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7435
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Economists project billion-dollar Michigan budget shortfalls.
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Michigan’s tax revenues will plummet between $3.1 billion and $3.6 billion below prior estimates this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, and will likely fall billions of dollars short in the next budget year too, economists said Thursday.
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true
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Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, Public health, Business, Virus Outbreak, General News
|
On Friday, nonpartisan legislative experts and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration will meet to try to get a handle on the budget outlook two months into the public health crisis. One-third of the workforce has filed for unemployment benefits, schools and many businesses are closed, and travel is restricted to curb the spread of COVID-19. The Senate and House fiscal agencies projected a $2.4 billion to $2.8 billion, or 10% to 11.6%, drop in combined school aid and general revenues from last year. That would be $3.1 billion to $3.6 billion below what was forecast in January. In the next fiscal year, which starts in October, revenues are projected to come in $2.7 billion to $3.3 billion below the earlier estimate. While Michigan is getting $3 billion from the federal coronavirus relief bill, not including $800 million for large municipalities, it cannot be used to close revenue gaps. Whitmer has asked for more flexibility and federal funds. Mayors on Thursday pushed Michigan’s congressional delegation to support House Democrats’ $3 trillion relief bill, which would include $375 million for U.S. cities. The National League of Cities projected Michigan cities will lose 37% of revenues, the fourth-highest drop in the country. “We have already cut dozens of jobs from the city payroll, including in my office, and are facing more drastic service reductions that our citizens need,” said Bill Wild, mayor of Westland. “We see state revenues dropping and that means reductions in revenue sharing. The federal government has helped businesses — now it needs to aid cities that are vital to the success of those businesses, too.” Whitmer, a Democrat, said the willingness of the Republican-led U.S. Senate and President Donald Trump to embrace another major rescue package is “the great unknown.” “As a group of governors, this is front and center for every single one of us, Democratic and Republican. We are ... trying to get Congress to take action,” she said during a virtual town hall held by presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. CASES The state reported nearly 1,200 additional COVID-19 cases and 73 more deaths, 35 of which occurred outside the previous 24-hour period. Officials attributed the larger-than-normal case increase — the first time it surpassed 1,000 in just over two weeks — to backlogged results being reported and increased testing inside prisons and jails. Deaths rose to nearly 4,800; cases increased to about 49,600. PROSECUTORS Several county sheriffs have refused to enforce Whitmer’s stay-at-home order and other measures. But the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan, while acknowledging the Republican-led Legislature’s lawsuit challenging the governor’s authority and actions, said the orders are still in force. A judge will hear arguments in the case Friday. State Attorney General Dana Nessel issued similar guidance last week. BRIDGE WALK Michigan officials called off the annual Labor Day walk across the Mackinac Bridge, the latest of many summer traditions to be canceled because of the pandemic. The Mackinac Bridge Authority said the walk — which typically draws tens of thousands of participants to the 5 mile (8 kilometer) bridge linking Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas — posed too great a health risk. “We can’t in good conscience continue with an event we know draws people from across our state and beyond, and puts them shoulder-to-shoulder for hours, when medical advice strenuously advises against such gatherings,” said Patrick Gleason, chairman of the panel. The three counties in the straits area — Emmet, Cheboygan and Mackinac — have reported 46 cases of COVID-19 and three related deaths. But many walkers come from more heavily populated areas of southern Michigan, where the numbers are much higher. Toll revenues from motorist crossings have slumped in recent months, leaving less money available to cover the $300,000 in expenses that the walk generates, said Matt McLogan, vice chairman of the bridge authority during an online meeting Wednesday. Gleason said he expects the walk to resume next year. ___ Flesher reported from Traverse City, Michigan.
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299
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China draws up tighter rules on human gene and embryo trials: Xinhua.
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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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Science News
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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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3691
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Wisconsin Legislature to consider tax cuts, water in 2020.
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It was a tough year in the Wisconsin Legislature. And 2020 doesn’t promise to be much rosier.
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true
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Legislature, Cabinets, Wisconsin, Health, General News, State budgets, Marijuana, Homelessness
|
Faced with a new Democratic governor, Republicans in control passed few bills of consequence in 2019 outside of the state budget. They so angered one another that Gov. Tony Evers spewed four-letter words in the halls of the Capitol minutes after the Senate fired one of his Cabinet secretaries — an unprecedented move. To end the year, Evers ticked off Republicans by trying to force a meeting of the Legislature’s budget committee to approve money to combat homelessness. Republicans claimed the meeting was illegal and didn’t show up. So maybe it’s no surprise that the Legislature plans to be in session only for a handful of days in 2020. With no budget to pass, and disagreement on major issues including expanding health care access, legalizing marijuana and gun control, Republicans plan to tackle less contentious issues such as suicide prevention and bolstering adoption. Bills resulting from a clean water task force are also coming in January. Republicans are also working on a property tax cut proposal. Republican Speaker Robin Vos said he was intentionally focusing on issues that he hopes will have bipartisan support. “I hope these are topics where we could show common ground that we can get things done,” Vos said. “We’re not Washington.” Still, a lame duck session to weaken Evers before he took office set the tone for 2019, with little trust between the two parties. “We find ourselves in this prearranged marriage, which the voters have put us in with the Democratic governor and Republican Legislature,” said Democratic Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling. “And there certainly is room for improvement when it comes to being effective.” The Legislature met for just 14 days in 2019, far below the yearly average of 34 since 2003. Evers has signed 69 bills into law. Scott Walker enacted 370 during his last two years as governor. When Democrat Jim Doyle was governor and the Legislature was controlled by Republicans, he signed an average of 409 bills into law each two-year session. The goal of Republicans, said Democratic Assembly Minority Leader Gordon Hintz, is to minimize the time Democrats can point out issues they’re not tackling such as health care, Wisconsin’s farm crisis and gun control measures. There are some areas of consequence where Evers and Republicans might find agreement. One priority for Evers that Republicans have supported in the past is increasing funding for mental health services, particularly for young people. In the days following back-to-back shootings at two Wisconsin high schools that resulted in students being wounded by police, Evers said he wanted to work with Republicans to increase mental health services. He has yet to propose anything. “I think it would be helpful if we sat down and crafted something that we could all agree on,” Evers said. “And we probably can.” Evers and Democrats wanted Republicans to back universal background checks for gun purchases and a “red flag” law that would allow judges to take guns away from people determined to be a risk to themselves or others. But Republicans refused to debate the measures in a special session called by Evers. In the face of that opposition, it’s a “rational pivot” for Evers to focus on mental health services, Hintz said. “If that is sort of the beginning of common ground with Republicans, then we need to start there,” Shilling said. “I have long said to my Republican colleagues, you need to work on building small ‘t’ trust with the governor. We’re never gonna get the capital ‘t’ trust because that’s not the environment we’re in. But building small ‘t’ trust goes both ways.” Shilling said she was hopeful lawmakers could work together on “small areas of bipartisanship.” That includes combating homelessness, addressing the “dark store” issue related to how empty businesses are taxed that is important to local governments, medical marijuana and improving mental health services for children. Republican leaders have said medical marijuana won’t happen. And funding for homelessness has become more politicized after Evers tried, unsuccessfully, to force action in the budget committee. Vos said Republicans will have a package of bills related to crime and also something addressing how to expeditiously process sexual assault evidence kits to prevent a future backlog. Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul has called on Republicans to pass a pending bill that has broad bipartisan support but remains stalled in the Assembly. “The Republicans have seemed to become like this party of no, that they just want to obstruct the governor,” Shilling said. “They want to minimize his success.” ___ Follow Scott Bauer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sbauerAP
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6015
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6 years after Nebraska TD, boy with cancer takes the field.
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A boy with brain cancer who scored a touchdown at a Nebraska practice game is playing football for real.
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true
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Cancer, Health, General News, Rex Burkhead, Nebraska, Jack Hoffman, Football, Brain cancer
|
Jack Hoffman took the field Monday to play center for his West Holt junior high team in Atkinson, situated 179 miles (288 kilometers) northwest of Omaha. His proud father, Andy Hoffman, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the 13-year-old played every down at center and some defense. “I’m happy Jack got to do that and I’m just overwhelmed,” Hoffman told the Omaha World-Herald earlier this week. “I’m sad, on the other hand, that other kids don’t get these opportunities.” Jack was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2011 and underwent chemotherapy. He soon was befriended by Nebraska running back Rex Burkhead — now a pro with the New England Patriots — and drew national attention in 2013 when he ran for a 69-yard, player-assisted touchdown in the Huskers’ spring game. His family has rallied behind its nonprofit, the Team Jack Foundation , which Andy Hoffman said has raised more than $8 million for pediatric brain cancer research. Jack relapsed in 2014 and participated in a clinical trial, his dad said. The mass next to his brain stem showed signs of worsening in 2018, and now Jack is in a clinical trial of a drug regimen originally created for melanoma patients. Jack also has epilepsy and is prone to seizures, his dad said. The boy takes 23 pills a day, some to manage epilepsy and others for cancer. Andy Hoffman and his wife, Bri, checked with Jack’s doctors when it became clear their son wanted to follow his family’s football tradition. “This isn’t something that we’re shoving down his throat,” his dad said. “This is Jack wanting to play football.” Jack’s doctors were more concerned about the risks of football in general than any danger posed by his cancer and seizures. “They don’t want to put him in a bubble,” Andy Hoffman said. Ultimately, the Hoffmans left the football decision to Jack. He chose to play. His coaches have been trained to recognize signs that Jack is about to undergo a seizure, and at least one coach carries an emergency seizure medication in his pocket for Jack. The boy averages three to four seizures a month. “Whether you have a brain tumor or not, you should make the most out of today,” Andy Hoffman said. “That’s what Jack’s doing.”
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26839
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“When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program.”
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Cigarette maker Philip Morris International Inc has suspended a global social media marketing campaign in response to Reuters inquiries into the company’s use of young online personalities to sell its new “heated tobacco” device, including a 21-year-old woman in Russia.
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true
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Education, Foreign Policy, Bernie Sanders,
|
The company’s internal “marketing standards” prohibit it from promoting tobacco products with youth-oriented celebrities or “models who are or appear to be under the age of 25.” The company told Reuters of the decision late Friday, saying it had launched an internal investigation into marketing posts and photographs that Reuters sent to the company for comment earlier this week. They included a paid post plugging the tobacco product by social media “influencer” Alina Tapilina in Moscow - who listed her age as 21 on Instagram - alongside often seductive photos of herself drinking wine, swimming and posing with little clothing in luxurious settings. “We have taken the decision to suspend all of our product-related digital influencer actions globally,” the company told Reuters. “Whilst the influencer in question is a legal age adult smoker, she is under 25 and our guidance called for influencers to be 25+ years of age. This was a clear breach of that guidance.” “No laws were broken,” the company told Reuters. “However, we set high standards for ourselves and these facts do not excuse our failure to meet those standards in this instance.” The company added: “We were deeply disappointed to discover this breach and are grateful that it was brought to our attention.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month decided it would allow sales of the IQOS device in the United States after a two-year review process in which Philip Morris repeatedly assured the regulator that it would warn young people away from the product. The FDA declined to comment Friday evening on Philip Morris’s decision to suspend the marketing campaign. The agency earlier said it would “keep a close watch on ... how the company is marketing its products.” While most of the social media influencers hired by Philip Morris overseas did not list their ages on Instagram, a Reuters review of the firm’s social media marketing of IQOS in Japan, Italy, Switzerland, Russia and Romania shows that Tapilina’s online persona was typical of what the company called its social media “ambassadors” for the device - rail-thin young women who revel in the high life. The company did not directly respond to additional questions Friday night regarding the intended audience for its digital influencer campaigns. Many of the messages contained the hashtag “#IQOSambassador,” tying them into a network of social media influencers that the international tobacco giant has relied on to brand the IQOS as a safer alternative to cigarettes and a sexy fashion accessory. “I finally have the new IQOS 3, and I can confidently say yes to change … the level of harmful substances is on average about 90 percent lower than in smoke,” Tapilina wrote in an April post. “You haven’t yet switched to IQOS?” One Romanian IQOS marketer is 25 years old, according to a separate actress biography, but did not list her age on Instagram. Tapilina and nine other IQOS marketers did not respond to requests for comment. Philip Morris, in its statement to Reuters, said its suspension of the social marketing campaign is “concrete proof” of its “conviction to achieve a smoke-free world through socially responsible practices.” Matthew Myers, president of The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, had a different take upon hearing of the suspension Friday night. The advocacy group collected some of the IQOS marketing images reviewed by Reuters. Philip Morris, he said, “is changing their behavior only when caught red-handed.” The company, Myers said, has historically been “the single most successful across the globe in making cigarettes fashionable to young people.” Over the past year, Philip Morris has increasingly publicized its “mission” to prevent young people from using tobacco products. Last month, it issued a release calling on “all tobacco and e-cigarette companies to do their part to guard against youth nicotine use.” “Let me be clear: We at Philip Morris International do not, and will not, market or sell our products to youth,” CEO André Calantzopoulos said during a speech in Boston earlier this month. “For Philip Morris International, age matters.” When Philip Morris submitted marketing plans with an FDA application for IQOS in 2017, its sample advertisements featured models appearing at least a decade older and wearing modest, professional clothes. That application, which is still pending before the FDA, seeks approval to market the IQOS as less harmful than smoking and outlines company plans to ensure it doesn’t market the device to “non-intended audiences.” The device heats up but does not burn packages of ground-up tobacco, which resemble small cigarettes, to create a nicotine-filled aerosol. In Japan, the intended audience for IQOS marketing includes the Instagram followers of Ayame Tachibana, a 27-year-old DJ and model. In one post, she shows off a Valentine’s Day message for the IQOS device, lovingly scrawled with multicolored pens. “Happy Valentine IQOS. Love you sooo much!” reads the Instagram post from February. Alina Eremia, a Romanian actress and singer, holds a gold-colored IQOS in front of a Christmas tree. “My list of resolutions contains 95% fewer moments without a smile,” says Eremia, who is 25 according to her actress biography on multiple movie and celebrity information websites. Philip Morris says the IQOS - an acronym for “I quit ordinary smoking” – contains up to 95 percent fewer toxic compounds than cigarettes. Vlad Parvulescu, a manager for Eremia, confirmed she had been hired to promote IQOS and said she had been contacted by a Romanian public relations agency. He did not respond to additional questions about the financial arrangement. Marketing deals between companies and social media influencers vary widely, according to industry experts. But typically a company will work through third-party public relations or advertising firms that have relationships with online personalities. Compensation typically ranges from $20 to $25,000 or more for each post. Corporations have become increasingly sophisticated in how they approach their social media campaigns in the past two years, said Joe Gagliese, co-founder of Viral Nation, a marketing and talent agency that works with influencers. He once had to explain the basic concept of an “influencer” in pitch meetings. Now, companies approach him with “tailor-made decision briefs saying, ‘this is exactly what we want.’” Reuters reviewed dozens of social media posts featuring the IQOS device. Many included hashtags such as #IQOSAmbassador, #paidad, and #notriskfree, indicating that they are IQOS marketing posts. Many of the Instagram influencers featuring the products had tens of thousands of followers, and a few had more than a million. Devices such as IQOS and Juul hold potential as a way for cigarette smokers to transition to less harmful nicotine products, but some public health advocates worry the sleek new devices are addicting young people who would have never smoked cigarettes. Among traditional cigarette smokers, 90 percent start smoking before the age of 18, according to federal data. Philip Morris said there have been “no reports” of “worrisome levels” of unintended use of IQOS. As part of the FDA review process, Philip Morris pledged to market only to adult cigarette smokers once it begins selling IQOS this summer through a partnership with Altria Group Inc, which sells Marlboro cigarettes in the U.S. IQOS delivers about the same level of nicotine as a traditional cigarette. Altria did not respond to requests for comment. Social media marketing has become a flashpoint in the debate over regulation of tobacco products, particularly the newest generation of products such as the wildly popular Juul e-cigarettes. Some of Juul’s early social media and YouTube marketing included images of attractive young people, particularly at a 2015 product launch party. Twitter images from that time on Juul’s official account featured sensual images of a young woman breathing out Juul vapor in a group, next to the slogan, “Share a #Juulmoment.” Those early campaigns sparked an explosion of video and photo posts from young people showing themselves using the product at school or with friends, often under the hashtags #doit4juul or #juullife. Juul Labs Inc has since said it stopped using social media influencers and requires anyone in its ads to be a former cigarette smoker older than 35. Juul Labs Inc said in a statement it recognizes that “some of our earliest marketing initiatives did not fully reflect the goal of our company,” which it describes as helping cigarette smokers transition to its products. “As a young company, we learned from our experiences and instituted changes to help ensure that we are only reaching current adult smokers,” the company said. U.S. laws governing tobacco advertising - which is banned on radio and television - were drawn up long before social media and digital advertising became a dominant force in consumer marketing. Although no current state or federal law restricts tobacco advertising on the Internet - including for e-cigarettes and devices such as IQOS - the FDA can use its authority over new devices to assert sweeping control over a company’s marketing. As a condition for allowing the device to be sold, the FDA is requiring Philip Morris to provide detailed analyses of the age ranges of consumers it reaches through digital advertising. Philip Morris is also required to submit any new advertising campaigns, including digital and social media efforts, to the FDA at least 30 days before it plans to launch them. Any paid influencers promoting the product also must disclose “any relationships between you and entities that create labeling for, advertise, market, and/or promote the products, on your behalf, or at your direction.” Those rules aim to restrict youth access to tobacco marketing, the FDA said in a statement, “especially in shared digital properties such as social media sites.”
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35517
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A July 2020 letter purportedly sent by the Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA) was accurate in stating that any retailer or manufacturer — including those operating from homes — could be sued for selling or creating COVID-19 protective face masks that were not medically approved, defective, or without proper labeling.
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What's true: Under Ohio law, consumers can bring lawsuits against suppliers for unfair or deceptive practices, though a lot of these practices are up to court interpretation. What's false: The letter in question was not sent by the Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA) nor the American Bar Association (ABA). The OSBA also warned readers to be wary of its contents. What's undetermined: Given government recommendations encouraging homemade masks, the way these laws would apply to particular situations like masks created at home remains unclear.
|
false
|
Legal Affairs
|
As Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced a statewide mask mandate starting July 23, 2020, amidst a rise in COVID-19 cases in the region, online rumors suggested any mask manufacturers, including those selling masks from home, were at risk of facing lawsuits. Snopes readers alerted us to the circulation of the above-displayed letter purportedly from the Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA), printed on an American Bar Association (ABA) letterhead. Dated July 19, 2020, the letter claimed that under “Ohio Consumer Laws” individuals could bring a lawsuit against establishments selling or manufacturing masks without licenses or warning labels, including those selling out of their homes, especially if wearers got lung damage. The letter, full of grammatical errors and deprived of punctuation, stated: Under Ohio Consumer Laws you can now bring lawsuit against any retail establishment selling or manufacturing Face Masks or Facial Coverings for the purpose virus protection You can now file lawsuits against anyone selling a facial covering that has not been Medically Approved to filter contagious diseases. This includes any Homemade or Factory made mask With the rise in lung damage caused by pleurisy you can Legally sue for Medical Damages and or selling a Medical Device without license Any mask sold without proper warning labeling sewn into the fabric will be considered in violation, you can also file a mislabeled or not FDA approved lawsuit You can also pursue anyone selling face masks out of their home You can also bring suit if selling a medical device without license You can also bring suit for Illegal Monetary Sales and failure to disclose income under IRS 254-70994US You can also now bring suit against any small business that knowingly sells a defective face covering that causes lung damage We believe these lawsuits will be very lucrative moving forward We learned that the letter attribution was fake and its contents were suspect. In a statement on their Facebook page, the OSBA said they did not issue a letter and readers should be “wary of its contents”: We reached out to the OSBA who would not comment on the contents of the letter because as an organization they refrain from giving legal advice. Snopes also reached out to the Ohio attorney general’s office about the information in the letter. A representative confirmed that under Ohio law consumers can bring lawsuits against suppliers for unfair and deceptive practices, but much of what constitutes a violation relies on court interpretation. According to the Ohio Revised Code, such deceptive practices include: That the subject of a consumer transaction has sponsorship, approval, performance characteristics, accessories, uses, or benefits that it does not have; That the subject of a consumer transaction is of a particular standard, quality, grade, style, prescription, or model, if it is not […] It is likely that this applies to any mask manufacturers that make deceptive promises about the quality of their product(s) and the level of protection the product(s) provide. DeWine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended the use of homemade and non-medical grade masks in addition to practicing social distancing. The CDC stated that surgical masks or respirators are “critical supplies that should continue to be reserved for healthcare workers.” The Ohio state and federal governments have shared recommendations for do-it-yourself (DIY) or homemade masks without any requirement for a license or warning labels. Consumer protection laws may apply to people selling these homemade masks without affixed labels, but the actual legal implications remain unclear given government recommendations. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) regulates masks used for medical purposes only. In April 2020, when health care providers in the U.S. reportedly did not have access to enough personal protective equipment, including masks, the FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for face masks used by the general public and in health care settings during the COVID-19 public health emergency. In short, this EUA required that face masks should be labeled accurately and their use not be misrepresented. Authorized masks were to meet the following requirements: 1. The product is labeled accurately to describe the product as a face mask and includes a list of the body contacting materials (which does not include any drugs or biologics); 2. The product is labeled accurately so that it does not claim to be intended for use as a surgical mask or to provide liquid barrier protection;
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22168
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One of three patients hospitalized (is) harmed by the care they receive.
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One in three harmed during medical care, White House official says
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true
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Georgia, Health Care, Kathleen Sebelius,
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"It’s no secret that health care costs are rising, but comments by a White House Cabinet member about the quality of care surprised us. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said at a recent Atlanta Press Club luncheon that ""one of three patients hospitalized (is) harmed by the care they receive."" Sebelius made the claim while discussing the need to provide better health care under the federal government’s Medicare program. The White House has begun a program to reduce preventable medical errors. The secretary attempted to drive home the seriousness of the issue by telling the story of a Stone Mountain woman who got an infection during ankle surgery. The woman, Sebelius said, needed another surgery to remove screws previously put in her ankle. She had to take antibiotics at home, needed weekly visits from a home health nurse and additional treatment from a doctor to make sure the infection went away. Sebelius said such tales are not rare. Still, we wondered about the frequency. Is it really one of three? The secretary’s office said her claim came from a recent study in the journal Health Affairs. The study’s headline said that adverse effects from medical care in hospitals may be 10 times greater than previously believed. ""Overall, adverse events occurred in 33.2 percent of hospital admissions,"" the nine-page study said. Several newspapers reported the findings. ""[Medical errors] are a big issue,"" said Dr. Peter Pronovost, director of the Johns Hopkins University Quality and Research Safety Group, who has received praise for his research on the topic. But is the statistic that Sebelius quoted correct? Doctors and medical experts began paying more attention to medical errors during care after a landmark 1999 study by the Institute of Health, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers concluded that as many as 98,000 Americans die each year as a result of medical errors. In November, a team of doctors released its findings on five years worth of medical records from 10 randomly selected hospitals in North Carolina between 2002 and 2007. They chose that state because it has worked hard to improve patient safety in recent years. The research found ""25.1 patient harms per 100 admissions."" Nearly one out of five patients had an adverse effect from medical care, the study found. The greatest percentage of harms came from medical procedures. Medications were a close second. Infections were third on the list. Dr. Christopher Landrigan, the lead author of the North Carolina study, said the adverse effect from medicine could range from a condition that requires a hospital stay to something as simple as a rash. Landrigan, associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at Harvard Medical Center, said medical errors occur because care and treatment are imperfect. ""The root cause of it is medicine is very complicated,"" Landrigan said, explaining why medical errors are so alarmingly high. ""There is a high risk of something going wrong."" The April report that Sebelius referenced focused on three hospitals of different sizes located in different parts of the United States. The researchers, led by Dr. David C. Classen, randomly selected patients from all adult age groups admitted to those hospitals during the month of October 2004 and reviewed the records of 795 patients. The largest forms of problems, nearly 40 percent of them, were related to medicine given for a surgery or procedure. The second-leading cause, nearly 30 percent, was procedure-related. Infections were the third-leading cause, the study found. About one third of the problems required a longer hospital stay. Nearly 8 percent resulted in permanent patient harm, a lifesaving procedure or death. Landrigan said he didn’t dispute the research in the Health Affairs report. He said Classen and his fellow researchers were more experienced in using some of the tools now used to detect medical errors. Classen and his team did use a broader definition of adverse events than in other studies, saying they did not restrict themselves to whether they were preventable or led to a major disability. ""Fundamentally, the methodology was very sound,"" Landrigan said. To date, other reviews of the study have been well-received. ""This is one of the best studies that now gives us a sense of how much harm is happening to patients in American hospitals,"" Dr. Robert Wachter, chief of medical service at the University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center, told American Medical News. Wachter was not involved in the research. To sum up, Sebelius repeated information from a report that falls in line with other research showing that the problem of medical errors is progressively getting worse. Although the report has not been disputed, there are a few caveats, such as the researchers used a broader definition of adverse events, some of the effects were not life-threatening and the short length of the research of the study."
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35473
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Residents of various U.S. states have received unsolicited mailings of seeds sent from China with malicious intent.
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What's true: Numerous residents in the U.S. (and UK) have reported receiving unsolicited packages of seeds in the mail with return addresses indicating they were sent from China. What's undetermined: The precise motive behind these mailings, and whether or not it is a malicious one, is not yet known.
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mixture
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Inboxer Rebellion
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In July 2020, social media users began circulating a warning from the Washington State Department of Agriculture about people in the U.S. receiving unsolicited mailings of seeds sent from China (sometimes in packages identifying the contents as jewelry), which included a caution for recipients not to plant any seeds so received and to report them to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as instances of agricultural smuggling: Today we received reports of people receiving seeds in the mail from China that they did not order. The seeds are sent in packages usually stating that the contents are jewelry. Unsolicited seeds could be invasive, introduce diseases to local plants, or be harmful to livestock. Here’s what to do if you receive unsolicited seeds from another country: 1) DO NOT plant them and if they are in sealed packaging don’t open the sealed package. 2) This is known as agricultural smuggling. Report it to USDA and maintain the seeds and packaging until USDA instructs you what to do with the packages and seeds. They may be needed as evidence. This warning corresponded to multiple other governmental alerts and news accounts about persons in the UK and multiple states of the U.S. having received such unsolicited mailings. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), for example, issued a similar warning to residents of that state: The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) has been notified that several Virginia residents have received unsolicited packages containing seeds that appear to have originated from China. The types of seeds in the packages are unknown at this time and may be invasive plant species. The packages were sent by mail and may have Chinese writing on them. Please do not plant these seeds. VDACS encourages anyone who has received unsolicited seeds in the mail that appears to have Chinese origin to contact the Office of Plant Industry Services (OPIS) at 804.786.3515 or through the ReportAPest@vdacs.virginia.gov email. Invasive species wreak havoc on the environment, displace or destroy native plants and insects and severely damage crops. Taking steps to prevent their introduction is the most effective method of reducing both the risk of invasive species infestations and the cost to control and mitigate those infestations. Newsweek also reported on residents of Utah receiving the same type of unsolicited packages: A number of Utah residents have been surprised with a peculiar package in their mailboxes — a parcel filled with seeds and Chinese writing on the outside. “I opened them up and they were seeds,” said Utah resident Lori Culley, who found her package with Chinese characters, plus a label stating there were earrings inside. “Obviously they’re not jewelry!” she said. Culley, who lives in Tooele, thought it may be a case of a mistaken address, but when she posted about it on social media she found “at least 40” local residents had gotten similar packages in the past few weeks. There are regulations as to which plants and seeds can be imported into and sold in Utah. Since the delivery, a representative from the Utah Department of Agriculture picked up Culley’s seeds to have them tested. The department may also get assistance from Customs and Border Protection agents to investigate the mysterious seeds.
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28593
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Memorial Day began with a May 1865 ceremony held by former slaves to honor Union war dead.
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What's true: In May 1865, free blacks in Charleston reburied dead Union prisoners of war and held a cemetery dedication ceremony. What's false: The May 1865 event was not the origin of the modern Memorial Day observance.
