failed to mention the fact that the local Goodwill organization subsequently reversed that decision and provided the workers back pay, and that Durbin subsequently resigned. Other news reports, including the one published by Yahoo! News, for example, were updated to include much of this important additional information. Moreover, WCIA’s headline (“Goodwill pulls paychecks from disabled workers”) did not stipulate that it related only to one Goodwill organization in Illinois. This lack of specificity caused some readers, including some who contacted Snopes, to question whether the decision applied to all Goodwill organizations and stores across the nation. It does not. Goodwill Industries International is structured as a network of autonomous local and regional organizations, each of which independently makes policy and staffing decisions. A spokesperson for Land of Lincoln Goodwill provided Snopes the following outline of the episode: “Goodwill made the decision to realign our Vocational Rehab program on July 1, 2019. That decision led to 13 service participants who were earning minimum wage or above to transition out of their paid positions into an unpaid skills building vocational program. “Upon review and reflection, Goodwill rescinded that initial decision on Wednesday, July 17, 2019. All affected service participants were returned to their paid positions on Monday, July 22 and all received back pay dating back to July 1. During the week of July 22, we made personal phone calls to the parents and guardians of our service participants, apologizing for the program change. We also offered to set up personal meetings with them to answer questions and address any concerns.” So it’s true that the plan did, in effect, involve firing some workers with special needs (ending their paid employment and moving them into unpaid volunteer positions can quite reasonably be understood as “firing” them). However, the decision affected 13 individuals, not the “dozens” claimed by WCIA. The decision was also reversed within 16 days, and back pay was provided. The organization spokesperson also told Snopes that there was never a prospect of a separate contingent of 11 workers mentioned in WCIA’s report losing their paid employment. On July 17, Durbin announced in a statement posted to Facebook that Land of Lincoln Goodwill was reversing its decision to fire the disabled employees in question. She apologized for the original decision, writing that: “The outpouring of comments regarding our decision to refocus the Vocational Rehab program and its impact on 12 program participants has caused us to take pause. While we must be good stewards of our nonprofit, we must remain sharply focused on our mission. “Our recent decision regarding the Voc Rehab program and the resulting harm it might have caused falls short of living up to our mission and we apologize for this error in judgment. We are reversing the decision to realign our Voc Rehab program and those participants affected will return to their part time skills training program with pay … As the President & CEO of this organization, I want to apologize to our constituents, our clients and our faithful donors.” Amid continued criticism and backlash, the organization’s board of directors announced two days later that it had accepted Durbin’s resignation: “On Thursday, July 18, Sharon Durbin, President & CEO of Land of Lincoln Goodwill submitted her resignation to the Board of Directors. The Board accepted her resignation, which is effective immediately … The Board fully intends to seek out a strong, compassionate leader for our Goodwill organization who can energize our employees, expand our mission and who can provide the mission-driven leadership necessary to positively impact thousands of lives each year in central Illinois. “Goodwill’s Board of Directors thanked Sharon for her 13 years of service to the organization, noting her many accomplishments and the overall growth of the nonprofit and the number of people served during her tenure.”
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28728
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A team of four Nigerian girls has created a generator that produces six hours of electricity using only a single liter of urine as fuel.
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What's true: A device built by a team of high school girls in Nigeria generates electricity from urine. What's false: The urine alone is not generating the electricity, and the device uses more energy than it produces.
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mixture
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Science, alternative energy
|
On 6 November 6 2012, Maker Faire Africa, a science fair and festival, posted a story about one of the projects featured in that year’s festival, a urine-powered generator created by four 14- and 15-year-old students: Possibly one of the more unexpected products at Maker Faire Africa this year in Lagos is a urine powered generator, created by four girls. The girls are Duro-Aina Adebola (14), Akindele Abiola (14), Faleke Oluwatoyin (14) and Bello Eniola (15). One liter of urine gives you six hours of electricity. That page described, in broad terms, how the device worked: Urine is put into an electrolytic cell, which separates out the hydrogen. The hydrogen goes into a water filter for purification, which then gets pushed into the gas cylinder. The gas cylinder pushes hydrogen into a cylinder of liquid borax, which is used to remove the moisture from the hydrogen gas. This purified hydrogen gas is pushed into the generator. The conclusion drawn by a number of the online images hailing this invention as the solution to Earth’s global warming and energy problems is that the urine alone is generating the electricity. But this is not the case, as additional energy in needed to separate the hydrogen from the oxygen in the urine so that the former can be used as a fuel source (one of the major reasons why water fuel cells are not powering our cars right now). The way around this problem, for the purpose of the science fair project, was to put the urine (or, more accurately, the H2O in the urine) through an electrolysis cell. Duro-Aina Adebola, the 14-year-old who came up with the project, explained how the group used an old car battery for this step, in a documentary produced by the youth-oriented African television program TVC in the Streets: This is just a normal car battery: we just removed the contents and then inserted our electrodes; we used stainless steel mesh as our electrodes. While it is not clear whether the chemicals remaining in the car battery or the bacteria feeding off the urine are used to generate a current (both explanations have been positied in media reports), scientists agree that the device does not produce a net gain in energy. Gerardine Botte, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Ohio University, told Forbes that: [I]t takes more energy to extract hydrogen from urine than you end up getting in return as electricity. The energy equation gets even more skewed by the inefficiency of the generator used in the girls’ project. That does not mean that the girls’ device is just a form of parlor trick, however — in fact, the real significance and motivation behind the project may have been lost by those trying to sell it as an advance in sustainable energy. In the TVC in the Streets documentary, Duro-Aina explained that her main motivation for the project was hearing about an increase in carbon monoxide deaths from fossil-fuel powered generators put into use due to a failing Nigerian energy grid and wanting to “make a generator that won’t release carbon monoxide.” In that respect, the girls’ invention was an unqualified success. Using secondhand or other easy-to-find parts, these high school students were able to build a device that separated hydrogen gas from urine, to create a system to purify and store that gas, and to convert a traditional generator into one that worked with that hydrogen gas. This device might not be the solution to our future energy needs, but such a system could be a way to remove waste while recovering some of the energy involved in that process and thereby fuel homes without filling them with the poisonous gases that gas-powered generators typically produce. This is a point that Gerardine Botte also made, saying that “when put in the context of wastewater treatment, the concept of using urine as a hydrogen source to produce energy has great potential.” As far as high-school science fair projects go, this is as impressive as it gets. But, unfortunately, no such science project can rewrite the laws of thermodynamics.
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30145
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Dr. Christine Blasey Ford made a sexual assault accusation against Justice Neil Gorsuch during his Supreme Court nomination process.
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As the New York Times reported, Cornett “appears to have a history of amplifying right-wing misinformation,” and “there is no known letter sent by Dr. Blasey about Justice Gorsuch, or any other Supreme Court justice.” There have, however, been additional accusations against Kavanaugh since Cornett’s tweets were posted.
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false
|
Politics, blasey ford, brett kavanaugh, neil gorsuch
|
On 16 September 2018, Christine Blasey Ford identified herself publicly as the woman who wrote a confidential letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein alleging that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her in the 1980s when he was a student at Georgetown Prep. The news immediately inspired a series of inaccurate “reporting” aimed at attacking Blasey Ford’s credibility. One such allegation which briefly went viral, despite a wholesale lack of corroborating evidence, was the claim that Blasey Ford had written a similar confidential letter regarding president Trump’s previous Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch (who also attended Georgetown Prep), and that she had posted about her idea to do so on Facebook: This claim originated solely in two tweets (garnering over 8,000 retweets) from the Twitter account of Josh Cornett, who describes himself as “proudly blocked” by several journalists and/or political Twitter accounts. On 18 September 2018, in a series of two tweets, Cornett claimed that: BREAKING: According to sources Diane [sic] Feinstein’s reluctance to mention the Kavanaugh accuser’s letter during confirmation session is because the accuser sent a similiar [sic] letter directed at Judge Gorsuch last year. The whereabouts of the earlier letter remain a mystery.developing I was literally forwarded this information 50 minutes ago. Is it true? I have no idea..but the MSM are reporting the Kavanaugh accuser’s claim with absolutely zero evidence. So let’s report this story too? I will say that my source has been very accurate in the past. Let’s see! One source that has decidedly not been accurate in the past is the Twitter account of Josh Cornett, which has at various times promoted the Pizzagate conspiracy theory (which alleged a Hillary Clinton-connected pedophile sex ring run out of the basement of a DC-area pizza shop which has no basement) as well as the the #QAnon conspiracy theory (which alleges that a secret group of patriots deep within the U.S. government are communicating to their followers through riddles posted on the message board 8chan or on websites that sell t-shirts). Cornett has also claimed that “99% of Liberal women (Kavanaugh accusers) are bitter, unattractive, Liars, and have a long history of being rejected by men,” and that he was bored by the allegations of domestic abuse made against former Trump staffer Rob Porter by both of his former wives.
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29970
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Billionaire Steve Gouves delivered an inspirational speech on his death bed.
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In short: Steve Guoves did not make this speech on his death bed because Steve Guoves does not exist. Much of this text was previously attributed to Steve Jobs, but the Apple co-founder did not utter those words on his death bed either.
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false
|
Viral Phenomena
|
In December 2015, we looked into a bit of text being shared on social media which was said to represent the final words of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. We hoped our article helped to put the kibosh on that false rumor, but in January 2019 a nearly identical speech was circulated anew, only this time attributed to a different billionaire with an eerily similar name: Steve Gouves. The “Steve Gouves death bed speech” was shared by many social media users in January 2019, with one of the most popular postings being that of Joshua Feurstein, an evangelical internet personality who has previously spread misinformation and is perhaps most famously known for railing about Starbucks’ Christmas cups. Fuerstein’s posting included a photograph of a bearded man, presumably Mr. Steve Gouves, and the following text: From my friend David Norrie Steve Gouves dies a billionaire, with a fortune of $ 7 billion, at the age of 56 from pancreatic cancer, and here are some of his last words: In other eyes, my life is the essence of success, but aside from work, I have a little joy, and in the end wealth is just a fact of life to which I am accustomed. At this moment, lying on the bed, sick and remembering all my life, I realize that all my recognition and wealth that I have is meaningless in the face of imminent death. You can hire someone to drive a car for you, make money for you – but you can not rent someone to carry the disease for you. One can find material things, but there is one thing that can not be found when it is lost – “life”. Treat yourself well, and cherish others. As we get older we are smarter, and we slowly realize that the watch is worth $ 30 or $ 300 – both of which show the same time. Whether we carry a purse worth $ 30 or $ 300 – the amount of money in the wallets are the same. Whether we drive a car worth $ 150,000, or a car worth $ 30,000 – the road and distance are the same, we reach the same destination. If we drink a bottle worth $ 300 or wine worth $ 10 – the “stroller” will be the same. If the house we live in is 300 square meters, or 3000 square meters – the loneliness is the same. Your true inner happiness does not come from the material things of this world. Whether you’re flying first class, or economy class – if the plane crashes, you crash with it. So, I hope you understand that when you have friends or someone to talk to – this is true happiness! Five Undeniable Facts- 1. Do not educate your children to be rich. Educate them to be happy. – So when they grow up they will know the value of things, not the price. 2. Eat your food as medicine, otherwise you will need to eat your medicine as food. 3. Whoever loves you will never leave you, even if he has 100 reasons to give up. He will always find one reason to hold on. 4. There is a big difference between being human and human being. 5. If you want to go fast – go alone! But if you want to go far – go together! And in conclusion, The six best doctors in the world. 1. Sunlight 2. Rest 3. Exercise 4. Diet 5. Self-confidence 6. Friends Keep them in all stages of life and enjoy a healthy life. “Love the people God sent you, one day he’ll need them back.” 🙏🙏Something worth sharing!🙏🙏 The man in this photograph is not “Steve Gouves” but rather James R. Kirouac, a “Level 2 Quantum Healing Hypnosis Technique Practitioner” with the company “Leading Edge Thought,” who, as best we can tell at the time of this writing, is still very much alive: The first half of this text (everything preceding “Treat yourself well and cherish others) is a nearly verbatim copy of the fake deathbed speech falsely attributed to Steve Jobs back in 2015. That speech appears to have originated on a random blog and was never connected to Jobs in any real way. (You can read more about the actual last words of Steve Jobs here.) The second half of this text has been circulating independently from the first since at least September 2015, when it was posted to a Chinese language blog at xuite.net. That posting was not attributed to Jobs, Guoves, or any other billionaire, and it was not shared as if it were a deathbed speech. The fake Steve Jobs deathbed speech started making its way around the web in November 2015 and readers, apparently, have revised and expanded it over the years. At some point the text posted to xuite.net was tacked onto the end of the original fake speech, Jobs’ name was changed to Guoves, and an image of an unrelated bald man was employed to depict the fictional billionaire.
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2526
|
"Swiss court jails ""healer"" for infecting 16 with HIV."
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A self-styled healer was sentenced to 12 years and nine months in jail on Friday after a Swiss court found the acupuncturist guilty of infecting 16 people with HIV.
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true
|
Health News
|
A Berne court found the man guilty of causing bodily harm and spreading the virus which can cause Aids, court secretary Rene Graf told Reuters. He did not give any further details. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 15 years in jail, according to media reports. “The accused and nobody else is responsible for infecting the 16 people,” Swiss news agency SDA quoted court president Urs Herren as saying, adding the man’s motive could have been to seek attention, exact revenge, or prove his omnipotence. The 54-year-old from the Swiss capital Berne had consistently denied the charges, blaming the victims for contracting HIV through unprotected sex and intravenous drug use, Swiss media reported. They did not reveal the man’s identity or nationality, in accordance with rules on Swiss criminal proceedings. The case came to the attention of the authorities after an HIV-positive patient told a hospital he suspected his infection was linked to acupuncture treatments he received from the man. The majority of the infected individuals were students of a music school run by the man, who also had an acupuncture practice. Some of the victims told the court he stabbed them with a needle from behind during treatment, SDA reported. Police stormed the man’s home a week ago after he stopped coming to the trial. The man, who was free on bail, had barricaded himself inside and was armed with a knife, issuing threats to police, according to media reports.
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8328
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Ukrainian doctors fly to Italy to help combat coronavirus.
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Ukraine, which expects a sharp rise of coronavirus cases in the coming weeks, sent doctors to disease-hit Italy on Saturday to assist their Italian colleagues and to gain field experience.
