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8770
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Canada says 12 dead in food poisoning outbreak.
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Twelve people have now died out of 26 confirmed cases of food poisoning linked to deli meats produced at a plant owned by Maple Leaf Foods Inc, Canadian health officials said Monday.
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true
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Health News
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Maple Leaf Foods President and CEO Michael McCain addresses shareholders at the company's annual general meeting in Toronto April 26, 2006. Canadian health officials said on Monday 12 people have died out of 26 confirmed cases of listeriosis, a food poisoning that genetic tests linked to prepared meats from a Toronto plant owned by Maple Leaf Foods Inc <MFI.TO>. REUTERS/J.P. Moczulski There are another 29 suspected cases of listeriosis, officials told reporters, and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said the government expected more cases in coming days. Maple Leaf Foods, one of Canada’s biggest meat processors, had said it hoped to reopen the Toronto plant associated with the outbreak on Tuesday, but health officials said they will test and hold all meat produced there until they are satisfied it is not contaminated. “The timeframe really isn’t theirs. It belongs more to the (Canadian Food Inspection Agency),” Ritz said. Maple Leaf has voluntarily pulled about 220 products made at the plant in one of the biggest food recalls ever in Canada, with direct costs to the company of about C$20 million ($19 million). Listeria bacteria with the same genetic fingerprint as that found in the ill people was found in two beef products made at the plant. Those products and about 20 others made on the same lines were recalled last week. Listeriosis, an illness that is particularly dangerous for pregnant women, the elderly, infants and people with weak immune systems, was a contributing factor in seven of the deaths, the Public Health Agency of Canada said. Five others had the bacteria in their system, but the causes of their deaths are still under investigation, said the agency’s Mark Raizenne. Previously, four deaths had been attributed to the outbreak. Maple Leaf has said it’s unlikely it will be able to determine how its meat was contaminated, explaining that the listeria bacterium is common and pervasive. “It’s very, very, very difficult, if not impossible, to pinpoint a cause,” Chief Financial Officer Michael Vels told analysts on Monday before the latest health announcement. “I don’t know how important that is to consumers. I think our perspective is what’s more important is we let them know what’s going on and we take swift and conservative action to safeguard their health,” Vels said. Maple Leaf is double-checking procedures at all of its 23 plants but has no reason to believe any other products are at risk of contamination, he said. Reimbursing customers for returned products, cleaning the plant and other direct expenses will cost the company C$20 million before taxes, Vels said. On top of the company’s initial cost estimate, it may face reduced sales and increased advertising costs, he said. Maple Leaf shares closed 10 percent lower at C$8.80 ahead of the announcement of the latest deaths. Vels declined to speculate on whether Maple Leaf would have any financial liability from lawsuits, but said the company has product liability insurance. “No definitive link has been made between the listeria causing the illness and deaths, and Maple Leaf products,” Vels told analysts. But a lawyer known for aggressively pursuing class action lawsuits, including against tainted pet food maker Menu Foods Income Fund, said his firm will take action against Maple Leaf. “It’s apparent, immediately, that the company has been downplaying the significance of what’s going on,” Tony Merchant said in an interview with CTV News. ($1=$1.05 Canadian)
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11450
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Cigarettes, coffee may lower Parkinson’s risk
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This story attempted to provide a synopsis of the results of a study that examined whether smoking, caffeine consumption and the use of common pain medications might reduce the risk of developing Parkinson's disease. The story fails to describe the strength of the evidence: a retrospective case-control study cannot prove cause-and-effect, only association. This is a study design that is most prone to bias or confounding. The story should have included some caveats about the strength of the evidence. There was no mention of potential harms associated with cigarette smoking or coffee consumption. The story might have noted that smoking is known to be one of the leading causes of premature death and disease. The article would have been strengthened had there been an expert opinion independent of the study authors. As it stands, this was a single-source story – never a good idea.
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false
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"Costs not mentioned, but these are common knowledge. The story provided no quantitative estimate of the beneficial effect cigarettes or caffeinated coffee consumption were found to have in the study. This is particuarly important where the seemingly beneficial effect on this one disease must be weighed against known harms of tobacco. Just how big could the benefit be vs. the known harms? There was no mention of potential harms associated with cigarette smoking or coffee consumption. The story might have noted that smoking is known to be one of the leading causes of premature death and disease. The story did not discuss the strength of the evidence that the study presented. The story reported about a study, the design of which cannot demonstrate cause-and-effect, only association. It was a retrospective case-control study, a study design that is most prone to bias or confounding. The story appropriately described the prevalence of the disease. Quotes from the senior author of the study reported on were included in the story. However, there does not appear to have been any interviews with an independent expert to help place the study within the context of what is known about Parkinson's disease prevention. There is no mention of the usual management, treatment or prognosis of Parkinson's Disease. The story discussed the results of a study that found the use of two common, readily available substances was associated with decreased incidence of developing Parkinson's disease for those known to have a family member who developed the disease. This study reported on in the story presented results that are consistent with previous studies, and the story made that clear by saying ""previous studies have suggested"" much the same thing. We can't be sure if the story relied solely or largely on a news release. We do know that the story only quoted one researcher who was involved in the study."
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12885
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Spending more taxpayer money on VISIT FL (or less) has not demonstrated a direct impact on tourism.
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Corcoran said spending money on Visit Florida doesn’t have a direct impact on the tourism. He has an historical point that spending increases don't always bring more visitors, but that neglects a primary objective of marketing tourism — getting people to spend more money when they’re here. The amount of money visitors spend in Florida has increased steadily over the years. The statement is partially accurate but takes things out of context.
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mixture
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State Budget, Tourism, Florida, Richard Corcoran,
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"Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran is throwing sand on the state’s primary tourism agency, one of Gov. Rick Scott’s most prized possessions. Year after year, Scott has called on the Legislature to boost Visit Florida’s budget to bring in more tourists, and this year was no different. Scott asked for $76 million in 2017-18 fiscal year. Corcoran is driving legislation to kill both Visit Florida and Enterprise Florida, which oversees state business incentive programs. Corcoran says the state's investment is a waste of money. ""Spending more taxpayer money on VISIT FL (or less) has not demonstrated a direct impact on tourism,"" Corcoran tweeted Feb. 6. As we've said, spending more taxpayer money on VISIT FL (or less) has not demonstrated a direct impact on tourism pic.twitter.com/c2ecmdWxxa His tweet was accompanied by an infographic comparing the number of Florida visitors with the amount of funding given to Visit Florida. The various stats relay one message: More money to Visit Florida doesn’t equal more visitors. On the surface, Corcoran’s numbers seem to support the crux of his claim. But tourism experts cautioned they don’t tell the whole story. They said the amount of money that tourists spend, and how long they choose to stay, is more important than the sheer number of visitors. Not all tourists are created equal. Measuring the success of marketing tourism is complicated Corcoran’s push to eliminate Visit Florida comes after a fair share of negative publicity the past year. In December 2016, Visit Florida CEO Will Seccombe resigned amid political backlash after the agency paid Miami rapper Pitbull $1 million to promote Florida, which included a video promo dubbed ""Sexy Beaches."" This secret terms of the deal led Scott to ask the agency to create new policies that increase transparency. To prove his point that tourism dollars don't have a direct effect on more tourists, Corcoran’s team sent data that included three measurements from 2000 to 2015: the annual number of Florida visitors, the amount of funding to Visit Florida, and the amount of money spent by Visit Florida per visitor. (The infographic only highlighted the first two measurements.) Based on Corcoran's numbers, between 2011 to 2015, Visit Florida funding increased from $34 million to $74 million, or a roughly 112 percent change increase. In that same time, the number of visitors only showed a approximately 22 percent change increase. Corcoran’s numbers seem to support his argument that increased spending historically didn't always lead to a tourist bump. But experts said annual counts aren't the only metric used to determine the success of a marketing investment. They also look at how much money tourists invest themselves. ""A primary marketing strategy is to get tourists to stay longer in a destination thereby spending more money,"" said Kathleen Andereck, a professor at the College of Public Service and Community Solutions at Arizona State University. David Preece, the academic director for the Center for Hospitality & Tourism at Brigham Young University-Hawaii, said the better way to see a return on investment in marketing tourism is to look at how much visitors spend and the resulting tax revenues, rather than the number of visitors. ""After all, you can’t deposit visitors in the bank, but you sure can deposit the money they leave behind,"" Preece said. Preece pointed to Visit Florida’s strategic plan to generate $100 billion in annual visitor spending by 2020. That number was $71.8 in 2012-13, $76.1 billion in 2013-14, $82 billion in 2014-15, and $89.1 billion in 2015-16. That plan shows a trend of roughly an additional 7.5 percent spending per year which, if held, would reach $100 billion in the next couple of years, he said. Other factors can affect annual tourism arrivals and spending, too, making it further difficult to draw broad conclusions about tourism spending alone. Experts said these include hurricanes and other natural disasters, terrorism and crime, the political environment, gas prices, and the cost of flights. International visitors pack bigger wallets Youcheng Wang, an associate dean at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at University of Central Florida, knows firsthand why boosting Florida’s image can be so important, especially in international markets. Wang once attended an annual tourism meeting with China and the United States in Orlando. Wang said that before the marketing and tourism delegation from China arrived, they received a brochure highlighting popular tourist destinations. ""When I looked at the brochure my jaw nearly dropped,"" Wang said. ""In that brochure Orlando was described as small fishing village with 20,000 people."" Wang tells that anecdote as just one of the many reasons marketing tourism is important, especially in the lucrative international scene, where Visit Florida has made investments. The agency spent $1.2 million to advertise with the Fulham Football Club, a British soccer team (that isn't in England's famous Premier League). Part of the deal includes placing Visit Florida logos on the team’s jerseys and on the stadium’s roof, which is near London Heathrow Airport, one of the busiest in the world. Seccombe argued before leaving Visit Florida that targeting visitors from the United Kingdom was worth the effort. ""So everybody that flies into one of the busiest airports in the world sees 'Visit Florida' outside the window along with Buckingham Palace and Big Ben,"" Seccombe told the Tampa Bay Times. In 2015, the number of United Kingdom tourists that visited Florida reached 1.7 million. On top of that, British tourists outspent visitors from every other country except Canada by spending around $1.5 billion on their visits. They also stay in the state 13.3 days on average compared with 4.9 of a U.S. traveler. Our ruling Corcoran said spending money on Visit Florida doesn’t have a direct impact on the tourism. He has an historical point that spending increases don't always bring more visitors, but that neglects a primary objective of marketing tourism — getting people to spend more money when they’re here. The amount of money visitors spend in Florida has increased steadily over the years. The statement is partially accurate but takes things out of context.
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28274
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An X-ray shows hundreds of bubble tea pearls inside a teenage girl's stomach.
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Kashnir added: “I would reassure readers that 1-2 glasses of bubble tea are perfectly safe.”
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mixture
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Fauxtography
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In June 2019, an X-ray image supposedly showing hundreds of bubble tea pearls in a 14-year-old girl started circulating on social media: Bubble tea, also known as boba, is a Taiwanese tea-based drink filled with chewy “pearls” that are typically made from tapioca. The above-displayed image supposedly revealed hundreds of such pearls in the teen’s stomach. The image was originally published in Chinese-language news outlets such as Shaoxing News and The Paper in early June 2019. Here’s an excerpt from an English-language report published in Asian One: The girl, who lived in Zhejiang province, complained of being constipated, not being able to eat, and was suffering from stomachaches. According to Chinese media reports, her parents finally sent her to the hospital on May 28. Unable to find the cause of her digestive issues, a CT scan was performed, where doctors found many unusual spherical shadows in her abdomen. Doctors deduced that the shadows were actually around a hundred undigested tapioca pearls from bubble tea she had consumed. Despite the credible origins of this story, many viewers (and a few doctors) were skeptical about what this image showed. The experts who weighed in on the matter were less concerned with whether the image was doctored (we saw no red flags to indicate that this X-ray was digitally manipulated) and more curious about how tapioca pearls showed up on the CT scan. Dr. Lina Felipez, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, told Live Science that tapioca balls certainly could cause constipation. However, Felipez noted that tapioca, and even common additives such as guar gum, wouldn’t show up on a CT scan: Eating a lot of tapioca balls could “for sure” cause constipation, said Dr. Lina Felipez, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, who wasn’t involved in the girl’s case. Tapioca is a very starchy food that’s mostly made of carbohydrates. By itself, tapioca likely wouldn’t cause significant constipation, Felipez said. But the balls typically contain other additives that can contribute to constipation. In particular, an additive called guar gum may play a role in causing digestive issues — guar gum is a fiber that helps hold the balls together and makes them stickier. Guar gum also expands when it comes in contact with water, Felipez said … However, what’s puzzling is that tapioca, guar gum and other ingredients typically used in tapioca balls in the U.S. would not show up on a CT scan. These ingredients aren’t “radiopaque,” meaning they don’t show up on X-rays or CT scans, Felipez said. That’s because these ingredients do not block the type of radiation used in X-rays. (Instead, they allow the radiation to pass through, and thus remain invisible on X-rays.) Dr. Vladimir M. Kushnir, an associate professor of medicine at Washington University and a spokesman for the American Gastroenterological Association, had a similar opinion. Kushnir told us via email that if this X-ray truly showed bubble tea pearls, they likely contained an additional additive uncommon in the United States: (The image) shows a colon distended with at least several hundred (if not more) small round objects … possibly “bubbles” from boba tea … It’s possible (that these splotches are bubble tea pearls) given the shape, but my suspicion is that they contained some additional additive (not used in U.S.) to show up on the X-ray so well. This patient clearly consumed an exorbitant number of bubble tea pearls. This X-ray is authentic and appears to show at least a hundred bubble tea pearls blocking the digestive tract of a 14-year-old girl in China. What these particular bubble tea pearls were made of, however, is unclear. It’s possible that they contained some sort of inedible material. Reports exist of unsafe additives being found in boba pearls over the years, as the Wall Street Journal reported in 2013: Since mid-May, Taiwanese health authorities have confiscated more than 312 tons of food starch – a key ingredient in bubble tea – that was found to have been tainted with maleic acid, a cheap food additive that can cause kidney failure when consumed in large doses. The toxic starch has also poisoned Taiwan’s food exports. On Wednesday, Malaysia announced an immediate ban on 11 food items imported from Taiwan. Singapore imposed similar ban over the weekend. This is the second island-wide food scare in two years after the discovery of the pervasive use of plasticizer — a chemical additive to use to make food more pliable — in May 2011. While this image may be real, it doesn’t show a common result of drinking bubble tea. This X-ray appears to show an extreme case involving an excessive amount of bubble tea and boba pearls possibly made with unsafe additives.
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2261
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UK panel says new three-parent IVF technique now safe for 'cautious use'.
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A three-parent IVF technique designed to reduce the risk of mothers passing hereditary diseases to their babies is safe enough to be offered to patients in special circumstances, a British expert review panel said on Wednesday.
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true
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Health News
|
Britain’s parliament last year voted to change the law to allow the three-parent in-vitro-fertilisation (IVF) technique known as mitochondrial transfer, which doctors say could help prevent incurable inherited diseases. The technique involves intervening in the fertilisation process to remove mitochondria, which act as tiny energy-generating batteries inside cells, and which, if faulty, can cause fatal heart problems, liver failure, brain disorders, blindness and muscular dystrophy. The treatment is known as “three-parent” IVF because the babies, born from genetically modified embryos, would have DNA from a mother, a father and from a female donor. Research teams around the world have tested and trialled the techniques in a series of pre-clinical experiments, but as yet they have not been used to treat patients in Britain. The world’s first and so-far only known mitochondrial transfer baby was born earlier this year after U.S. doctors working at a clinic in Mexico helped a Jordanian couple conceive using the new three-way treatment. In Britain, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) will decide whether to issue the first licence to a clinic. It had convened an independent expert panel to explore current scientific evidence and offer recommendations. Publishing its conclusions on Wednesday, the panel said the techniques should now be approved by the HFEA for “cautious” use in “specific circumstances”. Various studies including one published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, have added to significant progress in the development of the techniques, the panel said, and they are “now at an acceptable stage for cautious clinical use”. Specialists welcomed the review’s recommendations. Robert Meadowcroft, chief executive of the charity Muscular Dystrophy UK, said the recommendations, if approved by the HFEA, would be “a major step towards the reality of offering an effective treatment to the 2,500 eligible women in the UK”. Darren Griffin, a professor of genetics at Kent University said that “in the current climate, where it seems that hype and hyperbole appear to outweigh measured decision making based on the facts, it’s pleasing to see a victory of common sense”. He said the review was good news for families at risk of transmitting mitochondrial disorders “and infinitely better than the alternative of children suffering with horrible diseases”.
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11012
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Multivitamin and prostate cancer link studied
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The story reports new findings which suggest a link between heavy multivitamin usage (defined as more than 7 doses per week) and advanced types of prostate cancer. The story makes it clear that the new findings don't prove this link because of the study design (observational vs. randomized controlled trial). Other criteria that were met include describing benefits in absolute terms, having multiple sources, and mentioning alternatives to heavy multivitamin use (assuming this is the treatment). There is no background information on advanced prostate cancer given in the story. It would be helpful for viewers to know at least a relative estimate of how many men die of prostate cancer each year to get a sense for how big a problem this is or isn't. Overall, though, this was a solid report – and in only 263 words.
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true
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"The story does not mention costs of multivitamins, but it's safe to assume this is common knowledge. The story provides absolute rates of excess numbers of deaths expected with heavy vitamin use. If treatment is considered to be heavy multivitamin use, harms associated with this treatment are discussed, namely an increased risk of advanced types of prostate cancers. Other harms noted with specific vitamins such as A and E are also mentioned. The article tells readers this is not a randomized controlled trial, where half the group would be randomly assigned to an intervention and half would not. It provides some context for interpreting the results, e.g. the study was not designed to prove vitamins affect cancer risk. No overt disease-mongering. The story does provide two independent sources of information. If treatment is considered to be heavy multivitamin use, alternative options could be considered to be taking recommended doses of multivitamins and/or taking no multivitamins at all, which are discussed. The article states that ""studies show that 35% of Americans take vitamins"" so we get a good feel for how available they are. The story does not mention whether heavy vitamin use is new or not, but this doesn't seem applicable, given that heavy vitamin use isn't a standard treatment in the first place. The story turned to two different sources from two different studies, so it is unlikely that it relied solely or largely on a news release."
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27472
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The Department of Health and Human Services has scheduled web site maintenance for Healthcare.gov on most Sundays during Obamacare open enrollment.
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According to the United States Digital Service, which is part of the Executive Office of the President, the Healthcare.gov web site was online 99.9% of the time during the 2015 and 2016 open enrollment periods, which were themselves twice as long as the upcoming open enrollment period.
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true
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Politics, affordable care act, donald trump, health and human services
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In September 2017, numerous news accounts reported that the Healthcare.gov web site was scheduled to be shut down for maintenance on several occasions during the 2018 “Obamacare” health insurance open enrollment period, which runs from 1 November to 15 December 2017, prompting queries to us from readers about the issue. Kaiser Health News, a self-described “nonprofit news service committed to in-depth coverage of health care policy and politics,” reported that: The Trump administration plans to shut down the federal health insurance exchange for 12 hours during all but one Sunday in the upcoming open enrollment season. The shutdown will occur from 12 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET on every Sunday except Dec. 10. The Department of Health and Human Services will also shut down the federal exchange — healthcare.gov — overnight on the first day of open enrollment, Nov. 1. More than three dozen states use that exchange for their marketplaces. HHS officials disclosed this information during a webinar with community groups that help people enroll. Kaiser Health News reporter Phil Galewitz tweeted what appeared to be a slide from a related presentation, including details of the scheduled maintenance: ..@HHSGov plans to shut down @HHSGov for 12 hours during all but one Sunday during the upcoming 6 week open enrollment season pic.twitter.com/0d5WUtLc9G — Phil Galewitz (@philgalewitz) September 22, 2017 The same slide was independently tweeted by Vox‘s Sarah Kliff: HHS will take https://t.co/hHpJTTaZfz offline nearly every Sunday from 12 a.m. to 12 p.m. of open enrollment, per presentation sent to me. pic.twitter.com/0n5cZ9ENOK — Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) September 22, 2017 A spokesperson for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which runs Healthcare.gov, confirmed the maintenance schedules reported by Kaiser Health News and Sarah Kliff: Maintenance outages are regularly scheduled on HealthCare.gov every year during open enrollment. This year is no different. The maintenance schedule was provided in advance this year in order to accommodate requests from certified application assisters. System downtime is planned for the lowest-traffic time periods on HealthCare.gov including Sunday mornings. That spokesperson also said the periods set out for web site maintenance constituted the maximum anticipated amount of downtime, and averred that the actual amount of downtime might end up being less. (We asked CMS to clarify the times involved in the 1 November downtime, which the presentation slide only describes as “overnight,” but we did not receive a response in time for publication.) The Trump administration has already cut in half the Obamacare open enrollment period, truncating the original period of 1 November 2016 to 31 January 2017 (three months) to the shorter period of 1 November to 15 December 2017 (six weeks). As pointed out by Kaiser Health News, this year’s web site maintenance schedule means that Healthcare.gov will be online for 93% of the total time during the six-week open enrollment period. (If we assume the “overnight” downtime on 1 November will last 12 hours, then the web site will be online for 1,008 out of 1,080 hours.)
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9027
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HETLIOZ® (tasimelteon) Demonstrates Efficacy to Treat Jet Lag Disorder in an 8 Hour Phase Advance Clinical Study
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This drug company news release describes positive results of a clinical trial of tasimelteon, a melatonin receptor agonist, to treat jet lag in long-distance — especially eastward going — flyers across multiple time zones. The trial of 318 healthy volunteers in a sleep lab, the release states, showed “significant and clinically meaningful” benefits, namely an average 85 minutes more sleep, less wakefulness during sleep and some very modest average increases in alertness on two laboratory tests. The release noted reported side effects, particularly in older people, such as headache, nightmares, and urinary tract or upper respiratory infections. But no where in the release do readers learn a) how exactly the study mimicked 8-hour time zone crossings; b) the makeup of the study group with respect to age, gender, race, etc. ; c) the fact that most jet lag goes away in a day or two without treatment; d) alternatives to the new drug such as “sleep education,” melatonin itself, or light therapy; and e) costs of the new drug and comparative therapies. Readers do learn that the drug has been approved for a rare and chronic circadian rhythm disorder in totally blind individuals in whom certain sunlight-brain mechanisms are absent. But overall, this release smacks of being yet another “solution” in search of a “problem” serious enough to warrant what could be expensive pills in search of a very large (and mostly unnecessary) market. Jet lag is real and unquestionably unpleasant. For shuttle diplomats and the multitudes who regularly “commute” between, say, Washington,D.C., and Singapore stuffed into economy class seats, it’s likely that no amount of pre-trip sleep shifting, hydration, or physical fitness will eliminate the thick-headed grogginess and wee-hours hotel-room insomnia that bedevils them. Sleeping pills have their downsides, but in appropriate doses for those who can safely take them once in a while, they can help. Melatonin helps others, but inconsistently. For most of the jet-lagged, though, it’s the tincture of time that is the great healer, and most travelers successfully manage business, sightseeing and rest within a day or two of landing. The good news is that for healthy travelers, jet lag is not a serious illness or disorder. But for many if not most people already hassled by the long waits and vagaries of airline travel, the promise of eliminating jet lag is alluring, so the news of the clinical trial of tasimelteon (marketed as Hetlioz by Vanda Pharmaceuticals), could clearly open up an eager market. News releases and stories based on them should therefore squarely deal with the challenge of whether the benefits — real but modest — will be worth the costs and side effects risks. In 2016 STAT reported that Vanda spent $29 million on a TV campaign aimed at use of the drug for people with non-24 disorder, a condition that affects the sleep-awake cycle. Why they did this for a drug that has no market competitors is unclear. This release seeks to introduce the drug to a different and more lucrative market.
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false
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jet lag,tasimelteon,Vanda Pharmaceuticals
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Hetlioz currently costs an estimated $280 per capsule or $102,000 a year for the blind and a relatively few non-blind who use it to treat a rare circadian rhythm disturbance. Cost is a significant data point in any story promoting a drug’s benefits, especially if the benefits are relatively modest. The release offered a dense table of results of the clinical trial, although without more information about the trial design, especially the make up of participants and comparison groups if any, it’s hard to know exactly how significant the clinical findings are, particularly for those who are leisure travelers who don’t have to negotiate world peace the moment they land at the end of a 16-hour flight. The primary outcomes from the sleep study are not clearly described and the clinical significance of those results are unclear. Therefore, it is difficult to draw conclusions about the benefit of the drug. The end notes attached to the release describe potential harms in clear terms. For readers to better understand the potential value of the jet lag drug, the release needed additional information about the participants, the design of the study, how long side effects lasted, how many — preferably in absolute numbers — sustained ill effects, and how the benefits compare to other drug and non-drug therapies. Since the conditions of the experiment are not clearly laid out (how the 5-hour jet lag was induced), the outcomes, although statistically significant may not be clinically important. The issues of the study that we noted in the summary paragraph suggest that we really can’t draw any other conclusions about the effectiveness of the drug. There was some mongering here. Although jet lag is clearly common among long distance flyers, the idea that it is a “circadian disorder” in need of extravagant drug treatment is troubling. Late shift workers, and some military personnel, along with some percentage of business travelers clearly have a chronic problem that could qualify as medically in need of serious therapy. But it’s likely a substantial percentage of them already cope with the symptoms. First class and business class flyers able to sleep better across time zones, for example, are likely over-represented among frequent business travelers. Information and references for further information about financial support are contained at the end of the release and it’s clear that Vanda sponsored the trial. There are lots of ways to deal with this problem beyond taking an expensive pill, none of which are mentioned. The release makes clear that the drug has not been approved anywhere in the world for treatment of jet lag. However, there is a statement at the end of the news release that the company has been granted “market authorization” by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency. Does this mean that they have approval to start selling the drug? The Hetlioz website only lists “Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder” as an indication for the use of the drug. This is very confusing for readers. The release says essentially nothing about how the drug works, or how it is better than, or different from, other jet lag therapies and preventive measures such as melatonin and light therapy. The drug is a melatonin receptor agonist, meaning it’s designed to work in the brain in ways similar to melatonin, but the release doesn’t discuss any of this. The release doesn’t engage in blatantly unjustifiable language.
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14662
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"As part of legislative fights over abortion rights, ""Mike Coffman co-sponsored a bill to redefine rape."
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"Emily’s List said that Coffman ""co-sponsored a bill to redefine rape."" The record shows Coffman did co-sponsor the bill to redefine a ban on federal funding for abortions to exempt ""forcible rape."" Yet he later voted on the floor for an amended version that had removed the ""forcible"" modifier from the bill. Given the totality of his actions on the legislation. Correction: This story has been corrected to note that Coffman did not serve on the committee that removed the word ""forcible"" from the bill."
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true
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Abortion, Colorado, Corrections and Updates, Criminal Justice, Crime, Women, EMILY's List,
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"Emily's List is stoking the abortion debate in Colorado's 6th Congressional District race with a fundraising email saying Republican incumbent Mike Coffman ""co-sponsored a bill to redefine rape."" Emily's List -- a political organization that supports the election of Democratic women who support abortion rights -- has endorsed Coffman's opponent, state Sen. Morgan Carroll, an Aurora Democrat. Its mailer focused on reproductive rights, abortion and Roe v. Wade. In the email, titled ""2016 goal: A Congress that fights for women and families,"" Emily's List said, ""We wish Congress was less like this"" -- citing Mike Coffman's co-sponsorship of the 2011 bill -- ""and more like this … Morgan Carroll sponsored a bill to make emergency contraception available to sexual assault survivors."" We wanted to check the accuracy of Emily's List's characterization of Coffman's role in the legislation. Coffman did co-sponsor the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act, which attempted to redefine a ban on federal funding for abortions to exempt ""forcible rape"" -- and not rape in broader terms. Critics said the ""forcible rape"" language could rule out other forms of sexual assault that are considered rape, including statutory rape, attacks where women are drugged or threatened, and date rapes. Facing a backlash from women's groups, Republicans amended the bill in committee to remove the word ""forcible"" and make the exemption for ""rape."" Coffman wasn't on this committee and didn't vote on the removal. ""The bill was amended in committee, and Congressman Coffman supported the amended bill on the floor,"" a Coffman campaign spokesman later said. Congressional records show that Coffman voted for the amended bill in a floor vote, which passed the House but not the Senate. In recent years, Coffman has tempered his position on abortion in one of the country's most competitive ""swing"" districts, which is nearly evenly divided among Democrats, Republicans and independents. In 2012, he said, ""I am against all abortions, except when it is necessary to protect the life of the mother."" But a year later, Coffman said that while he supported a House bill to limit late-term abortions, ""I strongly support the exceptions for rape, incest, and protecting the life of the mother that have been included in this legislation."" Coffman's Democratic opponent, Morgan Carroll, had blunt criticism of his co-sponsoring the 2011 bill's original ""forcible rape"" language. ""Rape is about the lack of consent -- not the degree of force -- and this definition takes us backwards,"" Carroll told Denver7. ""I unequivocally support a woman's right to make her own decisions about her own body, including her health care,"" she said. Coffman's spokeswoman complained that political opponents have repeatedly raised the 2011 bill and ""will twist the facts any way they can in an attempt to mischaracterize and demonize Rep. Coffman."" Our ruling Emily’s List said that Coffman ""co-sponsored a bill to redefine rape."" The record shows Coffman did co-sponsor the bill to redefine a ban on federal funding for abortions to exempt ""forcible rape."" Yet he later voted on the floor for an amended version that had removed the ""forcible"" modifier from the bill. Given the totality of his actions on the legislation, we're rating this claim . Correction: This story has been corrected to note that Coffman did not serve on the committee that removed the word ""forcible"" from the bill."
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35316
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A photograph shows four Asian giant hornets barely fitting on the palm of someone's hand.
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Henderson noted in the comments that these bugs were all deceased (she acquired the bugs from a website called Insect-Sale) and that queen Japanese giant hornets, a colored variant of the Asian giant hornet, were 40-45 millimeters long (approximately 1.75 inches).
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true
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Critter Country
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In May 2020, The New York Times reported that Asian giant hornets, often referred to as “murder hornets,” had been spotted for the first time in the United States. This was not welcome news, and social media sites quickly filled up with alarming images of these large insects. One such photograph supposedly showed four “murder hornets” in the palm of a person’s hand: This is a genuine photograph of Asian giant hornets. A 2010 article from National Geographic described these hornets as “small but highly efficient killing [machines]” that were approximately 2 inches long with a 3-inch wingspan. Although people have died from this hornet’s painful sting, the insects are only “highly efficient killing machines” when it comes to bees. National Geographic wrote: Bees, other hornet species, and larger insects such as praying mantises are no match for the giant hornets, which often stalk their prey in relentless armies. Just one of these hornets can kill 40 European honeybees a minute; a handful of the creatures can slaughter 30,000 European honeybees within hours, leaving a trail of severed insect heads and limbs. People are not the Japanese giant hornet’s usual prey, but those who have felt its sting describe the pain as excruciating. Masato Ono, an entomologist at Tamagawa University, near Tokyo, said it’s “like a hot nail through my leg.” Someone who is stung by the hornet and doesn’t receive proper treatment soon thereafter can die from the venom, which is powerful enough to disintegrate human flesh. About 40 people die each year after being stung by giant hornets, mainly as a result of an allergic reaction to the venom. The above-displayed photograph was taken in 2011 by Devon Henderson and shows four dead Asian giant hornet queens in the palm of the photographer’s hand. This image was originally posted to Henderson’s Flickr account dedicated to Hymenoptera, a large order of insects which includes wasps, bees, and ants.
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15014
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"Planned Parenthood is ""nothing more than a referral service. … They don’t do anything except profit from killing babies and then selling body parts of those aborted babies."
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"Patrick said Planned Parenthood is ""nothing more than a referral service. … They don’t do anything except profit from killing babies and then selling body parts of those aborted babies."" To the contrary, Planned Parenthood provides family planning and other women’s health services, including abortions and there’s been no confirmation it sells body parts."
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false
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Abortion, Health Care, Public Health, State Budget, Texas, Dan Patrick,
|
"Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a nationally broadcast interview that Planned Parenthood does little more than profit from killing babies. Patrick, a Republican, appeared Oct. 19, 2015, on ""Your World with Neil Cavuto,"" a Fox News program. That was the day a Texas state official moved to cut off $3.1 million in annual Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, 90 percent of it federal aid, for contraception and health services. That came as a result, the official said, of videos showing doctors for the group altered abortion procedures to procure intact fetal tissue for researchers in violation of federal law. Planned Parenthood, denying misconduct, commented that it was considering its options, including a lawsuit. Patrick, talking to Cavuto, said: ""We’re not going to tolerate Planned Parenthood pretending, Neil, to be something they’re not..."" Cavuto: ""Do you think that Planned Parenthood does anything good?"" Patrick: ""No. I don’t think they do anything good. Look, they’re nothing more than a referral service. They pretend to care about women’s health. But they don’t have professionals even giving any information to women except referring them to another clinic. They don’t have equipment. They don’t do anything except profit from killing babies and then selling body parts of those aborted babies."" Cavuto: ""Well, I understand your passions, sir. But they do a little bit more than that."" Patrick: ""Very little."" There’s been debate about what the videos taken with hidden cameras by the Center for Medical Progress, an anti-abortion group, show about sales of fetal tissue. But on Oct. 7, 2015, PolitiFact Florida rated False a claim that Planned Parenthood has ""now (been) found to also illegally sell baby parts."" Federal law permits fetal tissue donations to researchers. Abortion providers also are allowed to charge a fee for facilitating such donations. We focused our sights on whether Patrick is right that Planned Parenthood solely provides abortions. To our request for backup information, Patrick’s spokesman, Alejandro Garcia, said by phone: ""We don’t have anything further to add."" Past fact checks In August 2015, PolitiFact rated a claim by Jeb Bush that Planned Parenthood ""is not actually doing women’s health issues."" That story said Planned Parenthood ""offers contraception, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, pregnancy testing, prenatal services and cancer screenings, including breast exams,"" though not mammograms. In September 2012, PolitiFact Georgia rated True a claim that Planned Parenthood ""does not provide mammograms. Planned Parenthood refers women to mammography providers."" Earlier, in April 2011, PolitiFact rated False a claim that abortion services are ""well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does."" That story, citing a Planned Parenthood ""fact sheet,"" concluded that abortions accounted for just under 3 percent of the procedures Planned Parenthood provided in 2009, then the most recent year for which the group was reporting statistics. There is lately more up-to-date information. On Planned Parenthood’s website, we spotted a ""By the Numbers"" document last updated in July 2015 stating that 34 percent of its health services are contraceptive services and 3 percent are abortions. Another document, ""Services,"" states that in 2013, Planned Parenthood provided more than 4.4 million services related to testing men and women for sexually transmitted infections or diseases; more than 3.5 million contraception services; more than 935,000 services related to cancer prevention and detection; some 1.1 million pregnancy and prenatal services; 327,653 abortions; and nearly 132,000 other services. The most prevalent listed contraception service was ""reversible contraception"" for women (2.1 million services). The most common cancer screening was ""breast exams/breast care"" (487,029 services). That story said that a Planned Parenthood spokeswoman said doctors and nurses at Planned Parenthood health centers provide clinical breast exams and refer patients to facilities with technicians for mammograms based on breast exams, age or family history; she said Planned Parenthood also refers women to breast specialists when a potential abnormality is found and follow-up tests are needed. According to the July 2015 list, Planned Parenthood’s most common pregnancy services in 2013 were pregnancy tests (1.1 million services). Other identified services include HIV tests (704,000 services); emergency contraception kits (1.4 million services) and Pap tests (378,692 services). A longer view: Nationally from 2006 through 2013, the number of abortions provided by Planned Parenthood essentially held steady, with marginal increases and a modest peak in 2009, according to an Oct. 1, 2015, PolitiFact article. That story presented a chart showing how the number of specific services provided by Planned Parenthood went up or down from 2006 to 2013, based on Planned Parenthood’s annual reports from 2006 to 2013 (though a report from 2008 didn’t turn up): Another chart, likewise drawing from the annual reports, showed counts for abortion and non-abortion services provided by the group: Caveats Per all these figures, it’s worth repeating caveats offered by PolitiFact in 2011: --First, many people would acknowledge a difference between providing an abortion and, say, handing out a pack of condoms or conducting a blood test. The former is a significant surgical procedure, whereas the latter are quick and inexpensive services. So Planned Parenthood’s use of ""services"" as its yardstick likely decreases abortion’s prominence compared with what other measurements would show. Using dollars spent or hours devoted to patient care would likely put abortion above 3 percent in the calculations. --Second, Planned Parenthood self-reported these numbers, though the group says each affiliate’s numbers are independently audited. This basically means observers must accept their accuracy more or less on faith. Planned Parenthood In Texas To our inquiry about Patrick’s claim, Yvonne Gutierrez of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes, which says it battles to protect women’s health care access, said the same range of services are offered in Texas by the group. Gutierrez emailed us an undated Planned Parenthood document indicating that in 2013, its Texas clinics had 150,710 patients including 108,533 contraception patients. The document showed state-by-state counts in those categories and for Pap tests plus tests for sexually transmitted infections, breast exams and sex education and outreach. Gutierrez also emailed us a chart, attributed to state agencies, distributed by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The chart shows $3.1 billion in Medicaid spending on Planned Parenthood-provided services in the fiscal year through Aug. 31, 2015. That spending covered Medicaid reimbursements and payments through health plans for patients who went to Planned Parenthood clinics, Gutierrez said. We also asked Gutierrez about Planned Parenthood in Texas making fetal tissue available for research. ""Planned Parenthood Greater Texas and Planned Parenthood South have never participated in fetal tissue research projects,"" she replied by email, ""and have no plans to do so. While Planned Parenthood Center for Choice (in Houston) does not currently participate in a fetal tissue study, they have taken part in such worthy studies in the past, following all laws and the highest medical and ethical standards. These studies hold the potential to cure disease and save lives. They last partnered with UTMB,"" the University of Texas Medical Branch, ""on a study to prevent miscarriage."" Our ruling Patrick said Planned Parenthood is ""nothing more than a referral service. … They don’t do anything except profit from killing babies and then selling body parts of those aborted babies."" To the contrary, Planned Parenthood provides family planning and other women’s health services, including abortions and there’s been no confirmation it sells body parts."
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8903
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Lilly Anti-Clotting Drug Gets U.S. Priority Review.
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U.S. regulators have granted priority review to a closely watched drug for preventing blood clots being developed by Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.N) and Daiichi Sankyo (4568.T), the companies said on Thursday.
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true
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Health News
|
The pill is widely considered the most important experimental medicine in Lilly’s pipeline, and its shares rose nearly 3 percent on the news. A priority review means the Food and Drug Administration likely will decide within six months whether to approve the drug, known generically as prasugrel, rather than the usual 10- to 12-month review period. If approved, the drug would compete with Plavix, a blockbuster drug sold by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY.N) and Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA). “Getting priority review is a positive. Not getting it would have raised some caution,” said Tim Anderson, an analyst for Sanford Bernstein. Anderson, who said he was surprised by the decision, said he still believes the drug will have to go before an advisory panel of experts before the FDA makes its decision. Mixed data on prasugrel were unveiled in November from a study of heart patients slated to receive stents — tiny tubes that prop open coronary arteries after they have been cleared of plaque. In that study, prasugrel was 19 percent more effective than Plavix in preventing cardiovascular death, nonfatal heart attacks and strokes, but caused a significantly higher amount of serious bleeding. The companies filed their application for prasugrel on Dec. 26. If approved, Lilly said the drug’s brand name would be Effient. Shares of Eli Lilly rose 2.9 percent, or $1.43, to $51.25 in after-hours trading following the news. They had closed at $49.82 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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23064
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"Lizbeth Benacquisto's supporters ""would make (abortion) illegal in all cases, including rape, incest, even to save a woman's life."
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"Kevin Rader says ""extremist"" supporters of his opponent would make abortion illegal in all cases"
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true
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Abortion, Message Machine 2010, Women, Florida, Kevin Rader,
|
"In stark, black-and-white montages of tear-streaked female faces, District 27 state senate hopeful Kevin Rader blasts his Republican opponent in a campaign ad for her anti-abortion views. Rader, a Democrat and state House member, accuses Republican Lizbeth Benacquisto of strongly opposing abortion and having ties to extremist conservative groups that would criminally prosecute rape victims for having abortions. ""Lizbeth Benacquisto strongly opposes a woman's right of choice,"" the ad states. ""The extremist groups who support her would make these women into criminals. She supported an extreme law to require pregnant women to pay for and view a sonogram before they could exercise their right of choice. Her allies would make choice illegal in all cases, including rape, incest, even to save a woman's life. Vote no on Benacquisto, keep extremism out of our state Senate."" The ad enraged Benacquisto, a city councilwoman in Wellington, who responded with her own ad and the revelation that she was raped 23 years ago as a University of Florida freshman. She underscored her support for an exception to abortion for rape victims, saying she would ""never stand down when any woman has been abused,"" and demanded Rader pull the ad. Rader's camp said the only way that will happen is if Benacquisto renounces the support given to her by far-right, conservative right-to-life groups. With such a high emotion level in this campaign, we thought Rader's claim about Benacquisto's supporters was worth a look. Benacquisto is pro-life, and she makes no secret of it on her website and in questionnaires. Same with her support of the ultrasound legislation, though she has noted in various interviews she has concerns about its impact on rape victims. In a candidate questionnaire from the Christian Coalition of Florida, she added, ""I consistently support this because I am pro-life."" Benacquisto holds support from a handful of conservative, anti-abortion groups. Among those are the Christian Coalition, the Florida Right to Life PAC and the Christian Family Coalition. Though they haven't donated financially, both Florida Right to Life and the former Christian Coalition executive director have offered endorsements, and she headlined at least one event, a breakfast for the Christian Family Coalition on Oct. 16. Florida Right to Life believes life begins at conception and ends at natural death, and all points in between are to be defended. It labels abortion ""infanticide,"" which is a crime. And the Christian Coalition of Florida states, ""Although legal in the United States, we believe abortion is no less than murder of an innocent human life."" Using this logic, abortion equals murder and murder is a crime. Therefore, those who have abortions would be criminals. The Christian Family Coalition, based in Miami, says it ""works to introduce pro-family legislation at the state and local levels of government. It informs and educates citizens on where candidates stand on the issues that affect the traditional family unit."" The group’s website includes a link to ""abortion,"" but contains just news articles and press releases in which it is mentioned. Each of those three organizations also closely follows abortion-related legislation. They post opinions on everything from parental notice to making the violent death of any fetus -- viable or otherwise -- cause for a first-degree murder charge. But none appear to flat-out say they would support abortion regardless of whether a woman was raped, abused by a family member or faced with death. They skirt the issue. For example, Florida Right to Life says, ""We promote, uphold and support reverence and respect for human life without regard to condition, quality, age, race, religion, color or whether born or unborn."" On the National Right to Life page, the only reference to exceptions is a 2005 survey indicating only 0.5 percent of women have abortions due to rape, while 4 percent undergo it for the mother's health. Rader's campaign manager, Michael McCall, said, ""The problem with something like that is if you take an organization like Florida Right to Life, their very core is making abortion illegal. They won't list every case in which they support banning abortions, because they support banning abortions in all cases."" It's clear that groups supporting Benacquisto have firm stands against abortion, but they're not spelled out precisely. What is clear, though, is that the groups don't offer up any exceptions. So we don't expect Rader's campaign to find any."
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16553
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Cory Gardner is sponsoring a bill to ban all abortions right now.
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"The DSCC said Gardner ""is sponsoring a bill to ban all abortions right now."" The claim is based on Gardner’s cosponsorship of a bill that grants a fetus the same rights as a person from the moment of fertilization. It’s clear that such personhood bills are anti-abortion measures, but there’s a lot of uncertainty in the bill’s language that would have to be sorted through, over time, by the court system, and it’s not clear that it would ban all abortions. The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details."