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mixture
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History, memorial day, slavery
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The custom of holding observances (including the laying of flowers on burial sites) to remember and honor those who gave their lives in military service goes back many hundreds, if not thousands, of years. In the United States, that custom has long since been formalized in the creation of Memorial Day (formerly known as Decoration Day), a federal holiday observed on the last Monday in May to remember the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Traditionally, every year the President of the United States (or, in his absence, another high-ranking government official) visits Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day to honor all those Americans who have died in military service to their country by participating in a symbolic wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns: KNOW YOUR HISTORY: Memorial Day was started by former slaves on May, 1, 1865 in Charleston, SC to honor 257 dead Union Soldiers who had been buried in a mass grave in a Confederate prison camp. They dug up the bodies and worked for 2 weeks to give them a proper burial as gratitude for fighting for their freedom. They then held a parade of 10,000 people led by 2,800 Black children where they marched, sang and celebrated. In a formal sense, the modern Memorial Day originated with an order issued in 1868 by Maj. Gen. John A. Logan, the commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, for the annual decoration of war graves: Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country. The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The ceremonies centered around the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Various Washington officials, including Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, presided over the ceremonies. After speeches, children from the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns. In a literal sense, it was not until 1971 that Memorial Day was established as a federal holiday by Congress. Regardless of when Decoration Day (or Memorial Day) may have been officially established, though, debate continues to this day regarding exactly when and where the first observance of this nature was held in the United States. In May 1966 the city of Waterloo, New York, was designated as the “Birthplace of Memorial Day” via a Congressional resolutions and presidential proclamation commemorating a patriotic observance held in that town one hundred years earlier: The story of Memorial Day begins in the summer of 1865, when a prominent local druggist, Henry C. Welles, mentioned to some of his friends at a social gathering that while praising the living veterans of the Civil War it would be well to remember the patriotic dead by placing flowers on their graves. Nothing resulted from this suggestion until he advanced the idea again the following spring to General John B. Murray. Murray, a civil war hero and intensely patriotic, supported the idea wholeheartedly and marshalled veterans’ support. Plans were developed for a more complete celebration by a local citizens’ committee headed by Welles and Murray. On May 5, 1866, the Village was decorated with flags at half mast, draped with evergreens and mourning black. Veterans, civic societies and residents, led by General Murray, marched to the strains of martial music to the three village cemeteries. There impressive ceremonies were held and soldiers’ graves decorated. One year later, on May 5, 1867, the ceremonies were repeated. In 1868, Waterloo joined with other communities in holding their observance on May 30th, in accordance with General Logan’s orders. It has been held annually ever since. Waterloo held the first formal, village wide, annual observance of a day dedicated to honoring the war dead. On March 7, 1966, the State of New York recognized Waterloo by a proclamation signed by Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller. This was followed by recognition from Congress of the United States when the House of Representatives and the Senate unanimously passed House Concurrent Resolution 587 on May 17th and May 19th, 1966 respectively. This reads in part as follows: “Resolved that the Congress of the United States, in recognition of the patriotic tradition set in motion one hundred years ago in the Village of Waterloo, NY, does hereby officially recognize Waterloo, New York as the birthplace of Memorial Day …” On May 26, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson, signed a Presidential Proclamation recognizing Waterloo as the Birthplace of Memorial Day. Nonetheless, dozens of other places still lay claim, based on a variety of criteria, to being the true birthplace of the modern Memorial Day, and more recent historical studies have concluded that all of those claims (including Waterloo’s) are apocryphal: According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, roughly two dozen places claim to be the primary source of the holiday, an assertion found on plaques, on Web sites and in the dogged avowals of local historians across the country. Yet each town seems to have different criteria: whether its ceremony was in fact the earliest to honor Civil War dead, or the first one that General Logan heard about, or the first one that conceived of a national, recurring day. Women in Boalsburg, Pa., which has a claim as the holiday’s birthplace, began decorating graves each year as early as October 1864. In and around Carbondale, Ill., according to the Jackson County Historical Society, there are two markers making such an assertion in two different cemeteries. James H. Ryan, a retired Army colonel, has descended into the Logan archives and come out with a strong case for the town where he lives, Petersburg, Va. This — readers, please take note — is just a partial and by no means definitive list. The multiplicity of sites that have claimed Memorial Day birthplace status for themselves are not all in the North; many contenders are Southern cities that were part of the Confederacy during the Civil War: Columbus, Miss., was a hospital town, and in many cases a burial site, for both Union and Confederate casualties of Shiloh, brought in by the trainload. And it was in that Columbus where, at the initiation of four women who met in a 12-gabled house on North Fourth Street, a solemn procession was made to Friendship Cemetery on April 25, 1866. As the story goes, one of the women spontaneously suggested that they decorate the graves of the Union as well as the Confederate dead, as each grave contained someone’s father, brother or son. A lawyer in Ithaca, N.Y., named Francis Miles Finch read about this reconciliatory gesture and wrote a poem about the ceremony in Columbus, “The Blue and the Gray,” which The Atlantic Monthly published in 1867. Georgians dispute little of this. But they argue that the procession in the other Columbus was actually inspired by the events in their Columbus. Professor Richard Gardiner has lived here for only a few years, but he has joined with an accountant named Daniel Bellware, an avid history sleuth originally from Detroit, and together they have written an academic paper making the case for Columbus, Ga. “The ladies of the South instituted this memorial day,” read emi>The New York Times on June 5, 1868. “They wished to annoy the Yankees; and now the Grand Army of the Republic in retaliation and from no worthier motive, have determined to annoy them by adopting their plan of commemoration.” In his book Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory, Professor David W. Blight made the case for Charleston, South Carolina, as Memorial Day’s birthplace, as that city was the site of an obscure (possibly suppressed) May 1865 event held at a racetrack turned war prison, during which freedmen properly reburied hundreds of Union dead found there and then held a ceremony to dedicate the cemetery: African Americans founded Decoration Day at the graveyard of 257 Union soldiers labeled “Martyrs of the Race Course,” May 1, 1865, Charleston, South Carolina. The “First Decoration Day,” as this event came to be recognized in some circles in the North, involved an estimated ten thousand people, most of them black former slaves. During April, twenty-eight black men from one of the local churches built a suitable enclosure for the burial ground at the Race Course. In some ten days, they constructed a fence ten feet high, enclosing the burial ground, and landscaped the graves into neat rows. The wooden fence was whitewashed and an archway was built over the gate to the enclosure. On the arch, painted in black letters, the workmen inscribed “Martyrs of the Race Course.” At nine o’clock in the morning on May 1, the procession to this special cemetery began as three thousand black schoolchildren (newly enrolled in freedmen’s schools) marched around the Race Course, each with an armload of roses and singing “John Brown’s Body.” The children were followed by three hundred black women representing the Patriotic Association, a group organized to distribute clothing and other goods among the freedpeople. The women carried baskets of flowers, wreaths, and crosses to the burial ground. The Mutual Aid Society, a benevolent association of black men, next marched in cadence around the track and into the cemetery, followed by large crowds of white and black citizens. All dropped their spring blossoms on the graves in a scene recorded by a newspaper correspondent: “when all had left, the holy mounds — the tops, the sides, and the spaces between them — were one mass of flowers, not a speck of earth could be seen; and as the breeze wafted the sweet perfumes from them, outside and beyond … there were few eyes among those who knew the meaning of the ceremony that were not dim with tears of joy.” While the adults marched around the graves, the children were gathered in a nearby grove, where they sang “America,” “We’ll Rally Around the Flag,” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The official dedication ceremony was conducted by the ministers of all the black churches in Charleston. With prayer, the reading of biblical passages, and the singing of spirituals, black Charlestonians gave birth to an American tradition. In so doing, they declared the meaning of the war in the most public way possible — by their labor, their words, their songs, and their solemn parade of roses, lilacs, and marching feet on the old planters’ Race Course. After the dedication, the crowds gathered at the Race Course grandstand to hear some thirty speeches by Union officers, local black ministers, and abolitionist missionaries. Picnics ensued around the grounds, and in the afternoon, a full brigade of Union infantry, including Colored Troops, marched in double column around the martyrs’ graves and held a drill on the infield of the Race Course. The war was over, and Memorial Day had been founded by African Americans in a ritual of remembrance and consecration. Although contemporaneous accounts from the Charleston Daily Courier describe and document the 1865 ceremony that took place there, and the event was one the earliest known observances similar to what we would now recognize as Memorial Day, whether it was truly the first such ceremony, and what influence (if any) it might have had on later observances, are still matters of contention. Professor Blight termed it “the first Memorial Day” because it predated most of the other contenders, but he noted he has no evidence that it led to General Logan’s call for a national holiday in 1868: “I’m much more interested in the meaning that’s being conveyed in that incredible ritual than who’s first,” he said. In their 2014 book The Genesis of the Memorial Day Holiday, Dr. Richard Gardiner and Daniel Bellware concluded that credit for the origins of Memorial Day should likely rest with a group of women in Columbus, Georgia known as the Ladies Memorial Association, who beginning in 1866 held an annual observance originally called “Memorial Day,” then subsequently referred to as “Confederate Memorial Day” after (as referenced above) northerners co-opted the event in 1868 and established their own Memorial Day.
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21289
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Michele Bachmann Says Rick Perry co-chaired Al Gore’s campaign for president.
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Michele Bachmann says Rick Perry co-chaired Al Gore's presidential campaign
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mixture
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Candidate Biography, Elections, Texas, Michele Bachmann,
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"Given a chance to question any other presidential candidate, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann opened her question for Texas Gov. Rick Perry at the Oct. 11, 2011, Bloomberg/Washington Post debate by saying: ""In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan introduced an economic miracle. And while all of us were wishing and yearning for a third term for Ronald Reagan, Gov. Perry, you were campaigning and co-chairing Al Gore's election campaign for president of the United States."" Setting aside what Bachmann ultimately asked, we realized we’d previously explored the Perry-Gore connection. For more than a decade, news accounts and Perry critics said that as a Democratic legislator, Perry played a leadership role in then-U.S. Sen. Gore’s unsuccessful 1988 presidential bid. Yet when we revisited this topic in September, we found no evidence--not a pinch--that Perry had a ruling role. It’s the stuff of political legend--and it was all but unchallenged by Perry until after he launched his bid for president. However, interviews with political players in Texas and Tennessee and news articles from 1988 convinced us that, although Perry endorsed Gore, he was not his Texas chairman. Ray Sullivan, a spokesman for Perry’s presidential campaign, told us by email: ""We have no record or recollection of any leadership position"" for Perry in Gore’s 1988 campaign. Asked why Perry did not say as much when a 1998 opponent repeatedly lofted such claims, Sullivan replied: ""We did not (have) access to information about the Gore ’88 campaign organization and therefore 10 years later could not definitively say one way or the other."" Perry says he voted for Republican George H.W. Bush in November 1988, Sullivan said. In an August 2011 blog post, Texas political journalist R.G. Ratcliffe, who also reports for the Austin American-Statesman, declared that Perry did not chair the Gore campaign in Texas. That prompted us to take a closer look at the Perry-Gore connection. Austin consultant George Shipley, who advised Gore’s 1988 campaign, told us in an interview that Perry ""made, to my knowledge, one, possibly two press tours, but he was not what I would call that active in the campaign."" Sherman lawyer Bob Slagle, who supported Gore while chairing the state’s Democratic Party, told us in an interview that Perry ""may have been chairman for some area around Haskell County,"" Perry’s home county, but he was no more than that. Similarly, two staff members in Gore’s 1988 effort said Perry was not its Texas chief. Tennessee lawyer Tom Jurkovich, Gore’s Texas director, told us by email that ""we may have named (Perry) to a ‘steering committee’ or as one of several campaign ‘co-chairs,’ typically honorific titles with no real role ... (Perry) wasn't highly involved in the campaign, however, and had zero operational responsibility."" Mike Kopp of Nashville, who did press outreach for Gore, was more emphatic, saying in an interview: ""We didn’t have a chairman in Texas; we didn’t have co-chairs,"" either. ""We weren’t that organized; we didn’t have that strong a ground game."" Perry, who switched to the Republican Party in 1989 before winning his first statewide office in 1990, has since said he realized around that time that Gore was not his man. Still, he did not— could not—deny he’d come aboard with 27 fellow Texas House Democrats who endorsed Gore at a Jan. 5, 1988, Texas Capitol press conference. Perry and the other legislators saw Gore as the best conservative Democrat in a field that included Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, Missouri U.S. Rep. Richard Gephardt and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. A Jan. 7, 1988, news article in the Abilene Reporter-News quotes Dusty Garison, Perry’s district aide, saying: ""Rick thinks it’s important that conservative Texans who have traditionally voted in the Democratic Party not vote in the Republican Party simply because they want to vote for a conservative presidential candidate."" Gore, Garison said, appears to be a candidate who can bring the party back to ""mainstream America."" But Gore’s candidacy faded after he fared poorly in Southern primaries. He wound up third in the March 1988 Texas primary, trailing Dukakis and Jackson. Garison told us in an interview he didn’t remember Perry having an official position in Gore’s campaign. Perry's ""chairmanship"" appears to have originated as a campaign attack that stuck after it was seemingly confirmed by Perry himself. Sprinkle in Nexis fever—the tendency of journalists to echo news clips they find using the Nexis database—and the legend abides. A review of news articles archived by the Legislative Reference Library shows that Democrat John Sharp made the charge about Perry’s leadership role in the Gore campaign when Sharp faced Perry in the 1998 race for lieutenant governor. In March 1998, Perry’s camp pressed Sharp to say whom he’d support in that year’s governor’s race between Gov. George W. Bush and Democrat Garry Mauro. Sullivan was quoted in a March 15, 1998, Dallas Morning News article as saying that while Perry would back Bush, Sharp had ""supported Mike Dukakis in 1988, Bill Clinton in 1992, (Democratic Gov.) Ann Richards in 1994 and was preparing to run against Gov. Bush in 1997. In 1998, will John Sharp continue his long opposition to the Bush family in Texas or change his position for political gain?"" ""Texans deserve a straight and honest answer,"" Sullivan said. The newspaper reported Sharp’s campaign then claiming that Perry served as a state vice chairman for Gore’s 1988 presidential campaign in the state. In an April 1998 debate with Perry, Sharp charged Perry with being Gore’s ""co-campaign manager,"" the Fort Worth Star-Telegram then reported. In a Sept. 15, 1998, Dallas Morning News article, Sharp is quoted making the ""co-chairman"" claim again. Perry acknowledged that, the story says, but said there was a ""push to get a conservative Southerner"" elected president. ""Going through that was part of what started me through the process of changing parties in 1989,"" he told the newspaper. ""I came to my senses."" It was Perry’s September 1998 acknowledgment that fed our conclusion in a January 2010 fact check that there was some truth to Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina’s claim that Perry had been Gore’s ""campaign manager."" We again leaned on the 1998 article in rating Mostly True a similar claim by Rep. Ron Paul. When we revisited this topic, Sharp acknowledged he was making a charge he could not prove. Sharp, who lost a second bid for lieutenant governor in 2002, later helped devise a business tax overhaul at Perry’s behest. He’s now chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. By text message, Sharp agreed Perry wasn’t chairman of Gore’s 1988 Texas campaign. Reminded that he said things otherwise on the hustings, Sharp said: ""Never could prove it."" We couldn’t prove it either. We failed to find campaign-related documents potentially listing titles, if any, given to the Texas legislators who came out for Gore. Interviews suggest campaign leadership titles may have been casually shared. Hugo Berlanga, a former legislator who was then speaker pro tempore of the Texas House, said in an interview that the members committing to Gore, who was then a U.S. senator, were going to be his Texas co-chairs. ""The bottom line, whether he was a coordinator or co chair, (Perry) was involved,"" Berlanga said. Bobby Aikin, also among legislators then for Gore, said in an interview: ""I think each one of us claimed to be a co-chair or coordinator or some-such like that."" So, say so long to the ""Chairman Perry"" legend? Sure, barring contradictory evidence. All in all, Perry indeed endorsed Gore for president, but he did not hold a campaign leadership post."
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16425
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"Greg Abbott ""has campaigned with a sexual predator who has bragged about having sex with underage girls."
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"Davis said Abbott ""has campaigned with a sexual predator who has bragged about having sex with underage girls."" Davis didn’t mention Nugent’s name, but she’s right the former rock star, who stumped for Abbott this year, has talked about sexual escapades with much younger women. Then again, we found no confirmation of Nugent explicitly saying his victims were underage. Also, Davis’ statement could have given debate viewers the misimpression Nugent is a convicted sex offender, which isn’t so."
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mixture
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Corrections and Updates, Ethics, Crime, Sexuality, Texas, Wendy Davis,
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"CLARIFICATION, 4 p.m. Sept. 26, 2014: We revised the conclusion of this fact check to clarify our reasoning. The rating did not change. Democrat Wendy Davis revived a link between Republican Greg Abbott and guitar rock and roller Ted Nugent in the Sept. 19, 2014, debate between the gubernatorial nominees. The Fort Worth state senator initially mentioned her 2013 filibuster against legislation tightening restrictions on abortion in the state. ""My opponent, on the other hand, has paid women less than he has paid men,"" Davis said, likely referring to a March 18, 2014, news story in the San Antonio Express-News exploring that topic. And, Davis said, ""he has campaigned with a sexual predator who has bragged about having sex with underage girls."" By email, Davis spokesman Zac Petkanas said Davis was referring to Abbott stumping in Denton in early 2014 with rock guitarist Ted Nugent, the so-called Motor City Madman whose 1970s hits included ""Cat Scratch Fever."" Petkanas emailed: ""An adult man who has sex with underage girls is by definition a sexual predator."" We identified a legal definition using ""predator."" By email, Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, guided us to a Texas definition connected to civil commitments of individuals repeatedly convicted of sexual offenses who haven’t proved amenable to traditional mental illness treatment. A person is a ""sexually violent predator,"" this law says, if the person is a ""repeat sexually violent offender"" and ""suffers from a behavioral abnormality that makes the person likely to engage in a predatory act of sexual violence."" Nugent has no criminal convictions, according to a background check we conducted on LexisNexis. Nugent (who has his own Truth-O-Meter report card) appeared with Abbott on Feb. 18, 2014. At that time, Davis said Abbott had appeared with ""an admitted sexual predator."" Karin Johanson, then her campaign manager, went on to say Nugent ""has boasted of having sexual relations with underage women."" That day, Abbott praised Nugent’s zealous defense of gun rights and claimed ignorance of the performer’s inflammatory remarks on immigration and women. Nugent had suggested immigrants who are not in the country legally should be treated like ""indentured servants"" until they earn citizenship; he’d also referred to feminists as ""fat pigs"" and used lewd language about women in song lyrics and interviews. Nugent later apologized for referring to the Democratic president, Barack Obama, as a ""subhuman mongrel."" Appearing on WBAP Radio in Dallas, Nugent said, ""I apologize for using the street fight terminology of subhuman mongrel."" He said he should have called Obama ""violator of his Constitution, the liar that he is,"" a reference to the 2012 health law known as Obamacare. Abbott then said Nugent’s comment was ""not the kind of language I would use or endorse in any way."" Nugent has been married to his current wife, Shemane, since 1989, she says on her blog. Has he also boasted of relations with underage girls? Petkanas pointed us to a Nugent profile on the VH1 cable channel as the basis of what Davis said. The episode of ""Behind the Music,"" which debuted in April 1998, presents Nugent, in his words and comments from others, as a tee-totaling, drug-free, gun-loving performer who had had many sexual partners. We spotted a remastered version on VH1’s website, dated Jan. 30, 2012. ""I didn’t get into rock and roll to pick up women,"" Nugent says in the program. ""But I adapted."" The episode’s narrator says Nugent was divorced by the mother of two of his children in the mid-1970s in part because he was ""fighting a losing battle with his own addiction, his weakness for young women."" ""I was addicted to girls,"" Nugent says. ""Addicted. It was hopeless. It was beautiful."" Post-divorce, Nugent, 30, paired up with a 17-year-old from Hawaii. ""She was like a dream,"" Nugent says. ""I was underage,"" the woman, says, looking back. ""And even back in the wild ‘70s, it just wasn’t a terribly appropriate situation in most people’s eyes."" The narrator says the girl’s mother even signed papers making Nugent her daughter’s legal guardian. ""Ted admits to a number of liaisons with underage girls,"" the narrator says. Petkanas also forwarded a web link to a Huffington Post article stating Courtney Love, the singer, recalled performing a sex act with the elder Nugent when she was a 12-year-old groupie. Love said so in a radio interview in March 2004, according to a March 23, 2004, New York Post news story. The Post said Nugent didn’t return its call for comment on Love’s statement. Nugent’s office didn’t engage with our email and telephone inquiries for this article. Our ruling Davis said Abbott ""has campaigned with a sexual predator who has bragged about having sex with underage girls."" Davis didn’t mention Nugent’s name, but she’s right the former rock star, who stumped for Abbott this year, has talked about sexual escapades with much younger women. Then again, we found no confirmation of Nugent explicitly saying his victims were underage. Also, Davis’ statement could have given debate viewers the misimpression Nugent is a convicted sex offender, which isn’t so. – The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context."
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33730
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Missionary is protected from murderous attackers by the miraculous appearance of 26 armed guards.
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The Christian commandment about not bearing false witness just isn’t getting the mileage it used to.
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false
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Glurge Gallery, glurge, missionaries, parables
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“Potential victim’s attacker is scared off by guardian angels” is a common glurge theme. (Another widely-circulated tale about a girl who barely avoids becoming the victim of a rapist also draws upon this theme): Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2000] A missionary on furlough told this true story while visiting his home church in Michigan.”While serving at a small field hospital in Africa, every two weeks I traveled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. This was a journey of two days and required camping overnight at the halfway point. On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to collect money from a bank, purchase medicine and supplies, and then begin my two-day journey back to the field hospital. Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting, one of whom had been seriously injured. I treated him for his injuries and at the same time talked to him about the Lord Jesus Christ. I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident. Two weeks later I repeated my journey. Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated. He told me that he had known I carried money and medicines. He said, ‘Some friends and I followed you into the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight. We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But just as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards.’ At this I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone in that jungle campsite. The young man pressed the point, however, and said, ‘No sir, I was not the only person to see the guards. My five friends also saw them, and we all counted them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left you alone. '” At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the Michigan congregation jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact day this happened. The missionary told the congregation the date, and the man who interrupted told him this story: “On the night of your incident in Africa, it was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf. I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong, I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?” The men who had met together to pray that day stood up. The missionary wasn’t concerned with who they were; he was too busy counting how many men he saw. There were 26! This story is an incredible example of how the Spirit of the Lord moves in mysterious ways. If you ever hear such prodding, go along with it. These tales are obviously parables, but since the version cited in the example section above has been embellished with details intended to demonstrate it to be a “true story,” we’ve once again received numerous “Is this true?” queries about it. As a literal account of an actual occurrence, this one has a few implausibilities: These details are all obvious plot devices: The attackers have to count exactly how many guards stood watch over their intended victim, and their leader has to confess to the missionary that they conspired to kill him, because without these revelations the missionary wouldn’t have known how many guardian spirits were protecting him, and thus the unexpected news that exactly 26 Michigan congregationalists had gathered to pray for the missionary’s safety at the very same time several would-be attackers had approached him wouldn’t seem nearly as astonishing. Additionally, given that Michigan is in a time zone that places it anywhere from five to eight hours behind the time zones on the African continent, one would be hard-pressed to find a region of Africa where it would be night while it was “morning” in Michigan. Once again, we have a lovely little parable someone couldn’t help but attempt to dress up. A more plausible version of the same story appeared in the 1986 book Touch the World Through Prayer: During the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya in 1960, missionaries Matt and Lora Higgens were returning one night to Nairobi through the heart of Mau Mau territory, where Kenyans and missionaries alike had been killed and dismembered. Seventeen miles outside of Nairobi their Land Rover stopped. Higgens tried to repair the car in the dark, but could not restart it. They spent the night in the car, but claimed Psalm 4:8: “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” In the morning they were able to repair the car.A few weeks later the Higgenses returned to America on furlough. They reported that the night before they left Nairobi, a local pastor had visited them. He told how a member of the Mau Mau had confessed that he and three others had crept up to the car to kill the Higgenses, but when they saw the sixteen men surrounding the car, the Mau Mau left in fear. “Sixteen men?” Higgens responded. “I don’t know what you mean!” While they were on furlough a friend, Clay Brent, asked the Higgenses if they have been in any danger recently. Higgens asked, “Why?” Then Clay said that on March 23, God had placed a heavy prayer burden on his heart. He called the men of the church, and sixteen of them met together and prayed until the burden lifted. Did God send sixteen angels to represent those men and enforce their prayers?1 However, the story had appeared in print even prior to that. Billy Graham’s 1975 Angels: God’s Secret Agents contained this telling of it. The Reverend John G. Paton, pioneer missionary in the New Hebrides Islands, told a thrilling story involving the protective care of angels. Hostile natives surrounded his mission headquarters one night, intent on burning the Patons out and killing them. John Paton and his wife prayed all during that terror-filled night that God would deliver them. When daylight came they were amazed to see that, unaccountably, the attackers had left. They thanked God for delivering them.A year later, the chief of the tribe was converted to Jesus Christ, and Mr. Paton, remembering what had happened, asked the chief what had kept him and his men from burning down the house and killing them. The chief replied in surprise, “Who were all those men you had with you there?” The missionary answered, “There were no men there; just my wife and I.” The chief argued that they had seen many men standing guard – hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn swords in their hands. They seemed to circle the mission station so that the natives were afraid to attack. Only then did Mr. Paton realize that God had sent His angels to protect them. The chief agreed that there was no other explanation. Could it be that God had sent a legion of angels to protect His servants, whose lives were being endangered?2 Missionaries protected by the prayers of loved ones at the precise moment of danger is a common tale. Here’s an example from a 1979 collection of anecdotes and inspirational tales: In 1947, while I was travelling on horseback in Central China with Mr. Fred Mitchell, we came to a spot that was notorious as a robber hide-out. The missionary accompanying us was keeping a sharp look-out. Suddenly we came upon a body lying beside the path. The victim was obviously not long dead. The brigands had been at work.A few days later I received a letter from my wife, asking whether we had been in any danger on a date and at a time she named. On that particular night she had been suddenly awakened with the strong impression that I was in danger. She rose and prayed until the burden lifted and peace returned. On consulting my diary, I discovered that this midnight prayer synchronized with the time we were passing through the robber-infested area. God heard and answered the prayer for the safety of His servants. — J.O. Sanders 3 We found yet another example of this sort of tale in a 1954 collection of inspirational anecdotes, which had itself reprinted it from a 1950 collection. In that tale (which is too long to type in here), the tent of two female missionaries serving in Africa is surrounded one night by headhunters. Rather than cower in the dark, they light their lamp and proceed to make and drink tea all night. In the morning, they discover the headhunters have left. Months later, one of them receives a letter from a mission supporter back home telling how she’d been unable to sleep on that very night and so had stayed up all night to pray for the safety of the missionaries serving at that particular station — had the missionaries had any sort of special need that evening? As usual, we make the point that inspirational tales don’t suddenly gain the power to change lives because someone claims they’re fact, nor do fictional tales lose their power to inspire believers to move mountains because they were made up. Folks will find inspiration in parables whether the tales have a factual basis or not; thus, this “true story!” flourish is unnecessary at best and downright insulting at worst. Moreover, it’s sadly ironic that so many tales contrived to display a particular belief system as The One True Way include fabrications tossed in to better carry the message.
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26244
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Hidden in the CARES Act was an obscure $135 billion tax break for 43,000 millionaires.
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The post refers to a real provision in the CARES Act that eases restrictions passed in 2017 that limited how extensively pass-through corporations can apply business losses to the owner’s individual tax burden. Congress’ official tax arbiter pegged the 10-year cost of the provision at $135 billion, and that committee also projected that 43,000 taxpayers who earn more than $1 million a year would benefit. The provision also benefits 87,000 taxpayers earning less than $1 million a year.
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true
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Taxes, Facebook Fact-checks, Facebook posts,
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"The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act was a roughly $2 trillion bill passed in March that provided economic assistance to everyone from unemployed workers and beleaguered small businesses to overwhelmed hospitals and state governments. Was it also a giveaway to millionaires? Yes, according to a May 14 Facebook post. Using simple text on a black background, the post says: ""Hidden in the CARES Act was an obscure $135 billion tax break for 43,000 millionaires. Apparently, no one asked, ‘How are we going to pay for it?’"" It 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 post is more or less on target. The CARES Act, which sailed through both houses of Congress, did include language that temporarily suspended a tax provision known as the excess loss limitation. The language is not hidden, but it’s safe to say that given how fast the $2 trillion bill sped through Congress, it mostly escaped media attention. The excess loss limitation was part of the 2017 tax overhaul bill signed by President Donald Trump. It applied to pass-through businesses, which are companies whose profits are reported on the owner’s individual returns, and taxed as individual income, rather than being subject to corporate taxes. The 2017 provision limited how much in business losses a business owner could claim to lower the taxes on their non-business income. The temporary provision in the CARES Act suspended those limits, meaning business owners could deduct business losses without a limitation on the amount and could apply those losses to past or future tax years. After this provision in a very big bill came to light, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, offered bills to roll back the temporary suspension of the tax limitation that was included in the CARES Act. The ""$135 billion tax break"" figure in the Facebook post is backed up by the analysis by the bipartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, the official arbiter of the cost of tax proposals considered by Congress. In its analysis of the CARES Act, the committee found that the tax provision would cost the Treasury about $135 billion between 2020 and 2030, with the bulk of the cost occurring in the first two years, and small gains coming in later years. As for the 43,000 millionaires figure, that comes from an analysis requested by Whitehouse and Doggett that showed the estimated impact of the provision on different income groups. It was included in a letter that the committee sent to the two lawmakers. The committee found 43,000 taxpayers earning $1 million or more would indeed benefit from the provision, and they would reap nearly 82% of the total money saved. Notably, this is a tiny group. While the term ""millionaires"" is often defined as people whose net worth is north of $1 million, this table refers to Americans earning $1 million a year in income, a much rarer accomplishment. A bit more than 10% of households have at least $1 million in net worth, but fewer than 1% of all workers, by some estimates, earn more than $1 million a year. Other taxpayers below the $1 million income group would also benefit — 87,000 in all — although to a smaller extent. Tax experts say there is a logic to making a change to loss limitations during a dire economic situation. Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center, said that while he believes the provision in the CARES Act is too generous, he does see some benefit to a scaled-back suspension. Allowing such taxpayers to carry back net losses ""makes it possible for firms and individuals to generate cash quickly by effectively amending a past-year return and use current losses to lower prior-year taxes,"" he wrote in a recent blog post. Other tax specialists say the provision is more than just a giveaway to the rich. Kyle Pomerleau, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said that loss deductions ""are an essential part of a well-functioning income tax. Businesses typically make multi-year investments. Those investments may lose money in some years and make money in other years. The ability to either carry back losses to offset previous years’ taxes or carry forward losses to offset future taxes ensures that the tax system accurately measures income."" This is especially important during recessions, Pomerleau said, because they help provide stressed companies with liquidity. ""To the extent this allows firms to hold on to a few more workers than they otherwise would have, it might benefit lower-income individuals more than the tables suggest,"" he said. The Facebook post said, ""Hidden in the CARES Act was an obscure $135 billion tax break for 43,000 millionaires."" This refers to a real provision in the CARES Act that eases restrictions passed in 2017 that limited how extensively pass-through corporations can apply business losses to the owner’s individual tax burden. Congress’ official tax arbiter pegged the 10-year cost of the provision at $135 billion, and that committee also projected that 43,000 taxpayers earning more than $1 million a year would benefit. However, it’s worth noting that 87,000 taxpayers earning less than that would also benefit."
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7196
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NY Senate win gives Democrats a lock on Albany. So now what?.
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Universal health care, marijuana legalization and early voting. Stronger gun control laws, protections for abortion rights and higher taxes on millionaires.