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true
|
Health News
|
A team of 20 doctors, including surgeons, neurosurgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses, will be deployed to the region of Marche in central Italy for two weeks, Italian ambassador to Ukraine, Davide La Cecilia told Reuters. “The national health service in our country is very stressed. So we badly need medical personnel and are very happy that Ukraine is sending this humanitarian aid,” said La Cecilia at Kiev’s airport, before the medical mission’s departure. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, who accompanied the ambassador, said Kiev would send more medical aid and disinfectant to Italy in the coming days. “It is an honour for us to help Italy during such tough times. We know that many Ukrainians live and work in Italy. By helping Italy, we are helping our citizens,” said Avakov. Ukraine’s health ministry has reported 1,096 cases, including 28 deaths since March 3, when the first case was recorded. But as thousands of Ukrainians have recently returned home from abroad, the ministry expects a much bigger outbreak ahead. The daily tally of new cases increased to 154 on Saturday from 138 on Friday, up from 62 last Monday. The head of the Ukrainian medical mission, neurosurgeon Andriy Miroshnichenko, said that all the team members volunteered to work in Italy. “After they come back home, they will be able to treat patients and work having practical experience and knowledge about the disease,” said Miroshnichenko. Asked whether the Ukrainian doctors were not afraid to catch the virus themselves Glib Bidyukov, a nurse, said it was “a consciously made choice”. “When you choose healthcare, you understand that you put yourself in some danger… Each of us made a choice a long time ago,” Bidyukov said.
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17465
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"For ""the past year, I was censored"" and muzzled."
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Reuters asked a U.S. judge on Thursday to unseal documents filed in court regarding potential risks associated with Propecia, Merck & Co’s popular baldness drug.
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false
|
Congress, Ethics, Texas, Ron Paul,
|
"The motion was filed in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, after a Reuters article on Wednesday revealed accusations that Merck did not fully disclose on Propecia’s label the incidence and duration of sexual dysfunction in men who took Propecia in clinical trials. Those allegations are contained in court filings that had been intended to be filed under seal. Read the Reuters report here Federal District Judge Brian Cogan has allowed Merck to keep secret internal company documents in litigation brought by Propecia users against the company. A faulty redaction allowed Reuters to view some of the details in a plaintiff’s brief, but the underlying Merck documents cited in that brief are still sealed. Those are the documents the Reuters motion seeks to make public. “This is a case of tremendous importance that has been sealed without on-the-record findings explaining that sealing,” Reuters argued in its motion to intervene in the case. “The First Amendment precludes such an outcome.” Merck did not respond to a request for comment. The company previously told Reuters it “stands behind the safety and efficacy of Propecia” and noted that the drug has been prescribed safely to millions of men since the late 1990s. A June 25 Reuters investigation revealed how judges have allowed the makers of dozens of consumer products to file under seal in their courts information that is pertinent to public health and safety. They often do so without explanation, though in most jurisdictions, they are required to provide one. Read the Reuters investigatihere The investigation found that hundreds of thousands of Americans have been killed or seriously injured over the past couple of decades by allegedly defective products — drugs, cars, medical devices and other products — while evidence that could have alerted consumers and regulators to potential danger remained under seal. More than 1,100 Propecia-related lawsuits filed across the U.S. against Merck were consolidated before Judge Cogan in so-called multidistrict litigation (MDL). Merck agreed to settle most of them last year for $4.3 million, to be divided among the plaintiffs. Prior to the settlement, plaintiffs’ lawyers cited internal company communications to allege that in revisions to the drug’s original label, Merck understated the number of men who experienced sexual symptoms in clinical trials, and how long those symptoms lasted. Merck settled before responding to the allegation in court. Under U.S. law, court filings are presumed to be public, and the bar for secrecy is particularly high for the Propecia documents Reuters seeks to unseal, the motion states, because they are essential to plaintiffs’ claim that the drug causes persistent sexual side effects. ""These documents should not remain under seal absent the most compelling reasons,"" Reuters argued. Read the Reuters motihere"
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16171
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Georgia ranks No. 9 in the rate of women murdered by men.
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Study correct on Georgia's gender-based murder rate
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true
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Georgia, Crime, Women, Guns, Violence Policy Center,
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"Anyone who follows the constant drum beat of crime news in metro Atlanta might not be surprised by a new study that puts Georgia among the most dangerous states for a very specific crime: women who are murdered by men. A Violence Policy Center report released in September shows Georgia ranks ninth among all states, with a homicide rate of 1.66 per 100,000 women in 2012, the last year data is available. The national rate is 1.16 per 100,000. ""We call on Georgia’s lawmakers to make it an urgent priority to keep guns away from domestic abusers and protect women from harm,"" Kathryn Grant, co-founder of GunSense Georgia said in a statement related to the study. ""This is literally a matter of life and death."" PolitiFact Georgia wanted to know if our state really ranks that high on the list for women murdered by men. We went straight to the website for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Supplementary Homicide Reports. That data showed Georgia had 102 homicides in 2012 – 19 percent more than the 84 tallied in the Violence Policy Center report. The VPC’s study has a lower overall number because it takes that data and then weeds out crimes with more than one victim or perpetrator, said VPC policy analyst Marty Langley, who authored the report. An analysis of the SHR data, available only in hard copy from the FBI, confirms those numbers are accurate for incidents where one woman is killed by one man. James Alan Fox, a Northeastern University criminology professor who has studied and analyzed such data for decades, said the adjustment oversimplifies the information. Taking a more narrow slice of victims also allows for further analysis of their characteristics such as age (the victim in Georgia was 38) and race (51 were black and 30 were white in Georgia). And for homicides where the data could be found, 69 percent of victims were killed with guns and 93 percent of them were murdered by someone they knew, the study found. ""An overarching point we want to make with this study is that it’s a myth that a woman’s risk of homicide comes from being attacked by a stranger,"" said Kristen Rand, the group’s legislative director. ""The risk of stranger homicide is really quite low."" But missing from the report is another key fact: the risk of homicide in Georgia is among the highest for any victims. It’s easier to see in lists: Rank State 2012 Homicide Rate per 100,000, Females Murdered by Males 1 Alaska 2.57 2 South Carolina 2.06 3 Oklahoma 2.03 4 Louisiana 1.92 5 Mississippi 1.89 6 Nevada 1.83 7 Missouri 1.73 8 Arizona 1.70 9 Georgia 1.66 10 Tennessee 1.60 (Source: Violence Policy Center) Rank State 2012 Homicide Rate per 100,000, Overall 1 Louisiana 10.8 2 Mississippi 7.4 3 Alabama 7.1 4 Michigan 7.0 5 South Carolina 6.9 6 Missouri 6.5 7 Maryland 6.3 8 Delaware 6.2 9 Tennessee 6.0 10 (tie) Arkansas, Georgia 5.9 (Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics) Southern states such as Georgia dominate both lists, Fox said, because of factors beyond gender. Gun ownership rates are higher here. The South also has a long history of people solving personal conflicts with violence versus lawsuits, Fox said. And, he added, the region is also more diverse than much of the country, and murder rates by and against blacks are higher than those among whites. ""The fact that most of the states on (the VPC) list are in the south is not so much an issue of male-female violence,"" Fox said. ""It’s about homicide, generally."" In summary, the data bears out the study’s findings that rank Georgia ninth in the nation for the rate of women killed by men. One caveat is that tally counts only single victims and perpetrators. It ignores some crimes it hopes to draw attention to, such as a former partner killing a woman before committing suicide or a man killing his ex-partner and a new love interest, if there are two victims. More importantly, the tally also fails to acknowledge Georgia’s dismal rank for the risk of homicide overall, and the other factors that contribute to it. The numbers are right, but it’s also that there is more to the story."
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Spain's daily coronavirus deaths decline as testing increases.
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Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday promised more coronavirus testing to try to build on a decline in daily COVID-19 deaths that has allowed Spain to start tentatively reopening its locked-down economy.
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Health News
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Officials hope more testing will give a better indication of the areas where lockdowns can be eased further. “Spain is already one of the countries making the most daily tests. More than 20,000, and we are increasing the number,” Sanchez told a near-empty parliament. Spain’s daily number of deaths from the coronavirus fell to 523 on Wednesday from 567 the day before, the health ministry said - well below a peak of 950 reached on April 2. The International Monetary Fund has said Spain’s economy is likely to suffer heavily from the pandemic, and the government is keen to reactivate whatever businesses it can as soon as possible, especially ahead of the tourist summer months. The IMF expected an 8% economic slump this year, because of the collapse in tourism and Spain’s high proportion of small and medium-sized businesses, with the debt-to-GDP ratio projected to hit 113% - its highest level in over a century. It put the 2020 budget deficit at 9.5% of GDP, the widest in the euro zone. On Monday and Tuesday, sectors including construction and manufacturing were allowed to reopen but, with most people still confined to their homes, shops, bars and public spaces will stay closed until at least April 26. The government said on Wednesday it would begin to hold meetings with opposition leaders from Thursday on the formation of a “pact for the social and economic reconstruction of Spain”. It seeks to unite political parties, unions, companies and regions behind a common economic reconstruction policy and state welfare funding. The proposal is inspired by the 1977 “Pacts of Moncloa” - named for the presidential palace in Madrid - which aimed to transform the state-run economy along market lines for the post-Franco dictatorship democratic era. For the lockdown to be eased more broadly, officials say testing for the virus has to be expanded to include people who have mild or no symptoms, to track the spread in more detail. The government also said last week it would carry out mass antibody tests on the blood of 60,000 randomly chosen people over three weeks, to begin identifying those who might in theory now be immune after exposure to the virus. However, health and virology experts are not yet certain about the quality of such tests, or how much immunity such antibodies might provide. Spain remains one of the world’s worst-affected countries, with only the United States and Italy recording higher cumulative death tolls than the 18,579 reported on Wednesday. The official tally of cases rose by just over 5,000 to 177,633, although Fernando Simon, the national emergency coordinator, said the expansion of testing had meant more mild or asymptomatic cases were being recorded. Despite signs that public health authorities are slowly getting on top of the pandemic, healthcare workers have had no respite. In Barcelona, a doctor filed a complaint with police after her vehicle was scrawled with grafitti reading “contagious rat”, El Periodico newspaper reported. The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that countries should wait at least two weeks before evaluating the impact of loosening their lockdowns and deciding whether to go further. But Spain, having suffered a heavy blow to growth and employment during the euro zone debt crisis, is under acute pressure to restart its economy. The IMF said unemployment, already the highest in the European Union, would jump to nearly 21% from 14% last year. “Those levels of unemployment are not sustainable,” European Central Bank Vice-President Luis de Guindos told Onda Cero radio.
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HPV test beats Pap for cervical cancer screening
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Polish energy group PGE is close to signing a deal to sell 50% stakes in two planned offshore wind projects in the Baltic Sea to Denmark’s Orsted, the companies said on Tuesday.
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true
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Associated Press,Cancer,Screening
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PGE and Orsted, the world’s biggest developer of offshore wind, said last month they had started discussions over the sale. “We are hoping to finalize the negotiations - meaning signing the basic terms - by the end of this year,” the chief executive of state-run PGE’s offshore wind subsidiary Monika Morawiecka told Reuters on Tuesday. The projects, which have a total capacity of up to 2.5 gigawatts (GW), are key to developing the offshore wind sector in otherwise coal-reliant Poland. International firms including Orsted, oil and gas company Equinor and Germany’s RWE are looking to Poland as the next big growth market for harnessing wind at sea. “Poland is going to be one of the largest offshore wind markets,” Orsted’s Chief Executive of offshore wind Martin Neubert told Reuters. For coal-reliant Poland, offshore wind, together with other renewables, is seen as an opportunity to put the energy industry on a greener path. “We do struggle with our conventional (coal) assets and we see that in the future this part of PGE’s business is going to suffer, so we need to balance it with, for example, offshore wind,” said Morawiecka. She added that she was confident with regards to securing financing for the two projects and that the 1 GW Baltica 3 project would be ready to start construction by 2023 or 2024. The Polish government has set a target of generating at least 10 GW of offshore wind power by 2040 compared to zero today, and is finalizing the legal framework to support this. “Poland has a government which a lot of people thought until recently was not very interested in renewables,” the CEO of industry group WindEurope Giles Dickson told Reuters. Thousands of Polish workers are already employed in producing goods for the offshore wind industry supply chain, but so far these have only been exported. “I think there is a profound interest in creating a strong home market,” said Orsted’s Neubert.
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Hydroxychloroquine fell out of favor because Remdesivir is costlier.
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A Facebook post claimed that remdesivir overtook hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine because the latter therapy cost $0.60 a pill and the former was $1,000 a dose:Hydroxychloroquine 60¢ a pill, Remdesvir $1000 a dose. Now do you see why they are pushing the New Drug and not the old one?However, remdesivir was very new and not yet firmly priced at $1,000, a figure which seemed to originate from a previous pricing controversy involving Gilead Sciences, Inc. Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine costs as little as $0.30, but its experimental use was abruptly halted due to major risks observed in COVID-19 patients. One proposed remdesivir pricing model suggested a cost of $1 a day for the drug should it prove effective, with a high-end proposed at $450 a day (not $1000 a dose).Ultimately, the post’s base claim — that hydroxychloroquine fell from favor because of remdesivir’s relative cost — was flawed on several levels. Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine trials ended because of potentially fatal complications, and remdesivir had no set price as it was trialed in COVID-19 patients.Update, June 29 2020On June 29 2020, Gilead Sciences, Inc. disclosed the anticipated cost of remdesivir: $3,120.The Washington Post reported:Gilead Sciences, the maker of the first covid-19 treatment found to have worked in clinical trials, remdesivir, said [on June 29 2020 that] it will charge U.S. hospitals $3,120 for the typical patient with private insurance.Soon after the announcement, the Trump administration said it had secured nearly all of the company’s supply of the drug for use in U.S. hospitals through September [2020], with a contract for 500,000 treatment courses, which it will make available to hospitals at Gilead’s price.Other developed countries will pay 25 percent less than the United States, a discount Gilead said reflects a need to make the drug as widely available as possible throughout the world.The Post also included some objections to remdesivir’s $3,12o price tag (25 percent lower outside the United States):Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.) said Gilead had set “an outrageous price for a very modest drug, which taxpayer funding saved from a scrapheap of failures.” He criticized the Trump administration for not demanding a lower price in its contract for the first 500,000 courses of treatment.“In a grotesque display of hubris and disregard for the public, Gilead has priced at several thousand dollars a drug that should be in the public domain, said Peter Maybarduk, access to medicines director for the nonprofit group Public Citizen. “Gilead did not make remdesivir alone. Public funding was indispensable at each stage, and government scientists led the early drug discovery team. Allowing Gilead to set the terms during a pandemic represents a colossal failure of leadership by the Trump administration.”Although the original meme placed the cost at $1000 a dose, the actual cost per dose was just over half of that. Six doses comprised a course of remdesivir for COVID-19, for a total of $3,120 in the United States. Outside the US, the cost was $390 a dose, or $2,340 for the six dose course.