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mixture
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Abortion, National, Message Machine 2014, Women, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee,
|
"Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., who’s running to unseat Democratic Sen. Mark Udall, is finding his stance on abortion targeted by another Democratic attack ad. We previously rated a Udall claim that Gardner ""championed"" an effort to ban birth control in Colorado as . The latest 30-second spot, aired by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, features a handful of women criticizing the Colorado Republican’s pro-life stance. ""Why do guys like Cory Gardner think it’s any of their business to tell women what do?"" one woman asks. Another calls Gardner’s positions ""extreme,"" after a narrator says Gardner would ""ban abortions even in cases of rape and incest."" Later, the narrator adds: ""Gardner is sponsoring a bill to ban all abortions right now."" We decided to take a look at this last claim. The DSCC points to H.R. 1091, known formally as the Life At Conception Act and informally as a ""personhood"" bill. Gardner is listed as a cosponsor on the bill. The bill was introduced April 8, 2013, by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. According to the bill text, it would ""implement equal protection for the right to life of each born and preborn human person"" and ""declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being."" It goes on to say that ""‘human person’ and ‘human being’ include each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization, cloning, or other moment at which an individual member of the human species comes into being."" If this sounds confusing to you, that’s because it is. None of the above mentions abortion, even though it’s quite clearly an anti-abortion measure. In fact, the only part of the bill that seems to directly reference abortion only further muddies the waters: ""Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize the prosecution of any woman for the death of her unborn child."" It’s difficult to weigh the impact of such a perplexing bill. On the one hand, the bill doesn’t explicitly carve out exemptions for cases that involve rape or incest or instances when the woman’s life or health is in danger. On the other hand, the bill doesn’t explicitly mention abortion in the first place. This means that judicial interpretation will play a big role in how any such law is implemented. But because no state has passed a personhood bill, courts have not established a track record about how they would interpret such a measure and how the measure would affect abortions. By suggesting that a fetus has the ""right to life,"" the bill challenges the Supreme Court’s past support for a constitutional right to abortion. An act of Congress cannot overrule the constitution, meaning the Supreme Court would have to change its past positions on abortion. That’s possible, but even if the bill is a vehicle to challenge Roe vs. Wade and subsequent decisions, it’s not clear that the outcome would ""ban all abortions."" Glenn Cohen, codirector of the Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics at Harvard University, said claiming that the personhood bill would ban all abortions ""might be a bit strong."" Depending on how courts rule, it might still be possible that exceptions could be made in cases where the mother’s life or health was at risk, he said. ""One could believe that fetuses are persons but still have those exceptions on a theory like self defense,"" Cohen said. Further complicating matters is that Gardner is straddling both sides of the issue. He has publicly stated that he no longer supports the personhood movement because of its potential affect on some FDA-approved birth control -- yet he has not taken his name off the bill as a cosponsor. Gardner’s campaign said his cosponsorship of the legislation is to ""reflect his belief that life begins at conception."" The campaign said Gardner is on record supporting exemptions for ""rape, incest, and life of the mother,"" and the campaign disagrees that the personhood bill amounts to a ban on all abortion. The bill is not expected to come up for a vote. Gardner is cosponsor of a different bill filed in 2013 that would take away federal funding for abortion providers except when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest or a physician certifies that the woman's life is in danger if she carries the baby to birth. Our ruling The DSCC said Gardner ""is sponsoring a bill to ban all abortions right now."" The claim is based on Gardner’s cosponsorship of a bill that grants a fetus the same rights as a person from the moment of fertilization. It’s clear that such personhood bills are anti-abortion measures, but there’s a lot of uncertainty in the bill’s language that would have to be sorted through, over time, by the court system, and it’s not clear that it would ban all abortions. The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details, so"
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9201
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New MRI method aids long-term concussion prognosis
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This news release from the University of California – San Francisco (UCSF) describes how functional MRI (fMRI) could be a predictive tool for physicians in determining a patient’s prognosis after a concussion. Researchers scanned the brains of 75 patients aged 18 to 55 to assess the connectivity of certain neural networks, particularly those active in the resting brain. They found that patients with reduced connectivity in “resting state networks” were more likely to do worse on cognitive and behavorial tests. They argued that this could also predict post-concussive symptoms in patients who showed no evidence of bruising or bleeding in the brain right after a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Although the news release does a good job explaining the nuts and bolts of the study, we felt the wording was ambiguous or misleading at times. For example, fMRI is not exactly a new technology, as it was first introduced to the world in 1991, and it’s not clear from the release why the research is novel. Other important details that were missing were discussions on the study limitations and the scope of the benefits. In this case, how effective was fMRI in predicting changes in brain activity and long-term symptoms after a concussion? Some numbers would have been welcome here. We acknowledge that the original journal article also used comparative wording without referring to any quantitative data. However, we feel the news release could have clarified some points by directly asking the researchers for more information. Health care costs are increasing at an annual rate of 7 percent a year, and one of the main causes is the overuse of medical technology. According to The Hastings Center, new or increased use of medical technology contributes 40 to 50 percent to annual cost increases. One way to control spiraling costs is to stop the overuse of medical technology. In other words, medical imaging studies should be pursued only when it is appropriate. News releases shouldn’t tout every “new” technology as the next medical miracle and should instead develop a more cautionary tone to discourage patients from undergoing unnecessary scans for questionable results. However, if a new technology has the potential to dramatically improve health outcomes, then it should, of course, be reported to the public.
|
false
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concussion,MRI,University of California-SanFrancisco
|
Medical imaging studies are known to be expensive, and MRIs are no exception. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a relatively new procedure that uses MRI techniques to measure metabolic changes in an active part of the brain. MRIs focus on a body part’s anatomical structure, while fMRIs mainly concentrate on its metabolic processes. Consumer websites estimate an MRI to cost between $400 and $3,500, depending on the type of procedure, body part and center location. According to the Healthcare Bluebook, a brain MRI (with or without contrast) should cost around $1,212. Since the news release doesn’t discuss these costs, we give it a Not Satisfactory rating here. The news release talks about the benefits of getting a fMRI early on — in this case, within the first two weeks of the mTBI. It states fMRI highlights abnormal patterns of brain activity, which helps physicians predict which patients are at a higher risk for post-concussive symptoms after six months. But there’s no mention of any quantitative data to help readers understand the scope of the benefit. How accurate was the fMRI in distinguishing patients who might later experience symptoms? Did all mTBI patients exhibit reduced connectivity in the “default mode network?” And how much worse did mTBI patients perform on cognitive and behavioral tests? Since only comparative words are used without any quantitative data, we give the news release a Not Satisfactory rating here. The original journal article also doesn’t give numbers so it falls on the shoulders of the writer to seek clarity from the researchers when benefits are being claimed. MRIs are generally deemed to be a safe procedure, since no ionizing radiation is used. Adverse events for MRI scans are rare, but like any medical procedure, they do carry some risk, especially for patients with implants and external and accessory devices — like artificial joints, insulin pumps and ventilators. For these patients, risks include device malfunction or heating of the implanted medical device and the surrounding tissue, which could lead to burns. According to the FDA, the use of gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) also carries some risk, including side effects such as allergic reactions. For patients with kidney disease, GBCAs could cause a rare and potentially fatal condition known as nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. Since harms are not mentioned, we give the news release a Not Satisfactory rating. In general, the news release does a good job describing the overall study design: 75 patients aged 18 to 55 who had previously experienced mTBIs had their brains scanned with fMRI to track activity in certain brain networks. Six months later, these patients underwent behavioral and cognitive tests. But the news release doesn’t mention a few important points. First, this study was controlled with 47 healthy subjects aged 20 to 38 without any previous diagnosis of TBI or neurological/psychiatric disorders. Although the neuroradiologist reviewing each imaging scan was blinded to the data, this was not a randomized study (impossible to do so in this case) – something that could still introduce bias. A possible confounding factor is the discrepancy in age between the patient group and control group. Since some cognitive abilities – like memory and processing speed – decrease naturally with age, how can researchers attribute a decrease in cognition to mTBI alone? Since the news release doesn’t go into detail and evaluate the evidence, we give it a Not Satisfactory rating here. There is no disease mongering in this news release. The funding sources for this research project included the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense. In the original journal article, all authors stated they were free of competing financial interests. Since the news release disclosed the funding sources, we give it a Satisfactory rating here. The news release mentions that rest and counseling are helpful treatments for patients who suffered a concussion. However, effective primary drug treatments for mild traumatic brain injury don’t yet exist, the release adds. Depending on the severity of the case, there are medications to limit secondary damage to the brain immediately following injury. These include diuretics to decrease pressure in the brain, anti-seizure drugs and coma-inducing drugs. We feel the news release does an adequate job comparing alternatives, which is why we give it a Satisfactory rating. Compared to other imaging technologies like MRI and CT, fMRI is not as widespread, but it’s becoming increasingly common as a diagnostic method to assess brain function. Most academic centers are equipped with fMRI machines, especially hospitals conducting neuroscience research. Since the news release doesn’t discuss availability, we give it a Not Satisfactory rating here. The news release touts fMRI as a “new MRI method” in the headline and talks about a “new non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method” in the first sentence. But fMRI is not exactly a new technology, as it’s been around since 1991. And fMRI has already been used and studied as a possible detection tool to evaluate brain abnormalities in patients, who had previously suffered concussions. Other research has also looked into brain function, including resting state functional connectivity (like in the UCSF study), through fMRI in order to detect residual brain differences in the weeks to months after concussion. From the news release, it’s difficult to understand how exactly this research is novel. Researchers wrote in the original journal article that their study was the first to “relate alterations in early resting-state functional connectivity to long-term postconcussive symptoms and cognitive outcome in a large and clinically well-defined mTBI sample.” For these reasons, we give it a Not Satisfactory rating. The news release does not include unjustifiable, sensational language.
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9310
|
CURE FOR CANCER? FDA ANNOUNCES NEW AGGRESSIVE DRUG ATTACKING ORIGINATING GENES
|
This story is based on an FDA news release announcing the approval of a drug to treat cancer that springs from an abnormality called neurotrophic receptor tyrosine kinase, or NTRK, gene fusion. The story accurately reports that Vitrakvi (larotrectinib) is the second drug approved for use based on a tumor biomarker, rather than where the cancer is located in the body. However, it omits important information like the drug’s hefty price tag ($400,000 a year), its harms, the lack of evidence to show it prolongs life or improves the quality of patients’ lives, and the fact that it applies to a very small number of patients. It’s also larded with generic statements extolling the virtues of targeted cancer therapies, with no comments from independent sources. Cancer wonks may get excited about this new “site-agnostic oncology therapy,” but patients and their families aren’t served by mainstream news stories that ignore their basic concerns. Stories need to refrain “new hope” hype and address questions like: Does it help patients live longer? How does it affect qualify of life? Who can use it? How much does it cost? What’s the evidence that it works?
|
false
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cancer,precision medicine
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Surprise — or at least it will be to readers of this Newsweek story: The list price of the drug is nearly $400,000 a year, as a more complete story in Forbes reported. The company marketing the drug said it will help patients pay their share of the cost. The headline calls this drug “aggressive.” But the story doesn’t report data on the drug’s response rate, which is the percentage of patients whose tumors shrunk after treatment. Response rate was the basis of the FDA’s approval. According to FDA, there was a 75% overall response rate across different types of solid tumors, with 73% of responses lasting at least six months and 39% lasting a year or more. Readers are not told that there is no evidence to show patients who get this drug actually live longer or have a better quality of life than those who don’t get it. (More on this under the quality of evidence rating, below.) There is no discussion of harms. An FDA news release mentioned fatigue, nausea, cough, constipation, diarrhea, dizziness, vomiting, and elevated enzyme levels that might indicate liver damage. The FDA said patients should have regular liver tests and warned against treating women who are pregnant or breastfeeding because of potential harm to their fetus or baby. Readers are told the FDA used an accelerated approval process to get the drug to patients “before the usual clinical trials are completed,” and that there will be further tests of the drug’s safety and effectiveness. But we don’t think that fully explains the quality of evidence. Readers aren’t told that the only human trials involved a total of 55 patients who were not blinded, with no comparison group of patients who didn’t get the drug. The upshot is, we don’t know if this drug performs any better than other treatments or a placebo. The story doesn’t caution that “breakthrough” drugs like this are often approved on the basis of surrogate endpoints like tumor shrinkage, rather than outcomes that are meaningful to patients, like longer survival. For a deeper dive, read our toolkit, “Surrogate markers may not tell the whole story.” What’s more, readers are unlikely to understand from this story that continued FDA approval of the drug may depend on the results of future trials. This is an important omission: One analysis of cancer drugs that won similar FDA approval through a “breakthrough” designation concluded that, four years after being approved, only one in seven could show that they actually helped patients live longer. The story doesn’t explain that this drug is applicable only to a small number of patients — those who have this rare biomarker and who have seen their tumors progress despite conventional treatment or have no alternative treatments. There are no independent sources mentioned in this story, which also doesn’t state that all of the clinical trials have been sponsored by the company selling the drug. There is no discussion of how this treatment compares to alternatives. Readers are not told that such comparisons have not yet been studied. The story reports that the drug has received FDA approval. The story reports that this is the second drug to receive FDA approval for use based on genetic features of tumors, rather than the organ in which the tumor originated or is growing. The story appears to be entirely based on an FDA news release.
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11393
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Acupuncture and Alexander Technique ease chronic neck pain better than usual care
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This news release describes the outcome of a study on two alternative therapies — acupuncture, a form of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that involves placing thin needles in specific points of the body, and the Alexander Technique, which teaches people how to improve their posture and movement habits in an effort to release tension and reduce pain. The news release does a good job of reporting relevant facts from the published study. It demonstrates a good grasp of the quality of evidence in the study. A major stumble is the lack of concrete numbers that could have given the interested reader the scope of the potential benefits of the two therapies discussed. The release also doesn’t make it clear what’s new and different about the study compared with previous research, or what these therapies cost. Chronic neck pain is a leading cause of disability. People suffering from this condition often seek complementary therapies to manage their condition. This news release reports on a study examining the long-term effects of two particular complementary health care strategies for chronic neck pain — acupuncture and the Alexander Technique. Other complementary or alternative therapies have been shown to offer short-term pain relief that does not lead to longer-term relief. The length of time of relief reported here (one year) is what makes the study important.
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mixture
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Journal news release,Pain management
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The news release does not mention the costs of either acupuncture or the Alexander Technique. This is important to include since both therapies probably require the patient to pay out of pocket, at least in the United States. A quick web search found that the median cost of an acupuncture session nationwide is $100. Alexander Technique sessions cost about the same as massage therapy — around $70 to $100 per 45-minute session. In this study, 12 acupuncture sessions and 20 Alexander Technique sessions were required. The release states that both acupuncture and the Alexander Technique led to a significant reduction in neck pain at 12 months, as determined by the Northwick Park Questionnaire (NPQ). Statistical significance does not, however, necessarily indicate strong treatment effects. For instance, with enough data in hand, we can discover that minute differences between treatment and control can have very significant p-values (calculated probability), although we are not claiming this is the case here. From the original study, we learn the treatment effects of 3.92% reduction in NPQ versus usual care for acupuncture, and 3.79% for the Alexander Technique. Even with these numbers, the information is still lacking in interpretability. What does a 3-4% reduction in NPQ score really mean? Is the benefit worth the number of sessions of each therapy? The release doesn’t mention the possible harms of each intervention. While these methods are generally considered safe, no treatment is without risk of harm so we would like to see some discussion. The risks associated with acupuncture generally rest with the acupuncturist and can include soreness, infection, and in rare cases, organ injury if the needle is pushed in too far. Because the Alexander Technique calls for changes to posture and movement, it may cause harms to people with specific spinal injuries that are better left treated by licensed medical experts. There is a good grasp of the quality of evidence. The article specifies the patient population for whom the treatments can be expected to help, namely people with chronic, non-specific neck pain. The news release also points out importantly that both interventions enjoyed a high rate of adherence. Two additions would’ve furthered the satisfaction of this criterion. First, the news release might have mentioned the limitations of the study outlined in the original article, namely, practitioners of each technique belonged to their respective main U.K.-based professional associations. This hinders the generalization of the findings since both procedures are somewhat subjective and can vary more greatly from practitioner to practitioner than a “standard” treatment requiring clinical approval. Second, the impressive sample size of the randomized controlled trial should’ve been reported. More than 500 volunteers took part. There is no disease-mongering here about chronic neck pain. The news release does not disclose funding sources for the study. In addition, the study was more transparent than the release in disclosing potential conflicts of interest. Two of the authors of the original study, Drs. Woodman and Ballard, are both on the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique and contributed toward obtaining funding for the study. Coincidentally, all practitioners recruited in the study for the Alexander Technique came from the same society. The fact that the study authors and practitioners were all closely allied with the Alexander Technique was worth disclosing to readers, especially journalists, who were relying on the release. The goal of the news release is in fact to accomplish this very criterion. The release accurately states, “Usual care for neck pain generally consists of prescribed medications and visits to physical therapists and other health care professionals.” It’s clear from the release that both of these therapies are widely available. What’s novel about this study is the longer term relief gained from the therapies. The study points this out, but the release doesn’t explicitly mention it. The release maintains an objective, scientific voice throughout the piece.
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28286
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Family relatives of former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder own property used as an abortion clinic.
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What's true: Holder's wife and sister-in-law are co-trustees of a family trust which includes a property at 6210 Old National Highway in College Park, Georgia, which since the 2000s has been the location of a clinic that performs abortions. What's false: Holder's wife and sister-in-law are only the trustees of the trust and cannot derive any material benefit from the property in question, which will ultimately fully transfer into the ownership of the women's niece and nephew.
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mixture
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Politics
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In the spring of 2019, an old meme re-emerged on social media claiming that Eric Holder, who served as U.S. Attorney General during the Obama administration, and his wife Sharon Malone Holder “own abortion clinics.” On 2 April, a Facebook user posted a widely-shared meme that featured a photograph of the couple along with the text, “I wonder how many people realize that Eric Holder and his wife Sahron [sic] Malone own abortion clinics?”: The spread of that meme prompted several inquiries from Snopes readers about the veracity of the claim that Holder and Malone “own abortion clinics.” The claim appears to have stemmed from reports that emerged in 2012 and misleadingly connected Holder to an Atlanta, Georgia-area obstetrician named Tyrone Malloy, who went on to be convicted of Medicare fraud two years later. In October 2012, the web site LifeSiteNews.com reported that: New documents a conservative publication obtained link Attorney General Eric Holder with a Georgia-based abortion practitioner responsible for killing a patient in an abortion and who has been accused of Medicaid fraud. Human Events says Holder has ties to Tyrone Cecil Malloy and that they help explain why Holder has failed to prosecute abortion practitioners who run afoul of federal laws and why he has bee eager to prosecute pro-life advocates who protest outside of abortion centers. That Human Events article focused on the property at 6210 Old National Highway in College Park, Georgia, some 15 miles south of Atlanta, and reported that: Documents obtained by Watchdog show that Holder’s wife and sister-in-law co-own, through a family trust, the building where Malloy operated. A Georgia grand jury indicted Malloy on Medicaid fraud charges in 2011. A state medical board twice reprimanded the doctor. Holder and his wife, Sharon Malone Holder, an obstetric and gynecological doctor at Foxhall OB/GYN in Washington, D.C., failed to respond to several requests for comment. But reached by phone at her home in Minneapolis, Margie Malone Tuckson, Holder’s sister-in-law, said there’s no link at all — that Fulton County tax records showing the property belongs to her and Holder’s wife “are wrong.” “I don’t own this property and my sister does not own this property. We are not technically on this deed,” Malone Tuckson said. However, public documents reviewed by Watchdog.org show that the family transferred ownership to a family trust in 2009, eight months after President Barack Obama’s inauguration. But even the new deed directly names Holder’s wife and sister-in-law as trustees. After inquiries by Watchdog reporters, Tuckson contacted the Fulton County Assessor’s office and asked them to change tax records to reflect the “new” ownership. In August 1993, Buford and Maxine Hearn sold the property at 6210 Old National Highway to Dr. Mack Arthur Jones, an OB-GYN who was married to Vivian Malone, the sister of Sharon Malone, Eric Holder’s wife. For a few years during the 1990s, Dr. Jones used the property as a women’s health clinic, but he transferred 6210 Old National Highway into his personal ownership by way of a quitclaim deed in December 1998. Mack Jones died in August 2004, and Vivian Jones died in October 2005. In a will which Dr. Jones drew up in 2001, he bequeathed several properties and assets to the couple’s children, Monica and Michael, and their respective families. Georgia real estate records show that in August 2009, Sharon Malone’s sister Margie Malone Tuckson acted as the executor of Dr. Jones’ will and transferred the property at 6210 Old National Highway into a two-part trust for the children, Monica and Michael. Sharon and Margie were listed as co-trustees. A trust is a three-way arrangement in which one party (the trustor) sets aside a certain asset or property for a second party (the beneficiary) but assigns responsibility for the asset to a third party (the trustee). A testamentary trust (as distinct from a living trust) is one which only comes into being after the death of the trustor. In their will, the trustor can set certain terms and conditions on the trust. A typical example of a testamentary trust would be a parent who bequeaths to their child a certain sum of money. However, in their will, the parent stipulates that the money can only be released to the child after they have turned 18 years of age and that if the parent dies before then, a named person (the trustee) will be responsible for looking after the money and have certain legally-binding duties to the child (the beneficiary) — for example that they cannot spend all the money in the mean time. Once the parent dies and the child turns 18, the trustee is obliged to fully transfer the money to the child. While the trust exists, the trustee has legal ownership of the money but will not ultimately benefit from the contents of the trust, and the beneficiary has “equitable ownership” of the asset. Once the asset or property has been fully transferred into the beneficiary’s ownership, the trust is dissolved. In January 1998, Tyrone Malloy formally registered “Old National GYN” as a for-profit business in the state of Georgia, and he moved that clinic into the property at 6210 Old National Highway in 2004, according to an account later provided by one of his employees. In 2011, prosecutors in Georgia charged Malloy with two counts of Medicaid fraud, alleging that he “accepted medical assistance payments for medical office visits associated with the performance of elective abortions and for ultrasound services which were never performed.” Malloy was convicted in March 2014 and given a four-year prison sentence to be followed by six years of probation. He was released early in 2016, and the Georgia Composite Medical Board reinstated his medical license in October 2017. In public records held by the Georgia Secretary of State’s Corporations Division, Malloy’s clinic was listed as being located at 6210 Old National Highway from 2007 until 2011, when Malloy dissolved the business. A new company by the same name was registered at the same address in 2014, with Malloy listed as the Chief Executive Officer, although his name has not appeared on similar annual registration forms in subsequent years. As of January 2019, Old National GYN was still located at 6210 Old National Highway. And as of 12 April 2019, the web sites of both the Fulton County Board of Assessors and the Fulton County Tax Commissioner listed the owner(s) of the property as “The Testamentary Trust of Michael Anthony Jones and Monica Jones Shareef” (the children of Dr. Mack Jones and Vivian Malone Jones). It appears that in 2012, when Human Events published their article linking Sharon and Eric Holder to Old National GYN, the website of the Fulton County Board of Assessors listed the owners of the property as “Margie Malone Tuckson & Sharon Malone Holder.” However, that entry was subsequently changed to list the family trust as the owner of the property. The claim made in the 2012 news reports was that family relatives of Eric Holder — namely his wife and sister-in-law — owned a property used as an abortion clinic. It’s true that Sharon Malone Holder and Margie Malone Tuckson were, and still are, co-trustees of a family trust that includes the property at 6210 Old National Highway. As such, one could reasonably argue that this means they have legal ownership of and responsibility for that property and have done so since 2009. And for most of that period, a clinic that performs abortions has been operated out of the property in question. However, their ownership of the property is not straightforward. Official public records list the owner of 6210 Old National Highway as the trust through which Dr. Mack Jones set aside various properties which will ultimately be transferred into the full ownership of his children, Monica and Michael Jones. In this sense, one could just as reasonably argue that the property’s true owners are Monica and Michael Jones, and not their aunts Sharon Malone Holder and Margie Malone Tuckson, who are co-trustees of the family trust — and as such, will not ultimately derive any substantive material benefit from the property. It’s also not clear what the nature and extent of engagement is between Old National GYN, the clinic which operates from 6210, and the property’s owners. We sent a list of questions to Margie Malone Tuckson, asking whether Old National GYN paid rent to use the property as a clinic, and if so, who managed any rental agreement between the two parties. We also asked what her understanding was of the ownership of the property, but unfortunately we did not receive a response in time for publication. (We note that owning a property in which a business is housed and owning the business itself are two very different things.) In 2012, Malone Tuckson told Human Events: “I don’t own this property and my sister does not own this property. We are not technically on this deed.” We submitted similar questions to Sarah Holmes, who is listed in public records as the registered agent for Old National GYN, including asking her whether the company paid rent to the owners of 6210 Old National Highway. By email, Holmes told us she was unable to answer our questions. Eric Holder has never been listed on any public records associated with the property at 6210 Old National Highway, a fact which significantly undermines the claim made in the 2019 meme, that Holder and his wife Sharon “own abortion clinics.” Finally, moving beyond the ownership of the property at 6210 Old National Highway, no evidence exists that either Eric Holder, Sharon Malone Holder or Margie Malone Tuckson have played any role in the operation or management of Old National GYN, and none of them has ever appeared on annual company registration documents held by the Georgia Secretary of State’s Corporations Division. These facts significantly undermine connections drawn between the then-Attorney General and his wife and the actions of Dr. Tyrone Malloy.
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9250
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For women, caffeine could be ally in warding off dementia
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This news release, promoting research findings published in the peer-reviewed Journals of Gerontology: Series A, describes what researchers from the University of Wisconsin conclude is a significant positive relationship in older women between reduced odds of getting some form of dementia and consuming the amount of caffeine contained in three or more eight ounce cups of coffee a day. The release highlights the findings as contributing to “mounting evidence” of caffeine’s “potentially protective” effects against dementia. It suggests caffeine consumption is very safe; the fact that the conclusions are based on “self-reported” caffeine consumption levels; and how the researchers adjusted for potentially confounding risk factors. Several news organizations, including a Milwaukee newspaper, wrote articles based largely (sometimes almost verbatim) on the release, although most did at least make clear that the research in no way proves that drinking coffee or other heavily caffeinated beverages prevents dementia. That’s because the study is observational. As our tip for reporting on observational studies points out: “Because observational studies are not randomized, they cannot control for all of the other inevitable, often unmeasurable, exposures or factors that may actually be causing the results. Thus, any “link” between cause and effect in observational studies is speculative at best.” The news release left out that caveat, along with known ill effects of moderately heavy caffeine intake, especially among older people. Also missing was acknowledgement of the mixed results of previous non-human animal and association studies involving coffee and cognitive impairment. “Whiplash” nicely describes the impact of decades of contradictory and sometimes muddled reports about the protective benefits or harms of caffeine consumption. Review articles, such as this one in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, and this story in the Los Angeles Times, have done a nice job of describing the ups and downs of the debate over coffee consumption, in particular. Healthcare organizations often advise no more than a 500 mg/day level of caffeine intake to keep away increased risk of insomnia, nervousness, rapid heartbeat, upset stomach and muscle tremor, while the level conferring the “36 percent” risk reduction cited in the news release occurred in women over 65 drinking more than 261 mg a day. People who already drink coffee or other caffeinated beverages are always eager to have their habits affirmed as “healthy,” while those who don’t are often interested in the “caffeine wars” to inform their opinions about adding colas and coffee to their diets to protect against dementia and a whole host of diseases from diabetes to stroke to liver cancer. Cognitive decline is increasing in prevalence and society is looking for lifestyle changes that reduce risk. Therefore, reports of new research have baked-in widespread appeal and more than usual obligations to put the work in context.
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mixture
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caffeine,dementia,Oxford University Press USA
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Caffeine is already ubiquitous and people consume it daily in coffee, tea, sodas and supplements. A discussion of costs isn’t necessary. The release states that among older women in a large study, “self-reported caffeine consumption of more than 261 mg per day was associated with a 36 percent reduction in the risk of incident dementia over 10 years of follow-up.” The release would have been better with some explanations of what the 36 percent reduction in risk of incident dementia actually meant. The published study doesn’t include any numbers in the primary tables to allow for a calculation of absolute risk reduction. The only statistics provided, even in the body of the paper, are the Hazard Ratios, including the 0.76, which gives rise to the 36 percent reduction for the higher caffeine consumers. In this instance, the release writer may have done their best with the available information from the paper, but the writer could have consulted with the study authors to provide this important additional detail. At the very least, providing some estimate of the baseline risk in the study would have helped put the 36 percent reduction in perspective. If that baseline risk was low to begin with, then a 36 percent reduction might not be very meaningful. Nary a mention of the potential risks of caffeine, particularly in an older population. Caffeine is associated with headaches, tachycardia (rapid heart rate), and anxiety to name a few. The release earns a Not Satisfactory for not mentioning the study limitations, and in this case the big one is that it was an observational cohort study, a type of study design that does not allow for determination of causation. The issue is that even after statistical adjustment for con-founders (e.g. age, race, education), there are still likely to be factors that occur along with caffeine consumption that are associated with cognitive decline. For example, there may be a genetic predisposition to enjoying the taste of coffee and tea, and being protected from cognitive decline. So in fact the caffeine may have nothing to do with the cognitive decline, it is just a marker for the genetic makeup of the individual. On the plus side, the release explains that the data come from participants in the well-regarded Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study, funded by the National Institutes of Health; and that the research is composed of information from more than 6,400 women. It also notes that the researchers adjusted for risk factors such as race, age, hormone use, education, obesity, depression, smoking, alcohol use and cardiovascular disease. No mongering here. The release notes that the study was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health. Our expectation is that the release would at least share some basic alternatives. For example, this National Institute on Aging education page states regular aerobic exercise is associated with reduced risk of cognitive decline, and that many other lifestyle and dietary factors (such as a plant-based diet) are believed to reduce risk. The release quotes the principal investigator saying, essentially, that caffeine is an easy thing to add to the diet and is widely available. True enough. The release claims that the study is “unique” in that it is based on an “unprecedented” opportunity to study the relationship between caffeine and dementia in a “large and well defined” ongoing study. The hyperbole may be justified, but there is no evidence that it is from the information given in the release. In fact, there have been a large number of widely reported observational studies and literature reviews examining these associations over the last decades. Beyond the inflated comments about novelty stated above, the release doesn’t rely on sensational, unjustified language.
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25890
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No U.S. presidents elected before Donald Trump were racist.
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Historians agree that many presidents in the past either had racist beliefs, implemented racist policies, or both. Donald Trump has made multiple racist or offensive statements.
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false
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History, Race and Ethnicity, Joe Biden,
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"At a town hall meeting, a home care provider spoke to former Vice President Joe Biden about racist rhetoric targeting Asian Americans during the pandemic. Biden responded by leaning into racism allegations against President Donald Trump. ""We’ve had racists, and they’ve existed, they’ve tried to get elected president. He’s the first one that has,"" Biden said July 22. Biden’s pointed statement was memorable for a few reasons: Not only was he calling the sitting president a racist, but Biden also asserted that no other racists held the office before Trump. Historians say this is wrong. Various presidents since the country’s founding can be considered racist, whether because they enslaved Black people, held racist beliefs, or used racist rhetoric. Multiple early presidents, including Thomas Jefferson, enslaved Black people. Andrew Jackson forced Native Americans from their lands, causing migrations in which many died. Andrew Johnson sought to undermine Reconstruction in the South after the Civil War. Woodrow Wilson, a Southerner with nostalgia for the antebellum South, re-segregated the federal government. Still others privately used racial slurs or believed whites were the superior race. ""If Mr. Biden wanted to call the president a racist, he should have done so and left it at that,"" said H.W. Brands, a history professor at The University of Texas at Austin. ""Bringing in history confuses the issue."" Not everyone sees eye-to-eye on who they consider racist. Nikki Brown, an Africana studies professor at the University of Kentucky, said a person’s race may play a role in which presidents they view as racist. White people might look for red flags like using racial slurs as a sign that someone is racist, Brown said, while Black people and other people of color may also point to a politician who ""supports laws that treat African Americans as inferior or unworthy."" Whatever definition you use, many presidents can be considered racist. The most obvious category would be presidents who personally enslaved people. Historians generally consider 10 of the first 12 presidents to fall into this category. (The exceptions were John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts.) Most of these presidents were born in the slavery-era South. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, and John Tyler were born in and represented Virginia. Andrew Jackson was born in South Carolina and represented Tennessee; Zachary Taylor, who owned 100 people, was born in Virginia and resided in Louisiana; and James K. Polk was born in North Carolina and resided in Tennessee. Martin Van Buren was from New York, where slavery lingered after formal abolition. By the standard of enslaving people, ""the first 60 years of the U.S. republic would have been run by racists,"" Brown said. Within the category of presidents who enslaved people, some historians see gradations of racism. For instance, Washington not only enslaved people but also, as president, moved some of them to and from the then-capital of Philadelphia every few months. ""Pennsylvania had passed a law ensuring the freedom of enslaved people who resided in the state after a period of time,"" said Saint Louis University historian Lorri Glover. This gambit ""re-set the clock on their bondage and precluded their freedom."" On the other hand, Washington was initially opposed to Black troops during the Revolutionary War but changed his mind during the war, and he later said that his favorite unit was one that was half Black, said Paul Finkelman, the president of Gratz College in Pennsylvania who has written extensively about slavery. Washington also freed his enslaved people and set them up with land. Historians paint his contemporary, Jefferson, more negatively. In his writings, Jefferson ""said that Blacks are inferior"" and tried to justify it scientifically. While Jefferson claimed not to sell enslaved people except in limited cases, he regularly wrote to his plantation managers asking them to sell enslaved people because he needed the money, Finkelman said. And in her book, ""Founders as Fathers,"" Glover detailed the stark contrast between how Jefferson treated his acknowledged white family and his unacknowledged family with Sally Hemings, who was enslaved. A later president who enslaved people, Andrew Jackson, also worked for the forced relocations of Native Americans, during which many died. The roots of the federal takeover of Indian lands, often undergirded by notions of white superiority, dated back to the first five presidents, Glover said. Subsequent presidents continued Jackson’s approach. ""Polk opened Texas, and, if he'd had his way, would have opened California too, to cotton planting with slaves,"" said Jason M. Opal, a McGill University historian. John Tyler went so far as to join the Confederate government 16 years after he left the White House. Lesser known presidents like Millard Fillmore have racist pasts, too. Though he was a New Yorker who didn’t enslave anyone, Fillmore ""said absolutely horrible things about Black people,"" Finkelman said. Fillmore signed the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which ""made it possible to literally kidnap free black people in the North, bring them before a compliant federal commissioner, and drag them into slavery,"" Finkelman said. ""Freedmen Voting in New Orleans,"" a 1867 engraving. Andrew Johnson worked to undercut civil rights laws after the Civil War. (New York Public Library/Wikimedia Commons) After the Civil War, arguably the most racist president, historians say, was Andrew Johnson. A Southerner who succeeded the assassinated Abraham Lincoln, Johnson proceeded to undercut anti-discrimination policies in the South and was a pioneer in articulating ""white victimhood,"" Opal said. ""His racism is most tragic in American history, because it led to a true failure of Reconstruction,"" Finkelman said. Theodore Roosevelt held racist views reflected in his policies of imperialism. Roosevelt ""embraced his racism, believing it the solemn duty of the most civilized — white — race to uplift the rest,"" said Jeffrey A. Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. At the same time, Roosevelt was sympathetic to immigrants and had lunch with the Black leader Booker T. Washington, an invitation that shocked Southern white leaders, Finkelman said. Woodrow Wilson, a Southerner by upbringing, re-segregated large portions of the federal government, down to separate bathrooms in federal buildings. Wilson also held a White House screening of the pro-Ku Klux Klan film ""Birth of a Nation,"" which dovetailed with his nostalgia for the Confederacy. Wilson once wrote that ""domestic slaves were almost uniformly dealt with indulgently and even affectionately by their masters."" Oswald Garrison Villard, a contemporary liberal journalist, wrote that Wilson’s administration ""has allied itself with the forces of reaction, and put itself on the side of every torturer, of every oppressor, of every perpetrator of racial injustice in the South or the North."" As open racism became less socially acceptable from politicians in the latter half of the 20th century, presidents’ legacies on race became more complicated. Presidents held racist views privately yet delivered legislation to advance equality at the same time. Lyndon B. Johnson used a racial slur for Black people frequently, according to his biographers, including when Johnson nominated Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court instead of a less-famous black judge. Johnson was a ""good ol’ boy from Texas, so of course he was racist. He just didn’t govern like one, which frankly strikes me as more important,"" Engel said. Johnson fought for and signed the century’s most far-reaching civil rights laws. Richard Nixon was captured on tape making numerous racist remarks, said John J. Pitney, Jr., a Claremont McKenna College political scientist. Yet Nixon’s legacy on civil rights was fairly robust, advancing the desegregation of schools and affirmative action in employment. So what about Trump? Trump challenged Biden’s remark that he was racist and compared his record with Abraham Lincoln, who signed the Emancipation Proclamation that freed enslaved Black people in Confederate states. Symone Sanders, a Biden campaign senior adviser, sought to clarify Biden’s remark: ""There have been a number of racist American presidents, but Trump stands out — especially in modern history — because he made running on racism and division his calling card and won."" As a businessman and politician over the years, Trump has made various statements that have been condemned as racist. • In the 1970s, the U.S. Justice Department sued Trump and his father for refusing to rent apartments to Black people. Trump Management filed a countersuit against the U.S. government before reaching an agreement in 1975. (The Trumps said the agreement was not an admission of guilt.) • After the first Black president in U.S. history was sworn into office, Trump repeated the conspiracy theory that Barack Obama was born in Kenya. • When Trump announced his presidential candidacy in June 2015, he said, ""When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best."" He added, ""They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."" • As president in 2017, Trump said there were ""very fine people, on both sides,"" in reference to neo-Nazis and counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Va. • When speaking with lawmakers about immigration from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries in 2018, Trump reportedly said, ""Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?"" He denied saying it in a tweet. • In July 2019, Trump tweeted that four congresswomen of color should ""go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came."" All of them are American citizens, and three were born in the U.S. • Later that month, the president called Maryland’s 7th congressional district, which is majority Black, a ""disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess"" and wrote that ""no human being would want to live there."" • Trump has referred to the novel coronavirus as the ""kung flu"" and ""China virus"" throughout the pandemic. In 2019, the Pew Research Center found that 56% of Americans say Trump has worsened race relations, compared with only 15% who say he’s made progress. Biden said that no presidents who came before Trump were racist. Historians agree that various presidents can be considered racist. That includes those who enslaved Black people, those who used racist rhetoric and those who held beliefs that white people were superior to other races. Biden’s campaign later clarified the comment, but his original words are wrong."
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5716
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Salina center’s therapy dogs help manage mental health.
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Whenever Jackie Casteel has difficulty dealing with her depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, she knows she can rely on the comforting paw of a four-legged therapist named Louise.
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true
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Health, Salina, Dogs, Mental health
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Louise, a black English Labrador, doesn’t ask anything of Casteel except to provide a warm lap to sit in or a ball to chase across the room. For Casteel, it’s about the best therapy she’s ever had. ″(Louise) calms me down,” said Casteel, who lives in the Manhattan area. “She’ll play with you, she’ll sit with you. She knows when you’re sad.” Casteel is a client at Veridian Behavioral Health, a multi-disciplinary mental health care center that is part of the behavioral health department of Salina Regional Health Center. Many of Veridian’s psychiatrists, counselors and nurse practitioners serve individuals and families struggling with common life problems such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, marital problems, parent-child conflicts or grief and loss. Recently, the center added another tool to help clients in their programs — certified therapy dogs. Three dogs specifically, have been introduced to the programs: Louise, a Chesapeake Bay retriever named Phil and a Great Dane named Daisy. These dogs assist adult inpatient and outpatient clients at the hospital, as well as children suffering trauma and other mental health issues at Veridian’s east campus, the Salina Journal reported. Angela Koerperich, an advanced nurse practitioner who owns and supervises Daisy, said Veridian received a grant in October 2015 to add three certified therapy dogs into its mental health program. She and two other Veridian nurse practitioners took on a dog: Louise belongs to Jennifer Pekarek and Phil is owned by Marcia Cleavenger. “We’ve talked about this for years as something that would be great to have in the inpatient unit,” Koerperich said. “We worked together to make it happen. We got in contact with CARES, and the pieces just came together.” CARES, which stands for Canine Assistance Rehabilitation Education & Services, is Concordia-based specialty service that offers specially trained canine assistants to people with disabilities throughout the U.S., as well as professional therapy dogs for schools, mental health facilities, hospitals and nursing homes. The majority of dogs that CARES trains are produced from their own breeding programs or are donated ex-show dogs, specifically bred puppies and family pets. Dogs are fostered out to volunteer homes and facilities where they are raised for nine to 18 months, learn basic obedience and become socialized to all aspects of public and private life. Louise and Daisy happened to be trained by inmates at the Ellsworth Correctional Facility, Cleavenger said, which has established a dog training program. “It can be nearly a two year process before they’re certified,” she said. To become a certified therapy animal, a dog has to have the right kind of temperament to interact with subjects who may be going through trauma or other mental or physical issues, Cleavenger said. “A lot of times people come into the clinic, and they’ll be highly anxious or depressed,” she said. “A therapy dog helps to ease the anxiety and make it easier to converse with that person. I’ve had a patient with high blood pressure who, once they spent a little time with Phil, their high blood pressure dropped.” Koerperich said Daisy, who like the other therapy dogs wears an identifiable vest while at “work,” does wonders with children at the Veridian outpatient office. “Sometimes it’s hard to get children to engage or take their medicine, and the dogs can help,” she said. “When you are talking to kids about trauma, it’s nice to have Daisy in the room. Sometimes a child will talk to the dog and not the therapist. They’ll take Daisy outside, walk her around. It’s nice to have that physical distraction.” Pekarek said at Veridian’s inpatient unit at the hospital, Louise has been an immense help when it comes to communicating with patients who are virtually disabled as a result of trauma or mental issues. “Louise seems to warm up to people really fast,” Pekarek said. “I’ll bring Louise into the inpatient units, and she seems to know who needs her the most. She will stay with them, even if that person won’t get out of bed. There was 14-year-old girl here who would not talk to me or her mother, but she talked to Louise. It’s amazing to watch.” For Casteel, having Louise by her side during therapy sessions has given her hope that her life will continue to improve in the future. “I got an animal myself after I met Louise,” she said. “I know now that I need an emotional support animal, that without one I’ll be more depressed than usual. I got a cat, but he’s as gentle as (Louise) is.” ___ Information from: The Salina (Kan.) Journal, http://www.salina.com
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10988
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FDA Rejects Health Claim for Green Tea
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This article reported on the the FDA’s rejection of a petition to allow sellers of green tea to legally claim that it reduces the risk of heart disease. Although green tea has become more popular during the last decade, there is insufficient evidence to support the contention that green tea is beneficial in terms of heart disease risk. The article reported this in an unsensational fashion and also educated the reader about health claims. While reporting on the lack of evidence to support the contention that green tea provides cardiovascular benefit, this article missed the opportunity to mention evidence-based ways to reduce cardiovascular risk. It also did not inform the reader on potential harms of green tea consumption for some people (especially those with heart problems for whom caffeine consumption may be limited). The story said that spokespersons for the world’s largest green tea company and for the consulting group that filed the petition with the FDA did not respond to messages left for them. But there were no comments from individuals conducting research investigating whether green tea affects heart disease risk.
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mixture
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The article did not contain any reference to the cost of green tea. The article reported that the FDA found no evidence of heart disease benefit associated with consumption of green tea. This article reports that consumption of green tea is not an effective means for reducing risk of heart disease. However, it failed to mention potential harms of consuming green tea. It can be harmful for people with heart problems for whom consumption of caffeine is restricted. The article mentioned that the FDA reportedly reviewed 105 articles and other publications in order to assess the validity for making a health claim for green tea with respect to heart disease. The article also mentioned the FDA’s previous rejection of the health claim that green tea reduces cancer risk. This article reported on the FDA’s rejection of the petition to allow the health claim that green tea affected the risk of heart disease. The story said that spokespersons for the world’s largest green tea company and for the consulting group that filed the petition with the FDA did not respond to messages left for them. But there were no comments from individuals conducting research investigating whether green tea affects heart disease risk. There was no mention of lifestyle or dietary approaches or drugs for decreasing heart disease risk. The article explained that green tea is made from unfermented tea leaves and mentioned that its popularity had grown over the last decade. Consumption of green tea was not touted as being new or novel. The history of green tea consumption is centuries old. We can’t be sure if the story relied solely or largely on a news release.
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3973
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Chronic wasting confirmed in a captive elk in Clark County.
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South Dakota’s state veterinarian says chronic wasting disease has been confirmed in a captive elk in Clark County.
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true
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Health, South Dakota, Animal health
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Dustin Oedekoven said Wednesday the owner of the 21-month-old female elk noticed the animal was sick and contacted his veterinarian. The USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, later confirmed samples tested positive for the disease. Chronic wasting disease is endemic in free-ranging deer and elk in and around the Black Hills. The disease was last diagnosed in captive elk in South Dakota in 2001. CWD is a fatal disease that strikes the nervous system in deer, elk and moose. Oedekoven says state and federal animal health officials are working with the owner of the affected herd to investigate the disease and mitigate further infection.
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10206
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The Downside of a Cancer Study Extolling CT Scans
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These were some of the special elements of this column: Putting “downsides” in the headline – a rarity in a screening story. Giving the number needed to screen of 300 – that 300 needed to be screened in order to extend just one life – and putting that in the third sentence of the story. Seeking and including quotes from skeptics who are worried about the impact of the marketing of the study findings – including those from Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society. Discussing costs. Discussing the possible “tip of the iceberg” of false positives and ensuing harms. It can be better to be late and more complete than to be first and incomplete and imbalanced. Or it at least makes sense to do a next-day or next-week followup to provide context you couldn’t give on the day the news broke. Many stories that reported on the National Lung Screening Trial a week earlier emphasized nothing but benefits of such screening. Read our earlier analysis of 8 stories on November 5. This story took the time to step back and realize that there are harms of such screening – and they put it in the headline, in the third sentence, and throughout the story. To report only the possible benefits is not complete. We need more analysis such as this.
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true
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Cancer,New York Times,Screening
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Good job on this. The story stated: However, it could have also included at least a line about the costs of following testing and possible treatment of false positives. Excellent. The story put the important number needed to screen in the third sentence of the story: “A major government study found the screening scans saved the life of one person for every 300 current or former smokers who were scanned.” It went on to explain “The study was stopped when it was found that the scanning group had a 20 percent lower risk of dying from lung cancer than those being screened with X-rays.” It could have done so in absolute terms, not relative risk reduction, but overall it warrants a satisfactory score. The story was clear on this: In a rarity for such a story, “downsides” was even in the headline. The third paragraph read: “But now cancer and screening experts are worried that the limited findings will be used by private screening centers to promote the test to a broader group than was studied. That, in turn, could lead to thousands of unnecessary lung scans, causing excess radiation exposure and unnecessary biopsies and surgery.” In clear language, the article explained key points about the study, including its limitations: While the study found a benefit to scanning a specific group of high-risk smokers, that doesn’t mean other groups will get the same benefit. Good job here as well. The quote from Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society was key: “To take a trial that involves people at high risk for lung cancer and to extrapolate it and say it’s good for people with intermediate or low risk is not appropriate.” Good sourcing – including quotes from one who promotes the scans and the study findings and from two who have concerns and are skeptical or worried about the impact. The one comparison was the synopsis of the key study finding: “The smokers and former smokers were given either annual CT lung scans or chest X-rays. Compared with conventional X-rays, the CT, or computed tomography, scans create a detailed three-dimensional image of the lungs. The study was stopped when it was found that the scanning group had a 20 percent lower risk of dying from lung cancer than those being screened with X-rays.” The availability of CT scanners to do lung cancer screening was clear from the story. More importantly, though, was the question of interpreting those scans – with questions raised in this excerpt about the problems even experienced radiologists at major cancer centers had: The story explained that some were already promoting the study’s findings in news releases saying that the study “should once and for all settle the controversy” about whether CT lung scans save lives. But it quickly countered that claim with observations from Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society who said that he was worried that the few early press releases and radio advertisements are just the beginning of widespread promotion of screening lung scans. “It was sort of ominous to be working Sunday evening in my home office and this thing comes on the radio,” he said. “A lot of people run out when there is a new announcement and get the new test. We’re very frightened some people are going to be harmed because of this.” This column did not rely on a news release.
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36771
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Facebook removed a “Little Timmy Salutes the Flag” photo of a boy saluting the American flag because some groups reported it as “offensive.”
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Chinese health authorities on Thursday reported a fresh case of bubonic plague in the country’s northern Inner Mongolia region, bringing the total number of plague cases to four since the beginning of the month.
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false
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Politics
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A rural herder in Siziwang county was diagnosed with the disease in a local hospital, according to a statement released by the Inner Mongolian health commission. Prior to the diagnosis the herder had been active in an area where plague sources had been identified, it said. The person is in a stable condition after treatment at a local hospital and four other people have been quarantined. The bubonic plague, known as “Black Death” in the Middle Ages, is a highly-infectious and often fatal disease that is spread mostly by rodents. It also has a deadlier variant called pneumonic plague. Earlier this month three people from Inner Mongolia were hospitalized for plague in two separate cases that were linked to eating wild animals. Two of the people were diagnosed with pneumonic plague and one with bubonic plague. Authorities previously said the two cases were unrelated. The latest reported case is not in the same region of Inner Mongolia as either of the two earlier cases, and so far there have been no fatalities reported. Plague cases are not uncommon in China, but outbreaks have become increasingly rare. From 2009 to 2018, China reported just 26 cases and 11 deaths. (This story corrects headline from ‘bubonic plague’ to ‘plague’, and clarification of pneumonic v. bubonic plague in story)
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9070
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Scientists make significant breakthrough on superbug-killing antibiotic teixobactin
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New antibiotics are desperately needed, but an advance in the synthesis of a new antibiotic should not be called a breakthrough when the drug has yet to be tested in people. This release neglects to tell readers that all the claims are based on only laboratory tests. There is little acknowledgment of the uncertainties and challenges ahead. This research report is of great interest to drug researchers, but its relevance to practicing clinicians and the general public is not yet known. Only a fraction of a percent of experimental drugs that produce positive laboratory test results survive the hurdles of animal and human testing. Especially when the need is so great, as is the case with antibiotic resistant infections, news releases should not proclaim success prematurely.