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true
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Albany, Health care reform, Marijuana, Universal health care, New York, Gun politics, Laws
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Democrats say those are just a few of their priorities after seizing control of the state Senate from Republicans. With Democrats already in charge of the state Assembly and occupying all four statewide offices, Tuesday’s big wins in the Senate could clear the way for liberal proposals long blocked by the GOP. “We will finally give New Yorkers the progressive leadership they have been demanding,” said Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Yonkers, who stands to lead the Senate in January. If that comes to pass, she will be the first woman and first African-American to lead the 63-member Senate. But now that their proposals have a shot at passing, Democrats find that reality in Albany turns out to be more complicated. Democrats scored big wins on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley to ensure that they’ll have a convincing majority when the full Legislature reconvenes in January — though the final number won’t be set until all the ballots are counted in coming days and weeks. Republicans have controlled the chamber for decades, with a notable exception a decade ago when Democrats held a brief, and troubled majority. Before Tuesday’s elections changed the math, the GOP held a one-seat majority, and then only thanks to a renegade Democrat, Sen. Simcha Felder of Brooklyn, who is allied with Republicans. Democrats already wield a commanding majority in the state Assembly and hold all four statewide offices. With Democrats ascendant, left-leaning groups around the nation are counting on New York state to accomplish what they can’t in Washington D.C. “With a unified, pro-choice majority in the state Senate to partner with our long-standing champions in the Assembly and executive branch, New York state is finally poised to become the beacon of reproductive freedom the country needs,” said Andrea Miller, president of the National Institute for Reproductive Health, which supporters greater protections or abortion rights. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, elected to a third term on Tuesday, could complicate the plans of liberals. In his first postelection interview Wednesday, he said he’s eager to get to work with the Legislature to pass protections for abortion rights, election reforms, stronger gun control laws. But he also signaled that the Legislature will have to strike a balance. He said Democrats won’t hold the Senate for long if they pursue only liberal priorities — citing the brief, two-year Democratic majority a decade ago that saw them focus largely on New York City issues, only to quickly lose their grip on power amid corruption probes and dysfunction. “I am a Democrat but we are New Yorkers first,” he said during an interview Wednesday on WVOX radio in Westchester. “I am aggressively progressive but I’m also aggressively pro-economic development for this state.” Cuomo has largely governed as a moderate, supporting lower taxes, caps on spending and big subsidies to corporate interests. He’s taken millions from wealthy real estate supporters, and many in his own party don’t trust his liberal bona fides. He moved to the left this year during his primary matchup with former “Sex and the City” star and political activist Cynthia Nixon. In one example, Cuomo criticized the idea of legalizing marijuana in 2017, only to come out in support this year. The governor, considered a possible 2020 White House contender, could find himself under pressure from liberals to pass many of the proposals he has long said he supports, such as advance voting, the elimination of cash bail or tighter campaign finance limits. He could work to pass many of the less complicated ones while working to slow down more difficult, controversial or expensive proposals, according to Grant Reeher, director of the Alan K. Campbell Public Affairs Institute at Syracuse University. Reeher singled out universal health care as a liberal priority that could prove especially difficult for Cuomo to accept. Creating a new publicly funded health care system won’t be easy, but figuring out how to pay for it and sell the idea to a skeptical public could be just as hard. Raising taxes on the state’s highest earners, which opponents say would devastate the economy, could be another tricky subject. Democratic lawmakers, Reeher said, “have already made pledges to constituents about what their agenda will be. Now it’s real. I think the governor is going to be put in the position of applying the brakes on some of these things.” Republicans won’t go away silently. While they have long had a relatively weak minority in the Assembly, the lawmakers who now find themselves in the minority in the Senate say they’ll force Democrats to earn every legislative victory. “I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that the leaders of this state listen to our collective voice,” said Sen. Fred Akshar, a Binghamton Republican.
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26121
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“Cops in Norway: require 3 years of training, 4 people killed since 2002. Cops in Finland: require 2 years of training, 7 people killed since 2000. Cops in Iceland: require 2 years of training, 1 person killed since ever. Cops in the U.S.: require 21 weeks of training, 8,000+ people killed since 2001.”
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This post leaves out key context for how much these countries differ when it comes to gun ownership and homicide rates from gun violence. Researchers also agree that there needs to be structural change in policing that address the many factors that increase fatal police shootings. Most of the numbers for Nordic countries are accurate. Finland’s police training takes longer than two years, and Norway had two more police-related deaths than the post claimed. The U.S. claims are mostly inaccurate. Most departments and police academies require training over 21 weeks, and estimates for fatal police shootings over the past 20 years far exceed 8,000.
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mixture
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Corrections and Updates, Criminal Justice, Crime, Facebook Fact-checks, Guns, Viral image,
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"As protesters of police brutality call for police reforms that include defunding the police, some social media posts seek to compare U.S. training policies with those in other countries. One post features an image with pictures of three smiling law enforcement officers above a photo of a fourth officer aiming an assault rifle. It suggests the three happy uniformed officers are from Norway, Finland, and Iceland, while the one who is aiming a weapon is from the U.S. The image explains differences in the amount of police training each nation requires compared with the numbers of people killed by law enforcement in each place: ""Cops in Norway: require 3 years of training, 4 people killed since 2002. Cops in Finland: require 2 years of training, 7 people killed since 2000. Cops in Iceland: require 2 years of training, 1 person killed since ever. Cops in the U.S.: require 21 weeks of training, 8,000+ people killed since 2001."" This post was flagged by Facebook as part of efforts to combat false news and information on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) It’s been around for at least a couple of years; Snopes checked this same claim and image in 2018. We looked at training and gun-related deaths and found that while the numbers for the Nordic countries are largely accurate, the numbers fall apart when we get to the U.S. statistics. And while the overall claim that the U.S. has less police training and more civilian deaths at the hands of police is accurate, this idea falls short in that it presumes a direct link between police training and fatal civilian encounters and does not take into consideration additional factors like each country’s gun culture. The U.S. has more gun violence than any other large, wealthy country and ranks the 28th-highest rate of gun violence in the world, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. The U.S. also has the highest concentration of guns owned by civilians, with 120.5 guns for every 100 residents. The second highest rate of gun ownership is in Yemen with 52.8 guns for every 100 residents. Iceland and Finland are in the top ten gun-owning countries, with a little over 30 guns for every 100 residents. Finland has the 11th highest rate of intentional homicides in Europe, which is considered average compared to other European countries but high for a Nordic country. However, in 2017, the U.S. homicide rate was four times the homicide rate in Finland. And, as of 2015, the U.S. gun-related homicide rate was more than four times Finland's. Iceland hasn’t had a gun-related civilian murder since 2007. And while Norway is known for having a high gun-owning rate, it has a low rate of gun violence compared to the rest of Europe. In a Washington Post article on police shootings, leading criminologist Geoffrey Alpert described how researchers struggle to pinpoint why the U.S. has had so many fatal police shootings. ""We’ve looked at this data in so many ways, including whether race, geography, violent crime, gun ownership or police training can explain it,"" he said. ""But none of those factors alone can explain how consistent this number appears to be."" George Washington Law Professor Cynthia Lee in the 2018 University of Illinois Law Review wrote that ""only a multiplicity of reforms"" will reduce fatal police shootings and lead to ""lasting structural changes in policing."" The claim that Norway requires three years of training and has had four people killed since 2002 is accurate. According to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which calls itself the world’s largest regional security organization, basic police training in Norway includes a three-year college education at the Norwegian Police University College. Trainees study at the college in their first and third years and spend their second year in on-the-ground training. The Norwegian Bureau for the Investigation of Police Affairs releases annual reports on police encounters they have investigated and articles on policing trends. In 2014, the report included an article on police shootings. In all 15 police shootings the bureau had investigated ""16 persons have been injured… and, in two of these cases, the injuries resulted in death."" A European news network called The Local reported in 2016 that there had been a fatal police shooting in 2015 and another in 2016 that marked ""the fourth time that police in Norway have been involved in a fatal shooting since 2002."" The Norwegian Bureau for the Investigation of Police Affairs’ most recent report was from 2018 and it doesn’t list any fatal shootings. Searching recent news, we couldn’t find another story on fatal police shootings in Norway from 2019 or 2020. The claim that Finland requires two years of training and has seven people killed since 2000 is a bit off. The country’s police training program takes more than two years, and there is a little more information to be considered when calculating the number of deaths. Like Norway, Finland’s Police University College has a policing bachelors program. It requires students to complete 180 credit points, which usually takes three years to complete, not two like the post claims. Snopes reviewed and shared a list of 2000-18 police-related fatalities from the Finland National Police Board. Contacted by PolitIFact, Liisa Haapanen, the board’s senior communication adviser, verified the accuracy of the list and said that the numbers have not changed. The list details nine police-related fatalities, including a 2012 case in which a person died after an officer deployed a Taser; the report says it is unclear how electric shocks contributed to his death. The report also includes a 2010 incident in which a security guard was fatally shot after a police officer ""accidentally discharged"" their weapon. The post’s claim that Iceland requires two years of training and that one person has been killed is right. Iceland has very little violent crime. Iceland’s police university, the University of Akureyri, offers a bachelor's degree for police and law enforcement that has a two-year schedule. In 2013, Iceland’s first-ever fatal police shooting generated a lot of media coverage. The police department apologized to the victim’s family. The Reykjavík Police chief said the event would be thoroughly investigated and the police officers involved received grief counseling. Ásgeir Sverrisson, The National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police, verified with PolitiFact that the 2013 shooting was the only fatal police shooting in Iceland’s history but that there have been instances in which citizens died in police custody or following police confrontations. This Facebook’s most misleading claims come when it summarizes police training and officer-involved fatalities in the U.S. It says the U.S. requires 21 weeks of training and has experienced ""8,000+ people killed since 2001."" The best data suggest a number far higher than 8,000. Where the post has a point is that initial U.S. police training requirements are shorter than in these Nordic countries. U.S. police academies vary. A 2016 Bureau of Justice Statistics review found that from 2011 to 2013, most academy training lasts ""an average of about 840 hours, or 21 weeks."" Nearly all police officers completed a mandatory field training after their basic training according to that 2013 report. About 37% of field training programs are organized by academies that require an average of 500 additional hours, or over 12 weeks, to complete field training. Based on these numbers, police officers have an average of 33 weeks of training. Based on that 2016 report, U.S. police officers are trained for almost eight months, and about three months of that training is in the field. The bigger problem in analyzing the post is that there are only estimates for the number of people killed by police. The Bureau of Justice Statistics recorded arrest-related deaths from 2003-09. During that seven-year period, there were 4,813 reported deaths from ""law enforcement personnel attempting to arrest or restrain"" citizens. About 60% of those deaths, 2,931 of them, were ruled a homicide. There is no data in the report that indicates how many of these were gun-related. Though the FBI in 2019 launched the National Use-of-Force Data Collection effort, law enforcement agencies are not required to participate and the FBI has not yet released any findings. The Washington Post in 2015 started recording fatal shooting victims and found that police have shot and killed about 5,400 people in the five years since — roughly 1,000 people a year. Fatal Encounters, a database created by a journalist, tracks deaths of people killed by law enforcement with crowd-sourced information and paid researchers, using public records and news reports. The database lists over 28,000 people who have been killed while interacting with law enforcement since 2000. About 20,300 were the result of firearms. A Facebook post compared the number of fatal gun-related police encounters and the length of police training in three Nordic countries and the U.S. ""Cops in Norway: require 3 years of training, 4 people killed since 2002. Cops in Finland: require 2 years of training, 7 people killed since 2000. Cops in Iceland: require 2 years of training, 1 person killed since ever. Cops in the U.S.: require 21 weeks of training, 8,000+ people killed since 2001."" The numbers in this claim were partly accurate. Finland’s police training takes longer than two years, and it had two more police-related deaths. The claims about U.S. policing were the most inaccurate. Police academies and departments usually require more than 21 weeks of training and estimates for fatal police shootings point to about 20,000 deaths in the past 20 years. What’s missing most from the post, however, is context. The rate of gun violence and gun ownership is higher in the U.S. than in these other countries. Research has also shown that fatal police shootings are the result of a combination of factors and are not limited to time spent in police training alone. Experts say there needs to be structural U.S. policing reform, not just more time spent intraining. Correction, June 22, 2020: Finland has a high homicide rate compared to most Nordic countries, but it does not have the highest homicide rate in Europe. Homicides in the U.S. are four times as high as in Finland's, according to 2017 data. An earlier version of this story was incorrect on these two points."
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41638
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£1.8 billion of money announced for the NHS over the next five years isn’t all new money.
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This depends on how you define ‘new money’. The Treasury will have to increase spending by this amount—but it is money that NHS trusts had already earned, but were subsequently told they couldn’t spend.
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false
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health
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£1.8 billion of ‘new money’ has been announced for the NHS over the next five years. £850 million has been announced for 20 hospitals over the next five years and £1 billion for the NHS in capital funding this year. The £1 billion is money that NHS trusts previously earned through a cost-cutting incentive scheme, but were then told not to spend. It is ‘new’ in the sense that the Treasury had not previously budgeted for them spending it. Claim 1 of 2
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10779
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What “clinically proven” means for a beauty product
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"A five-star review for this ""buyer beware"" on an allegedly ""clinically proven"" product. There may be an inclination for some to look the other way when it comes to claims for personal care products. After all, come on, what’s the harm? Well, we can think of many. Especially with all the hype for products that supposedly protect the skin from the sun’s harmful rays, scrutiny is essential. And this story burns this issue deeply, exposing ""shaky science…no data…conflict of interest"" and a huge question of how and why a journal ever published a study about this stuff."
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true
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"Costs not discussed and it could have been frosting on this story. The story makes clear the expert opinions that ""there are no data there."" No discussion of harms found in the trials so far, but then the evidence in the trials so far is being called into question. We’ll give the story credit for exposing the potential harm of consumers (and dermatologists) being misled by unsubstantiated claims. This is the core of the story, executed with excellence. The opposite of disease mongering, pointing out how ""branding personal care products with clinical claims is a very common strategy."" The story identified conflicts of interest that even a publishing journal did not – and it showed how this happened. And it quoted several skeptical expert sources. No need to compare this with other alternatives. This story was all about unsubstantiated claims made for one product. There’s no question about the availability of the beauty product in question. The story states the company is preparing to ""present this product to dermatologists"" and that it ""has already been launched in Europe and South America."" The story allows no inappropriate claims of novelty to be made. In fact, it wraps this product into the broader context of personal care products with questionable health claims. It’s clear this story didn’t rely on a news release but was a fine piece of enterprise journalism."
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11237
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Study Weakens Case for Preventive Mastectomy
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But our reviewers were troubled by the story’s headline and lead sentence, which they felt overreached with its suggestion that the study results “weaken the case for preventive mastectomy” in women who test negative for certain cancer mutations, because there there was never strong evidence that these women were at increased risk and that mastectomy was something that they would consider. Overall, though, sound reporting on an important issue. Inheriting a mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 can greatly increase a woman’s lifetime risk of breast cancer, but there is some uncertainty about whether close relatives of BRCA carriers also have a higher risk even if they test negative. These new data are reassuring because they suggest that women who test negative are not at increased risk and do not need to take special precautions such as more aggressive screening and surveillance. Current guidelines do not recommend increased surveillance or mastectomy for this population and this study confirmed that as a reasonable approach.
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true
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Cancer,Screening,Wall Street Journal
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The story did not discuss the cost of the BRCA test, which according to the National Cancer Institute can range from several hundred to several thousand dollars. The story accurately reports the study’s implications in the middle of the piece when it says: “The results support current guidelines that say non-BRCA mutation carriers in families affected by the BRCA genes don’t need special screening beyond mammography as recommended for the general population…” And the study does go into detail and quantify how the test helps refine estimates of breast and ovarian cancer risk. However, the headline and opening sentence bothered our reviewers. The story suggests that women who are relatives of BRCA carriers, but who tested negative for the mutation themselves, no longer need to consider preventive mastectomies to reduce their risk of developing breast cancer. In fact, preventive mastectomy would be considered an extreme intervention in women who test negative for the BRCA mutation, so these findings may have little bearing on such decisions. The findings also have no bearing on the decision of women who are BRCA-positive to undergo preventive mastectomy. Accordingly, the results are neither “reassuring” nor “weaken the case” for preventive mastectomy in women who might be considering this intervention. The story was concerned primarily with the implications of a negative BRCA test result, so we won’t fault it for not going into detail on the many potential harms of a positive or ambiguous test result. The story did stipulate that BRCA-negative women may still have an elevated risk of cancer if they have a family history of the condition, which is an important caveat. The story provides the necessary details about the research and explains one of the reasons why the current population-based study is considered more reliable than previous clinic-based studies which found increased risk in first-degree relatives of non-BRCA carriers. There was no overt disease-mongering. However, the story could have made it more clear that BRCA-associated tumors account for only a small percentage — 5% to 10% — of all breast cancers. Two outside sources were consulted, and there didn’t appear to be any unidentified conflicts of interest. There aren’t really any alternatives to BRCA testing for women with a strong family history of breast cancer, so we’ll rate this not applicable. However, in just another line or two, the story could have noted that there are other, less common genetic mutations that also confer an increased risk of breast cancer. And it could have mentioned that there are other options available to help estimate a woman’s risk of breast cancer (e.g. the Gail model, Claus model, etc). These are not genetically based but some do account for family history to help refine risk estimates. It’s clear from the story that BRCA testing is available to women who want it. The story does not overstate the novelty of the BRCA test or the current research findings. The study includes interviews with experts who were not involved with the current research, so we can be sure the story wasn’t based on a press release.
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5965
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‘Thrones’ actress Emilia Clarke says she’s had 2 aneurysms.
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“Game of Thrones” actress Emilia Clarke revealed Thursday that she has had two life-threatening aneurysms, and two brain surgeries, since the show began.
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true
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Health, North America, TV, Aneurysms, Emilia Clarke
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An unknown actress before landing the role, Clarke had just finished filming her first season as Daenerys Targaryen, the “Mother of Dragons,” on the HBO fantasy series when she had the first aneurysm in 2011 at age 24 while working out at a London gym. “Just when all my childhood dreams seemed to have come true, I nearly lost my mind and then my life,” Clarke writes in a first-person story in The New Yorker . “I’ve never told this story publicly, but now it’s time.” Clarke said she had been healthy all her life, but was suffering from serious stress when the artery burst in her brain. Much of it came from constant press questions about the nudity of her character, a conquering queen, in the show’s first episode. “I always got the same question: some variation of ‘You play such a strong woman, and yet you take off your clothes. Why?’” Clarke writes. “In my head, I’d respond, ‘How many men do I need to kill to prove myself?’” She said she suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which can very easily be fatal. She was unable to speak her full name even weeks later. The second surgery, which was more invasive and involved opening her skull, came after Clarke finished shooting the third season. “I looked as though I had been through a war more gruesome than any that Daenerys experienced,” Clarke writes. “I emerged from the operation with a drain coming out of my head. Bits of my skull had been replaced by titanium. These days, you can’t see the scar that curves from my scalp to my ear, but I didn’t know at first that it wouldn’t be visible.” And, she adds, there was “the constant worry about cognitive or sensory losses.” She recovered fully, however, and was able to keep the problems from the media with one exception. “Six weeks after the surgery, the National Enquirer ran a short story,” Clarke writes. “A reporter asked me about it and I denied it.”
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7461
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Seattle, King Co. urges people to wear masks in most areas .
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People who ride buses in the Seattle area will be required to wear masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus and authorities are also strongly urging people to cover their faces in many other situations.
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true
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Seattle, Health, General News, Virus Outbreak, Public health
|
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and King County Executive Dow Constantine made an announcement Monday afternoon, saying people are urged to wear masks in grocery stores, businesses and outdoors when they can’t keep six feet apart from others. Masks are required for people who use King County Metro’s transit system, though riders won’t be prevented from boarding if they aren’t wearing one. “Wearing a mask may be an inconvenience, but it is a sign of our mutual concern for each other,” Constantine said. Dr. Jeff Duchin, the public health director for Seattle and King County, said the new directive is effective May 18. It will not carry legal penalties for those who do not comply. The city and the county are working to distribute more than 200,000 cloth masks and face coverings to community groups and people in vulnerable populations. The Seattle-area saw the nation’s first deadly cluster of COVID-19 in the nation, and King County has more than 7,000 confirmed cases and about 500 deaths, by far the most in the state.
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3124
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Port of Olympia settles lawsuit over storm water for $1.3M.
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The Port of Olympia agreed to pay more than $1.3 million to settle a federal lawsuit alleging violations of the Clean Water Act at the port’s marine terminal, according to court documents.
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true
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Olympia, Environment, Lawsuits, Water quality, Business, General News
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The port and Waste Action Project of Covington settled the lawsuit that claimed the port was discharging polluted storm water into Budd Inlet, The Olympian reported Saturday. Waste Action Project filed the lawsuit in June 2017. The port commission voted unanimously to approve the settlement last week. Under the agreement, the port will pay $733,000 to cover Waste Action Project’s expenses and litigation fees. The remaining $625,000 will be paid to environmental group The Rose Foundation of Oakland, California, which will use the money for “projects to improve the water quality of Budd Inlet or South Puget Sound,” according to the agreement’s consent decree. The agreement also lays out corrective action including installation of a curb to prevent storm water discharge at the marine terminal and restrictions related to loading logs. The port has enough cash on hand to make the $1.3 million payment, while the costs of other requirements will be shared with port tenants, Executive Director Sam Gibboney said.
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12139
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"Jeff Sessions Says President Barack Obama’s policy known as DACA ""contributed to a surge of minors at the southern border."
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"Sessions said that DACA ""contributed to a surge of minors at the southern border."" Since the DACA policy itself didn’t address the situation of unaccompanied Central American minors at all, the only way it could have had any effect was through mistaken understandings among potential migrants in Central America about what the program did and didn’t do. While there is evidence that such mistaken ideas did exist, the data shows that the upticks at the southern border were already under way by the time DACA was announced, and that the trend line didn’t change significantly after the announcement. So the effect, if there was any at all, would have been too small to measure."
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false
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Immigration, National, Legal Issues, Race and Ethnicity, Jeff Sessions,
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"During his announcement that the Trump administration would phase out Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, Attorney General Jeff Sessions blamed the Obama-era policy for a surge in unaccompanied minors at the southern U.S. border that spiked in 2014. Speaking from prepared remarks at the Justice Department, Sessions said that DACA, ""among other things, contributed to a surge of minors at the southern border that yielded terrible humanitarian consequences."" Did DACA really help spawn the surge of minors from Central America? Based on statistical patterns and consultation with experts, we find the evidence to be weak. ""As far as I can see, there is no logical or empirical linkage between DACA and the child migrants from Central America,"" said Douglas Massey, a Princeton University sociologist who has written about and done field work with immigrants on the southern border. Under DACA, enacted as an executive-branch policy in 2012, undocumented immigrants who had been brought to the United States before turning 16 could apply for a renewable status that protected them from deportation as long as they met several requirements. They needed to be in school, have a high school degree or be an honorably discharged veteran. They had to be younger than 31 by June 15, 2012. They had to have no significant criminal record. And -- most relevant for analyzing Sessions’ claim -- they had to have lived in the United States continuously since June 15, 2007. This residency requirement meant that none of the unaccompanied minors showing up at the southern border of the United States in 2014 would have qualified for DACA. Most of the unaccompanied minors came from Central America, particularly Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. By definition, they would not have been living in the United States continuously since 2007. But what if the migrants were under the belief that the United States would welcome them? The Justice Department pointed us to an article published in the Washington Post on June 13, 2014, headlined, ""Influx of minors across Texas border driven by belief that they will be allowed to stay in U.S."" According to the Post, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said that while on a tour of a Border Patrol station in Nogales, Ariz., that was housing hundreds of unaccompanied minors, her aides found that ""many of the children were smuggled across the border after hearing radio ads promising they would not be deported. My staff also heard that religious organizations are spreading the same message."" The Post went on to cite a leaked memo written by Border Patrol agents that had been circulated to reporters and lawmakers by the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for limited immigration. It was based on interviews with 230 youths and women from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. The memo said many migrants wanted ""to take advantage of the ‘new’ U.S. law that grants a free pass or permit"" from the government. ""The news of these ‘permisos’ is spread by word of mouth and international and local media,"" the memo said. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told Congress that he disagreed with the memo’s conclusions, though the Post noted that Cecilia Muñoz, the Obama White House’s director of domestic policy, acknowledged that unfounded ""rumors"" could be playing a role in the influx of minors, though not as the leading cause. So how did these ""rumors"" arise? As we’ve previously written, the most likely explanation is that Central Americans turned themselves in to immigration authorities in order to seek asylum protection. To apply for asylum, individuals must be physically present in the United States and can do so regardless of how they arrived or of their current immigration status. It’s important to note that asylum policy is an entirely different aspect of the immigration framework than DACA. As we’ve noted, some of the policies that governed unaccompanied minors stem from the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, a broadly bipartisan measure signed by President George W. Bush in 2008. So for Sessions to use the situation with unaccompanied minors as a justification for ending DACA is to target one set of rules for the consequences of another. Is it conceivable that people in Central America might have heard about DACA and used it as one more data point to reinforce a perception that the United States was growing more welcome to immigrants, and that they should try to send their unaccompanied children here? Yes. Still, even that doesn’t mean that the DACA policy itself ""contributed to a surge of minors at the southern border"" -- only that misperceptions and unfounded rumors in foreign countries about DACA did. The DACA policy itself would have done Central American migrants no good once they got to the border. And even if it sounds plausible that DACA may have accidentally helped spawn the surge in unaccompanied minors, the timeline undercuts that notion. Let’s first look at Border Patrol apprehensions at the Southwest border -- a metric often used as a rough estimate of the number of people attempting to cross the border into the United States. DACA was announced near the end of the 2012 fiscal year. (The graph above uses fiscal rather than calendar years.) So if DACA prompted a spike in the number of unaccompanied minors, that should show up in the data starting in 2013. In reality, while the number of apprehensions did increase, it did so steadily -- as if DACA had never happened. The slope of the increase is consistent from 2011 to 2014, after which it fell. (It’s also less than a third of the level it was in 2000.) A second data set also calls into question Sessions’ linkage -- data showing non-Mexican apprehensions at the Southwest border. While not all of these apprehensions involved Central Americans, they are considered a pretty good approximation. This time, the scale of the spike is bigger, but the data shows the same general pattern. That is, the number goes up at a more-or-less steady rate between 2011 and 2014, before declining. So, for both data sets, the increase was steady -- and it began more than a year before DACA was even implemented. ""We have no data that links DACA with increases in apprehensions of unaccompanied minors at the southwestern border,"" said Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at Pew Research Center who studies immigration. Why did they come then? To flee violence, primarily. Denise Gilman, director of the immigration clinic at the University of Texas School of Law, pointed to a 2014 study by Vanderbilt University’s Latin American Public Opinion Project. It surveyed residents of the three main Central American countries about their intentions to migrate and whether they had been victimized by crime in the previous 12 months. The study found that those who had been victimized were considerably more likely to consider migration than those who had not been victimized. In Honduras, for instance, 28 percent of non-victims reported having intentions to migrate, compared to almost 56 percent of those victimized more than once by crime. Other analyses have agreed about the importance of crime, along with poverty. An August 2016 Congressional Research Service report we’ve cited concluded that gang-related violence, poverty and lack of educational and employment opportunities in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras played a key role in children’s decisions to leave their homes on their own and cross illegally into the United States. ""We believe what has largely motivated migration of unaccompanied minors and families from Central America has been a combination of ‘push’ factors -- violence, instability and endemic poverty in Central America -- coupled with ‘pull’ factors -- a desire to reunite with family in the U.S. and an understanding that people from Central America presenting themselves at the border would be allowed in, pending review of their case in immigration court,"" said Michelle Mittelstadt, a spokeswoman for the Migration Policy Institute, which is generally favorable toward immigration. Sessions said that DACA ""contributed to a surge of minors at the southern border."" Since the DACA policy itself didn’t address the situation of unaccompanied Central American minors at all, the only way it could have had any effect was through mistaken understandings among potential migrants in Central America about what the program did and didn’t do. While there is evidence that such mistaken ideas did exist, the data shows that the upticks at the southern border were already under way by the time DACA was announced, and that the trend line didn’t change significantly after the announcement. So the effect, if there was any at all, would have been too small to measure."
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30616
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While in college, Attorney General Jeff Sessions was in a rock band whose lyrics and album titles championed the use of marijuana.
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Very Serious Content is labelled an “entertainment web site” on Facebook, and describes itself, with tongue firmly in cheek, as “a very serious video network for people who get their very serious news on mobile devices.”
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false
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Politics, cannabis, jeff sessions, marijuana
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Attorney General Jeff Sessions is perhaps the nation’s most prominent critic of marijuana use, and a fervent opponent of its legalization. At a Senate Committee hearing in April 2016, he supported the view that “good people don’t smoke marijuana.” As the nation’s top federal law enforcement official, he has reversed Obama-era guidelines that instructed federal prosecutors to ease up on smaller-scale cannabis possession and distribution convictions. So it would come as a considerable shock to discover that during his college days, before he embarked on a career as a prosecutor and politician, Sessions was purportedly an out-and-out pothead, extolling the virtues of weed in a student rock band. That’s the claim made in a satirical video posted to Facebook and YouTube in January 2018, by the Los Angeles comedy group Mommy, who run the Very Serious Content Facebook page. We received several enquiries from readers who weren’t quite sure whether the video documented a remarkable U-turn in Sessions’s worldview, or it was just a joke. It’s just a joke. The video is formatted in the style of much video content produced by serious news organizations for social media, with a summary of the story in text superimposed over images and video clips, accompanied by somber backing music. This stylistic nod is likely what tricked some viewers into thinking it might be authentic. The video report claims the future Attorney General headed a band called “The Jeff Sessions,” whose recordings — with names like “I Married Mary Jane” and “The Open Road is Paved With Green” — have “leaked.” A black-and-white photograph at the start of the video appears to show a young Sessions smoking a spliff with a guitar strapped to his back. This is an edited version of a real photograph from Sessions’s high school yearbook (in which he was neither smoking anything, nor carrying an instrument of any kind). The guitar-playing, leather jacket-wearing person presumed to be Sessions on the cover of “The Open Road is Paved With Green” is actually Eric Clapton, with the future Attorney General’s face superimposed on to his. The wedding photograph that serves as the cover of “I Married Mary Jane” is an edited version of a real photograph of Sessions’s 1969 wedding to his wife Mary. Mommy — the comedy group behind Very Serious Content — told us all the “leaked” songs featured in the video were self-recorded.