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false
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Disinformation, Fact Checks
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On May 1 2020, a Facebook user shared the following post, which contained the claim that antiviral medication remdesivir had replaced hydroxychloroquine as a favored hopeful treatment for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 because the former medication was less expensive than the latter:As of May 7 2020, the post had been shared nearly 100,000 times — in a Facebook-generated format known to exacerbate the spread of disinformation. As with many memes in this format, contained no citations or other corroborating information, and paired large bold text with a colorful background. (The name of remdesivir is misspelled as “remdesvir” in that post. )“Hydroxychloroquine is 60¢ a Pill”Chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine emerged early on in the COVID-19 pandemic as a possible cure for COVID-19. On March 19 2020, the Washington Post explained of interest in and research into chloroquine as a possible COVID-19 treatment:The [Food and Drug Administration] is considering an expanded trial to see whether chloroquine, a cheap, decades-old treatment for mosquito-borne disease, is effective for treating covid-19.Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine had two things going for it above all else — they were invented decades before the pandemic, and are typically very inexpensive. An April 10 2020 StatNews.com article on the cost of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine provided the respective costs for those medications in a 14-day course (not per pill) at $0.30 and $1 respectively.Those rock-bottom prices weren’t entirely static, though still relatively low. In the above-linked Washington Post article as of March 19 2020:Chloroquine is an inexpensive generic drug that has been used for 70 years against malaria and has shown promise in laboratory tests against the novel coronavirus.It is attracting great interest as a potential treatment and is being studied in China, the United States and Europe. Bayer, which said it discovered the drug in 1934, announced it is donating 3 million doses to the U.S. government. Although about a dozen generic and brand manufacturers have different versions of the drug approved in the United States, according to the FDA website, Bayer is not among them. The company says it is seeking an emergency authorization from the agency so the drug can be given to U.S. patients.The drug costs as little as 30 cents a pill at retail Canadian pharmacies, according to the website PharmacyChecker.com. In the United States, where drug prices typically are the highest in the world, the retail price is $6.63 per tablet, according to the website Drugs.com.Based on that snapshot in time, chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine ranged from $0.30 to $6.63 per tablet — still far less expensive than “$1000 a dose.” But it should also be noted that on March 19 2020, StatNews.com reported fluctuations in chloroquine pricing which were seemingly unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic:Rising Pharmaceuticals, a New Jersey-based drug company, hiked the price of its chloroquine phosphate tablets 98% between December 2019 and January 2020, according to data provided to STAT by the publishing and analytics company Elsevier, from roughly $3.87 to $7.66 for a 250-milligram tablet.The price hikes, however, came months before the coronavirus outbreak morphed into a global pandemic, and well before physicians and scientists came to believe chloroquine might prove an effective treatment. In the past two weeks, Rising Pharmaceuticals slashed the price in half as interest in the drug — normally used as an antimalarial — erupted.Remdesivir ‘Costs $1000 a Dose’?As for remdesivir’s cost, it was difficult to nail down a specific price tag for that particular medication due in part to variations in how it is administered and why. It’s not even really clear when remdesivir was specifically developed; a COVID-19 specific document [PDF] from maker Gilead indicates it was developed “as early as 2009.”When we restricted our remdesivir searches back to mid-2019, only three pages of results were returned on Google — suggesting remdesivir was not a widely-discussed medication before COVID-19 gave Gilead its big break. Gilead’s linked PDF suggested remdesivir’s purpose remained under review until recently, and there was no real available fixed price listed anywhere; most mentions of the drug by name involved published research on different applications for it, such as Ebola.However, we did find a possible source for the claim Remdesivir cost $1,000 a dose. A May 6 2020 Reuters item (published after the Facebook post circulated) made what appeared to be a common claim about Gilead Sciences, Inc.:The drugmaker [Gilead] earned notoriety less than a decade ago, when it introduced a treatment that essentially cured hepatitis C at a price of $1,000 per pill.Public outrage over the cost of Sovaldi in 2013 – despite that it was a vast improvement over existing equally expensive therapies – ignited a national debate on fair pricing for prescription medicines that the pharmaceutical industry has fought to deflect ever since.Reuters began by referencing a 2013 controversy over another medication, Sovaldi, which cost $1,000 a pill (or $1,000 a dose.) From there, Reuters speculated about the cost of remdesivir should it prove to be effective in treating COVID-19:The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), which assesses effectiveness of drugs to determine appropriate prices, suggested a maximum price of $4,500 per 10-day treatment course based on the preliminary evidence of how much patients benefited in a clinical trial. Consumer advocacy group Public Citizen on Monday said remdesivir should be priced at $1 per day of treatment, since “that is more than the cost of manufacturing at scale with a reasonable profit to Gilead.”Some Wall Street investors expect Gilead to come in at $4,000 per patient or higher to make a profit above remdesivir’s development cost, which Gilead estimates at about $1 billion.It wasn’t clear how many doses per day the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review expected for remdesivir in COVID-19 trials, or even necessarily how it might be administered. The only use of the word “pill” is quoted above in relation to the $1,000 dose of Sovaldi, and the article’s featured image showed a vial of what looked to be powdered remdesivir labeled for “injection” and captioned:An ampule of Ebola drug Remdesivir is pictured during a news conference at the University Hospital Eppendorf (UKE) in Hamburg, Germany, April 8, 2020, as the spread of cor onavirus disease (COVID-19) continues.Assuming remdesivir will be used intravenously, the proposed ten-day course at $4,500 as a maximum suggested cost would work out to $450 per day or dose. However, that price was proposed as the top end of pricing by a third-party group unrelated to Gilead; a separate group proposed a $1 a day cost for remdesivir — bringing it in line with the cost of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine.In their undated press release, ICER proposed a range as low as $1 per day of therapy and as high as $450:Models present prices according to two different paradigms: “cost recovery” approach and traditional cost-effectiveness analysis[;]Pricing estimates based on preliminary data and will be updated regularly as further data are released and clinical use evolves to include earlier treatment; models will also be used to provide pricing estimates for future treatments as they emerge[;]Preliminary cost recovery pricing for 10-day course of remdesivir estimated at $10; cost-effectiveness pricing at a commonly used threshold for treatments of large patient populations estimated at a ceiling of $4,500. Policymakers and the public will need to debate most appropriate development and pricing paradigms to be used to achieve rapid development and distribution of affordable treatments for a global pandemic[. ]On the same day Reuters ran their report, Politico reported a separate earlier Gilead pricing controversy, and noted no known pricing ballpark had yet been disclosed by any involved parties:But Gilead, which suffered through a spate of bad publicity in 2015 for charging $84,000 for a hepatitis C drug, isn’t just under fire over the potential price of its coronavirus treatment. It’s under pressure from Wall Street investors to recoup the $1 billion investment in remdesivir, which has been proven to accelerate recovery from the coronavirus. How Gilead navigates financial pressures from investors and political pressures from Washington may very well determine the mass production and availability of one of the most promising coronavirus drugs on the market.“An unaffordable drug is completely ineffective,” Democratic Reps. Lloyd Doggett (Texas) and Rosa DeLauro (Conn.) wrote to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar last week, raising questions about remdesivir.It’s not clear exactly how much the drug will cost. For context, one non-profit that evaluates drug costs says it costs about $9.32 to manufacture a 10-day course of remdesivir treatment for one patient. Calculating the cost of development and trials, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review says Gilead could charge as little as $390 for the drug. But Wall Street analysts are on an entirely different page, suggesting a price between $5,000 to $10,000, leading to billions in profits.The FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for RemdesivirChloroquine was briefly issued an EUA by the FDA in March 2020; on May 1 2020 (the same date the Facebook post was published), the FDA granted an EUA for remdesivir for COVID-19. That EUA indicated remdesivir was to be used intravenously in patients being treated for COVID-19:[On May 1 2020], the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for the investigational antiviral drug remdesivir for the treatment of suspected or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in adults and children hospitalized with severe disease. While there is limited information known about the safety and effectiveness of using remdesivir to treat people in the hospital with COVID-19, the investigational drug was shown in a clinical trial to shorten the time to recovery in some patients.“FDA’s emergency authorization of remdesivir, two days after the National Institutes of Health’s clinical trial showed promising results, is a significant step forward in battling COVID-19 and another example of the Trump Administration moving as quickly as possible to use science to save lives,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “NIH, FDA, and scientists across America and around the world have worked tirelessly with patients to get us this new potential treatment for COVID-19. The seamless cooperation between government and private industry under the President’s all-of-America approach to COVID-19 is getting treatment options to patients in record time.”The emergency use authorization allows for remdesivir to be distributed in the U.S. and administered intravenously by health care providers, as appropriate, to treat suspected or laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in adults and children hospitalized with severe disease. Severe disease is defined as patients with low blood oxygen levels or needing oxygen therapy or more intensive breathing support such as a mechanical ventilator.The Meteoric Rise and Fall of Chloroquine/Hydroxychloroquine During the COVID-19 PandemicOn March 30 2020, we addressed both the sudden and emergent introduction of chloroquine, and its abrupt fall from medical favor:The COVID-19 Chloroquine Controversy, ExplainedChloroquine and hydroxychloroquine received a FDA EUA in mid-March 2020, authorizations withdrawn by late March 2020. In the intervening days, research indicated the drug demonstrated little to no benefit and posed significant risk of life-threatening side effects.On April 12 2020, the New York Times reported on the cessation of a small study in Brazil involving chloroquine and COVID-19:A small study in Brazil was halted early for safety reasons after coronavirus patients taking a higher dose of chloroquine developed irregular heart rates that increased their risk of a potentially fatal heart arrhythmia. […]The Brazilian study involved 81 hospitalized patients in the city of Manaus and was sponsored by the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It was posted [on April 11 2020] at medRxiv, an online server for medical articles, before undergoing peer review by other researchers. Because Brazil’s national guidelines recommend the use of chloroquine in coronavirus patients, the researchers said including a placebo in their trial — considered the best way to evaluate a drug — was an “impossibility.”Ultimately, hopes the inexpensive and decades-old anti-malarials chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine could treat COVID-19 were dashed by immediate observation of “potentially fatal heart arrhythmia” in patients.That wasn’t news, by the way. Genetic cardiologist Michael Ackerman recounted his reaction to the March 2020 news about trialing chloroquine in a piece called “Antimalarials widely used against COVID-19 heighten risk of cardiac arrest. How can doctors minimize the danger?”:“I was kind of going crazy in the car,” Ackerman remembers [of listening to a White House press briefing in March 2020]. “My wife was like, ‘Settle down, settle down.’” At the Mayo Clinic, Ackerman treats patients predisposed to heart arrhythmias because of genetic conditions. Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, he knows, have a potentially fatal side effect: They can cause a type of irregular heart rhythm that sometimes leads to cardiac arrest. “The side effect is rare—that’s the great news,” Ackerman says. But doctors can’t say just how risky these drugs are for gravely ill COVID-19 patients based on data from other groups of people who have taken them over the decades. The expert on the radio was comparing, “not apple to oranges, but apples to watermelons,” he says.TL;DRA Facebook post claimed that remdesivir overtook hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine because the latter therapy cost $0.60 a pill and the former was $1,000 a dose:Hydroxychloroquine 60¢ a pill, Remdesvir $1000 a dose. Now do you see why they are pushing the New Drug and not the old one?However, remdesivir was very new and not yet firmly priced at $1,000, a figure which seemed to originate from a previous pricing controversy involving Gilead Sciences, Inc. Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine costs as little as $0.30, but its experimental use was abruptly halted due to major risks observed in COVID-19 patients. One proposed remdesivir pricing model suggested a cost of $1 a day for the drug should it prove effective, with a high-end proposed at $450 a day (not $1000 a dose).Ultimately, the post’s base claim — that hydroxychloroquine fell from favor because of remdesivir’s relative cost — was flawed on several levels. Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine trials ended because of potentially fatal complications, and remdesivir had no set price as it was trialed in COVID-19 patients.Update, June 29 2020On June 29 2020, Gilead Sciences, Inc. disclosed the anticipated cost of remdesivir: $3,120.The Washington Post reported:Gilead Sciences, the maker of the first covid-19 treatment found to have worked in clinical trials, remdesivir, said [on June 29 2020 that] it will charge U.S. hospitals $3,120 for the typical patient with private insurance.Soon after the announcement, the Trump administration said it had secured nearly all of the company’s supply of the drug for use in U.S. hospitals through September [2020], with a contract for 500,000 treatment courses, which it will make available to hospitals at Gilead’s price.Other developed countries will pay 25 percent less than the United States, a discount Gilead said reflects a need to make the drug as widely available as possible throughout the world.The Post also included some objections to remdesivir’s $3,12o price tag (25 percent lower outside the United States):Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Tex.) said Gilead had set “an outrageous price for a very modest drug, which taxpayer funding saved from a scrapheap of failures.” He criticized the Trump administration for not demanding a lower price in its contract for the first 500,000 courses of treatment.“In a grotesque display of hubris and disregard for the public, Gilead has priced at several thousand dollars a drug that should be in the public domain, said Peter Maybarduk, access to medicines director for the nonprofit group Public Citizen. “Gilead did not make remdesivir alone. Public funding was indispensable at each stage, and government scientists led the early drug discovery team. Allowing Gilead to set the terms during a pandemic represents a colossal failure of leadership by the Trump administration.”Although the original meme placed the cost at $1000 a dose, the actual cost per dose was just over half of that. Six doses comprised a course of remdesivir for COVID-19, for a total of $3,120 in the United States. Outside the US, the cost was $390 a dose, or $2,340 for the six dose course.Comments
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Opioid 'kingpin' J&J fueled epidemic, Oklahoma argues at trial's end.
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Lawyers for the state of Oklahoma on Monday compared Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) to a drug cartel leader as they sought to hold the drugmaker responsible for fueling the U.S. opioid epidemic in the first trial to result from lawsuits over the crisis.