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false
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antibiotic,MRSA,teixobactin,University of Lincoln
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A key point of the release is that the researchers have developed a form of the teixobactin antibiotic that could be commercially viable. This statement implies that they made some rough calculations of the potential cost of manufacturing the drug. Even though it may be too early to guess at a market price (which depends on many factors other than actual manufacturing cost), it would have been nice to see some comparison to the production costs of other antibiotics. The release says the simplified versions of teixobactin “have identical potency” to the natural form. A quote also claims teixobactin “kills bacteria without detectable resistance including superbugs such as MRSA.” But nowhere are readers told that teixobactin has yet to be tested in people. All the claims of benefits are based on laboratory tests. Readers should be told that the benefits for patients have not yet been tested. As one commentary about new antibiotics published last spring noted, “Resistance development may not have been observed in initial experiments yet, but similar beliefs for e.g. vancomycin, have been proven wrong. As of yet, teixobactin has not yet reached testing in clinical trials.” The release does not address potential harms. This omission is another reason the release should have made clear that although the researchers performed some laboratory tests for potential toxicity, teixobactin has not been tested in people, so its potential adverse effects are not known. By neglecting to tell readers that the claims (which were not backed up by any numbers) are based entirely on laboratory tests, not tests in people with infections, the release may mislead many readers. The current evidence appears to be limited to in vitro studies in which the antibiotics were put into a test tube with the bacteria. The release doesn’t disease monger. There is no doubt that antibiotic resistant infections are a widespread and growing threat. The release does not discuss either funding or conflicts of interest. Readers would have to go to the journal article to learn: Since other researchers investigating teixobactin have submitted patent applications and commercialization of basic research has become a routine part of academic science, it would have been nice to see this news release directly address the potential financial interest the researchers may have in the development of their work. It appears that the release compares teixobactin to existing antibiotics, but it does not tell readers that the comparison is laboratory studies versus real world experience, which is not a fair comparison. The release states that this work is a step closer toward creating drug treatments. There are no claims about how long subsequent testing and development may take. However, the failure to point out that this work is confined to laboratory tests and that human clinical trials have yet to begin implies a shorter path to potential clinical use than seems likely. The release states that the researchers created versions of the teixobactin antibiotic that can be produced far more quickly and efficiently than the natural form. It also notes that this announcement builds on research done over the past 18 months. The news release writers call this work a “breakthrough.” That’s what they also said in a release about an earlier research report from the researchers last June. Release writers were a bit more measured in a release issued in January, calling a research report from the team a “significant step.”
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3700
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China investigates respiratory illness outbreak sickening 27.
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Chinese experts are investigating an outbreak of respiratory illness in the central city of Wuhan that some have likened to the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic.
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true
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Severe acute respiratory syndrome, Epidemics, General News, Wuhan, International News, China, Asia Pacific, Health
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The city’s health commission said in a statement Tuesday that 27 people had fallen ill with a strain of viral pneumonia, seven of whom were in serious condition. It said most had visited a seafood market in the sprawling city, apparently pointing to a common origin of the outbreak. Unverified information online said the illnesses were caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which emerged from southern China and killed more than 700 people in several countries and regions. SARS was brought under control through quarantines and other extreme measures, but not before causing a virtual shutdown to travel in China and the region and taking a severe toll on the economy. However, the health commission said the cause of the outbreak was still unclear and called on citizens not to panic.
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9403
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ANTIDEPRESSANTS DO WORK, AND MANY MORE PEOPLE SHOULD TAKE THEM: MAJOR INTERNATIONAL STUDY
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This Newsweek story covers an analysis of the best available trial data to attain a high-level assessment of 21 antidepressant medications. The story gives good context about how prevalent depression is and how many people go without treatment of any kind, and reminds us that psychotherapy is also a viable treatment. And yet the headline goes far beyond the scope of the study by claiming that “many more people” should take antidepressants. That assertion isn’t supported by anything in the story itself, and it’s a major misstep in our view, as treatment decisions should always be fully-informed, shared encounters between people and their physicians. The story didn’t alert readers that most antidepressants were found to offer only a modest benefit, and side effects weren’t considered. The story also missed study limitations and a conflict of interest for one of the people quoted. Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide. It can also be hard to treat — this story mentions the 40% failure rate for antidepressant medications — and many people with depression do not get treatment at all. There has been lingering uncertainty about the effectiveness of some anti-depressants, since manufacturers tend to withhold studies that don’t show positive results and the FDA only approves drugs based on positive studies. A analysis that provides a comprehensive assessment of currently available antidepressant medications is newsworthy, but journalists should be cautious in their interpretations.
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false
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Lancet,Newsweek
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Without mentioning any numbers, the story does say that the costs of antidepressant drugs tend to be lower than the other major treatment approach for depression, which is talk therapy. The story would have been stronger with cost data. For example, the four drugs found most effective in the analysis– mirtazapine, escitalopram, venlafaxine, and sertraline — cost $8 to $12 for 30 tablets, according to the web site GoodRx. The study says, “All of the most effective antidepressants are now off patent and available in generic form.” It also doesn’t mention that talk therapy may have more value for some patients because it can equip people with tools for life, and severe depression needs to be treated by a combination of drugs and talk therapy. It can be difficult to quantify results when a study examines results from multiple clinical trials, because methods and results may vary. And yet, we’d like to see the baseline measure expressed in plain language to help orient readers before introducing relative changes from that baseline. The story only reports, “Drugs ranged from more than one third more effective than a placebo to more than twice as effective.” Nowhere does the story explain to readers how “effective” is defined in the study, which was a 50% reduction (or more) in score on a rating scale for depression. The story didn’t note that antidepressant drug trials often find a placebo effect, which is why “twice as effective” as placebo is not zero. We give some credit that the story mentioned the high failure rate for antidepressant medications overall — 40%. The story also didn’t mention that the study characterized the benefits were “mostly modest.” The story makes no mention of the various side effects that can occur with antidepressant medication, such as weight gain, insomnia, and loss of sexual desire. The study authors looked at which drugs were more or less tolerated, and their analysis did not include adverse effects or withdrawal symptoms. Those facts weren’t included in the story. The story does include information suggesting how large the analysis was — 522 drug trials with nearly 120,000 subjects reviewed — and that it was the “most comprehensive evidence currently available,” according to the authors. But the story doesn’t mention any limitations, including the fact that the analysis didn’t examine how patients respond based on age, sex, severity of symptoms, or duration of illness. The authors of the study also noted weak evidence for some drugs and the potential for unintentional errors in their complication of data. Finally, they noted also noted that “some of the adverse effects of antidepressants occur over a prolonged period, meaning that positive results need to be taken with great caution, because the trials in this network meta-analysis were of short duration.” The story gives readers clear numbers on the widespread problem of depression and the estimates of people with depression who go untreated. That’s laudable. However, the assertion that “many more” people should be taking antidepressants constitutes a form of disease-mongering in our view because it’s unsupported by evidence and could lead some people to seek out drugs they might not benefit from. The story provides quotes from three psychiatrists who were not authors on the study, taken from an online source called Science Media Centre. It doesn’t say that one of them — Carmine Pariante — disclosed he received research funding from companies that make antidepressants. Pariante’s quote seems to have provided the basis for the story’s lead, which stated antidepressants “really do work.” The story discusses the other major treatment approach for people with depression — talk therapy. A wide range of antidepressant medications have been on the market for decades, so there’s no need to mention availability. The lead bluntly states: “Antidepressant drugs really do work, a major new international study has proven.” We think that’s the wrong takeaway. It wrongly implies there’s been widespread doubt that antidepressants in general are effective, and this analysis somehow puts all doubts to rest. Study author Andrea Cipriani offered a more nuanced view, saying the findings should reassure people with depression that drugs can help. The stated purpose of the analysis was to “compare and rank antidepressants” based on the totality of available data. The lead apparently emanates from this quote in the second-to-last paragraph, by a researcher with an acknowledged conflict. Carmine Pariante, a professor at the UK’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience and spokesperson for the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said the study “finally puts to bed the controversy on antidepressants.” The story quotes a news release from the Royal College of General Practitioners and pulls two other quotes from a list of “reactions” to the study put together by the Science Media Centre, which it does not attribute. Quotes from the study author were attributed to a press briefing. While the story doesn’t technically rely on a news release, it doesn’t appear to include any original reporting.
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18012
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"Ken Cuccinelli Says Terry McAuliffe is ""the person who invented the scheme to rent out the Lincoln Bedroom."
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In the halls of MD Anderson Cancer Center, the drug Vitrakvi is known for having a “Lazarus effect” in some patients because it can reverse late-stage cancer that has defied all other treatment options.
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false
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Campaign Finance, Ethics, History, Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli,
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Developed by Eli Lilly and Co’s (LLY.N) Loxo Oncology and marketed by German drugmaker Bayer (BAYGn.DE), it fights a rare genetic mutation that appears in less than 1% of solid tumors, regardless of where they appear in the body. Finding those patients will require widespread adoption of sophisticated tests that look for multiple genetic alterations that could be driving the cancer. So far, progress has been slow. Adoption of so-called next-generation sequencing (NGS) tests has been stalled by lack of reimbursement from insurers over concerns that the evidence is not there yet to support widescale use, according to more than a dozen interviews with oncologists and pharmaceutical and diagnostic industry executives. As a result, pharma companies from small biotech Blueprint Medicines Corp (BPMC.O) to larger rivals Lilly and Roche Holding AG (ROG.S) are taking matters into their own hands, bulking up staff to increase patient and physician awareness about testing and building up a gene testing infrastructure that for many community hospitals still does not exist. Bayer executives told Reuters it plans to spend $70 million to increase patient and physician awareness of testing for rare mutations and to encourage regulatory approval of more tests. They expect that budget to expand as Vitrakvi continues to win approval in other countries. Lilly told Reuters the company has signed an agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO.N) to develop a companion diagnostic test for its experimental drug, LOXO-292. The deal adds RET mutations - the target of both Lilly’s and Blueprint’s drugs - to Thermo’s Oncomine Dx Target Test, which local pathology labs can use to identify multiple genes linked with non-small cell lung cancer. The agreement is aimed to help identify more lung and thyroid cancer patients who may benefit from the Lilly or Blueprint therapies. The Thermo test is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration - a key standard for Medicare coverage, the companies said. According to Dr. Brian Alexander, chief medical officer of Roche’s gene testing company Foundation Medicine, only about 15% of U.S. patients with advanced cancers get comprehensive genomic profiling. Another 25% get single-gene testing, he said, and a large proportion “are not getting any testing at all.” At MD Anderson, which sees 100,000 new cancer patients a year, only around 10,000 eventually have their tumors sequenced. For a rare few, the tests are lifesaving. Xin Zheng, 47, a mother of three in Michigan who was referred to Reuters by Blueprint, was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in 2016. After failing several treatments, she was out of options. Her husband, Zhigang Wei, asked for genetic sequencing, and the test turned up a RET mutation. After contacting multiple lung cancer experts, Zhigang found an early-stage clinical trial treating patients with Blueprint’s experimental drug, BLU-677. Now, Xin is nearly back to normal. “My wife is lucky,” he said, adding her quality of life is much better and she has hope for the future. Finding patients with such rare mutations is like “looking for the needle in the haystack,” said Stefan Oelrich, head of pharmaceuticals at Bayer. Dr. David Hyman of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, who tested Vitrakvi in clinical trials, said making these tests the norm for advanced cancer patients will require a huge shift in the way oncology is practiced. “It’s painful to know there are patients out there with these alterations who are dying without knowing about it and without getting any treatments,” he said. For Bayer’s Vitrakvi and Roche’s Rozlytrek, along with similar drugs in development, genomic testing is critical to finding patients who can benefit from them. Cancer patients and drug companies alike got a boost last year when the federal Medicare health program for the elderly and disabled said it would cover FDA-approved tests for advanced cancer patients that can identify hundreds of genetic mutations at once. A Medicare endorsement is generally followed by widespread coverage decisions by private insurers. But the final regulations dropped a requirement that testmakers prove the tests are cost-effective and improve patient care. That created an “evidence gap” that has allowed some insurers, also known as third-party payers, to withhold coverage or demand more proof that they benefit patients, said Jeff Schreier of Diaceutics PLC (DXRX.L), a data analytics company that works with drugmakers to improve diagnostic testing. “More payers are coming around, but it’s slow,” he said. The most recent coverage policy from CVS Health Corp’s (CVS.N) Aetna approves many single-gene tests for specific cancers, but still largely considers multi-gene tests experimental. Anthem Inc’s (ANTM.N) policy limits testing to “medically necessary” use and states there’s “insufficient published evidence” to support widespread testing. And while Foundation Medicine’s and Thermo Fisher’s tests are getting reimbursed from Medicare, many hospitals such as MD Anderson, which have developed their own tests, are not guaranteed payment. “Reimbursement is still a driving force,” MD Anderson’s Kenna Shaw said of genomic testing, which costs an average of $5,000 per patient globally. Lilly bought Loxo in January for $8 billion to profit from its targeted drugs in early-stage development. Bayer secured the rights to Loxo’s two leading compounds in a 2017 alliance. Dr. Anthony Sireci, Loxo’s senior medical director, said the company has been working to “democratize” testing in the United States by increasing its use in local pathology labs, where most cancer testing has traditionally been done. The Thermo Fisher agreement will support those goals and expand patients’ access to “high-quality genomic testing,” he said. Bayer has hired diagnostic experts to help its medical and sales staff assess the barriers to genomic testing and ensure that local pathology labs are including the genetic alterations targeted by its drugs when they profile tumors, the company’s oncology strategic business chief Robert LaCaze said in an interview. Bayer also launched a public awareness campaign called “Test Your Cancer” that urges patients to ask their doctors about genomic cancer testing. The company is working with testing providers to ensure test reports are easy to understand. Blueprint, which has six genomically-targeted drugs in development, told Reuters it plans to hire six diagnostics experts to increase awareness of the mutations their drugs target, especially in community medical practices, where 70% of cancers are treated. Bayer sees signs of progress. Based on internal data, the company estimates average sequencing rates across tumors neared 30% last year, and the company saw a two-fold increase in the number of labs offering tests that carry the mutation targeted by Vitrakvi. Bayer has not released sales figures for Vitrakvi. Asked for an update in the most recent earnings call in July, Bayer’s Oelrich said uptake is going “according to plan,” but declined to say how many patients are using the drug. LaCaze said with very rare cancers like the ones Vitrakvi targets, sales growth is “something that will build over time.”
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7474
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Outbreak at German slaughterhouse reveals migrants’ plight.
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Big white trailers adorned with pictures of juicy roasts and the wholesome slogan “Straight from the farmer” sit idle in northwestern Germany, their usual pork hauls disrupted by a coronavirus outbreak at one of the country’s biggest meat processing companies that has put the industry in the spotlight.
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true
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Understanding the Outbreak, International News, General News, Eastern Europe, Health, Business, Germany, Pandemics, Virus Outbreak, Europe, Meat processing
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At least 260 workers at Westfleisch’s slaughterhouse in the city of of Coesfeld have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days, causing alarm at a time when the country is trying to slowly relax the restrictions that were imposed to curb the pandemic. As authorities scrambled to contain the growing outbreak over the weekend, it emerged that many of those infected were Eastern European migrants working for subcontractors who also provide them with accommodation and shuttle buses to work. “If one person is infected then basically everybody else that sits on the bus or lives in the shared houses is infected,” said Anne-Monika Spallek, a Green Party representative in Coesfeld who has campaigned against the meat industry’s practice of outsourcing much of its back-breaking work to migrants working under precarious conditions. Among them is Iulian, a trained carpenter from Bacau in Romania’s poor northeast who previously worked for a German courier company . He recently got a job at Westfleisch that promised several times what he would make back home. The 48-year-old, who declined to give his last name fearing repercussions, said he still must pay his employer rent for a room he shares with a colleague, but he doesn’t know if he will receive pay while he isn’t working. Standing behind a metal fence erected to stop workers from leaving the house they share about a 15-minute drive from Coesfeld, Iulian waited Tuesday for results from a coronavirus test. Residents inside also awaited results from tests taken four days earlier. “Like a jail,” he said of his current situation. “Like a lion in a cage.” Authorities had stopped the men from going to a nearby supermarket but subsequently groceries had been delivered. “Water, food, salami, it’s OK for now,” Iulian said. As for medical care, so far there is none. “If we do have problem, we call,” he said hopefully. Westfleisch declined a request for an interview. But in a statement, the company said it was “deeply affected” by what had happened in recent days. “We are fully aware of our responsibility,” Westfleisch said, adding it now requires workers at facilities that remain open to wear face masks on site, have their temperature taken at the gate and work in clearly separated small groups. The company said it is also trying to impress upon workers “the importance of hygiene and behavior measures in the company and in private settings.” The outbreak has caused consternation in Berlin, where German Chancellor Angela Merkel acknowledged Wednesday the “alarming news” about the situation at Westfleisch. “There are significant shortcomings in accommodation – we have all seen that now – and it has to be seen who is held responsible,” Merkel said. “I can tell you in any case that I am not satisfied with what we have seen there.” The outbreak began shortly before Germany’s federal and state governments agreed to trigger an “emergency brake” on relaxing restrictions when the number of new infections passed 50 per 100,000 inhabitants in a week — a threshold that Coesfeld has far surpassed. Authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia, where Coesfeld is located, have ordered all 20,000 workers in the meat industry tested for the new coronavirus and delayed the reopening of bars and restaurants in the region by another week. Some enraged restaurant owners have threatened to sue for lost earnings, though it is unclear who they would take to court: Westfleisch, the subcontractors, the workers or regional officials now being accused of acting too slowly. Olaf Klenke of the NGG union, which represents workers in the food industry, says the outbreak could be the right moment to clamp down on outsourcing in the meat industry. “The corona crisis simply reveals the situation that exists in this area,” he said. “We often talk about animal welfare in the industry,“but what happens to the people who work there is at least as important.” While the outbreak in Coesfeld has drawn the most attention, there have been smaller clusters of cases at slaughterhouses across the country in recent days. And though there’s been no death yet among abattoir workers, a 57-year-old farm worker from Romania died of COVID-19 in Germany last month. In the United States, which has also seen a spate of infections at meatpacking plants, experts have cited extremely tight working conditions that make factories natural high risk locations for contagion. Klenk blamed a lack of public interest in the issue and price pressure from large supermarket chains for promoting cut-throat competition in the slaughterhouse business. At a market stall in Coesfeld’s town square, a pork cutlet from a pig butchered by hand costs 15.50 euros per kilogram ($7.63 a pound), compared with 3.29 euros per kilogram ($2.32 a pound) for an industrially processed portion of the same cut at a nearby supermarket. Amid mounting pressure to act, Labor Minister Hubertus Heil pledged late Wednesday to “clean up” conditions in German slaughterhouses. “We as a society mustn’t continue to look on as people from Central and Eastern Europe are exploited,” he said, adding that the subcontractors were the “root of the problem.” Spallek, the Green party politician, said the outbreak has prompted sympathy for the migrants among many Germans who had previously taken little notice of the problem. “Everybody wants these miserable conditions to finally end,” she said. “On the other hand the people are really mad at Westfleisch and at the county official for not closing (the factory) sooner.” Spallek voiced fears that a number of workers might develop serious illnesses in the coming days. “I’m convinced that we’ve yet to see the consequences, including in the hospitals,” she said. ___ Kerstin Sopke in Berlin, and Vadim Ghirda in Bucharest, Romania, contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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9211
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Vaccine shows promising results for early-stage breast cancer patients
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This news release covers a randomized trial of 54 women with early-stage breast tumors that studied the safety and efficacy of a vaccine that uses messenger cells in the immune system, called dendritic cells, to target a protein on cancer cells. The study’s main goal was to compare the safety and immune responses using varying routes of vaccination, including a lymph node, a breast tumor, or both. The news release quantifies some benefits and mentions harms, but it doesn’t spell out costs, availability or study limitations, leaving the reader to wonder why these findings are significant. The headline of a “promising” treatment for early stage breast cancer patients isn’t supported by the facts. News releases that don’t spell out study limitations are bound to spawn misleading replications across the internet, particularly when they purport to advance the idea of harnessing the body’s immune system to fight cancer. That’s the case here, where we found numerous online blurbs based on this news release, such as: “Vaccine Shows Promising Results for Early-Stage Breast Cancer Patients: Moffitt Cancer Center is working on a new vaccine that would help early-stage breast cancer patients who have HER2 positive disease.” The bottom line: there’s no evidence that this procedure produces a long-term benefit such as reduced mortality. All but one patient who responded to this treatment had been diagnosed with a noninvasive condition called ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), which poses a very low risk of death from breast cancer. Further, this study was designed mainly to compare various paths of vaccination, not to determine the broader question of whether the treatment actually saves lives.
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false
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DCIS,Ductal Carcinoma In Situ,Moffitt Cancer Center,vaccine
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There’s no mention of how much this treatment costs. The news release states that “approximately 80% of evaluable patients had a detectable immune response in their peripheral blood and/or in their sentinel lymph node wherein their cancer is most likely to spread to first.” It also states that 13 patients achieved an absence of disease after treatment, though it doesn’t give a percentage, and that patients who had early non-invasive disease called ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) achieved a higher rate of disease absence than patients who had early-stage invasive disease. Further, it says those patients who saw absence of disease had a higher immune response in their lymph nodes, which, says a researcher, “may serve as a more meaningful immunological endpoint.” The news release states that immune responses were similar regardless of whether the vaccine was administered into a lymph node, a breast tumor, or both, though it doesn’t explain why this is an important finding. The news release states that the vaccines were “well-tolerated and patients only experienced low-grade toxicities. The most common adverse events were fatigue, injection site reactions, and chills.” The release would have been better if it had told us how often these side effects occurred in the patient volunteers. This news release doesn’t point out study limitations, such as the fact the 80 percent immunological response rate did not necessarily translate to an elimination of cancer. While 12 of the patients with DCIS saw their disease go away, 30 experienced no such benefit. Moreover, the news release does not caution that the study was not designed to study whether or not the vaccine therapy is an effective long-term treatment for patients with DCIS or early invasive breast cancer. It was primarily designed to determine if the Her2 vaccine is safe, which method of injection generated a better immune response, and to evaluate the relationship between immune response and clinical response. There’s no evidence that this procedure produces a long-term benefit such as reduced mortality. Most of the patients who showed a response to this treatment had been diagnosed with a noninvasive condition called ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), which poses a very low risk of death from breast cancer. According to the National Institutes of Health, “treating these lesions may help prevent a recurrence in the breast but does not appear to decrease the already-low risk of dying from the disease, even after 20 years of follow-up.” The news release implies that DCIS is breast cancer, but that’s a controversial assertion. We cover this more in the section on Unjustifiable Language. The study states the funding sources of the study. According to the paper, the researchers reported no conflicts of interest. This was a close call. The study was not looking at using the vaccine as an alternative to standard therapy; the research is too preliminary for that so we don’t fault the release for its lack of a comparison with surgery/radiation. However, we’re rating this Not Satisfactory for not noting that an alternative for early-stage cancers is no treatment or “watchful waiting.” There’s no information on where to get this treatment, whether it’s widely available, and if not yet available when it might be approved as a treatment for breast cancer. The news release acknowledges that this treatment is not a unique approach when it states: “Many therapeutic strategies aim to re-stimulate the immune system to recognize cancer cells and target them for destruction.” According to the study paper, its main goals were to compare the safety and efficacy of using various vaccination sites and explore relationships between immune and clinical responses. The lead says the vaccine targets “early-stage breast cancer” but calling the abnormal cells present with DCIS “breast cancer” is misleading. They’re abnormal cells that line the milk ducts of the breast, with the potential to advance to an invasive cancer but they have not spread outside the breast. Also, the news release states that patients “only” experienced low-grade toxicities. We don’t like the word “only” because it downplays adverse effects that could be significant for patients who experience them. Finally, we take issue with the headline, “Vaccine Shows Promising Results for Early-Stage Breast Cancer Patients.” With less than a third of patients seeing a tangible result in their tumors and no data on long-term outcomes versus a control group, there’s no way to justify the description “promising.”
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7156
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Updated deer regulations aim to halt chronic wasting disease.
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Hunters are prohibited from bringing whole carcasses of deer, elk, moose or caribou into New York state under new regulations aimed at stopping the spread of chronic wasting disease.
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true
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Environment, New York, General News, Deer, Moose
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State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos says chronic wasting disease hasn’t spread to New York yet and regulatory changes that took effect this week are aimed at keeping the disease out of the state. Under the regulations, hunters can bring only certain parts of deer and related species into the state. That includes deboned meat, cleaned skull caps, antlers with no flesh, hides, cleaned jaw and finished taxidermy products. DEC officers will be monitoring roadways along state borders and will confiscate and destroy whole carcasses illegally imported.
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22597
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Tom DeLay Says Travis County, home to Austin, is the most liberal county in the United States.
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Tom DeLay calls Travis County, home to Austin, the most liberal county in the land
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false
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Polls and Public Opinion, Texas, Tom DeLay,
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"Questioning his Travis County conviction for laundering corporate money to help GOP Texas House candidates, Tom DeLay reminded NBC-TV’s ""Today"" show Jan. 13 that his trial took place on Republican-unfriendly turf. Asked by NBC’s Matt Lauer about the jury’s motivation, DeLay replied: ""Well, first of all, I was tried in the most liberal county in the state of Texas, indeed in the United States."" No question, Travis County, where Democratic candidates thrive, where Ann Richards bloomed, where Barack Obama has been welcomed by roaring crowds, is a liberal haven. But most liberal in the land? Seeking back-up information, we reached DeLay’s daughter, Dani DeLay Garcia, who sometimes serves as his spokeswoman. Garcia said by e-mail that the county’s liberal pre-eminence is a fact reported many times. Indeed, a Nexis search delivered numerous articles linking Travis County"" and ""most liberal,"" including about 50 stories mentioning DeLay. A closer look showed Travis County routinely described as the state’s most liberal county, but we didn’t spot anyone but DeLay calling it the most liberal in the nation. Typical: A Nov. 25 news report by The Associated Press on DeLay’s conviction: ""DeLay had unsuccessfully tried to get the trial moved out of Austin, the most liberal city in one of the most Republican states."" A February 2005 column by the since-deceased conservative commentator Robert Novak refers to then-Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle as an ""intense partisan Democrat who is routinely re-elected in Texas's most liberal county."" Likewise, a June 2005 article in Congressional Quarterly Weekly quotes Steve Bickerstaff, adjunct professor in the University of Texas School of Law, calling Earle ""part of the Democratic mainstream of this county, which is more liberal than elsewhere in the state."" We found one instance of a commentator airing doubts about the county’s liberal-ness compared to others nationally. On MSNBC Jan. 13, actor-comedian Sam Seder, a guest host on its left-leaning and now-defunct ""Countdown"" program, said: ""Travis County, where Austin is located, is bluer than most of the state; 64 percent of the residents voted"" for Obama for president ""in 2008. But calling it the most liberal county in the country might be just a stretch."" In a similar vein, we learned that FactCheck.org, a respected fact-checking unit at the University of Pennsylvania, recently weighed DeLay’s characterization. In a Jan. 14 post headlined ""DeLay’s Spin Cycle,"" the group noted that greater shares of voters voted for Obama in more than a dozen Texas counties, including Hidalgo (69 percent for Obama), Webb (72 percent), Presidio (71 percent), Zavala (84 percent) and Jim Hogg (74 percent). Nationally, FactCheck.org said, a greater share of voters in many other counties cast ballots for Obama. Next, we noticed a August 2005 study rating the nation’s most liberal and conservative cities based on results of the 2004 presidential election. Detroit was the most liberal, followed by Gary, Indiana, and Berkeley, California, according to the study by the California-based Bay Area Center for Voting Research. Austin ranked as the 93rd-most liberal city. Dallas, the study said, was more liberal, placing 32nd nationally. A Google search brought us to an April 2010 post by The Daily Caller, a conservative Washington-based website that touts its reporting and commentary. The site designated the nation’s 100 counties deemed most friendly to liberals based on factors including the share of votes carried by Democrats John Kerry and Obama, respectively, in 2004 and 2008; percentages of adults with a bachelor’s degree or more as well as in management/professional jobs; the status of same-sex partnerships; strictness of smoking bans; and the number of local Whole Foods stores, referring to the natural-foods’ grocery chain headquartered in Austin. The No. 1 most liberal-friendly county, the Caller said, is California’s San Francisco County; followed by Montgomery County, Md., a suburb of the nation’s capital; Northern California’s Marin County; Colorado’s Boulder County; and New York County, where Obama carried 85 percent of the 2008 vote. Travis County was the 57th most liberal-friendly county. We wondered how Obama fared in the Caller’s 20 most liberal-friendly counties. According to 2008 results posted online by the New York Times, he won greater shares of the vote (ranging from 70 to 90 percent) in 18 counties than he did in Travis County. Finally, we talked to Dick DeGuerin, DeLay’s lawyer, who shared part of an August 2010 poll of Travis County voters by GOP pollster Mike Baselice. According to the results, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points, about one-third identified themselves as liberals and the same portion identified themselves as conservatives. Also, some 60 percent of the 400 respondents had a positive impression of Barack Obama, compared to 35 percent for George W. Bush and 16 percent for DeLay. We wondered how Travis County’s voters compared ideologically to voters in San Francisco County. Benjamin Meyers, a research associate at David Binder Research in San Francisco, shared part of a November poll in the county, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. Of 500 respondents, 60 percent said they were registered Democrats, 10 percent said they were registered Republicans and others declined to say or indicated affiliation with another party. Fifty percent of the voters identified themselves as progressive or liberal, 25 percent said they were moderate and 14 percent said they were conservative. Travis County, liberal? Certainly, especially by Texas standards. Most liberal in the country? Not by a long shot. The statement is more than wrong -- it’s ridiculous. !"
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36753
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A message circulating across social media, discussion forums and forwarded emails warns that while Americans were distracted by “Russian Spy Drama,” bills have been introduced to abolish the EPA, the Department of Education and public education, repeal the Affordable Care Act, criminalize abortion, and mobilize against sanctuary cities.
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Heads Up: Bills Introduced While Americans Were Distracted by 'Russian Spy Drama'
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mixture
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Government, Politics
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This warning about legislation introduced during the 115th Congress while most most Americans were “too sidetracked by the Russian spy drama” or accusations that President Obama wire tapped Trump Tower are a combination of truth and fiction. It’s not clear where the warning originated, but it had been widely circulated by early March 2017. The message warned about specific pieces of legislation that had been introduced during the first 60 days of President Trump’s presidency: H.R. 610, establishing vouchers for public education; H.R. 899, terminating the Department of Education; H.J.R. 69 to repeal wildlife protections; H.R. 370 to repeal the Affordable Care Act; H.R. 354 to defund Planned Parenthood; H.R. 785, ending the right to unionize; H.R. 83, mobilizing against Sanctuary Cities; H.R. 147, criminalizing abortion; and H.R. 808, establishing new sanctions against Iran. We’ll take a look at each of these claims. H.R. 610: Establishing Vouchers for Public Education-Mostly Truth! We previously investigated rumors that H.R. 610 would establish a voucher system for public education — allegedly destroying public education — and found them to be a combination of truth and fiction. The legislation, H.R. 610, is real. The bill was introduced by GOP Congressman Steve King of Iowa, and it would change the way the federal government funds public education. Under the bill, the Department of Education would only be authorized to administer federal education funding in block grants to states. A portion of those funds would have to be set aside for vouchers for parents who elect to “opt out” of public education and have their children attend a private or charter school instead. It appears the bill would have a minimal impact on better performing public schools in more affluent areas. However, the bill would seemingly have a major impact on “Title I” schools in low-income areas where students would be more likely to opt out of public education with vouchers. Click here for our full report on H.R. 610. H.R. 899: Terminating the Department of Education It’s true that GOP Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky introduced H.R. 899, the purpose of which is “to terminate the Department of Education,” in February 2017. The bill contains only one sentence: “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2018.” After introducing the bill, Massie’s office released a press release to explain his position: On the day of Betsy DeVos’ scheduled Senate confirmation for Secretary of Education, Massie said, “Neither Congress nor the President, through his appointees, has the constitutional authority to dictate how and what our children must learn.” Massie added, “Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. should not be in charge of our children’s intellectual and moral development. States and local communities are best positioned to shape curricula that meet the needs of their students. Schools should be accountable. Parents have the right to choose the most appropriate educational opportunity for their children, including home school, public school, or private school.” So, claims that H.R. 899 would terminate the Department of Education are true. H.J.R. 69: Repealing Wildlife Protections It’s true that GOP Congressman Don Young of Alaska introduced H.J.Res. 69, which could lead to Department of Interior wildlife protections for wildlife refuges in Alaska being repealed. The bill expresses congressional disapproval of a rule the Department of Interior printed in the Federal Register in August 2016. The rule was titled, “Non-Subsistence Take of Wildlife, and Public Participation and Closure Procedures, on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska.” Official language from the rule in question reads: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service or FWS), are amending regulations for National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) in Alaska that govern predator control and public participation and closure procedures. The amendments to the regulations are designed to clarify how our existing mandates for the conservation of natural and biological diversity, biological integrity, and environmental health on refuges in Alaska relate to predator control; prohibit several particularly effective methods and means for take of predators; and update our public participation and closure procedures. This rule does not change Federal subsistence regulations or restrict the taking of fish or wildlife for subsistence uses under Federal subsistence regulations. The Congressional Review Act of 1996 enables Congress to pass a “resolution of disapproval” to overturn federal rules and regulations they deem unfavorable. The Hill explains the process: The CRA created a period of 60 “session days” (days in which Congress is in session) during which Congress could use expedited procedures to overturn a regulation. During this period, Congress could pass a resolution of disapproval, and this resolution was not subject to the procedural requirements in the Senate that made a filibuster possible. However, in order to meet the requirements of the Supreme Court decision, the president could still veto the resolution. So, we’re calling this one “mostly truth” because while the bill would enable the overturning of specific wildlife protections in Alaska, the general claim that H.J.R. 69 is “repealing wildlife protections” is overly broad. H.R. 370: Repealing the Affordable Care Act GOP Congressman Bill Flores of Texas introduced H.R. 370 in January 2017 to repeal the Affordable Care Act and healthcare provisions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 effective January 1, 2020. However, at the time H.R. 370 was introduced, Republican plans to repeal Obamacare were in flux. Members of the conservative Republican Study Committee have been debating their preferred path to repeal and replace Obamacare, and no clear path has yet emerged. In February, Flores said those who received coverage under Obamacare would not have to worry about losing coverage, Modern Healthcare reports: Taking aim at Democratic lawmakers who have said that Republicans will repeal the ACA with no set replacement plan, Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), argued, “That’s absolutely false. We have a plan.” Roe said he’s “willing to listen to Democrat ideas about this, to amendments to this bill, as opposed to what they did, which is completely shut the other side out.” However, when asked whether the committee aims to repeal and replace the ACA simultaneously, Rep. Walker said the committee doesn’t yet “have the full timeline as far as replacement.” Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas) said those who have gained coverage under the ACA could rest assured they would be safe during a transition. Since that time, House Republican leaders have put forth another “secret” Obamacare repeal and replacement plan that had not been made public at the time of publishing. It’s not clear that Flores’ H.R. 370 factors into it, or if the bill was introduced as a symbolic gesture. Even so, we’re calling this one “truth” since the bill was introduced and would repeal Obamacare. H.R. 354: Defunding Planned Parenthood GOP Congresswoman Diane Black of Tennessee introduced the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, H.R. 354, on January 6, 2017. However, the bill wouldn’t “cleanly” defund Planned Parenthood. It would establishes a one-year window in which all federal funding to Planned Parenthood clinics would be cut off unless providers demonstrate they’re not providing abortions: This bill prohibits, for a one-year period, the availability of federal funds for any purpose to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., or any of its affiliates or clinics, unless they certify that the affiliates and clinics will not perform, and will not provide any funds to any other entity that performs, an abortion during such period. This restriction does not apply in cases of rape or incest or where a physical condition endangers a woman’s life unless an abortion is performed. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture must seek repayment of federal assistance received by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., or any affiliate or clinic, if it violates the terms of the certification required by this bill. Given that the bill would temporarily defund Planned Parenthood if certain conditions weren’t met, we’re calling this truth and fiction. H.R. 785: Ending the Right to Unionize GOP Congressman Steve King of Iowa and Joe Wilson of Iowa reintroduced the National Right To Work Act, H.R. 785, in the 115th Congress — but the bill technically doesn’t end the right of workers to unionize. Rather, the bill would strip unions of the right to automatically deduct union dues from workers’ paychecks. The practice of “forced dues” would end under the bill, enabling unionized workers to “opt out” from paying union dues. Critics of the bill argue that it would weaken or effectively end unions — but the bill would not end the right of workers to unionize. H.R. 83: Mobilizing Against Sanctuary Cities GOP Congressman Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania introduced the Mobilizing Against Sanctuary Cities Act, H.R. 83, in January 2017. A summary of the bill states: This bill prohibits a state or local government from receiving federal financial assistance for a minimum of one year if it restricts or prohibits a government entity or official from: (1) sending to or receiving from the responsible federal immigration agency information regarding an individual’s citizenship or immigration status, or (2) maintaining or exchanging information about an individual’s status. The bill restores assistance eligibility upon a Department of Justice (DOJ) determination that the jurisdiction no longer restricts or prohibits such actions. So it’s true that H.R. 83 would take steps to punish Sanctuary Cities that don’t enforce federal immigration laws by withholding federal funds. H.R. 147: Criminalizing Abortion GOP Congressman Trent Franks of Arizona introduced the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act, H.R. 147, to criminalize abortion in certain circumstances — but the claim that the bill would “criminalize abortions” is overly broad. Specifically, the bill would establish criminal penalties for doctors who provide abortions based on the sex or race of a baby. Doctors found guilty of sex- or race-based abortions could face up to five years in prison and fines, the bill’s summary states: This bill imposes criminal penalties on anyone who knowingly or knowingly attempts to: (1) perform an abortion knowing that the abortion is sought based on the sex, gender, color or race of the child, or the race of a parent; (2) use force or the threat of force to intentionally injure or intimidate any person for the purpose of coercing a sex-selection or race-selection abortion; (3) solicit or accept funds for the performance of such an abortion; or (4) transport a woman into the United States or across a state line for the purpose of obtaining such an abortion. The bill would also authorize certain family members to sue doctors who are found to have committed abortions because of the sex or race of a baby. We’re calling this one truth and fiction because it would criminalize abortions under certain circumstances, but not all abortions. H.R. 808: Establishing New Sanctions Against Iran GOP Congressman Peter Roskam of Illinois introduced the Iran Nonnuclear Sanctions Act, H.R. 808, on February 1, 2017, to establish new sanctions against Iran for supporting terrorism, human rights abuses, and its ballistic missile program. The bill would take a series of specific steps to punish Iran following a nuclear agreement reached between the U.S. and Iran under the Obama administration that provided sanctions relief in exchange for Iran halting its nuclear program: • Impose new sanctions against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Mahan Air, an Iranian airline that has helped the IRGC to spread terrorism and militancy; • Create a new Treasury Department watchlist for entities in which the IRGC has an ownership interest of less than 25 percent; • Expand current sanctions and imposes new sanctions against Iran for its egregious human rights abuses, while also mandating full transparency to Congress on all American citizens detained or kidnapped by Iran and U.S. government efforts to free them; • Impose new sanctions against persons that knowingly aid Iran’s ballistic missile program; • Mandate new sanctions against entities owned 25 percent or greater or controlled by Iran’s key ballistic missile organizations, including the Aerospace Industries Organization, the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, or the Shahid Bakeri Industrial Group; • Require a presidential certification that persons listed in U.N. Security Council Resolutions are not engaged in activities related to ballistic missiles and requires the imposition of sanctions if that certification cannot be made; • Impose sanctions on persons involved in sectors of Iran’s economy that support, directly or indirectly, Iran’s ballistic program; and • Codify current prohibitions against Iran’s direct and indirect access to the U.S. financial system, while also streamlining and strengthening the requirements for the president to remove Iran or any other country from the state sponsors of terrorism list. Given all that, we’re calling claims about H.R. 808 establishing new sanctions against Iran “true.”
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14541
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When Republican extremists tried to take away abortion rights … Blake Rocap stopped them.
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"Rocap said in a voter mailer: ""When Republican extremists tried to take away abortion rights… Blake Rocap stopped them."" Rocap ranks among Texas ""pro-choice"" advocates who battled and sometimes derailed Republican moves pitched as reducing the prevalence of abortion. But Republicans also ultimately passed multiple restrictions into law; no one stopped that."
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false
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Abortion, Candidate Biography, Texas, Blake Rocap,
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"A Democratic aspirant for the Texas House seat to be relinquished by Elliott Naishtat of Austin presents himself as so much of a legislative pro, he stopped extremists from taking abortion rights. A Blake Rocap mailer presents this message: ""When Republican extremists tried to take away abortion rights … Blake Rocap stopped them."" On the flip side, the mailer says Rocap has 10 years of experience protecting abortion rights with key groups and ""stood up to Republicans… and won,"" even proving the architect of state Sen. Wendy Davis’s 2013 filibuster ending a legislative session without abortion legislation advancing into law. Let’s be clear: Texas hasn’t outlawed abortion, which would surely run afoul of the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that established a woman's constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. But Texas Republicans have made an abortion harder to get. From 2009 through 2013, measures passed into law barring state aid to Planned Parenthood programs connected to abortion providers; requiring physicians to take sonograms before abortions; barring third-trimester abortions; requiring physicians who provide abortions to have admission privileges at nearby hospitals; and mandating clinics that provide abortions to meet hospital-like surgical standards; that law awaits Supreme Court review. Also, the ""pro-choice"" filibuster by Davis in 2013 was arguably nulled after the Republican governor, Rick Perry, called another session during which the Republican majority passed the Davis-opposed restrictions into law. Rocap’s backup So we asked Rocap, an Austin lawyer, about the basis of his claim to have stopped Republicans. By phone and email, he said he was referring to his work since 2009 as an advocate and strategist, first for NARAL Pro-Choice Texas and later for the ACLU of Texas. Each group, Rocap said, hired him to stop such legislation -- and he did. Rocap said: -- In 2011, House Bill 2555 ""would have drastically changed the process for minors to access an abortion and removed the option of a judicial bypass. As a volunteer attorney who represents abused teens I had intimate knowledge of the real-life situations that some teens encounter. I also am an expert in the statutory provisions and their history and was able to educate the members and their staff how the current law came to be, the several different provisions which would have remained un-amended in the bill that presented a constitutional problem and the real world problem for teens in Texas. The bill was not voted out of committee and was stopped."" Legislative records show HB 2555 didn’t advance. The witness list for an April 2011 hearing on the proposal lists Rocap, for NARAL, as the person testifying against approval. Then again, Joe Pojman of the Texas Alliance for Life, an anti-abortion group, was among individuals registering in opposition. By email, Pojman told us the alliance opposed a provision in the legislation repealing written parental consent for minors to receive abortions. Pojman opined: ""I do not think Blake had any effect at all on killing that bill. At least I was not aware that he had any effect."" --In 2013, Rocap said, HB 997 would have banned abortion from being covered by insurance policies. ""I testified against the bill and had specific conversations with members who told me that my testimony was impressive and would likely keep the bill from passing. The bill did not pass. A bill attempting to ban abortion coverage in insurance has been filed every session since 2011. I have through various efforts tried to stop them as part of my work, none have passed."" Legislative records show HB 997 cleared a House panel but didn’t make it to the full House. The witness list for a March 2013 hearing lists Rocap, for NARAL, among four people to testify against the proposal; two people registered in opposition. --In 2013, HB 2308 ""would have imposed difficult reporting requirements on physicians and imposed penalties,"" Rocap said. ""I testified against the bill and tried to work with the bill’s author to reach an acceptable compromise. When we could not reach a compromise, I alerted the committee members and chair and the bill was not voted out. Our coalition of pro-choice lobbyists assigned me to work on this bill, I did, and the bill was stopped."" The proposal died in a House committee, records show. A witness list lists Rocap, for NARAL, as the sole person to testify against approval; 25 others registered in opposition. The proposal’s author, Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, told us in a statement emailed by his office that he blamed Rep. Byron Cook, R-Corsicana, chairman of the House State Affairs Committee, for the measure not advancing. Cook didn’t respond to a request for an interview. Rocap stood by his characterization of what happened. Generally, Rocap told us, he ""worked on stopping every abortion bill since 2009 (four regular legislative sessions and their special sessions)"" or ""approximately 130 bills or proposed constitutional amendments"" from 2009 through 2013 by writing amendments and questions and points of order to help House Democrats slow and stop measures. Those stops included, Rocap said, Senate Bill 182, a 2009 proposal to require that a pregnant woman undergo an obstetric ultrasound before obtaining an abortion. The legislation cleared the Senate and a House panel, records show, but wasn’t voted on in the full House. But such a mandate passed into law in 2011. HB 15 held that in most cases a sonogram be performed on the pregnant woman at least 24 hours before the abortion. Rocap commented by email: ""I think you’ll agree that this doesn’t mean the effort in 2009 did not stop the bill. If OU beats Texas this coming fall, it doesn’t mean Texas didn’t win last year. That success in 2009 meant greater access to abortion for Texans for the approximately two-year time period before the bill that passed in 2011 eventually went into effect."" Rocap said that in 2011 he stopped HB 2828, offered as an effort to ensure ""that the pregnant woman's choice to have or seek an abortion is not the result of coercion or force,"" by working within the rules of the agenda-setting House Calendars Committee so it didn’t reach the floor in time to pass. Legislative records show the proposal was sent to the panel April 19, 2011 and members placed it on the House calendar weeks later, on May 9, 2011. And in 2013, Rocap said, he made sure the Texas Senate lacked sufficient votes to advance any of four anti-abortion proposals ultimately killed, for that session, by the Davis filibuster. (Davis did not reply to our emailed inquiry about Rocap’s role.) Asked to elaborate on what he did, Rocap said: ""Those bills needed 2/3rds of the Senate to agree to bring them up. Part of my work involved making sure these bills did not get the necessary votes to proceed, by pursuing a number of tactics and strategies, generally known as lobbying, including confidential conversations, which I and others believe directly contributed to the failure of the bills."" He agreed the same proposals subsequently made it into law. ""I don’t believe that just because we eventually lost on one set of bills, that means all other successes and efforts are not significant, or did not happen,"" Rocap wrote. By email, Rocap further noted a May 2013 House resolution stating he was stepping down as NARAL’s Texas legislative counsel, ""drawing to a close five years of steadfast service in defense of the reproductive rights of Texas women."" Other ‘pro-choice’ voices Rocap suggested we confirm his claim by contacting Heather Busby, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, plus a Democratic House member, Jessica Farrar of Houston, among authorities. To our inquiries, both described Rocap as pivotal to slowing Republican pushes for abortion restrictions. By email, Busby called Rocap’s claim factual, writing: ""Blake was our legislative counsel over a number of sessions and his work behind the scenes was instrumental in stopping bad legislation from passing. He was probably the sole reason anti-choice bills that were introduced during the regular session in 2013 never moved, and that is just one example. He was instrumental in devising the strategy that made Sen. Davis' filibuster possible."" We requested more detail from Busby, who noted by phone that lobbying entails meetings that aren’t public; there aren’t ""minutes"" to pass along, she said. Asked if Rocap singlehandedly stopped Republicans on abortion, Busby replied: ""If you want to explain how lobbying works, if you want to give full context, obviously there are many factors. But he was an instrumental factor."" By phone, Farrar, a House member since 1995, said that among Democrats who defend against Republican-sought abortion restrictions, Rocap was ""essential"" and ""our go-to guy"" for devising legislative strategy and developing bill-stopping points of order, lining up witnesses--and knowing who to call in state agencies. She said she even remembered calling him even when he lived overseas. We followed up with Rocap, who told us by email that he accompanied his wife to an assignment abroad from mid-2013 through 2015. In that time, he said, the ACLU of Texas still hired him as its legislative strategist on abortion rights and reproductive health. By email, a spokeswoman for the Houston-based group, Anna Núñez, confirmed the described hiring. Farrar said: ""He just knows a lot about it,"" adding that it’s fair to say Rocap had stopped measures. ""I don’t know that we could have gotten as far as we did on many of those issues if he wasn’t there."" Farrar also acknowledged that Republicans had succeeded in passing abortion restrictions in recent years. ""Every session,"" she said, ""they file their whole litany of stuff and get something out of it."" Other ‘pro-life’ voices By email, Pojman and Melissa Conway, of Texas Right to Life, which calls itself the largest ""pro-life"" group in Texas, each expressed skepticism about Rocap’s claim. Pojman said that since 2011, NARAL Pro-Choice Texas ""has been spectacularly unsuccessful at stopping pro-life bills."" He included a list of proposals passed into law. Conway separately said ""moderate GOP leadership like"" Cook ""were the ones who stopped life-saving legislation from reaching the House floor where pro-life measures would have passed overwhelmingly."" Conversely, Kyleen Wright, president of the Arlington-based Texans for Life Coalition, credited Cook with helping Republicans advance most of what advocates sought. She singled out changes including the sonogram law, the de-funding of clinics connected to Planned Parenthood and the toughened standards for abortion clinics approved in 2013. Rocap, she wrote, ""was not successful in stopping any of this legislation."" Rocap: Criticisms no surprise We shared such analyses with Rocap, who commented by email: ""Anti-choice lobbyists attacking the successes of the pro-choice movement, despite our minority status in the legislature in Texas, is nothing new."" He added that the criticism ""speaks to my experience and effectiveness that extremists view me as a threat."" Our ruling Rocap said in a voter mailer: ""When Republican extremists tried to take away abortion rights… Blake Rocap stopped them."" Rocap ranks among Texas ""pro-choice"" advocates who battled and sometimes derailed Republican moves pitched as reducing the prevalence of abortion. But Republicans also ultimately passed multiple restrictions into law; no one stopped that. The statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression."