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18556
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Lee Leffingwell Says 90 percent of Americans and 74 percent of National Rifle Association members support background checks of gun purchasers.
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Austin’s mayor said 90 percent of Americans and 74 percent of National Rifle Association members support universal background checks for gun purchases. Polls taken in 2012 and 2013 support both figures, though one taken closest to Leffingwell’s press conference indicates support among all Americans possibly slipping a bit below 90 percent. Also, the 2012 poll he cited for NRA members rolled together responses of current and former/lapsed members. Then again, a 2013 poll similarly suggests that 74 percent of NRA members favor universal background checks.
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true
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Regulation, Texas, Guns, Lee Leffingwell,
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"Joining calls for criminal background checks prior to every U.S. gun purchase, Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell said the idea is widely popular. Ninety percent of Americans and 74 percent of National Rifle Association members support universal background checks, Leffingwell said, the Austin American-Statesman reported in a news article posted online the day he spoke, March 28, 2013. Currently, background checks are required in sales by federally licensed gun dealers but not for gun sales by private sellers. President Barack Obama wants to require criminal background checks for all gun sales. The National Rifle Association, which opposes universal background checks, has suggested that an expansion would fail to rope in criminals. As noted in a January 2013 fact check by our colleagues in Washington, Republican pollster Frank Luntz’s organization, Luntz Global, conducted a May 2012 poll of 945 gun owners nationwide, half of whom were gun owners who were ""current or lapsed"" members of the National Rifle Association and half of whom were non-NRA gun owners. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Leffingwell aide Amy Everhart said by email that the mayor based his NRA reference on the same poll, as cited by the group that commissioned it, Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Everhart said Leffingwell also drew his conclusion about other polls from the group, which consists of city mayors concerned with illegal guns and gun violence as helmed by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent, and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, a Democrat. Its five Texas members include Leffingwell as well as the mayor of neighboring West Lake Hills, Dave Claunch, and Houston Mayor Annise Parker. A week before Leffingwell spoke, Everhart pointed out, Bloomberg delivered remarks in New York noting that polls in 41 congressional districts suggest an average of 86 percent to 89 percent of likely voters support universal background checks. ""That’s in line with other recent polls that have found that more than 90 percent of Americans support background checks for all gun buyers,"" Bloomberg said before revisiting the May 2012 poll that reached current and former NRA members. That poll found that 82 percent of gun owners were in favor of required background checks, including 74 percent of individuals with current or former memberships in the NRA. Contacted previously by PolitiFact, the NRA offered no comment on the poll. But the group previously reacted to a 2009 poll taken by Luntz for the mayors’ group by noting that Luntz could not have had access to the association’s confidential membership roll. It also criticized Luntz, a widely quoted communications consultant for Republican politicians and Fortune 100 companies, with decade-old criticism from two polling organizations. The association did not directly challenge the poll results. PolitiFact identified two other 2013 polls of gun owners. A Pew Research Center poll taken of 1,502 adults from Jan. 9-13, 2013, found 85 percent of some 529 polled gun owners in favor of making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks — nearly identical to the Luntz poll. The gun-owner results had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. A CBS/New York Times poll conducted of 1,110 adults from Jan. 11-15, 2013, showed that 85 percent of respondents living in a household with an NRA member supported universal background checks. More recently, according to the results of a national January 2013 poll presented in the March 21, 2013, New England Journal of Medicine, 84 percent of gun owners and 74 percent of NRA members supported requiring a universal background-check system for all gun sales. The poll was conducted by GfK Knowledge Networks for researchers led by Colleen L. Barry, an associate professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. And what of Americans in general? The January Pew poll found 85 percent of all respondents in favor of making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks, with comparable support from Republicans, Democrats and independents, Pew said. The margin of error for the entire sample was 2.9 percentage points. The CBS/New York Times poll indicated that 92 percent of all the respondents favor background checks for all potential gun buyers. The poll had an overall margin of error of three percentage points. PolitiFact Georgia, looking into a similar claim about support for universal checks, noted a Fox News poll conducted Jan. 15-17, 2013, of 1,008 registered voters. Ninety one percent of respondents said they favor ""requiring criminal background checks on all gun buyers, including those buying at gun shows and private sales."" A Quinnipiac University national survey of 772 registered voters, taken Jan. 30 through Feb. 4, 2013, found 92 percent supporting background checks for all gun buyers. The survey, pointed out by Everhart, had a margin of error of 2.3 percentage points. A subsequent Quinnipiac University survey, taken of 1,944 registered voters from Feb. 27, 2013 through March 4, 2013, found 88 percent in favor of background checks for all gun buyers. The poll had a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points. Our ruling Austin’s mayor said 90 percent of Americans and 74 percent of National Rifle Association members support universal background checks for gun purchases. Polls taken in 2012 and 2013 support both figures, though one taken closest to Leffingwell’s press conference indicates support among all Americans possibly slipping a bit below 90 percent. Also, the 2012 poll he cited for NRA members rolled together responses of current and former/lapsed members. Then again, a 2013 poll similarly suggests that 74 percent of NRA members favor universal background checks.s ."
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9631
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Doctors test new device for uterine fibroids
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The story focuses on treatment options available for women who are experiencing health problems related to uterine fibroids, with a particular focus on a technique called Sonata, or sonography-guided transcervical ablation. The story relies heavily on an anecdote–tracking one patient’s experience with the experimental procedure–but provides a good overview of the surgical treatment options available for women with uterine fibroids, and even includes a tricky discussion around costs. According to the National Institutes of Health, “Most American women will develop fibroids at some point in their lives” — but many will be unaware that they even have them. But because they are so common, if even a small percentage of women with fibroids experience related health problems — such as heavy menstrual bleeding or pelvic pressure — fibroids can have a significant health impact. As NIH notes, “More than 200,000 hysterectomies are performed each year for uterine fibroids.” And “annual direct health care costs for uterine fibroids exceed $2.1 billion.” New treatment options to address common (and costly) health issues are certainly worth covering.
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true
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fibroids,Sonata,sonography-guided transcervical ablation
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The story pulls off a difficult trick: addressing cost in a meaningful way when it’s not clear what the price tag will be. The story tells readers “Sonata’s manufacturer declined to say what the procedure might cost once the trials are complete and it is approved.” The story also explains that “because it’s still under investigation in the U.S., it’s not covered by insurance.” And the story also quotes an independent expert as saying that “If insurance doesn’t pay for Sonata, no one is going to get it.” The story also notes that a comparable procedure cost tens of thousands of dollars. The story doesn’t quantify benefits, instead focusing on one patient’s experience with the technique and noting that it “has been getting positive reviews so far” in a U.S. clinical trial. The story also notes that Sonata was approved in Europe. A 2015 paper in the journal Gynecological Surgery offers information on outcomes for 50 patients in a “FAST-EU” trial for Viz-Ablate (which appears to be another name for Sonata). For example, 12 months after the procedure, 38 of 48 patients had reduced menstrual bleeding by at least 22 percent (which study authors described as the threshold mark for being “meaningful” to most women). The Sonata trial is designed to measure effectiveness (defined as more than 50% reduction in blood loss) and safety in a U.S. population. Sonata is in the midst of an ongoing phase II clinical trial, designed to assess both effectiveness and safety of the procedure. But the story still makes a good effort to address risks and related concerns. For example, the story states that “such minimally invasive procedures require a lot of skill to perform safely” and quotes an expert as saying “You need a really experienced surgeon….Will it translate to the average ob/gyn?” In addition, the story notes that, while uterine fibroids are rarely malignant, in a small number of cases they can be cancerous — and “because tissue is not removed with the Sonata method, it cannot be biopsied.” With a little more digging, the reporter might have found the Gynecological Surgery paper mentioned above. In that trial of 50 patients, there were 34 “adverse events.” Most were not severe, but incorporating some of that information would have made the story even stronger. The same problems we discussed under benefits apply here. The focus is on one patient’s experience, with a note that the technique is approved in Europe and is the subject of an ongoing clinical trial in the U.S. ClinicalTrials.gov indicates this is a Phase 2 trial for efficacy and safety that will enroll approximately 150 patients. The primary endpoints are more than 50% reduction in menstrual blood loss, and the need for surgery within one year after the procedure due to treatment failure. The article missed an opportunity to inform the reader what phase the trial is in (i.e. this study will be the first step in establishing how effective and safe it is; the next step is comparing it to other available treatments). The story does a good job of avoiding disease mongering, saying that fibroids often cause no symptoms and that they only rarely affect fertility or can be cancerous. The story includes two independent sources and clearly identifies those sources who are affiliated with the industry-funded Sonata trial or the manufacturer of the technology used in Sonata. This is a real strong point for the story. The story not only describes multiple other surgical options, as well as hormone treatments, but notes that many patients can wait until menopause, when changing hormone levels can mitigate problems associated with fibroids. The story makes clear that Sonata is undergoing clinical trials and is otherwise unavailable in the United States — though it is approved in Europe. This ties in to what we said above regarding alternatives. By explaining several surgical interventions that address uterine fibroids, the story clearly articulates what is novel about the Sonata approach. Well done. The story does not appear to be based on a news release.
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7492
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UN: Possible to eradicate malaria, but probably not soon.
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The World Health Organization says it’s theoretically possible to wipe out malaria, but probably not with the imperfect vaccine and other control methods being used at the moment.
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true
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Malaria, Health, General News, Africa, International News, Business, Europe
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Dr. Pedro Alonso, the U.N. health agency’s global malaria director, said WHO is “unequivocally in favor” of eradication, but that major questions about its feasibility remain. In a press briefing on Thursday, Alonso acknowledged that “with the tools we have today, it is most unlikely eradication will be achieved.” Alonso was presenting the results of a WHO-commissioned report evaluating if eradicating malaria should be pursued. He said the experts concluded lingering uncertainties meant they were unable to formulate a clear strategy and thus, couldn’t propose a definitive timeline or cost estimate for eradication. WHO has long grappled with the idea of erasing malaria from the planet. An eradication campaign was first attempted in 1955 before being abandoned more than a dozen years later. For decades, health officials were chastened from even discussing eradication — until the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation threw its considerable resources behind the idea. Smallpox is the only human disease to ever have been eradicated. In 1988, WHO and partners began a global campaign that aimed to wipe out polio by 2000. Despite numerous effective vaccines and billions of invested dollars, efforts have stalled in recent years and officials have repeatedly missed eradication targets. Although several African countries began immunizing children against malaria in national programs this year, the shot only protects about one third of children who get it. The parasitic disease kills about 435,000 people every year, mostly children in Africa. “An effective vaccine is something we desperately need if we’re ever going to get malaria under control and we just don’t have it,” said Alister Craig, dean of biological sciences at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. A previous trial showed the vaccine was about 30% effective in children who got four doses, but that protection waned over time. Craig also raised concerns about whether malaria programs would be able to raise the billions needed given other competing eradication campaigns, like those for polio, guinea worm and lymphatic filariasis. “Should we really be pushing for malaria or should we concentrate on getting some of those other diseases out of the way first?” he asked. Other experts agreed that eradicating malaria in the coming years seems aspirational. “It’s a long game and there will be many bumps on the road,” said Sian Clarke, co-director of the malaria center at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Still, Clarke said that eradication might only be achieved if there is a sense of urgency, given how malaria spreads; the parasitic disease is transmitted to people by mosquitoes. “The longer it takes, the more opportunity there is for the parasite to evolve,” she said. “There will be a lot of pressure on the parasite to evolve a mechanism of survival, so this is something that if it’s to be done, should be done relatively quickly.”
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37520
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"Los Angeles police have instituted a policy of conducting ""spot checks"" and ticketing motorists for non-essential travel."
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Are Los Angeles Police Conducting ‘Spot Checks’ on ‘Non-Essential’ Driving?
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unproven
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Fact Checks, Viral Content
|
A social media dispute broke out around comedian Ashley Ray on March 25 2020, after she posted what she called an advisory for people venturing outside in Los Angeles amid the city’s stay-in-place order to limit spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.“Heads up LA: Cops are starting to pull people over as spot checks to see where you’re going/coming from,” she wrote:If it’s considered nonessential, they will give you a $400 ticket. Just happened to a friend of my coworker’s coming back from her boyfriend’s place … Apparently the girl was dropping off supplies on her sick boyfriend’s porch, got stopped on the way home and said ‘I’m headed home from dropping stuff off at my bf’s’ and got a ticket. Kinda scary if youre taking care of any relatives/friends who dont live with you.The city has been under a shelter-in-place order since March 19, when Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office ordered residents to remain at home to limit the spread of the disease. However, dropping supplies off for a partner does qualify as an “essential activity” under the terms of Garcetti’s public order:To engage in certain essential activities, including, without limitation, visiting a health or veterinary care professional, obtaining medical supplies or medication, obtaining grocery items (including, without limitation, canned food, dry goods, fresh fruits and vegetables, pet supplies, fresh or frozen meats, fish, and poultry, any other household consumer products and products necessary to maintain the safety and sanitation of residences and other buildings) for their household or to deliver to others, or for legally mandated government purposes.The order also states, “Failure to comply with this Order shall constitute a misdemeanor subject to fines and imprisonment. I hereby urge the Los Angeles Police Department and the City Attorney to vigorously enforce this Order via Sections 8.77 and 8.78 of the Los Angeles Administrative Code.”We contacted Los Angeles police for comment about the accounts of “spot checks,” and a spokesperson called it a false rumor. “If we do issue citations, the fine would come from the court,” the spokesperson said. The department had previously denied a separate claim that it was issuing tickets to people seen running for exercise.Ray later posted photographs of what she called text messages from the person who shared their account of the police stops.“Two separate coworkers from two different teams said this to me,” she wrote. “I am sharing the info so ppl can be aware of possible consequences. I do not know why I would want attention for that. I can get attention for so many other things.”two separate coworkers from two different teams said this to me. I am sharing the info so ppl can be aware of possible consequences. I do not know why I would want attention for that. I can get attention for so many other things. pic.twitter.com/ElG0jOwkJ4— ashley ray (@theashleyray) March 25, 2020Business Insider reported that 662 confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been diagnosed in Los Angeles, with 11 deaths confirmed from the disease as of March 25 2020. Garcetti told the site that residents should be prepared to stay inside for their safety for at least two more months and to “be prepared for longer.”
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23585
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There are currently delays of up to six months in the processing of DNA evidence at the state run crime lab.
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GOP challenger Mike DeWine says BCI tests delayed 'up to 6 months' under Cordray
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mixture
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Ohio, Crime, Mike DeWine,
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"A ""tough on crime"" reputation plays well on the campaign trail for Ohio attorney general candidates. It worked wonders for former Republican Attorney General Betty Montgomery, who won two terms in the 1990s by talking a big game about the law enforcement functions of the office. So as Democratic Attorney General Richard Cordray and his Republican challenger, Mike DeWine, battle to become Ohio's top lawyer for the next four years, both desire to be seen as the better choice for handling the law enforcement portion of the office. On DeWine's campaign website, the former prosecutor calls safety and crime prevention his top priority should he be elected. And DeWine hammers on Cordray for what he sees as inefficiency in the processing of DNA crime evidence at the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI), a branch of the AG's office. ""There are currently delays of up to six months in the processing of DNA evidence at the state run crime lab,"" DeWine states on his campaign website. We decided to check out DeWine’s statement to see if the BCI lab was really taking ""up to"" six months to process DNA evidence. Cordray's office told us that many factors play a role in how long it takes for results to come back. Cases where someone has been arrested, will jump ahead of cases where no one has been jailed, pushing back wait times for non-prioritized cases. Also, ""case types that involve violence against a person are normally worked ahead of less violent case types,"" according to an e-mail from Cordray’s office. BCI statistics provided by Cordray’s office show a small portion of DNA cases cases do drag on ""up to six months"" and even longer. Those records also show, though, that it's far from typical. The average turnaround time in processing DNA evidence has dropped from 100 days in 2009 to 71 days in 2010. The credit goes to increased staffing resulting from filling ""several"" vacancies in the crime lab as well as increased use of robotics in processing the DNA evidence, according to Cordray's office. They also acknowledge that some of the DNA work is being sent to outside labs when, they say, more advanced and sophisticated testing is needed. (DeWine's campaign agrees that the average DNA evidence turnaround time is dropping in 2010, but it says that more work is being outsourced as a ploy to lower Cordray's statistics.) Sixty-five of 854 current DNA cases -- 7.6 percent -- have gone beyond the ""up to"" six months mark cited by DeWine. Of those 65 cases, 62 involve work being done by outside laboratories, which Cordray's office argues shouldn't count on their tally. We also asked DeWine's campaign for evidence of ""up to"" six month delays. They pointed us to a trio of examples detailed in media reports. We tossed out one because the case predated Cordray's time in office by six months. The second was described March 26, 2010, in the Marietta Times. The article describes how the arrest of a suspect in the rape of a college student was delayed for nearly a year because of a backlog at the BCI lab. Acting Chief Jim Weaver of the Marietta College police confirmed that ""we got our match right around a year from when we gave the sample."" The DNA evidence was sent to BCI on April 3, 2009, and returned to his office on March 16, 2010. Weaver, the lead detective on the case, said BCI officials told him the 50-week delay was because ""we didn't have anyone in custody and we didn't need it to keep anyone in jail, so it kept getting pushed back."" The third example from a WTOL-TV report May 3, 2010, focused on a lengthy delay in DNA evidence processing in the murder of 91-year-old Grace Kennedy in Bryan, Ohio. Bryan police Capt. Paul Zawodny told us that the crime scene DNA evidence was received by BCI just hours after the Dec. 23, 2009, murder was discovered. The first DNA results came back April 5, 2010, a span of about four and a half months, Zawodny said. The officer said part of the reason for the lag time was that prosecutors had to give the BCI lab permission to use all of a suspect's DNA sample while doing the testing. DeWine's campaign sought to bolster its case by putting us into contact with Union County Prosecutor David Phillips, a Republican, who said that DNA evidence has recently taken longer than six months to be processed by BCI. ""On average, we are waiting a long time -- sometimes even over a year for DNA evidence -- and during that time the case is just sitting there,"" Phillips said. The county prosecutor since 2005, Phillips said ""I wouldn't say it's gotten any worse under Cordray's watch, but I wouldn't say it's gotten any better."" Phillips said his most recent DNA evidence-based case was a rape case where a suspect had been arrested, triggering a 90-day clock (about three months) under the constitutional provision for a speedy trial. He said he was on the phone ""a lot"" pressing the BCI lab to meet the 90-day window, which they did by only 10 days causing his office ""anxiety"" that the deadline would be missed freeing the suspect. We find that DeWine’s statement is accurate when he states that the processing of DNA evidence is currently taking ""up to six months,"" as at least the Marietta example far exceeds that window. Even Cordray's own statistics show that processing of DNA evidence stretches beyond six months in about 7 percent of cases, including at least three cases not shipped to an outside lab. But the BCI statistics Cordray’s office provided show that more than 90 times in 100 the processing time falls somewhat short of ""up to"" six month mark cited by DeWine. Cordray’s staff also cites records that show that the turnaround time has dropped by about one-third. That's clearly additional contextual information not given by DeWine that tends to undercut the clear inference of his statement -- that DNA cases are dragging on for long stretches of time under Cordray."
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8184
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Poland to receive protective gear, tests from China to fight coronavirus.
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Poland will receive more than 10,000 test kits and tens of thousands of other protective items such as masks, goggles and shoe covers from China to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak, Poland’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Wednesday.
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true
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Health News
|
“Even though the fight with coronavirus is ongoing in China, they decided to show solidarity with Poland and help our country by providing tests to uncover COVID-19, as well as protective medical gear,” the statement said. China will send 20,000 masks, 5,000 protective suits, 5,000 medical goggles, 10,000 single-use medical gloves and 10,000 shoe covers to Poland, the statement says. China has already promised to export medical gear, such as masks and respirators, to countries like Italy and South Korea. A number of European countries, such as Germany and France, said they would limit exports of certain medical products such as masks to avoid shortages at home as the coronavirus outbreak worsened this month. China has reported nearly 81,000 infections and 3,237 deaths in the mainland from the coronavirus epidemic, which emerged late last year in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
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33395
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Actress Jamie Lee Curtis acknowledged in an interview that she was born with both male and female sex organs.
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It is a telling commentary on the skewed importance we give any matter relating to sexuality that this rumor exists at all. Numerous children come into the world less than perfectly formed, yet no stigma is attached to those who require surgery to repair a malfunctioning heart, a disorder of the digestive system, or almost any other condition unrelated to gender. Yet when the question of sexuality is raised, it’s all whispers behind hands and meaningful looks.
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false
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Entertainment, Actors, Movies
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What to make of the child of two successful and famous actors who grows up to achieve an equal measure of fame in the same field? What if this gal has a boyish-sounding name and adopts children rather than bears her own? A rumor, apparently. And one she would rather not discuss at all: One story that keeps on circulating around Hollywood is that Jamie Lee Curtis was born an hermaphrodite and had to undergo surgery after birth in order to become legally female! This has been told to me by people who have worked on films with Jamie and by one physician who claims to have seen the records at Cedars Sinai. According to an oft-repeated whisper, Jamie Lee Curtis acknowledged that she was born an intersexual (the preferred medical term for persons of ambiguous gender, replacing ‘hermaphrodite’). So? Is she, or isn’t she? No one but Ms. Curtis, her parents, and her doctors has the definitive answer to this question, and none of them is talking. Contrary to common assertion, Ms. Curtis never made such a revelation during an interview or public appearance and has repeatedly declined deigning to provide a response to this rumor, and her physicians — even if they had something to say and wanted to say it — are bound by laws regarding doctor-patient confidentiality. This rumor is often lent credibility by people who have heard it repeated as fact by their university professors (especially those with specialties relating to intersexuality). Neither the hearer nor the teller ever seems to be able to provide a credible explanation of how he knows this piece of information to be true, the chain of transmission always tracing back to the notoriously unreliable “Someone else told me about it.” As happens over and over, even the most trusted of sources can sometimes take a widespread rumor at face value, then parrot it as fact. Okay, so we simply don’t know. Why, then, is this rumor so widespread? Jamie Lee is the daughter of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. At the time of Jamie Lee’s arrival into this world, her father was a roguishly good-looking leading man, an actor female moviegoers couldn’t help but swoon over. Her mother was a beauty and a renowned actress. Their union produced two daughters, Kelly Lee in 1956 and Jamie Lee in 1958. In their day, Curtis and Leigh were one of Hollywood’s up-and-coming couples, two successful, ambitious, famous people who appeared to have it all, with that ‘all’ including a happy marriage and two fine children. (As is often the case, appearances were deceiving: Curtis and Leigh divorced in 1962 after eleven years of marriage, and there were more difficult times ahead for both of them.) It’s thus possible that the current rumor about Jamie Lee stems from an ancient backlash against her parents, long-ago envy expressed as a slander about what the union of two “perfect” people had produced. Just as the fox decries as sour the grapes that hang out of his reach, so might meanspirited folks fed up with hearing about the beautiful people spread a rumor that cuts these stars down to size. Two facts lend an aura of credence to the rumor that Jamie Lee was born with both male and female bodyparts. The first is her two-way name: According to the rumor, a boyish appellation was bestowed upon her by parents who hadn’t yet decided whether to have a boy or a girl “made” of their baby and wanted to be prepared to go either way, but that wasn’t the case of it. Janet Leigh explained how she came to choose the name: At that time, we didn’t know ahead of time if it would be a girl or a boy, so when I was pregnant with Kelly, my best friend Jackie Gershwin said, “Why don’t you call the baby Kelly, so if it’s a girl, it works, and if it’s a boy, it works?” And she thought the same thing with Jamie. The babies were named before they were born because Jackie said, “This way, we won’t have to worry about it!” If the names were truly chosen before the children arrived, that puts paid to the notion that ‘Jamie Lee’ was so christened in response to a medical condition that would only have been discovered after her delivery. (Jamie Lee Curtis was born long before the development of medical technology that could identify dual-gendered fetuses.) The second fact that supports the rumor is Ms. Curtis’ own children: They’re adopted. Though couples opt for adoptive children over natural progeny for any number of reasons, it is true the operation necessary to correct dual gendering in a female infant would leave her unable to bear children. Degrees of intersexuality vary in intensity from presence of an additional Y chromosome to being born with a mixed set of genitals. Treatment of cases of blatant intersexuality is generally (but not always) surgical in nature, with reconstruction performed on the infant patient to add or remove body parts so as to end up with a child completely male or female in physical appearance. Hormones are also given towards this end, but there is a limit to what can be corrected medically. Though an appearance of sexual normalcy can be constructed, fully functional reproductive organs cannot. According to Dr. Anne Fausto-Sterling, a recognized expert in this field of study, 1-1/2 to 2 percent of all births do not fall strictly within the tight definition of all-male or all-female, even if the child looks “normal.” In reaching her numbers, Dr. Fausto-Sterling is counting all incidents of intersexuality, from mild to extreme. The incidence of children with mixed genitalia is pegged at 1 in 2,000 to 1 in 3,000, or 0.033 to 0.05 percent of all births. (Many technical names have been assigned to describe sexual ambiguity, including testicular feminization, transgendered, and androgen insensitivity syndrome. Rather than get bogged down here in descriptions of them, we direct readers to follow the link in the “Additional Information” section of this page for further discussion of the subject.) Intersexuality is a reality; some children are ambiguously gendered at birth. However, one particular point needs to be made, and made quite vehemently: The existence of such medical conditions is not reason in itself to suppose that Jamie Lee Curtis has any of them. Using the one to bolster belief in the second is akin to claiming the existence of the Atlantic Ocean somehow proves a particular ship sank in it.
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27570
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"Prolonged sexual arousal in men without an ejaculation can cause pain, a condition colloquially referred to as ""blue balls""."
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If masturbation isn’t your jam, Morgentaler has another easy solution: Just give it some time, rest a bit, and it will go away on its own. Perhaps these simple solutions are why there is such a dearth of scientific research into the ailment.
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true
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Love, sex
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The agonizing pain known as “blue balls” is well known to just about any man who was ever a teenager, an ache caused by prolonged arousal without release — a condition often referred to by urologists as epididymal hypertension. But what causes this syndrome? Although anecdotal evidence suggests that epididymal hypertension is fairly common (especially in adolescent men) there is for some reason a remarkable dearth of peer-reviewed scientific literature on the topic. Case reports and speculative essays have been published, but a universally agreed-upon understanding of the mechanism is still lacking. According to one speculative paper published in Medical Hypotheses: Although epididymal hypertension pathophysiology has not been cleared yet, it is thought that it might be related to an increased distension of epididymis or to a pelvic venous dilatation […] Dr. Abraham Morgentaler, an associate clinical professor of urology at Harvard Medical School, gave a layman’s explanation in a post for BuzzFeed Health: The testicles produce testosterone and sperm, but they also make other fluid to help propel the sperm through the various tubes, says Morgentaler. “With more stimulation, there’s more blood flow to the genital region, including the testicles. The fluid wants to get somewhere, but without there being that release, it builds up and builds pressure,” he says. When they get really filled up or congested, it causes the insides to stretch as they get engorged, and that’s what hurts. Two things are thought to be going on. First, the increase of blood to the penis, caused by the restriction of outflowing blood, fills a penile chamber called the corpus cavernosum, which in turn puts more pressure on the various “tubes” directing various fluids flowing through that region. The second factor, most agree, is that the production of seminal fluid puts even more pressure to expand (epididymal distension) within these already compressed tubes, and this can build up in a painful way absent an ejaculatory release. This is described in an October 2000 case report — the first ever peer-reviewed study of “blue balls” — of a 14-year-old male presenting with testicular pain: Perhaps if this persists and testicular venous drainage is slowed, pressure builds and causes pain. Is epididymal distension the cause of the pain? As with any disease entity, there is probably a spectrum of pain with “blue balls” varying from brief, mild discomfort to severe, sustained pain, as in the case described. There appears to be some disagreement among medical professionals regarding the “blue” part of “blue balls”. Morgentaler, speaking to Buzzfeed, proffered this explanation for the name: The name probably refers more to the sensation than the color. “The experience is of it being bruised,” says Morgentaler. “It has that kind of sensitivity and tenderness.” Most men won’t even experience any noticeable swelling, but the engorgement happening inside the testicles is what’s causing all that pain. Speaking to Men’s Health magazine, however, Weill Cornell urologist Richard K. Lee suggested a slight tint of blue may be possible, but likely not without additional confounding issues: There’s also some evidence that a prolonged erection can cause some of the oxygen in your blood to be absorbed by the tissue in your genitals. This can leave the blood with a blue-ish hue, says urologist Richard K. Lee, M.D., […] of Weill Cornell. Dr. Lee says this usually only happens when there’s some type of blockage. “Erectile dysfunction drugs or blood flow-constricting devices like a penis ring could cause this, but it’s not likely to occur naturally,” he adds. Blueness aside, the existence of the potential for discomfort is well-accepted. It has also, however, become a hot-button issue in sexual politics, as pain caused by foreplay without release has sometimes been employed by men or adolescents as a tool to guilt a partner into further sexual activity (“I could die!”). Such a tactic, while objectively immoral, also relies on the false assumption that there are actual long-term health risks associated with “blue balls”. The consensus is that, save the coincidental occurrence of a testicular torsion, there are no long-term complications from the discomfort. In the 2000 case report, the authors suggested it could be remedied through “sexual release” or a dubious “heavy lifting” mechanism, which not only sounds like it potentially adds insult to injury, but also nimbly dances around the concept of masturbation altogether. This point was not lost on a number of published letters in response to the report bemoaning the fact that the easiest solution was not explicitly stated: In the discussion of treatment, however, we wonder whether the authors’ suggestion that “straining to move a very heavy object” is the first choice “simple maneuver [that] could bring immediate relief.” As this condition is coming to light in a highly respected pediatric journal, perhaps we should resurrect the advice of former Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders and teach masturbation in the schools.