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true
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Health News
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Lawyers for the state, including Attorney General Mike Hunter, told a judge in Norman, Oklahoma that J&J’s “greed” led the drugmaker to carry out a years-long marketing effort that caused “utter confusion” about the addictive painkillers’ risks. Brad Beckworth, a lawyer for the state, said J&J knew opioids were harmful, yet minimized the risk of addiction in their marketing, resulting in a surge in overdose deaths as doctors overprescribed the drugs and they flooded the state. “They didn’t get here from a Mexican cartel,” Beckworth said. “They got here from the pharmaceutical cartel, and the kingpin of them all is Johnson & Johnson.” The state urged Judge Thad Balkman, who presided over the nonjury trial for six weeks, to find J&J liable for creating a public nuisance and force it to pay up to $17 billion over 30 years to address the epidemic. Larry Ottaway, J&J’s attorney, countered its products, which had included the painkillers Duragesic and Nucynta, were minimally used in Oklahoma and that trial testimony showed doctors were not misled about the drugs’ risks before prescribing them. He said New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J strictly adhered to regulations governing opioids, which served a legitimate purpose, and called Oklahoma’s multi-billion dollar demand “untenable.” “Only a company that believes its innocence would come in and defend itself against a state, but we take the challenge on because we believe we are right,” Ottaway said in his closing argument. Balkman said he would rule after receiving briefs from both sides, due July 31. The case is one of around 2,000 actions by state and local governments accusing drug manufacturers of contributing to the opioid epidemic. Opioids were linked to a record 47,600 overdose deaths in 2017, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Oklahoma case is being closely watched by plaintiffs in other opioid lawsuits, particularly in 1,900 cases pending before a federal judge in Ohio who has been pushing for a settlement ahead of an October trial. Purdue and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA.TA) were originally also defendants in the case. Purdue reached a $270 million settlement with Oklahoma in March and Teva settled for $85 million in May. Both deny wrongdoing.
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U.S. clears new version of Novo Nordisk clot therapy.
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Denmark’s Novo Nordisk won U.S. approval to sell a new formulation of a genetically engineered protein therapy that helps the blood clot, regulators said on Friday.
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true
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Health News
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The product, NovoSeven RT, can be stored at room temperature for up to two years, the Food and Drug Administration said. An older formulation had to be refrigerated. NovoSeven RT is a genetically engineered version of Factor VIIa, a protein found in plasma that is essential for the clotting of blood. Approved uses of NovoSeven RT include treatment of bleeding, and prevention of surgical bleeding, in certain patients with hemophilia. The most commonly observed reactions with NovoSeven RT include fever, bleeding, injection site reactions, joint discomfort, headaches, and elevations or falls in blood pressure, the FDA said. Some elderly patients had an increased risk of arterial clots when treated with NovoSeven RT for unapproved uses, the FDA added.
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"New York City is planning mass graves (or ""temporary mass graves"") for COVID-19 victims in Central Park (and other public parks.)"
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Is New York City Planning ‘Temporary Mass Graves’ in Central Park?
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true
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Fact Checks, Viral Content
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"On April 6 2020, the New York Post claimed that New York City was considering “temporary mass graves” in public parks such as Central Park in an article bearing the headline, “NYC may temporarily bury coronavirus victims in parks: lawmaker.”The New York Post cited a multi-tweet thread published by New York City councilman Mark Levine. Levine’s ninth tweet was the one which drew widespread interest, and it read:Soon we’ll start “temporary interment”. This likely will be done by using a NYC park for burials (yes you read that right). Trenches will be dug for 10 caskets in a line. It will be done in a dignified, orderly–and temporary–manner. But it will be tough for NYers to take. 9/Levine’s thread began with the first transcribed tweet below, and the preceding seven to eight tweets led up to the “temporary internment” portion:NYC’s healthcare system is being pushed to the limit. And sadly, now so is the city’s system for managing our dead. And it, too, needs more resources. This has big implications for grieving families. And for all of us. 1/NYC’s “city morgue” is the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), which luckily is the best in the world. But they are now dealing w/ the equivalent of an ongoing 9/11. And so are hospital morgues, funeral homes & cemeteries. Every part of this system is now backed up. 2/A typical hospital morgue might hold 15 bodies. Those are now all full. So OCME has sent out 80 refrigerated trailers to hospitals around the city. Each trailer can hold 100 bodies. These are now mostly full too. Some hospitals have had to add a 2nd or even a 3rd trailer. 3/Grieving families report calling as many as half a dozen funeral homes and finding none that can handle their deceased loved ones. Cemeteries are not able to handle the number of burial requests and are turning most down. 4/It’s not just deaths in hospitals which are up. On an average day before this crisis there were 20-25 deaths at home in NYC. Now in the midst of this pandemic the number is 200-215. *Every day*. 5/Early on in this crisis we were able to swab people who died at home, and thus got a coronavirus reading. But those days are long gone. We simply don’t have the testing capacity for the large numbers dying at home. 6/Now only those few who had a test confirmation *before* dying are marked as victims of coronavirus on their death certificate. This almost certainly means we are undercounting the total number of victims of this pandemic. 7/And still the number of bodies continues to increase. The freezers at OCME facilities in Manhattan and Brooklyn will soon be full. And then what? 8/Levine continued, concluding with a “recap” tweet:To recap: Nothing matters more in this crisis than saving the living. But we need to face the gruesome reality that we need more resources to manage our dead as well. Or the pain of this crisis will be compounded almost beyond comprehension. 13/13Naturally, Levine’s stark descriptions — particularly of “temporary internment” and mass graves in city parks (like Central Park) generated tremendous interest. That claim proved an eerie follow-up to an unrelated March 27 2020 viral tweet about the semantics (“temporary”) of mass graves:We are, at most, like 10 days away from semantic arguments about what qualifies as a ""mass"" grave.— Mass for Shut-ins (is a podcast) (@edburmila) March 27, 2020Incidentally, the “arguing about the semantics of mass graves” tweet was published on March 27 2020. Levine’s tweets were dated April 6 2020. That is, in fact, a difference of ten days:Two hours after the first Twitter thread, Levine clarified with a follow-up tweet in which he explained that the temporary mass graves were part of New York City’s contingency plans. He also said they would only be considered if the infection rates for COVID-19 kept climbing:This tweet has gotten a lot of attention. So I want to clarify: the is a contingency NYC is preparing for BUT if the death rate drops enough it will not be necessary. https://t.co/6wLO8qWtML— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) April 6, 2020According to the New York Times, New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio acknowledged the existence of such contingency plans, adding that the use of temporary mass graves was “under consideration” but not in place:Mayor Bill de Blasio said on [April 6 2020] that no such plan had been put in place yet, though he acknowledged it was under consideration.“If we need to do temporary burials to be able to tide us over to pass the crisis, and then work with each family on their appropriate arrangements, we have the ability to do that,” he said, adding, “We may well be dealing with temporary burials so we can deal with each family later.”The medical examiner’s office said in a statement, “We are planning for all possibilities, however no decision on this has been made, and there is still adequate capacity at this time.”The Times included some additional information from Levine which slightly contradicted DeBlasio’s remarks; further, Levine noted that the storage for deceased COVID-19 victims was almost at capacity in New York:Mr. Levine, however, said in an interview: “This is definitely not in the hypothetical stage now. I think it’s fair to say we are moving to do this.” … Mr. Levine said plans for the possible use of “temporary interment” had been mapped out as part of that plan. He said the city had to face the reality that “traditional burial system has largely frozen up.”“We are relying on freezers now to hold bodies, but that capacity is almost entirely used up,” he said, describing temporary interment as “essentially an extension of the freezer system.”In the ensuing discussion about the claims, Central Park was often mentioned as a possible site for temporary mass graves. That may have been due to Central Park’s prominence among people not personally familiar with Manhattan as well as its size; Levine referenced an established potter’s field on Hart Island (in the Bronx), but cited “logistical challenges” in accessing that site as well as city parks in general:Mr. Levine said the possible sites for mass burials would be a city park or on Hart Island in the Bronx, where inmates from Rikers Island are typically employed to bury the indigent in potter’s field.Hart Island has logistical challenges because it is inaccessible and it is a secure Department of Correction facility, so there are limitations on who can go there and under what circumstances, Mr. Levine said.The use of labor from Rikers’ Island to dig mass graves was a part of early reporting on COVID-19 in New York. On March 10 2020, Business Insider mentioned the same site Levine did, reporting:New York City’s contingency plan for ‘biological outbreaks’ includes mobile refrigerator units for dead bodies and mass graves dug by inmates… Inmates on Rikers Island would be transported to Hart Island to dig mass graves where the dead could be buried, and cremation efforts would be ramped up.Currently, Hart Island, which once housed a prison for Confederate soldiers, has two prepared mass graves that could accommodate 19,200 bodies, but there is another site that has yet to be cleared.That reporting also noted the plan itself was not new in 2020, but was designed during a previous disease outbreak in 2008 — which did not result in the need for mass graves:The plan was developed by the city’s late chief medical examiner, Charles Hirsch, in 2008, in response to concerns that Bird Flu would cause the next pandemic influenza. But as Hirsch states in the report, the plan can be used to tackle “other biological outbreaks” that cause mass fatalities.On March 31 2020, The Intercept reported that Rikers’ Island inmates were offered $6 hourly to begin digging mass graves for COVID-19 victims:NEW YORK CITY is offering prisoners at Rikers Island jail $6 per hour — a fortune by prison labor standards — and personal protective equipment if they agree to help dig mass graves on Hart Island, according to sources with knowledge of the offer. Avery Cohen, a spokesperson for the office of Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed the general arrangement, but said that it was not “Covid-specific,” noting that prisoners have been digging graves on Hart Island for years.The offer is only being made to those with convictions, not those jailed before trial, as is generally the case. A memo sent to prisoners, according to a source who reviewed it, does not specify what the work on Hart Island will be, but the reference to PPE leaves little doubt. The offer comes as New York City continues to be the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, with 38,000 people infected and more than 914 dead so far.That earlier reporting by The Intercept closely echoed details in Levine’s Twitter thread, such as requirements for mass graves and space limitations on Hart Island. It also referenced the March 10 2020 Business Insider piece:Hart Island, though, “has limited burial space,” the report noted, and “may not be able to accommodate a large influx of decedents requiring burial,” which the preparedness plan estimated at between 50,000 and 200,000 in a pandemic with a mortality rate of 2 percent in which 25 to 35 percent of the population is infected.The city document proposed employing the Department of Defense’s “temporary mass internment method,” which places caskets 10 in a row, head to foot, so as not to stack them on top of each other. Hart Island is located off City Island in the Bronx. In 2008, Rikers prisoners were burying roughly 20 to 25 bodies per week there, the report found.Typically, the remains of decedents whose bodies are unclaimed or whose families cannot afford burial are interred on Hart Island. However, the internment of COVID-19 victims amounted to far more burials, far more frequently:Normally, about 25 bodies a week are interred on the island, mostly for people whose families can’t afford a funeral, or who go unclaimed by relatives. But recently, burial operations have increased from one day a week to five days a week, with around 24 burials each day, said Department of Correction spokesman Jason Kersten.It is true that a New York City councilmember — Levine — disclosed the discussion of plans for mass burials or possible “temporary internments” of COVID-19 victims on Hart Island or in unspecified city parks. Levine and DeBlasio provided different information in terms of the planning stages, and existing information indicated that the plans had been in place since as early as 2008. Although all the information appears to be accurate, we are rating the overall trajectory of the reported mass graves plan as Unknown as of April 6 2020.Update, April 10 2020, 1:52 PM: Numerous outlets (such as the BBC and The Guardian) published aerial footage captured on April 9 2020 and depicting mass graves on Hart Island in the Bronx:New York using mass graves amid coronavirus outbreakhttps://t.co/R61mrlbfdc pic.twitter.com/T0EctJmFPR— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 10, 2020NYC Mayor confirms they are now burying many #Covid19 corpses in mass graves on Hart Island. Today alone there were at least 40 coffins. The bodies are wrapped in body bags and placed in pine boxes, with their names scrawled on the top. Source: NY Post #TrumpBurialPits pic.twitter.com/2yb2pVVt3U— Jake Morphonios 🇵🇸 🇹🇭 😷 (@morphonios) April 10, 2020The tragedy is incomprehensible. Caskets buried three on top of one another in mass graves now being dug on New York’s Hart Island. No families present, just workers in hazmat suits. pic.twitter.com/4wF9mIJGZl— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) April 9, 2020New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio tweeted about the images, stating in part:The pictures of our fellow New Yorkers being buried on Hart Island are devastating for all of us.I want to make sure everyone knows what they’re seeing and what is actually happening on Hart Island.Remember, these are human beings. These are neighbors we've lost.— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 10, 2020We have accordingly changed our rating from “unknown” to “true.”"
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13923
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40% of Americans know someone who has been killed by a gun.
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"Wasserman Schultz said, ""40 percent of Americans know someone who has been killed by a gun ."" Wasserman Schultz is right about the 40 percent figure if you consider the YouGov poll findings. It’s important to note that a majority of the 40 percent figure comes from suicide deaths, not homicides. And there is limited research on this topic generally.
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true
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Public Safety, Regulation, Florida, Guns, Debbie Wasserman Schultz,
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"In the wake of the Orlando shootings and lacking congressional action regarding gun reform legislation, many are calling attention to the the devastating truths about gun violence in the United States. One of the vocal supporters advocating for tighter gun restrictions is Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla. Wasserman Schultz took to her Medium page to lament the occurrence at Pulse Night Club and to express the need for stricter gun legislation that she believes can prevent future gun violence fatalities, especially by suspected terrorists. In her June 18, 2016, post, Wasserman Schultz wrote that ""40% of Americans know someone who has been killed by a gun — gun violence has touched someone you know."" Many other politicians have made many claims regarding gun violence, but this assertion seemed particularly far-reaching. Do two out of every five Americans know someone whose death can be attributed to a gun? We took a closer look. The evidence We reached out to one of Wasserman Schultz’s campaign representatives, and they told us that the 40 percent figure came from an October 2015 Huffington Post article that cited a YouGov poll from the same month. YouGov is an online market research organization that utilizes a network of over 4 million users who offer their personal views and experiences by participating in surveys. The poll that Wasserman Schultz refers to surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults selected by a random sample stratified by age, gender, race, education and region. One of the questions asked in the survey was, ""Do you personally know anyone who has been killed by another person with a gun?"" The poll found that 22 percent said yes, with 6 percent saying the person was in their family and the other 16 percent saying it was someone else they knew. Another question asked, ""Do you personally know anyone who has committed suicide using a gun?"" On that question, 28 percent of participants answered yes, with 7 percent knowing a family member who used a gun to commit suicide and 21 percent saying they knew someone else who committed suicide with a gun. The 40 percent figure asserted by the Huffington Post article as well as in Wasserman Schultz’s Medium post come from the total percentage of participants who had professed to knowing someone who had died because of a gun. The 40 percent figure is reached once you take into account the overlap between the respondents who knew both a homicide and a suicide victim. We reached out to to Peter Moore of YouGov, who published the poll online, to ask if Wasserman Schultz’s claim accurately encapsulated the results. ""I’ve had a look at the full dataset, and I can confirm that the 40 percent figure is accurate,"" Moore said. ""Her statement does properly capture the poll’s findings. It is also consistent with other similar survey data."" We asked Moore about possible sources of error in the survey, and he responded, ""There are none in particular beyond the general margins of error associated with surveys,"" which was determined to be 4.1 percent by YouGov. To contextualize the YouGov poll, we reached out to James Alan Fox, a professor of criminology, law and public policy at Northeastern University. While not debating the results or methodology of the poll, he did offer some caveats. He noted that suicides account for a large share of the deaths -- a fact that may not be obvious from Wasserman Schultz’s statements. He also said that the poll’s wording leaves a fair amount of interpretation to the respondent. Respondents ""have to decide how well they know someone,"" he said. ""There are better ways to write questions like this so it’s not so vague."" In all, the way the questions were worded may make the percentage sound ""a lot worse than it is,"" Fox said. Past data While there have been many surveys conducted regarding guns and gun violence, the most similar polls to the YouGov poll were surveys conducted in 1993 and 1999 by Gallup. The question in both years was, ""Not including military combat, has anyone close to you--such as a friend or relative--ever been shot by a gun?"" In 1993, 64 percent responded no and 36 percent responded yes. In 1999, the percentage of people answering yes dropped to 31 percent, compared to 69 percent responding no. It’s important to note that the Gallup questions refer to people getting shot -- a larger universe than those getting shot and killed. So, it’s not a direct comparison. Though the Gallup results can by no means confirm or refute YouGov and Wasserman Schultz’s claim, the numbers do not appear drastically different. With limited inquiry into the number of people who are close to victims of gun violence, it is difficult to ascertain a clear estimate. Our ruling Wasserman Schultz said, ""40 percent of Americans know someone who has been killed by a gun ."" Wasserman Schultz is right about the 40 percent figure if you consider the YouGov poll findings. It’s important to note that a majority of the 40 percent figure comes from suicide deaths, not homicides. And there is limited research on this topic generally.