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33760
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"During a 1955 speech at West Point, General Douglas MacArthur told assembled cadets: ""The next war will be an interplanetary war. The nations of the earth must someday make a common front against attack by people from other planets."
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So, General Douglas MacArthur did suggest the notion of an eventual interplanetary war on at least a couple of occasions; one of them was in 1955, and one of them was during a speech at West Point. But he never stated it would be the “next war” fought on (or by) Earth, or that it was likely to happen in any timeframe outside of the very distant future.
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false
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Questionable Quotes
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This item is a difficult one to classify: It’s literally false as worded, because the person named didn’t speak the specific words attributed to him at the time and place claimed (or at any other time and place). However, by combining things the same person said at different times and places, one could come up with a reasonable approximation of the original statement. The subject here is a quote attributed to a 1955 West Point address by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, in which the famous military man supposedly mused about the next war being an interplanetary one. That alleged quote has since been cited in a variety of works and web sites related to UFOs and extraterrestrials and still surfaces in newspapers and other publications from time to time: In October 1955 General Douglas MacArthur told the cadets of West Point: ‘The next war will be an interplanetary war. The nations of the earth must someday make a common front against attack by people from other planets.’ The cadets must have wondered which planet MacArthur himself was from, but his fears were no more far-fetched than the current government-fed paranoia that millions of us are about to be murdered in our beds by Islamofascist superbiotoxins kept at 45 minutes’ readiness in a bedsit in Tipton and activated by psychotic double-amputees. However, General MacArthur did not deliver a speech at West Point that year, nor is there any record of his specifically stating an opinion that the “next war” would be an “interplanetary” one. The confusion started with comments reportedly made by MacArthur when he was paid a private visit at his residence in New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel by the Mayor of Naples, Achille Lauro, in October 1955. The following day Mayor Lauro relayed the gist of their 45-minute conversation to the press, maintaining MacArthur had expressed a belief that someday (perhaps as far as 1,000 years in the future) the people of Earth might find themselves facing an extraterrestrial confrontation: General MacArthur described himself as “a confirmed optimist” regarding the possibility of another world war, Mayor Lauro said. “He thinks that another war would be double suicide and that there is enough sense on both sides of the Iron Curtain to avoid it,” the Mayor went on. “He believes that because of the developments of science all the countries on earth will have to unite to survive and to make a common front against attack by people from other planets.” The politics of the future will be cosmic, or interplanetary, in General MacArthur’s opinion, the Mayor continued. He quoted the military leader as saying that a thousand years from now today’s civilization would appear as obsolete as the stone age. According to Lauro, the only comments MacArthur made about the next war were that he had no idea what form it would take: “He quoted Einstein’s reply when asked what weapons would be used in a third world war — that he did not know what weapons would be used in a third world war but that a fourth global conflict would be fought with sticks and stones.” Some newspapers (such as the Chicago Tribune) played up the sensational aspects of Mayor Lauro’s remarks, reproducing only a brief portion of them under headlines such as “MacARTHUR FEARS SPACE WAR.” Several years later, on 12 May 1962, MacArthur delivered a speech (commonly known as the “Duty, honor, country” speech) to the cadets of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on the occasion of his receiving the Sylvanus Thayer Award, during which he once again alluded to the possibility that mankind might someday face an extraterrestrial foe: We deal now, not with things of this world alone, but with the illimitable distances and as yet unfathomed mysteries of the universe. We are reaching out for a new and boundless frontier. We speak in strange terms of harnessing the cosmic energy, of making winds and tides work for us, of creating unheard of synthetic materials to supplement or even replace our old standard basics; to purify sea water for our drink; of mining ocean floors for new fields of wealth and food; of disease preventatives to expand life into the hundred of years; of controlling the weather for a more equitable distribution of heat and cold, of rain and shine; of spaceships to the moon; of the primary target in war, no longer limited to the armed forces of an enemy, but instead to include his civil populations; of ultimate conflict between a united human race and the sinister forces of some other planetary galaxy; of such dreams and fantasies as to make life the most exciting of all times.
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3204
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English Channel dolphins carry ‘toxic cocktail’ of chemicals.
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Bottlenose dolphins in the English Channel harbor a “toxic cocktail” of chemicals, some of which have been banned for decades and which may be harming the rare marine mammals’ health, scientists said Thursday.
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true
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Cocktails, English Channel, International News, General News, Environment, Health, Science, Europe, Harbors, Dolphins
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Belgian and French scientists said they’ve detected high accumulations of industrial fluids and mercury in the blubber and skin of dolphins in the Normanno-Breton Gulf, off the northwest coast of France. Writing in the journal Scientific Reports, the researchers said they measured levels of pollutants similar to those found in dolphins in the Mediterranean Sea, around Florida’s Everglades, off the coast of the Guianas and in Guanabara Bay in Brazil. Many of the chemicals, including so-called PCBs, have been banned since the 1970s and 1980s but persist in the environment, where they can pass through the food chain. Because the compounds are able to dissolve in oils, they accumulate in fatty tissue. In marine mammals, mothers can pass the chemicals to their calves during pregnancy and lactation. “We suspect that elevated concentrations of PCBs can alter the reproduction of marine mammals, leading to a decrease of the number of newborns, affecting the renewal of the population,” said Krishna Das, an associate professor at the University of Liege, Belgium. PCBs, which were once popular as lubricants and hydraulic fluids, can disrupt hormone receptors and affect the immune system, said Das, who co-authored the study. Frank Mattig, an ornithologist at the University of Oldenburg, Germany, who wasn’t involved in the study, said the findings echo what scientists have discovered in other marine species. Mattig, who studies the impact of PCBs and mercury on sea birds, said top predators such as dolphins and whales are particularly likely to accumulate high levels of toxins. It’s unclear what levels of the chemicals are harmful, but other studies show they pose a health risk in high concentrations, he said. “There’s good reason why they’re banned,” he noted. The researchers called for greater efforts to eliminate the dangerous chemicals, including safe disposal of stocks and equipment, reducing leakage from landfills and limiting the dredging of PCB-laden rivers and estuaries.
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2533
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Mars had the right stuff for life, scientists find.
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Seven months after NASA’s rover Curiosity landed on Mars to assess if the planet most like Earth had the ingredients for life, scientists have their answer: Yes.
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true
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Science News
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Analysis of powdered samples drilled out from inside an ancient and once water-soaked rock at the rover’s Gale Crater landing site show clays, sulfates and other minerals that are all key to life, scientists told reporters at NASA headquarters in Washington and on a conference call on Tuesday. The water that once flowed through the area, known as Yellowknife Bay, was likely drinkable, said Curiosity’s lead scientist John Grotzinger, who is with the California Institute of Technology. The analysis stopped short of a confirmation of organics, which are key to most Earth-like life. But with 17 months left in the rover’s primary mission, scientists said they expect to delve further into that question. Science operations currently are suspended because of a computer glitch, which is expected to be resolved this week. Whether or not Mars has or ever had life, it should have at one time at least had organic compounds delivered to its surface by organic-rich comets and asteroids. Finding places where the organics could have been preserved, however, is a much trickier prospect than finding the environmental niches and chemistry needed to support life, scientists said. In May, following a one-month interruption of radio communications caused by the positions of Earth and Mars, scientists plan to drill a second hole into the Gale Crater rock to look for organic compounds. “If there was organic material there, it could have been preserved,” said David Blake, principal investigator for Curiosity’s Chemistry and Mineralogy, or CheMin, experiment. A lack of organics, however, would not rule out the Yellowknife Bay site as suitable for life, scientists added. “You don’t have to have carbon present in a geological environment that’s habitable in order to have microbial metabolism occur,” Grotzinger said. Some micro-organisms on Earth, for example, can feed on inorganic compounds, such as what are found inside rocks. “There does need to be a source of carbon somewhere, but if it’s just CO2 (carbon dioxide), you can have chemoautotrophic organisms that literally feed on rocks and they will metabolize and generate organic compounds based on that carbon,” Grotzinger said. Analysis shows the Gale Crater rock contains carbon dioxide, in addition to hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulfur and nitrogen. Carbon dioxide provides a key ingredient in the building blocks for life, all of which have now been found in the Mars rock sample, Grotzinger said. The $2.5 billion, nuclear-powered Curiosity rover landed inside the giant Gale Crater impact basin, located near the Martian equator, on August 6 for a two-year mission. Scientists were drawn to the area because of a three-mile (5-km) mountain of sediment, called Mount Sharp, rising from the crater floor. But shortly after the rover’s landing, the team decided to first explore the Yellowknife Bay area, located in the opposite direction from Mount Sharp. Observations from Mars orbiters showed three different types of terrain coming together in Yellowknife Bay, plus a low elevation, all hints that water could have once flowed and pooled on the surface. That hunch was verified with the first chemical analysis of material drilled out from inside what appears to be a slab of bedrock, named John Klein, after a mission manager who died in 2011. Scientists don’t know the rock’s age, nor how it formed. They suspect, however, that the John Klein rock is at least 3 billion years old and that it spent enough time in non-acidic and not-too-salty water for various telltale clays and minerals to form. “This rock, quite frankly, looks like a typical thing that we would get on Earth,” Grotzinger said. “The key thing here is this is an environment that microbes could have lived in and maybe even prospered in.” The habitable conditions in Yellowknife Bay appear to roughly coincide within a couple of hundred million years of the first evidence for life on Earth. “On Earth, finding organics in very, very ancient rocks is a difficult proposition,” said Paul Mahaffy, principal investigator for Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars, or SAM, instrument. Finding organics on Mars may be even more challenging. Without much protection from an atmosphere, ultraviolet and cosmic radiation can destroy organics. Mars also apparently is covered with chemicals, known as perchlorates, that consume organics. “The search for organic carbon is an issue for this mission and you want to do this as deliberately as possible. You don’t just want to wander around and try stuff out,” Grotzinger said. Knowing that Mars at least had the ingredients for life, however, makes the search for organics more viable. “This is not a simple problem, but I think the mission is up to it and we’re really excited to get started on that now,” Grotzinger said.
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29467
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President Obama is giving Mexico $75 million to build a wall on their southern border.
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Members of the Sackler family behind OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP have asked a judge to toss a lawsuit by the Massachusetts attorney general that claims they helped fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic, arguing it contains “misleading and inflammatory allegations.”
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false
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Politics Immigration, barack obama, immigration, mexico
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The wealthy family in a motion on Monday argued that Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s lawsuit mischaracterized internal records to create the “false impression” they personally directed privately-held Purdue’s marketing of painkillers. Her lawsuit, filed in June in Suffolk County Superior Court and revised earlier this year to include new allegations, was the first by a state to try to hold Sackler family members personally responsible for contributing to the opioid epidemic. The case is among roughly 2,000 lawsuits filed mostly by state and local governments seeking to hold Purdue and other pharmaceutical companies responsible for the opioid crisis. Opioids were involved in a record 47,600 overdose deaths in 2017 in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Healey’s complaint cites records to argue that family members, including Purdue’s former President Richard Sackler, personally directed deceptive opioid marketing while making $4.2 billion from Purdue from 2008 to 2016. They did so even after Purdue and three executives in 2007 pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the misbranding of OxyContin and agreed to pay a total of $634.5 million in penalties, the lawsuit said. But in their motion, the Sacklers said nothing in the complaint supports allegations they personally took part in efforts to mislead doctors and the public about the benefits and addictive risks of opioids. They said their role was limited to that of typical corporate board members who participated in “routine” votes to ratify the management’s staffing and budget proposals. “Not a single document shows an individual director engaging in any unlawful conduct regarding the sale of prescription opioids or ordering anyone else to do so,” the Sacklers’ lawyers wrote. Healey, in a statement, called the motion “an attempt to avoid accountability.” At least 35 states have cases pending against Purdue. Four have also named Sackler family members as defendants, including Richard Sackler, Theresa Sackler and Mortimer D.A. Sackler. Last week, Purdue reached its first settlement in the recent wave of lawsuits, agreeing with the Sacklers to a $270 million deal with Oklahoma’s attorney general. Oklahoma’s lawsuit did not name Sacklers as defendants. Purdue had been exploring filing for bankruptcy before the accord’s announcement, Reuters reported in early March.
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6251
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North Carolina county reports 19 cases of hepatitis A.
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Health officials in a North Carolina county are reporting 19 cases of hepatitis A, adding that there have been no deaths so far.
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true
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Health, Winston-Salem, General News, North Carolina, Hepatitis
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The Winston-Salem Journal reports the Forsyth County Health Department says the source of the outbreak is among people who inject illegal drugs and other substances and share needles, homeless and transient people. It is usually transmitted person-to-person and spreads when a person unknowingly ingests the virus from objects, food, or drinks contaminated by small, undetected amounts of fecal matter from an infected person. According to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, 124 cases of hepatitis A have been reported statewide, and one person has died from the disease. ___ Information from: Winston-Salem Journal, http://www.journalnow.com
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26350
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Facebook post Says the current survival rate for COVID-19 in the U.S. is “98.54%”
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The current COVID-19 survival rate in the U.S. isn’t 98.54%, as one Facebook post claims. In an ongoing pandemic the numbers continue to change. Mortality rates can serve as snapshots into the disease but data is incomplete and reporting practices vary. Survival rates also vary widely when broken down by demographics, and not everyone with the disease is getting tested, experts say. A 98.54% survival rate is actually more pessimistic than it sounds, and would make COVID-19 about 10-times more lethal than the seasonal flu.
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mixture
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Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts,
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"An unsourced but seemingly optimistic statistic on the survival rate of the novel coronavirus in the United States is making a splash on Facebook. ""Current survival rate for COVID19 in the US is 98.54%. Let’s share this story. Positive vs. Panic,"" it reads. The post, which was shared in mid-April, was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The figure isn’t too far off from what databases are reporting right now in terms of the known fatality rate from the disease. But the figures from this developing pandemic are preliminary, and it’s important to note that the best calculations include people who are still sick — patients who have neither died nor recovered. Also, while a 98.5% survival rate might sound promising, it really isn’t. Even a 1% mortality rate (99% survival rate) would mean that a disease is 10-times more lethal than the seasonal flu. If everyone in the country contracted COVID-19, that rate would lead to about 3,300,000 American deaths. Let’s look at the numbers. Our World in Data, a collaboration between researchers at the University of Oxford and the nonprofit Global Change Data Lab, uses the case fatality rate to calculate the mortality risk of the disease. Case fatality rate is the ratio of confirmed deaths to confirmed cases. Using that rate, the database shows that the current mortality rate in the U.S. is 5.9%, which puts the survival rate at 94.1%. Johns Hopkins University, which uses the same method, currently lists the U.S. rate at 6%. But even these researchers acknowledge that during a pandemic, the rate of case fatalities is a ""poor measure of the mortality risk of the disease."" That’s partly because the actual number of cases is hard to determine without widespread testing. ""One, it relies on the number of confirmed cases, and many cases are not confirmed; and two, it relies on the total number of deaths, and with COVID-19, some people who are sick and will die soon have not yet died,"" Our World in Data researchers wrote in an article. ""These two facts mean that it is extremely difficult to make accurate estimates of the true risk of death."" Dr. Michael Mina, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said that the ability to calculate accurate recovery rates hinges on having access to credible data. ""The survival rate depends on how well we understand the denominator,"" Mina wrote in an email. ""We need to be looking at denominators from good serological surveillance to know the true numbers infected. Additionally, we should consider the infection fatality rate in the context of demographics like age."" Infection fatality rate is the number of total deaths from a disease divided by the total number of cases — as opposed to the confirmed deaths and cases. Mina also explained that the data varies sharply when looking at a weighted average of fatality rates for specific age groups: ""So, a one-number-fits-all value for the infection fatality rate doesn’t really make too much sense given the major skew in the data."" Even the 94% rate is a flawed statistic amid an ongoing pandemic. Data is incomplete and government agencies and organizations vary in how they collect and report it. Rates that include ""total cases"" or ""confirmed cases"" should also be considered preliminary, because many outcomes aren’t known yet: These patients may recover, or they might not. We did find one coronavirus tracking database that singles out the number of deaths among resolved U.S. cases that have had outcomes. Worldometer, a private statistical resource that collects data from official reports, shows that about 289,100 COVID-19 cases in the United States are considered closed as of May 7, 2020. Of those, around 213,500 people have recovered, and about 75,500 have died, according to the database. This represents a 74% survival rate. But this, too, may be off and will continue to fluctuate daily. A Facebook post says the ""current survival rate for COVID-19 in the US is 98.54%."" This is problematic for several reasons. In an ongoing pandemic with incomplete numbers, mortality rates should be viewed with caution. There are a slew of factors to take into account such as variations among demographic groups that skew data, a lack of testing, and the number of active cases. Even discounting these factors, based on current projections, the 98.54% figure is incorrect. If you include all the confirmed cases, the number is about 94%. And while both numbers may sound high, they indicate a fatality rate that is more than 10 times that of the seasonal flu. Ultimately, declaring an accurate U.S. survival rate will be difficult until most cases are resolved and more complete and accurate data is released. For a statement that is partially accurate but leaves out important information."
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894
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Congo minister's resignation over Ebola snub could unblock new vaccine.
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Congo’s health minister resigned on Monday after being stripped of responsibility for managing the country’s Ebola outbreak, potentially paving the way for the introduction of a second vaccine to contain the spreading epidemic.
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true
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Health News
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Oly Ilunga has overseen Democratic Republic of Congo’s near year-long response to what is the second deadliest Ebola outbreak in history. It has killed more than 1,700 and been declared an international health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO). President Felix Tshisekedi on Saturday appointed a team led by Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the head of Congo’s biomedical research institute, to coordinate the government’s response in Ilunga’s place. In his resignation letter, the minister criticised pressure by unnamed “actors” to deploy the second vaccine, manufactured by Johnson & Johnson and backed by the WHO. It has yet to be used on the ground due to Ilunga’s objections. It is designed to complement a Merck treatment that has been given to 170,000 people and proved effective. Ilunga has said the J&J vaccine has not been proved effective and that deploying a second one would confuse people in eastern Congo, where health workers are struggling to overcome widespread misinformation about the haemorrhagic fever as well as sporadic hostility. Ilunga said it would be “fanciful to think that the new vaccine proposed by actors who have shown an obvious lack of ethics by voluntarily hiding important information from medical authorities, could have a significant impact on the control of the current outbreak”. J&J says the vaccine has been tested on more than 6,000 volunteers and raised no particular safety concerns. Its chief scientific officer, Paul Stoffels, said in a telephone interview that the company had been “very transparent, very open and in full communication” with Congolese authorities. He said J&J had discussed with Muyembe how people could be vaccinated around eastern Congo’s biggest city, Goma, where a first Ebola case was confirmed last week, to create a protective “curtain”. “Whether they use it or not, it’s fine for us,” said Stoffels, referring to Congolese officials. “They have to judge based on their personal knowledge of how and where to use it.” The WHO and other international donors including medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres have publicly supported using the second vaccine, of which 1.5 million doses are available. A WHO spokesman said the organisation was grateful for Ilunga’s leadership and dedication and looked forward to “working closely with the new coordination team as we have with the previous one”. Last week, the organisation labelled the outbreak an international emergency, a rare designation aimed at galvanising global support as it threatens to gain a foothold in neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda. Only the 2013-16 epidemic in West Africa that killed more than 11,000 people has been deadlier.
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2439
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Mississippi blues: The cost of rejecting Medicaid expansion.
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As Americans across the nation begin to find out what Obamacare has in store for them, many of Mississippi’s most needy will find out the answer is nothing.
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true
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Health News
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That is likely the case for William and Leslie Johnson of Jackson County, since the state decided not to expand the Medicaid program for the poor under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. As a result, nearly 300,000 adults there will fall through the cracks of healthcare reform. Many are the working poor - truckers, childcare workers, mechanics - who make too much money each month to qualify for Medicaid under Mississippi’s existing criteria but not quite enough to get government help buying private health insurance on an Obamacare exchange. Nationwide, 25 states have rejected the Medicaid expansion, leaving nearly 7 million adults who would otherwise have qualified for coverage without benefits. These states, many of them Republican-led, have declined government funding for an expansion largely because they say initially generous subsidies would eventually be reduced, leaving them with an unacceptably large burden in a few years’ time. Among those states, Mississippi faces one of the most dire situations. It tops the charts for poor-health indicators: highest in poverty, second-highest in obesity, highest in diabetes and highest in pre-term births. For the Johnsons, the struggle for health coverage has been a years-long battle. In the 16 years since her birth, their daughter, Mackenzie, has already had 10 major surgeries to treat her club foot, dislocated hips and malformed spine, all due to a rare form of spina bifida that causes the spinal cord to split. (The Johnsons also have an 11-year-old son, Tyler.) A major operation to insert two metal rods helped to straighten a 70-degree curve in Mackenzie’s spine that was collapsing her lungs and making it difficult for her to breathe. It improved her condition to the point where she no longer qualified for a special Medicaid program for disabled children living at home. She hasn’t had health insurance since last June. “At this point, we’re still fighting to get her on Medicaid, but being self-employed, if I gross a certain amount of money per month, they kick her off the program,” said William. In Mississippi, a two-parent working family of four earning $10,000 to $23,500 would not be eligible for assistance either through Medicaid or the exchange because the state did not expand Medicaid, said Ed Sivak, director of the nonpartisan Mississippi Economic Policy Center. Twenty percent of Mississippi’s nearly 3 million residents are on the Medicaid rolls. Twelve percent are on Medicare, and 20 percent are uninsured, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. In rejecting the Medicaid expansion, Republican Governor Phil Bryant is turning down an estimated $426 million in federal funds for next year. He has argued that the administrative costs borne by the state would be too high. A report by the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning estimated the cost of Medicaid expansion for the state at $8.5 million in 2014, rising to $159 million in 2025 as more people enroll in the program and federal subsidies step down from 100 percent initially to 90 percent. Mississippi is also among the states that may get the least benefit from healthcare reform in other ways. Only two health insurers are offering coverage in the state on the federally run subsidized exchange for private insurance, with premiums for a benchmark plan costing more than the national average. It was the sole state to apply to run its own exchanges and be turned down by the federal government because of concerns Bryant would not provide enough support to launch it. Instead, the federal government is running Mississippi’s exchange. State House Minority Leader Bobby Moak, a Democrat whose coalition has fought hard for health reform in Mississippi, says Bryant’s arguments are a cover for rejecting anything President Obama supports. “We like to say that the healthcare act was written for Mississippi, but our folks had the ‘good sense’ to turn it down,” he said. In late June, state House Democrats staged a showdown to force a vote on Medicaid expansion, holding up reauthorization of the state’s current Medicaid program, which serves one in five Mississippi residents. A last-minute legislative deal reached on June 28 saved the program but failed to expand it. Bryant declined requests to speak to Reuters, but spokesman Mick Bullock said in an email the governor will not reconsider his position on Medicaid expansion, which he said was “bad policy” and “fiscally unsustainable.” “Governor Bryant will not put Mississippi taxpayers on the hook for something the state simply cannot afford,” Bullock said. Without coverage, Mackenzie’s family cannot afford to replace the wheelchair she has been using for the past six years. Nor can they afford $850 a month for physical therapy or the cost of replacing the brace she just got for her club foot. It doesn’t fit properly, but “my ankle collapses when I walk without it,” Mackenzie offers politely in an interview at the public library in the Gulf town of Pascagoula, a leading producer of ships for the U.S. Navy. The town is the seat of Jackson County, where nearly 10,000 adults aged 18 to 64 will lose out on Medicaid. Dr. Pamela Banister practices family medicine at Singing River Health System’s clinic in Pascagoula. The not-for-profit hospital system offers a menu of services that all cost $49, from school physicals to treatments for sinus infections and rashes. On bigger-ticket items, the hospital offers a 40 percent discount to patients who can pay cash at the time of service. That allows many patients to have their blood pressure checked or keep track of their diabetes, but often it’s not enough to tackle bigger issues. “I’ve got a man who’s 62. I just know he’s got to have Parkinson’s. I made a stab at throwing a fairly affordable medicine at him, but it’s not doing what he needs,” Banister says. “I say, ‘You need a specialist,’ and he says, ‘I can’t afford it.’” Mackenzie’s father has had a nerve tumor on his foot since 2006, and he can’t afford the surgery he needs. “It’s extremely painful, but the doctors want $5,000 down. The operating room at the hospital wants another $1,800 down,” he said. “You live with the pain.” The Johnsons have been working with a program funded through the Affordable Care Act called Health Help Mississippi that helps families negotiate the red tape of applying for Medicaid in Mississippi, a process intentionally made more daunting by former Governor Haley Barbour, who famously charged that some individuals on the state’s Medicaid rolls were driving BMWs. Last year, William’s trucking business made between $23,000 and $24,000, which should qualify Mackenzie for coverage under a Medicaid program that covers children in families who make up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or $47,100 for a family of four. But they are just on the edge of qualifying for federal tax credits to help them buy insurance on the federal insurance marketplace, which would cover the whole family. Mackenzie’s mother, Leslie, a Republican, is no fan of health reform and believes people should pay their own way. But her daughter needs treatment. “It’s very hard. I need it and I don’t want it,” she said. Mississippi’s hospitals are also in a precarious position. The 2010 health reform law was designed to reduce payments to safety-net hospitals that serve a disproportionate share of poor patients. It was based on the premise that more people would soon gain coverage through Medicaid expansion. Without Medicaid expansion, hospitals face cuts in these so-called disproportionate share payments. Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg projects a $2.5 million loss for the federal government’s fiscal 2014, which started October 1, due to these reimbursement cuts as well as to across-the-board federal government spending cuts. In a July letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Mississippi’s Bryant asked HHS to delay disproportionate share cuts to hospitals, as it had done in delaying other portions of the law. A month later, Sebelius replied, urging Bryant to expand Medicaid in the state and “take advantage of the generous federal matching funds.” It costs the state $1.4 billion annually to run Medicaid, its second-highest expense after education. An additional $3.5 billion comes from the federal government in a 4-1 match that substantially props up Mississippi’s entire healthcare system, from hospitals to nursing homes. Roy Mitchell, executive director of the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program, says ultimately the hospital payments issue may force the governor’s hand. “The governor is standing in the tracks in front of a billion-dollar train. He’s going to get run over at some point.” Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, a Republican who has been friends with Bryant for decades, doubts Bryant will change his mind. “The governor has his reasons. I do not know what they are. He has told me repeatedly he just does not trust the Affordable Care Act to do what it said it would do, and he did not trust the federal government at all to do what they said they would do,” Chaney said. “He’s pretty well set in stone.” Chaney, who dislikes a law he calls “poorly written” and “ill conceived,” nevertheless says it is “the law of the land.” He worked hard to develop a state-based healthcare exchange that would have given Mississippi more control over the insurance marketplace. But, citing the governor’s fierce opposition to Obamacare, HHS denied Mississippi’s petition - the only state HHS turned down. Moak says he and fellow Democrats will bring up the Medicaid issue again in the next legislative session. “We’re not going to stop talking about it,” he said.
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37960
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An image purportedly showing a petri dish of bacteria grown after swabbing a mask worn by a child for twenty minutes proves that face masks are a health risk.
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In September 2020, an unsourced image purportedly depicting “bacteria grown in a petri dish,” “from a swab taken from the inside of a mask after 20 minutes of use by a child” spread like wildfire across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Throughout 2020, medical experts and scientists repeatedly debunked similar claims. There was no evidence the image was accurately represented and no one claimed to have undertaken the experiment personally. Plenty of evidence supported the relative safety and efficacy of face masks, and no evidence indicated the image was accurate or informative with respect to public health.
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false
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Disinformation, Fact Checks
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In late September 2020, the following image began circulating on social media, purporting to show what sort of bacteria can be cultured in a petri dish after a face mask was worn by a child for twenty minutes, then swabbed:This is #bacteria grown in a #PetriDish from a swab taken from the inside of a #mask after 20 minutes of use. This is what you are breathing. And for what? If a virus was adjusted to the size of a #baseball… then by comparison the size of the holes in the mask would be the state of #Texas. So… it’s time to #UnMask and #BreatheFree.A post shared by Marianna (@patriotichempqueen) on Sep 18, 2020 at 6:01am PDTRecently, I mentioned that a mask is like a petri dish and it's going to negatively affect those who wear them. Today, I see this picture of a petri dish, which was cultured from a swab of a child's mask after wearing it for 20 minutes. pic.twitter.com/HPrjIp9M2H— 🔥 EiEio Guy ♨️❄️ (@StKosmoSiS) September 23, 2020On Twitter and Instagram, shares of the image were consistent in that they:Variations on the claim appeared to have also been spread on German-language sites and on Twitter in German; the image was featured on a German blog’s daily list of links (archived), but no further information about the image was included:Immer wieder mega-komisch: da wollen die gleichen Leute a) das Immunsystem trainieren und b) haben Angst vor den eigenen Bakterien. Was ist denn nun gesünder: ein paar eigene Bakterien in der Lunge oder das gleiche in Grün von versch. 100 Leuten im Zug, Bus, Flieger?— Leicht Angebraten (@PolitWare) September 22, 2020It seemed one of the first viral English-language iterations was shared by the Instagram page @thetruthaboutvaccines, but we were unable to locate the original post. Its text was commonly seen copied to other posts above:After a short time of wearing a mask, the bacteria was grown in a petri dish. Mask? No thanks! pic.twitter.com/UFZRDq8Dfm— Charlie Chaplin #KBF (@Charlie99705867) September 23, 2020One of the earliest versions of this photograph and claim that were able to locate appeared on Facebook on September 18 2020, from Marianna Childress-Milne:We were unable to locate an iteration that was definitively older than that one, but some “content not available” posts included similar wording. Commenters on the post asked for additional information about the image and the conditions under which the purported experiment was performed.Childress-Milne admitted that she shared the image on without verifying its accuracy, stated that the claim was secondhand, and that it was likely a “personal home experiment”:it was just someone doing their own personal home experiment from what I understand. Lol. You are welcome to disagree with it and disregard it or keep scrolling or ignore it altogether. #freedom.As the claim traversed Facebook, it devolved:This petri dish has a swab from a child’s mask that was left to cultivate for 20 minutes.This is what you and your child are breathing in.While a massive number of people shared and repeated the story, we were unable to find even one person who claimed to have done the experiment themselves. It is possible — or, really, probable — that the image was completely unrelated, mislabeled, or otherwise misleading.Old Disinformation About MasksIf the claims that face masks are breeding grounds for bacteria, viruses, or fungus seemed familiar, it’s because those same claims have been appearing regularly in various forms throughout 2020.For example, a July 10 2020 Reuters fact check debunked claims largely centering on fungal infections:Posts shared on Facebook claim that “people are starting to enter ER’s with fungal lung infections from wearing masks,” advising users to take breaks from wearing them. This claim, however, is false.Dr. Thomas Nash, an internist, pulmonologist, and infectious disease specialist at New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City ( here ), told Reuters, “The only thing that hits the mask is what you breathe out,” explaining that healthy people “don’t exhale fungus.”Nash said that someone who already has a fungal infection in their lungs could possibly contaminate their own mask, but not the other way around.In June 2020, Dr. Niket Sonpal told CBS affiliate WLNY-TV that despite all the mask scarelore, doctors and nurses have been wearing masks throughout their careers, yet none of them suffered any ill consequences from years of mask wearing:“Every health care provider in the world wears their masks for 8 to 12 hours a shift … and not a single one has perished,” he said.“Is there any truth to, ‘if I wear my mask too long, I’m just kind of recirculating my own bacteria and I can get sick from that?’” CBS2’s Jessica Layton asked.“No, there’s no evidence actually or data to say that,” Sonpal said.German fact checking site Correctiv.org tackled suspiciously similar claims in May 2020:A photo of a Petri dish full of germs is circulating on Facebook. It is supposed to prove that a [mask] is bad for your health. The accompanying text describes symptoms that should occur after wearing. Some of the claims are unsubstantiated and misleading.Corretiv.org ran the images by the German Society for Pneumology and Respiratory Medicine (DGP); they explained that results like those in these photographs are very easy to create:First claim: Numerous germs collect on the face maskIn the text accompanying the photo of a Petri dish full of germs, it is claimed that a smear was taken from a mouthguard that was worn for seven hours and that after 24 hours in an incubator, numerous germs developed. It is suggested that these germs are dangerous.The German Society for Pneumology and Respiratory Medicine (DGP) wrote by e-mail to a request from CORRECTIV: “Which germs these are cannot be identified from the culture alone. The culture plate would also look like this if you spit on it. We all have a lot of bacteria in the mouth and airways. This is known as the normal ‘flora’. However, these bacteria have no disease value. ”[…]Conclusion: The claims are unfounded and partly wrong. The photo of the Petri dish does not prove that harmful germs collect in the mask. The sweeping assertion that wearing a face mask means inhaling more CO2 is wrong. In addition, the symptoms described do not occur if there is no allergy and the mouth and nose mask is worn properly.We contacted two scientists to ask about the claims and received one assessment of the image, which disputed the claim as presented on social media and noting a lack of “streak pattern” indicative of swabbing:Okay, there is bacteria everywhere in the dish.It was intentionally cultured, not swabbed. There is also fungi in there as well. This appears to be some kind of stock image of airborne bacteria, mold, and fungi[. ]When you swab, you have to wipe the swab onto the surface of the Petri dish, leaving a streak pattern behind. The image in this post is distinctly of airborne microorganisms, not a swabbed sample[. ]TL;DRIn September 2020, an unsourced image purportedly depicting “bacteria grown in a petri dish,” “from a swab taken from the inside of a mask after 20 minutes of use by a child” spread like wildfire across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Throughout 2020, medical experts and scientists repeatedly debunked similar claims. There was no evidence the image was accurately represented and no one claimed to have undertaken the experiment personally. Plenty of evidence supported the relative safety and efficacy of face masks, and no evidence indicated the image was accurate or informative with respect to public health.Comments
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26396
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“We’re also using a sterilization process ― some great equipment that will sterilize masks up to 20 times per mask. So that’s like ordering 20 times more masks.”
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The FDA granted emergency authorization to new technology that can sterilize respirator masks up to 20 times. Experts uniformly agree that sterilized respirator masks aren’t as protective as new ones — and that this is an emergency measure, not a solution for shortfalls of personal protective equipment. In many cases, normal wear and tear means N95 respirators cannot be sanitized and reused without putting health workers at risk.
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mixture
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Health Check, Coronavirus, Donald Trump,
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"As COVID-19 cases continue to climb, front-line health care workers are decrying unsafe working conditions — in particular, describing inadequate access to personal protective equipment, or PPE. Many hospitals and state lawmakers blame Washington, saying the Trump administration has not done enough to make this critical protective gear available. But at a recent press conference, President Donald Trump suggested those claims are overblown, asserting instead that hospitals have the tools they need to sanitize and reuse protective facewear. ""We’re also using a sterilization process ― some great equipment that will sterilize masks up to 20 times per mask. So that’s like ordering 20 times more masks. And it’s working very well,"" Trump said at the April 23 briefing. In fact, the question of reusing masks — specifically, the highly effective N95 respirators that best protect wearers from COVID-19 ― has emerged as a major worker-safety concern. Traditionally, the masks have been designated only for single use. But with hospitals running low on protective equipment, many seek to stretch their supplies. With that context, we were curious — can N95s be sterilized and reused, as Trump suggested? And if so, are disinfected masks as protective as new ones? We contacted the White House but never heard back. Our own research revealed the situation is more complex than Trump suggested. Hospitals are using new technology to sterilize masks. Some procedures do show promise. Still, according to experts we consulted, it’s an overstatement to suggest they are as effective as getting new equipment. Trump appears to be referencing technology from the Battelle Memorial Institute, a nonprofit technology company in Ohio. Battelle, which has an in-house ""critical care decontamination system,"" received emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration to sanitize N95s for reuse. Hospitals send used N95s to Battelle, which has also set up N95 sanitization centers in coronavirus hot spots, including New York, Boston, Seattle and Washington, D.C. Workers wearing protective gear load the respirators into a sealed container. Masks are cleaned with vapor-phase hydrogen peroxide, aerated and then sent back to the originating hospitals. The decontamination process takes about 12 hours. A mask’s round-trip journey from a hospital to Battelle in Ohio and back again can take about 10 days. Battelle said masks can withstand the decontamination process up to 20 times without losing their ability to filter out viral particles. So, the president is right that this technology exists. But is it fair to say the approach is the equivalent of buying new gear? Put simply, no. Experts are clear that decontamination works in the current emergency. But ― despite Trump’s enthusiasm — it is not a best practice. ""It’s not accurate to say that reprocessing respirators is as good as purchasing 20 of them,"" said Dr. Patrick Kenney, medical director of Yale-New Haven Health’s supply chain, who has also researched decontamination technology and processing. ""This is not a renewable resource. The respirators are intended for single use."" In fact, in its letter designating emergency approval, the FDA specified that Battelle’s decontamination system ""may be effective"" at protecting wearers but advised it specifically for ""when there are insufficient supplies."" The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also recommends reuse ""only be practiced as a crisis capacity strategy."" The reasons are multiple. For one thing, research is limited on how effective this type of decontamination is. Also, masks vary in how they stand up to the procedure. And it’s not as simple as doing a load of laundry. ""Decontamination is a complicated process,"" said Hana El-Samad, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of California-San Francisco, who researches N95 sanitization. ""Assessing how well it works and which N95 makes and models remain unaffected is an area of active research,"" she said. N95Decon, a research collaborative with which El-Samad works, has examined Battelle’s hydrogen peroxide approach and found the chemicals appear to eliminate COVID-19 spores without damaging the mask’s filtration. Performance is only part of the equation. Another is mask structure: N95s work only when properly fitted to the face. When workers reuse and re-wear the masks, they can lose their shape, which undermines the quality of fit and renders them less protective. For some masks, per an N95 report on hydrogen peroxide, fit quality declined substantially after just five uses. For others, it took 15 wears to see a meaningful difference. At Yale-New Haven, Kenney said, the hospital discards 20% to 30% of respirators that could have been refurbished before they hit the 20-reuse mark because they had sustained too much wear and tear. Battelle’s 20-time reusability metric, he added, was calculated without factoring in the impact of regular hospital use. In addition, decontamination itself can in some cases worsen the respirator’s fit. ""If [an N95] doesn’t fit well, then air will leak around the sides and it doesn’t matter how good a filter it is,"" Kenney said. Plus, using this technology requires hospitals to have other protocols in place. Used masks must be safely collected ― since they could be COVID-contaminated and pose a biohazard — and a plan must be in place to move them to and from the sanitization facility. ""These are all complicated processes that need to be done right,"" El-Samad said. She offered a key takeaway: Technology like Battelle’s can help. But nothing substitutes for new N95s. In describing ongoing efforts to reuse protective respirators, Trump said the United States is using ""some great equipment that will sterilize masks up to 20 times per mask."" That, he argued, ""is like ordering 20 times more masks."" It is true that technology exists to sterilize N95s up to 20 times. But there are knowledge gaps and other shortcomings that limit how effective this process is. Government authorities and health care researchers are clear that this is a crisis measure and it is in no way as effective as ""ordering 20 times more masks."" The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details that undermine the president’s point."
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9542
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Hospitals Fast-Track Treatments for Hip Fractures
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This is a feature story about the potential benefits in treating hip fractures as a critical emergency, and providing “fast-track” access to surgery to improve outcomes. As the story indicates, limited research so far shows that waiting more than a day or so leads to a higher risk of complications and death. This story covered a lot of the basics, giving readers an overview of where the research stands, and why doctors hypothesize this method is better. That said, it could have emphasized that surgery is still surgery, and while this approach may reduce complications, there are still risks. More also was needed on the measured benefits and general availability of this option. Among older adults, hip fractures are common and have a big impact on quality of life. For readers at risk of a hip fracture, or who have loved ones at risk, this story is likely to be of high interest, and it’s important they come away fully informed–even if things like costs and harms may be less than standard slower treatment, they should not be overlooked altogether.
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mixture
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hip surgery
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The story does not discuss costs, and this is an important oversight considering how expensive inpatient surgery is. Presumably this fast-track surgery is less expensive since it reduces time spent in the hospital, but we’re not giving any specifics. The story doesn’t get into the measured specifics. We’re told delayed surgery creates a “significantly higher overall complication rate. And surgery two days and three or more days after admission was associated with higher rates of death.” But without actual numbers, it’s unclear how significant these rates are. There are no harms discussed in the story. We can presume that faster surgery is safer, but whether hip repair is done rapidly or after three days, all surgical patients are at risk of harm, and so the risks should be discussed. The story provides a good overview of the evidence, letting us know that fast-track hip surgery has been studied on a pilot basis, and is now being studied in a new large international clinical trial to help clarify how beneficial it is. There is no disease mongering here. The story quotes two experts involved with research, but also one more who appears independent of it, as well as a patient. There also appear to be no notable conflicts of interest. This story is a comparison of alternatives, comparing established methods with newer methods. It’s not clear how widely available this fast-track surgery option is in general, but this is something you’d want to know if you were a patient/caregiver trying to find some place that offers this. The story calls this a new approach, but in reality “fast-track” surgery has been used in many institutions for a long time (but it has not been standardized across the country). It does not appear that there was a news release on this topic that instigated the story.
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2085
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British man becomes first to walk Amazon length.
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A former British army captain became on Monday the first known person to walk from the origin of the Amazon river to its mouth, after enduring “50,000” mosquito bites, attacks by hostile Indians and tropical disease in his nearly 2-1/2 year odyssey.
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true
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Environment
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"Ed Stafford of Leicestershire, England walks in between trees as he walks through the Amazon jungle in Brazil in this undated handout photo. Former British army captain Stafford became on Monday the first known person to walk from the origin of the Amazon river, the world's second-longest river, to its mouth, after withstanding ""50,000"" mosquito bites, scorpion attacks and skin disease in his 859 day odyssey. REUTERS/Handout Ed Stafford, a 34-year-old from Leicestershire, England, dived into the Atlantic Ocean after taking 859 days to walk the length of the world’s second-longest river, starting at the peak of Mount Mismi in Peru in April 2008. “It’s just phenomenal to be here at the end of the journey after 2-1/2 years slogging our way through the jungle,” he told Reuters after arriving at the beach about 90 miles northeast of the Brazilian city of Belem. “It was really difficult to envisage how this was going to feel and I’m completely overwhelmed.” Stafford briefly collapsed from exhaustion with only 52 miles of the 6,000-mile journey to go, passing out by the roadside after breaking out in a rash. “I feel slightly humbled that my system just decided to shut down so close to the finish,” he wrote on his blog at www.walkingtheamazon.com. Stafford has aimed to use the walk to raise awareness about the threats to the Amazon rain forest and its people, using a portable satellite video to blog about his trek. He had planned to complete the walk in about a year, but the journey was prolonged by floods that forced him to walk a roundabout route that was 2,000 miles longer than the 4,000-mile (6,400-km) length of the Amazon, which is exceeded in length only by Africa’s Nile river. He began the journey with fellow British adventurer Luke Collyer, but the pair had a falling out early in the trek and Stafford continued alone. He was joined in July 2008 by a Peruvian forestry worker, Gadiel Cho Sanchez Rivera, who pledged to walk with him for five days and has been with him on the walk ever since. A statement from Stafford’s media team said that the Briton had been: “wrongly accused of murder on two separate occasions, been imprisoned, had concrete stuffed in his mouth by hostile tribes people, been chased by Ashaninka Indians with bows and arrows, been stung by hundreds of wasps and watched as his guide ‘Cho’ removed a botfly from Ed’s head with superglue and a tree spine.” It said he had endured “50,000” mosquito bites, lived on a diet of piranha fish, rice and beans, and dodged a variety of snakes, electric eels, scorpions, and ants, as well as contracting a skin-disfiguring disease. Famed British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes was quoted as saying in the statement that Stafford’s feat was “truly extraordinary.” “No one has ever done this before and the pundits considered the route impossible,” he said."