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4337
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Alaska officials fear tuberculosis spread at religious event.
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Attendees at an Alaska religious meeting may have been exposed to tuberculosis, officials said.
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true
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Health, Public health, Tuberculosis, Alaska
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A person who was diagnosed with an active case of the disease participated in the New Fire Bethel Ministry revival April 12-14, KYUK-AM reported Friday. The person attended all three days of the event in western Alaska, according to Alaska Public Health and Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation officials. Tuberculosis bacterium, which usually attacks the lungs, can spread easily and symptoms are not obvious, often leaving people unaware they carry it. There were up to a hundred people at the event each day who could have been exposed, said Mitchell Forbes, Yukon-Kuskokwim Health public relations director. “There is obviously potential that others could have it in their system now as well,” Forbes said. Alaska has the highest rate of tuberculosis in the nation, but the state’s strain is not resistant to medication and can be treated and cured, unlike the tuberculosis in the lower 48 states, officials said. Left untreated, the disease can be fatal, said Alaska Public Health nurse Evalina Achee. Tuberculosis can spread easily in crowded housing conditions, she said. “If they are living in a house without proper ventilation they can infect their whole family,” Achee said. A body can carry the tuberculosis bacterium without it becoming active. Treatment requires taking pills once weekly for three months if the disease is inactive, said Donna Bean, a public health nurse who manages tuberculosis cases. “And if it’s active, it’s daily for six months,” Bean said. ___ Information from: KYUK-AM, http://www.kyuk.org
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10384
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Sugar Cane Cholesterol Treatment Faulted
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Overall, this is a good piece that reports on a recent study that found policosanol to have no effect on low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. This observation differs from the previously published work on this compound, most of which has been conduced by a single research group in Cuba. Although this product is readily available as a nutritional supplement, this new study calls into question the whether policosanol has any benefit in terms of reducing LDL cholesterol. This article failed to mention some of the pharmaceutical and lifestyle interventions that have actually been demonstrated to reduce LDL cholesterol. This is one weakness in the article — there is ample evidence regarding other prescription medications that do improve LDL cholesterol — and alternative treatments . These should have been mentioned.
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true
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There were no cost estimates for policosanol either as sole ingredient supplement or when included in a multi-vitamin preparation. The article reported that there was no difference in LDL cholesterol levels after 12 weeks of treatment between the ‘dummy pill’ and policosanol group. The article neglected to mention that the study reported no severe adverse effects of policosanol. Although policosanol was reported to be ineffective in lowering LDL cholesterol, the article failed to explicitly mention that – by definition – a harm of treatment is inadequate treatment of elevated LDL cholesterol. This article reports on the findings of a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). It reported on the controversy that policosanol has previously been reported to reduce LDL cholesterol in studies sponsored by the Cuban sugar cane industry and Cuban government. – But the results of the new study differ markedly from these. This article did not appear to engage in disease-mongering. This piece included comments from several sources, including a spokesperson from the manufacturer of One-A-Day vitamins which contains policosanol in at least one formulation and a quote from a spokesperson from a trade group with interest in supplement sales. In addition, it appears that an attempt was made to get a statement from the Cuban scientific center that has sponsored the studies in Cuba of this compound. This article failed to mention some of the pharmaceutical and lifestyle interventions that have actually been demonstrated to reduce LDL cholesterol. This is one key weakness in the article — there is ample evidence regarding other prescription medications that do improve LDL cholesterol — and alternative treatments . These should have been mentioned. The article mentioned that this supplement is widely available from internet as well as brick and mortar stores. It would have been helpful to explicitly state that policosanol is available over-the-counter without a prescription. As a nutritional supplement, policosanol requires no FDA approval for sale, information that would have been informative to include as well. Although policosanol has been suggested by some as a natural substance that can be used to reduce cholesterol, the novelty reported on in this article was that a carefully designed study found it not effective in lowering LDL cholesterol. It’s clear that the story did not rely solely on a news release, because at least one comment in the story came from the journal article’s “Discussion” section, and was not included in the JAMA news release.
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11000
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Probiotics May Help Soothe The Stomach
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There’s been a lot of news coverage and a lot of marketing claims about the alleged benefits from products containing probiotics. The study reported on is from the well respected Cochrane organization. A Cochrane review is comprehensive and rigorous, meaning that the conclusions are important and can change medical practice. But this story included only the perspective of the lead author of the study with no independent perspective. And, in including a claim about possibly soothing stomachs (in the headline) and soothing “fickle bowels” (in the lead), it stepped outside the boundaries of evidence. Many claims have been made about probiotics for prevention of gastric upset or for the treatment of bowel conditions. Although this study reported positive outcomes, it is important to recognize that what was observed was benefit in treating acute diarrhea and that does not necessarily extrapolate to other preventive issues related to bowel health. Diarrhea, for which the benefits of probiotics were reviewed, causes substantial sick days and deaths in developing countries.
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mixture
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NPR,Supplements
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There was no discussion of costs. Because we always think cost is important – even if it doesn’t amount to much – we wish the story had included some cost estimates for probiotics-containing products. Does it add much to the cost of yogurt and other products? The story was clear that outcome studied was the duration for a bout with acute diarrhea. However by opening the story with mention of possible ability to ‘soothe fickle bowel’, this piece plays into the marketing of benefit from probiotics beyond treating the condition studied. In addition, the story gives only relative risk reduction for the risk of prolonged diarrhea – reduced by 59%. But 59% of what? The story mentioned that there were “no negative side effects” in the literature review. So, for that, we’ll give it a satisfactory score. But a broader perspective on this issue could have addressed the potential for harm in hospitalization-associated diarrhea. The story is based on a review of the literature published by the Cochrane organization; the story mentioned that the outcomes reported derive from 63 different studies. It would have been informative to help readers understand a little more about the quality of the evidence that was reviewed. The story did not engage in overt disease mongering. No independent sources were cited in this story – only the lead author of the study. There was no comparison with other treatments for acute diarrhea. A variety of over the counter medications are available to help improve symptoms, and simple dietary changes (avoiding dairy, for example) can also improve symptoms. The story listed several different types of products containing ‘probiotics’, indicating that they may normally be found in some products while others represent supplemented products. The story pointed out that this current review follows on the heels of a previous review published in 2004. We can’t be sure of the extent to which the story relied on a news release. We do know that only the lead author of the study was quoted.
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40312
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A worker at a candy factory in Africa accidentally exposed a batch of chocolate to Ebola, and it was later shipped to America.
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Chocolate Laced With Ebola Ships to U.S.
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false
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Food / Drink
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It’s not true that chocolate from Africa was accidentally laced with “Ebola positive blood.” The false report can be traced back to a Twitter account operated by “Conspiracy Story.” The eRumor claims that a factory worker in South Africa who later tested positive for Ebola bled into a batch of melted chocolate that was shipped to the U.S. and distributed to stores. However, there haven’t been any confirmed cases of Ebola in South Africa, the CDC reports. The virus has been limited to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Mali, Spain and the United States — which makes the eRumor a hoax. The eRumor may have been inspired by credible news reports that Ebola could disrupt the global chocolate market. About 70 percent of the world’s cocoa supply comes from West African nations, and people began to speculate that cocoa prices, which hit a four-year high in August 2014, were driven by the Ebola pandemic. But Amal Ahmad, a chocolate analyst, told ABC News that basic economic trends were to blame for the higher prices, not Ebola. Posted 11/03/14 Comments
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9880
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Berries May Ward Off Parkinson’s Disease
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China’s quick-growing solar equipment makers, forecast to meet half of global demand by the mid 2020s, are ramping up overseas sales to stave off closure after the elimination of government subsidies pushed domestic installations to a five-year low.
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false
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WebMD
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Exports of key solar components this year have already exceeded last year’s total and executives expect growth to continue next year, stoking concerns of a flood of cheap Chinese products undercutting those of manufacturers worldwide. “Solar makers are indeed really struggling with over-capacity in the domestic market. But if (they) have to dump the inventory, why not dump it on the overseas market where the prices are better?” a manager involved in the solar business at a major Chinese firm told Reuters. Players such as GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd and LONGi Green Technology Co Ltd were beneficiaries of rapid expansion in domestic solar capacity, driven by a subsidy received by generators for each kilowatt-hour of power produced. In 2017 alone, equipment makers added a record 53 gigawatts (GW) of solar capacity to China’s grid, more than the United States had managed in its entire history. That sparked talk of grid price parity, the sector’s Holy Grail, where electricity from solar and coal are priced the same. With costs plunging and a subsidy payment backlog exceeding 100 billion yuan ($14.21 billion), the government last year devised a timetable to reduce subsidies to zero. New installations subsequently plunged to 15.99 gigawatts (GW) in January-September - a third of the 2017 level - leaving manufacturers saddled with a price-sapping surplus having rapidly expanded amid expectations of sustained demand growth. For a graphic on China's installations of new solar capacity have plunged since key subsidies were removed, click here Domestic capacity growth is now forecast to slow to 10% in five years, from 56% over the last three years, showed data from domestic solar equipment manufacturer TrinaSolar. Daiwa Securities analysts said some manufacturers have already panicked and tried to dump inventory after prices of some products fell below the costs of higher-grade producers. Official January-September data showed exports of solar modules - electronics such as data sensors for solar panels - were the equivalent of 58 GW, versus 41.6 GW for all of 2018. Executives said the domestic slowdown could be the new norm, particularly because the government plans to lower coal-fired power prices next year as part of an economic stimulus package. The situation has pushed some solar equipment makers to the brink, with at least five bankruptcies this year in mainland China and Taiwan. Even GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd, China’s biggest producer of polycrystalline silicon used in solar panels, booked a 9.98 million yuan loss for January-June. “We are alive because there are still subsidies,” said a marketing manager at a silicon material firm in the northwest Shaanxi province. “But the cutback will force more silicon suppliers and solar panel makers to close because they cannot maintain cash flow.” OVER-CAPACITY Chinese manufacturers faced with over-capacity tend to raise production to be ready to win the customers of fallen rivals. In solar equipment, though domestic installation fell, output rose. Producers made 82.2 GW of solar panels and 75 GW of modules in January-September, up a respective 48.6% and 32% from the same period a year earlier, showed data from the China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA). LONGi Green Technology, which accounts for a quarter of global monocrystalline silicon solar equipment manufacturing, invested 29.3 billion yuan this year to expand monocrystalline silicon production in mainland China and Malaysia, showed a Reuters calculation based on stock exchange filings, to raise solar wafer capacity to 65 GW by 2020 from 28 GW last year. LONGi said it was confident domestic and global demand was enough to justify expansion. It also expects monocrystalline silicon to replace the less efficient polycrystalline silicon, its chairman, Zhong Baoshen, told Reuters, but he said it was getting harder to profit. “There can only be more difficulties for the solar industry in the future... with more challenges from policy, competition from peers and competition from other energy sources,” he said. Though the solar equipment industry has slowed markedly since the removal of subsidies, leading solar makers in China and elsewhere remain optimistic about the long-term outlook. The International Energy Agency expects solar power installations globally to reach 140 GW each year over the next five years, with China likely to provide around half of that. Moreover, in many regions in China and elsewhere, solar is already the cheapest form of electricity. “We haven’t in fact reached the price parity age,” said Ray Jin, chief operating officer at Jinko Power, speaking at a recent BNEF forum in Shanghai. “I think this year and next year - from the point of view of photovoltaic power - is a transitional period for large scale price parity... Now it is the darkness before the dawn.”
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5466
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Maine adding 50 new public health nurses.
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Maine is hiring 50 public health nurses to help address disease outbreaks and the opioid crisis.
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true
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Paul LePage, Maine, Health, Disease outbreaks, Public health
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The Portland Press Herald reports a new law sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Brownie Carson is responsible for the hiring increase. Under the measure, Maine is required to have at least 50 public health nurses on staff. Republican Gov. Paul LePage had opposed the effort as he sought to reform public health and welfare programs. Former state Department of Health and Human Services commissioner Mary Mayhew had supported LePage’s push. DHHS commissioner Ricker Hamilton says the department is committed to increasing public health nurses in Maine. Hamilton says the nurses’ duties will expand to cover issues like elder and child abuse and the opioid crisis in addition. So far, seven positions have been filled. ___ Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com
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7102
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Tunisia: 12 infants die of hospital-acquired infection.
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Twelve newborn babies have died in Tunisia after acquiring infections at the public maternity hospital where they were born prematurely, the country’s interim health minister reported Monday.
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true
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Africa, Tunisia, Health, Tunis
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Sonia Ben Sheikh, who hastily took over when Tunisia’s health minister resigned amid growing outrage, said during a news conference in Tunis that the infant deaths were “unacceptable.” While hospital-acquired infections were the immediate cause, Ben Sheikh said the deaths at the Center for Maternity and Neonatology “resulted from a combination of deterioration and poor governance in the health sector that is going through a crisis.” Severe blood infections from tube feedings likely killed the premature babies, the Tunisian Society of Pediatrics said in a statement. Samples from the infants’ bodies and the hospital in Tunisia’s capital have been sent to three different laboratories to ensure the investigation is done in a “transparent and credible way, far from any suspicion,” Ben Sheikh said. Test results won’t be available for at least 10 days, she said. Ben Sheikh, Tunisia’s minister of youth and sports, is filling the health minister’s role left vacant by Health Minister Abderraouf Cherif’s resignation on Saturday. Tunisian authorities have launched multiple investigations after 11 of the newborns died Friday. It’s not known when the 12th death occurred. Public hospitals in Tunisia have faced problems for several years that have impacted services. Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi convened a meeting Monday of the National Security Council to look into the scandal and its causes. Parliament leader Mohamed Ennaceur said there will be a special session for lawmakers to discuss the case.
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7806
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Swimmers beware: water at some U.S. beaches may make you sick.
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Every summer millions of American families head for beaches, but few stop to think of the possibility that the water they swim in may harbor enough bacteria to cause stomach flu and a host of other illnesses.
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true
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Environment
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"The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) found that 10 percent of water quality samples collected from nearly 3,500 coastal and Great Lakes beaches in 2013 contained levels of harmful bacteria that exceeded ""safe to swim"" thresholds recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency. (here) The findings - published on Wednesday in the NRDC’s 24th annual report on beach water quality - confirm that serious water pollution persists at many U.S. beaches, largely the result of stormwater runoff and sewage overflows that carry human and animal waste into waters where people swim, surf and sail. “Too many people get sick when they go in the water,” said Steve Fleischli, NRDC water program director. The findings are little changed over the last five years of testing, he said. The EPA encourages the issuing of advisories for beaches and lakes where water quality exceeds what it calls a “Beach Action Value,” a threshold model for assessing water quality. “It is not a federal mandate at this point. It should be. But EPA is moving in the right direction,” said Fleischli. Illnesses associated with polluted beach water include stomach flu, skin rashes, pinkeye, respiratory infections, meningitis and hepatitis. Children are especially vulnerable, as they tend to submerge their heads more often than adults and are more likely to swallow water when swimming, the report said. One analysis found that fecal contamination at Los Angeles and Orange County beaches causes between 627,800 and 1,479,200 excess gastrointestinal illnesses each year, the NRDC said. The report lists both some “superstar” beaches, that have routinely met water quality standards over the last five years, and “repeat offenders,” which are beaches showing persistent contamination problems, according to the NRDC. Among the superstars: Gulf Shores Public Beach in Alabama; Tybee Island North in Georgia; Back Bay Beach in Virginia; and Po’ipu Beach Park in Kauai, Hawaii. The list of beaches with repeated contamination problems included seven in Ohio; three in New York; two in Indiana; and one each in California, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Wisconsin, the report said."
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35347
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The CDC readjusted the COVID-19 death toll from 60,000 down to 37,000.
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That 37,308 was not a drastic downward revision of any previously reported death total. Rather, it only might have seemed such because it was mistakenly compared to the number of deaths reported on the CDC’s COVID-19 Cases in the U.S. page, which as of May 3, 2020, displayed a total of 65,735 deaths:
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false
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Politics, COVID-19
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At the beginning of May 2020, widely circulated social media posts asserted that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had substantially revised their figures for the number of deaths in the U.S. caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus disease, from 60,000 down to about 37,000: HOLY SHIT: Did I read this wrong or did the CDC just revised the national COVID-19 deaths to 37,308?!? !https://t.co/FkhFUzPHaH — Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) May 2, 2020 These posts fed into conspiracy theories holding that the COVID-19 pandemic was not nearly as serious as suggested by the government and the news media, and that the “true” mortality figures were being deceptively inflated to achieve some ulterior purpose. However, this claim was not true, and it was the result of comparing two separate data sources that report different measurements. The link included in the above tweet points to the CDC’s Provisional Death Counts for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) page, which provides provisional death totals by week and state according to the following criteria: The provisional data presented on this page include the weekly provisional count of deaths in the United States due to COVID-19, deaths from all causes and percent of expected deaths (i.e., number of deaths received over number of deaths expected based on data from previous years), pneumonia deaths (excluding pneumonia deaths involving influenza), pneumonia deaths involving COVID-19, influenza deaths, and deaths involving pneumonia, influenza, or COVID-19; (a) by week ending date and (b) by specific jurisdictions. As of May 1, 2020, that page reported the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. as being 37,308: However, that page also notes that the provisional data it displays are continually revised, may be incomplete, likely will not include more recent deaths, and may differ from other published sources because data currently are lagged by an average of 1–2 weeks: The provisional counts for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) deaths are based on a current flow of mortality data in the National Vital Statistics System. National provisional counts include deaths occurring within the 50 states and the District of Columbia that have been received and coded as of the date specified. It is important to note that it can take several weeks for death records to be submitted to National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), processed, coded, and tabulated. Therefore, the data shown on this page may be incomplete, and will likely not include all deaths that occurred during a given time period, especially for the more recent time periods. Death counts for earlier weeks are continually revised and may increase or decrease as new and updated death certificate data are received from the states by NCHS. COVID-19 death counts shown here may differ from other published sources, as data currently are lagged by an average of 1–2 weeks. Provisional death counts may not match counts from other sources, such as media reports or numbers from county health departments. Our counts often track 1–2 weeks behind other data for a number of reasons: Death certificates take time to be completed. There are many steps involved in completing and submitting a death certificate. Waiting for test results can create additional delays. States report at different rates. Currently, 63% of all U.S. deaths are reported within 10 days of the date of death, but there is significant variation among jurisdictions. It takes extra time to code COVID-19 deaths. While 80% of deaths are electronically processed and coded by NCHS within minutes, most deaths from COVID-19 must be coded manually, which takes an average of 7 days. Other reporting systems use different definitions or methods for counting deaths.
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10292
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Eat your blueberries! They may cut risk of diabetes and high blood pressure
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Lest anyone think we’re unfair to blogs or that we don’t appreciate the brevity embraced by many blogs, please note that this 1-star story ran 474 words. Earlier today we posted a 5-star score for a story that ran only 262 words. It is the quality – not the quantity – of the words that matters.
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false
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"Not applicable. Costs of blueberries – or of the ""daily dietary supplementation of bioactives in freeze-dried whole blueberry powder"" – were not given. But we don’t think this is a major issue. No quantification of benefit in the first study described – only that ""participants’ insulin sensitivity increased."" How much did it increase? What clinical significance did that or might it have? This is what readers need to know – not just some surrogate marker. Regarding the second study, the story said ""researchers saw a seven- to eight-point drop in the systolic blood pressure of patients who had been drinking the blueberry beverage."" Everyone got a 7-8 point drop? Or was this the average decline? And a decline from what starting point? None of this was explained. That’s inadequate. Not applicable. No harms were mentioned, but we’re not sure there were any worth mentioning in these small, short-term studies. But we can’t give a satisfactory score for what wasn’t reported. Inadequate. First, the story never explained that the first study used not blueberries but ""daily dietary supplementation of bioactives in freeze-dried whole blueberry power."" More than a matter of semantics, this raises questions about the whole premise of the article about ""eating blueberries."" These study subjects did not eat blueberries. That should have been explained. Second, the story never mentioned what the researchers themselves wrote, that this study was not conclusive and that studies of longer duration were needed. Third, the story never explained that the first study involved only 32 people – only 15 whom got the blueberry bioactive concoction. Finally, the story never addressed the inherent limitations in drawing any conclusions from such a small sample. The second study mentioned in the story – the one about blueberries in people with ""pre-hypertension"" – never mentioned the significant concerns that have been raised in some corners about disease-mongering of ""pre-hypertension."" Note, for example, the recent article in the BMJ by journalist Ray Moynihan, ""Who benefits from treating prehypertension."" The story could have at least nodded in the direction of controversy about this diagnosis, rather than touting it as one more disease to be prevented by blueberry consumption. No independent sources were quoted – only the lead researchers. In addition, the first study was funded partially by the United States Highbush Blueberry Council, something the story should have explained. There wasn’t even a line about other methods of lowering risk in those at increased risk of developing diabetes or high blood pressure. It wouldn’t have taken but a few words to satisfy this criterion. The story stated the newer study was of ""daily consumption of blueberries."" That’s inaccurate and it’s pertinent to this availability criterion. It was a study of ""daily dietary supplementation of bioactives in freeze-dried whole blueberry powder."" How available is this stuff outside a research setting? What difference might that make over consumption of blueberries? More than splitting hairs, this is an important clarification, and one this story didn’t provide. The story at least tried to put two newer studies into the context of ""the body of research supporting the benefits of eating blueberries."" But we also think this phrase is too simplistic and potentially misleading. Nonethless we’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. Not applicable. We can’t be sure of the extent to which this blog post may have relied on a news release. We know we saw some of the exact same quotes in other places, suggesting they didn’t come from interviewing the sources."
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18064
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Mike Collins Says federal regulations adopted in 2011 increased the cost of each vehicle for his business by $10,000.
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Does truck claim carry its weight in accuracy?
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true
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Georgia, Environment, Regulation, Mike Collins,
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"A congressional candidate says Uncle Sam is making it tougher to keep on truckin’. Mike Collins told the Gwinnett Daily Post that changes in federal emissions standards have added $10,000 to the price of every new truck his family’s trucking business buys. ""The EPA is stifling business,"" Collins told us, referring to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which helped write those standards. PolitiFact Georgia was curious about his claim and hit the fact-checking trail for more details. Collins is running as a Republican for the U.S. House of Representatives in Georgia’s 10th Congressional District, a conservative stretch of northeast Georgia. The current officeholder, Paul Broun, is running for the U.S. Senate. Broun’s successor will take office in January 2015. Collins is one of six candidates in the race. Collins’ father, Mac, served 12 years in the U.S. House, from 1993 to 2005, representing portions of several south metro Atlanta counties. The younger Collins is the vice president and financial officer of Collins Trucking, which boasts on its website that its vehicles can haul a minimum of 48,000 pounds of cargo. A heavy-duty truck can cost about $100,000. Collins said new federal emissions regulations that took effect in 2011 on heavy-duty trucks are responsible for some big changes in sales prices. In May 2010, President Barack Obama announced a plan to produce more environmentally friendly vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the EPA created new guidelines for combination tractors that are used for freight transportation, heavy-duty pickup trucks, and gasoline and diesel heavy-duty engines. The goal: reduce carbon dioxide emissions by anywhere from 7 percent to 20 percent, along with reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The new regulations took effect in August 2011. The EPA outlined the environmental and cost benefits in one report: ""The agencies estimate that the combined standards will reduce (carbon dioxide) emissions by about 270 million metric tons and save about 530 million barrels of oil over the life of vehicles built for the 2014 to 2018 model years, providing $49 billion in net program benefits. The reduced fuel use alone will enable $50 billion in fuel savings to accrue to vehicle owners, or $42 billion in net savings when considering technology costs. A second phase of regulations is planned for model years beyond 2018."" So have these changes resulted in $10,000 price increases in the past two years? ""That’s the number that’s been floating around,"" said Guy Young, vice president of the Georgia Motor Trucking Association, based in Marietta. There are no studies of the impact of emissions changes that took effect in 2011 on truck prices. An EPA spokeswoman said the $10,000 upfront cost is consistent with the EPA’s regulatory impact analysis for heavy-duty vehicles starting in model year 2014. ""It should be noted, however, that the same analysis finds that using technologies commercially available today, the majority of vehicles will see a payback period of less than one year, while others, especially those with lower annual miles, will experience payback periods of up to two years,"" said the spokeswoman, Davina Marraccini. ""For example, an operator of a tractor-trailer can pay for the technology upgrades in under a year and have net savings up to $73,000 over the truck’s useful life."" Marraccini said the standards were developed with support from the trucking industry. The National Automobile Dealers Association and American Truck Dealers released a report in March 2012 on the impact of emissions requirements on vehicles with a model year from 2004 to 2010. It disputes the EPA’s cost-benefit projections. ""EPA underestimated compliance costs by a factor of 2-5,"" the report said. ""These higher-than-projected costs resulted in, among other things, significantly lower-than-projected new truck sales which necessarily reduced the environmental benefits associated with these standards."" The report found the average surcharge on heavy-duty trucks made in 2010 that were compliant with the emissions guidelines was about $9,000 for nearly every manufacturer. For medium-duty trucks, the surcharge was generally between $6,000 and $7,300. Bill Iredale, who’s been in the truck sales business for nearly 40 years, said Collins was correct about the price increase. ""Absolutely,"" said Iredale, sales manager at Ace Beverage Refurb & Sales, based in Norcross. Iredale said the price increases have resulted from a series of new federal emissions regulations over the past decade. Ten years ago, a medium-body truck cost about $50,000. Today, the price is about $75,000. Iredale said the recent emissions requirements do have a positive impact on air quality. ""It’s a good thing,"" he said. ""It really helped clean up the air."" Young agreed that the vehicles have better fuel economy. ""They’re really good fuel engines, but (manufacturers) had to make some changes to get that way,"" he said. So, is Collins right? The EPA anticipated such additional upfront costs. Not surprisingly, the EPA and trucking industry debate the cost benefit of the regulations. The anecdotal evidence we heard and the 2012 truck dealers report suggest Collins may be right about the higher costs. The statement, however, falls a bit shy of an absolute True ruling. It has to be viewed in the context of the overall fuel savings the new vehicles will accrue. That could be substantial and actually offset the higher costs in the long run.s ."
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36900
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John Ashe, a former diplomat and president of the United Nations General Assembly from Antigua, died in June 2016, days before he was to testify in a corruption case against a Hillary Clinton donor.
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John Ashe Dies Days Before Testifying Against Hillary Clinton Donor – Truth! & Fiction!
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mixture
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Politics
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It’s true that John Ashe died unexpectedly in the middle of a corruption case, and that an alleged former Clinton donor was involved, but other details about Ashe and the charges against him are false or unproven. First, neither Hillary Clinton nor the Clinton Foundation were involved in the corruption case against John Ashe. Second, the so-called donor that Ashe was allegedly set to testify against, Ng Lap Seng, hasn’t had traceable ties to the Clintons since the mid 199os. Third, there’s no proof that Ashe died just before he was scheduled to testify against the so-called Clinton donor. John Ashe, the former president of the United Nations General Assembly, was indicted in a bribery scheme in October 2015 for allegedly accepting more than $1 million from people in China for real estate deals, according to a criminal complaint. The complaint alleges that John Ashe took illegal payments from Ng Lap Seng, a Chinese real estate developer from Macau, and used his “official position to obtain for NG potentially lucrative investments in Antigua.” Again, the Clintons were not involved in the case. The 61-year-old John Ashe was charged with engaging in a pattern of corruption with six others that netted more than $1 million in bribes from Seng. Ashe allegedly used the illegal payments to bankroll a lavish lifestyle, including $59,000 in hand-tailored suits from Hong Kong, multiple $54,000 Rolex watches and $69,000 golf club membership. John Ashe’s family released a statement that said he had collapsed several times at his home in Dobbs Ferry, Westchester, New York, before his death on June 22. Ashe had been under the care of a neurologist and had been awaiting the results of an MRI at the time of this death, the family said: Ambassador Ashe and his family had been dealing with an inordinate level of stress over the past eight months, relating to the unproven allegations leveled against him and the home detention imposed on him by court proceedings. Sadly, now his legal efforts to clear his name have been tragically cut short. Ambassador Ashe’s wife was devastated to find him collapsed at home on June 22, 2016. His wife and younger son had previously found him collapsed and unresponsive first on April 25th, and again on April 28th. Both times, he was taken by ambulance to the hospital and received emergency medical treatment. On June 22nd, it appears that a third episode of collapse, tragically, led to his untimely death. At the time of his passing, he was under the care of a neurologist who was evaluating the cause of the earlier episodes. He was awaiting the results of an MRI, and was scheduled for an Electroencephalogram (EEG) for sleep deprivation on June 25th. Following John Ashe’s death, claims that he was scheduled to testify against Hillary Clinton or Ng Lap Seng quickly went viral — but they don’t check out. Prosecutors in the case have said that he was scheduled for pre-trial activity, but the trial was not set to begin days after his death, and he was not scheduled to testify against Seng at the time of his death. As for Ng Lap Seng, who was arrested in September for allegedly lying about why he brought $4.5 million in cash into the country, it’s true that a 1998 Senate committee report tied him to the Democratic Party’s fund raising efforts — and to Bill Clinton in particular. The report states that Seng laundered money through a Little Rock restaurateur who donated thousands to the Democratic Party: Former Little Rock, Arkansas, restaurateur Yah Lin “Charlie” Trie and Macau-based businessman Ng Lap Seng collaborated in a scheme to contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign funds to the DNC. Ng wired over one million dollars from accounts he maintains in Macau and Hong Kong to accounts maintained by or accessible to Trie in Little Rock and Washington, D.C. Although Trie held himself out as an international trader (and, in fact, actively sought to develop an international trading business he called Daihatsu International Trading Corporation), he was never successful. Trie’s bank records and tax returns reveal that he received little or no income from sources other than Ng Lap Seng. Although he failed to establish a successful, income-generating international trading business, Trie, his wife and his businesses managed to contribute a total of $220,000 to the DNC between 1994 and 1996. Trie and Ng also reimbursed the contributions made by a number of other DNC contributors who were recruited by Trie in order to further disguise the ultimate source of the contributions. As Trie earned little money through his own business activities, the Committee concludes that Trie used the foreign-source funds wired from Ng to make his (and his wife’s and businesses’) DNC contributions and to reimburse the conduit contributors. The Justice Department indicted Trie for these illegal activities on January 28, 1998. Bill Clinton was named as “among the politicians who frequented Fu Lin and became friends with Trie” while he was the governor of Arkansas. The report concluded that, “Trie’s contributions purchased access for himself and Ng to the highest levels of our government.” ABC News also reported in 1997 that Seng had made six trips to the White House and frequented events sponsored by the Democratic National Committee. Here’s a photo of one of those visits: So, in conclusion, claims that John Ashe died days before he was scheduled to testify against Clinton donor Ng Lap Seng are both true and false. Ashe died unexpectedly during pre-trial activity, but there’s no indication that he was killed. There’s also no indication that he was scheduled to testify against Seng. This isn’t the first time we’ve investigated conspiracies about Clinton “friends” dying under suspicious circumstances, either. Click here for our related investigations.