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4326
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New Mexico releases methane emissions report.
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An advisory panel has released a technical report that covers how emissions are produced by oil and natural gas development and how New Mexico might be able to curb pollution from the industry.
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true
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Environment, General News, New Mexico, Pollution
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Rather than outline specific recommendations, the 300-page document is meant to be a resource for state regulators as they begin the process in 2020 of drafting formal rules aimed at reducing methane emissions. Despite industry claims that companies have been able to reduce emissions while still setting production records, environmentalists have been pushing hard for more regulations at the state level to target methane leaks and the practice of venting and flaring. The report is the result of numerous meetings over the last four months by the Methane Advisory Panel, a group of more than two dozen experts knowledgeable about various parts of the oil and gas business. The panel included industry representatives, environmental lawyers and experts from Los Alamos National Laboratory, Colorado State University and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. The discussions centered on topics like compressor engines, storage tanks and pneumatic valves. New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney said the effort put into the report is unparalleled in its thoroughness. “This is exactly the baseline information we need to effectively tackle methane emissions in our state,” he said. The state will be accepting public comment on the report through Feb. 20. XTO Energy President Staale Gjervik said the company’s experience shows methane emissions can be mitigated in a cost-effective way but that full industry participation is important. XTO was among those represented on the panel. The report highlights various strategies to reduce emissions, such as switching to low- or no-bleed pneumatic controllers and increasing leak detection and monitoring equipment. The need for more infrastructure also was identified as a possible way to reduce venting and flaring — although the report stated flaring, or the burning off of excess natural gas during extraction, was a necessary part of the process. The state will host public meetings in the coming months to discuss the findings with community members across the state. Stronger regulations for methane emissions will be critical as the oil boom in New Mexico continues, said Hillary Hull of the Environmental Defense Fund, another member of the advisory panel. She said the state’s process in developing the analysis was been inclusive, representing countless hours of research and input from a diverse cross-section of stakeholders. “Next year will be the critical time for moving forward on enforceable, nationally-leading methane rules that protect our air, address the climate crisis and improve education funding for New Mexico families and future generations,” she said. Earlier this month, trade groups representing the oil and gas industries in New Mexico and Texas release an analysis that showed a decline in methane emissions in both states as production tripled. The research also showed that the amount of methane burned off or emitted per barrel of oil equivalent was reduced by 64 percent in the Permian Basin during the past seven years. Meanwhile, the report cited a 210% increase in oil production in the Permian since 2011. Ryan Flynn, executive director at the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association said Permian producers are leading the industry when it comes to environmental practices and emissions reductions. “As energy markets across the globe look to America for their energy needs, we are creating the solutions of the future to deliver cleaner, more reliable energy to people and communities in every corner of the planet,” he said in a statement.
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35294
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A photograph shows protest signs carried by demonstrators calling for the loosening of COVID-19 social-distancing restrictions.
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“It is dangerous because it can inspire people to ignore things that actually can save their lives,” Inslee said.
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false
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Fauxtography, COVID-19
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Over the weekend of April 17-19, 2020, protesters in cities across the U.S. turned out to demonstrate for the loosening of social-distancing restrictions enacted to deal with the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic, holding that that restrictions were unnecessary or had continued for too long. Many critics of the protests directed blame at U.S. President Donald Trump for encouraging the protests with his tweets calling for residents to “liberate” their states. According to USA Today: Democratic and Republican governors pushed back on President Donald Trump’s tweets to “liberate” states where people protested social distancing measures enacted to slow the spread of the coronavirus. “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!” the president exclaimed in one tweet. “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” he cried in another. “LIBERATE VIRGINIA! and save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!” he wrote in a third. Gov. Jay Inslee, D-Wash. — who said that Trump’s “unhinged rantings and calls for people to ‘liberate’ states could also lead to violence” — told ABC News’ “This Week” that Trump’s tweets were “dangerous” because some might take them as encouragement to ignore stay-at-home orders and other measures intended to stop the spread of the virus, which has killed more than 40,000 Americans. “I don’t know any other way to characterize it,” Inslee said, expressing disbelief at seeing the “president of the United States basically encourage insubordination” against laws “designed to protect people’s health.”
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3201
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18 sickened at popular New Hampshire primary campaign stop.
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A norovirus sickened 18 people after a private function last month at a restaurant co-owned by a Democratic congressman that is popular with presidential candidates campaigning in the New Hampshire primary, state health officials said.
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true
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Health, Campaigns, General News, Manchester, New Hampshire
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People who became ill attended the private function Nov. 24 at the Puritan Backroom conference center in Manchester, the state Department of Health and Human Services said Friday. One person later died, but it was unclear if the death was related to the norovirus outbreak, the department said. The restaurant is co-owned by U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas and is famous for its chicken tenders. It has been in his family for more than a century and is a frequent stop for presidential candidates of both parties. The nature of the event was not released, but it didn’t appear that any current presidential candidates attended. The manager of the Puritan Backroom, Erik Zink, said in a written statement that the restaurant’s top priorities are promoting health and excellent food safety and that he was confident it was doing everything possible to maintain those practices. Zink also said the restaurant had reached out to the family of the person who died to express “our condolences” for the death, which he blamed on unidentified causes. After the outbreak, the Manchester Health Department conducted an inspection of the restaurant. Officials determined there was no ongoing norovirus risk to the public. The symptoms of norovirus include diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach pain, health officials said. The state sees 50 to 75 norovirus outbreaks every year.
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23324
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"A defense bill ""includes language that would require military hospitals to provide abortions on demand."
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"Sen. John Cornyn says that the annual defense authorization bill includes language that would require military hospitals to provide abortions ""on demand"""
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false
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Abortion, Texas, John Cornyn,
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"Republican senators, including John Cornyn of Texas, last week charged Democrats with tacking politically-loaded amendments onto a defense bill. In a Sept. 21 press release announcing his decision to vote against a motion to take up the bill, Cornyn accused the body's majority party of attaching ""language to the bill that represents a blatant attempt to score last-minute votes just weeks before an election. The bill includes language that would require military hospitals to provide abortions on demand."" The motion failed after a 56-43 vote that same day. We wondered later if indeed language attached by Democrats would require military hospitals to provide abortions ""on demand."" First, some background: The Department of Defense is barred from spending federal funds to perform abortions except when the life of the mother is in danger. The only other instances that abortions can be performed in military facilities are in cases of rape or incest, though the woman must pay for the procedure herself. In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed a memorandum allowing abortions at military facilities if they were paid for with private funds, according to a 2002 report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. In 1996, Republicans, who then controlled Congress, imposed the current limits, in that year's version of the defense authorization bill. It has stood ever since. The law affects some 200,000 active-duty female personnel, according to the nonpartisan Guttmacher Institute, which studies and advocates on issues related to reproductive health. Heather Boonstra, a senior policy analyst at the Institute, told us that about 50,000 servicewomen are stationed overseas. How did the new language per the abortion limits emerge? In May, Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., introduced an amendment to the defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2011. Burris' amendment, adopted by a Senate committee, would repeal the restrictions on privately-funded abortions in military facilities. Burris said in a May 27 press release: ""It is critical that we provide the highest quality care for our service members while they are serving our nation overseas, and that includes allowing women and their families the right to choose at facilities operated under the Department of Defense."" Jim O'Connor, a spokesman for Burris, told us the amendment ""removes language prohibiting these health services from being offered on military bases, nothing more,"" he said. ""It does not compel doctors to perform these procedures."" Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, applauded the amendment at the time, saying: ""The (committee) vote repealing this discriminatory and dangerous ban is the first step to ensuring that servicewomen can use their own private money for abortion care when they are serving overseas."" So, under the amendment, it appears military hospitals would be permitted to perform abortions in more cases than currently allowed. But Boonstra objected to Cornyn's statement that the amendment ""requires"" military hospitals to provide abortions. ""What it does is lift a ban on military hospitals to perform abortions,"" she said. ""Nothing compels a military hospital or facility to do that. ... The idea that military hospitals would have to set up special mechanisms to provide these abortions just isn't the case."" Kevin McLaughlin, Cornyn's spokesman, pointed to a White House statement supporting the amendment, which it said ""would restore a policy to ensure that servicewomen and military dependents — including nearly 50,000 servicewomen stationed overseas — have the ability to obtain abortion services using their own, private funds."" However, White House spokesman Matt Lehrich told us that the amendment ""does not require military facilities to provide abortions."" The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service states that the changes that Clinton ordered allowing abortions in military hospitals ""did not necessarily have the effect of greatly increasing access to abortion services. Abortions are generally not performed at military medical facilities in the continental United States."" Further, the report notes that few abortions had been performed abroad because the ""military follows the prevailing laws and rules of foreign countries regarding abortion"" and because ""the military has had a difficult time finding health care professional in uniform willing to perform the procedure."" Next, we turned to the second part of Cornyn's statement. Would servicewomen get abortions ""on demand,"" as Cornyn puts it? McLaughlin said the senator means there would be ""no questions asked"" as opposed to current policy which restricts abortion procedures to women who are pregnant as a result of rape, incest or if her life would be endangered if she carried the pregnancy to term. Others have suggested that if the amendment passes into law, abortions wouldn't always be available. In a September article published in the Guttmacher Policy Review, Rachel Natelson, the legal and policy adviser at Service Women's Action Network, which advocates for military women, is quoted saying: ""Even if the amendment were adopted, the longstanding ban on the use of federal funds for abortion at military facilities would remain. And for military women stationed overseas who rely on the government for their health care, access to abortion services would remain significantly challenged."" Boonstra, who wrote the article, told us the military has a ""conscience clause"" that allows physicians to refuse to perform abortions if they have a moral objection. In late 2008, the Bush administration issued a rule stating that federally-funded health workers could decline to perform an abortion or any health care practice that encroaches on that person's ""religious belief or moral conviction."" Opponents said the regulation was so broad that doctors could refuse any treatment. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, said at a May 28 news conference that the Burris amendment means abortions ""have got to be prepaid"" out of pocket and would be ""only done on a voluntary basis by a doctor. There is no requirement, in other words, that doctors in military hospitals perform the abortions."" Where does that leave us? The defense bill stalled before the Senate includes language allowing military hospitals to provide abortions in cases beyond the existing permissible instances of rape, incest or when the mother's life is endangered. But allowing is not the same as requiring. Contrary to Cornyn's claim, we see no mandate in the proposed change. As for military hospitals performing abortions ""on demand,"" there are so many conditions on availability — even with the amendment — that Cornyn's description goes too far. We find the statement ."
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8305
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New York hospitalizations fall for first time in coronavirus pandemic: governor.
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The total number of people hospitalized in New York fell for the first time since the onset of the coronavirus outbreak, a further sign the state at the epicenter may be at the peak of its crisis, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday.
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true
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Health News
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He told a daily briefing that President Donald Trump had inaccurately asserted the president had total authority over when states reopen schools and businesses but added that he did not want, or have the time, to fight with Trump. Cuomo said that a total of 18,697 people were hospitalized across New York, down from 18,825 a day earlier and the first tick lower since the crisis began. Patients newly admitted to the hospital for COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, came to about 1,600 on Monday, down by more than 300 people compared to the day before. “We think we are at the apex on the plateau,” Cuomo said, though he cautioned that the decline, while part of a flattening trend over the past week or so, was statistically insignificant and warned against relaxing stay-at-home orders too quickly. “We could lose all the progress we made in one week,” he said. Cuomo said an additional 778 New Yorkers died on Monday, up from 671 a day earlier, which had marked the lowest daily death count since April 5. A total of 10,834 New York residents have died due to COVID-19, nearly half the total across the country. On Monday, Cuomo said he was teaming up with neighboring states Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island to devise strategies for easing stay-at-home orders, an action that appeared to upset Trump. At a briefing on Monday, Trump had said he had total authority over when businesses and schools would reopen, a declaration that was immediately challenged by a number of governors on U.S. Constitutional grounds. “The president is clearly spoiling for a fight on this issue,” said Cuomo, who had appeared on TV multiple times since Trump’s comments to push back on them. “The president will have no fight with me. I will not engage in it.” Cuomo reiterated that he believed rapid, mass testing would be critical to getting people back to work and called on the Federal Emergency Management Agency to take the lead in procuring tests. He said he wanted to avoid repeating what had happened in the scramble to secure personal protective equipment, with states competing against one another and at times with the federal government, bidding up prices.
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13345
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Marco Rubio Says Patrick Murphy wrongly conveyed Rubio's stance on abortion for women infected by Zika.
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Rubio said Murphy wrongly conveyed Rubio's stance on abortion for women infected by Zika. In a Spanish-language ad, Rubio disputed the notion that he does not believe in allowing pregnant women to get an abortion if they suspect their baby may suffer from Zika-related birth defects. Rubio confirmed that stance in an August story in Politico, which Murphy has subsequently cited. Unless Rubio has changed his position, which he hasn’t stated publicly, the ad is wrong about Murphy misrepresenting Rubio’s stance.