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35939
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On Sept. 18, 2020, Twitter user @JohnCammo predicted that U.S. President Donald Trump would announce in October that he had tested positive for COVID-19.
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Many other Twitter users made similar predictions of Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis. As one of the most talked-about public figures alive today, and as a 74-year-old man engaging in the activities of a presidential reelection campaign, it was inevitable that at least some social media users would speculate that Trump would contract COVID-19.
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true
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Politics, 2020 election
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In October 2020, readers asked Snopes to examine the authenticity of what appeared to be a tweet, posted on Sept. 18, 2020, predicting that U.S. President Donald Trump would announce he had contracted COVID-19 in October. On Oct. 2, Trump announced that he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19 amid dozens of positive tests by White House officials and prominent Republicans. In the days that followed, users of Facebook and Instagram shared a screenshot of a tweet by user @JohnCammo that stated: Trump’s October surprise will be the announcement of “his infection.” Fake, but quite dramatic. This twist will blow Biden off the screens, the “Trump COVID watch” dominating every minute of every day. Then, 14 days later, Trump will emerge, 100% cured by hydroxychloroquine. Those images were screenshots of a real tweet posted on Sept. 18, 2020, by @JohnCammo, whose name is not publicly available but who frequently tweets criticism of Trump and claims to live in rural California. An archived version of the tweet can be viewed here, establishing its authenticity, and the authenticity of its date. No evidence exists to demonstrate that Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis was anything other than real, and @JohnCammo appears to have been engaging in no more than idle speculation. For one thing, Trump “emerged” from his illness — he returned to the White House from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center four days after his diagnosis, not 14 — and as of Oct. 6, the White House has not stated that he was treated with hydroxychloroquine.
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28584
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"House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said of the Affordable Care Act, in 2010: ""We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it."
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What's true: Nancy Pelosi did utter the words attributed to her about the passage of the Affordable Care Act. What's false: The infamous soundbite doesn't reflect the full context and meaning of her remarks.
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mixture
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Politics, nancy pelosi, obamacare
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On 21 June 2017, the web site Chicks on the Right reported that Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi had said, of the Affordable Care Act, in 2010 “We [need] to pass the bill in order to find out what [is] in it.” The website contrasted this with Pelosi’s tweet, on 20 June 2017, in which she declared that “Americans deserve to know” what was in the Republican health care bill being developed during the summer of 2017: . @SenJohnMcCain calling out Republican hypocrisy is music to my ears. Americans deserve to know what’s in the bill. #Trumpcare — Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) June 20, 2017 And here’s the video cited by Chicks on the Right, of her 2010 remarks: As can be seen, it’s true that Pelosi did utter these words: “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it”. However, the article left out important context, including the next few words of Pelosi’s statement: “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.” Like much reporting and commentary surrounding that remark over the next seven years, the Chicks on the Right article also left out the remarks made by Pelosi in the lead-up to the now-infamous soundbite. Pelosi was speaking at the National Association of Counties’ annual Legislative Conference on 9 March 2010, in Washington D.C. A full transcript of her speech can be viewed here, but we’ve included some relevant context surrounding her comments on the Affordable Care Act: Imagine an economy where people could follow their aspirations, where they could be entrepreneurial, where they could take risks professionally because personally their families [sic] health care needs are being met. Where they could be self-employed or start a business, not be job-locked in a job because they have health care there, and if they went out on their own it would be unaffordable to them, but especially true, if someone has a child with a pre-existing condition. So when we pass our bill, never again will people be denied coverage because they have a pre-existing condition. We have to do this in partnership, and I wanted to bring [you] up to date on where we see it from here. The final health care legislation that will soon be passed by Congress will deliver successful reform at the local level. It will offer paid for investments that will improve health care services and coverage for millions more Americans. It will make significant investments in innovation, prevention, wellness and offer robust support for public health infrastructure. It will dramatically expand investments into community health centers. That means a dramatic expansion in the number of patients community health centers can see and ultimately healthier communities. Our bill will significantly reduce uncompensated care for hospitals. You’ve heard about the controversies within the bill, the process about the bill, one or the other. But I don’t know if you have heard that it is legislation for the future, not just about health care for America, but about a healthier America, where preventive care is not something that you have to pay a deductible for or out of pocket. Prevention, prevention, prevention–it’s about diet, not diabetes. It’s going to be very, very exciting. But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy. Although the point was not made clearly or explicitly, the sense of Pelosi’s remarks was that the benefits (in her view) of the bill — rather than the contents of the bill — would only be fully revealed to the public after the legislation was passed and implemented. Pelosi explained and defended her 2010 remarks in June 2012 during a meeting with op-ed writers, as reported by the Washington Post: “In the fall of the year,” Pelosi said, “the outside groups … were saying ‘it’s about abortion,’ which it never was. ‘It’s about ‘death panels,’’ which it never was. ‘It’s about a job-killer,’ which it creates four million [jobs]. ‘It’s about increasing the deficit’; well, the main reason to pass it was to decrease the deficit.” Her contention was that the Senate “didn’t have a bill.” And until the Senate produced an actual piece of legislation that could be matched up and debated against what was passed by the House, no one truly knew what would be voted on. “So, that’s why I was saying we have to pass a bill, so we can see, so that we can show you, what it is and what it isn’t,” Pelosi continued. “It is none of these things. It’s not going to be any of these things.” Most important, the contents of the Affordable Care Act had been publicly available and publicly debated for months when Pelosi made her remarks in March 2010. The bill, in its original form, was passed by the House of Representatives in October 2009, and in the Senate that December. Although the bill was unusually long (the act runs to 906 pages in the legislative record, with many more pages of regulations) its contents had been subjected to intensive debate and scrutiny in both houses of Congress. That process was fundamentally different to the secrecy surrounding the Republican-sponsored American Health Care Act, when Pelosi tweeted on 20 June 2017 that “Americans deserve to know what’s in the [Republican healthcare] bill.” At that time, the architects of the legislation had not published any of its contents. (A draft of the bill was published on 22 June 2017, two days after Pelosi’s tweet).
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9106
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Cardiac stem cells from young hearts could rejuvenate old hearts, new study shows
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This news release positively spins a study in which researchers observed physical changes in old rats that were injected with cardiac stem cells from newborn rats. Publishing in the European Heart Journal, researchers concluded that cells from baby rats appeared to “rejuvenate” aged rats compared with a placebo. The news release brazenly speculates about potential benefits for humans without cautioning that findings from a rat study can’t be extrapolated to people. It also omits potential harms and costs. To its credit, the release discloses the fact that Cedars-Sinai and a lead researcher have a financial interest in Capricor Therapeutics, which holds the license for the cardiac stem cell product, known as CAP-1002. It also acknowledges that the study didn’t examine an outcome that the rats — and some humans — would really care about: whether stem cells extend their lifespans. Heart failure is a progressive disease that affects millions of Americans. Although therapies exist to reduce symptoms, at least in those suffering from systolic dysfunction, there are no curative treatments. Stem cell therapies have been explored as possible options over the years with mixed results. Exuberant news releases about stem cell therapies can spark news coverage that attracts investors and fuels enthusiasm for more research. In this case, it seems Capricor Therapeutics could use some positive news. In recent months, it lost key investor Johnson & Johnson after disclosing that a phase 2 clinical trial of its chief product was failing to show efficacy in heart attack patients. Larry Husten wrote in MedPage Today that Capricor researchers had difficulty acknowledging that the therapy didn’t work: “Stem cells have never been shown to have any clinical benefit in patients with heart disease. But there is mounting anecdotal evidence that they may have serious adverse effects on the reasoning and objectivity of the medical researchers, biotechnology executives and investors who get sucked into their orbit.” Journalists, too, need to resist that gravitational pull. In this instance, at least one news outlet did not. CNN ran this glowing story: “‘Unexpected fountain of youth’ found in cardiac stem cells, says researcher.”
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false
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cardiac stem cells,Cedars-Sinai Medical Center,heart disease
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There’s no discussion of the potential cost of stem cell infusions generally or of CAP-1002. The news release says rats injected with stem cells: It gives no numbers to give readers an idea of how large these benefits were. It doesn’t tell us how many animals were involved in the study and what the comparator was (baseline vs. placebo treated) for the benefits mentioned. Of course, such data isn’t indicative of what might happen in humans, but if it’s worth reporting an outcome, the numbers should be included. Potential harms of stem cell therapy are not mentioned, and it’s impossible to know for sure what the risks of this intervention might be. Safety data appears to be limited. The published study states that cardiosphere-derived cells “are already in advanced clinical testing and have proven safe to date,” but it cites just one article that was written by one of the same researchers, Eduardo Marban, who developed and owns a financial interest in the technology. To be clear, the study was conducted in a total of 23 rats, 10 of which received the stem cell therapy. The news release acknowledges some limitations of the study: “This study didn’t measure whether receiving the cardiosphere-derived cells extended lifespans, so we have a lot more work to do,” said Lilian Grigorian-Shamagian, MD, PhD, co-primary investigator and the first author of the study. “We have much to study, including whether CDCs need to come from a young donor to have the same rejuvenating effects and whether the extracellular vesicles are able to reproduce all the rejuvenating effects we detect with CDCs.” But it omits the most important limitation: data from rats can’t be extrapolated to humans. There’s no disease mongering here. The news release states that “general support” for Marban’s lab is provided by the National Institutes of Health, and that Cedars-Sinai along with its heart institute chief Eduardo Marban, a co-author of the study, have financial interests in Capricor, which own the process to grow cardiac-derived stem cells. Who’s to say that lifestyle factors such as a good diet and robust exercise wouldn’t do a good job of staving off the harms of aging more reliably than a costly stem cell procedure? That’s not mentioned. This was a close call. The release includes some cautionary language about the availability and applicability of cardiac stem cells, stating that they “could someday help reverse the aging process in the human heart” and “We have much to study…” However, the release also mentions that the cardiac cells “have been used in other human clinical trials,” but doesn’t clarify whether it’s been approved by the FDA for use in humans. There’s no attempt to put this study in the context of numerous stem cell studies that have been performed in recent years. Many studies have attempted to show that stem cells can be used to improve heart function or slow the aging process, including a recent study that concluded stem cells in the hypothalamus control aging. The news release repeatedly uses speculative language: Of course while stem cells could do all of these things, they also could not do them. Also egregious is a premature statement from lead researcher Eduardo Marban, who is married to the CEO of the company that makes the cells: “The way the cells work to reverse aging is fascinating,” Marban said. “They secrete tiny vesicles that are chock-full of signaling molecules such as RNA and proteins. The vesicles from young cells appear to contain all the needed instructions to turn back the clock.”
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4301
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Study: Asian carp could find plenty of food in Lake Michigan.
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Asian carp are likely to find enough food to spread farther if they establish breeding populations in Lake Michigan, reinforcing the importance of preventing the invasive fish from gaining a foothold, scientists said in a paper released Monday.
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true
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Biology, Lake Michigan, Animals, Michigan, Freshwater biology, Lakes, Science, U.S. News, General News, Fish, Traverse City
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A study led by University of Michigan researchers found that despite a drop-off in plankton, the tiny plants and animals on which bighead and silver carp typically feed, the lake has enough dietary options to sustain individual fish that venture away from nutrient-rich shoreline areas where most would congregate. That improves their prospects for colonizing large sections of Lake Michigan and eventually spreading to the other Great Lakes, said Peter Alsip, an ecological modeling data analyst and lead author of the paper published in the journal Freshwater Biology. “Our study indicates that the carp can survive and grow in much larger areas of the lake than previous studies suggested,” Alsip said. Asian carp were imported in the late 1960s to gobble up algae in Deep South sewage lagoons and fish farms. They escaped into the Mississippi River and have migrated northward, branching into dozens of tributaries. Prolific breeders and voracious eaters, the invaders compete with native fish for food and habitat. They have become the primary fish species in the Illinois River, which forms part of an aquatic pathway that leads to Lake Michigan through a Chicago-area network of rivers and canals. Authorities have long debated how to keep them out of the Great Lakes, where fishing is a $7 billion industry. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this year proposed equipping the Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, Illinois, with noisemakers, electric barriers and other deterrents at a cost of at least $778 million. Some experts have questioned whether the carp would venture from shallow bays and wetland areas into the lake’s deeper waters, where filter-feeding zebra and quagga mussels have coated the bottomlands and consumed huge volumes of plankton and nutrients such as phosphorus. But the University of Michigan team said earlier studies underestimated the carps’ dietary flexibility. They have shown a willingness to feed on other organic material drifting in the water column — including excrement from the mussels, Alsip said. He and his colleagues modeled levels of food availability and water temperatures to estimate the well-being of bighead and silver carp when eating mixtures of plankton and non-living organic material, or “detritus,” at different depths. They concluded that the lake, with its average depth of 280 feet (85 meters), has enough of the mussels’ fecal pellets to keep the carp from starving and even enable them to grow while seeking other fertile territory, such as Wisconsin’s Green Bay, Alsip said. “It definitely increases their chance of surviving the journey,” he said. Duane Chapman, a fish biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, led previous studies that raised doubts about whether Asian carp could find enough food in most of Lake Michigan. They focused on the availability of microscopic plant life in areas near the surface that could be observed with satellite data, he said. The University of Michigan researchers didn’t contradict the USGS conclusions but built upon them in their model by including estimates of other food sources, including tiny plants in deeper waters as well microscopic animals and the mussel excrement, Chapman said. “I have no quarrel” with their findings, he said. “What they’ve done is just take our work and add more stuff to it, and that’s a perfectly legitimate scientific path.” Lake Michigan’s cold temperatures, depths and lack of food would pose challenges for the carp, said Kevin Irons, aquatic nuisance species program director with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. But the Michigan study underscores their hardiness, he said. “They can fast for long periods of time and travel long distances quickly,” Irons said. “This reinforces the importance of investing in prevention.” Democratic Sen. Gary Peters and Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga, both from Michigan, said the study ramps up pressure on Congress to fund programs that protect the lakes from the carp. “We are on the verge of an unstoppable crisis for the Great Lakes region, and now is our best chance to stop these aggressive fish from crashing our economy and environment,” said Molly Flanagan, vice president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, an advocacy group that favors the Brandon Road Lock and Dam upgrade. ___ Follow John Flesher on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/johnflesher
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3755
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Trans teen’s war with his body started when he was just 10.
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Theo Ramos learned how to cut himself when he was in fifth grade, when his body seemed to revolt.
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true
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Gender identity, AP Top News, Health, North America, U.S. News
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Exploring online was easy, with hashtags like #scars, #hurt and #brokeninside. Nothing made sense back then, but Theo absorbed what he saw on websites like a religion. All he could focus on was how the exterior he was born with — that of a girl — didn’t look or feel right. That was six years ago, when he had another name and a different gender. Back then, Theo felt that his body was rebelling in disturbing ways. He developed breasts and got his period. He felt like a boy, but every month, the cramps reminded him of reality. He became a child at war with his body. He wasn’t aware of words like gender dysphoria or transgender; those would come later. So would the national debates, the furor over bathrooms, and discussions of how to help children who didn’t feel right in their own skin. “When you’re 10 years old, you really shouldn’t be worried about who you are,” Theo would say years later, in a moment of reflection. “You shouldn’t be having that existential question when you’re in fifth grade. You should be worried about homework and the fifth-grade dance coming up.” He knew he was different from other kids in class. One day in the girls’ bathroom at his South Florida elementary school, Theo made the first of many gouges in his arm, using a paperclip. Pricks of blood bloomed on his fair skin. A teacher and a school nurse whisked Theo to safety. Theo’s mother, Lori Ramos, got the call from the principal. Her child was in the hospital. Ramos burst into the ER: Was it a fall, a fight, a shooting? “What’s going on here?” Ramos demanded of doctors and school staff. The answers were confusing: Her child had asked a teacher to call her by a different name, use different pronouns. Her child didn’t feel normal and wanted to be a boy. Ramos was bewildered — she saw no prior clues her child felt this way. And she was no stranger to transgender, gay, lesbian and bisexual issues — she worked in a clinic for HIV patients. When she’d given birth in 2001, in a hot tub on the family’s back porch in a Florida suburb an hour south of glitzy Miami Beach, she was thrilled. “I had my older son, and I had my girl, and my family was complete,” Ramos said. Her baby. Her “sunshine girl.” One who was no longer filled with light. Theo was involuntarily committed for 72 hours so doctors could determine whether he was a danger to himself or others. Soon, therapists and doctors had a diagnosis: gender dysphoria, a conflict between a person’s physical or assigned gender and the gender with which they identify. But a diagnosis didn’t solve Theo’s problems or make him feel better. When he tried to look like a boy, everyone at school noticed. His mother was accepting; his father wasn’t. He threatened to disown Theo. Theo again turned to the internet. He started cutting around his thighs and hips — his “problem areas.” When Theo saw thin kids online, he looked at his own baby fat and, once again, didn’t fit in. He wouldn’t eat for days, or he’d force himself to throw up. Cutting and vomiting weren’t painful, not exactly. They were more of a stress release, a way to match physical pain to what he felt inside: “I just know that it isn’t right, that the body I have isn’t supposed to be this way.” Small aggressions at school led to outright bullying. Other kids asked what was in Theo’s pants, if he had a penis, if he could show them. Theo started missing school. A therapist diagnosed depression and anxiety disorder. If only Theo could become a boy through hormone therapy — that, he thought, would solve his problems. “It’s just like every time I’m misgendered it feels like a wrench clamping around my heart and it slowly grows tighter and tighter,” he explained. “Being addressed as female or identifying as female never felt right to me; it always gave me this acute sense of discomfort and pain.” Hormone therapy for transgender children is a recent, controversial practice. It hasn’t been studied much. The concept that children can be transgender has been discussed in the open only recently; previously, it was something to be hidden, squashed and ignored. About 150,000 teenagers in the U.S. identify as transgender, according to a 2017 study by the Williams Institute at UCLA’s School of Law. About 1.4 million U.S. adults identify as transgender. Medical professionals have come up with protocols for children and teens. They recommend that some kids with gender dysphoria essentially pause puberty with hormone blockers until they’re certain they want to live as a different gender. But the child must be prepubescent. It was too late when Theo and his parents learned about the option. Theo could take testosterone, but rigorous counseling sessions were recommended first. This annoyed Theo: Why not become a boy right away? Experts say impatience is common: Transgender children want to transition, and waiting is frustrating. Even under regular circumstances, teens and patience aren’t usually mentioned in the same sentence. Doctors say going slow when treating trans teens is essential for physical and emotional well-being, and note that if a teen’s feelings last until age 16, the desires are probably permanent. Theo insisted testosterone could bring peace with his body: “If I could just start T therapy, I would know I was on the way to being who I’m supposed to be.” His parents, though, worried about the effects on their growing child. Theo wanted testosterone, but his anxiety sometimes made him question his desires. It became a regular topic of conversation between mother and son. “I’m nervous,” Theo said in the spring of 2016. He was 14. “What if I do change my mind?” “Well, what if you do?” asked his mother. “I can always stop,” Theo said. Ramos shook her head. “The changes are permanent.” ____ EDITOR’S NOTE: The Associated Press followed Theo Ramos for more than a year as he grappled with his gender dysphoria. This is the first installment of a three-part story. PART ONE: As a child grappling with gender dysphoria, Theo Ramos found himself at war with his body. PART TWO, coming Tuesday: Living with a transitioning transgender child “is anything but a straight line,” as his mom says. PART THREE, coming Wednesday: Visibility of transgender issues is at a high, but all the talk in the world doesn’t make life any easier as a gender-fluid or transitioning kid. ____ Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at https://twitter.com/tamaralush .
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13110
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"Jill Stein Says climate scientist James Hansen says ""we have until perhaps 50 years from now,"" or maybe a little longer ""and at that point, we are looking at 10, 20, 30 feet of sea-level rise."
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"Stein said Hansen predicted 10 to 30 feet of sea-level rise within 50 years or ""maybe a little bit longer."" Hansen published startling predictions exceeding established forecasts of sea-level rise related to climate change. But even under the most urgent scenario, the Hansen-led study projects about one meter—3.3 feet—of sea-level rise in 50 years. It projects, with some admitted uncertainty, multi-meter sea-level rise within 50 to 150 years."
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false
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Climate Change, Texas, Jill Stein,
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"Presidential candidate Jill Stein told a boisterous Texas crowd that a respected scientist foresees the loss of coastal cities within a half century due to creeping seas. ""In this election, we’re not just deciding what kind of a world we will have, but whether we will have a world or not going forward,"" Stein said Oct. 17, 2016 at a forum at Austin’s Huston-Tillotson University. As of mid-November 2016, with some votes left to be counted, Stein appeared to have drawn about 1 percent nationally in her second run as the presidential nominee of the Green Party, which emphasizes environmental sustainability. Its party platform describes environmentalism and justice as intertwined and calls for ""an ecological society that is harmonized with nature."" Stein said at the forum: ""Jim Hansen, the father of climate science; he hasn’t been wrong yet in about 40 years of climate science. And his latest predictions are that, folks, we have until perhaps 50 years from now — maybe a little bit longer, but maybe not. And at that point, we are looking at 10, 20, 30 feet of sea level rise which means goodbye to population centers on the coasts."" Of the nation’s 50 most populous cities, 16 lie in part at sea level, according to the US Geological Survey. The cities include New York, Miami, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Baltimore, Portland and Seattle. Scientists have attributed sea-level rise to the melting of glaciers and ice caps, caused by the Earth’s warming atmosphere. In July 2013, PolitiFact rated True a claim by U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., that sea levels measured in Florida had risen nine inches since the 1920s, finding corroborating historical data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The agency attributes the rising seas to a combination of thermal expansion (because warm water expands) and melting ice. Then again, nine inches is a whole lot less than 10 to 30 feet. So, did a top climate scientist predict that much of a sea-level rise in about 50 years? We emailed the Stein campaign for the nominee's backup information but didn’t hear back. Otherwise, a Google search led us to think Stein was citing James Hansen, the climate scientist who testified to Congress about global warming in 1988 while he was director of NASA’s Institute for Space Studies; in that testimony, he warned of resultant heat waves and droughts to come, not of rising seas swallowing cities. We noticed too that Stein made a similar claim in an Aug. 10, 2016 Twitter post warning about Americans losing homes due to a nine-foot sea-level rise by 2050. At the time, Stein spokeswoman Meleiza Figueroa said Hansen was the candidate’s source. An Aug. 17, 2016, Washington Post news story went on to characterize the nine-foot figure as a possibility, not a prediction, also saying that the prospect ""doesn’t represent a scientific consensus."" Hansen’s hypothesis For our part, we emailed Hansen, who works for Columbia University’s Earth Institute, to run Stein’s claim by him. He wrote back that he has forecasted ""multi-meter sea level rise"" in 50 to 150 years, which he wrote ""means loss of most coastal cities."" Hansen also pointed us to a study he co-authored with 18 fellow scientists from the U.S., China and Europe, published March 22, 2016, in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. The 52-page study flatly predicts the 50-to-150 year timeframe for sea-level rise. Yet it ties that expectation to the authors’ hypothesis that polar ice caps will melt drastically faster than what had been estimated by that time by most scientific studies. The study repeatedly warns of potential rise by ""several meters,"" we noticed, but doesn’t have specific figures equal to the 10-to-30 foot range declared by Stein. The study also acknowledges that the data used to test the authors’ hypothesis were imperfect, making the implications uncertain. Researchers, the study says, used ""coarse-resolution modeling and simplifying assumptions"" and so ""raises fundamental questions that point towards specific modeling and measurement needs."" It also states ""the record is too short to confirm the nature of the response""--meaning there’s too little data to know for sure how quickly the ice caps will melt. We’re sharing next more detail about the basis of the hypothesis and the authors’ related conclusions. The study, drawing on computer models taking into account ancient climate data revealed by ocean sediment cores plus more recent observations of ice melt, ocean currents and global surface temperatures, specifically hypothesizes that the ice caps will melt at an exponential, as opposed to linear, rate. Under that scenario, the study posits, the volume of discharged meltwater would double every 10, 20 or 40 years. Still, the authors note, ""the record is too short to confirm"" which timeframe will prove out, though limited modern observations put it nearer to 10 years, they say. ""If (greenhouse gas) emissions continue to grow"" (which they were as of 2011, according to federal data published in 2015), the study says, ""multi-meter sea level rise would become practically unavoidable, probably within 50-150 years."" The study says: ""Social disruption and economic consequences of such large sea-level rise, and the attendant increases in storms and climate extremes, could be devastating. It is not difficult to imagine that conflicts arising from forced migrations and economic collapse might make the planet ungovernable, threatening the fabric of civilization."" The Hansen-led study drew wide attention at its debut with some experts saying the conclusions were speculative rather than certain. On March 22, 2016, the New York Times ran a story headlined, ""Scientists warn of perilous climate shift within decades, not centuries,"" and the Post wrote, ""We had all better hope these scientists are wrong about the planet’s future."" A main point of those news stories: the possibilities raised by Hansen and his co-authors overstepped the accepted spectrum for projected sea-level rise in existing scientific literature. Other sea level forecasts Other prominent predictions: --The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2013 forecasted sea level rise between 0.6 and one meter by 2100. --In 2014, the U.S. National Climate Assessment, a federal project, predicted between one and four feet of sea level rise by the century’s end, about 0.3-1.2 m. --The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in its plans for incorporating sea level change into civil works construction, holds that ""a credible upper bound for 21st Century sea-level rise would not exceed 2 meters. So, Hansen and others indeed made bold predictions. But the predictions were based on a hypothesized phenomenon of exponential ice cap melt. Other researchers Next, we turned to outside experts for interpretation. We looked up Climate Central, a New Jersey-based a New Jersey-based organization of scientists studying climate change, and emailed the head of sea level research there, Benjamin Strauss, to inquire if Hansen’s researcher seemed credible. Asked about Stein’s claim that Hansen hasn’t been wrong in 40 years, Strauss said Hansen ""is definitely one of the greatest heroes of climate science, and he has often been prescient, but everyone makes mistakes."" Regarding the March 2016 study, Strauss said it ""was far outside the mainstream of climate or sea level science. It was very provocative, and coming from him it must be taken seriously, but specialists were and remain extremely skeptical of its projections and conclusions."" We wondered what could set Hansen’s conclusions so far apart from the accepted projections. Per our reading, public discussions posted online and other news analyses, it was largely based on a hypothesized snowball effect in ice cap melting. The study said that as freshwater poured off melting polar ice, it would form a cap atop the relatively heavy ocean saltwater; that would suppress vertical currents that bring polar sea water to the surface to cool, thereby warming the ocean subsurface, speeding melting at the deepest levels of the ice caps and increasing the rate of freshwater runoff. When Hansen emailed, he also pointed out the extensive public review process posted online. There, we found commentary from other researchers on the study. Peter Thorne, director of the Irish Climate Analysis and Research Units at Maynooth University in Ireland, left a 12-page review in which he addressed the proposed snowball effect of ice cap melt. The hypothesis, he wrote, ""relies to an uncomfortable extent upon a causal chain of the nature given a then b and because b then c and c means that d shall occur etc. Each link in the chain is certainly plausible based upon the relatively scant evidence at hand, but it is not by any stretch determinant."" Thorne also wrote: ""At the same time, however, it would be foolish in extremis to discount this out of hand as a possibility of what shall occur"" because ""we do not know enough about the earth system as a whole"" and ""I share many of the author’s manifestly obvious concerns"" about the dangerous implications of a warming climate. Texas state climatologist By email, we ran the densely-worded study by Texas state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon, a professor of meteorology at Texas A&M University. Nielsen-Gammon replied that the study's mention of sea level rise amounted to more of a ""statement of the possible"" as opposed to an actual sea-level-rise prediction."" He wrote that he read the study and explained that Hansen and the team hypothesized an exponential increase in meltwater discharge, then tested the hypothesis using observed meltwater rates for Greenland and Antarctica. He said the authors ""concluded that the observed record was too short to determine whether meltwater discharge is increasing exponentially, let alone what the time scale of increase is, though the data is consistent with their hypothesized rapid exponential increase."" Hansen acknowledged as much in a 15-minute video he released in conjunction with the paper on March 21, 2016. Hansen said in the video: ""The data records are too short, but if we wait until the real world reveals itself clearly, it may be too late to avoid sea-level rise of several meters and loss of all coastal cities."" If the volume of discharged meltwater doubles in ten years, he said in the video, seas could rise one meter in about 50 years; if the volume doubles in 20 years, seas could rise one meter in about 100 years. Our ruling Stein said Hansen predicted 10 to 30 feet of sea-level rise within 50 years or ""maybe a little bit longer."" Hansen published startling predictions exceeding established forecasts of sea-level rise related to climate change. But even under the most urgent scenario, the Hansen-led study projects about one meter—3.3 feet—of sea-level rise in 50 years. It projects, with some admitted uncertainty, multi-meter sea-level rise within 50 to 150 years."
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8738
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NASA astronaut Christina Koch returns to Earth after record mission.
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American astronaut Christina Koch, who led the first all-female spacewalk in 2019, landed in Kazakhstan on Thursday after a record stay on the International Space Station, ending a 328-day mission expected to yield new insights into deep-space travel.
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true
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Science News
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Koch, a North Carolina-born engineer who joined NASA’s astronaut corps in 2013, set the record for the longest stay in space by a woman. Her mission will provide researchers valuable data on how weightlessness and space radiation affect the female body on long spaceflights. “Women acclimate well to space, so I think this is a milestone that will be overtaken by women in the future and it’s what we aspire to,” said Lori Garver, NASA’s former deputy administrator. The Soyuz MS-13 capsule touched down on the snowy Kazakh Steppe at 4:12 am ET (0912 GMT) carrying Koch, 41, European astronaut Luca Parmitano of Italy and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov. They will be flown by search and recovery teams to the Karaganda region to begin their journey home. “I’m just so overwhelmed and happy right now,” Koch said, sitting in a chair wrapped in blankets as she waited to be carried into a medical tent to restore her balance in gravity. Koch also achieved a gender milestone in a spacewalk with fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir last October that marked the first time two women stepped out of the space station at the same time. They completed two more all-female spacewalks in January. NASA's first attempt at an all-female spacewalk in March 2019 was called off here due to a lack of a spacesuit in the right size, which ignited a gender-equity debate. Koch’s 328 days in space eclipsed Peggy Whitson’s record for an American woman on a single spaceflight at 289 days. Scott Kelly holds the overall American record at 340 days, and Russia’s Valeri Polyakov holds the global record of 437 days aboard the defunct Mir space station. Astronauts on the space station, whose 20th anniversary in low-Earth orbit comes later this year, have made 227 maintenance spacewalks, nearly two dozen of which included women astronauts, according to NASA. Studying the impact of lengthy spaceflights could prove useful for NASA’s aim of building a permanent space station on the moon within the next decade. Kelly’s 340 days demonstrated that long-term spaceflight causes thickening of the carotid artery and retina, changes in gene expression, and slight cognitive impairment for men.
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10653
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New Help to Free Legs From a Web
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"This condition for the vast majority of people is a minor cosmetic annoyance that in no way affects their health, but the article suggests that everyone is potentially a candidate for expensive removal procedures based on trumped-up discussion of health risks. And while the story provides a fair amount of useful information about these treatments, it unjustifiably extols the benefits of newer treatments without comparing them to existing surgical techniques. It also relies too much on anecdote and didn’t seek out a perspective from someone with no financial interest in these procedures. Overall, a pretty poor showing from the Times. We expect and need better from the nation’s premier daily. An industry has arisen to treat varicose veins, with dermatologists, vascular surgeons, radiologists, and other ""specialists"" all cashing in. It is shameful that our failing health care system cannot distinguish what is a cosmetic procedure the majority of the time from the very occasional patient who requires medical treatment for varicosities."
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false
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"No discussion of costs — a big hole when we’re talking about treatments that are highly profitable for specialists and are often sought out for cosmetic reasons and not because of any health risk. The benefits discussed in this story were ALL anecdotal. In addition, the story reports on a newly approved pharmaceutical intervention without citing any success rates, absolute or relative. Not satisfactory. The story doesn’t get specific as to how often harms should be expected with the various treatments discussed, but it does mention some of the more common problems that can occur, including recurrence of the varicose vein or the creation of new varicose veins in the same area. Still, the story goes to significant lengths to make readers think this is a benign procedure (including a quote about one patient feeling a ""a little tiny pinch""), when long-term consequences of superficial vein ablation on risks of deep vein issues such as clots are unknown. Overall, because the story didn’t give any sense of the scope of the problems – how often someone considering the various approaches may experience harms if they do – we must rule this unsatisfactory. The story doesn’t spend much time discussing the complexities of the medical evidence, but in its defense, it does make sure to provide specifics regarding which treatments are FDA-approved and which are being used off-label. This is in and of itself a key indicator of the strength of the data supporting different treatments. Still, the story goes a bit off course when it compares the effectiveness of different treatments without citing any data. It quotes an expert who says that newer, more expensive radio-frequency and laser treatments are ""a heck of a lot better than surgery” for treatment of underlying varicose veins. But we would expect such an assessment from someone who developed a laser treatment for varicose veins, as this expert apparently did. What would be more compelling is some reference to studies showing that these new treatments improve outcomes compared with conventional surgery–but no such information was provided. In fact, recent reviews suggest that while these newer treatments may work as well as surgery in the short term, current studies haven’t followed patients long enough to determine which is more effective over the long term. The story claims that doctors believe everyone with varicose veins should seek out medical care. Excerpt: Really? How many doctors? Who are these doctors? Are they doctors who stand to gain from treating this condition? This is a terribly misleading generalization. While it is true that a minority of patients are at risk of more serious medical problems related to their varicose veins, the vast majority of people have nothing to fear and don’t need to see a doctor. The article should have emphasized the benign nature of most varicose veins and identified the uncommon circumstances under which people should seek out medical attention for potential health risks. Although the story gets high marks for tapping a number of expert sources, it should have done more to identify potential conflicts of interest. One expert who supports laser surgery is appropriately identified as the developer of a laser technique, but Dr. Robert Weiss, another expert quoted in the story, is identified only as the director of the Maryland Laser, Skin and Vein Institute. If fails to mention that he is also a consultant to Medicis Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures Asclera, a drug recently approved by the FDA which is discussed in the story. To avoid the appearance of any bias, the story should have disclosed this relationship. It also should have tried to get a comment from someone who doesn’t benefit financially from these procedures. The story discusses surgery for varicose veins in the past tense, suggesting that it is no longer used. (""It entailed ripping out the groin-to-ankle vein with a wire via an incision."") In fact, as discussed above, the supposed long-term superiority of newer techniques over surgery has not yet been proven, and surgery still has a place in the treatment of certain types of varicose veins, especially larger veins. The story also failed to mention lifestyle changes, such as weight loss or avoiding standing or sitting for long periods, which are typically the first line treatment for this condition. As the story was in the fashion section, they should have also mentioned makeup, hosiery, etc, in addition to therapeutic interventions that a doctor might recommend. The story provides very specific information as to the availability of different treatments for varicose veins in the U.S. The story doesn’t suggest that any of these treatments are more novel than is actually the case. It’s clear that this story isn’t based on a news release."
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37507
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EMS workers in New York City and on Long Island are receiving binding orders not to transport patients in cardiac arrest or those they are unable to resuscitate outside the hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic, effective as of April 2 2020.
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EMS Workers in New York City, Long Island, Receive Orders Not to Transport Patients Who Cannot Be Resuscitated in the Field
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unproven
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Fact Checks, Viral Content
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Update, April 2 2020, 4:55 PM: Director of Communications for the NYS Department of Health Jonah Bruno responded to our query, stating:The State Department of Health has not issued, or approved, any such guidance[,] but we are working with EMS providers throughout the state to ensure the health and safety of all New Yorkers, as we mount a coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic.Original reporting: All guidance or protocols for health professionals (temporary or otherwise) remained subject to approval by the NYS Department of Health before it could be considered valid or enforceable, and before it could be adopted. Bruno indicated no such protocols were officially adopted or approved by the overriding NYS Department of Health. As such, we updated our rating from “true” to “unknown.”In early April 2020, alarming news spread across social media — that Emergency Medical Services teams in New York City and on Long Island were given orders not to transport any patients who could not be resuscitated in the field:Just heard a report on this CBS morning show that EMTs in NY are instructed to not take patients in cardiac arrest to hospitals. If they can’t be resuscitated in the field, declare them dead. The reporter said it like it was no big deal.— V. Billione Frē (@iamvbillionefre) April 2, 2020The claim spread in several forms, first with a “reportedly” qualifier:Paramedics in NY City are reportedly being told if they can’t revive a cardiac arrest patient they are not to transport them to overcrowded hospitals. #FNR https://t.co/gSU63wv7c4— FOX News Radio (@foxnewsradio) April 2, 2020Readers commented with more news or rumors they encountered about the purported new guidelines — either that patients in cardiac arrest would be left to die, that paramedics were ordered not to resuscitate patients, or that CPR had been banned:“Breaking: #COVID19 NY issues new guidance orders to stop CPR in the field! ‘patients in cardiac arrest should not be transported to the hospital if they cannot be saved in the field'”In NY, first responders r told…if a 911 call due to cardiac arrest, not to DNR or bring to hospital! How can they walk away and let someone die when they could save there life! What the hell is going on! THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE!— Ellen (@eleanor1054) April 2, 2020Breaking: NYC orders EMS to not transport cardiac-arrest patients without a pulse https://t.co/XwI5D8M2Lr— 🌴PalmTreePatriot🌴 (@FLMomNYGirl) April 2, 2020New York paramedics are not performing CPR on folks they are transporting in cardiac arrest. DNR (do not resuscitate)Why, with many hospitals in NY that are sending staff home due to being, 'slow' are they not transporting these patients to those hospitals? https://t.co/Zhm6rJOTni— 2☆☆Blue Star Mom ☆ God Bless America! (@2_bluestarmom) April 2, 2020I heard that if U R in NY & have cardiac arrest you will NOT BE resuscitated…Is this what we have become?? IT sounds like China, elimating the old and sick….— sunnyinmo (@DeplorableSunny) April 2, 2020NY EMTs now being told they are not to perform CPR on anyone having a cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital.Not hard to imagine that PTSD and depression will be major issues when this is over.Father, please have mercy on the sick & strengthen all who are in the battle.— Screeminmeeme (@Screeminmeeme) April 2, 2020Much of the discourse around the story appeared alongside an April 1 2020 WABC-TV article (“Coronavirus News: New guidelines for EMS in NYC show grim reality of COVID-19 pandemic.”) Its key points, involving cases where any patient could not be resuscitated at their location, were as follows:NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — New guidance for EMS in New York City and Long Island says that patients in cardiac arrest should not be transported to the hospital if they cannot be saved in the field. […]City officials have released stark new guidance to equally overworked ambulance crews, effective immediately, if they can’t resuscitate a patient in the field, they must withhold CPR and declare the person dead.They can no longer continue to the hospital. […]The orders to stop CPR in the field is shocking to veteran doctors who are used to doing whatever it takes to save a life.WABC-TV also quoted FDNY Deputy Fire Commissioner Frank Dwyer as saying the referenced orders were binding, and that the department intended to “devise a plan for implementation.” Late on the evening of April 1 2020, unofficial account @NYScanner shared an image of what appeared to be a memo issued on March 31 2020 by the Regional Emergency Medical Services Council of New York City, Inc., titled “TEMPORARY Cardiac Arrest Standards for Disaster Response.” It involved a number of novel patient-handling guidelines:GRIM REALITY; New guidance for EMS in NYC and Long Island says that patients in cardiac arrest should not be transported to the hospital if they cannot be saved in the field. pic.twitter.com/rtGJG1WHjF— NYC Scanner (@NYScanner) April 2, 2020We were able to track down a copy of that document, which was uploaded as a PDF to Regional Emergency Medical Services Council of New York City, Inc.’s (NYC REMAC) website and archived here. It is transcribed below:THE REGIONAL EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES COUNCIL OF NEW YORK CITY, INC. NYC REMACAdvisory No. 2020-08 Title: TEMPORARY Cardiac Arrest Standards for Disaster Response Issue Date: March 31, 2020 Effective Date: Immediate Supersedes: n/a Page: 1 of 1The Regional Emergency Medical Advisory Committee (REMAC) of New York City is responsible to develop, approve and implement prehospital treatment and transport protocols for use within the five boroughs of the City of New York. The Regional Emergency Medical Advisory Committee (REMAC) of New York City operates under the auspices of Article Thirty of the New York State Public Health Law.The NYC REMAC proudly thanks the EMS Professionals tirelessly working to protect and serve the residents of NYC and recognizes that EMS provides an ESSENTIAL service to this city, state and country.Basis: In order to ensure the safety of our providers while also providing care to our patients, the following changes have been made in the Cardiac Arrest procedure: • No adult non-traumatic or blunt traumatic cardiac arrest is to be transported to a hospital with manual or mechanical compressions in progress without either return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) or a direct order from a medical control physician unless there is imminent physical danger to the EMS providers on the scene. • In the event a resuscitation is terminated, and the body is in public view, the body can be left in the custody of NYPD. • In the event NYPD response is delayed call the following:o NYPD DOA Removal: 646-610-5580Current and Updated Protocols can be accessed at the Regional EMS Council website: www.nycremsco.org.Owners/operators of Ambulance and ALS First Response Services providing prehospital medical treatment within the five boroughs of the City of New York are responsible to provide copies of the NYC REMAC Prehospital Treatment Protocols to their personnel, and to ensure that Service Medical Directors and EMS personnel are informed of all changes/updates to the NYC REMAC Prehospital Treatment Protocols.On NYC REMAC’s “About Us” page, a brief explanation of the organization’s purpose and scope appeared:The Regional Emergency Medical Services Council of New York City, Inc., is a not-for-profit, tax exempt corporation created in 1974,whose function is to improve and coordinate emergency medical services in New York City. In 1976 the Council was designated by the Commissioner of Health of the State of New York as the Regional Emergency Medical Services Council of New York City under Article 30 of the Public Health Law.The Regional Emergency Medical Services Council of New York (REMSCO), is responsible to the State of New York for coordinating medical services in all five boroughs of New York City. The Council was established and designated to be the policy and administrative authority within the New York City region.The Regional Emergency Medical Advisory Committee (REMAC) was established to provide medical control for the EMS System.REMAC develops policies, procedures and triage, treatment and transportation protocols which are consistent with the standards of the New York State Medical Advisory Committee but address the specific needs of New York City.We tried to contact regional EMS authorities in Suffolk and Nassau Counties on Long Island, the balance of areas reportedly covered by the new advisory. We will update this page if we hear back from any of the agencies we contacted.We also located a March 29 2020 Nassau County EMS advisory about transport and cardiac arrest [PDF], involving the following updated directive:NO adult medical cardiac arrest is to be moved to a hospital with manual or mechanical compressions in progress without either return of spontaneous circulation or a direct order from a medical control physician unless there is imminent physical danger to the EMS providers on the scene.On April 2 2020, WNBC carried a similar report about EMS protocols on Long Island and in the five boroughs of New York City, “Grim New Rules for NYC Paramedics: Don’t Bring Cardiac Arrests to ER for Revival.” In summarized bullet points at the top of the page, WNBC clarified the scope of the orders and the areas affected (New York City, Suffolk County, and Nassau County):• A regional EMT group has issued new guidelines almost unthinkable even days ago — if someone’s in cardiac arrest and you can’t revive them in the field, don’t bring them to the emergency room • The guidance from the Regional Emergency Medical Services Council of New York City applies to the city as well as Nassau and Suffolk counties. The group, known as REMSCO, is the state-designated coordinating authority for the region • The newly implemented order takes effect [on April 2 2020] in an effort to control the surge of patients in hospitals due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemicIn the broader article, WNBC detailed some of the new protocols’ provisions, including directives for handling the bodies of patients not transported to hospitals for resuscitation:The guidance from the Regional Emergency Medical Services Council of New York City applies to the city as well as Nassau and Suffolk counties. The group, known as REMSCO, is the state-designated coordinating authority for the region.Typically, if someone has had cardiac arrest, and even if there’s no blood flow, EMS units will perform CPR and other lifesaving measures while en route to the hospital. Now, with very limited exceptions, that’s not to happen.Additionally, REMSCO says if the body is in public view, the EMTs can call NYPD to safeguard the body until the Medical Examiner or funeral home can pick it up.Although initial reporting on the revised EMS guidelines in New York City and on Long Island were initially framed as rumors (and some of the initial claims were inaccurate), the underlying claim is true. As of April 2 2020, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were provided binding guidelines wherein patients in cardiac arrest and those unresponsive to cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) would no longer be transported to the hospital. The guidelines affected the five boroughs, Nassau County, and Suffolk County, and included information about safeguarding the bodies of patients not resuscitated during those calls.
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36138
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"Two altar boys were arrested for ""putting weed in the censer-burner."
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‘Two Altar Boys Arrested for Putting Weed in the Censer Burner’ Claim
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false
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Fact Checks, Viral Content
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In September 2019, a number of social media users shared an article claiming two altar boys had been arrested for “putting weed in the censer-burner”:What started as a joke ended with the future of two altar boys from Spain. They were detained overnight, after having surprised them putting weed in the censer-burner of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, in Spain … Following the Mass, these altar boys were arrested by the police, after confirming that the strange smell was correspond to marijuana. “It was a joke, the idea came during the Christmas Eve mass. We bought no more than half a kilo of weed and we drop it inside the censer-burner. We are sure that people has left of the Cathedral happier more than ever”. Finally, they were freed without charge but they will not be able to discharge their functions as altar boys any more.The claim was also popular on Twitter, with dozens of people sharing the article every ten minutes. People sharing the story on Twitter joked about the purported arrest of the altar boys:The word “legend” gets thrown about a lot these days… https://t.co/cY7ej9bdHL— Fra Fee (@frafee) September 27, 2019C’mon long overdue! If .@fleabag can bang a priest, altar boys arrested for weed in the censer-burner is epic! https://t.co/IgXx6d9ORo— laura albert (@lauraalbert) September 30, 2019L E G E N D S https://t.co/H9WCev2jjg— Monica Byrne (@monicabyrne13) September 27, 2019That article was not new, bearing a date of June 11 2018. A censer burner, also called a thurible, is commonly seen in Catholic masses. It holds incense and can be carried while diffusing incense.According to LeadStories.com, another version of the claim circulated in February 2018, with slightly different details:Did you read the story about the two priests in Santiago de Compostela in Spain who were arrested after they put weed in the thurible? It is not true: it originated on a Spanish satire website. (If you didn’t know: a thurible is a vessel suspended by chains that is used to burn incense during various Christian worship services. )The story got popular after an English version titled “2 Priests Arrested After Putting Weed Into A Thurible” appeared on a website named “8SHIT” on February 18th 2018[. ]The “priests” iteration of the claim was satirical, as noted in the above-quoted excerpt. It’s not uncommon for “satire” sites to cannibalize one another’s content, copying and republishing existing “satirical” content.People on social media were clearly amused by the headline, and many likely shared it without opening the link. Had they done so, they may have noticed the name of the website (“There Is News”), and tagline directly under its header — “not real, but so funny.” At the bottom of the page under the short item, text read:ADVICE: The content of There Is News is fiction, as you can read in our Legal WarningAlthough the claim two “altar boys were arrested for putting weed in the censer-burner” was popular on social media platforms, it was neither a true story nor new in September 2019. Originally, the claim involved two priests (not altar boys), and sharers might not have seen the site’s two disclaimers noting the story was completely fabricated.