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10035
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Prostate drug shows promise in early testing
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This is a 180-word story about a potential new approach for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. The molecule discussed, MDV3100, is poised to enter phase 3 clinical trials and this story is about some preliminary data from the phase 1-2 clinical trial to determine if the drug was safe and tolerable. But important details tend to be left out of 180 word stories such as: The results presented were from the first 30 patients in the study, with 13 out of 30 showing declines of more than 50% in the levels of this chemical. What about the other 17 patients? Did they fail to respond at all or was their response simply smaller in magnitude? What is the significance to the patient of a decline in this chemical in the blood? What harms were found in the trials so far? A brief web search turned up dozens of stories this week on this announcement. Many gave far more important details than this AP story.
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false
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As the story was about a drug in the process of development, the costs associated with its use are not available at this time. We generally believe that if it’s not too early to report on the potential benefit of a drug in development, then it’s not too early to at least mention potential cost. But this story was so clear on the fact that much research was still to be done that we decide not to rule it unsatisfactory on this criterion. The benefits, as described in this story, are a decrease in the circulating levels of a chemical in the blood stream that indicate the presence of cancer. It is not entirely clear from this story how this decreased level of ‘chemical’ impacts a man with advanced prostate cancer. While it is true that we must await the results of the phase 3 clinical trial in order to know whether this treatment will enable men to live longer, it is likely of interest to the reader to understand a little bit about the clinical importance of this observation (does it mean less cancer or less tumor growth?) as well as whether it has any effect on the symptoms the individual has. There was no discussion about any harms or side effects that may have been associated with the use of MDV3100. The story reported on some early results from the phase 1-2 clinical trials of the drug, currently known as MDV3100. It provided relative results about the levels of what it termed ‘chemicals in the blood that indicate the presence of cancer’. The results presented were from the first 30 patients in the study, with 13 out of 30 showing declines of more than 50% in the levels of this chemical. What about the other 17 patients? Did they fail to respond at all or was their response simply smaller in magnitude? Additionally – what is the significance to the patient of a decline in this chemical in the blood? The story did not engage in disease mongering; it didn’t discuss the natural history of prostate cancer at all. The sources of information are not entirely clear. The story included a quote from one of the principal investigators working on the phase 1-2 clinical trial. No independent experts appear to have been contacted for this story. MDV3100, the molecule subject of this story, is discussed as an alternative to hormone therapy as an approach to the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. There was no mention of other currently available treatments. The story was clear that the drug that is currently under development for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. In this very short story, it was made to sound as though MDV3100 was the first drug used in the treatment of prostate cancer that binds to the hormone receptor. While MDV3100 may be a new molecule being investigated for this purpose, this story did not give nearly the amount of background as given in other stories we saw on this topic. We can’t be sure if the story relied solely or largely on a news release.
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21409
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An amazing 5,400 jobs were lost in the first 12 months of the (smoking) ban’s implementation in Ohio’s hospitality industry alone.
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Tobacco group claims Ohio smoking ban led to major job losses
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false
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Georgia, Public Health, Chris McCalla,
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"Debate over proposed government-enforced smoking bans generally follow a prescribed path. Public health advocates tout the health benefits of reduced smoking while bar and restaurant owners complain about potential lost business. Often the debate ranks high on the rhetorical scale but is limited in hard facts. So it got our attention when the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association, based in Coumbus, Ga., released a statement last month by its legislative director, Chris McCalla, in opposition to an expansion of the DeKalb County smoking ban. McCalla claimed a similar ban in Ohio cost 5,400 jobs in one year to that state’s hospitality industry. It turns out the claim of Ohio job losses is popular among opponents of smoking bans. We found the claim repeated in letters to the editor in Alabama, on numerous pro-smoking blogs and in news aggregators like Yahoo! News that picked up the association’s news release. But where did that number come from? Naturally, the first place we looked was Ohio. The figure of 5,400 jobs lost appears on the website of Opponents of Ohio Bans, a group opposed to the Ohio law approved by voters in 2006. Pam Parker, co-founder of the group, pointed back to the Georgia-based group as a possible source for the statistic. ""I believe that's a number that IPCPR has reported,"" Parker said in an email. Parker also provided a link to a news release on unemployment figures from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services showing 5,900 hospitality jobs lost in the state over the past year as a possible source. But that report -- part of a larger report on all nonfarm employment -- was from November 2009. The Ohio smoking ban began in May 2007, so the time periods do not match up. The association referred all questions back to McCalla, but he did not return messages seeking clarification of his statement. A representative from the public relations firm that sent out the news release for the association also did not return calls. So is there any evidence that McCalla’s statement is correct? The employment sector he claims coughed up so many jobs because of the smoking ban represents a wide-ranging group of industries that includes bars and restaurants but also takes in sports stadiums, hotels, museums and golf courses to name a few. Benjamin Johnson, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, said the sector lost 2,200 jobs during the first year of the state’s smoking ban, less than half the claimed amount and a pretty small 0.4 percent decrease in overall employment. By way of comparison, all nonfarm employment in the state declined by 39,400 during the same period, a decrease of about 0.7 percent, so it makes it tough to see the ban’s direct impact on employment. Ohio State University public health professor Elizabeth Klein said the research on the economic impact of smoking bans is not even something researchers argue about because of the ""high degree of consistency"" in numerous academic studies. The bans just do not do measurable economic harm. The only downside is that it is hard to get new research published, she said. ""From the academic perspective, most of us are over this. It’s been well established,"" she said. Despite the academic consensus, this month Klein and her Ohio State colleague Nancy Hood published a study of bars and restaurants in Ohio that found the smoking ban did not have an effect on sales. Klein said the findings mirror her earlier study on the economic impact of a similar ban in Michigan. Taking a longer look, hospitality employment in Ohio has dropped 2.7 percent, but Klein said that is hardly surprising, given the recession. ""Ohio has had difficulty with employment in a number of areas,"" she said. In fact, the hospitality industry has fared better than the overall economy in Ohio. Total nonfarm employment has dropped 6.3. percent since 2007, according to federal data. Back in Georgia, the point is almost entirely academic. In a meeting last week, amid warnings of economic consequences from opponents, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners voted 4-2 against expanding the county’s indoor smoking ban. When the smoke cleared, we rated this lost-jobs claim as ."
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26696
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The health insurance industry has “agreed to waive all co-payments for coronavirus treatments.”
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Health insurance companies said they will waive costs for coronavirus tests, not treatment. A shortage in diagnostic supplies means that testing is limited. A major health insurance lobbying group said that there are currently no industry-wide plans to waive costs for hospital stays or other treatment.
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false
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Health Care, Coronavirus, Donald Trump,
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"As coronavirus cases multiply in the United States, one concern Americans have is what they can expect to pay if they seek treatment. Speaking from the White House, President Donald Trump suggested that people with health insurance shouldn’t have to worry about that. ""Earlier this week, I met with the leaders of the health insurance industry who have agreed to waive all co-payments for coronavirus treatments, extend insurance coverage to these treatments, and to prevent surprise medical billing,"" Trump said March 11. We found that’s an exaggeration at best. We contacted spokespeople for the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services seeking clarification and did not get a response. But in an appearance March 12 on CNN, Vice President Mike Pence said insurers have agreed to waive copays for coronavirus tests — not treatment. The telecast of Trump’s March 10 meeting with the insurance industry shows that, in fact, company leaders agreed to waive all co-payments for coronavirus tests — not treatments. ""All the insurance companies here — either today or before today — have agreed to waive all copays on coronavirus testing and extend coverage for coronavirus treatment in all of their benefit plans,"" Pence said. That’s a big distinction. For one thing, a shortage in diagnostic supplies means that many people aren’t receiving tests. You have to present symptoms to qualify. If you don’t receive a test, but do get screened, that qualifies as a doctor’s visit — not a coronavirus test. That qualifies for a copay. ""It’s not even waiving copays or deductibles for services you need to get tests — emergency visits, doctors, etc.,"" noted Sabrina Corlette, a professor at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute. ""It’s ‘we’ll waive copays for the tests,’ which is the lab service."" Health plans will cover treatment for coronavirus, including hospital stays, said Kristine Grow, a spokeswoman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, a major lobbying group. But they won’t necessarily waive copays or cost-sharing for that treatment. And there are other nuances to getting treatment that might entail higher cost-sharing. If a coronavirus diagnosis ultimately means a patient needs to be put in a private room, or some other form of isolation, that’s a service that costs more. And even if it’s covered, patients could end up paying part of the price out-of-pocket, Corlette said. For surprise medical bills, it’s trickier. There is a lot insurance plans can do, such as waiving in-network cost-sharing when someone gets treatment for the coronavirus, or agreeing to change their benefit structure if a patient gets care from someone out of network. But they don’t appear to have explicitly committed to doing those things, Corlette said. And the responsibility for surprise billing doesn’t just fall on insurance companies, said Zack Cooper, a health economist at Yale University, who studies surprise billing. Doctors and hospitals who are out-of-network are still able to balance bill — that is, send patients a bill for whatever insurance has not paid. Plus, big insurance companies are only part of the picture. About 61% of Americans with employer-sponsored health care have what is called a ""self-insured"" plan. Those plans, which are regulated by federal law, can opt out of the agreements around copayments. With all those caveats, Corlette said, Trump’s assertion is ""misleading."" The statements released by health insurance companies about waived costs are not as comprehensive as Trump indicated. UnitedHealthcare announced that it has ""waived all member cost sharing, including copays, coinsurance and deductibles, for COVID-19 diagnostic testing provided at approved locations in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for all commercial insured, Medicaid and Medicare members. UnitedHealthcare is also supporting self-insured customers choosing to implement similar actions."" Ethan Slavin, a spokesman for Aetna, gave a similar response: He said the company will waive associated costs for members who get tested ""at any authorized location."" Anthem announced March 6 that it would provide coverage of the coronavirus screening test at no out-of-pocket-cost. But again, those commitments are not comprehensive. The statement by UnitedHealthcare doesn’t state that they are waiving all cost-sharing with respect to all emergency treatment or post stabilization, for example. ""The only place you can get tested in a lot of communities is still the hospital emergency room department, so that’s an emergency visit,"" said Sara Rosenbaum, a George Washington University professor of health law and policy. While the White House meeting shows that at the moment health insurance companies have agreed to not charge copays for the tests, the rules could change rapidly for other costs, said Thomas Miller, an expert on health care policy at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. ""Looking over the horizon we are going to be doing a lot of things differently,"" he said. Joseph Antos, another health care expert at AEI, said that since the final bills for treatment are settled after the patient has been treated, that allows negotiation or other consideration for patients who can’t cover what could be very high cost-sharing amounts in full. ""Most higher income people with good insurance should be able to deal with those costs and should not expect additional discounts related to coronavirus,"" he said. It’s also possible that Congress will decide to pass surprise billing legislation given the circumstances. Trump said the health insurance industry has ""agreed to waive all co-payments for coronavirus treatments."" This isn’t what those companies said. They agreed to waive copayments for coronavirus testing. That’s only one component, and it’s a far cry from waiving copayments for all treatment. And, despite what the president’s phrasing may imply, the Americans who seek a test and are turned away will not have their copayments waived either. Patients who seek testing for coronavirus, and even those who end up needing treatment, will likely still end up facing medical bills. The size and scope depends on their insurance plans, and on what doctors they see. The president’s statement is inaccurate."
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7467
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Whistleblower: US still lacks virus plan, Americans at risk.
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Despite White House claims, the U.S. still lacks a comprehensive battle plan against the coronavirus in critical areas including masks, testing, treatments and vaccines, whistleblower Rick Bright warned Thursday in testimony before a House committee. “Our window of opportunity is closing,” he declared.
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true
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AP Top News, Understanding the Outbreak, Health, General News, Politics, Racing for a Remedy, Virus Outbreak
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The nation could face “the darkest winter in modern history” if the virus rebounds, the government vaccine scientist told lawmakers. Bright’s appearance came after his ouster last month as head of a Health and Human Services biodefense agency, an action he alleges was retaliation by the Trump administration. “We need still a comprehensive plan, and everyone across the government and everyone in America needs to know what that plan is, and what role they play,” he told the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “There are critical steps that we need to do to prepare ... we do not still have enough personal protective equipment to manage our health care workers ... we still do not have the supply chains ramped up for the drugs and vaccines, and we still don’t have plans in place for how we distribute those drugs and vaccines. We still do not have a comprehensive testing strategy.” At the White House, President Donald Trump said Bright looked like an “angry, disgruntled employee,” and Bright’s boss, HHS Secretary Alex Azar, said, “Everything he is complaining about was achieved.” “So this is like somebody who was in a choir and is now trying to say he was a soloist back then,” Azar added. Trump, said later, at a Pennsylvania medical equipment distributor, that the U.S. is ramping up production of COVID-19-related items and that his goal “is to produce everything America needs for ourselves and then export to the world, including medicines.” Bright spoke in measured tones and rarely raised his voice during five hours of questioning. He didn’t question the fact that there’s now an all-out effort, financed by billions in taxpayer dollars, to procure masks and other supplies, develop better tests and treatments and discover an effective vaccine. His point was that those efforts aren’t being fitted together in a coherent strategy that will get supplies and medicines to where they’re most needed to protect people and prevent shortages and price gouging. Asked by Rep. Joe Kennedy, D-Mass., if administration officials have prepared the country for the “moment we are in” and the months ahead, Bright responded, “I think we have a lot of work to do to be prepared.” Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., asked if he should be concerned that Americans will have problems getting access to a vaccine when it’s available. Bright responded, “Absolutely, sir.” Bright, a career official, alleges he was removed as head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority after repeatedly warning higher-ups the virus outbreak was going to be worse than the public was being led to believe. He said the breaking point came when he opposed a White House directive to allow widespread access to hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug Trump was touting as an effective treatment. The FDA recently warned against its use for COVID-19, except in limited circumstances. But at the White House on Thursday, the president was still bullish. “We’ve had tremendous response to the hydroxy,” Trump said. “So, a lot of people have sworn by it, and we’ll see.” Republican lawmakers for the most part were careful not to attack Bright directly. But Rep. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma criticized him for continuing to collect his $285,000 salary while first on sick leave for a spike in blood pressure, and now on vacation as he tries to straighten out his work situation. “You’re too sick to go into work, but you’re well enough to come here while getting paid,” said Mullin. “I have a hard time understanding that.” Bright said one of the worst moments as he tried to raise alarms came when repeated efforts to jump-start U.S. production of respirator masks went nowhere. He recalled getting emails in late January from Mike Bowen, an executive at a medical supply company called Prestige Ameritech, indicating that its N95 mask supply was “completely decimated.” “And he said: ‘We’re in deep shit. The world is. And we need to act,’” Bright said. “And I pushed that forward to the highest levels I could in HHS and got no response. From that moment I knew that we were going to have a crisis for our health care workers because we were not taking action.” Following Bright to the witness table, Bowen told lawmakers he’s a Republican who voted for Trump. He paused then, and added that he admires Bright. As part of his whistleblower complaint, Bright is seeking to be reinstated in his old job. A federal watchdog agency has found “reasonable grounds” that he was removed as a reprisal. HHS, Bright’s employer, says it strongly disagrees with his allegations and says it reassigned him to a high-profile position helping to lead the development of new coronavirus tests at the National Institutes of Health. Nearly 85,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the U.S., representing more than one-fourth of global deaths and the world’s highest toll, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide more than 4.4 million have been infected and about 300,000 have died. Bright’s testimony followed this week’s warning by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, that a rushed lifting of store-closing and stay-at-home restrictions could “turn back the clock,” seeding more suffering and death and complicating efforts to get the economy rolling again. Eager to restart the U.S. economy, Trump has been urging states to lift restrictions, and many governors are doing so gradually, though consumers remain leery of going back to restaurants, social events and sporting competitions. Bright, who has a doctoral degree in immunology, said the nation’s path forward should be based on science. The steps include: — Establishing a national testing strategy. The White House has urged states to take the lead on testing, even as the federal government pushes to make more tests and better ones widely available. Trump says the U.S. has “prevailed” on testing through this strategy, but in Congress Democrats are demanding a federal framework to encompass the whole nation. — Doubling down on educating the public about basic safety measures such as frequent hand-washing and wearing masks in public places. “Frankly, our leaders must lead by modeling the behavior,” said Bright, in a not-too-subtle reference to a president who conspicuously goes maskless. — Setting up a system to fairly distribute equipment and supplies that are scarce and highly sought. Eliminating state vs. state competition would increase efficiency and reduce costs.
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17605
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"The town of Cumberland has ""its highest bond rating in history."
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"Cumberland Mayor Daniel McKee said the town has ""its highest bond rating in history."" We found that, as far back as comparable statistics can be found -- about 17 years -- he’s right. The facts also support his claim that the bond rating improved five points under his administration. In addition to the Moody’s A1 rating in May, the city got an AA- rating from Standard and Poors in August. McKee said that during his 30 years in local government, he has no memory of the town ever getting an AA- rating from that service. But Cumberland has been a town for 267 years. It’s possible that at some point in that history, the town had a credit rating that, by some contemporary measure, was higher than its current rating. McKee cited evidence going back a few decades, not for two centuries of history."
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true
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Rhode Island, City Budget, Debt, Daniel McKee,
|
"When Cumberland Mayor Daniel McKee launched his campaign for lieutenant governor Nov. 13, he cited the town’s financial progress during his administrations. As evidence of his managerial capability, McKee claimed that his administration restored his town’s credit rating after it dropped into junk bond territory in 2001. ""Our town has recovered from a five-point bond downgrade and now enjoys its highest bond rating in history,"" he said in his candidacy announcement, a claim he has repeated multiple times. First, some background. McKee has been mayor of Cumberland for 11 years -- a four-year stretch from 2000 to 2004, and then again from 2006 until the present. The bond rating recovery claim dates to his first four years in office. Bond ratings are important to municipalities. When a city or town wants to build a new school or an addition to a police station, it raises that money by selling bonds to investors. Ratings services such as Moody’s analyze the issuer’s tax base, budget stability and financial management, coming up with a grade that reflects their opinion of the issuing municipality’s ability to pay the investors back. An ‘A’ rated bond would be considered a safe choice, attractive to risk-averse investors who may be willing to accept a lower interest rate in exchange for a surer return. A lower rated ‘B’ bond, however, would be seen as less safe and the issuing town may have to pay a higher interest rate to attract buyers. When he was initially elected in 2000, Cumberland had already been in financial trouble for three years. In 1997, the town had drained a $1.4-million surplus fund to cover a deficit and still wound up $147,940 short That prompted Moody’s to drop the town’s bond rating from A1 to A3 in 1998. The rating company uses a letter system to rate bonds, with multiple steps. The best rating is Aaa1. The lowest is C3. Aaa bonds, in Moody’s words, ""demonstrate the strongest creditworthiness."" Below Baa level is junk bond status. During its bankruptcy, Central Falls was rated Caa1, signifying ""very weak creditworthiness."" Cumberland’s municipal finances were struggling in 2000. A series of news reports noted that revenues were not coming in as expected, the town’s audit reports were late and one estimate predicted a deficit equal to a tenth of the town’s overall budget, ""which is an enormous amount,"" an analyst at Moody’s told The Providence Journal at the time. In January 2001, barely three weeks into McKee’s first term, Moody’s cut the town’s bond rating five steps, to Ba2. Ba rated bonds, in Moody’s words, ""demonstrate below average creditworthiness."" A Moody’s-rated Ba bond is familiarly known as a ""junk bond."" The crawl back began in March 2002. A completed audit showed revenues coming in better than expected, and the town implemented a series of cost-cutting measures as well as centralized management of town departments’ spending. Moody’s upgraded the rating to Baa3, one step out of junk bond status. By December 2004, the rating had improved to where it was in 2000, before the downgrades began. McKee said that was important to him because it came as he was leaving office, and it fulfilled a campaign promise. Two years later, in 2006, McKee won the mayoralty back and has been there since. In April 2010, Moody’s classified the town’s bond rating as A1, the top of that classification, where it remains. But is that the highest in its history? Checking back in Moody’s records, David Jacobson, a Moody’s spokesman, said Cumberland had an A rating in 1996, but that was before the firm added the three numbers to each letter grade. He said a direct comparison to a 2004 rating would not be exactly apples-to-apples. He said that was also the case with the Cumberland’s April 2010 upgrade to A1. It was because of an adjustment of the standards, not a change in Cumberland’s finances, he said. Our ruling Cumberland Mayor Daniel McKee said the town has ""its highest bond rating in history."" We found that, as far back as comparable statistics can be found -- about 17 years -- he’s right. The facts also support his claim that the bond rating improved five points under his administration. In addition to the Moody’s A1 rating in May, the city got an AA- rating from Standard and Poors in August. McKee said that during his 30 years in local government, he has no memory of the town ever getting an AA- rating from that service. But Cumberland has been a town for 267 years. It’s possible that at some point in that history, the town had a credit rating that, by some contemporary measure, was higher than its current rating. McKee cited evidence going back a few decades, not for two centuries of history. For that reason,"
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30870
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A young girl disconnected her grandfather's life support in order to charge her mobile phone.
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The fictional El Mundo report may have been based on an even older urban legend which claimed that a janitor killed several people at a hospital in South Africa after he unplugged life support systems to power their floor polisher.
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false
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Junk News, buzzflare, cell phones, el mundo today
|
Repeating a lie doesn’t make it true, even if you are aggregating it on numerous web sites. In October 2017, dozens of web sites ran with a fictitious story claiming that a young girl had disconnected her grandfather’s life support in order to charge her phone: Ally Louia, a 26-year old girl went to the hospital yesterday to visit her grandpa, who was suffering from lung cancer. When the nurse and other family members weren’t present, the young girl decided to disconnect the life support from her grandpa, because she needed to charge her phone. “Let’s see: my phone was at 1%, which can be described as a critical situation. Besides, my mother asked me to text her how my grandpa was doing right after getting to the hospital, so I had to do it”, Louia said in the defense. Nearly verbatim copies of this story were published web sites such as Ideas Fun, Rachfeed, The Alternative Mind, Elite Readers, and BuzzFlare. It was even picked up and reproduced by the Indonesian outlet Tribunnews.com. Despite the widespread nature of this story, the event described is purely a work of fiction. This story was originally published on the satire web site 8shit.net on 7 October 2017. That web site states in a “legal notice” that all of its content (except where noted) should be considered fictional: 8Shit is a satire news and humor website. All its content is fiction (except those under the “serious” category) and shouldn’t be taken as real. All references, names and marks or institutions in this web are used as contextual elements, like in any novel or science-fiction story. Although the recent round of rumors concerning Ally Louia, her need for an outlet, and her grandpa’s near death experience, originated with the satire web site 8Shit.net, this premise, as well as the featured image, date back to a 2015 Spanish-language article that was published on the satirical web site El Mundo Today. That version featured another name (“Adrián Hinojo”) in the place of Ally Louia. El Mundo Today carries a disclaimer labeling its content as fiction: El portal “El Mundo Today” es un diario satírico cuyo único fin es el entretenimiento. Todos sus contenidos son ficción y no se corresponden con la realidad. Todos los referentes, nombres, marcas o instituciones que aparecen en la web se usan como elementos contextuales, como en cualquier novela o relato de ficción. The portal “El Mundo Today” is a satirical newspaper whose sole purpose is entertainment. All its contents are fiction and do not correspond to reality. All references, names, brands or institutions that appear on the web are used as contextual elements, as in any novel or fictional story.
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6981
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Taillon, Bettis face off after bonding over cancer battles.
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The starters for Tuesday’s game between Pittsburgh and Colorado reads like this: Jameson Taillon vs. Chad Bettis.
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true
|
Baseball, Colorado, Cancer, MLB baseball, North America, Health, Jameson Taillon, Chad Bettis
|
A more accurate description: Two starters bouncing back from testicular cancer. “Both healthy. Both in the big leagues,” the Pirates’ Taillon said. “Life’s good.” The Rockies’ Bettis underwent surgery in November 2016 for testicular cancer and continued cancer treatments through that spring and into last season. So when Taillon had surgery to treat testicular cancer on May 8, 2017, he had an instant line of support. “Baseball is a brotherhood. When something happens to our own, everyone comes together — even more so when there are two people going through the same thing,” the 26-year-old Taillon said. “It made sense to reach out to each other and give our well-wishes and see if there’s anything we could offer up to each other. “I just felt like if I needed anything or had a question, I was very comfortable going to ask him about any part of the process.” Taillon did, too. Simple things: How often did you get your blood levels checked? What was the treatment like? “It was really nothing crazy, but that was comforting,” Taillon said. “He was months ahead of me and what I was going through. It was nice to have somebody I could ask questions.” Taillon’s eyes lit up when he heard that Bettis would come off the disabled list — Bettis has been dealing with a blister — to make the start. Bettis hadn’t been officially named the starter when the clubhouse was open Monday, but he did say how “cool” it would to face Taillon. “It will be really nice for that to happen,” said Bettis, who returned to the Rockies’ starting rotation on Aug. 14, 2017, after his recovery. Bettis hasn’t pitched for the Rockies since July 1 due to a blister on his middle finger. He’s tried every remedy, but it keeps bothering him. So the 29-year-old texted Taillon, who’s been dealing with a cut on his middle finger as well. “He had some good insight,” Bettis said. “There were a couple things he was doing, that I felt we could try and see how it worked out. It was good to get some feedback.” Taillon’s advice? Use a finger sleeve and take days off. He also told Bettis how precisely he was clipping his fingernails. “But you can see I don’t have too much great advice,” Taillon laughed, showing off his cracked finger. “I’m still working through it. I’m still battling my own thing.” It took Taillon about a month to return to the mound last season after testicular cancer surgery. In his first start back on June 12, 2017, he threw five scoreless innings as the Pirates beat the Rockies. Later that season, Taillon got a hit off Chicago Cubs starter Jon Lester, a cancer survivor, and was chatting with first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a teenager. “Rizzo looked at me and said, ‘Hey, there are three cancer survivors right here — me, you and Lester,’” Taillon recounted. “That moment was cool for me. “Facing off against Chad will be one of those cool moments.” ___ More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
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9925
|
Taking cholesterol medication before aneurysm repair improves outcomes
|
A review of 200,000 cases of individuals who underwent aortic abdominal aneurysm repair using two different repair methods uncovered the fact that patients taking cholesterol-lowering medications fared better than those who did not. Unfortunately, almost none of the abundant data in the study published in the journal Vascular found its way into the news release. Instead of creating a nuanced picture of the impact statins may have on reducing deaths in people who undergo aortic aneurysm surgeries, the release uses scare tactics and overly broad language to make people think that statins will save them from an unexpected and grisly death. While aorticabdominal aneurysms are not terribly common, and while there is a genetic link to some cases, the rupture of such an aneurysm can be catastrophic. Research uncovering a connection between statin use and better outcomes for people with aortic aneurysms points to an important avenue to be explored in future studies.
|
false
|
cardiovascular disease,University news release
|
There is no discussion of costs in the release, not costs of statins or costs of the surgeries and procedures referenced. If the researchers truly believe that statin medication before, during, and after the procedure are a significant factor in reducing mortality, talking about the medication costs would help make their point as statins are a relatively cheap therapy. We are giving this a failing grade because there are no absolute numbers in the release. It describes a 26% reduction in mortality, but we have no idea how many patients that actually represents. If there were 20,000 records reviewed, how many died? We don’t know. How many who did not die were taking statins? We don’t know. There are ample data in the paper, none of which is in the story. When you read the study, you see that — depending on the group being compared — the mortality rates were quite close. For example, in the group of patients studied who underwent an endovascular surgical repair for their aortic aneurysm, 1% of those who took statins died. And 1.45% of those who did not died. Both of these are very low rates. Despite the horror show picture painted in the opening sentence, there is no explanation of the harms associated with statin therapy. Some discussion of the impact of giving statins to someone not already taking them would have added value to the release. The release mentions that the study was published in the journal Vascular, but there is too little else in the release for anyone to make a good assessment of the study’s quality. The published paper has good quality information for what is in essence an epidemiological study, but the news release offers almost none of the available information. We rarely ding stories on this criterion, but this one struck us wrong because of the mismatch between the first few sentences and what the science found. It says, “Rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm is one of the most dramatic medical emergencies a person can face. It usually strikes without warning, killing approximately 50 percent of those who experience it before they reach a hospital. Of those who do get to a health facility alive, only about 50 percent survive.” Are you scared? Well, you probably are hoping that these researchers have found a way to save you from dying unexpectedly before you get to the hospital. But they haven’t. Nor have they found something that is going to guarantee that you won’t die once you reach the hospital, not if the aorta is already ruptured, although we must note that the release is confusing on this point because the provenance of the survival statistics is unclear. What’s also confusing is that the release is conflating an enlarged aorta — which is a serious but manageable condition known as an aortic aneurysm — with a ruptured aorta, which is what leads to people bleeding to death at high rates. The statins might be helpful for people who have an aneurysm that’s surgically repaired; they do nothing in the event of a rupture. In all, the picture painted is far grimmer than the actual context necessary for this release, which is that if people have an aortic aneurysm they might benefit from statins. It appears this epidemiological study received no outside funding so we believe it’s safe to conclude there is no conflict of interest. The news release compares surgery outcomes with or without statins. It’s assumed that the public is aware that statins are widely available as a prescription drug. While the release doesn’t explicitly state the study’s novelty, we think it is implicit that no one has studied the outcome of patients who had been taking cholesterol lowering drugs prior to their surgery for aneurysm. The lead is unjustified and way over the top. We believe that a more temperate approach, especially for a summary of an epidemiological study, would have been appropriate here.