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false
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Abortion, Candidate Biography, Corrections and Updates, Florida, Marco Rubio,
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"U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio misrepresented his stance on abortion for pregnant women with Zika in a new Spanish-language campaign ad trying to discredit his Democratic challenger. In the ad, released Oct. 4, 2016, a speaker says U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy ""lies about Marco Rubio, when Marco has been there for us."" The screen lifts an image from a prior Murphy campaign ad showing a woman standing on a beach with the words, ""Marco Rubio: 'No abortions for Zika-infected women.' "" It then shows Murphy with a stamped ""."" Murphy and groups that support abortion rights have repeatedly attacked Rubio for saying he didn’t believe in allowing abortions for pregnant women with the Zika virus, which has been linked to microcephaly in newborns. And the reason they’ve attacked him is because that’s what Rubio said. On the record In an Aug. 8, 2016, story in Politico, Rubio told reporter Marc Caputo he did not believe infected women had a right to an abortion, even if they suspected their child might be born with the birth defects associated with microcephaly. The quotation in the commercial refers to the story's headline. ""I understand a lot of people disagree with my view — but I believe that all human life is worthy of protection of our laws,"" Rubio said. ""And when you present it in the context of Zika or any prenatal condition, it’s a difficult question and a hard one. But if I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of life."" The comments came as Congress struggled over funding emergency relief for the disease, which has spread in Florida and nationwide over the summer. Politico’s story was widely cited by other outlets afterward. Murphy and Rubio have batted attacks on Zika funding back and forth during the Senate campaign. Murphy has attacked Rubio’s stance on potential abortions in statements and a campaign ad. But this is the first time Rubio has said the Jupiter Democrat is misrepresenting him. There hasn’t been an English-language counterpart repeating Rubio’s claim. His campaign did release an ad in September accusing Murphy of not telling the truth, but that ad omitted the Zika claim. Rubio’s campaign did not respond when we asked them why they said Murphy was lying about the subject. Spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas did not specify to the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee bureau, either, only telling reporter Kristen Clark that Murphy has ""repeatedly distorted Marco's record."" Just to be sure Rubio wasn’t misquoted, we double-checked with Politico’s Caputo, who said he had ensured Rubio knew what he was going to write about the senator’s opinion. He said Rubio did not object. Caputo also noted the campaign had not disputed the story after it published. ""They never said it was ,"" Caputo told PolitiFact Florida. ""They never expressed any doubt whatsoever."" Murphy’s campaign stood by their characterization of Rubio’s position. ""Either Rubio is silently flip-flopping on his pro-life stance and forgot to let voters know, or he is blatantly lying in this ad,"" Murphy spokeswoman Galia Slayen said in a statement. Our ruling Rubio said Murphy wrongly conveyed Rubio's stance on abortion for women infected by Zika. In a Spanish-language ad, Rubio disputed the notion that he does not believe in allowing pregnant women to get an abortion if they suspect their baby may suffer from Zika-related birth defects. Rubio confirmed that stance in an August story in Politico, which Murphy has subsequently cited. Unless Rubio has changed his position, which he hasn’t stated publicly, the ad is wrong about Murphy misrepresenting Rubio’s stance. Editor's note, Oct. 17, 2016: This story has been updated to clarify the quotation.
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33718
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'The Amityville Horror' is based on a true story.
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"""I remember going by that house and how scary it was."""
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false
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Horrors, horror movies, Supernatural Tales
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Some horrors just won’t die, and The Amityville Horror is a case in point. The tale of a reportedly demon-infested house in Amityville, New York, became a best-selling novel in 1977 and a hit horror film starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder in 1979. Several inferior movie sequels followed in its wake (including a 3-D version), and 15 April 2005 saw the debut of a remake, this one starring Ryan Reynolds and Melissa George. Scary films are a dime a dozen, but what initially drew the public’s interest to the original version of The Amityville Horror was the claim that it was based on real events. The producers of the 2005 remake were also intrigued by the Amityville case not so much due to the horror film’s scary details, but because the tale was allegedly true. “We were looking for truth in horror,” co-producer Andrew Form told Fangoria magazine. “I grew up in Long Island, so I was familiar with this when I was a kid. I remember going by that house and how scary it was.” Co-star Melissa George was attracted to the role because, she said, “If you’re going to do a scary movie, you might as well do The Amityville Horror, a true story, a famous book, a well-known moment in American history.” A famous book, yes. A moment in American history, perhaps. But a true story? Not. The history of The Amityville Horror, as with The Exorcist, began with a best-selling novel. A book entitled The Amityville Horror: A True Story, written by Jay Anson, was published in 1977 and quickly scaled the sales charts. Anson was not a resident of the infamous possessed house, but a professional writer hired to pen a book based on supposedly “true events” that had taken place there several years earlier. The story behind the story began on 13 November 1974, when six members of an Amityville, New York, family were killed. The parents, Ronald and Louise DeFeo, were shot in bed while they slept, along with their two sons and two daughters. The sole remaining family member, Ronald Jr. (“Butch”), was arrested for the crime, convicted, and sentenced to prison. With the family dead (and Butch in no position to inherit the place), the house went up for sale. The horrific nature of the massacre unnerved the otherwise quiet Long Island neighborhood, though no supernatural activity was associated with the house at 112 Ocean Avenue. The following year, a new family, the Lutzes, moved into the house. George and Kathy Lutz, along with their three children, said that shortly after they moved in, their six-bedroom abode became a Hell house. It seemed that perhaps the demons that drove Butch to slaughter his family were not in his head but in the house. An unseen force ripped doors from hinges and slammed cabinets closed, noxious green slime oozed from the ceilings, a biblical-scale swarm of insects attacked the family, and a demonic face with glowing red eyes peered into their house at night, leaving cloven-hoofed footprints in the morning snow. A priest called upon to bless the house was driven back with painful blisters on his hands, famously told by a demonic voice to “Get out!” And so on. A local television crew did a segment on the house, bringing in several self-styled “ghost hunters” (including Ed and Lorraine Warren) and other alleged psychics. All agreed that a demonic spirit was in the house, and that an exorcism would be needed to stop the activity. The Lutzes left the house and took their terrifying tale with them, collaborating with Anson on the book The Amityville Horror. And, as William Peter Blatty did when he promoted The Exorcist, Anson vouched for the truthfulness of his fantastic tale: “There is simply too much independent corroboration of their narrative to support the speculation that [the Lutzes] either imagined or fabricated these events.” Many people expressed doubts about the events in the house. Researcher Rick Moran, for example, compiled a list of more than a hundred factual errors and discrepancies between Anson’s “true story” and the truth. The 2005 remake promises to mine Anson’s book more deeply than did the previous screenplays, including background about early Indians (whose vengeful spirits may lurk nearby) and devil-worshipping early settlers of the area. Yet, Moran explains, “Experts told me that the tribe mentioned was not from the Amityville area at all (actually, they had inhabited the eastern tip of Long Island, 70 miles away) and that the settlers mentioned were never local residents either. Anson’s tactic was clear — when strapped for good material for a book, pad it with quasi-factoids.” And Father Pecoraro, the priest who was driven from the house by demons? According to Moran, who interviewed Pecoraro, “He said he never saw anything in the house.” Joe Nickell, author of Entities: Angels, Spirits, Demons, and Other Alien Beings (and who personally visited Amityville and interviewed later owners of the notorious house), also found numerous holes in the Amityville story. A few examples of these discrepancies: Over and over, both big claims and small details were refuted by eyewitnesses, investigations, and forensic evidence. Still, the Lutzes stuck to their story, reaping tens of thousands of dollars from the book and film rights. The truth behind The Amityville Horror was finally revealed when Butch DeFeo’s lawyer, William Weber, admitted that he, along with the Lutzes, “created this horror story over many bottles of wine.” The house was never really haunted; the horrific experiences they had claimed were simply made up. Jay Anson further embellished the tale for his book, and by the time the film’s screenwriters had adapted it, any grains of truth that might have been there were long gone. While the Lutzes profited handsomely from their story, Weber had planned to use the haunting to gain a new trial for his client. George Lutz reportedly still claims that the events are mostly true, but has offered no evidence to back up his claim. The Lutzes account was likely influenced by another fictionalized story, that of The Exorcist. In fact, it is not much of a stretch to suggest that The Exorcist strongly influenced The Amityville Story: Recall that The Exorcist came out in December 1973, and demonic possession and hauntings were very much in the public’s mind when the Lutzes spun their stories of diabolic activity a year or two later. The revelation that the story was based on a hoax has led to embarrassment, especially among the handful of “paranormal experts” who “verified” the fictional tale. The Lutzes must have had a good laugh at the expense of the mystery-mongering ghost hunters and self-proclaimed psychics who reported their terrifying visions and verified the house’s (non-existent) demonic residents. To this day, the fact that The Amityville Horror story was an admitted hoax is still not widely known — as we often say, the truth never stands in the way of a good story. Though the story was made up by the Lutzes and further sensationalized by Anson, there were real victims of The Amityville Horror (the film, not the demons). In addition to the murdered DeFeo family, the subsequent occupants of the Amityville home have suffered a continual stream of harassment by curiosity seekers, horror fans, and gawkers who want to photograph and tour their infamous house. Then there are the people who, fooled by the films’ and book’s tagline, think they are partaking of works based on true events. (This article © 2005 by Benjamin Radford)
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19092
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"Democratic Party of Oregon Says Matt Wand has sided with anti-choice activists ""to restrict access to reproductive health care services."
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Did Matt Wand side with activists to limit access to abortions?
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mixture
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Abortion, Oregon, Message Machine 2012, Women, Democratic Party of Oregon,
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"The Democratic Party of Oregon has sent a mailer in a heated east Multnomah County legislative race, criticizing incumbent Rep. Matt Wand, R-Troutdale, as a know-it-all who doesn’t trust women to make their own medical decisions. ""Wand wants to take away a woman’s right to make her own personal medical decisions,"" the mailer reads. ""Matt Wand thinks he knows better than women or their doctors. Matt Wand has sided with extreme anti-choice activists to restrict access to reproductive health care services."" The mailer urges a vote for the Democrat in the race, Chris Gorsek, who is endorsed by Planned Parenthood PAC of Oregon. We wanted to know whether Wand, who is endorsed by Oregon Right to Life, sided with activists ""to restrict access to reproductive health care services."" The mailer doesn't mention the word abortion at all -- not once -- but the evidence cited for the claim is Senate Bill 901 from 2011. The legislation would have re-defined Planned Parenthood and other clinics that provide abortions as ""ambulatory surgical centers,"" subject to the same regulations as centers that do plastic surgery, spine surgery, vision laser surgery, and so on. The legislation would have applied to places that advertise as offering abortions, 10 or more in a month, 100 or more in a year. Wand, a freshman, signed on to the bill, along with 11 state senators, all Republicans. The legislation was introduced in February and assigned to a committee in March, where it died. There was no hearing. House Republicans, who suggested the fact check, and Oregon Right to Life, the anti-abortion group behind the legislation, say the bill was aimed at making abortions safer, not at restricting them. ""Terming SB901 as a ‘restriction to reproductive health service’ is pretty much over the top,"" said executive director Gayle Atteberry in an email to PolitiFact Oregon. Oregon Right to Life opposes abortion except in cases where the mother’s life is in immediate danger. Planned Parenthood advocates, on the other hand, say that Atteberry’s characterization is highly misleading. Abortions are already safe, they say, and the bill is part of a national agenda to burden abortion clinics with structural regulations -- for example, corridor and door width -- that have nothing to do with patient safety. Jimmy Radosta, a spokesman for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon, said the legislation would have required major renovation of its clinics. ""The only way to comply would be to tear down and start all over again,"" he said. Clearly, the bill was aimed at clinics that offer abortion services, which are likely the first stops for women who lack insurance or a regular ob-gyn. Planned Parenthood also has contracts with insurers and provides abortions for physicians who contract with those insurance carriers. But it’s important to note that the legislation would not have applied to all abortion providers. Physicians could continue to offer both medical and surgical abortions at private medical offices, or at hospitals such as Oregon Health & Science University’s women’s health clinic. The legislation also would not have applied to the Lovejoy Surgicenter because the Northwest Portland facility is already an ""ambulatory surgical center."" Lovejoy is a significant provider and claims on its website that in calendar year 2008 the center performed 55 percent of the 7,100 abortions in the tri-county area. We figured we should hear from Wand on why he supported the bill. He said he couldn’t recall who had brought the legislation to him, although it was probably one of the state senators. Wand said it made sense to consider regulating abortion clinics the same way as places that do ""face lifts and tummy tucks."" He said Democrats’ ""lying about my respect for women is pretty egregious."" Trent Lutz, executive director of the Democratic Party of Oregon, noted in an e-mail that Wand has accepted campaign money and other assistance from Oregon Right to Life. ""SB 901 would have effectively shut down every provider in the state. We continue to believe that Matt Wand is out of touch and wrong on women's health,"" he said. Whether Wand is out of touch is an opinion to which he and Democrats are entitled. We do, however, take issue with the assertion about the bill’s impact. Anyone reading the mailer cold might assume that Wand is an extreme anti-abortionist who wants to take away a woman’s right to make her own medical decisions. Given the ""reproductive health care services"" language, maybe he’s even against contraception. But the bill wasn’t nearly as drastic as that. The legislation focused on abortion, targeting clinics that provide them. But with abortions performed in a variety of places -- at private medical offices, at the women’s health center at Oregon Health & Science University, at Lovejoy Surgicenter -- the legislation would not have shut down every provider as Lutz claims. Wand co-sponsored legislation that in all likelihood would have translated into fewer places for women to go; his stated motivation was safety, not necessarily a desire to restrict access. We realize that for some advocates, this issue isall or nothing; either you’re with us or against us, on both sides. We take a middle road. The statement is partially accurate -- Wand did side with Oregon Right to Life on legislation that would have affected providers -- but it leaves out important details. The legislation did not target all providers and, in fact, would not have affected a significant provider in the metro area."
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8504
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Iran records 4,585 coronavirus deaths as restrictions eased.