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34532
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Summer Zervos was paid $500,000 to fabricate her sexual harassment claim against Donald Trump.
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has put forth controversial articles based on little to no evidence. In the summer of 2016, the site published at least two articles painting Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, two black men who were killed by white police officers, as gang members. We looked into both those claims and found the “evidence” behind them to be flimsy at best.
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unproven
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Junk News, donald trump, election 2016, got news
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On 3 November 2016, the web site Got News published an article reporting that former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos had been paid $500,000 to accuse Donald Trump of sexual harrassment: The Apprentice loser and Trump “fake rape” accuser Summer Zervos was bribed $500,000 by Democrat fundraiser and lawyer Gloria Allred to make her accusations against Donald Trump, a deal that was shopped around to other ex-Apprentice contestants too, according to anonymous sources familiar with the matter. GotNews’ source tells us that Zervos’ sexual harassment accusation against Trump is a “completely fabricated hoax.” Zervos was paid half a million dollars by Gloria Allred, which is being paid out “slowly over time” according to our source. Got News provided no evidence to back up their claim, which was based entirely on a comment made by an unidentified source. Gloria Allred, Zervos’ attorney, called the “tip” completely false: I have been a lawyer and fighter for justice for 40 years. Those who are responsible for this malicious lie should know that if I find out who they are I will hold them accountable. Those who made up this lie know it is a lie and that is why they are afraid to give their name, and have decided to spread their lie anonymously. In October 2016, Summer Zervos accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct towards her while she was a contestant on The Apprentice several years earlier: Zervos described two alleged incidents where she said Trump forcibly kissed her on the lips — once in his New York office and another after meeting him for dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She said Trump grabbed her breast after kissing her in a bungalow at the California hotel. Although Trump has denied the allegations, at least one person has stepped forward saying that Zervos had talked to her about the subject long before Trump began his campaign for president: Zervos’ lawyer, women’s rights activist Gloria Allred, produced a witness who she says corroborates the former “Apprentice” contestant’s claims in a press conference. Ann Russo, a social worker and friend of Zervos, said she recalls the contestant talking about her encounters with Trump more than five years ago — long before the candidate decided to run for office. This isn’t the first time that Got News, run by conservative troll Charles C. Johnson,
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26622
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“Wisconsin is the only state where all Republicans voted against protecting its citizens.”
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Wisconsin is indeed the only one of the 50 states where all Republicans voted no. But it’s a bit of an exaggeration to describe that vote as “against protecting its citizens.”
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true
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Public Health, Wisconsin, Coronavirus, Facebook posts,
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"In just over 24 hours, some 12,000 people shared a post from the Kenosha County Democratic party slamming the coronavirus vote by Wisconsin’s Republican congressional delegation. The emergency measure — which includes free testing for COVID-19, paid emergency leave and other emergency appropriations — easily passed both houses of Congress and was signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 18, 2020. But it passed without much help from Wisconsin. The Kenosha Democrats seized on that fact in a March 19, 2020, Facebook post. The post explained the bill, commented on gerrymandering and noted the GOP no votes from purple Wisconsin went beyond the breakdown from even the deepest red of the red states. It was accompanied by a graphic with pictures of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher, Glenn Grothman, Jim Sensenbrenner and Bryan Steil that said this: ""WI is the ONLY state where all Republicans voted against protecting its citizens."" This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Let’s check it out. The bill passed 363-40 in the U.S. House and 90-8 in the U.S. Senate. Indeed, all five Republicans in the Wisconsin delegation cast a no vote, according to roll calls published by ProPublica. All four state Democrats voted for the bill. And, yes, that clean sweep of Republican votes was unique around the country. In Oklahoma both Republican senators voted against the bill, but two of three Republican representatives supported it. Iowa’s lone Republican representative voted no, but both Republican senators there supported the bill. That leaves us to look at the characterization that Wisconsin Republicans ""voted against protecting (the state’s) citizens""? Like anything in politics, it’s more complicated than that. In various statements issued after the votes, the state’s Republican lawmakers didn’t object to the concept of providing help amid the pandemic, but they took issue with numerous specifics in the bill and how the process was handled. Sensenbrenner objected to spending money on a bill that he said stretched 100 pages and was presented with less than 30 minutes to review. ""We do not know the full cost of this legislation,"" he said in a statement. ""I am not a fan of passing bills to find out what is in them."" Steil told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he voted against the bill because it ""places a heavy government mandate on Wisconsin small businesses that are already suffering negative consequences from coronavirus."" Gallagher echoed those comments in a statement, saying he feared the bill would hurt small businesses. ""This bill, while well-intentioned, contains a number of unclear provisions that could force small businesses in Northeast Wisconsin to lay off workers or cause them to close their doors altogether,"" Gallagher said. ""Let me be clear: H.R. 6201 contained a number of good provisions like free testing that we’ve already successfully fought for. But I have serious questions as to whether the best way to support those needing paid and sick leave is through tax credits to small businesses instead of direct payments to those affected."" Lori Hawkins, chair of the Kenosha County Democratic Party, defended the description in the Facebook post. She said the bill guided both testing and treatment to help control the spread of the disease. ""A 'no' vote by our elected officials was a vote against protecting their constituents from this highly contagious disease which has already been deadly to residents in Wisconsin,"" she said in an email. A viral Facebook post said Wisconsin ""is the only state where all Republicans voted against protecting its citizens."" It is indeed the only state where all Republicans opposed the bill, which has now become law. But it’s a bit of an exaggeration to summarize their decisions as a vote ""against protecting (Wisconsin) citizens."" And of course this is expected to be just the first of many bills addressing the coronavirus fallout."
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22980
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Re: (Marco) Rubio's support of earmark ban: In 2002 alone, he requested 37 earmarks worth $43 million.
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Marco Rubio wasn't always against earmarks, Florida Democrat claims
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true
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Federal Budget, State Budget, Florida, Steven Schale,
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"A top Florida Democrat claims that the state's Republican U.S. Sen.-elect Marco Rubio is changing stories on budget earmarks. Rubio has become one of the leading advocates of a proposal from Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., to seek a nonbinding ban on budget earmarks among Republicans in the chamber. ""I think earmarks are bad for our country,"" Rubio said in an interview before Election Day. But Rubio didn't always think that way, says former Barack Obama Florida director Steven Schale. ""I don't remember Rubio disagreeing with earmarks in the Florida Legislature,"" Schale posted on Twitter on Nov. 15, 2010, in reply to a story about Rubio supporting an earmark ban. In a separate post, Schale offered his evidence. ""Re: (Marco) Rubio's support of earmark ban: In 2002 alone (a bad budget year in Florida), he requested 37 earmarks worth $43 million."" In this case, we wanted to check Schale's math. Rubio served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2000-2008, the last two years as House speaker. During his U.S. Senate campaign, Rubio was criticized by independent candidate Gov. Charlie Crist for requesting millions of dollars in pork projects, which Crist said he had to veto. We've rated two specific claims when it comes to Rubio and earmarks before -- we called a claim that he supported $800,000 to replace the turf at a field where he played flag football Half and a claim that he tried to insert $1.5 milllion into the budget for a rowing institute ! Florida's version of the earmark was something called a Community Budget Issue Request -- a budget request legislators made for local projects. Legislators had to file their request ahead of the budget planning process and attach their name to every request. The Legislature stopped the practice in 2009, the year after Rubio left office. In 2002, Rubio's third year, the Florida House requested $1.5 billion in Community Budget Issue Requests, according to data kept by the state. To put that in perspective, the state budget that Gov. Jeb Bush signed that year totaled $50 billion, and legislators had been warned of a tight budget. (They actually were summoned back to Tallahassee to slash $1 billion from the budget in December 2001 to keep the state from going in the red.) Rubio's member budget requests for 2002 remain archived on a state website, which confirms Schale's statement. Rubio requested funding for 37 projects totalling $43,697,787. Here's the complete list. • $7.67 million, requested by Jackson Health System, to provide inpatient and outpatient health care services to people with HIV/AIDS, including medications, psycho-social counseling, education and case management. • $5 million, requested by Miami-Dade County, for an elevated, automated people-mover system connecting three elevated stations in front of the Miami International Airport passenger terminal with the planned Miami Intermodal Center. • $5 million, requested by Miami-Dade County Empowerment Trust, for a federally designated ""empowerment zone"" that targets county, state, and federal resources to stimulate economic development in distressed, low-income areas. • $2.25 million, requested by the city of Miami Springs, to eliminate recurring flood conditions through stormwater drainage improvements. • $2 million, requested by the Achievement & Rehabilitation Centers, Inc., for ARC Broward Inc., to provide intensive therapeutic & behavioral intervention for children aged 5-12 with severe autism or related disorders. • $1.5 million, requested by the South Florida Water Management District, for construction to permanently mitigate the recurring flood threat. • $1.5 million, requested by the city of West Miami, to reduce a wastewater collection system budget deficit. • $1.3 million, requested by the city of South Miami, to complete an upgrade to the city's stormwater drainage system to eliminate or reduce pollutants from the direct discharge of stormwater runoff and prevent local flooding. • $1.25 million, requested by the city of West Miami, for drainage improvements. • $1.2 million, requested by the city of South Miami, to provide high-quality municipal water and fire protection in the city. • $1.2 million by the city of Miami Springs, to relocate utilities to satisfy state DOT objectives at certain intersections. • $1.18 million, requested by Jackson Health System, for residential care for adjudicated substance abusing adolescents, including physician care, social work, nursing, psychology, medications and education. • $1 million, requested by the University of Miami School of Medicine for programs in spinal cord injury and brain research; to develop improved rehabilitation technologies; protect and prevent nervous system damage; and promote regeneration and recovery of function. • $1 million, requested by the city of Miami Springs, to eliminate infiltration in an existing wastewater treatment system. • Two separate $1 million community budget issues, both requested by Miami-Dade County, to provide hot evening and weekend meals to elderly residents of Miami-Dade County who are assessed as ""high risk"" or in danger of malnutrition. • $900,000, requested by the city of Miami Springs, to renovate an existing multi-purpose facility. • $787,059, requested by Public Health Trust of Miami for Jackson Health System, for short-term assessment and treatment of ajudicated minors for substance abuse, including medication, social work, education and physician care. • $750,000, requested by RFB&D of Miami for the Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic Florida Unit, to meet the educational needs of Florida's print-disabled children and adults through taped and digital audio books. • $750,000, requested by the Department of Environmental Resource Management for the Miami-Dade County DERM, for the stormwater planning component for the C-4 Basin in north central Miami-Dade County. • $684,690, requested by Public Health Trust for Jackson Health System, for a medical foster care program for 88 children in state custody as an alternative to reducing institutional placements of children with chronic illnesses. • $675,000, requested by the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, to provide post-crisis stabilization unit out-placement in transitional housing for chronic, mentally ill homeless persons recently discharged. • $600,000, requested by Miami Children's Hospital, to maintain and develop its pediatric trauma center. • $500,000, requested by Mayors Summit of the Americas, to create permanent offices in Florida for the Mayors Summit of the Americas, an organization of mayors of all the democratic countries of the hemisphere. • $500,000, requested by Children's Psychiatric Center in Miami, to provide at-risk children in kindergarten through third grade with individual mentoring. • $425,000, requested by the Florida Venture Foundation, to provide outreach, guidance, training, and technical support services to minority businesses in South Florida. • $400,000, requested by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, to facilitate services, trade and investment in Florida through a statewide database, website, out-bound and in-bound missions, one-on-one appointments and seminars. • $350,000, requested by One Nation Inc. of Miami, to help legal permanent residents become U.S. citizens free of charge, and also conduct monthly citizenship and voter registration drives in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. • $269,000, requested by the city of Coral Gables, for intersection improvements along U.S. 1. • $200,000, requested by the Children's Psychiatric Center of Miami, for an in-school program that provides therapeutic and behavioral support to the alternative education classrooms. • $200,000, requested by First Quality Home Care Inc. of Miami, for homebound insulin-dependent diabetics who are unable to self-administer their insulin due to a secondary diagnosis such as blindness. • $200,000, requested by the Achievement & Rehabilitation Centers, Inc., for ARC Broward Inc., to provide intensive specialized behavorial intervention in home and community-based settings; and specialized homebound speech, occupational and family therapies for children with severe autism and related disorders aged 3-18. • $175,000, requested by Curtiss Mansion Inc., to design the renovation of the historically important home of famed naval aviator and inventor Glen Curtiss. • $112,500, requested by the city of South Miami, for improvements to Dante Fascell Park, including drainage in parking lots and tennis courts, ADA-accessible playground equipment and picnic tables, resurfacing tennis and hardball courts, and replacing or repairing individual stations along the exercise path in the park. • $100,000, requested by Allapattah Wynwood Community and Development Center in Miami, for construction of a new child care facility in Miami's Allapattah Wynwood community to introduce early childhood intervention programs that serve 100 children from low/moderate income families. • $50,000, requested by the village of Virginia Gardens, to construct a 20-foot by 20-foot picnic shelter and concrete slab. • $25,000, requested by the city of West Miami, to provide resources to the city's police department to improve homeland security. (We made a link to Rubio's requests, which you can see here). It turns out Rubio requested more money in Community Budget Issue Requests than all but four members of the 120-member Florida House (Democrat Gary Siplin $65.1 million; Republican Mike Bennett $74.8 million; Republican Bev Kilmer $120.4 million; and Democrat Curtis Richardson $130.1 million). In 2001, Rubio actually requested even more money -- $101.2 million for 72 projects -- but Rubio did not make another Community Budget Issue Request after 2002, according to the state database. Not one in six years. But those aren't the years Schale referenced. Schale said Rubio requested 37 earmarks in 2002 worth $43 million -- which he says is at odds with Rubio's current support for an earmark ban. Schale has his math right, according to figures kept by the state. Rubio that year ranked fifth in requests for money among Florida House members."
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9514
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‘WEEKEND WARRIOR’ WORKOUTS ARE BENEFICIAL AS JUST 20 MINUTES OF EXERCISE A DAY
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This story highlights the findings of a large, longitudinal study conducted in England and Scotland. However, “large” doesn’t mean “conclusive,” which this story seems to indicate. As we saw in our review of The Guardian’s take on the same study, the story confuses association with causation (see more in Why This Matters and Quantified Benefits, below) and didn’t adequately provide a sense of the size of the potential benefits. If getting a lot of activity is only plausible on the weekends, and research shows it’s useful at reducing early death risk, then that’s perhaps newsworthy. However, the findings should not be overstated as conclusive, which was done in this story. Researchers saw an association with physical activity and reduced risk of death when looking at data–they did not prove it’s a direct cause-and-effect relationship by assigning people to different types of exercise and then tracking what happens. This should have been made clearer.
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true
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exercise
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Given the nature of the study we don’t think that this issue is relevant. The story used only relative risk numbers to quantify the benefit. This is inadequate, as we explain in Reporting the findings: Absolute vs relative risk. Also, the story confused association with causation, i.e., “researchers in the U.K. found that weekend exercise appears to be just as effective at preventing heart disease and cancer as exercise done more frequently.” The title of the paper suggests otherwise: “Association of Weekend Warrior and other Leisure Time Activity Patterns with Risk of All Cause Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer Mortality.” See more on the importance of not overstating observational findings. The story does a good job highlighting some of the potential harms associated with vigorous physical activity: “However, experts caution that it is possible to overdo it” and “more exercise than two and a half hours a week can actually be unhelpful and even harmful.” An expert in the field not associated with the study provides a bit of common sense to the discussion; “There are risks that come with a weekend warrior exercise schedule, especially for people who aren’t used to being active. “I would be more concerned about what’s happening at the point of exercise—not the long-term benefits,” says Dr. Howard Andrew Selinger, chair of family medicine at Quinnipiac University. The story provides adequate information about the study design, the populations involved and some of the limitations of the study design. However, it left out important limitation: The inactive population studied was 7 years older, had more current smokers, and suffered more from unspecified “long standing illness” than the participants who were active. No evidence of disease mongering here. The story does provide some precautionary words from an independent expert in the field related to the risks associated with strenuous exercise. We would have liked to have seen an expert in the field provide comments on the study, the inherent limitations and on the conclusions drawn. Although the focus of the story was the “weekend warrior,” several comments were included suggesting alternative exercise strategies, including: “This could be something as simple as a brisk walk or other low-impact options for vigorous exercise about 20 minutes a day. “In theory, someone who did one bout of 150 minutes of moderate exercise is a weekend warrior,” says O’Donovan. This study shows that it doesn’t matter how you decide to split up the recommended weekly amount of exercise. You just need to do it.” We think that the ability to exercise is generally available, so this is N/A. The story did not establish what’s novel, unlike what we saw in our review of The Guardian’s story. The story does not appear to rely on a news release.
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3911
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114 Colorado schools split $10M for upgrades after shooting.
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A Colorado county has approved spending $10 million on physical and technological upgrades at more than 100 schools and on mental health programming in response to a deadly school shooting in May.
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true
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Shootings, Mental health, Health, General News, Denver, School shootings, Colorado
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Douglas County commissioners on Thursday appropriated about $7.7 million for physical safety and set aside $1.3 million for technology for schools to deploy in the future, the Denver Post reported. About $990,000 will go toward mental health programs, including curriculum, training and surveys about school culture. That’s enough to cover schools’ requests related to students’ emotional needs, said Commissioner Abe Laydon. Ninety-one district schools applied for and received some funding, along with 15 charter schools and eight private schools. Laydon said the grants won’t be able to prevent all acts of violence, but they will make it more difficult to harm children in Douglas County. Commissioners also committed an additional $3 million to partially fund 26 police officers in county schools and $331,000 in ongoing funding for a mental health response team that launched Monday. The May 7 shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch south of Denver killed 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo and left eight other students injured. Two former students have been charged in the shooting and their cases are pending. At the meeting, Commissioner Roger Partridge asked for a moment of silence to honor Castillo — who died trying to disarm a gunman — and his parents. “It was time for something to be done,” Partridge said. ___ Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com
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9506
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Tweaking brains with ‘smart drugs’ to get ahead in Silicon Valley
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This story about purported brain-boosting pills would have been easier to swallow if it came with a stronger shot of skepticism. The story would have benefited greatly from at least one source who isn’t involved in the cognitive-enhancement movement. It does a better job of describing the availability of these supplements and the hyper-competitive culture that feeds this emerging market. The term “nootropics” applies to a wide variety of substances that apparently require no safety or efficacy trials, no FDA approval, and no prescription from a doctor. As a result, media coverage is often consumers’ only tool to counter the marketing hype when attempting to determine whether these products will do them good or harm, or simply waste their money. Sadly critical coverage is in short supply. Back in 2015, HealthNewsReview.org Associate Editor Kathlyn Stone wrote that nootropics were “under the radar” of journalists, despite heavy marketing targeted at students and young professionals. That appears to be changing, but journalists need to be cognizant of their role as consumer watchdogs.
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mixture
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neurology,smart drugs
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There’s no discussion of cost. We found one drug cited in this story — piracetam — online for $39.99 for 180 capsules. For those seeking a cocktail of supposed brain boosters, startup Nootrobox charges $135 for “all the nootropics you need to enhance your cognitive state for one month.” The company explains: “Cognitive performance is an active, long-term investment.” (Notably, piracetam isn’t on Nootrobox’s ingredient list. For more on that, read the section on availability.) The story doesn’t quantify any known benefits of these brain enhancers, for example if memory increased by a certain percent. Harms are addressed–enough to be Satisfactory for this criteria. But the discussion is confusing. The story initially says nootropics have “supposedly few side effects and low toxicity.” Later it states: As for newer nootropic drugs, there are unknown risks. “Piracetam has been studied for decades,” says cognitive neuroscientist Andrew Hill, the founder of a neurofeedback company in Los Angeles called Peak Brain Institute. But “some of [the newer] compounds are things that some random editor found in a scientific article, copied the formula down and sent it to China and had a bulk powder developed three months later that they’re selling. Please don’t take it, people!” In contrast, consider these unequivocal cautions in a similar Mercury News story last fall, starting in the seventh paragraph: Research into the cognitive benefits of nootropics is still in its early stages, and some experts worry about the long-term health effects of ingesting potent synthetic smart drugs, which are largely unregulated. Some users have reported side effects including headaches, upset stomach, insomnia, anxiety and depression. Dr. Reid Blackwelder, past president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, said it concerns him that customers are ordering such drugs online without consulting a doctor, because some of the substances seem to have a powerful impact on the brain. And much of the research on the cognitive benefits of these substances is supported only by studies using animals, Blackwelder said. This story falls into the trap of relying on positive anecdotes as evidence, citing an entrepreneur who “credits the regimen with giving him the cognitive edge he needs to thrive in California’s Silicon Valley, where he’s the co-founder of a food service that caters to athletes and fitness devotees,” as well as a physician who said he with experimented with piracetam and found it “helpful.” Also troublesome is this statement: “Piracetam is well studied and is credited by its users with boosting their memory, sharpening their focus, heightening their immune system, even bettering their personalities.” Saying it’s “well studied” in the same sentence as giving purported benefits is confusing and may lead readers to assume incorrectly that these benefits were proven in studies. Lastly, the story quotes advocates of fasting without cautioning that what works in mice may not apply to humans. Comments Mark Mattson, chief of the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging: “There’s pretty conclusive evidence from animal studies that intermittent fasting is beneficial for brain function and resistance to aging from neurogenerative diseases.” In fact, there is no such thing as “conclusive evidence from animal studies.” To its credit, the story does eventually–but very briefly–explore the quality of the evidence, mainly via this comment from Duke University Health System researcher Murali Doraiswamy: “There’s a sizable demand, but the hype around efficacy far exceeds available evidence.” There’s no outright disease-mongering here, but the preposterous quote that it is “the few who are getting ahead who are using supplements” should have been challenged. That makes it sounds like “normal” people are in some way deficient. The story lacks comment from an independent expert who’s not involved with selling, prescribing or taking nootropics or some other cognition-boosting product. The story doesn’t address proven strategies to improve mental skills such as good nutrition, adequate sleep, social engagement, cognitively challenging activities, and exercise. The story does a good job here, although it injects confusion when it states that in the U.S. piracetam “can be sold only for research purposes,” but later says that piracetam and similar drugs are available online. In fact, the FDA at least twice warned suppliers, in 2010 and 2012, that piracetam was classified as a drug and could not be sold as a supplement. According to online accounts, that FDA action prompted major retailers to stop carrying it, which could explain why it’s not present in some products marketed as nootropics. The story also states: “A number of companies now market nootropic ‘stacks,’ or formulas, some of which include piracetam, herbal remedies, amino acids and citicoline, a naturally occurring brain chemical that can be taken orally as a supplement, intravenously or as a shot.” There story gives perspective, mentioning that piracetam has been around for decades, though newer formulations are on the market, and that companies have recently begun marketing “stacks” with multiple supplements. The story does not appear to rely on a news release.
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9387
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Selfie medicine: Phone apps push people to take their pills
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This story about the potential use of smartphone apps to monitor how well patients stick to their prescriptions is clear that the technology still has to prove itself. It includes concerns about privacy and data security. But, the story did not adequately report relationships between some sources and app developers. Also, the story could have done a better job highlighting the possibility that these apps may not provide the benefits that fans hope for, especially for people who have limited access to smartphones (or limited ability to use them). Why This MattersNews stories do not always need to wait for conclusive studies before reporting on new medical interventions, but when reporters tackle speculative topics it is important to balance the promises offered by advocates with a clear discussion of the potential for failure. Readers should have been told about existing studies of similar technologies that failed to demonstrate benefits or found ways that things could go wrong. Why This MattersNews stories do not always need to wait for conclusive studies before reporting on new medical interventions, but when reporters tackle speculative topics it is important to balance the promises offered by advocates with a clear discussion of the potential for failure. Readers should have been told about existing studies of similar technologies that failed to demonstrate benefits or found ways that things could go wrong. Why This MattersNews stories do not always need to wait for conclusive studies before reporting on new medical interventions, but when reporters tackle speculative topics it is important to balance the promises offered by advocates with a clear discussion of the potential for failure. Readers should have been told about existing studies of similar technologies that failed to demonstrate benefits or found ways that things could go wrong. Why This MattersNews stories do not always need to wait for conclusive studies before reporting on new medical interventions, but when reporters tackle speculative topics it is important to balance the promises offered by advocates with a clear discussion of the potential for failure. Readers should have been told about existing studies of similar technologies that failed to demonstrate benefits or found ways that things could go wrong. News stories do not always need to wait for conclusive studies before reporting on new medical interventions, but when reporters tackle speculative topics it is important to balance the promises offered by advocates with a clear discussion of the potential for failure. Readers should have been told about existing studies of similar technologies that failed to demonstrate benefits or found ways that things could go wrong.
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mixture
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selfies
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Although the story does include some discussion of costs, the specifics implied that smartphone app systems are inherently less expensive than alternatives. However, as the story points out, the actual costs and effectiveness of the apps discussed are still being studied. The hoped-for cost savings might not materialize. It’s possible that the apps might be cheaper, but also less effective, perhaps leading to more expensive remedial interventions or poorer health outcomes. The story did not address several important cost questions. Even if insurers or public programs paid for the apps, who would pay for the smartphones, data plans and other costs? For people with low incomes, these costs could create barriers to treatment. The story does not claim that smartphone apps are beneficial, just that the potential benefits are being studied. The story noted privacy and data security concerns near the top and expanded on them in the body of the piece. The story would have been more balanced if it had declared more strongly that while these apps could be helpful, until studies are done, it is also just as possible that they could be useless or even harmful in ways that were not discussed in the story, such as diverting patients from proven interventions. The story clearly states that the smartphone apps still need to be studied. It labeled supporters as “fans,” which helps to convey that their arguments are at least partly based on beliefs that go beyond the available evidence. But, the story should have provided more context for readers by noting the disappointing results of evidence that has been completed. For example, in a UCSF study, “participants were unable to fully navigate the apps’ functions, and most expressed frustration and disappointment with the experience.” A recent study of medication adherence apps, the subject of this story, found a “concerning lack of [health care professional] involvement in app development and evidence base of effectiveness.” The story uses examples of health conditions in which medication adherence is known to affect outcomes. It could have been clearer that treatment for tuberculosis is temporary, whereas treatment for opioid use disorder may be more extended and thus affect retention rates. While the story does include a couple of independent sources, it could have done a better job identifying the connections between other sources and industry. The story does not tell readers that Dr. Judith Tsui is an advisor to the company developing the app she is studying. Another quoted source, Alain Litwin, appears to have received consulting fees from several pharmaceutical companies. The story does identify one proponent of smartphone apps, Dr. Richard Garfein, as a co-developer of an app. We will give the story a satisfactory rating on this criterion because it does discuss existing methods for monitoring medication adherence and it makes clear that the apps mentioned still need to be studied. However, the overall tone of the story implies confidence that the apps will prove themselves to be more efficient than current methods, which is a proposition that has yet to be adequately tested. The story reports that these apps are available in pilot programs and studies. It also refers to Skype, which most readers will know is generally available. One issue that remains to be seen is how accessible these apps will be to lower-income or homeless people, or those who have limited technology experience and/or limited eyesight. The story describes how proponents of smartphone apps describe what’s new about these smartphone apps. The story discusses a number of different apps and quotes sources from a variety of institutions.
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32722
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A college student wound up in a coma after ingesting two gallons of semen as part of a social media challenge.
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Both TMZWorldNews and Empire Herald are among fake news sites that have no disclaimer notices warning readers that their content is fictional. Hoaxes previously advanced by the latter outlet included a claim about a dog meat restaurant, a racially charged falsehood about a serial killer who purportedly carved “Black Lives Matter” into the skin of his victims, a fabrication about a man committing suicide over the Harriet Tubman $20 bill, and an outlandish (yet false) story about a parent pleasuring herself with a Happy Meal toy in a McDonald’s ball pit.
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false
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Junk News, empire herald, semen challenge, social media challenges
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On 1 February 2016, a story began to circulate on social media that a college student fell into a coma after ingesting two gallons of semen as part of a social media “Swallow Challenge”: Swallow Challenge? College Student In A Coma After Attempting To Drink 2 Gallons of Semen https://t.co/IGEPpuNSeP — Empire Herald (@EmpireHerald) February 1, 2016 As is often the case with news hoaxes, the story bounced around a number of unreliable web sites, landing on TMZWorldNews in early May 2016. The identical articles reported that a young woman was in a medically induced coma after doctors found gallons of semen in her stomach: Reportedly, the young woman was attempting the new “Swallow Challenge” which originated in Japan. According to reports, Yoshikomitsu read about the “Swallow Challenge” on a popular Japanese blog earlier this week. Yoshikomitsu, 19 is a sophomore at Arizona State University originally from Tempe. She found out more about the challenge after a friend had posted a Vine video showing clips of other girls attempting the challenge … Susan and Karla invited the interested guys over to their off campus apartment in groups of 10. With in 3 days, Yoshikomitsu and Kurosawa were able to get 2 gallons of semen from over 200 guys. After the semen was obtained, they refrigerated it while Yoshikomitsu prepared to make her video. “Susan made sure she didn’t eat or drink anything for the entire day. We both went into the bathroom where I held the phone to record her doing the challenge. After drinking about 23 glasses full, Susan passed out and that is when I called 911,” said Karla. The “semen swallowing challenge” has been around for decades in one form or another, usually involving various celebrities getting hospitalized for purportedly ingesting seminal fluid. The story is also medically improbable: the typical human stomach can hold around 32 ounces at any given time, or about a quarter of a gallon, not two gallons. (An attached image of a dorm room appears to have been swiped from a Pinterest account.)
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22095
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"John Whitmire Says the Texas Board of Nursing has a backlog of ""3,000 complaints against nurses, many of them sexual assaults, malfeasance."
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State Sen. John Whitmire says the Texas Board of Nursing has a backlog of 3,000 complaints, including many cases of sexual assault and malfeasance
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true
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Health Care, Crime, Regulation, Texas, John Whitmire,
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"Explaining why he couldn’t support the Texas Senate’s version of the 2012-13 state budget, Sen. John Whitmire said he didn’t know how state agencies can cope with further budget cuts, singling out the Texas Board of Nursing as an example. ""I asked them for their backlog of investigations,"" he said. ""They’ve got 3,000 complaints against nurses, many of them sexual assaults, malfeasance."" Time to crank up the Truth-O-Meter, starting with the board’s unresolved complaints. Some background: The board investigates and adjudicates complaints about Texas nurses who could be violating the Nursing Practice Act, which imposes regulations on nursing education, licensing and practices in the state including rules against unnecessarily exposing patients to the risk of harm or failing to adequately care for them. At the nursing board, spokesman Bruce Holter told us the senator’s count of 3,000 backlogged complaints is too low, accounting solely for unresolved cases from fiscal years 2009 and 2010. In 2010, the board resolved 14,429 of 16,890 complaints filed against nurses, leaving 2,461 unresolved cases. As of this March, another 511 complaints filed in 2009 remained unresolved, bringing the total backlog to nearly 3,000. There also are several hundred lingering complaints dating back to May 2006, board officials said. As of March, the board had about 11,000 open investigations, including the backlog. What are the complaints about? ""In general,"" Holter said, ""criminal conduct, drug-related conduct and failure to follow the minimum standard of care are the main types of complaints."" That covers malfeasance. But what about Whitmire’s other charge — that a chunk of the backlogged cases are sexual assault complaints? Lara Wendler, Whitmire’s chief of staff, told us the senator based his statement on conversations with administrators at agencies, including the nursing board. She added, though, that Whitmire was referring to all regulatory agencies, not just the nursing board, when he said backlogged cases included ""many"" sexual assaults. That was not clear from Whitmire’s floor remarks. Holter said the board checks all nurses licensed in Texas against state and national databases identifying sex offenders. Currently, the board is investigating complaints against four nurses who appear on the Texas Department of Public Safety’s sex offender database, and 12 nurses who appear on a national sex offender registry kept by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. ""Sexual assault complaints against nurses make up a small percentage of the overall number of complaints investigated by the board,"" Holter said. But he added that other than the nurses found on the sexual offender databases, ""it would be difficult for staff to ‘pin down’ the number of complaints involving sexual assault."" Why? The board doesn’t categorize complaints by type, though when disciplinary action has been taken, Holter said, the board can run a data mining program to identify specific rule violations. But because the board doesn't track the number of sexual assault cases, it would have to review each resolved complaint individually. Lastly, why have complaints stacked up? Board employees are barred from discussing the details of individual complaints, but the board’s general counsel Dusty Johnston told us that generally, complaints don’t get resolved for a variety of reasons. He offered several examples: The investigator may be under-performing; extensive due process is required; the medical records of the patient involved in the complaint are difficult to obtain. So, the board says it has about 3,000 backlogged complaints, as Whitmire said. According to the board, many of the complaints allege malfeasance by nurses, as Whitmire also said, and a smaller number involve sexual assaults. But no one can determine the precise breakout without access to confidential board information."
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16906
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"There have been 74 ""school shootings in America since Sandy Hook."
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"A statistic calculated by Everytown for Gun Safety, and shared widely on social media, said that there have been 74 ""school shootings in America since Sandy Hook."" The group’s figure is accurate only if you use a broad definition of ""school shooting"" that includes such incidents as suicides, accidents and spillover from adjacent criminal activity. The figure has some value in quantifying the proximity of guns to school campuses, but the group makes a significant stretch by tying the statistic so closely to the mass shooting at Sandy Hook. By doing this, the group closely associates the statistic with planned mass shootings targeting students and school staff -- a category that, using a more strict definition, accounts for only 10 of the 74 incidents. The statement contains some element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression."
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false
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National, Children, Education, Guns, Everytown for Gun Safety,
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"After an Oregon high school freshman armed with an assault rifle injured a teacher, killed a student and killed himself Tuesday, a striking statistic began circulating on the internet. It said that at least 74 school shootings had occurred since December 2012, when an assault on Sandy Hook Elementary School by Adam Lanza left 28 dead, including Lanza and his mother. The statistic came from Everytown for Gun Safety, an advocacy group founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and gun-control advocate Shannon Watts. That comes out to more than one school shooting per week. Numerous media outlets reported the 74 school shootings figure, and the number spread widely in Facebook posts and through other forms of social media. Even President Barack Obama brought up the once-a-week line in an interview with Tumblr CEO David Karp. In the interview, Obama discussed his frustration with lawmakers’ inaction on gun control legislation, particularly in the wake of Sandy Hook. While it’s not clear that Obama was specifically referencing the statistic compiled by Everytown, his comment was in line with their math. ""We’re the only developed country on Earth where this happens,"" he said, ""and it happens now once a week."" But as widely as the number spread, it also attracted criticism. Charles Johnson, who writes for the conservative Daily Caller, garnered attention for what he considered a debunking of the Everytown list. We decided to sift through the numbers ourselves. How Everytown counted 74 incidents To its credit, Everytown provided details on each of the 74 shootings, including the date, city and school location. The group also clearly laid out its methodology at the bottom of the list. These make it possible for the critics -- and us -- to look under the hood at its calculations. The main reason for the criticism of Everytown’s count is that its definition of ""school shooting"" is relatively broad. The group’s criteria goes beyond what many people would consider ""school shootings"" -- incidents in which a student or an intruder enters a school and fires at innocent students and staff. For many people, this is the first thing that comes to mind when they hear the phrase ""school shooting"" -- an incident such as Sandy Hook or, before it, the 1999 Columbine shooting in Colorado that left 15 dead, including the shooters. Here’s the methodology as explained by the group at the bottom of the list: Incidents were classified as school shootings when a firearm was discharged inside a school building or on school or campus grounds, as documented in publicly reported news accounts. This includes assaults, homicides, suicides, and accidental shootings. Incidents in which guns were brought into schools but not fired there, or were fired off school grounds after having been possessed in schools, were not included.... Incidents were identified through media reports, so this is likely an undercount of the true total. This definition allows for incidents that don’t typically call to mind the term ""school shooting"" -- for example, a case in which a man unaffiliated with Alogna High/Middle School in Iowa killed himself in the school’s parking lot in the middle of the night, or an early-morning armed robbery on a street that goes through the Marquette University campus in Wisconsin. Both count in Everytown’s tally. Clearly it is difficult to draw lines. The Everytown list did not include the recent and highly publicized shooting spree in Isla Vista, Calif. In that case, the shooter was a student at the University of California at Santa Barbara, and he targeted other students, including women living in a sorority house near the campus. Seven people died, but the shooting wasn’t technically on campus, so it didn’t make the list. Our Breakdown We reviewed news reports for all 74 shootings and did our best to sort them into five categories. Here’s our breakdown. (See individual shootings by category here, with clickable links to news reports on each shooting.) • Incidents such as Sandy Hook or Columbine in which the shooter intended to commit mass murder: 10 instances • Incidents related to criminal activity (such as drug dealing or robbery), or personal altercations: 39 instances • Incidents unconnected to members of school community and/or that took place outside school hours: 16 instances • Suicides: 6 instances • Accidental discharges: 3 instances In all, these 74 incidents resulted in 38 deaths and 53 injuries. The biggest death toll in one incident was a shooting spree that ended at Santa Monica College. Six people died, though not all of them took place on the campus. While the list includes a lot of gunfire, deaths and injuries, only about 14 percent were shootings that mirrored Columbine and Sandy Hook. In addition, almost half -- 35 -- occurred at a college or university rather than a K-12 school. This clashes with the imagery invoked by the line in the chart’s introduction, that ""we should feel secure in sending our children to school — comforted by the knowledge that they’re safe."" We asked James Fox, a criminology professor at Northeastern University, for some perspective. He pointed to the 2013 ""Indicators of School Crime and Safety"" report compiled by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. There were about 45 school-associated violent deaths (not just by guns) at elementary and secondary schools each year between the 1992 and 2010 school years, according to the report. The highest annual total was 63 deaths in 2006-07, while the lowest was 31 in 2010-11. In other words, Fox said, the number of gun deaths documented by Everytown over the past year and a half are not out of the ordinary. About 15 to 20 kids in grades K-12 are killed at school each year, along with a similar number of college students, he said. Is it misleading? The experts we consulted agreed that Everytown’s broad definition of ""school shooting"" could be misleading, encouraging them to assume that there have been 74 incidents similar to Columbine or Sandy Hook. While the Everytown definition is certainly one way of calculating it, there is such a range of motivations, degrees of planning and outcomes that it ceases to be an especially useful measurement, said Jay Corzine, a University of Central Florida sociology professor. Mark Safarik, president of Forensic Behavioral Services Inc. and a former member of the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit, agreed that when the average person thinks of a school shooting, they think of a mass murder like Sandy Hook. ""There is an ocean of difference between Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech and Columbine and a depressed student who (commits suicide) at school, or an accidental discharge,"" Safarik said. ""To call them all school shootings may be true in a technical sense but is quite disingenuous on an emotional level, which is where they are trying to capture for their audience."" Everytown has countered the media criticism by arguing that focusing too closely on Sandy Hook-like incidents unfairly diminishes the full extent of the dangers to students and staff posed by guns in or near schools. ""The country's gun-violence epidemic has seeped into our children's schools, and that is a problem, regardless of the body count,"" said spokeswoman Erika Lamb. ""Those lives count, too, even if the media is only focused on mass tragedies."" Corzine prefers the designation used by the New York Police Department, among others -- ""active shooter,"" which limits the list to incidents that occur during school hours, involving a firearm discharged with the intent to kill or injure others on school grounds or while in transit on a school vehicle. In addition, Fox said the statistic is misleading for another reason -- it focuses on short-term patterns, rather than long-term trends. Despite the media focus, Fox said, it’s worth noting that the number of school-related homicides has remained relatively flat for two decades, he said. ""I don't mean to minimize the horror of these events or the pain and suffering of victims, but schools are safe, safer than other places that our children spend time,"" he said. ""For some kids, school is even safer than their home."" Corzine said he sees some value in Everytown’s calculations -- but also pitfalls. On the one hand, ""they are a valid indicator of the ease with which firearms enter the school environment in the United States compared to other highly developed nations."" By the same token, though, ""it is misleading to use the 74 school shootings in a context that explicitly or implicitly equates them with Sandy Hook."" Our ruling A statistic calculated by Everytown for Gun Safety, and shared widely on social media, said that there have been 74 ""school shootings in America since Sandy Hook."" The group’s figure is accurate only if you use a broad definition of ""school shooting"" that includes such incidents as suicides, accidents and spillover from adjacent criminal activity. The figure has some value in quantifying the proximity of guns to school campuses, but the group makes a significant stretch by tying the statistic so closely to the mass shooting at Sandy Hook. By doing this, the group closely associates the statistic with planned mass shootings targeting students and school staff -- a category that, using a more strict definition, accounts for only 10 of the 74 incidents. The statement contains some element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression."
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7476
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EU official warns of extremists exploiting virus outbreak.
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The European Union’s counterterrorism official is warning that the coronavirus pandemic is being used by extremists as an opportunity to spread their message and could be exploited to carry out attacks.
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true
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Understanding the Outbreak, Counterterrorism, International News, General News, Health, Terrorism, Virus Outbreak, Europe
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In a confidential briefing to member nations obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, Counter-Terrorism Coordinator Gilles de Kerchove cautioned that right-wing extremists and Islamic militants “could view attacks on medical personnel and facilities as highly effective, because these would generate a massive shock in society.” He noted that in the U.S., the FBI in March shot and killed a white supremacist while trying to arrest him for plotting to blow up a hospital treating COVID-19 patients, after initially considering an attack on an African-American school, mosque or synagogue. From past experience, he said it’s known that “terrorists and violent extremists, aiming to change societies and governmental systems through violence, seek to exploit major crises to achieve their objectives”. De Kerchove noted that the Islamic State group, for example, emerged after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and then gained strength during the Arab Spring uprisings. In Europe, left-wing extremists are paying “extensive attention” to the pandemic, blaming governments and “the capitalist system as a whole” for it, saying politicians have underfunded health care services, de Kerchove wrote in the analysis provided to EU member nations on May 7 and first reported Wednesday by Germany’s Die Zeit newspaper’s online edition. IS has “incited its supporters in the West to take advantage of the current crisis to stage attacks,” but so far there has been no uptick in any violence, he said. Currently, most extremists seem to be using the crisis for propaganda purposes, taking advantage of the fact that with lockdown measures people are spending more time online than usual. “To increase their support base, violent extremists use people’s insecurities, vulnerabilities and grievances, creating a simple narrative which ‘explains’ problems by blaming outsiders,” de Kerchove wrote. “’Infidels’ or ‘apostates’ serve as scapegoats for jihadists, members of ethnic and religious minority groups for right-wing extremists, and ‘class enemies’ and ‘capitalists’ for left-wing extremists.” _____ Frank Jordans contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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6772
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Wisconsin sanctions assisted living facility after death.
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Wisconsin has ordered an assisted living facility to stop taking new residents after an elderly woman with dementia was found frozen to death outside late last year.
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true
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Health, Assisted living, Wisconsin
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Faith Gardens in Sun Prairie was also fined $4,200, the Wisconsin State Journal reported . Alice McGaw was discovered dead outside the facility in December when temperatures were below 10 degrees. McGaw had been transferred to the facility in October after she rolled her wheelchair out of another assisted living facility and was almost hit by a car. “The family decided to be pro-active and look for a smaller facility, and with winter coming they wanted a more secure environment,” according to a state Department of Health Services inspection report released Monday. Faith Gardens didn’t have a front-door alarm, left an inside door propped open and failed to check on the 84-year-old frequently enough, the report said. McGaw’s care plan also required she wear an alarm bracelet, but the facility didn’t employ the bracelet system, the report found. The facility cannot accept new residents until the violations are corrected. The only sanction more serious is having a license revoked. Faith Gardens officials didn’t immediately respond to the newspaper’s request for comment. There are huge regulation gaps when it comes to assisted living facilities, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report released Monday. Many states don’t have information about abuse, neglect or unexplained deaths at facilities, the agency said. Wisconsin has nearly 4,200 assisted living facilities, which can accommodate more than 59,000 people. ___ Information from: Wisconsin State Journal, http://www.madison.com/wsj
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4112
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Kentucky health agency now without infectious diseases chief.
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Kentucky is struggling with the nation’s worst hepatitis A outbreak, and its state Department of Public Health is suddenly without its infectious diseases chief.
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true
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Health, Kentucky, Infectious diseases, Hepatitis, Public health
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John Bennett tells The Courier Journal that he was dismissed on Friday. Cabinet for Health and Family Services spokesman Doug Hogan confirmed in an email to the AP that Bennett is no longer with the health department. Bennett says he wasn’t given a specific reason for his dismissal and nothing suggests it was related to Kentucky’s outbreak response. Kentucky said Monday that the outbreak first declared in 2017 has killed 52 people and sickened more than 4,400. Kentucky has had more hepatitis A-related deaths than any other state struggling with similar outbreaks. Hogan says the number of hepatitis A cases has been declining for several months. ___ Information from: Courier Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com
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11423
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Generic heart medication shown to prolong ovarian cancer patients' survival
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A news release from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center describes a journal article about a study that found patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), the most common form of ovarian cancer, had better overall survival times if they were taking beta-blockers — a fairly common medication used to reduce blood pressure. However, the study doesn’t seem to support the sweeping claim of the news release headline that the heart medication was “shown to prolong ovarian cancer patients’ survival.” There’s no mention of any of the limitations of the study design or the potential harms associated with the use of beta blockers. Our review details these concerns and provides some suggestions for improvement. [Editor’s note: we also looked at Wall Street Journal story about this study to see if the problems we found in the release were evident in the story. Our review has the details.] Ovarian cancer is the eighth most common cancer for women in the United States, and is diagnosed in approximately 20,000 women each year. It is responsible for about 14,000 deaths each year. It is, in short, all too common and can be all too deadly. Evidence that a drug already on the market could prolong life for EOC patients is certainly worth reporting. However, it’s important to clearly define the limitations of that evidence. In matters of life and death, patients and their families are often willing to grasp at straws. Hope is a precious commodity, and it is important that EOC patients and their families not be given false hope. Misleading news releases can lead to misleading media coverage, and research institutions need to be sure they are writing about research findings responsibly.