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5732
|
Judge dismisses lawsuit over release of vaccination data.
|
A Hartford Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Connecticut couple seeking to stop the Department of Public Health from publicly releasing additional information about immunization rates at private and public schools.
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true
|
Immunizations, Health, General News, Public health, Connecticut, Hartford, Bristol, Lawsuits
|
They had also sought to have school-by-school immunization data from 2017-18 removed from the department’s website. In a decision dated Friday, Judge Susan Quinn Cobb said Brian and Kristen Festa of Bristol had not exhausted their “administrative remedies” with state public health officials and therefore the court lacks jurisdiction in the matter. Parents of an unvaccinated son, the couple had filed a suit in June seeking a temporary injunction. They say they’ve suffered “mental and emotional distress due to the vitriolic and hateful statements from the public” since the state released immunization rate data in May.
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485
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Vaping increases the risk of lung disease by a third: U.S. study.
|
Using e-cigarettes significantly increases the risk of developing chronic lung conditions such as asthma or emphysema, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
|
true
|
Health News
|
The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, is among the first to show the potential long-term harms of using e-cigarettes, which are often promoted as a safer alternative to tobacco and a means of helping smokers quit. It found that e-cigarettes increased the risk of lung disease by a third compared with those who never smoked or vaped. And the risk was even higher among adults who used both e-cigarettes and smoked tobacco. The research comes as the United States faces a youth vaping crisis. According to the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 27.5% of high school students in the United States use e-cigarettes, up from 20.7% in 2018. “E-cigarettes are promoted as harmless and they’re not,” Stanton Glantz, director of the University of California San Francisco Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, said in a phone interview. Glantz and colleagues used data on 32,000 adults surveyed in the CDC’s Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH), which tracked e-cigarette and tobacco habits, as well as new lung disease diagnoses from 2013 to 2016. Nobody had lung disease at the start of the study. Three year later, researchers found that people who used e-cigarettes had roughly a 30% increased risk of developing lung diseases, such as asthma, bronchitis, emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) compared to those who never smoked or vaped. Those who smoked cigarettes had roughly double the risk of chronic lung disease compared to whose who never smoked. For those who smoked traditional and e-cigarettes, the risk more than tripled, the study found. “Everybody, including me, used to think e-cigarettes are like cigarettes but not as bad. If you substitute a few e-cigarettes for cigarettes, you’re probably better off,” Glantz said. “It turns out you’re worse off,” he said. “E-cigarettes pose unique risks in terms of lung disease.” Prior studies have only looked at a cross section of the population at a fixed point in time. The new study is considered more robust because it looks at risks to the lungs over time, Robert Tarran, a physiologist and vaping expert at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, said in an email. “This study adds to the growing body of evidence that demonstrate that vaping is not safe,” Tarran said.
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10304
|
Pancreatic Chemo Comparison Finds No Survival Boost
|
This story gave balanced coverage and the right tone to an ongoing area of research: chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. A few more sentences would have plugged the holes and added important context about why the study compared these two regimens in the first place. New strategies are needed in the war against pancreatic cancer. The JAMA editorial accompanying the study called such cancers “arguably the most challenging of human malignancies.” An effective new treatment option could offer hope and extended life for many people. It is equally important to cover studies that didn’t stop the presses, those that tried to find a new option but failed. Scientific studies are important because of what they tell us, not what we want them to tell us, and the value of studies like this one lie in their quality and the way they advance the science. This review points out some areas that we think could have benefited from a little more clarity. For example, why was the study done in the first place? Is adjuvant therapy not regularly done? Is gemcitabine an experimental agent not currently being used widely? And why, as the independent expert says, are these results important, even if they won’t change treatment? The published trial and editorial provide answers to these questions, and none would make a snappy headline, as they deal with the study’s incremental additions to knowledge from prior research. But even a few more words of context would have sufficed.
|
true
|
Costs of these chemotherapy agents are not discussed. The study compared a drug available only as a brand name to a regimen consisting of two drugs available generically. Average survival times and survival rates at one and two years of follow-up were provided for both treatment groups. Harms and tolerability are discussed, and the rates of serious side effects for each group are provided. Specific examples of those serious effects would’ve been ideal, such as were provided in the JAMA editorial: “more stomatitis and diarrhea [were] observed in the fluorouracil and leucovorin group and more myelosuppression in the gemcitabine group.” Many details are given to put the quality in context: number of subjects, number of sites and their international locales, years the study was conducted, treatment regimens, duration of therapy, and follow-up period. We did see what seems to be an error in the story, highlighted by a confusing point. It names the treatment groups as “six-month chemotherapy groups” and then states that results were available “[a]fter nearly three years of treatment.” It seems from the published trial that the patients did indeed undergo chemotherapy for six months but then were followed, without treatment, for three years.It also would have been helpful to note that this was a randomized trial and why that matters. Also, the investigators note that this study is the largest trial of adjuvant therapy for pancreatic cancer they are aware of, making the findings that much more significant. The story does not engage in disease-mongering. Instead, it nicely draws boundaries on the target population for this treatment by saying that only a minority of patients with pancreatic cancer are candidates for surgery. One independent source provides important big picture points about pancreatic cancer. More sources might have provided more context and filled in some of the holes. The associations of the lead author and independent source were provided. The study authors themselves did not disclose any financial relationships.
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7983
|
Pet cat tests positive for coronavirus in Hong Kong.
|
A pet cat has tested positive for the coronavirus in Hong Kong after its owner was confirmed with having the virus, the city’s Agricultural and Fisheries department said, cautioning that the animal has not shown any signs of the disease.
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true
|
Health News
|
In a notice late on Tuesday, the department said there is currently no evidence that pet animals can be a source of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and owners should not abandon their pets. The World Health Organization also states on their website that there is no evidence that a dog, cat or any pet can transmit COVID-19. The cat is the third animal to test positive in Hong Kong, following earlier cases in which two dogs tested weak positive or positive during repeated tests for the virus. Authorities said the cat will continue to be monitored and examined. Samples collected from the cat’s mouth, nose and rectum tested positive for the virus after it was sent to quarantine on March 30. There has only been one other reported case of coronavirus in a cat, in Belgium, which is believed to have become infected from its owner, according to a statement from the Hong Kong Veterinary Association. The Veterinary Association said the most likely way pets would be exposed to the virus is from their owners or other people they come into contact with, and the cases were no cause for alarm.
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11577
|
Weekly Non-invasive Brain Stimulation Provides Long-Term Relief of Post-Stroke Pain
|
NIH illustration of rTMS therapy.This news release speaks to the results of a small open-label study examining the effectiveness of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in patients who have suffered a stroke. The 18 patients studied all had chronic pain as a consequence of their stroke and did not obtain adequate relief from more traditional approaches. The release includes useful background about the burden of post-stroke pain and the history of research into rTMS as a treatment option. But the study’s small size and lack of control group are key limitations that should have been commented on, but weren’t. We also think that since the device is commercially available and is in widespread use for depression, cost should have mentioned as well as a few words about other treatment options. There are limited effective treatment options for patients with post-stroke pain. This research provides very preliminary evidence that rTMS may also be an option. It is believed that the stimulation aids in plasticity, the ability of the brain to gradually form new neural connections to take on functions previously performed by damaged areas.
|
mixture
|
Association/Society news release,Pain management,Stroke
|
The FDA approved the use of rTMS for chronic depression several years ago, so it should have been easy to approximate the costs of a 12-week course of therapy. The usual cost of the use of rTMS for depression is $6,000 to $10,000 for 4 sessions per week for 5 weeks. So, continuing with treatment weekly for an ongoing basis (the approach advocated here) would appear to be relatively costly. Benefits are described like this: Of the 18 patients, “11 patients achieved satisfactory-to-excellent pain relief. Pain relief was sustained in six patients who continued treatment for one year. All patients received repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to their primary motor cortex once a week for at least 12 weeks.” It also describes what “satisfactory relief” was (a 40 – 69 percent reduction in pain scores) which happened with 6 patients, and “excellent relief,” which is pain reduction of 70 percent or more (5 patients). Finally, it said that “Overall, 8 patients who had severe stroke-caused dysesthesias, such as uncomfortable numbness or prickling, experienced less relief than patients without severe dysesthesias, suggesting possible neural circuit damage was inhibiting response to treatment.” Although it arguably would have been most helpful to include the actual reduction in pain scores rather than the relative percentage decrease, we think the relative number plus the qualifying description (“satisfactory,” “excellent,” etc) are enough for a Satisfactory grade here. Quoting from the release: “None of the 18 patients reported any serious side effects from weekly sessions of 10 trains of 10-second 5Hz rTMS, at 90 percent of the active motor threshold. Two patients reported transient, slight scalp discomfort after rTMS.” There were a small number of patients in this open-label study. The fact that there was no control group means that the results should be viewed very cautiously, as the authors of the study pointed out in the original paper: “Our results were, however, based on an open-label study with a limited number of patients, and could have been influenced by placebo effects. Further studies will be needed before any robust conclusions can be drawn.” There is no such restraining language in the news release. Much has been written about the potential for rTMS to induce placebo effects in open label studies, and that so-called “sham” therapies used in control groups may not be adequate because patients can tell the difference between real and sham treatment. It was important to acknowledge some of this context. No obvious mongering here. Post-stroke pain is serious. The news release did not report the funding source, which is reported in the study as coming from a Japanese government grant. That would have been helpful information to include, as it bolsters the credibility of the research. Although a similar but more invasive therapy (electrical motor cortex stimulation) was noted in passing, we think that some additional comments should have been included about alternative treatments, Stroke.org list a host of therapies for post-stroke pain including physical therapy, NSAIDs, narcotics, and antiepilesy drugs. rTMS is commercially available and in widespread use in the US for the treatment of resistant depression. However, the release does not establish that fact, and few patients/consumers would be aware of it. A brief statement about the availability of the device and insurance coverage (none at the moment) would have been helpful for the average reader. The role of rTMS in the management of chronic post stroke pain has been evolving for the past several years with a number of clinical trials suggesting efficacy. The news release notes that “there has still been controversy about the efficacy of rTMS in post-stroke pain,” and that this study is intended to help clarify the role of rTMS in these patients and establish optimal dosing. There wasn’t any evidence of ‘over-the-top’ exaggeration of the findings of this study.
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34165
|
During Halloween 2019, an Australian mother and registered nurse offered chickenpox-infected lollipops for sale in an anti-vaccine Facebook group.
|
We reached out to the Queensland Police Department to ask if its investigation had turned up any new information, and we will update our post if any such information is provided. Because it is unclear who this Facebook user actually is and what the person’s motive was behind the post.
|
unproven
|
Politics
|
On Oct. 30, 2019, a Facebook user claiming to be a registered nurse at the “Royal Children’s Hospital, Brisbane” posted an offer in the anti-vaccine Facebook group “Stop Mandatory Vaccination” to send chicken pox-infected lollipops (courtesy of her son’s recent infection with the virus) to other parents looking to impart “natural immunity” on their children. The post went viral when a screenshot was shared by a pro-vaccine Facebook page named Light for Riley: It is unclear, however, if this purported nurse was making a genuine offer, or if the offer itself was a hoax designed to inspire internet outrage. For one thing, there is no actual “Royal Children’s Hospital” in the town of Brisbane, Australia, as reported by Australia’s news.com.au: The woman’s Facebook description [claims] she works as a staff nurse at the “Royal Children’s Hospital, Brisbane”. The Royal Children’s Hospital is actually located in Melbourne and while there was a Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane, it was renamed to Brisbane Children’s Hospital in 1943 before being changed back in 1967. The only children’s hospital in Brisbane now is called the Queensland Children’s Hospital, which was opened in 2014. For another thing, Queensland Health, the entity that oversees all the hospitals in that Australian state, says nobody bearing the name of the alleged nurse works at any of their hospitals: Commenting directly on the viral Facebook post, a spokesperson from Children’s Health Queensland confirmed she was not a nurse — nor has she ever been. “There are no current or former employees by that name that have worked for Queensland Health as a registered nurse,” a spokesperson from Children’s Health Queensland said. “This is a serious issue and has been referred to police, who are investigating.”
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11209
|
Sleeptime Head-Cooling Cap Eases Insomnia, Study Finds
|
This is an interesting story about interesting research for a common problem. We appreciate the caveat at the end of the story – “Because this study was extremely small and presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal and confirmed in larger studies.” That would be one of the first things we’d expect in a story about such a small, short-term study. As the story indicates, “Chronic insomnia — which the American Academy of Sleep Medicine attributes to about one out of every 10 Americans — can be difficult to treat.”
|
true
|
HealthDay
|
Not applicable. No discussion of costs but that’s understandable at this early stage of development. The story didn’t adequately place the findings into context. It stated: “While wearing the cooling cap, it took insomnia patients an average of 13 minutes to fall asleep and they spent 89 percent of their time in bed actually sleeping, about the same as controls who didn’t have insomnia (the latter group averaged 16 minutes to fall asleep and 89 percent of the time in bed sleeping).” But it didn’t ever define the baseline degree of insomnia these trial patients experienced. In other words, how long did it usually take them to fall asleep and what percent of thier time in bed did they usually sleep? There was no discussion of what would appear to be a question many people would have: didn’t wearing a cap that is presumably connected to some water supply actually interfere with anyone’s sleep? Did the control group patients wear a cap? If so, did it make it harder for them to sleep? Very appropriate reminder at the very end of the story: “Because this study was extremely small and presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal and confirmed in larger studies.” No disease-mongering of insomnia. Although how the 12 patients with insomnia compare to the “typical” patient with insomnia is hard to know from what was presented. Presumably people have insomnia for different reasons. Did they somehow identify a group that would be more likely to respond to this treatment? Specifically what were the criteria for participating? So while not “disease mongering”, it is unclear if these results are applicable to the average person with insomnia. One independent sleep researcher was quoted. The story included some good context: “Medications can help, although many people complain of side effects, Kohler said. The most effective treatment is cognitive behavior therapy, which involves changes such as avoiding cigarettes, alcohol and caffeine before bed, and getting plenty of bright light in the morning but turning off the TV, computer and dimming the lights during a wind-down period, among other techniques for improving “sleep hygiene.” The story makes it clear that the approach is experimental and not yet available to consumers. A quote from an independent researcher establishes that this is not a totally new field of research: “we do know from many previous studies that as the body core temperature cools, our sleep improves, and with warming of the core temperature, we have more restless sleep.” The story does not appear to rely on a news release.
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22710
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"William G. Batchelder Says a ""Canadian provincial prime minister came to Ohio for his medical treatment because of the delay in Canadian health care which would have endangered his life."
|
Ohio House Speaker William G. Batchelder tells a healthy tale about a Canadian premier
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false
|
Ohio, Health Care, William G. Batchelder,
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"New House Speaker William G. Batchelder loves telling a good story. With a legislative career in the Ohio House stretching back to 1968, Batchelder is well-known for his floor speeches peppered with political references and historical anecdotes from days long gone. Therefore, it was no surprise that Batchelder’s initial speech as the 101st House Speaker on Jan. 3 tied together the Ohio legislative session of 1937-38, the Roman historian Titus Livy, a lunch meeting with Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as well as the 1787 comments of Ben Franklin upon wrapping up the Constitutional Convention. After describing the challenges facing Ohio, the Medina Republican’s speech took a sunny turn as he mentioned the medical services in Ohio ""that are second to none."" In illustrating this point, Batchelder mentioned that the king of Saudi Arabia as well as a top Canadian official had sought treatment in Ohio. ""The Canadian provincial prime minister came to Ohio for his medical treatment because of the delay in Canadian health care which would have endangered his life,"" Batchelder said. Beyond suggesting that Ohio medical treatment was first-class, Batchelder was also making a political point in suggesting that Canada’s universal health care system is second-rate. While the Cleveland Clinic’s care for Saudi royalty is well-known, Batchelder’s Canadian anecdote caught us by surprise. It seemed to us that if one of Canada’s premiers (as the top provincial leaders are known) had come to Ohio for medical care that it would have been a big deal, but it just didn’t sound familiar. So we put on our Politifact hardhat, and began digging. We first called Batchelder spokesman Mike Dittoe to find out more about where the claim originated. Dittoe told us that Batchelder personally inserted the reference into his Jan. 3rd speech, but didn’t have more details. Eventually, Dittoe got back to us that Batchelder told him ""it’s on the tip of my tongue"" but couldn’t quite recall the name. However, Dittoe said it was not former Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams, who traveled to Miami in February 2010 for open heart surgery. It was the leader of one of the western provinces, according to Batchelder. Later, Dittoe reversed himself in an e-mail and wrote that it was Williams that Batchelder was referring to in his speech. He said that it had been ""widely speculated"" that Williams came to the Cleveland Clinic for ""post-operative medical treatment"" following his surgery in Florida. But, Dittoe acknowledged, there is no way to know for sure because HIPAA rules prevent the sharing of information of when a patient visits a doctor. Initially told to look west by Batchelder, we searched Canadian newspapers in the national capital of Ottawa and eight provincial and territory capitols from Ontario on westward and northward (Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton, Victoria, White Horse, Yellow Knife and Iqaluit for all you geography nerds) for references to a provincial premier getting health care treatment. During our search, we learned that Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie had cancerous tumors removed in 2007— in Vancouver. And we found out that former Ontario Premier Ernie Eves had emergency heart bypass surgery several years ago — in Toronto. But there were a whole raft of stories about Williams, who resigned his office in December. His February 2010 trip to Miami for specialized heart surgery was big news — and a public relations disaster up north — in all of the major Canadian newspapers. The initial stories didn’t say where Williams was getting treatment, but afterward news trickled out that it had taken place in Miami. Williams told the press that the health care treatment in Miami was better, and that he knew he would be criticized or perceived as a line-jumper if he stayed in Canada, where the special surgery has a waiting list. Not the same thing as saying your life is endangered by the Canadian health care system, but in the ballpark. More importantly, we didn’t find even find any references to any Canadian officials heading to Ohio for medical treatment. Much less for medical treatment that saved their life that was endangered because of delays in the Canadian system. As far as the Canadian press is concerned, a provincial premier has never come to the Buckeye State for medical treatment. Just to double-check on whether Williams had an Ohio stop for medical treatment, we called the St. John’s Telegram, the daily newspaper in the provincial capital. We spoke to Dave Bartlett, a reporter who interviewed Williams following the February 2010 heart surgery. ""I’m fairly confident he never came to Ohio for any kind of treatment,"" Bartlett said. ""My understanding is that he stayed in Florida for several weeks after the surgery and then he went to the Vancouver Olympics."" So let’s take a look at what we’ve got cooking here: The Williams surgery in the United States was big news and it was initially unclear where in this country he was going for treatment. But by the time Batchelder made his speech in the House, it was 11 months after Williams had his surgery. Batchelder, as speaker of the House, is in a position of authority that also carries great responsibility. When he speaks, people listen. Yet neither he nor his office could point us to any concrete evidence that a high level provincial official came to Ohio for treatment. And given that the best they could come up with was that it was ""widely speculated"" that Williams might have come to Cleveland, the claim is more than just inaccurate; it’s ridiculous to a point that we’re ready to set the good speaker’s double-knits ablaze."
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17610
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Obamacare is going to increase the divorce rate.
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"Limbaugh said, ""Obamacare is going to increase the divorce rate."" There is concern about a ""marriage penalty,"" which exists for other federal programs with sliding income eligibility scales, with the Affordable Care Act, and there is anecdotal evidence that at least one couple considered divorce to avoid it. (The postscript: She got a new full-time job and can afford insurance on the exchange, so they’re still married.) But there is no research that suggests this will substantially affect the country’s divorce rate, which is a little hard to measure in the first place. Experts said the effect may be marginal, as no one has done the research to nail down reasonable expectations."
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false
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Health Care, Marriage, PunditFact, Rush Limbaugh,
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"If you think divorce is prevalent now, just wait. Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh says marriage in the United States is poised to crumble for a whole new reason. Yes, the culprit is Obamacare. The point came up as Limbaugh chatted with a caller from Jacksonville, Fla., on his Dec. 6, 2013, talk show. Jim the caller: ""Greetings, Rush. My concern is about unintended social consequences of the Obama No Care Act. Think about it. There's supplements for having a lower income. ... Will there be an incentive not to be married or to get divorced? You'll get incentives on the Obamacare side."" Limbaugh: ""You know, you are very shrewd, Jim, because there is a story we had, it might have been late last week, that people are divorcing in order to afford Obamacare. It is busting up families. Obamacare is going to increase the divorce rate."" We decided to fact-check Limbaugh’s claim that ""Obamacare is going to increase the divorce rate."" A month-old anecdote The news story Limbaugh referenced was about a New York couple considering a divorce so they could qualify for subsidies individually to offset the cost of health care under the new law. The story did not address Limbaugh’s claim that the health care law will increase the country’s divorce rate, leading us to wonder if there is credible research to support his assertion. The early verdict: Experts say there is no evidence or research that suggests the health care law will grow the divorce rate. But the law does contain a ""marriage penalty,"" which essentially means unmarried couples could pay less for health insurance because they have separate, smaller incomes than married couples whose combined income exceeds the cut-off for federal financial assistance. And at least one couple considered divorce to avoid increased health care costs. Emphasis on ""considered."" The Atlantic spotlighted one married couple to illustrate the ""marriage penalty"" disparity, and a CBS affiliate in New York picked up the story the next day. Writer Nona Willis Aronowitz told the magazine she got married in 2009 so her freelance filmmaker-husband Aaron Cassara could receive health insurance through her employer. But her job ended when her employer laid off her editorial division. The layoff left her with a COBRA plan that was more expensive but allowed her to maintain temporary health coverage at a group rate. Faced with a Jan. 1 end date for that coverage, which did not extend to her husband because it cost too much, she checked out her options on the New York health insurance exchange set up under the health care law. She and her husband earned more than 400 percent of the 2012 federal poverty level, or $62,040 for a family of two, which made them ineligible for premium assistance. Under the law, people whose family income is between 100 and 400 percent of federal poverty are eligible for premium support. However, had they not been married and sought health insurance on their own, their individual incomes would have qualified for them for subsidies because they would have been under the cut-off income for one person, or $45,980. ""In our case, it would be worth it,"" Aronowitz said of getting divorced to CBS2. ""In other people’s cases, where marriage is really, really important to them and they had a big wedding and it was this sacred experience, I think it would be a really tough decision for them."" We reached out to Aronowitz to find out what’s happened in the month since word of her story broke. Aronowitz told PunditFact she recently obtained a full-time job and can now afford health insurance for her and her husband in 2014 on the state exchange. The couple, therefore, is not seeking a divorce. Broader impact? The health care law is not the first government program to have a ""marriage tax"" issue. It also comes up under current U.S. income tax law and for programs such as food stamps, temporary cash assistance and others. Whenever eligibility for a program depends on a sliding-scale subsidy based on income and family size, there is the potential for ""encouraging"" couples to marry or not marry, said Gail Wilensky, director of Medicaid and Medicare under President George H.W. Bush. Teasing out the effect of the Affordable Care Act marriage penalty on divorce rates would not be easy. ""My guess is that at the most, this kind of effect is more annoying than impactful. You would have to be pretty indifferent as to whether you married or didn’t marry to have tax or subsidy consequences determine your decision,"" Wilensky said. ""But small is not the same as none."" In the case of health insurance, marriage actually also brings benefits. Married couples have more access to insurance, as many large employers offer family plans that extend to an employee’s married spouse and dependents. That’s why Aronowitz said she and her husband got married in the first place. According to an October 2013 report by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the percentage of uninsured married adults is about 15 percent of the population, compared to 33 percent for single adults living together. Gary Burtless, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said married couples are most affected by the ""marriage penalty"" when two things happen: Neither person is eligible for affordable health insurance under an employer's plan, and the couple is eligible for a more sizable government insurance subsidy as two unmarried adults rather than as a married couple. But the law also contains some ""marriage bonuses,"" similar to U.S. tax law, he said. Some companies will feel compelled to offer health insurance to their employees so they do not face tax penalties. Many will offer family insurance plans, which would be enticing for the married spouse of an employee, Burtless said. ""I’m sure we’ll hear anecdotes over the next few months and years, and I’m sure some of the anecdotes will be described in occasional press stories,"" Burtless said. ""But it will be many years, if ever, before a careful examination of the evidence shows whether the ‘marriage penalty’ in the ACA has a bigger impact discouraging marriage or encouraging divorce than the ‘marriage bonus’ in the ACA has in encouraging marriage or discouraging divorce."" Limbaugh’s statement is ""pure conjecture"" at this point, said Andrew Cherlin, a professor of public policy and sociology at Johns Hopkins University. ""It could also have a positive effect on marriage, as it lowers health insurance premiums for low-income couples (who have a higher divorce rate) and as it makes people healthier, which could increase their earnings,"" Cherlin said. ""We don't know what the balance will be."" Divorce statistics are a whole other matter. The country does not keep comprehensive data. One measure is the rate of divorce per 1,000 population. The divorce rate was 3.6 divorces per 1,000 population in 2011, according to rough numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, those CDC statistics are imperfect because several states do not report divorce and annulment data to the feds, including the most populous state of California. Divorce has been on the decline since 1980, said Brad Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia. Marriage has become more selective, and more couples are living together without getting married. Couples who are better educated and more affluent are more likely to get married and are less likely to divorce, he said. ""So if Obamacare exacts a major marriage penalty on couples, it may increase divorce at the margins,"" he said. The oft-repeated stat that 50 percent of marriages end in divorce is essentially true for the overall population, but the odds decline when factors such as college education, religious affiliation, home life and marrying at a later age are considered, according to a 2012 report by the National Marriage Project and the Center for Marriage and Families at the Institute for American Values. An October 2013 report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found the likelihood of a marriage ending in divorce a bit lower, between 40-45 percent. We emailed Limbaugh's show but did not hear back. Our ruling Limbaugh said, ""Obamacare is going to increase the divorce rate."" There is concern about a ""marriage penalty,"" which exists for other federal programs with sliding income eligibility scales, with the Affordable Care Act, and there is anecdotal evidence that at least one couple considered divorce to avoid it. (The postscript: She got a new full-time job and can afford insurance on the exchange, so they’re still married.) But there is no research that suggests this will substantially affect the country’s divorce rate, which is a little hard to measure in the first place. Experts said the effect may be marginal, as no one has done the research to nail down reasonable expectations."
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2508
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Thinking differently: Autism finds space in the workplace.
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Some call it neurological diversity, others see it as autism’s fight back. People diagnosed as “on the spectrum” are suddenly in demand by employers seeking a competitive advantage from autistic workers more used to being considered disabled than special.
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true
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Health News
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Expressing a belief that “innovation comes from the edges”, German computer software giant SAP last month launched a recruitment drive to attract people with autism to join it as software testers. A week later, U.S. home financing firm Freddie Mac advertised a second round of paid internships aimed specifically at autistic students or new graduates. The multinationals both say they hope to harness the unique talents of autistic people as well as giving people previously marginalized in the workforce a chance to flourish in a job. “Only by employing people who think differently and spark innovation will SAP be prepared to handle the challenges of the 21st Century,” SAP’s board member for human resources, Luisa Delgado, said as she announced the plan. For Ari Ne’eman, president of the Washington DC-based Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) and a member of the U.S. National Council on Disability, the moves are welcome and well overdue. It’s high time autism fought back, he told Reuters in a telephone interview. “We need to see neurological diversity in much the same way as we’ve seen workplace diversity efforts in the past on the basis of race, gender and sexual orientation,” he said. “We’re now seeing a growing level of interest in this.” Autistic spectrum disorders, including Asperger’s syndrome or high-functioning autism, are thought to affect around 1 percent of the population worldwide. The disorders are caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors and can range from severe mental retardation with a profound inability to communicate, to relatively mild symptoms combined with some high levels of function such as those seen in people with Asperger’s. Among the core features of autism are poor communication skills and social difficulties. In high-functioning autism, features such as intense or obsessive focus and unwavering attention to detail are also common. These latter qualities, experts say, as well an ability to approach an issue in a different way - often a creative or counterintuitive one - make autistic people potentially attractive as employees in large corporations. “Historically, there seemed to be a certain perception of this population as being incapable of performing corporate level work,” Freddie’ Mac’s diversity manager Stephanie Roemer told Reuters. “In reality people on the spectrum offer so much to an organization ... willing to think outside of the box and view this cadre of talent as a ‘value add’.” Joshua Kendall, author of “America’s Obsessives”, which argues that some of history’s greatest American business and political leaders became successful partly because of obsessive personality traits, says the firms that get in first on this trend are likely to reap rewards. “These big companies aren’t doing it out of the kindness of their heart; they are doing it because they now realize they’ve been missing something,” he said in a telephone interview. He said the crucial question if such recruitment drives are to prove successful and sustainable is how much society will seek to accommodate people who think differently, or how much it would seek to “cure” them of their disorder. “These are people who have traditionally been labeled as disabled. So do we want to treat them, or do we want to allow them to be as they are and adapt to them?” SAP says its global autism recruitment drive, which aims to employ 650 autistic people - around 1 percent of its workforce - by 2020, comes after successful pilot projects in India and Ireland. It is a collaborative project with Specialisterne, a Danish consultancy that gets people with autism into jobs where they can shine. Ne’eman says so far most of the firms expressing interest in autistic workers tend to be in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. In future, he says he hopes their success will encourage others to take notice. “Many of us can and do succeed in a wide variety of professions,” he said. “I, for instance, am an autistic person working in politics and public policy, which is certainly not a stereotypical field.” In Britain, only 15 percent of adults with autism are in full-time employment, says Carol Povey, a director at the UK’s National Autistic Society - a fraction, she adds, of those who could contribute to the world of work. In the United States, according to Ne’eman, studies of the working lives of autistic people have not been done, so no comparable data is available. “It’s great to see organizations not just doing from corporate social responsibility, but actually recognizing there is a good business case behind having more people with autism in the workforce,” Povey said. “These people will contribute to the effectiveness and growth of the business.” Yet autism campaigners, and the firms seeking to recruit people on the spectrum, know there will be problems, too. Povey notes that “the social aspects of being in a workplace or office may pose particular challenges” for autistic recruits. “They may be great at doing the task in hand, but really struggle when it comes to ‘water cooler moments’ or lunchtime. “In fact they may even make other colleagues feel inadequate or awkward. They are unlikely to get involved in the banter of the workplace, and more likely to just get on with the job.”