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Iran’s death toll from the coronavirus outbreak has risen to 4,585, with 111 more overnight, a health ministry official said on Monday, adding the total number of infected cases had reached 73,303 in the most-affected Middle Eastern country
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true
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Health News
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On Sunday, the government lifted a ban on travel between cities within Iranian provinces, while restrictions on trips between provinces will end on April 20, state media reported. “45,983 of those infected with the virus have recovered ... There were 1,617 new infected cases in the past 24 hours,” Alireza Vahabzadeh, an advisor to Iran’s health minister, said on Twitter. Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told Iranian state TV that 3,877 of those infected with the coronavirus were in a critical condition. State TV showed streets packed with people, crowded buses and subway cars in several cities as so-called low-risk businesses - including many shops and workshops - re-opened across Iran from Saturday, with the exception of the capital Tehran, where they will resume activities from April 18. Some health officials and experts have warned the government about a second wave of COVID-19 that they said could hit Tehran hard. Alireza Zali, head of the government-led Coronavirus Taskforce of Tehran, called on people to stay at home. Businesses and services seen as high-risk, including theatres, swimming pools, saunas, beauty salons, schools, shopping centres and restaurants, have yet to re-open. Iran’s clerical rulers, who have been struggling to curb the spread of the disease, are concerned that measures to limit public activities could wreck an economy which has already been battered by U.S. sanctions. “We have to fight against the coronavirus and the virus of sanctions together,” government spokesman Ali Rabiei said in a televised weekly news conference. Washington reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018, when U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a 2015 nuclear deal with six major powers. Iranian authorities have blamed the sanctions for hampering their efforts to combat the disease. However, Iran’s leaders have rejected Washington’s offer of humanitarian assistance to contain the coronavirus outbreak. The effect of U.S. sanctions on Iran’s new coronavirus response will be remembered by the Iranian people, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted on Monday. “Despite U.S. sanctions, Iran has made significant progress in fighting the pandemic, thanks to its human & scientific resources, and friends abroad,” Zarif wrote. “#Covid19 was (an) opportunity for the U.S. to kick its addiction to sanctions. Instead, it will now live in infamy in the memory of our people.”
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7055
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Purdue Fort Wayne to lead new suicide prevention efforts.
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Purdue University Fort Wayne has won a $130,000 state contract to boost Indiana’s suicide prevention and intervention initiatives.
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true
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Mental health, Fort Wayne, Health, Suicide prevention, Purdue University, Indiana
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The university’s Behavioral Health and Family Studies Institute will oversee work to develop training, presentations and events to boost mental health awareness in a partnership with the Indiana Suicide Prevention Coalition. The new programming funded by the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction will then be used by 19 suicide prevention coalitions around the state. Alice Jordan-Miles is director of the university’s Behavioral Health and Family Studies Institute. She says “the bottom line is we want to save lives” by letting adults and young people know it’s a good thing to get help for mental health issues. Jordan-Miles says that last year more than 1,000 Hoosiers died by suicide.
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10333
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Early screening for lung cancer gets mixed reviews
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"The story does a nice job of reporting on a new study of CT scan screening for lung cancer, including mentioning availability, novelty, the strength of the evidence, quantitative benefits, potential harms, costs, and independent sources. One cautionary note: Although not technically part of our review criteria, the story does have elements of ""treatment mongering."" One example is that the story reports one man's experience with screening as part of the study. He had a tumor surgically removed and now claims ""he's healthy."" Anecdotal accounts like this are potentially biasing and overly-dramatic. There is no opposing perspective, such as a patient who experienced harms from screening, which would help balance this one person's rosy perspective. Another example is including one physician's perspective that he hopes lung cancer screening is included in routine healthcare, like mammography. Readers may not be aware that there is controversy surrounding widespread use of mammography screening and the statement assumes there is a survival advantage to lung cancer screening, which is not yet known. But overall, the story is reported in a balanced, comprehensive way. It earns a five-star score."
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true
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"The story tells readers the scans cost about $200-$400 and are generally not covered by insurance. The benefits in this case are estimates of 10-year survival in those found to have lung cancer through screening, which is provided. Since there is no control group, there would be no way to provide an absolute risk reduction. But, the story does provide a 5-year chance of death estimate for those diagnosed conventionally, e.g. as a result of symptoms. This provides some relative comparison of what screening MIGHT offer, although it's not known for sure and readers are cautioned that direct comparisons are not possible. The story mentions potential harms from screening, namely ""serious health risks from examining and treating tumors that may not be harmful."" The story could have been clearer about what some of these risks are (like undergoing unnecessary surgery with all of its risks and anxiety to the patient), but it appropriately mentions that screening may have harms, which is often overlooked. The story tells readers that the latest study is uncontrolled, meaning direct comparisons cannot be made between groups of people who were screened and groups of people who were not screened. The article does describe this limitation to the study. The story could have been clearer that this is an observational study vs. a randomized controlled trial–which is the gold standard in research. Direct comparisons between groups will be difficult to make in the absence of a future randomized controlled trial. The story tells readers that lung cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer in the U.S. The story does also describes the burden of lung cancer, providing estimates of 5-year survival without screening (estimates from the general population who were diagnosed as a result of symptoms). No obvious embellishments or overstatements. The story obtains information from physicians not associated with the research who can provide a range of perspectives on what screening may or may not offer to provide balance. The story provides some historical alternatives to CT screening for lung cancer (serial x-rays in the 1970s) and does indirectly describe the de facto alternative, that is, finding lung cancer as a result of symptoms. It does this by telling readers that lung cancer is rarely found curable in the absence of screening and providing estimates of chance of death within 5 years when diagnosed this way. The story indirectly states that lung cancer screening is not widely available (e.g. ""would widespread screening reduce cancer deaths?""). The story tells readers that interest in this technology increased in the late 1990s as a result of early work with lung cancer screening, providing some historical information about when lung cancer screening came onto the scene. The story also indirectly states that this is not widely available, implying that widespread lung cancer screening would be new, although a CT scan, the technology used for lung cancer screening, is not new. The story is well-researched and uses input from many experts, which would not normally be contained within a press release."
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1632
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Afghan surgeon earns from rich to help pay for treating poor.
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Plastic surgeon Abdul Ghafar Ghayur is practicing his own brand of welfare in Afghanistan, where access to healthcare is limited and many cannot afford private treatment.
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true
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Health News
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The money he makes from the hundreds of nose jobs and Botox injections he performs on wealthy Afghans allows him to perform life-changing surgery on low-income patients at a discount or sometimes for free. Ghayur’s practice in the capital Kabul offers a microcosm of Afghan medicine, where doctors, driven by a sense of civic duty, try to fill huge gaps in a public health system devastated by decades of war. The surgeon ticked off parliamentarians, business directors and other “rich people” among his clients, who got their ideas online or during trips abroad and were prepared to pay thousands of dollars for cosmetic surgery. The average Afghan monthly wage is around $35. Income from such treatments, a relatively new phenomenon in Afghanistan, allows him to make a good living as well as treat low-income patients who turn up unannounced seeking reconstructive surgery to treat disease, congenital disorders and post-traumatic wounds. Many of these patients arrive with late stage illnesses and require urgent attention. “If a patient comes and says ‘I can only pay $100’, I can do it for $100. Or $20, or $30,” Ghayur told Reuters during a recent morning consultation. “Because if we decide to wait until the patient has the money, the patient will have no chance of survival.” He added: “I have treated lots of skin cancer patients for free, because some of them had small tumors that were 100 percent curable.” Healthcare in Afghanistan has improved since the hardline Islamist Taliban movement was ousted in 2001, according to the World Health Organization, but key indicators like infant and maternal mortality still rank among the worst in the world. Public hospitals are also chronically under-funded and patients are expected to cover basic medical supplies like bandages, medicine and even wages. Nose jobs are the most popular cosmetic surgeries, Ghayur said. He performed over 500 since opening his practice in 2013, many on members of the Hazara ethnic minority who wanted to elongate their distinctive Asian noses. Bibi Zara, an ethnic Pashtun who had come to have the bridge of her nose raised with silicone, said her husband wanted her to look more beautiful. “God made my nose so I am happy with it, but my husband wanted it,” she said, smiling widely, her eyes the same opal blue color of her burqa. Breast procedures were comparatively rare, Ghayur said, and cost around $3-5,000, depending on the patient’s economic status. He has performed five such operations since 2013, when he returned home from his studies in neighboring Pakistan. Plastic surgery in Afghanistan is a particularly neglected field. The health ministry counts just half a dozen registered practices and says it is not offered as a discipline at medical school. “Most surgeons who perform heart, kidney and other surgeries carry out cosmetic surgeries too,” said Mohammad Ismail Kawusi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health. Ghayur said low-income patients often arrived after one or more botched operations, performed by doctors who were the only practitioners in the area and trained to deal with war wounds. “Usually if patients arrive, doctors will try. They won’t say, ‘this is not my field,’” Ghayur said. He spent six years studying plastic surgery in Pakistan and received further training abroad from the German Cleft Children’s Aid Society. The group has since covered costs for him to treat hundreds of children, including many without access to medical care in less stable parts of the country. Ghayur performs most operations in Kabul, but also works elsewhere. His latest trip was to Kunduz, a province partially under the control of Taliban militants and battered by intense fighting this summer. “I operated in the city, and there was no fighting,” he said of the provincial capital. “Outside the city there was lots of fighting at night, while I was sleeping, about a kilometer away.”
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19858
|
Fireworks have never been safer, and their use continues to increase each year.
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Fireworks executive says they've never been safer and use is on the rise
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true
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Ohio, Economy, Financial Regulation, Patriotism, Regulation, Bill Weimer,
|
"Picking a favorite holiday is almost like picking a favorite child, but PolitiFact Ohio admits to particular fondness for the Fourth of July. We enjoy the invocations of history, especially when they're factually accurate. We like the annual cookout with old friends. And we love fireworks. So we were especially interested to read a newspaper commentary by Bill Weimer, vice president of Youngstown-based Phantom Fireworks, the nation’s largest retailer of consumer fireworks. ""Fireworks have never been safer, and their use continues to increase each year,"" he wrote. ""This alone provides a strong case for the regulated and sensible use of consumer fireworks."" Really? Safer than ever? In 1994, Weimer said, the United States imported 117 million pounds of fireworks, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported 12,500 fireworks-related injuries. By 2010, fireworks imports grew more than 75 percent to 205.9 million pounds, but the number of fireworks-related injuries dropped by more than 30 percent to 8,600. ""This is phenomenal progress in safety,"" Weimer wrote, calling on Ohio's General Assembly to relax state laws and legalize consumer fireworks. PolitiFact Ohio looked at the law and checked the numbers. Ohio law, which now permits the use of only ""novelty and trick"" fireworks, is among the more restrictive nationally. Three other states have similar laws, and four ban all consumer fireworks. Forty-one states and Washington, D.C., allow some or all types of consumer fireworks permitted by federal regulations, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association. We found that Weimer's numbers, as reported by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the American Pyrotechnics Association, a trade group, are accurate. The same day Weimer’s column was published, the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission, which set standards for consumer fireworks in 1976, issued its annual fireworks report last week. It confirmed the injury number Weimer used -- 8,600 for 2010. CPSC spokeswoman Nikki Fleming said the injury rate as measured by injuries per 100,000 persons has leveled off. The Massachusetts-based National Fire Protection Association takes the position that ""using consumer fireworks is simply not worth the risk,"" division manager Guy Colonna said. ""We don't seem to be trending that rapidly toward zero,"" he said of the injury numbers. ""You haven't moved the needle so much in terms of saying it's safe for consumers to use."" The NFPA -- which coordinates the national Alliance to Stop Consumer Fireworks -- said in its annual report in June that there are more fires on a typical July 4th than any other day of the year, and that fireworks account for 40 percent. Colonna acknowledged statistics showing that the rate of injury per 100,000 pounds of imported fireworks has declined, but said it is ""still a significant number."" The American Pyrotechnics Association, a trade group, cites the latter statistic. It shows that the rate of injuries dropped from 38 per 100,000 pounds of fireworks in 1976 to 7 in 2000 and to 4 per 100,000 pounds of fireworks in 2010. The trade group considers that significant because U.S. fireworks consumption has skyrocketed. It more than doubled between 2000, when the trade group says ""the trend in relaxing (state) consumer fireworks laws was first initiated,"" and 2011, when 212 million pounds were sold. The trade group credits ""safety education efforts and the ever improving quality of its products."" It says that injuries and fires most typically result from illegal fireworks and from improper use, especially involving children. But does that mean that fireworks themselves are safer? We asked Weimer what he had to support his statement. He immediately credited the work of the CPSC and the American Fireworks Standards Laboratory. In the 1970s, the CPSC set federal requirements for consumer fireworks that cover cautionary labeling, the burn time of fuses, explosive powder content, stability for both ground-based and aerial devices and proper performance. In 1988, the CPSC started an inspection and enforcement program for Chinese-manufactured fireworks. China -- which now supplies 98 percent of the fireworks in the United States -- began exporting fireworks to this country in 1973. Initially, 75 percent of fireworks tested by the CPSC failed to comply with the regulations. ""The quality truly wasn't very good,"" Weimer said. ""The quality was inconsistent. The industry knew that if it didn't so something there would be big issues."" Working with the CPSC, importers established the American Fireworks Standards Laboratory to set additional, stricter requirements for consumer fireworks. The AFSL went to factories in China, conducted seminars, worked with manufacturers and started a testing program in China in 1994. ""The linchpin of the system is the testing,"" Weimer said. The testing is conducted by an independent laboratory hired from outside China by the AFSL. Each fireworks shipment is tested for compliance with 15 quality standards, Weimer said. If any standard is not met by any of the randomly selected cases, the entire case lot fails. In the program's first year, 1994, 36 percent of the random lots of tested fireworks were rejected. By 2002, that number was less than 10 percent. The compliance rate exceeded 90 percent. CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum, speaking at a symposium in China last January, noted that the agency has been working for years with manufacturers and with China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. ""While AQSIQ and CPSC may work to improve product safety with somewhat different motivations, everyone benefits from the end result, which is improved product safety,"" she said, adding that ""we have increased the frequency, scope, and depth of our training in China."" Weimer thinks that the availability of regulated consumer fireworks diminishes the use of the ""really lethal"" illegal and homemade variety. So what's the grand finale? PolitiFact Ohio is not ruling on the advisability of maintaining, relaxing or tightening Ohio laws regulating fireworks. And we’re not taking a position on whether consumer use of fireworks is even a good idea. Weimer’s statement addressed legal and proper use of fireworks by consumers -- not use of homemade or illegal products. And fireworks are -- as Weimer told us -- a ""product with risk associated with it."" But, the statistical record shows that the rate of injury from fireworks declined nationally while their use increased dramatically, and while laws governing their consumer use loosened. There still are injuries, but the annual rate has plateaued even while consumption continues to grow. We found no stronger explanation than the concurrent regulatory and policing work of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the American Fireworks Standards Laboratory to make fireworks safer. Weimer’s claim is accurate. On the Truth-O-Meter it rates ."
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23477
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Florida is 49th in per capita spending on mental health care.