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mixture
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Academic medical center news release,Cancer,Observational studies
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The release doesn’t mention cost at all. Beta-blockers are currently available, and a monthly prescription can run patients from 10 to hundreds of dollars. The non-selective beta-blockers mentioned in the release are all available as a generic product and are relatively inexpensive as compared to the selective agents The news release provides an understandable summary of the benefits seen in this retrospective review. “The release reports that EOC patients nonselective beta antagonists (NSBBs — a type of beta blocker) had a median overall survival of of 94.9 months. That’s compared to 42 months for EOC patients who did not take beta blockers, and 38 months for those receiving beta-1-adrenergic receptor selective agents (SBBs — another type of beta blocker).” But we think a few words about a couple of important provisos which we comment on under Quality of evidence should have been included. The release doesn’t address harms at all. Side effects can range from diarrhea to depression, may trigger asthma attacks in asthmatic patients, and can cause complications for patients with diabetes. Some of these side effects may seem relatively inconsequential when compared to EOC mortality, but they’re worth mentioning. The release does a fair job of describing the study — but fails to make clear what that study design means in terms of its limitations. For example, in addition to its very bold headline claim, the first sentence of the release states that researchers have demonstrated a benefit in overall survival among EOC patients receiving beta-blockers. Most readers would draw the conclusion that the study has found a clear cause-and-effect relationship between the use of beta blockers and prolonged survival in EOC patients. Not so fast. As the release itself makes clear, further down, some beta blockers — the SBBs — actually were associated with decreased survival. And even for NSBBs, what was found was a correlation, not clear evidence that the NSBBs were responsible for the prolonged survival. For one thing, the cohort of EOC patients who had taken NSBBs was only 76 people. Not a huge sample size. And as is noted in the paper, those who were treated with non-selective beta blockers had a smaller body mass index and had a higher percentage of “optimal cytoreduction.” Both have been show to improre survival. As the related journal article notes, “The current study is limited by its retrospective design and the resulting inability to document the duration of beta-blocker use and dosages used by patients with EOC.” The paper also points to two ongoing clinical trials incorporating both conventional chemotherapy and beta blockers, the results of which will inform the development of future “adequately powered, prospective, randomized clinical trials to determine whether NSBBs can improve outcomes for patients with EOC.” In other words, the paper itself makes clear that, while the use of NSBBs in EOC treatment is worth additional research, we don’t yet know whether beta blockers actually prolong EOC patients’ survival. No disease mongering here. The release includes an exhaustive list of funding sources and notes that one of the journal article’s co-authors has received funding from two pharmaceutical companies. The relevant research is based on evaluating the use of beta blockers in conjunction with conventional chemotherapy, not as an alternative to chemotherapy or other courses of treatment. As such, we’ll rate “Compare Alternatives” as not applicable. This is a close one. Yes, the release notes that beta blockers are already in widespread use. Yes, the release mentions the two ongoing clinical trials and how they’ll be used to design additional clinical trials. But the information on clinical trials is in the penultimate paragraph and the ramifications aren’t necessarily clear to lay readers — it will be years before researchers can determine whether beta blockers should be incorporated into clinical treatment of EOC patients. Several previous studies have examined the impact of beta blocker use on EOC patients, and did not find the same prolonged survival rates that are reported on in this release. The journal article addresses this by noting that those studies did not appear to distinguish between SBBs and NSBBs — and that the different modes of action for those drugs has a significant impact on how they affect EOC patients during treatment. But the idea of evaluating the impact of beta blockers on EOC treatment is neither new nor limited to the researchers at MD Anderson. The headline and lead paragraph reach further than the journal article can support. The rest of the release is much better, but it’s hard to make up for a misleading first impression.
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4069
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King County confirms 7th case of vaping-related lung disease.
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King County health officials have confirmed a new case of severe lung disease associated with vaping. The case brings the total number of patients in King County to seven since Sept. 20.
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true
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Health, General News, Washington, Lung disease, Vaping, Seattle
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The man who is in his 20s was hospitalized but is now recovering. Officials say they are investigating which products he was using to vape. KING-TV reports there have been 15 cases of severe lung disease associated with vaping in Washington state since April 2019, and 67% of the patients are male, according to the Washington State Department of Health. In addition to the King County cases, the latest numbers show three cases in Snohomish County, two in Spokane County, one in Pierce County, one in Mason County, and one in Kitsap County. Nationwide, there have been more than 2,000 cases and at least 40 people have died. ___ Information from: KING-TV, http://www.king5.com/
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5023
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Gambians file suit against ex-leader over alleged HIV ‘cure’.
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Three survivors of a supposed HIV treatment program run by Gambia’s former leader Yahya Jammeh featuring what he called an herbal remedy “cure” filed a lawsuit Thursday against him, claiming they suffered under the forced regimen.
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true
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Yahya Jammeh, International News, Gambia, Lawsuits, Africa, Health, Senegal, West Africa, HIV and AIDS
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This is the first time Jammeh has been sued in a Gambian court over alleged abuses during his 22-year rule of this tiny West African nation, the advocacy group AIDS-Free World said. Jammeh’s program was “the most egregious premeditated assault on people living with HIV and AIDS in the history of the global AIDS crisis,” said Sarah Bosha, the group’s legal research and policy associate. Survivors Fatou Jatta, Lamin Ceesay and Ousman Sowe filed the lawsuit at the high court in the capital, Banjul. They seek financial damages and a declaration that their rights were violated. “My experience in the presidential treatment program was a horror,” Jatta said in the AIDS-Free World statement. “I could have lost my life.” Jammeh in 2007 declared his AIDS “cure” and launched the program, ordering patients to live in a facility and submit to his “treatment regimen” under armed guards’ surveillance. The “treatment” included foregoing antiretroviral drugs for an herbal concoction patients said often made them violently ill. Other concoctions were rubbed on them amid chanted prayers, and some sessions were broadcast on Gambian television without patient consent, survivors said. Jammeh forced some 1,000 people, many of them part of HIV/AIDS organizations, to participate before the program was shuttered, and two people died, according to an earlier Amnesty International report. An official with the program, Dr. Tamsir Mbowe, said during testimony to a commission of inquiry in April that 311 patients were treated from 2007 to 2012, according to AIDS-Free World. “The precise number of deaths as a consequence of Jammeh’s criminal mistreatment remains difficult to determine,” the organization said. “There is no cure for AIDS. When an individual of great power claimed otherwise, human health was jeopardized, lives were cut short and a deadly epidemic was prolonged — all in the service of the insatiable ego of Yahya Jammeh,” Bosha said. Jammeh has long been accused of human rights abuses during his rule that began after a bloodless coup in 1994. He lost December 2016 elections to now-President Adama Barrow and, after a political standoff, fled into exile to Equatorial Guinea in January 2017. Bosha told The Associated Press that in exceptional situations, “the court can grant an order allowing for civil cases to proceed despite the absence of the defendant, as long as there is sufficient evidence to satisfy the court that the defendant was personally served.” Survivors said they hope the former president will be held accountable. “I believe it is my responsibility to hold Jammeh to account,” said survivor Ousman Sowe. “I knew that one day the real story would be told.” ___ Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa
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4900
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Northeast officials team up to push pot, vaping regulations.
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The governors from several Northeastern states said Thursday they want to work together to regulate marijuana and vaping, including possible regional restrictions on flavored vaping products.
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true
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Ned Lamont, New York City, Health, General News, Recreational marijuana, Marijuana, Vaping, Connecticut, New York, U.S. News
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Democratic governors from New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania met in New York City with health and legislative officials. Representatives from Massachusetts and Colorado were also on hand for the meeting. “What we want to do is coordinate this on a regional basis,” said Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, noting how the “patchwork quilt of marijuana regulations makes no sense at all.” He said the group came up with “very preliminary” principles concerning how to regulate legalized, recreational marijuana, such as agreeing to have similar policies for THC content, edibles, advertising and taxation in order to dissuade people from turning to the illicit market. Lamont said “different states are going to have different timeframes” to pass marijuana legislation and he didn’t foresee everyone enacting the exact same law at the same time. He said more work needs to be done and staff from the participating states will continue working together on the issue. Several of the governors unsuccessfully pushed for their states to allow recreational pot sales in the last year. “We just want to make sure we go in with our eyes open and we’re consistent,” Lamont said. On vaping, Lamont said there appeared to be “the most unity” among the officials on possibly outlawing flavored e-cigarettes next year, given their appeal to young people and the growing number of vaping-related lung illnesses and deaths across the country. “I think you’ll see some unanimity on that at the start,” he said. Earlier this month, a state appeals court temporarily blocked New York from enforcing Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 90-day emergency ban on such products after the vaping industry sued to block the regulations. In Massachusetts, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker last month announced a statewide ban on the sale of vaping products, a measure that has been challenged in court. Meanwhile, a new law just took effect in Connecticut that increased the age to 21 for someone to purchase vaping products. Cuomo said a lack of federal action on pot and vaping regulations means it’s up to states to act. He noted that marijuana is often vaped and states should also consider that when considering marijuana legalization.
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9155
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FDA approves new combination treatment for acute myeloid leukemia
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acute myeloid leukemia (AML) This release from the Food and Drug Administration announces approval of a new drug, Rydapt (midostaurin), for the treatment of specific acute myeloid leukemia patients who possess certain genetic FLT3 mutations that affect the immune system. It points out that when these patients are identified through the use of a specific test — the LeukoStrat CDx FLT3 Mutation Assay — then the new drug can be used along with standard chemotherapy until remission and then as a maintenance drug following that. The descriptions surrounding the benefits of the drug and the evidence are vague. It would have been good to see both absolute and relative benefits included in the release, and a clarification that only about one-third of AML patients will be candidates for this drug treatment. While there is no mention of the cost of the drug or the test (which FDA releases seldom include), the release provides clear information on harms and how the drug works. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a serious and often fatal form of blood cancer, and treatments against it have been limited in the past. AML involves the cells that fight infection in the body. Increased understanding of the genetics of this disease has identified a large number of genetic mutations associated with the development of AML. This study examines patients with one type of mutation, FLT3. Though not stated in the release, it is estimated that around 30% of patients with AML will have this mutation. While this represents a sizable number of individuals, it is important to acknowledge that most patients diagnosed with AML will not have this mutation and therefore won’t be treated with midostaurin. As the release points out, “the National Cancer Institute estimated that approximately 19,930 people would be diagnosed with AML in 2016 and 10,430 were projected to die of the disease.” The situation is worse for those AML patients who possess the FLT3 mutations so this new approach might give both physicians and patients a new alternative treatment.
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true
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FDA,leukemia
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There is no mention of the cost of this new drug, Rydapt (midostaurin), or of the cost of the diagnostic tool, the LeukoStrat CDx FLT3 Mutation Assay, which the FDA approved for use in determining the appropriateness of using this drug. Many patients will need to be tested for this mutation in order to find the individuals who have it and thus may benefit from this new drug. However, the FDA evaluates drugs without considering costs, which is why they are not discussed in this news release. Although the release does provide some numerical context, it’s insufficient to give credit here. The release could have provided much more useful information about the quantitative benefits. For example, a summary of the trial upon which the approval was based stated, “At a median follow-up of 57 months, midostaurin reduced mortality risk by 23% compared with placebo plus chemotherapy. The median OS was 74.7 months for the group receiving midostaurin versus 26 months for the placebo group (P = .007), representing a 23% reduction in the risk for death favoring midostaurin.” The release should have provided both absolute as well as relative benefits, both of which were available from the trials. What the release does say is that patients who received a combination of standard chemotherapy and Rydapt for treating AML “lived longer than patients who received chemotherapy alone, although a specific median survival rate could not be reliably estimated,” compared to patients receiving chemotherapy plus a placebo. That’s pretty vague. In addition, it said that “patients who received Rydapt in combination with chemotherapy in the trial went longer (median 8.2 months) without certain complications (failure to achieve complete remission within 60 days of starting treatment, progression of leukemia or death) than patients who received chemotherapy alone (median three months).” The release effectively reports possible side effects experienced by AML patients receiving Rydapt, including “low levels of white blood cells with fever (febrile neutropenia), nausea, inflammation of the mucous membranes (mucositis), vomiting, headache, spots on the skin due to bleeding (petechiae), musculoskeletal pain, nosebleeds (epistaxis), device-related infection, high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) and upper respiratory tract infection.” It also warns women who are pregnant or breastfeeding to avoid taking Rydapt. It also points out that the FDA approved the use of Rydapt for other patients with “certain types of rare blood disorders” and provides a list of possible side effects they might experience. The release explains that the approval follows the completion of a “randomized trial of 717 patients who had not been treated previously for AML.” It would have been better if the release would have added how many patients were screened with the diagnostic test to identify the 717 patients studied. While it appears this treatment prolongs survival, it isn’t clear from the release what the time frame is, meaning people may live longer but still may die in the end of the disease. And while the release states that there are almost 20,000 patients diagnosed with AML each year in the US, it doesn’t state how many may have this mutation and thus be potentially treated with this new therapy. According to a review article published last year, “Approximately 30% of patients with AML carry the FLT3 mutation, which is associated with aggressive disease, with poor prognosis and a high risk for relapse.” That means that most patients with AML will not be eligible for this treatment but the release could give the general public the impression that it will help most patients with AML. There is no evidence of disease mongering here. AML is a life-threatening condition and new agents that can prolong life are clearly needed. There’s plenty of context about the disease and how the drug works: “Rydapt is a kinase inhibitor that works by blocking several enzymes that promote cell growth. If the FLT3 mutation is detected in blood or bone marrow samples using the LeukoStrat CDx FLT3 Mutation Assay, the patient may be eligible for treatment with Rydapt in combination with chemotherapy.” The release doesn’t mention who funded the research leading to the approval, although some readers might be able to guess that Novartis Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of Rydapt, and Invivoscribe Technologies, the makers of the LeukoStrat CDx FLT3 Mutation Assay, sponsored the trials since the approval was given to them. The new medication was used in combination with standard chemotherapy. That tells us the alternative was standard chemotherapy alone, an important comparison. While the release doesn’t specifically state the availability of the drug, the FDA approval for its use suggests that it should start to become available in a matter of months and not years. The release makes clear that the use of this drug for AML patients with the FLT3 mutation is a new approach for a situation where previous therapies have been marginally successful. It also claims that the drug is “the first targeted therapy to treat patients with AML, in combination with chemotherapy,” according to an FDA official. No unjustifiable language here.
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36408
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A meme contrasts the official statements of President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama on the Notre Dame Cathedral fire.
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Are These Presidents Obama and Trump’s Statements on the Notre Dame Fire?
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mixture
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Disinformation, Fact Checks
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,On April 16 2019 the Facebook page “Proud Liberal Americans” shared a subsequently popular meme (archived here), purportedly contrasting statements provided by United States Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump about the fire that gutted Notre Dame Cathedral:At the top was a photograph of Obama and a quote:“Notre Dame is one of the world’s great treasures and we’re thinking of the people of France during your time of grief. It’s in our nature to mourn when we see history lost — but it’s also in our nature to rebuild for tomorrow, as strong as we can.”Underneath that portion, a photograph of Trump appeared with a different quote:“It was burning at a level you rarely see a fire burn. They think it was caused by renovation. Renovation — what’s that all about? So that puts a damper on what we were about to say. To be honest. With that being said, I want to tell you that a lot has been accomplished in our country in the past two and a half years.”An accompanying comment intimated that the selected quotes illustrated the respective fitness for office of former President Obama and President Trump:Only one of these men is Presidential.The quote attributed to Barack Obama is authentic, as presented in an April 15 2019 tweet posted to his official Twitter account:Notre Dame is one of the world’s great treasures, and we’re thinking of the people of France in your time of grief. It’s in our nature to mourn when we see history lost – but it’s also in our nature to rebuild for tomorrow, as strong as we can. pic.twitter.com/SpMEvv1BzB— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 15, 2019The quoted remarks attributed to President Trump appeared to be presented only in part. A NBC News video captured remarks by the President which matched those in the meme:A transcription of the remarks was also available on WhiteHouse.gov, on a page titled “Remarks by President Trump in Roundtable Discussion on the Economy and Tax Reform | Burnsville, MN.” As the title indicated, President Trump was speaking in the context of a roundtable discussion about economics and tax policy, not providing official remarks about the fire at Notre Dame.At the start of the unrelated remarks, President Trump said:Well, thank you very much. We’re in communication with France. They’re having a terrible, terrible fire. You probably saw. Some of you have heard. Some of you have not because you’ve been here. But I will tell you, the fire that they’re having at the Notre Dame Cathedral is something like few people have witnessed. When we left — we had a whole group of your great representatives. And when we left the plane, it was — it was burning at a level that you rarely see a fire burn.It’s one of the great treasures of the world. The greatest artists in the world. Probably, if you think about it, I would say, Jovita, it might be greater than almost any museum in the world. And it’s burning very badly. It looks like it’s burning to the ground.So — so that puts a damper on what we’re about to say, to be honest, because that is beyond countries, that’s beyond anything. That’s a part of our growing up. It’s a part of our culture. It’s a part of our lives. That’s a truly great cathedral. And I’ve been there and I’ve seen it, and there’s no cathedral, I think — I could say there’s probably no cathedral in the world like it.It’s a terrible scene. They think it was caused by — at this moment, they don’t know — but they think it was caused by renovation. And I hope that’s the reason. Renovation — you know, what’s that all about? But it’s a terrible sight to behold.With that being said, I want to tell you that a lot of progress has been made by our country in the last two and a half years.Trump’s remarks were rearranged and large portions of them edited out, but they were presented in a way that to suggest that the comments were of the same sort of official response as the comment by Obama on the same day. However, the meme did not indicate that Trump’s remarks were made in the larger context of an unrelated appearance.President Trump did send a tweet the day of the Notre Dame fire:God bless the people of France!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 15, 2019On April 17 2019, Trump tweeted:Just had a wonderful conversation with @Pontifex Francis offering condolences from the People of the United States for the horrible and destructive fire at Notre Dame Cathedral. I offered the help of our great experts on renovation and construction as I did….— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2019….in my conversation yesterday with President @EmmanuelMacron of France. I also wished both Pope Francis and President Macron a very Happy Easter!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2019However, neither the roundtable remarks nor the tweets above were the White House’s official statement in response to the Notre Dame fire. An April 16 2019 statement published to the White House’s official site formally addressed the incident:This morning, President Donald J. Trump, on behalf of the American people, offered his condolences to President Emmanuel Macron of France for the devastation caused by the fire at the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. The United States stands with French citizens, the city of Paris, and the millions of visitors from around the world who have sought solace in that iconic structure. The Cathedral has served as a spiritual home for almost a millennium, and we are saddened to witness the damage to this architectural masterpiece. Notre Dame will continue to serve as a symbol of France, including its freedom of religion and democracy. France is the oldest ally of the United States, and we remember with grateful hearts the tolling of Notre Dame’s bells on September 12, 2001, in solemn recognition of the tragic September 11th attacks on American soil. Those bells will sound again. We stand with France today and offer our assistance in the rehabilitation of this irreplaceable symbol of Western civilization. Vive la France!Although President Barack Obama’s statement was accurately represented in the meme, President Donald Trump’s remarks were not. Not only were the included remarks misleadingly edited, they did not represent Trump’s official statements about the Notre Dame fire. The statement directly above was Trump’s official statement, and the quote on the meme was cherry-picked from a much longer set of remarks he made at an unrelated event.
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3336
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Nursing home where 12 died after storm has license revoked.
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Florida has revoked the license of a nursing home where 12 elderly patients died in the heat after it lost power during a 2017 hurricane.
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true
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Health, Florida, Hurricane Irma, Storms, Hurricanes
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The Agency for Health Care Administration issued its order Friday, saying an administrative law judge correctly concluded the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills “created an unsafe environment” in September 2017 after Hurricane Irma knocked out its air conditioning. Patients began dying three days after the storm passed. Investigators say the center did not evacuate patients as temperatures inside rose, even though a fully functional hospital was across the street. The home’s license was suspended days after the storm and it closed. Police have been investigating the deaths, but no charges have been filed. The center’s attorneys did not immediately respond to an email Monday seeking comment.
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32177
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A photograph shows a man who was diagnosed with eye cancer due to using his cell phone at night.
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The American Cancer Society, the U.S. National Library of Medicine, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology have not issued any warnings concerning a connection between cell phone use (at night or otherwise) and eye cancer.
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false
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Uncategorized, cancer, cell phones
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A photograph purportedly showing a man who was diagnosed with eye cancer after using his cell phone too much at night was widely circulated by conspiracy, humor, and “health” web sites in March 2016. Most of these web sites shared the photo along with clickbait headlines such as “MAN DIAGNOSED WITH EYE CANCER BECAUSE OF DOING THIS AT NIGHT!” and a short paragraph (in stilted English) implying that the pictured case of alleged eye cancer was caused by cell phone use: This unnamed 40-year-old man visited the doctor when he couldn’t see clearly, albumen turned red because of serious injuries. Whereby, he always use mobile phone for 30 minutes in the dark before going to sleep. It was prolonged, made his macular’s eye degraded, lead to impaired vision and signs of eye cancer. This photograph, however, does not show a man suffering from eye cancer. More specifically, the image does not show a man who was diagnosed with eye cancer caused by his using his cell phone too much at night: This photograph dates to at least 2013, when it was uploaded to Sinophoto.com as an example of conjunctivitis (more commonly known as “pinkeye”), a condition marked by redness and swelling of the mucous membrane that lines the eyelid and eye surface. Although the original posting of the photograph made no mention of cell phones or cancer, the image was soon picked up by Chinese-language social media sites and shared along with the baseless claim that the man’s pinkeye was actually a case of cancer caused by cell phone use:
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36262
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Tommy Lee wrote a scathing rant about Donald Trump and his followers.
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Did Tommy Lee Write a Lengthy Anti-Trump Screed on Twitter?
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false
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Fact Checks, Viral Content
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On August 7 2019, musician Tommy Lee shared a screenshot of a longer post to Twitter, commentary in which he purportedly began “You Trumpsters better pray that liberals never gain control of the WH again”:pic.twitter.com/XLT4DQJo5b— T❍mmy L33 (@MrTommyLand) August 7, 2019A screenshot of the tweet spread on Facebook as well. The tweet created massive amounts of engagement for Lee, and his name was a top trending Twitter topic on August 8 2019.However, the words did not originate with Lee.Their origin and authorship was not known, but an identical rant was shared to Reddit’s r/copypasta in July 2018 — more than a year before Lee’s tweet:You Trumpsters better pray that liberals never gain control of the WH again from copypastaThat post was identical to Lee’s, reading in full:You Trumpsters better pray that liberals never gain control of the WH again because we are going to pay you back so fucking hard for all of this shit. Planned Parenthoods on every damn corner. We’re going to repaint Air Force One, pussy hat pink and fly it over your beloved Bible Belt 6 days a week, tossing birth control pills, condoms, and atheist literature from the cockpit. We’re going to tax your mega churches so bad Joel Olsteen will need to get a job at Chik Fil A to pay his light bill. Speaking of Chik Fil A, we’re buying all those and giving them to any LGBTQ you sick cult leaders tortured with conversion therapy. Have fun with your new menu you bigoted fucks. Try the McPence. It’s a boiled, unseasoned chicken breast that you have to eat in the closet with your mother. ALL parks will be renamed Rosa Parks asap. We’re replacing Confederate statues with BLM leaders and Mexican immigrants. Every single public school will be renamed after a child that was kidnapped by this regime. And after we fumigate the WH, we’re repainting the whole thing rainbow. Fox News will be taken over and turned into a family refugee shelter. We’re turning Hannity’s office into a giant unisex bathroom with changing tables and free tampons. And every single time a Trumpster complains about any of the changes, we’re adding an openly gay character to a Disney movie.Twitter rumors indicated the possible author of the original screed was a woman named Renee Torres. Screenshots of a series of tweets seemed to attribute it to Torres originally:It was actually written by Renee Torres, but bless Tommy Lee for putting it on blast. Funny how a woman who created and posted it, was trolled to the point of having to make her Twitter account private, but when a dude says it, it’s roundly celebrated, huh? pic.twitter.com/oHvEtxc51o— Vote Blue To Save America (@Gypsygoddess1) August 9, 2019The plot thickened when we went to her now-private Twitter profile, which reads:Fake Feminist Rants and Snarky Asides. Parody account. You libs got owned bigly. #MAGAWhatever the case, Tommy Lee didn’t seem to go to any lengths to not take credit for the “you Trumpsters” tweet, but he only reposted it and did not write it himself.
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33764
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Rapists are using small children who appear to be lost to lure victims to them.
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Warnings that rapists are employing children pretending to be lost in order to lure victims to them are unsubstantiated.
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false
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Crime, crime warnings
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A warning about seemingly lost children being used as victim lure by rapists appeared on the Internet in late March 2005. Versions in circulation via cell phone text message and e-mail in November 2010 repositioned the alert from one about lone attackers luring women to houses whose doorbells had been wired to deliver a knockout shock to even more vague cautions about “a way for gang members to rape women” in one instance and “a new way to gang rape girls” in another: I am not sure when did this happen, but it is best to be careful and safety comes first. She was just discharged from the hospital…Today after office hours, I heard from my sister-in-law that there is a new way to rape women. It happened to one of our good friends. The girl left the office after working hours and saw a little child crying on the road. Feeling pity for the child, she went and ask what happened. The child said, “I am lost. Can you take me home please?” Then the child gave her a slip and tell the girl where the address is. And the girl, being an average kind person, didn’t suspect anything and took the child there. And there when it arrived the “child’s home”, she pressed the door bell, yet she was shocked as it the bell was wired with high voltage, and fainted. The next day when she woke up, she found herself in an empty house up in the hills, naked. She has never even get to see the face of the attacker… That’s why nowadays crimes are targeted on kind people. Next time if the same situation occurs, never bring the child to the intended place. If the child insist, then bring the child to the police station. Lost children are best to send to police stations. ATTENTION ALL GIRLS AND LADIES: if you walk from home, school, office or anywhere and you are alone and you come across a little boy crying holding a piece of paper with an address on it, DO NOT TAKE HIM THERE! take him straight to the police station for this is the new ‘gang’ way of rape. The incident is getting worse. Warn your families. Reblog this so this message can get across to everyone! Please send this to all your female friends. All the incarnations we’ve encountered of this warning have been marvels of nonspecificity: none of them indicated when or where any such attack supposedly took place, or even stated who was issuing the warning: We scoured recent news stories in the U.S. looking for articles about such an assault and were unable to find any. If such a method of luring rape victims to their attackers had been used in one instance (and we’ve little reason to believe that it has), there has certainly not been a rash of small children pretending to be lost as part of a scheme to place women in jeopardy. Lacking any news accounts of a crime that would fit what has been described, we’re going to drop this one into the ‘false’ column both because the story echoes too closely other baseless scare stories about lurking dangers to women, and because the methodology described is so far removed from that employed by the majority of rapists. Almost all rapes are crimes of opportunity; that is, either the attacker sees a potential victim and sets about to subdue her, or he encounters an unlocked or easily-breached house that he knows contains a target. The vast majority of rapists do not look to have their prey delivered to them because the stalking, choosing, and overpowering of their marks are key to what they seek. (Assault of this nature is far more about dominance, rage, or punishment than it is about sexual satisfaction.) Under the “lured by a child” method outlined in the warning, rapists would be surrendering one of the most basic components of their thrill: victim selection. Instead, they would be resigning themselves to having no say about whom they would be assaulting, their Judas goats (the children they were using) making that choice for them. Although every rapist is different, in terms of motivation they mostly fall into three broad categories: anger, power, and sadism. We discuss a great deal more about these motivations in our Assaulted Tale article, but suffice it to say having unconscious women they themselves hadn’t selected served up on their doorstep wouldn’t fit the profile of the overwhelming majority of these criminals. The tip-off about rapists using small children to ensnare women in their traps very closely fits an urban legend set in World War II that we know to have been around since at least 1985, the venerable Letter of Intent, wherein young women are impelled through their sense of compassion to hand-deliver a letter on behalf of a blind man and by so doing deliver themselves up for butchery. In a more general sense, like the almost-victims in the Shopping Mauled legend (woman who stops to pick up an “old lady” stranded on a dark country road or who is asked by one in a mall parking lot for a ride barely escapes the clutches of a murderer) and the Mall Grab warning (woman is lured into a van by way of a ruse involving a sick baby), the gal in this story is put at risk via her desire to help someone she perceives as both harmless and in need of assistance. This isn’t to say that children are never unwittingly involved in the schemes of rapists, but such incidents are few and far between rather than regular occurrences, and they don’t fit the narrative described here. For example, an accused rapist in Pennsylvania was reported to have used a 4-year-old boy in his custody as a method of establishing trust with the potential victims he met, and between 1989 and 1994, at least eleven preteen girls in Virginia were sexually assaulted by a man who approached them at playgrounds, near schools and in apartment complexes, usually pretending to be lost himself or searching for children with names such as Monica or Jessica. None of cases involved a rapist’s using a child pretending to be lost as a lure to bring women to him, however.
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26332
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Barack Obama “is the first ex-president to ever speak against his successor.”
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Barack Obama called the Trump administration’s response to COVID-19 “an absolute chaotic disaster.” A Twitter post, retweeted by Trump, claims that Obama is the first ex-president to speak ill of his successor. From Hoover to Truman, Ford to Carter and beyond, ex-presidents have criticized the person who followed them into office.
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false
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National, Coronavirus, Tweets,
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"In a call with past members of his administration, former President Barack Obama criticized the Trump administration for bungling the response to the coronavirus. ""It would have been bad even with the best of governments,"" Obama said May 8. ""It has been an absolute chaotic disaster."" Obama’s words drew anger from President Donald Trump’s supporters, one of whom tweeted on May 10: ""Barack Hussain Obama is the first Ex-President to ever speak against his successor, which was long (a) tradition of decorum and decency."" Trump retweeted the claim, adding the comment: ""He got caught, OBAMAGATE!"" He got caught, OBAMAGATE! https://t.co/oV6fum0zIS By tradition, former presidents extend some graciousness to their successors. But there is no hard and fast rule. And as you’ll see, former presidents have, when it suited them, criticized the person who followed them into the White House. The first example that leaped to mind of three presidential historians we contacted is President Herbert Hoover, who lost to Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932. ""He railed against the New Deal, FDR, liberalism and, in some ways, modernity itself, from the time he left office in 1933 until his death in the mid-1960s,"" said Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. At the 1936 Republican convention, Hoover cast Roosevelt and the New Deal as a step toward dictatorship. ""The New Deal may be a revolutionary design to replace the American system with despotism,"" Hoover said. ""Their product is the poisoning of Americanism."" A generation later, Harry Truman seized the moment at the Democrats’ convention in 1956 to attack his Republican successor, Dwight Eisenhower, Claremont McKenna College’s John Pitney noted. ""For three and half years, the Eisenhower administration has been using every trick and device to pry our water power, and our forest, our parks and oil reserves out of the hands of people and into the pockets of a few selfish corporations,"" Truman said Aug. 17, 1956. Jump forward to 1977, when Republican Gerald Ford ridiculed the economic policies of the man who ousted him from office, Jimmy Carter. ""Mr. Carter's anti-inflation program came in like a lion,"" Ford said three months into Carter’s presidency. ""It's going out like a mouse."" Carter carried on the tradition. In November 1982, he said President Ronald Reagan had undermined confidence in America’s global leadership. ""There's not that assured feeling now that our country is in the forefront of peace, nuclear arms control, human rights and environmental concern that it was before,"" Carter said in a news conference. At the same event, Carter chastised Reagan for faulting Carter for the problems Reagan faced. ""There is always the temptation for an incumbent politician to blame all his mistakes on his predecessor,"" Carter said. ""Most are willing to withstand the temptation. Mr. Reagan, apparently, is not."" The idea that Obama is the first president to criticize his successor has been around since at least 2018, when Snopes found it , citing Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton as recent examples. ""Trump’s claim is simply not true under any possible definition of ‘speak against’ or ‘successor,’"" said Rutgers University historian David Greenberg. A Twitter post, retweeted by Trump, claimed that Obama ""is the first ex-president to ever speak against his successor."" There are several examples of former presidents criticizing the person who followed them into office. For much of the past century, Republicans have spoken ill of Democrats, and Democrats have done the same with Republicans. While the tradition of exercising restraint exists, it has its limits, and in at least one case, an ex-president spoke out as early as three months into the new administration."
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1583
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Sting like a bee: alternative therapy in Gaza.
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Rateb Samour sees 250 patients a day whose complaints range from hair loss to cerebral palsy and cancer. But he is not a doctor and has never worked in a hospital.
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true
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Health News
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Samour inherited the skill of bee-sting therapy from his father, who used to raise bees. Then in 2003, the agricultural engineer started to dedicate all his time to studying and developing the alternative medicine treatment of apitherapy, which uses all bee-related products, including honey, propolis - or bee glue used to build hives - and venom. “I am treating serious and chronic diseases which have no cure in regular medicine, I have achieved excellent results,” said Samour, an Egyptian-educated specialist in entomology and bees in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian enclave. “We speak about chondritis in the neck and spine, migraine, loss of hair, alopecia areata, skin diseases, cerebral palsy, autism and cancer,” he said inside an apartment packed with patients on the edge of a beach refugee camp in Gaza City. The 58-year-old Palestinian said he makes bees sting patients at certain points in their bodies that he has carefully studied. A bee dies after being made to sting. “I have been subjected to doubts, but bee-sting therapy has proven itself as an excellent alternative medicine,” he told Reuters. “Some doctors, who value the apitherapy for certain illnesses, are among my patients.” For a Reuters photo essay, please click on reut.rs/1S3fD28 The Islamist-ruled Gaza is under blockade by neighboring Egypt and Israel, which restricts the movement of goods and people in and out of the territory. So Gaza lacks sophisticated medical equipment and has patchy access to medicines. Seriously ill patients must travel to Israel, Egypt or beyond for specialist medical treatment. Inside Samour’s home, men and women wait their turn in separate rooms. Alya Al-Ghafari, 10, has been suffering from facial palsy for over two years. Mainstream medicine was both expensive and less efficient than apitherapy, according to her father. “Treatment by bee stings has been more effective than treatment by regular medicine but you need to be patient,” said Saeed Al-Ghafari, a government employee. His daughter has been receiving treatment from Samour for nearly nine months. “At the beginning my daughter felt pain but as time passed Alya felt she became better,” said Ghafari. “Her face has become better and now she is the one who reminds us of the therapy sessions.” Muneera Al-Baba said her son Anas, who suffers from cerebral palsy, has made much more progress in a year and a half than he ever did using mainstream medicine, which also cost twice as much. “Communication between me and him was disconnected,” the 44-year-old mother told Reuters. “He lived in a world of his own, now he responds to me.”
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9744
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Women are not getting treated for menopausal symptoms
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This story highlights a survey finding that appears to have broadly useful implications for millions of women across the globe: “Many women with severe menopausal symptoms are not being treated for them even though safe, effective remedies are available.” But there’s a tension at the heart of this story that unfortunately is never resolved and which limits the impact of the article. One of the reasons the women mentioned in the story aren’t being treated is because they know that hormone replacement therapy (HRT), the traditional treatment for menopausal symptoms, “can increase the risk of breast cancer, stroke and other serious problems,” as the story acknowledges. The story then suggests that there are alternative approaches, including topical vaginal estrogen therapy and nonhormonal treatments, that are both “safe and effective” and which apparently should be used more often. But the story never backs up the claim that these remedies work and are safe — information that is key to convincing the reader that the story’s claims are true and can be trusted. The story also misses the opportunity to explore how women may feel about menopause and whether some women’s reluctance to be treated reflects a legitimate, informed choice. The assumption seems to be that treatment is clearly the correct choice, but many decline it because they are misinformed. We don’t think that framing reflects the reality of the situation. While the symptoms of menopause can be disruptive at times and bothersome, many women may prefer to experience this very natural change of life, cope with symptoms as they come, and not “medicalize” menopause like we have done for so many other normal life experiences. Many women do not want to fill a prescription every month, stress their own budgets, and add to the pharmaceutical companies’ bottom line for relief of symptoms that come and go. And yes, there is suspicion that the risks are not fully known and that we are still understanding the consequences of treating women for years with HRT. The story does mention, in the last line, that patients “not wanting therapy” is one reason women may not get treated. But a more critical approach to the study might have raised these issues earlier, and made the piece seem less one-sided in favor treatment for symptoms (which notably, are not life threatening and do not necessarily reduce quality of life).
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mixture
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menopause
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The cost of therapies for menopausal symptoms is not discussed. Prempro (the common oral estrogen/progesterone tablet) is $1.65 per pill on an online pharmacy price checker, and must be taken daily — so the cost implications of some options are significant. The story is ostensibly about the findings of a survey which found that women with moderate to severe menopausal symptoms aren’t being treated for those symptoms. While those results are adequately quantified, the story never quantifies the claim, made three times in the text of the article, that alternatives to HRT are “effective” for reducing these symptoms. What evidence supports that claim and what do the numbers say? Which treatments is the story talking about? It refers to “non-hormonal options,” which might include a variety of supplements that are advertised for menopausal symptoms. Such complementary therapies are almost uniformly poorly studied in small, uncontrolled trials. Being more specific here would have been very helpful for readers. The story states several times that alternative therapies for menopausal symptoms, including vaginally applied estrogen, are safe. But elsewhere it acknowledges that pill-based treatment with hormones is associated with increased cancer risk. It would have been reassuring to provide some evidence backing up the claim that these alternative treatments are, in fact, safe — since that seems to be a key reason why women are reluctant to use these therapies. And certainly some of the nonhormonal options for hot flashes (e.g. antidepressant medication) carry a risk for side effects that could have been mentioned. The story does well at describing the survey in Australia showing that a majority of women do not get treated. But again, there was another side to this story that needed to be explored. There are numerous studies and reviews (such as this one from the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons) that could’ve been used to support and quantify the story’s claims regarding the safety and efficacy of alternative treatments for menopausal symptoms. However, the reader is asked to trust the story’s characterization, since no evidence is cited. The story’s characterization of how many women are suffering from menopausal symptoms seems reasonable. But it does seem a bit skewed toward discussion of women with severe, long-lasting symptoms and doesn’t acknowledge that women may also have milder, transient symptoms that don’t require treatment. The story includes comments from an independent expert, but it doesn’t note that the lead study author is a paid consultant to a company that makes an estrogen therapy. (See the disclosure in this recent Medscape article she co-authored.) We’ll give the benefit of the doubt here. The story mentions systemic estrogen therapies, topical creams, and non-hormonal treatments. As noted above, we wish there had been more detailed comparisons of these treatments. Even some links telling people where to get more information would have been helpful. The story establishes that all of the treatments discussed — hormone pills, estrogen creams, and non-hormonal treatments — are available. The story tells readers what’s newsworthy about the results and doesn’t make any inappropriate claims to novelty regarding these therapies. The story includes comments from an independent expert, so we can be sure it went beyond any news release.
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27204
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"A passage from a speech JFK was supposed to deliver on the day he was assassinated stated that ""our duty as a party is not to our party alone, but to the Nation, and, indeed, to all mankind."
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The words of President John F. Kennedy that the world never got to hear.
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true
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Politics, john f. kennedy
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An image graphic purportedly featuring an excerpt from a speech President John F. Kennedy was scheduled to deliver on the day that he was assassinated was recirculated on social media in November 2018: These lines were part of a speech JFK was slated to make to the Texas Democratic State Committee in the Municipal Auditorium in Austin, Texas, on the evening of 22 November 1963. President Kennedy never had the opportunity to deliver that speech, however, as he was assassinated earlier that day while his motorcade drove through Dealey Plaza in Dallas. A transcript of this undelivered speech is available via the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. The excerpt included in this meme comes from the penultimate paragraph of that text: Finally, I said in Lubbock in 1960, as I said in every other speech in this State, that if Lyndon Johnson and I were elected, we would get this country moving again. That pledge has been fulfilled. In nearly every field of national activity, this country is moving again — and Texas is moving with it. From public works to public health, wherever Government programs operate, the past 3 years have seen a new burst of action and progress — in Texas and all over America. We have stepped up the fight against crime and slums and poverty in our cities, against the pollution of our streams, against unemployment in our industry, and against waste in the Federal Government. We have built hospitals and clinics and nursing homes. We have launched a broad new attack on mental illness and mental retardation. We have initiated the training of more physicians and dentists. We have provided 4 times as much housing for our elderly citizens, and we have increased benefits for those on social security. Almost everywhere we look, the story is the same. In Latin America, in Africa, in Asia, in the councils of the world and in the jungles of far-off nations, there is now renewed confidence in our country and our convictions. For this country is moving and it must not stop. It cannot stop. For this is a time for courage and a time for challenge. Neither conformity nor complacency will do. Neither the fanatics nor the faint-hearted are needed. And our duty as a party is not to our party alone, but to the Nation, and, indeed, to all mankind. Our duty is not merely the preservation of political power but the preservation of peace and freedom. So let us not be petty when our cause is so great. Let us not quarrel amongst ourselves when our Nation’s future is at stake. Let us stand together with renewed confidence in our cause–united in our heritage of the past and our hopes for the future — and determined that this land we love shall lead all mankind into new frontiers of peace and abundance. Kennedy was expected to deliver two speeches in Texas on the day that he was assassinated. The other, which was scheduled to take place at the Trade Mart in Dallas, was “recreated” by the Times of London and the creative Irish agency Rothco in March 2018: It took eight weeks to bring to life the 2,590 words John F Kennedy never got to speak. Sound engineers pulled 116,777 sound units from 831 of his speeches and radio addresses. These units were then split in half and analysed for pitch and energy. The half units, known as phones, were each about 0.04 seconds long and had to be tested next to each other to ensure that they did not clash. The W sound in weapons, for example, is not the same as the W sound in words. A portion of “JFK Unsilenced” recreation can be glimpsed below:
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10374
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Three Heart Tests Every Woman Should Know About
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"This was classic morning show health news garbage. ""Three heart tests that all women should know about""? ""All"" suggests that even women without symptoms should be thinking about these tests. But the segment later says that the tests are only for women with symptoms, but then never gives a detailed description of these symptoms. So viewers are left with another high-tech showcase: stress echocardiograms, screening ultrasounds, and CT scans looking for calcium in the coronary arteries – the menu for the morning news-viewing woman. Does CBS and its physician-correspondent realize that the term ""screening"" (which they used in reference to ultrasounds) does not apply to those with symptoms? So which women – precisely – should think about or pursue these tests? Those with symptoms – or those without symptoms? On top of everything else, the segment included a glaring, unforgivable error. It said that the three tests involved no radiation – implying that they are harm-free. But a cardiac CT scan has an average radiation dose equivalent to 600 chest x-rays!!! In addition, according to a 2007 study in JAMA, there is an increased risk of breast cancer in women having the test due to the radiation dose. And this segment was all about women having these tests. Who is responsible for this content? Is this news? Is this public education? Or is it just another meaningless medical marvel morning show segment that fails to quantify benefits or talk about harms or acknowledge costs?"
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false
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"No discussion of costs. No discussion of the potential cost impact of telling all women that they ""need to know about"" these three tests. The costs of false positive tests in lower risk women is also not noted. Cost of diagnostic testing is a significant issue that is a major driver of healthcare costs. There was no discussion of how many women who have these tests find things that need to be treated. No quantification of benefit. The segment says the tests involve no radiation. This is a huge error. A cardiac CT scan has an average radiation dose equivalent to 600 chest x-rays!!! In addition, according to a 2007 study in JAMA, there is an increased risk of breast cancer in women having the test due to the radiation dose. No evidence was given to support the use of any of these three technologies in women. More important to the theme of the story, it is unclear how these three tests were chosen as the gold standard out of the myriad of available tests. No evidence was provided concerning the sensitivity and specificity of the tests in women with lower risk of heart disease. All women are told they need to know about these three tests. Later, though, the MD correspondent says it’s only for women with symptoms. Which symptoms?- the anchor appropriately asks. The question was never answered with any specific, meaningful descriptive detail. So the impression is left with the audience that all women need to know about these tests – even if they have vague symptoms. We call that disease-mongering. No heart experts were cited, quoted, appeared or interviewed. There was no discussion about the range of testing options for a woman with symptoms of heart disease (of course the symptoms were never described). No meaningful comparison of these three tests with other alternatives. Women are not given any idea of how widely available are the three tests – or whether all three are available in some places, most places, any places? There was no discussion of the novelty of the three tests, so this is N/A. We are given no idea why this segment was put on the air now. No news. No sources. No idea."
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40973
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Covid-19 patients have been misdiagnosed as having pneumonia when they actually have a blood clotting condition called disseminated intravascular coagulation.
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It is incorrect to say that Covid-19 patients have been misdiagnosed with pneumonia when they have disseminated intravascular coagulation. Severe Covid-19 can cause pneumonia as well as blood clotting problems.
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false
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online
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Antibiotics should be used to fight Covid-19. Antibiotics are not recommended in patients with Covid-19. Covid-19 is caused by a virus and antibiotics are used to prevent or treat bacterial infections. Antivirals should be used to fight Covid-19. Antiviral drugs can be used to treat viral infections, but no specific antiviral drug has been conclusively shown to be effective against Covid-19 so far. Anti-inflammatories should be used to fight Covid-19. Anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen may be useful in treating Covid-19 symptoms at home. Anticoagulants should be used to fight Covid-19. There is evidence supporting the use of anticoagulants in some Covid-19 patients. Claim 1 of 5
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28843
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"A male penguin searches an entire beach for the ""perfect pebble"" to lay at the feet of his chosen female penguin."
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What's true: Male penguins of many species gift their mates with rocks. What's false: Female penguins don't rely on pebble presentation as a key aspect of mate selection;, and penguins don't appear to care as much about the characteristics of a pebble so much as its ability to add to their nest.
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mixture
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Critter Country, Wild Inaccuracies
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A popular “Did you know?”-style assertion holds that penguin mating rituals closely mimic human courtship, in that the male’s finding just the right symbolic gift to present to his female of choice is of the utmost importance: When a male penguin falls in love with a female penguin, he searches the entire beach to find the perfect pebble to present her. When he finally finds it, he waddles over to her and places the pebble right in front of her. It is like a proposal. According to the story (which can be found on multiple amusing, if not very credible, fact-based social media accounts as well in the 2007 film Good Luck, Chuck), when male penguins fall in love, they search an entire beach for the “perfect pebble.” (No specific criteria determine what makes a pebble “perfect” by penguin standards, such as size or color.) After evaluating every pebble on the beach, the courting male penguin then lays the prize at the feet of his selected mate, a rite that is ypically framed as an avian version of the human custom of engagement rings. Marine life theme park franchise SeaWorld maintains a virtual exhibit on penguins, part of which chronicles their mating habits. While pebbles do get a mention in that exhibit, it does not describe the stones’ supposed perfection as having much to do with the process of wooing a mate: [Adélie penguins] build nests of small stones that they use to line depressions in the ground. Some chinstrap and gentoos also construct nests out of stones. The stones help keep the eggs above the surface when the rookery floods from melting snow. Adélie, gentoo, and chinstrap penguins are known to take stones from other nests. A penguin returning to the nest sometimes brings its mate a stone as a courtship gesture … One medium-sized gentoo nest was composed of 1,700 pebbles and 70 molted tail feathers. According to SeaWorld, stones and pebbles are about as romantic as stucco or siding to various species of penguin, although they do seem to serve occasionally as practical gifts. Antarctic researcher Guillaume Dargaud (who says that he “lived with penguins for more than a year” but is “no substitute for a real ornithologist”) addressed the rumor on his comprehensive page devoted to Adélie and Emperor penguins. Dargaud dismissed the rumor as a myth attached to the nest-building habits of Adélie penguins, opining that the collection of pebbles runs coincident with the mating process, but that any pebble would suffice for the purposes of mate evaluation: Q: I heard that when Adelie penguins are choosing a mate the male searches for the perfect pebble and presents it to the one he wants as his mate. A: It’s a myth based on the fact that Adelie penguins build nests out of pebbles. And they build the nest while they do the courting, so it’s actually partly true. I guess a penguin who doesn’t bring any pebble wouldn’t stand a chance, but any pebble will do and both mates bring them in! We also contacted penguin expert Dyan DeNapoli for further clarification on the penguin pebble presentation rumor. DeNapoli explained that stones can play a role in the mating rites of penguins, but typically penguins aren’t partial about what types of pebbles end up in their collections: Some, but not all, penguin species collect rocks for their nests. Of those that do, the purpose of the rock collecting is to build an elevated nest so the eggs and/or chicks won’t get wet or drown when it rains or when the snows melt. Some penguin species collect twigs and other plant materials, and the two largest penguin species – the King and the Emperor – don’t build any nest at all. They carry and incubate their single egg on top of their feet. As for the searching the beach for the perfect rock, some penguins do seem to be selective in choosing rocks, and will trot off some distance in search of the right one. Other penguins, however, are quite content stealing rocks at random from neighboring nests. They’re not usually very selective – it’s done very quickly before the neighbor returns to their nest. In most instances, the males arrives at the breeding colony before the females, and begin building their nests. Once the females have arrived though, both birds will often still do some nest building and maintenance. And there does seem to be a bonding aspect of presenting the rock to the mate – it is often accompanied by head bowing and shaking, as well as vocalizing – which are all bonding behaviors. DeNapoli confirmed that rocks are frequently gifted to mates but again didn’t mention the lengthy “perfect rock” search central to the penguin courtship rumor. Courtship has been observed in penguins, but typically pebble presentation is not a significant part of it: “Once a female chooses her mate, the pair will go through an important courtship ritual, in which the penguins bow, preen and call to each other. The ritual helps the birds get to know one another, and learn their respective calls so that they can always find each other.” A 2013 Slate animal blog post examined whether the same Adélie penguins were some of the animal kingdom’s most egregious sexual deviants, an observation similarly made through the lens of comparison with human habits: Shocking behavior isn’t the sole province of marine mammals. One naturalist was so thoroughly disgusted with the sexual behaviors of Adélie penguins that his observations were hidden from view for almost a century. Known as Pygoscelis adeliae to scientists … the Adélie penguin was one of the subjects that caught the attention of scientist George Murray Levick while he ventured to the South Pole with the 1910-13 Scott Antarctic Expedition … the species shocked and horrified Levick so much so that his four-page report “Sexual Habits of the Adélie Penguin” was purposefully omitted from the official expedition findings and distributed only to a small group of researchers considered learned and discreet enough to handle the graphic content. While visiting Adélie penguins rookeries, Levick was shocked by the activities of what he called “hooligan cocks.” Males accosted and copulated with other males, females that were injured, chicks that had tumbled from their nests, and corpses. In desperation, some male Adélie penguins tried to mate with the ground until they ejaculated. Levick recorded these behaviors as aberrations from the norm of nature. “There seems to be no crime too low for these penguins,” he confided to his journal. Later researchers rediscovered what Levick had seen. Rather than being deviant, the behaviors were a regular part of penguin life, triggered by males associating a rather flexible interpretation of a female’s mating posture with receptiveness. As Natural History Museum, London ornithologist Douglas Russell and colleagues reported in a preface to Levick’s belatedly-released report, this behavior is so ingrained that when a researcher set out a dead penguin that had been frozen in such a position, many males found the corpse “irresistible.” In a bit of weird field work, the same researcher found that “just the frozen head of the penguin, with self-adhesive white O’s for eye rings, propped upright on wire with a large rock for a body, was sufficient stimulus for males to copulate and deposit sperm on the rock.” As Douglas and colleagues stressed in their preface to Levick’s report, though, “the behavior [displayed by hooligan males] is clearly not analogous to necrophilia in the human context.” That fact can easily be lost when one is appalled by an animal acting out a human taboo. Levick was aghast because he viewed the penguins in human terms, as little gents and dames dressed to the nines, and applied sentiments about proper human behavior to the penguins (and vice versa). For if such awful displays occurred in nature, what might that say about our own actions? Slate‘s rehash wasn’t the only less-than-romantic take on penguins’ sex lives. A 1998 BBC article suggested that not all penguin partner pebble exchanges were quite so romantic: Penguins are turning to prostitution. But instead of doing it for money, Antarctic dolly-birds are turning tricks to get rocks off their menfolk … Stones are essential for penguins to build their nests. A shortage has led to the unorthodox tactics. “Stones are the valuable currency in penguin terms,” said Dr Fiona Hunter, a researcher in the Zoology Department at Cambridge University, who has spent five years observing the birds’ mating patterns … Prostitution is described as the world’s oldest profession. But Dr Hunter is convinced it is the first time it has been seen in animals. All of the female penguins Dr Hunter observed trading sex for stones had partners … Penguins stick to the same mate, she said, but none of the males twigged what was happening. “There was no suspicion on the part of the males. Females quite often go off on their own to collect stones, so as far as the males are concerned there is no reason to suspect … It tends to be females targeting single males, otherwise the partner female would beat the intruder up.” On some occasions the prostitute penguins trick the males. They carry out the elaborate courtship ritual, which usually leads to mating. Having bagged their stone, they would then run off [Hunter] said she does not think the female penguins are doing it just for the stones. “The female only takes one or two stones … It takes hundreds to build the nest to get their eggs off the ground. I think what they are doing is having copulation for another reason and just taking the stones as well. We don’t know exactly why, but they are using the males.” It’s human nature to anthropomorphize animals, and penguins are no exception. However, while penguins courtships are perhaps less human than once thought, they are no less interesting for it. Penguins are often observed deviating from expected sexual norms and even purportedly trade pebbles for sexual favors, but the primary purpose of exchanging pebbles and stones between penguins involves physical construction of a nest and not “romance.” And while female penguins may occasionally be picky about the nest-construction usefulness of certain proffered pebbles, that doesn’t mean males regularly traverse entire beaches to ensure finding unspecified “perfect pebbles” for their beloved lady-penguins.
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7676
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WHO panel calls for registry of all human gene editing research.
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It would be irresponsible for any scientist to conduct human gene-editing studies in people, and a central registry of research plans should be set up to ensure transparency, World Health Organization experts said on Tuesday.
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true
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Science News
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After its first two-day meeting in Geneva, the WHO panel of gene editing experts - which was established in December after a Chinese scientist said he had edited the genes of twin babies - said it had agreed a framework for setting future standards. It said a central registry of all human genome editing research was needed “in order to create an open and transparent database of ongoing work”, and asked the WHO to start setting up such a registry immediately. “The committee will develop essential tools and guidance for all those working on this new technology to ensure maximum benefit and minimal risk to human health,” Soumya Swamanathan, the WHO’s chief scientist, said in a statement. A Chinese scientist last year claimed to have edited the genes of twin baby girls. News of the births prompted global condemnation, in part because it raised the ethical specter of so-called “designer babies” - in which embryos can be genetically modified to produce children with desirable traits. Top scientists and ethicists from seven countries called last week for a global moratorium on gene editing of human eggs, sperm or embryos that would result in such genetically-altered babies - saying this “could have permanent and possibly harmful effects on the species”. The WHO panel’s statement said any human gene editing work should be done for research only, should not be done in human clinical trials, and should be conducted transparently. “It is irresponsible at this time for anyone to proceed with clinical applications of human germline genome editing.” The WHO’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, welcomed the panel’s initial plans. “Gene editing holds incredible promise for health, but it also poses some risks, both ethically and medically,” he said in a statement. The committee said it aims over the next two years to produce “a comprehensive governance framework” for national, local and international authorities to ensure human genome editing science progresses within agreed ethical boundaries.
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16251
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"Suicide comes from federal government largesse ""saying you are not worth anything but you are going to get something for nothing."
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"Young said that suicide comes from federal government largesse ""saying you are not worth anything but you are going to get something for nothing."" Data suggests high suicide rates among Alaska Natives stem more from cultural changes, including the transition from rural, traditional practices to urban life."
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false
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National, Race and Ethnicity, Public Health, Don Young,
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"In mid October, long-serving Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, provoked a firestorm with a series of comments about suicide. It’s a significant issue in his home state: In recent years, Alaska has experienced suicide at roughly twice the national rate. The controversy began when Young spoke to more than 100 students and staff at Wasilla High School on Oct. 21, 2014, just days after a student at the school had committed suicide. Young, according to news reports, told an audience that suicide shows a lack of support from friends and family -- a claim that inspired an immediate negative response from some in the audience. ""A friend of the victim shouted to Young that a disease, depression, was at the root of suicide,"" the Alaska Dispatch News reported. ""Young bristled at the interruption and responded to the student with profanity."" Later that day, Young’s office released a statement saying the congressman should ""have taken a much more sensitive approach."" But Young doubled down in an event the next day, appearing before 100 people at a senior center. According a recording excerpted in the Dispatch News, Young told the group, ""When people had to work and had to provide and had to keep warm by putting participation in cutting wood and catching the fish and killing the animals, we didn’t have the suicide problem."" Suicide, he added, comes from federal government largesse ""saying you are not worth anything but you are going to get something for nothing."" We wondered: Is there proof that suicide in Alaska has been linked to receiving government payments? Before digging any deeper, we should note that Young’s office has since apologized for his comment. In a statement to PolitiFact on Oct. 23, Young’s office said he ""discussed what he believes are leading causes of youth suicide in our state, including the impact of drugs and alcohol, depression, a feeling of worthlessness, and a lack of support systems. Congressman Young did not mean to upset anyone with his well-intentioned message, and in light of the tragic events affecting the Wasilla High School community, he should have taken a much more sensitive approach. … Issues like suicide and domestic violence cannot be discussed in isolation or generalities. Each and every case is different, and should be addressed in that manner."" Then, a day later, in a speech to the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention, Young ""shared his sincere and honest apology"" and said the suicide of a nephew ""may have caused me to mangle some of my statements."" Still, since suicide is a significant problem in Alaska, we thought the substance of his original comment was worth a closer look. Explaining suicide in Alaska According to the state Department of Health and Social Services, the age-adjusted rate for suicide in Alaska between 2003 and 2010 was almost twice the national average. In 2010, suicide ranked as the sixth-leading cause of death in Alaska and the leading cause of death among persons aged 15–24 years. The main reason for Alaska’s high rate is the unusually high frequency of suicide among Alaska Natives -- that is, indigenous Alaskans. The suicide rate for rural Alaska Natives is three to four times higher than it is for Anglos, said Matthew D. Berman, an economist at the University of Alaska-Anchorage who has studied the issue. In a paper published earlier this year, Berman reported suicide data for Alaska Natives going back to 1950 (see chart below). The rate was basically flat from 1950 to the mid 1960s, then rose rapidly from the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s before falling again. The rate peaked in the late 1980s and has fallen slowly but consistently since then. One problem with the connection Young pointed to is that the creation of the state’s biggest source of ""largesse"" -- the annual dividends paid to all Alaska residents from the proceeds of natural-resource extraction -- doesn’t track with the ups and downs of Alaska Native suicide rates. The Alaska Permanent Fund, as the resource-extraction fund is known, began paying dividends to residents in 1982, usually between several hundred dollars and $2,000 in a given year. Yet the growth in Alaska Native suicide predated those dividends, and the suicide trend since creation of the fund has generally been downward. ""This is a classic case of offering a simple answer to a really complicated problem,"" Berman said. ""When I have visited rural Alaska, I see people hauling firewood, fishing, and hunting for food. The rural cash economy depends heavily on government, but state spending plays a bigger role than federal these days, and most of the income comes from employment."" Moreover, researchers have found evidence that factors other than money tend to influence the rate of suicide in Alaska Native communities. Suicide tends to be lower among Alaska Natives who live in traditional ways, and among those who live in the larger, Anglo-dominant culture. Those who are are most susceptible to suicide are those who are firmly rooted in neither society, and perhaps transitioning between them. James Allen, a professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota, has found that older Alaska Natives, who tend to have a stronger connection to cultural traditions, are at lower risk of suicide. This tracks with data from other polar indigenous populations, such as the Sami people of Norway. Sami people who participate in the traditional pursuit of reindeer herding tend to have lower rates of suicide, according to Siv Kvernmo, a researcher at the University of Tromso. As for the second group with lower suicide rates -- Alaska Natives who have relocated from rural villages to urban centers -- Berman reports that suicide rates in small, rural communities are more than twice as high as those among urban Native residents. Indeed, he writes, that the post-1980s decline in suicide rates may stem from more Alaska Natives moving to urban areas. (Today, about 10 percent of the state’s population lives in small, rural, predominantly Alaska Native communities.) In other words, Berman writes, the data suggests that ""opportunities in the modern economy (higher median incomes) and a strong traditional presence (linguistically isolated households) offer some protection against young male suicide."" ""Research suggests that it was local communities' loss of control over their communities and land that is more relevant to the rise in suicide, not welfare,"" Berman told PolitiFact. In other words, Alaska Native suicide is a much more complex subject than Young was letting on. Our ruling Young said that suicide comes from federal government largesse ""saying you are not worth anything but you are going to get something for nothing."" Data suggests high suicide rates among Alaska Natives stem more from cultural changes, including the transition from rural, traditional practices to urban life."
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26830
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Viral image Says 20 million Chinese converted to Islam after it’s proven that the coronavirus doesn’t affect Muslims.
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Video claiming to show Chinese converting to Islam after the current coronavirus outbreak was published before the first reported case in Wuhan in 2019. Muslims can be affected by the disease.
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false
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China, Islam, Public Health, Religion, Coronavirus, Viral image,
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"Amid fears about the coronavirus disease, a YouTube video offers a novel way to inoculate yourself: convert to Islam. ""20m Chinese gets converted to Islam after it is proven that corona virus did not affect the Muslims,"" reads the title of a video posted online Feb. 18. The footage shows a room full of men raising an index finger and reciting what sounds like the Shahadah, a statement of faith in Islam. This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) That’s because the footage is from at least as far back as May 26, 2019, when it was posted on Facebook with this caption: ""Alhamdulillah welcome to our brothers in faith."" On Nov. 7, 2019, it was posted on YouTube with this title: ""MashaaAllah hundreds converted to Islam in Philippines."" Both posts appeared online before the current outbreak of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, was first reported in Wuhan, China, on Dec. 31, 2019. But even if the footage followed the outbreak, Muslims are not immune to COVID-19, as the Facebook post claims. After China, Iran has emerged as the second focal point for the spread of COVID-19, the New York Times reported on Feb. 24. ""The Middle East is in many ways the perfect place to spawn a pandemic, experts say, with the constant circulation of both Muslim pilgrims and itinerant workers who might carry the virus."" On Feb. 18, Newsweek reported that coronavirus ""poses a serious risk to millions of inmates in China’s Muslim prison camps."""
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10318
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Oxygen therapy breathes new life into autism treatment
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Reporting on an alternative treatment for autism is always risky–the condition is disabling, the science poor, the anecdotes powerful, the parents emotional and the providers self-interested. This story, which focsues on the use of hyperbaric oxygen treatments for autism, does a decent job navigating the minefield. Three best practices the story follows include: Putting compelling anecdotes and the voices of supporters in a context of responsible skepticism Mentioning repeatedly that the treatment is not medically supported for autism Using a range of sources, including two highly credible skeptics, and disclosing (or implying) the self-interest of those who support the treatment On balance, however, the story gives more space to supporters [10 paragraphs] than to skeptics [4] or neutral information [4]. This makes the story incline at least slightly in the positive direction. The most serious flaws of the story include: A failure to put this treatment in the context of conventional approaches A failure to spell out the potential risks of the treatment, which are considerable. Given the fact that hyperbaric oxygen treatment is uNPRoven and [therefore] elective, readers need to understand the risks. Having said all this: The reader is likely to take away the impression that this treatment is on the fringe, growing in popularity, and medically uNPRoven. Given all the things that can go wrong with an autism story, this is a positive outcome.
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true
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"The story cites costs at one center of $3,000 for 40 treatment sessions. As the article makes clear, there is no high-quality research into the treatment’s efficacy. The article fails to make the risks of hyperbaric oxygen treatment clear. Risks include: seizures; problems in the lungs, eyes and vascular system; and isolated pockets of pain. Rarely, the symptoms are very serious. The treatment is contraindicated for certain patients, such as diabetics. The equipment is a serious fire hazard. The story should have cited all this. It should also have warned readers that the risks of side effects and fires are likely to be higher when conducted outside of a hospital environment by non-physicians, which appears to be the way the centers in the article operate. There is no good evidence to demonstrate the efficacy or safety of hyperbaric oxygen treatment for autism. The story makes this very clear in several places and mentions some of the ongoing research whose results are expected soon. The report does nothing to exaggerate the prevalence or severity of autism. While it includes anecdotes that imply efficacy of the oxygen treatment, it does so in a context of appropriately skeptical reportage. The article quotes the following sources: While this sourcing favors supporters, the reporter discloses or implies the conflicts of interest the clinic operators have. The two skeptical medical sources are highly credible. All things considered, the story minimally achieves a ""satisfactory"" rating on this criterion. While autism is not curable, it is treatable. Early behavioral interventions are showing some promise [though they too are unsupported by gold-standard evidence]. Other approaches, including medications and diet, can control some symptoms associated with the underlying condition. Chelation is another controversial, non-medically-proven treatment. The story should have put oxygen therapy in the context of conventional and other treatments. The story mentions two centers in its circulation area where hyperbaric oxygen treatment is available. It implies it is available in centers and hospital scattered around the country. The report includes the name of a trade group, allowing anybody who wants to find a center to do so. The article makes no claims of novelty. It makes it clear that autism is a ""new market"" for ""an industry that has served mostly scuba divers, stroke victims, and people recovering from wounds."" It correctly describes the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for autism as a rare treatment growing in popularity among parents seeking alternative tratments. It’s clear that this story didn’t rely solely or largely on a news release."
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1004
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Uganda clears three experimental Ebola treatments, watches for spread.
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Health workers have got the all-clear to use three experimental Ebola treatments in Uganda, a week after the deadly disease spread over the border from Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said on Tuesday.
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true
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Health News
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Two people who had travelled from Congo died in Uganda last week, the World Health Organization said. A three-year-old boy who was sent back to Congo after testing positive for the disease died at the weekend, Congo’s health ministry said. At least another 1,411 people have died in Congo since August in the second worst outbreak of the disease on record. “Happy to inform you all that we got clearance from both Uganda National Council for Science and Technology and National Drug Authority to bring in the Therapeutic treatment for #Ebola patients in the country,” Uganda’s Health Minister, Jane Ruth Aceng, said on Twitter. The treatments approved for shipment to Uganda were Mapp Biopharmaceutical’s ZMapp, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc’s REGN-EB3 and Remdesivir, made by Gilead Sciences, said WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic. “The protocols for the fourth being submitted. Logistics underway with MSF support for importation of a few courses about 10 each,” he added in an email. The U.N. health agency has said there have so far been no known cases of Ebola spreading between people in Uganda - all recorded patients had travelled in from Congo. Four experimental therapeutic treatments are already being used in Congo, it added. On Friday, a WHO panel decided not to declare an international emergency over Congo’s Ebola outbreak despite its spread to Uganda, saying such a declaration could cause too much economic harm. “Obviously, the crisis is far from over,” Mark Green, the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), told a news conference in Nairobi. Health workers and people who came in contact with infected people began receiving a Merck experimental vaccine in Uganda on Saturday. (This story corrects name of drug in 5th paragraph to REGN-EB3, not Regeneron).
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2116
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At least 42 fatalities tallied in California's deadliest wildfire ever.
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Search teams have recovered remains of 42 people killed by a fierce wildfire that largely incinerated the town of Paradise in northern California, marking the greatest loss of life from a wild land blaze in state history, authorities said on Monday.
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true
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Environment
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The latest death toll, up from 29 tallied over the weekend, was announced by Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea at an evening news conference in the nearby city of Chico after authorities found the bodies of 13 more victims of the devastating blaze dubbed the Camp Fire. The fire already ranked as the most destructive on record in California in terms of property losses, having consumed more than 7,100 homes and other structures since igniting on Thursday in Butte County’s Sierra foothills, about 175 miles (280 km) north of San Francisco. Honea said 228 people were officially listed as missing in the disaster, but added that his office had received requests to check on the wellbeing of more than 1,500 people who had not been heard from by loved ones. Of those cases, 231 individuals had turned up safe, he said. Authorities made clear, however, that they are bracing for the number of fatalities to climb. In addition to 13 coroner-led recovery teams working in the fire zone, 150 search-and-recovery personnel were due to arrive on Tuesday, Honea said. (GRAPHIC: Deadly California fires: tmsnrt.rs/2Plpuui ) The sheriff said he also has requested three portable morgue teams from the U.S. military, a “disaster mortuary” crew and an unspecified number of cadaver dog units to assist in the search for human remains. Three groups of forensic anthropologists were also called in to help, he said. The bulk of the destruction and loss of life occurred in and around the town of Paradise, where flames reduced most of the buildings to ash and rubble on Thursday night, just hours after the blaze erupted. Some 52,000 people remained under evacuation orders, the sheriff said. The 42 confirmed fatalities marked the highest death toll in history from a single California wildfire, Honea said, far surpassing the previous record of 29 lives lost in 1933 from the Griffith Park blaze in Los Angeles. Authorities reported two more people perished over the weekend in a separate blaze, dubbed the Woolsey Fire, that has destroyed 435 structures and displaced some 200,000 people in the mountains and foothills near Southern California’s Malibu coast, west of Los Angeles. President Donald Trump, who drew criticism over the weekend for erroneously blaming the fires on “gross mismanagement” of forests, approved California Governor Jerry Brown’s request for a major disaster declaration on Monday. The measure hastens availability of federal emergency aid to fire-stricken regions of the state. The fires have spread with an erratic intensity that has strained firefighting resources while catching many residents by surprise. The bodies of some of the Camp Fire victims were found in burned-out wreckage of vehicles that were overrun by walls of fire as evacuees tried to flee, only to be trapped in deadly knots of traffic gridlock on Thursday night. “It was very scary,” Mayor Jody Jones recounted of her family’s own harrowing escape from their home as fire raged all around them. “It took a long time to get out. There was fire on both sides of the car. You could feel the heat coming in through the car,” she told CNN. Jones said her family is now living in their mobile home parked in a vacant lot. More than 15,000 structures were threatened by the Camp Fire on Monday in an area so thick with smoke that visibility was reduced in some places to less than half a mile. Perilous winds that stoked the fire through drought-parched brush and chaparral abated on Saturday, giving firefighters a chance to gain some ground against the flames. High winds returned on Sunday but fell again Monday morning, with crews managing to carve containment lines around 30 percent of the Camp Fire perimeter, an area encompassing 117,000 acres of scorched, smoldering terrain. The Woolsey Fire has blackened nearly 94,000 acres and was also 30 percent contained as of Monday night, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire). Winds of up to 40 miles per hour (64 km per hour) were expected to continue in Southern California through Tuesday, heightening the risk of fresh blazes ignited by scattered embers. CalFire said 57,000 structures were still in harm’s way from the Woolsey Fire. Forecasts called for winds to pick up again Monday night in Butte County, though with less force than previous days, National Weather Service meteorologist Aviva Braun told reporters. Nearly 9,000 firefighters, many from out of state, were battling to suppress the Camp Fire, the Woolsey Fire and a handful of smaller Southern California blazes, backed by squadrons of water-dropping helicopters and airplane tankers. Some evacuees in Malibu, a seaside community whose residents include a number of Hollywood celebrities, were allowed to return home but were left without power or cellphone service. California has endured two of the worst wildfire seasons in its history over the past couple of years, a situation experts attribute in large part to prolonged drought across much of the Western United States. Forty-six people died in a flurry of wind-driven wildfires that swept northern California’s wine country in October of last year, destroying some 8,900 homes and other structures. The worst of those blazes, dubbed the Tubbs Fire, was blamed for 22 of the deaths.
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2528
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U.S. pediatricians back gay marriage, adoption rights.
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Gay and lesbian couples should be able to get married for the health and well-being of their children and families, the nation’s leading group for pediatricians said on Thursday in a policy statement that also backs adoption rights.
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true
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Health News
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The American Academy of Pediatrics, in calling on the legal right for same-sex couples to marry, said children’s well-being is affected far more by other factors such as their parents’ health and economic security than their sexual orientation. “It is better that children have two parents than one parent, and assuming that these parents love each other and love the child and have economic and social security and stability, then that’s the critical ingredient for the optimal growth and development of the child,” said Dr. Benjamin Siegel, head of an AAP committee that studied the issue. Siegel said the academy’s board of directors voted unanimously for the organization, which represents 60,000 pediatricians, to support same-sex marriage as well as the right for gay parents to adopt or foster children. “We need to have laws and regulations that support families to nurture children,” said Siegel, a pediatrician at Boston Medical Center and the Boston University School of Medicine. The U.S. Supreme Court is preparing to take up two major gay rights cases next week, one on federal benefits for same-sex married couples and another on California’s law defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Recent Reuters/Ipsos polls have found a majority of Americans support same-sex marriage and access to federal benefits such as such as tax exemptions for a surviving spouse’s inheritance. Close to 2 million American children already are being raised by gay and lesbian parents, according to the pediatric group. The group previously backed allowing a biological parent’s partner to adopt a child and allowing same-sex spouses to receive federal benefits. But its new statement, published in the journal Pediatrics, is based on more recent data showings kids do just as well when they are raised by parents of the same or different genders. “Scientific evidence affirms that children have similar developmental and emotional needs and receive similar parenting whether they are raised by parents of the same or different genders,” AAP said, citing research over the last 30 years. One 2010 study in the journal Pediatrics found teenagers with lesbian moms performed better in school and had fewer social problems, for example, when compared to teens with a mother and father (reut.rs/i7bS6w). Some gay rights opponents have questioned the long-term effects of gay marriage on children. “There cannot yet be decisive evidence,” George Will, a conservative columnist, wrote in The Washington Post last week about whether same-sex marriage was harmful. Nine states and Washington, D.C., have legalized same-sex marriage. Public and political support for marriage equality has grown in recent years and on Monday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton became the latest politician to come out in favor of same-sex marriage. The pediatrician’s group said marriage, not civil unions, is key because it offers families stronger economic security and helps avoid issues of discrimination, intolerance and inequality that can affect parents’ self-esteem. Various state laws on adoption by gay and lesbian parents are also “an inconsistent patchwork,” it added. In Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage has been legal since 2004, Siegel sees broad acceptance of kids with gay or lesbian parents. “My experience is that parents are happier (and) the kids are fine,” he said.
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14874
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29 mass shootings have been committed by concealed carriers since 2007, while during this period only one (1) licensed civilian meaningfully intervened in a mass shooting.
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"When we looked, the Gun Free UT blog included this claim: ""29 mass shootings have been committed by concealed carriers since 2007, while during this period only one (1) licensed civilian meaningfully intervened in a mass shooting."" The first Gun Free UT claim is accurate in that in that 29 mass shootings, according to a definition provided by the FBI, were carried out by people with concealed weapons. An attempt by Bearing Arms to refute the claim calls the incidents mass killings, but uses the FBI definition for mass murder. The claims leaves out information that could clarify the tangle of definitions used. By Gun Free UT's own admission, the website claim lacks context. The second claim that only one licensed civilian intervened in a mass shooting is false by the FBI definition of a mass shooting, but bolsters Gun Free UT’s cause because no armed civilian has intervened in a mass shooting."
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mixture
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Texas, Guns, Gun Free UT Gun Free UT,
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"When Texas lawmakers agreed to allow people to carry concealed handguns in college and university buildings, the law included wiggle room for school presidents and boards to determine rules and regulations for their campuses. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 11 - the ""campus carry"" measure - into law on June 1, 2015, but the rancorous debate over whether the law willl prevent mass shootings continues. Some groups are using risque tactics to draw attention to their opposition, like the student-organized ""Campus Dildo Carry"" day, scheduled to take place next summer at the University of Texas in Austin. Gun Free UT, which opposes the law, is taking a more serious approach in its opposition, in part through a website that drew our attention thanks to this claim posted Oct. 28, 2015: ""29 mass shootings have been committed by concealed carriers since 2007, while during this period only one (1) licensed civilian meaningfully intervened in a mass shooting."" The same day, we took a screenshot of the blog post containing the claim, headlined ""Guns in Classrooms: Report from the trenches and tasks."" After we asked for some clarification on the relationship between the two sources cited in the claim, the post was taken down. Joan Neuberger, UT professor of history and a co-chair of the Gun Free UT steering committee, said the claim made on the site in a bullet point left no room for nuance. ""We can see that our statement needs more context."" Still, is the claim -- suggesting mass shooters won’t be stopped even if more students carry weapons -- accurate? We looked first at whether 29 mass shootings have been committed by licensed concealed carriers since 2007. Then we turned to whether only one licensed civilian ""meaningfully"" intervened in a mass shooting in the period. Counting mass shootings In an Oct. 28, 2015 post, The Washington Post’s Wonkblog cited an Oct. 14, 2015 report from the Violence Policy Center, a research and advocacy group that promotes gun control, stating that since 2007, there had been 29 mass shootings by people with concealed weapons in the U.S. The National Rifle Association, which backed SB 11, has taken issue with the center’s breakdown. NRA Institute for Legislative Action spokesman Lars Dalseide directed us to a criticism of the center’s methodology on Bearing Arms, a Second Amendment rights advocacy blog. The Oct. 26, 2015 Bearing Arms post looks at each of the shootings compiled by the center and concludes that only six instances were actually mass shootings committed by concealed carry permit holders using concealed weapons. That’s a whopping difference. So what gives? For one thing, the Violence Policy Center and Bearing Arms define ""mass shootings"" differently. In its analysis, the center defined a mass shooting as the killing of three people or more. According to VPC Communications Director Avery Palmer, this definition is ""consistent with the federal definition contained in the Investigative Assistance for Violent Crimes Act of 2012."" This is also the definition used in ""A Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2013,"" the FBI report from which Gun Free UT pulls its statistic on civilian interventions. On the other hand, the Bearing Arms post author, Bob Owens, defines a mass killing as the killing of four people or more, thus disregarding incidents in which three people were killed. His definition is actually consistent with the FBI definition of a mass murder (as opposed to a mass shooting). In a 2005 report on serial murder, the FBI defined mass murder as ""a number of murders (four or more) occurring during the same incident."" Only one civilian intervened? We come to the second part of the claim, that ""during this period (since 2007), only one licensed civilian meaningfully intervened in a mass shooting."" Gun Free UT pulls this figure from the aforementioned FBI study on active-shooter incidents. It’s worth noting that while Gun Free UT implies the FBI report contains data on interventions from 2007 through the present, it actually only examines incidents through 2013. According to the report, there were five instances in which ""the shooting ended after armed individuals who were not law enforcement personnel exchanged gunfire with the shooters."" Gun Free UT did not count four of these incidents because the intervening civilians were security guards armed for their jobs. When we took a closer look at the one case where an armed civilian stopped the shooting, we found something interesting. The FBI report didn’t just look at mass shootings -- it focused on all ""active shooter incidents"" (in which ""an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area"") during a 13-year period. As it turns out, the situation cited by Gun Free UT was not what either the center or the FBI would define as a mass shooting in that two people died, rather than three. In that case, Ernesto Villagomez, 30, killed two people and wounded two more inside Player’s Bar and Grill in Winnemucca, Nevada. He was then shot and killed by another patron at the bar. Other analyses Unlike the FBI report, the center’s analysis considered only mass shootings committed by concealed carry permit holders. A third tally of mass shootings, published Dec. 15, 2012 by the left-leaning Mother Jones magazine, found there had been 62 mass shootings over 30 years, with not a single case in which the killing was stopped by a civilian with a gun. The Mother Jones investigation used the more restrictive ""mass murder definition""-- four or more killed at once in its count of shootings. Meantime, the Wonkblog post that cited the center’s shooting count reached its own -- higher -- tally of eight instances that someone with a concealed-carry license intervened in a mass shooting situation. That count was attributed to an Oct. 3, 2015, Washington Post blog post, by UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh; two more incidents were added later to his list. In his post, Volokh acknowledged that the effect of more widespread gun possession on the outcome of mass shootings remains unknown. Of his examples, he conceded ""at least some examples are ambiguous, because it might be unclear… whether the shooter had been planning to kill more people when he was stopped."" By either FBI definition, the death toll only climbed high enough to count as a mass shooting in one of the 10 incidents identified by Volokh. In all the others, it is unsure whether the shooter would have continued shooting had he not been shot himself, making it difficult to do an authoritative count of interventions. For instance, in a 2014 incident at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital near Philadelphia, a psychiatric patient shot his caseworker in the face and wounded his psychiatrist before the psychiatrist shot him. He was then wrestled to the ground. The shooter, Richard S. Plott, had more than 30 additional rounds of ammunition on him when he was stopped. There are drawbacks to any attempt to compile and compare statistics from different sources; there’s also a good reason comprehensive data on gun violence is hard to come by. Since 1996, Congress has restricted research into gun violence with a budget that states: ""None of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control."" The CDC read the restriction broadly and radically reduced research on gun violence as a result; Obama reversed the funding rule by executive order in 2013. Our Ruling When we looked, the Gun Free UT blog included this claim: ""29 mass shootings have been committed by concealed carriers since 2007, while during this period only one (1) licensed civilian meaningfully intervened in a mass shooting."" The first Gun Free UT claim is accurate in that in that 29 mass shootings, according to a definition provided by the FBI, were carried out by people with concealed weapons. An attempt by Bearing Arms to refute the claim calls the incidents mass killings, but uses the FBI definition for mass murder. The claims leaves out information that could clarify the tangle of definitions used. By Gun Free UT's own admission, the website claim lacks context. The second claim that only one licensed civilian intervened in a mass shooting is false by the FBI definition of a mass shooting, but bolsters Gun Free UT’s cause because no armed civilian has intervened in a mass shooting."
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24340
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Most Texans aren't millionaires.
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China’s top legislature will consider tougher rules on research involving human genes and embryos, the first such move since a Chinese scientist sparked controversy last year by announcing he had made the world’s first “gene-edited” babies.
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true
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Economy, Elections, Texas, Linda Chavez-Thompson,
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He Jiankui, associate professor at Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, attracted condemnation from the global scientific community when he said he had used a technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 to alter the embryonic genes of twin girls born in November. Chinese authorities launched an investigation into He’s work and said they had halted the kind of research he was undertaking. Under the draft laws sent to China’s legislature for review on Saturday, medical and human trials would face closer scrutiny and stricter requirements, such as ensuring human subjects are properly briefed, state media outlet Xinhua reported. The rules would also require all future trials to be approved by administrative authorities as well as ethical committees, it said. The report did not specify a timeline for the approval of the regulations, or make specific mention of He’s research. In videos posted online and at the November 2018 conference where He made his controversial presentation, He said he believed his gene editing would help protect the girls from infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Chinese authorities and institutions, as well as hundreds of international scientists, condemned him and said any application of gene editing on human embryos for reproductive purposes was against the law and medical ethics of China.
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40836
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Under the current system, people on a work, study or family visa only pay a £400 surcharge to use the NHS.
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This is the current level the international health surcharge is set at each year, but the taxes that people who come to work in the UK pay also goes towards things like the NHS.
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true
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health-tourism
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Under the current system, people on a work, study or family visa only pay a £400 surcharge to use the NHS. This is the current level the international health surcharge is set at each year, but the taxes that people who come to work in the UK pay also goes towards things like the NHS. Under the current system, people on a work, study or family visa incur average NHS costs of £625 per year. It’s unclear how the Conservatives have calculated this new figure and we’ve asked them for more information. Claim 1 of 3
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2521
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New York City wants to ban cigarette sales to people under 21.
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New York City took the first step on Monday in outlawing sales of cigarettes to anyone under age 21, in an effort to reduce smoking among the age group in which most smokers take up the habit.
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true
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Health News
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The bill, which was introduced by the City Council and has the backing of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, would make New York City, which already has the highest cigarette taxes in the nation, the first big city or state to set the smoking age at 21. Currently, individuals must be 18 to buy cigarettes. Eight in 10 adult smokers in the city started smoking regularly when they were below the age of 21, and most smokers who are under age 18 obtain cigarettes from individuals who are just a few years older than them, city officials said. While an increase in cigarette taxes contributed to a 15-point drop among youth smokers from 1999 to 2007, the number of high-school-aged smokers has held steady at about 8.5 percent over the last six years. Cigarette packs sold in New York City currently carry a state tax of $4.35 and a city tax of $1.50 - making it the most expensive city in the nation to be a smoker. “Too many adult smokers begin this deadly habit before age 21,” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said. “By delaying our city’s children and young adults access to lethal tobacco products, we’re decreasing the likelihood they ever start smoking, and thus, creating a healthier city.” The bill marks the latest effort in the city’s decade-long fight to discourage smoking, which the city’s health commissioner, Thomas Farley, said was the most significant cause of preventable death in the city. In 2003, Bloomberg outlawed smoking in bars and restaurants, and smoking has since been banned in other public places, including parks. Quinn, who is running to become the city’s next mayor, made clear that she would continue Bloomberg’s aggressive public health agenda - which has led his detractors to dub him the “nanny mayor.” While most of the city’s anti-smoking initiatives have originated with Bloomberg, the mayor did not join Quinn in making the announcement on Monday, instead sending Farley to say that the mayor looks forward to signing the bill into law. Every U.S. state prohibits retailers from selling tobacco products to minors and in most states the smoking age is set at 18. Four states - Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey and Utah - require that a cigarette purchaser be at least 19 years old. In New York, Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island have already boosted their legal age for buying cigarettes and other tobacco products to 19. Nearly all tobacco use starts in childhood and adolescence, according to the 2012 report by the U.S. Surgeon General, which declared smoking a “pediatric epidemic” both in the United States and globally. According to the report, 99 percent of all first use of tobacco occurs by age 26. The report also found that if youth and young adults manage to avoid smoking or other tobacco products, very few will begin smoking after that age. Evidence suggests that once youth start smoking, many find it hard to quit. Of all adult cigarette smokers in the United States who smoke daily, 88 percent started smoking by age 18, according to the report. Currently, about one out of four seniors in high school - youth aged 17 or 18 - smoke on a regular basis. Among those who continue smoking, half will die 13 years earlier than non-smoking peers. It was not immediately clear how the tobacco industry would respond to the proposed legislation, which Quinn said she hoped would become a model for the rest of the country. “Our companies follow the law whatever it is in any jurisdiction,” said Jane Seccombe, spokeswoman for Reynolds American Inc, the parent company of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co, American Snuff Co and Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. “We believe no minors, however they’re classified in those jurisdictions, should be able to access tobacco products.” She declined to comment on any potential sales impact from changes in the minimum age.
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28300
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A video documents that Planned Parenthood harvested the brain from a living, late-term aborted fetus.
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What's true: According to unedited Center for Medical Progress video reviewed by the Los Angeles Times, the heart of an aborted fetus was briefly restarted before its brain was harvested. What's false: A portion edited out of the video stated that the fetus was dead at the time the organ was removed.
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mixture
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Politics, abortion
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On 11 February 2019, Fox News personality Laura Ingraham posted a tweet referencing a discredited news item from 2015 that was the center of a media and political storm over abortion and women’s health care provider Planned Parenthood: Butchers: Planned Parenthood kept aborted babies alive to harvest organs, ex-technician says https://t.co/OnXQ6GOM75 via @washtimes — Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) February 12, 2019 Ingraham’s tweet quoted the headline of, and linked to, a 19 August 2015 story published by the Washington Times newspaper about a controversy over heavily-edited “sting” videos targeting Planned Parenthood that were produced by the pro-life organization Center for Medical Progress (CMP). The videos suggested that Planned Parenthood was trafficking in the tissue and organs of aborted fetuses to the extent of keeping a late-term aborted fetus alive so its brain could be harvested, as reported in the Washington Times: In an undercover video, a former technician for a tissue-harvesting company details how an aborted baby was kept alive so that its heart could be harvested at a California Planned Parenthood facility, raising more legal questions about the group’s practices. Holly O’Donnell, a former blood and tissue procurement technician for the biotech startup StemExpress, also said she was asked to harvest an intact brain from the late-term, male fetus whose heart was still beating after the abortion. A StemExpress supervisor “gave me the scissors and told me that I had to cut down the middle of the face. And I can’t even describe what that feels like,” said Ms. O’Donnell, who has been featured in earlier videos by the Center for Medical Progress, a pro-life group that previously had released six undercover clips involving Planned Parenthood personnel and practices. Our efforts to obtain an unedited version of the CMP video in question were unsuccessful due to legal issues. But in 2016, reporters for the Los Angeles Times, in conjunction with the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley, were able to review the videos when they became part of an ensuing court case. (The videos are currently enjoined in an ongoing federal lawsuit.) What the Times found overall was that O’Donnell’s accounting of her experiences with Planned Parenthood as presented in a video was less than accurate and embellished for dramatic effect. This is how the Times described the unedited version of her story about procuring a brain from a purportedly living, late-term aborted fetus: [CMP founder David] Daleiden billed an edited version of O’Donnell’s interviews as the “harrowing story of harvesting an intact brain from a late-term male fetus whose heart was still beating.” Outtakes show he edited out her statement that the fetus was dead before the brain tissue was removed — but included her saying that the heart was briefly restarted by being tapped. Daleiden had her describe the case repeatedly. It was then that she said: “I don’t want to tell that story again. Please don’t make me again, David.” Daleiden replied: “That was very powerful. I think that’s going to change the world.” The Times report detailed how Daleiden, who could be heard off-camera, coached O’Donnell to maximize the impact of her stories: Unreleased footage shows that over the source of successive takes, Daleiden asked O’Donnell to repeat anecdotes or add details such as the gender of an aborted fetus and whether she “said goodbye” to a dissected fetal cadaver before placing it in a bio-hazard container. “So you want to make it really dramatic?” she asked. At one point, she laughed and said to Daleiden: “You’re all like, ‘Say it like this! Let me possess your body and I’ll say it for you.’” According to CMP, O’Donnell passed away in late 2018 after battling “severe medical challenges.” She was 27. The videos resulted in yet another raging American culture war over abortion, but also resulted in a bevy of legal problems for CMP, including lawsuits brought by Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation and criminal charges for using fake IDs and secretly filming people without their consent in the course of producing the videos.
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17229
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Every 20 seconds, a child dies because they lack access to clean water and sanitation.
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"Damon said, ""Every 20 seconds, a child dies because they lack access to clean water and sanitation."" The Bourne series star appears to be using an outdated statistic in his ABC appearance that claimed 1.5 million deaths from diarrhea caused by tainted water. More recent reports put the number at about 760,000 deaths a year. That said, Damon is accurately highlighting a little-known problem to an American audience. The statement ignores subsequent improvements but does not give viewers a different impression of the seriousness of the issue."
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mixture
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Water, PunditFact, Matt Damon,
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"When we woke up Sunday morning to catch the political talk shows, we expected plenty of talk about Ukraine and the lost Malaysian airplane. We didn’t quite anticipate a conversation about clean water with Matt Damon. Or a startling statistic worth fact-checking. How do you like them apples? (Sorry, we couldn’t resist.) Damon appeared on ABC’s This Week to discuss the serious issue of clean water scarcity in developing countries, a plight he has personally sought to impact through the charity he co-founded, Water.org. ""Every 20 seconds, a child dies because they lack access to clean water and sanitation,"" Damon said. ""Every 20 seconds, three kids every minute somewhere on planet Earth. Not here. Our kids aren't going to die from diarrhea. That's just an inconvenience to us in the West. But it is a stark, terrifying reality to billions of people on the planet."" One child dying every 20 seconds amounts to 4,320 deaths every day, or roughly 1.5 million deaths a year. It’s a jarring statistic, but is it accurate? We decided to investigate. We reached out to Water.org to see if they had source material to back up Damon’s stat. We didn’t hear back. But we did find the number on their website. There, the organization put the figure at one death every 21 seconds. Water.org cited research from UNICEF and the World Health Organization, and a report released by the two agencies in 2009. It paints a pretty stark picture of the issue. Due to poor sanitation conditions in much of the developing world, millions of people are risking their health virtually every time they take a sip of water. Infection in the intestinal tract from tainted water often leads to diarrhea, defined as the passage of three or more loose or liquid stools per day. It can last days or weeks, and if persistent can cause death due to fluid loss. Young children are especially at risk because of their weaker immune systems. According to the report, there are 2.5 billion (yes, that’s billion with a ""b"") cases of diarrhea every year in children under the age of five. It’s the second leading cause of child deaths in the world after pneumonia, taking the lives ""more young children than AIDS, malaria and measles combined,"" it says. Half the cases are in South Asia and Africa. Just how many lives does it take? The report put the total at 1.5 million. Water.org on their website acknowledged that this statistic – deaths from diarrhea among children under five – is the number they used to claim a death every 20 seconds. So that’s where the figure comes from. But it’s outdated, we found. The report came out in 2009, but it was referencing World Health Organization statistics from 2004. There has actually been considerable adavancement since then, in part because of an international effort to improve sanitation and hygiene awareness in developing countries. More recently, the World Health Organization has estimated deaths from diarrhea have fallen to about 760,000 a year, half of what it was less than a decade ago. UNICEF has cited the newer statistic as well, as does the Center for Disease Control in the United States. That would mean a child dies every 40 seconds from water-related illness. Still a harrowing statistic, but not quite what Damon said. Our ruling Damon said, ""Every 20 seconds, a child dies because they lack access to clean water and sanitation."" The Bourne series star appears to be using an outdated statistic in his ABC appearance that claimed 1.5 million deaths from diarrhea caused by tainted water. More recent reports put the number at about 760,000 deaths a year. That said, Damon is accurately highlighting a little-known problem to an American audience. The statement ignores subsequent improvements but does not give viewers a different impression of the seriousness of the issue."
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