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Chiles says Florida ranks 49th in per capita mental health spending
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true
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Health Care, Florida, Bud Chiles,
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"Florida has long had a poor reputation for spending on social services. Bud Chiles, running as an independent for governor, criticizes the state's spending on mental health care. On his website Chiles said: ""Nearly $3 billion dollars -- 10 percent of our state’s general fund -- is going to pay for Florida’s prisons. Meanwhile, Florida is 49th in per capita spending on mental health care, and 65 percent of inmates need substance abuse treatment and aren’t getting it. The only way to end this cycle is through community solutions. Let’s stop using a prison cell to solve problems when an ankle bracelet and drug counseling is proven to be more effective. Let’s get resources to communities so that they can provide services locally at less taxpayer expense, creating local jobs and real results."" In this Truth-O-Meter item, we wanted to explore Chiles' claim that Florida is 49th in per capita spending on mental health. We spoke to Chiles on Aug. 31, 2010, who directed us to campaign spokeswoman Katie Ottenweller. She said the source of their information was a July 4, 2010, editorial in the Tallahassee Democrat by David L. Miller, a retired senior vice president of Florida Power Corp. who had been chair of the Florida Substance Abuse and Mental Health Corp. The editorial stated that during the 2010 session, Florida legislators cut the $190,000 needed to continue the corporation, which was an independent, nonprofit created by the Legislature. ""The lack of services in Florida is shocking and embarrassing, as well as very costly,"" Miller wrote. ""Our state ranks 49th in per capita spending for mental-health care, an abysmal ranking borne out by the thousands of people who cannot get treatment and end up in our jails, prisons and on the streets."" Miller did not attribute the per capita spending comparison. PolitiFact Texas looked at a similar claim made by a candidate for lieutenant governor earlier this year. Marc Katz said that Texas ranked 50th -- last -- in per capita mental health spending. PolitiFact ranked that claim Mostly because one state was lower than Texas: New Mexico. That item cited a report by the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors Research Institute, Inc., posted on a Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation website statehealthfacts.org that compares 50 states' and the District of Columbia per capita mental health spending. The chart ranked Florida 49th with $38.17 per capita followed by Texas at $34.57 and New Mexico in last place at $25.58. That report was based on fiscal year 2006 data, said Ted Lutterman, director of research analysis, in an interview. The 2007 report showed Florida 48th but Hawaii did not report and if it had, Florida would have been 49th, Lutterman said. The report based on 2008 data will be finished soon, said Lutterman, who said he is missing Alaska. But Alaska has always been ahead of Florida so he expects Florida to rank 49th again. ""It's been consistent for several years,"" Lutterman said. We reached out to several other organizations in the mental health field to determine if they had any other information about Florida's mental health spending ranking. The National Alliance on Mental Illness gives states a grade, and in 2009 gave Florida a ""D."" The ""Grading the States 2009"" report evaluates measures such as the number of programs delivering evidence-based practices, emergency room wait-times, and the quantity of psychiatric beds by setting and whether Medicaid reimburses providers for all, or part of evidence-based practices; and more. In 2009, the organization gave six states an ""F"" and 21 states a ""D."" The report card is not based on per capita spending but gives us a general sense of how Florida compares -- somewhere in the bottom half of states. The nonprofit Mental Health America published a report in December 2007 called ""Ranking America's Mental Health: An Analysis of Depression Across the States."" Appendix B, which compares state mental health authority expenditures per capita for 50 states plus the District of Columbia, stated that Florida spent $35.96 while three states were lower: Arkansas $35.96, New Mexico $27.78 and Kansas $23.14. That report was based on 2004 data, said spokesman Steve Vetzner. A Sept. 10, 2009, letter to the editor in the Sun-Sentinel from Bob Sharpe, CEO and president of the Florida Council for Community Mental Health, states that Florida is 49th in per capita mental health spending but does not attribute the source of the ranking. We left a message for Sharpe but did not hear back. So how does Chiles' claim stack up? He said that Florida was 49th in per capita spending on mental health. The campaign cites an editorial that does not provide the source for the 49th figure. The Association of State Mental Health Program Directors Research Institute, Inc., concluded in a 2006 report that Florida ranked 49th and that figure has been quoted several times by mental health experts such as Sharpe. Mental Health America wrote in a 2007 report that Florida was 48th -- but it was based on earlier 2004 data. Based on the information we could find."
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25860
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"Say Wisconsin Republican lawmakers have done nothing ""while neighboring states like Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan have already implemented safety precautions like requiring individuals to wear masks."
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Lawmakers in Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois have passed more COVID-19 legislation than Wisconsin’s GOP-controlled legislature. That said, some safety precautions in those states came about through executive orders by the governors.
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true
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Public Health, States, Wisconsin, Coronavirus, Wisconsin state Senate Democrats,
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"Wisconsin’s response to the coronavirus outbreak is under a microscope as cases surge and Republicans and Democrats continue to clash over what -- if anything -- to do about the increase. Tensions boiled over July 30, 2020 after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers issued a statewide face mask mandate, despite opposition from Republicans who contend the move amounts to government overreach. In the days before that, though, the state Senate’s Democratic Committee turned its frustration toward Republican lawmakers. ""While neighboring states like Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan have already implemented safety precautions like requiring individuals to wear masks, similar pleas in Wisconsin have fallen on deaf ears of Republican legislators,"" stated a July 24 news release. Lawmakers in those states have passed more COVID-19-related bills than Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled Legislature since the pandemic began. But some precautions, like a mask mandate, came from executive orders and not legislation. How does the committee’s claim stack up? Eric LaGesse, executive director of the Senate’s Democratic committee, did not respond to PolitiFact Wisconsin’s request for evidence to back up their claim. But the claim is pretty straightforward, and there has been a lot of news coverage of the state’s response to the pandemic. Here’s a recap: In March, Evers and Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm issued a series of orders to curb large gatherings as COVID-19 began to emerge in Wisconsin. Those actions culminated in a stay-at-home order on March 24, 2020, which shut down the state to help contain the virus’ spread. In April, lawmakers passed a coronavirus relief package that allowed the state to tap into extra federal Medicaid dollars and suspended a one-week waiting period for collecting unemployment benefits, among other provisions. However, the state lost $25 million in federal funding for unemployment because Republican leaders waited too long to schedule a floor session on the relief package. Evers’ administration extended the stay-at-home order on April 16 and four days later unveiled the Badger Bounce Back plan, which provided a phased approach for reopening based on testing and other public health criteria. In May, acting on a lawsuit from state GOP leaders, the state Supreme Court struck down much of the order and allowed the state to reopen without any protocols in place. After that, not much happened at the state level until the mask mandate despite a recent surge in infections and multiple daily increases of over 1,000 cases. Lawmakers have introduced 10 bills related to the pandemic in recent months, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. The relief package we mentioned earlier is the only one that’s passed. The Democratic committee argued neighboring states -- specifically Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan -- have implemented more safety precautions for their residents. According to a database maintained by the National Conference of State Legislatures, Minnesota enacted 25 pieces of legislation related to COVID-19 through July 23 after lawmakers introduced over 200 measures. Illinois has passed 18, and Michigan approved 19. The bills touch on a wide range of issues, from COVID-19 testing to election procedures. The differences between Wisconsin and its neighbors can’t be blamed on partisan gridlock, either. While Democrats control Illinois’ state government, Minnesota’s legislature is split between both parties with a Democrat in the governor’s office. Michigan, like Wisconsin, has a Democratic governor and a Republican-controlled legislature. It’s worth noting, though, that some of the precautions in other states came about through executive orders by their governors, not action by the legislature. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzer, for example, issued an order on June 26 requiring residents to wear face coverings -- over a month before Evers enacted a mask mandate in Wisconsin. Governors in other states also enacted stay-at-home orders similar to what Evers implemented. Wisconsin’s state Senate Democratic Committee claimed Republican lawmakers have failed to act while ""neighboring states like Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan have already implemented safety precautions like requiring individuals to wear masks."" It’s clear that Wisconsin lawmakers are behind the curve on COVID-19 compared to neighboring legislatures. Legislative bodies in Minnesota, Illinois and Michigan have introduced and passed more bills since the pandemic began. But they didn’t act alone, and safety precautions like mask mandates were ordered by their governors. That leaves us with a statement that’s accurate but needs clarification or additional information."
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7997
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Taiwan to push social distancing in coronavirus fight, but no fines yet.
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Taiwan will introduce social distancing measures to help control the coronavirus but will not yet punish people who fail to comply, the health minister said on Tuesday.
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true
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Health News
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Taiwan has been successful at limiting its number of cases thanks to early prevention and a good public health system but it has faced a large rise in recent weeks as people who were infected overseas come to the island. Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said the social distancing steps would require people in public spaces to maintain a 1 meter (3.3 feet) distance between each other outside, and 1.5 meters inside. If this is not possible, for example in busy train stations, then people must make sure they wear face masks, he said. “This is a suggestion, but I think people can do it,” Chen told a news conference. More details would be announced on Wednesday, he added. People have generally been quite good at following virus prevention advice so far but if needed stronger measures can be applied, he said. “As I’ve always said, if a special situation comes about, we can use tough methods, with corresponding punishments.” Taiwan’s Centres for Disease Control has already been enforcing the distancing rules for reporters at its daily news conference, and masks are widely worn across the country with government-guaranteed supplies. Taiwan has a harsh system of fines for people who are undergoing mandatory 14-day quarantines and who leave their homes without permission. They can be issued fines of up to T$1 million ($33,000). All people returning to Taiwan from overseas now have to complete a compulsory two-week quarantine period. Taiwan has reported 322 cases, including an additional 16 new patients on Tuesday, and five deaths, a far smaller number than many of its neighbors.
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37187
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An insider’s view from the Secret Service agents who were assigned to protect the President and their families. The rumor reveals things that most people would not know about the character and personalities of Presidents, First Ladies and Vice Presidents who served in office since 1960’s.
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Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents
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mixture
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Politics
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This rumor appears to have been generated from excerpts of a book by Ronald Kessler called In The President’s Secret Service, which was published in 2009. In it, Kessler interviews retired or former Secret Service agents who protected various U.S. Presidents. Kessler also interviewed White House staff members. Generally, it is a policy of the Secret Service that agents not disclose the private lives of the First Family while they are occupying the Executive Mansion. Some of the allegations in this eRumor are accurate, according to Kessler’s book and some are not. Let’s take a look at each one: Codenamed Lancer, John Kennedy was a philanderer of the highest order. Jacqueline Kennedy ordered the kitchen help to save all the left-over food and wine for the next White House occasion An agent interviewed in Kessler’s book said that while assigned to guard President Kennedy agents realized that he led a double life. The charismatic leader was “a cheating, reckless husband whose aides snuck women into the White House to appease his sexual appetite.” There was no mention of Jackie Kennedy saving leftovers for the next occasion. Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) was another philanderer of the highest order. He was also crude as the day is long. Ladybird Johnson was either naive or pretended to “not know” of her husband’s many liaisons One agent assigned to protect him who was interviewed in Kessler’s book said that Johnson, codenamed Volunteer, was “uncouth, nasty and often drunk.” The agent said that after being caught by his wife having sex with a secretary in the Oval Office Johnson ordered the Secret Service to install a buzzer to warn him. The agent said that Mrs. Johnson was well aware of what was going on. Richard Nixon was a moral man but very paranoid, odd and weird.. He had a horrible relationship with his family, and in a way, he was almost a recluse. Pat Nixon was quiet most of the time–Truth! An agent assigned to protect the Nixon’s said that the President, codenamed Searchlight, “seemed to have no relationship with his wife, Pat,” and she “was an alcoholic who tippled martinis.” When the Nixon’s were in San Clemente, Ca the family went out to play a nine hole golf game and an agent said that during the entire hour and a half game the President did not say one word to his wife and daughters. Spiro Agnew was a nice, decent man and everyone in the Secret Service was surprised about his downfall Agents assigned to protect Agnew were interviewed and said that although he came across as a champion of family values the Vice President “was having affairs while in office.” A detail of Secret Service agents once clandestinely took Agnew to a room on the fourth floor of Washington’s Regis Hotel and left him there unguarded for three hours, at the request of the Vice President. A former agent said, “Leaving him in an unsecured location was a breach of security. As agents, it was embarrassing because we were facilitating his adultery. We felt like pimps.”Gerald Ford was a true gentlemen who treated the Secret Service with respect and dignity. He had a great sense of humor. Betty Ford drank a lot- Truth!Agents found President Ford, Codenamed Passkey, to be a “decent man who valued their service.” Although he was portrayed by Saturday Night Live comedian Chevy Chase to be a stumbling, bumbling buffoon, agents say Gerald Ford was quite athletic and enjoyed skiing. Ford often taunted agents to keep up with him on the slopes. After failing to keep up with the President the Secret Service recruited a world class skier who would ski backwards in front of the President and “wave as the President tried to catch up with him.” Betty Ford did suffer from alcoholism but eventually found sobriety and in 1982 founded the Betty Ford Center, which has aided over 90,000 people with a network of treatment centers for alcohol and chemical dependency. Jimmy Carter was a complete phony who had disdain for the Secret Service, and was very irresponsible with the “football” nuclear codes- Truth! Kessler interviewed agents assigned to Jimmy Carter, codenamed Deacon, who described Carter as a “moody and mistrustful” person who distanced himself from the agents who were sworn to protect him and his family. Agents were instructed not to speak to President Carter unless he spoke to them first. A former agent said that President Carter “tried to project the image of himself as a man of the people by carrying his own luggage when travelling. When he was running for President, Carter would carry his own bags while the press was in sight but once in private he would ask the Secret Service to carry his luggage. An agent said that when the Carters were staying at the President’s home in Plains, Georgia, the “nuclear football,” the device that the President uses to launch antiballistic missiles to protect the U.S. from a foreign launched nuclear attack was not permitted on the grounds of the Carter home. The “football” allows the President to launch counter measures within five minutes of a notification of a nuclear strike. It was kept with an agent in a military trailer in the neighboring town, Americus, which was fifteen minutes away. Rosalyn Carter mostly did her own thing. Although not much is written in Kessler’s book about Rosalyn Carter, other than she enjoyed a screwdriver before church on Sunday in a White House where the Carters had requested the removal of alcoholic beverages, there is no indication that she did her own thing. Ronald Reagan was moral, honest, respectful, and dignified. The Reagan’s treated Secret Service and everyone else with respect and honor. Nancy Reagan was very nice but very protective of the President- Truth! Ronald Reagan’s codename was Rawhide and according to Kessler’s book he treated the Secret Service agents, the Air Force One Crew and the staff of maids and butlers at the White House with respect. President Reagan was known
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