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33353
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Barack and Michelle Obama surrendered their law licenses to avoid pending disciplinary actions.
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This was hardly remarkable or suspicious: neither of the Obamas held a currently active law license because neither President of the United States nor First Lady was a position that required one. This statement was also inaccurate in referring to the Obamas as the “first Lawyer President and First Lady,” as both Bill and Hillary Clinton held law degrees and engaged in legal work prior to the former’s election to the presidency.
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false
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Politics Politicians, barack obama, michelle obama
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Several similar items have been circulated during or since the 2008 U.S. presidential election, all suggesting (without evidence) that Barack and Michelle Obama, both of whom obtained licenses to practice law in Illinois, were forced to give up those licenses in order to avoid having them revoked through disciplinary actions or criminal prosecution. In fact, neither of the Obamas gave up their law licenses because they were facing disciplinary actions or criminal charges: Barack Obama — Editor of the Harvard Law Review — Has No Law License? I saw a note slide across the #TCOT feed on Twitter last night that mentioned Michelle Obama had no law license. This struck me as odd, since (a) she went to school to be a lawyer, and (b) she just recently held a position with the University of Chicago Hospitals as legal counsel — and that’s a pretty hard job to qualify for without a law license. But being a licensed professional myself, I knew that every state not only requires licensure, they make it possible to check online the status of any licensed professional. So I did, and here’s the results from the ARDC Website: She “voluntarily surrendered” her license in 1993. Let me explain what that means. A “Voluntary Surrender” is not something where you decide “Gee, a license is not really something I need anymore, is it?” and forget to renew your license. No, a “Voluntary Surrender” is something you do when you’ve been accused of something, and you “voluntarily surrender” you license five seconds before the state suspends you. Here’s an illustration: I’m a nurse. At various times in my 28 years of nursing I’ve done other things when I got burned out; most notably a few years as a limousine driver; even an Amway salesman at one point. I always, always renewed my nursing license — simply because it’s easier to send the state $49.00 a month than to pay the $200, take a test, wait six weeks, etc., etc. I’ve worked (recently) in a Nursing Home where there was an 88 year old lawyer and a 95 year old physician. Both of them still had current licensures as well. They would never DREAM of letting their licenses lapse. I happen to know there is currently in the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City Indiana an inmate who is a licensed physician, convicted of murder when he chased the two burglars who entered his home and terrorized his family into the street and killed them. (And I can’t say I blame him for that, either.) This physician still has an active medical license and still sees patients, writes prescriptions, etc all from inside the prison. And he renews his medical license every two years, too. I tried looking up why she would “Voluntarily surrender” her license, but Illinois does not have it’s 1993 records online. But when I searched for “Obama”, I found this: “Voluntarily retired” — what does that mean? Bill Clinton hung onto his law license until he was convicted of making a false statement in the Lewinsky case and had to “Voluntarily Surrender” his license too. President Barack Obama, former editor of the Harvard Law Review, is no longer a “lawyer”. He surrendered his license back in 2008 possibly to escape charges that he “fibbed” on his bar application. This is the former editor of the Harvard Law Review who doesn’t seem to give a crap about his law license. Something else odd; while the Search feature brings up the names, any searches for the Disciplinary actions ends quickly. As in, Too Quickly. Less than a half-second quickly on a Search Engine that can take five seconds to Search for anything. As in, “there’s a block on that information” kind of thing. So we have the first Lawyer President and First Lady — who don’t actually have licenses to practice law. There’s more to this story, I’m sure. I’ll let you know when I find it. Such claims are false ones, based on misreadings of information about license status and erroneous interpretations and assumptions about such information, as detailed below: I saw a note slide across the #TCOT feed on Twitter last night that mentioned Michelle Obama had no law license. This struck me as odd, since (a) she went to school to be a lawyer, and (b) she just recently held a position with the University of Chicago Hospitals as legal counsel — and that’s a pretty hard job to qualify for without a law license. This lead-in was wrong on two counts: Michelle Obama does in fact have a license to practice law in Illinois (it is currently on inactive status), and she did not hold a position as legal counsel with the University of Chicago Hospitals (rather, she worked at that institution as Executive Director for Community Affairs and then Vice President for Community and External Affairs). None of her job duties at the University of Chicago Hospitals required her to have an active law license. She “voluntarily surrendered” her license in 1993. Let me explain what that means. A “Voluntary Surrender” is not something where you decide “Gee, a license is not really something I need anymore, is it?” and forget to renew your license. No, a “Voluntary Surrender” is something you do when you’ve been accused of something, and you “voluntarily surrender” you license five seconds before the state suspends you. This passage was also wrong: Michelle Obama did not “voluntarily surrender” her law license; she requested that her license be placed on “inactive” status. The difference is crucial: a lawyer who has surrendered his law license has given it up and therefore no longer has a license, while a lawyer who has gone on inactive status still holds a valid law license but is not currently engaged in any professional activities that require it to be active. At various times in my 28 years of nursing I’ve done other things when I got burned out; most notably a few years as a limousine driver; even an Amway salesman at one point. I always, always renewed my nursing license — simply because it’s easier to send the state $49.00 a month than to pay the $200, take a test, wait six weeks, etc., etc. I’ve worked (recently) in a Nursing Home where there was an 88 year old lawyer and a 95 year old physician. Both of them still had current licensures as well. They would never DREAM of letting their licenses lapse. A lawyer’s holding active license status can entail a number of obligations, both financial and otherwise: paying bar association fees, carrying malpractice insurance, taking continuing legal education classes, etc. Therefore, it is not uncommon for lawyers who are not in practice (i.e., do not appear in court or counsel clients) and do not expect to return to practice in the near future to request that their licenses be placed on inactive status in order to avoid these ongoing obligations. Reactivating an inactive law license is a fairly easy procedure, as noted in the Volokh group blog for law professors: The fact that someone who doesn’t actually practice law, and is unlikely to practice law, voluntarily retires is hardly a sinister signal: It costs money to be a member of the bar, and if you’re not going to practice, it may make sense to retire. Nor does this somehow undermine claims that he’s a lawyer; a retired lawyer is still commonly called a lawyer — as an indication of what he has studied, and his general professional field — even if he is no longer a member of the bar. The bar record says that [Michelle Obama] is “Voluntarily inactive.” This is even more common for lawyers who don’t need a bar card, such as many lawyers who don’t appear in court or counsel clients other than [their] employer. Being an active status lawyer costs more money than being inactive, and it requires one to do Continuing Legal Education classes, unless one is in certain jobs for which the CLE requirements are waived. The difference in bar fees, for instance, is why I myself was inactive in 2001. Moreover, it’s pretty easy to switch back to active status should one need to do that. The following passage included the erroneous implication that Barack Obama also gave up his law license to avoid disciplinary action: “Voluntarily retired” — what does that mean? Bill Clinton hung onto his law license until he was convicted of making a false statement in the Lewinsky case and had to “Voluntarily Surrender” his license too. President Barack Obama, former editor of the Harvard Law Review, is no longer a “lawyer”. He surrendered his license back in 2008 possibly to escape charges that he “fibbed” on his bar application. This passage was similarly incorrect: Barack Obama did not “surrender” his law license. Like his wife, Barack Obama had no need for an active law license for the work in which he was engaged, so in February 2007 (after announcing his candidacy for the presidency) he chose to have his law license placed on “voluntarily inactive” status, and after becoming president he opted to change his status to “voluntarily retired.” Neither of the Obamas was irrevocably stripped of a law license through the action of “surrendering” it. James Grogan, deputy administrator and chief counsel for the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois, affirmed that the Obamas were “never the subject of any public disciplinary proceedings,” and the Illinois State Bar Association continues to list Barack and Michelle Obama as Honorary Members of that organization. Something else odd; while the Search feature brings up the names, any searches for the Disciplinary actions ends quickly. As in, Too Quickly. Less than a half-second quickly on a Search Engine that can take five seconds to Search for anything. As in, “there’s a block on that information” kind of thing. The above passage was also not true. Information about the statuses of both Barack and Michelle Obama’s licenses is readily retrievable, both show no record of any disciplinary actions or pending proceedings, and the elapsed time for searches we performed on their information was comparable to that for searches on information about other names in the Illinois ARDC database. (The “Malpractice Insurance” section of Michelle Obama’s license information which included a notation about her being on “court ordered inactive status” was not, as commonly misinterpreted, an indication of any wrongdoing on her part. That terminology was used simply because prior to the end of 1999, the Illinois ARDC rules required “a proceeding in the Court for any voluntary transfer to inactive status, whether because of some incapacitating condition or solely as a matter of the lawyer’s preference because the lawyer would not be practicing law.”) So we have the first Lawyer President and First Lady — who don’t actually have licenses to practice law.
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7501
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Africa readies for new virus as cases confirmed on continent.
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Across Africa, steps are being taken to prepare for — and to reduce the effects of — the spread of the new coronavirus. Testing laboratories are being supplied, quarantine and hospital treatment facilities are being readied for patients, and public health advisories have been issued.
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true
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Ebola virus, Algeria, Health, General News, Senegal, Africa, International News, Business, China, United Nations, Dakar, Nigeria, Virus Outbreak, Public health
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As of Monday, the continent of 1.2 billion people has eight confirmed cases of COVID-19 — three in Algeria, two in Egypt, one in Tunisia, one in Nigeria and one in Senegal. The case in Senegal was a French citizen who resides in Senegal and who had recently returned from France. But 13 of Africa’s 54 countries have been identified by the World Health Organization as at risk of becoming centers for the disease on the basis of volume of traffic between China and weak health surveillance and treatment systems. Nigeria on Friday became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to report a confirmed case when an Italian citizen traveling from Milan on a business trip fell ill after arriving at Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city with 20 million people. With the case in Nigeria, concern has grown over the virus spreading to countries with weaker health systems. WHO officials in Africa, where some countries are already battling outbreaks ranging from Ebola, to malaria and measles, have warned that the continent’s health systems could be overwhelmed. The new virus, first detected in China, has infected more than 89,000 people globally and caused over 3,000 deaths. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has hurried to train its 54 member countries in testing for the virus. At the start of February just two African countries had the capability to test; now the number is more than two dozen. Most African airlines with direct flights to China suspended them, and countries activated surveillance and quarantine measures. However, Ethiopia, one of Africa’s largest air traffic hubs, has maintained regular flights to China. Ethiopian Airlines said Monday that it has continued to operate 35 flights a week to the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu, as well as to Hong Kong. Since Jan. 24 more than 220,000 passengers have entered Ethiopia through the main airport in Addis Ababa and have passed through screenings, according to a statement from Ethiopia’s health ministry on Monday. More than 5,400 of those travelers were from countries that have reported COVID-19 cases. Twenty travelers with symptoms were tested for the new virus and all proved to be negative. Health officials are monitoring 875 travelers, including those with a history of travel to China, South Korea, Japan, Iran and Italy. Many African countries had experience with trying to prevent the spread of the devastating West Africa Ebola outbreak that ended in 2016. Global health experts point to that as a sign of preparedness in this outbreak. The Africa CDC was created in response to the Ebola outbreak, and many countries established public health institutes. With the new virus case announced in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with 190 million people and numerous air links around the continent and beyond, other nations warned of possible spread. Still, the World Health Organization has said that 80% of people who catch the new virus will only experience mild symptoms. The death rate is about 2% and the disease appears to be most severe in people over 60 with underlying health problems like diabetes and high blood pressure. So far there are no confirmed cases of the virus in East Africa, where authorities in recent days have sought to scale up their preparedness efforts as the death toll from the virus has gone up around the world. Regional governments, which rely heavily on trade and business ties with China, are scrambling to take measures that control the spread of the virus but may harm their economies. Uganda is monitoring four patients isolated over the weekend after arriving in the East African country. The four, whose nationalities have not been revealed, are in an isolation ward at a hospital near the international airport in Entebbe, about 28 miles south of Kampala, the capital of over 2 million residents, according to Emmanuel Ainebyoona, a spokesman for Uganda’s health ministry. More than 6,000 Chinese work in Uganda, many of them employed by Chinese construction firms contracted to put up infrastructure projects such as dams and highways. Others run businesses of their own, including in manufacturing and trade. A spokesman for the Ugandan government agency in charge of roads told the local press over the weekend that the outbreak had “slowed down” public works as workers are quarantined or remain in China. Uganda’s health ministry is urging people to “avoid hand-shaking and hugging at all times.” The directive is reminiscent of the country’s efforts in the past to combat outbreaks of Ebola, a much deadlier virus that has tested health systems in Africa because it requires strong surveillance systems to catch it, the isolation of contacts to contain the spread and cooperation from local communities to adopt prevention measures. Other African countries are taking similar measures. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday ordered that a national isolation and treatment facility be completed within a week. The country’s High Court ruled the same day that all 239 passengers who recently arrived on a China Southern Airlines flight should be found and quarantined at a military facility until declared free of the virus. The court also suspended all flights from China for 10 days. South Africa — whose government is set to evacuate 151 citizens from the Chinese city of Wuhan — has said two citizens who had been working on the Princess Diamond cruise ship have the virus and will stay in Japan for treatment. South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases said Monday that it has tested 160 people for the new virus and all have been found negative. Angola announced Monday that it is barring entry to people arriving directly from China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, Nigeria, Egypt and Algeria. ___ Muhumuza reported from Kampala, Uganda. AP journalists Elias Meseret in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Babacar Dione in Dakar, Senegal, and Andrew Meldrum in Johannesburg contributed to this story.
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13398
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"Mike Pence Says Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine ""want to expand (Obamacare) into a single-payer program."
|
"Pence said Clinton and Kaine ""want to expand (Obamacare) into a single-payer program,"" suggesting that they have proposed such a change. They have not. They have promoted a public option, which would be a government-sponsored insurance plan. A lot of Democrats, such as Bernie Sanders, would like to go in that direction. But throughout the current campaign, Clinton has consistently resisted that suggestion, saying she would work to prevent the repeal of Obamacare and try to improve on it. No one would be surprised if Clinton pushed for single payer if it became politically practical, but none of her campaign statements are calling for that."
|
false
|
National, Drugs, Health Care, History, Mike Pence,
|
"Republican Mike Pence warned during the Oct. 4 vice presidential debate that the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, is only going to get bigger if Democrat Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Tim Kaine, are elected Nov. 8. ""Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine want to build on Obamacare,"" Pence said. ""They want to expand it into a single-payer program. And for all the world, Hillary Clinton just thinks Obamacare is a good start."" Converting Obamacare to a single-payer program would make it, like Medicare, a federal health insurance program run by the federal government. Currently, Obamacare promotes policies supplied by private insurance companies. Some Democrats — including, at one time, Barack Obama — pushed for a single-payer system comparable with what other developed countries have. But that turned out to be politically untenable. The result was the Obamacare patchwork of different commercial insurance plans offered in ""marketplaces"" by individual states and the federal government. We contacted the Donald Trump campaign seeking evidence that Clinton and Kaine, in fact, wanted to convert Obamacare into a national health insurance system. Spokesman Dan Kowalski pointed us to the health care page on Clinton's website. It indicates ""that she supports a 'public option' for Obamacare,"" Kowalski said. ""A 'public option' is a single-payer-like option for health care delivery."" Clinton's website does, indeed, say that she wants a public option. But that would be just one option. Under a single-payer system, the government provides health care for everyone. Clinton's web page makes it clear that there would be other payers as well. Clinton has consistently said she wants to protect Obamacare from being repealed by the Republicans — and Trump — and expand it by protecting consumers from rising health care costs. Her expansion would include tax credits, eliminating the out-of-network hospital charges many plans levy, and reducing prescription drug costs by removing the ban that prevents the federal government from negotiating drug prices and allowing Americans to important their drugs from countries where the prices are dramatically lower. Other parts of her proposal were outlined in a 1,500-word commentary in the Sept. 28 New England Journal of Medicine. Trump declined to submit details on his plans. We asked the Trump campaign if they had seen any statements from Clinton or Kaine indicating that converting Obamacare into a single-payer system was their eventual goal. Kowalski responded that ""Hillary has committed fully to the public option,"" and as evidence he directed us to comments Clinton made in 1994 when she was first lady. At the time, she predicted that if Congress didn't pass health care reform soon, ""I believe, and I may be totally off base on this, but I believe that by the year 2000 we will have a single-payer system. I don’t think it’s — I don’t even think it’s a close call politically."" She earns no Nostradamus points for that one. More to the point, later in her answer Clinton says there are three ways to get universal health coverage, only one of which is a single-payer system. The other two: an employer mandate or an individual mandate, which is how Obamacare works. Our ruling Pence said Clinton and Kaine ""want to expand (Obamacare) into a single-payer program,"" suggesting that they have proposed such a change. They have not. They have promoted a public option, which would be a government-sponsored insurance plan. A lot of Democrats, such as Bernie Sanders, would like to go in that direction. But throughout the current campaign, Clinton has consistently resisted that suggestion, saying she would work to prevent the repeal of Obamacare and try to improve on it. No one would be surprised if Clinton pushed for single payer if it became politically practical, but none of her campaign statements are calling for that.
|
8981
|
Stem Cells Shows Promise For Repairing Torn Meniscus
|
This news release describes the results of an experiment using stem cells and other blood components derived from fat tissue to repair a torn meniscus. The release relies on general statements regarding the degree of benefits or harms to the patient and ignores the issue of costs entirely. It doesn’t adequately explain the research. It suggests that the approach described is readily available, although it is not. Both the release and the published report are based on a single patient case, not a clinical trial (or even a case series). As such, the data supporting the release are very limited. Injuries to the meniscus are common among Americans and the routine approach to fixing them involves surgery. If a new method could avoid an invasive approach, that would be a boon to public health. But this new approach requires sophisticated cellular separation techniques which are not cheap. And touting the results of one experiment on a single patient followed for barely a year is clearly premature.
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false
|
sten cells,torn meniscus,U.S. Stem Cell
|
There is no mention of the cost of this proposed procedure to the patient, nor is there any indication that such a procedure might be covered by medical insurance, since this is a very early experimental approach. The procedure involves outpatient liposuction to obtain a small quantity of the patient’s fat tissue, and various complicated separation procedures to obtain the cell mixture ultimately used in the treatment. The cost for each of those procedures should be well-known and the release could have offered a comparison with the typical cost of the current approach to treating meniscus injuries. The news release doesn’t give any data on how large/small are the potential benefits. It only offers general statements such as, “the patient reported a reduction in pain and an improvement in knee function.” The release notes that two images were taken, the latter which shows the absence of a tear while the former shows the tear present. The release also offers, “The arthroscopic images showing resolution were also consistent with quality of life improvements for the patient, including a reduction in pain and resumption of normal activities. The patient experienced very little downtime and was able to resume normal activities in less than 1 week.” As noted above, this report is of a single patient case — there was no clinical trial involved. While the release’s statements (mentioned above) refer to positive outcomes and mention no adverse effects, readers can’t draw any conclusions about the safety of the procedure, given it’s a single case study and a short-term follow-up. The news release is based on a single patient’s experience – pretty low on the quality of evidence scale. At best, it might be an indicator that a new approach might be useful, but no conclusions about importance should be drawn by readers based on a single patient’s experience. No disease mongering apparent here. The release provides some context regarding the incidence of torn meniscus. While it isn’t explicitly stated, readers probably assume that this research was funded by US Stem Cell, Inc. The lead investigator is identified as the company’s chief science officer, so her potential conflict is clear. There is no additional information offered on the remaining two investigators. The release adequately covers this category by offering the following statement: “Approximately 850,000 patients each year are surgically treated — often arthroscopically — for meniscal injuries.” The release never emphasizes the early stage nature of this work. Knowledgeable readers might know that news of a single case study may be just the beginning of a long-term research effort, but nothing in the release expresses that to readers who may be less knowledgeable. Certainly, a non-surgical method of repairing injuries to the meniscus — if it were readily available to patients — would warrant news coverage. In this case, however, this release is woefully premature. The quote from the lead investigator suggests the procedure is more advanced than it is: “Use of one’s own healing cells to help repair damaged tissue rather than having to cut open or manipulate the damaged area to try to reduce pain and restore function is the most elegant form of regenerative medicine we have today (emphasis added).” According to the NIH, “Animal and small pilot human studies are currently paving the way for large scale clinical trials to treat many intractable diseases.”
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8295
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Switzerland's Roche joins global race to make coronavirus antibody tests.
|
Swiss drugmaker Roche aims next month to be able to offer blood tests to identify those who have been infected with the coronavirus, joining a huge global push to inform locked-down nations about who might have some immunity and return to work.
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true
|
Health News
|
Governments and businesses are seeking out such tests, to help them craft strategies to end lockdowns that have battered global economies even though it is not yet certain if those infected develop immunity to the new virus as with many other illnesses. Roche’s announcement on Friday follows others including U.S.-based Abbott Laboratories, Becton Dickinson and Co, Italy’s DiaSorin that aim to develop and sell tests to identify antibodies. “This is the working assumption: If you test and find people that have developed these antibodies, then at least for a certain period of time they will have gained immunity,” Thomas Schinecker, Roche’s diagnostics head, said. “We worked day and night on this, over weekends, to make sure we can help as many patients as possible,” Schinecker told Reuters. The Basel-based company pledged to make its antibody test available by early May in countries that accept European CE regulatory standards, and is seeking Food and Drug Administration emergency authorisation for U.S. use. It plans by June to boost production to “high double-digit millions” per month, with the tests due to be run on more than 40,000 of Roche’s cobas e testing machines installed worldwide. The test identifies antibodies including immunoglobulin G (IgG), which remains longer in the body, suggesting possible immunity. Countries have various plans to use such tests to better understand the COVID-19 illness caused by the virus, while also identifying those who were infected but showed only mild symptoms, or none at all. Diasorin SpA of Italy is among those developing an antibody test which it hopes to put to use this month. Chief Executive Carlo Rosa told Reuters last week that demand is immense, a situation that parallels the global scramble for ventilators to keep critically ill patients alive. “We won’t be in a position to respond to the enormous demand that there will be for these tests on our own,” said Rosa, adding Diasorin has 5,000 testing platforms installed globally, including 500 in Italy, which can process 170 samples an hour. Authorities in the Italian regions of Veneto and Emilia Romagna have already begun testing health workers and authorities in hard-hit Lombardy where thousands have died are planning an antibody screening from April 21. Finland, Germany, Britain and other countries have antibody testing plans, too, while the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is using them to study community-wide transmission. It is not yet clear how conflicting demands from governments and businesses will be managed. Amazon.com has voiced interest in testing, but in Spain, the purchase by Siemens wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA of 2,000 assays to test employees, prompted the Spanish government to requisition the tests, union leaders said. In Roche’s home country of Switzerland, officials are examining antibody tests in trials underway in Geneva’s university hospital, while still warning that too little is known about the new coronavirus to conclude a positive test offers conclusive evidence of immunity. “What you can’t say, and that’s this idea that’s going around, is that if I have the antibodies, then I know if I’m immune or not,” said Patrick Mathys, the Swiss health ministry’s crisis management head. That will take more research. A spokesman for the ministry said antibody tests are foreseen playing a role for future steps to lift the country’s restrictions like bans on group gatherings and school closures. For now, the Swiss government is basing its decision to start easing curbs on April 27 on slowing rates of new infections, hospitalisations and deaths. Before antibodies play a role, “first we’ve got to have validated tests,” the spokesman said. Even tests with high accuracy have weaknesses, potentially producing thousands of false positive results. False positives could lead someone to believe they have immunity when in fact they have none. Roche’s tests have met the company’s accuracy expectations, Schinecker said, though it is not yet releasing data. “We put our best scientists on this,” Schinecker said. “What we see is that the way we’ve designed the assay, it’s extremely specific.”
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9706
|
Light therapy effective for treating depression, not just winter blues
|
This brief story gives a tantalizing glimpse into a small study of 122 people with major depression, but it leaves us wanting a bit more. The randomized controlled study divided patients into groups with some receiving light therapy alone, some receiving light and antidepressant, and others received sham therapies imitating light and placebo medication. The most improvement was seen in the groups receiving light alone or light-plus-antidepressant. Paraphrasing the researchers, the story concludes that “enough clinical evidence now supports mental health professionals recommending light therapy as a treatment for depression.” But the story never really backs up that statement. It doesn’t make the case for why this one rather small study puts the evidence squarely beyond doubt. Nor does it delve very deeply into the study’s limitations. We would have welcomed more metrics and a clearer explanation for how this one study could change practice going forward. Major depression is the second-ranked cause of disability in the world, and estimates say it strikes 1 in 20 people in the United States. If light therapy, which is relatively low-cost, could improve the treatment of major depression it would help millions. It might also be an economic boon by helping relieve the lost wages and crippling disability of those who remain diminished for years.
|
true
|
antidepressants,depression,light therapy,psychiatry,seasonal affective disorder
|
The story squeaks by on this with mention that light therapy is “cheap” and easy to use. We would have preferred some numbers giving prices for the light sources that patients typically use at home and some estimate for a therapeutic course of psychotherapy (which is often provided in combination with light therapy). The only attempt to describe benefits is vague. Here it is, with italics by editors: “Although the light therapy helped many patients, it provided the most benefit to those who were also taking the antidepressant. About 60 percent of those using light therapy with the antidepressant reported feeling almost back to normal, Lam said.” Quantifying means we’d like to know some metric or measure that researchers used to compare the different groups of patients. In the original journal article, the authors said they used MADRS (Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale) changes from baseline to 8 weeks into the different therapies. It would be useful to know where they started on that scale and where they ended up — and whether that difference was meaningful. The short story does not mention potential harms of light therapy., and it doesn’t say there are few or none known. Either way, we would have liked the story to address the notion of harm I [Editor’s note: As pointed out by a commenter, the story does note that light therapy “comes with few side effects compared to medication such as antidepressants.” That’s more than we gave the story credit for initially, but we decided to keep the Not Satisfactory rating because the story does not say what any of those side effects are or how frequently they occur.] Interestingly, if you look at the table on adverse effects in the original study, it shows that close to 1/4 of those on light therapy experienced diarrhea. We can’t exactly explain that strange finding but it was worth mentioning. The story establishes this was double-blind randomized controlled study with a high quality of evidence. But it doesn’t comment on the fact that there were only 122 participants and that this was not a large sample. The small size of the study is puzzling since the study used three centers over five-plus years. It also was conducted in Canada, which has shorter days in the winter and long ones in the summer compared with the U.S. The relation of the treatments to these cycles was not discussed. In short, there were a number of questions about this study that could have received more thorough attention, but the story didn’t address any limitations and was unwaveringly positive in its description. Especially for a U.S. audience, it would be important to see this study replicated at U.S. latitudes and in a larger study sample to say that light therapy is unquestionably effective for non-seasonal depression. There was no disease mongering. The story included a quote from an independent source other than study authors, so we’ll award a Satisfactory. However, it would not have taken much to find someone who would have raised some questions about the study and offered a note of caution or two. Even in a short word count, this story did convey that there are alternatives, including antidepressants and psychotherapy. Since these lights probably aren’t very difficult to find, we’ll rate the story Not Applicable here. The story doesn’t specifically address availability and it could have noted what kind of light is needed and whether these lights are widely available. But we won’t ding the story for not mentioning this. The story does not say this was the first randomized trial about non-seasonal depression and refers to previous research. It does imply that this study reinforces a change in practice to include light therapy as another alternative. We wish the story had explained perhaps why this study could lead to a conclusive change in practice. Because an independent source is quoted, we can be reasonably certain that this story went beyond any news release.
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17861
|
"Only ""four countries in the world… allow abortions after 20 weeks"" of pregnancy."
|
Perry said only four countries allow legal abortions past 20 weeks into the gestational period. The United States, Canada, North Korea and China fit that measure, but Singapore and the Netherlands do as well. Also, far more countries permit abortions in certain circumstances in which the pregnancy would damage the woman’s well-being, be it physical, mental or economic.
|
mixture
|
Abortion, Texas, Anita Perry,
|
"Anita Perry said she supported new abortion restrictions advanced by the Republican-majority Legislature and signed into law this summer by her husband, Gov. Rick Perry. ""And I believe there are only four countries in the world that allow abortions after 20 weeks,"" Anita Perry said, adding that Texas belonged in the same category prior to the changes in law. Her four-count, part of a Sept. 28, 2013, public interview at the Texas Tribune Festival, aligned with a similar claim made in August 2013 by former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina of California, who said in defense of the change in Texas law: ""There are only four countries in the world that have -- that legalize abortion after five months -- China, North Korea, Canada and the U.S."" Setting five months as equal to 20 weeks, after which the changed Texas law restricts abortions, PolitiFact rated Fiorina’s claim as after identifying wrinkles including a couple of additional countries allowing abortions after 20 weeks of gestation. What the laws say U.S. requirements for legally obtaining an abortion vary by state, but the national standard was handed down from the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade in 1973. Lawmakers and physicians refer to the point at which a fetus can survive outside the uterus as ""viability."" The decision sets the standard that women can choose to have an abortion until the point of viability. In citing the leading obstetrics publication as a guide, the ruling suggests viability starts at 24 weeks into the gestation period, which starts on the first day of the woman’s last menstrual period. So women in the United States can get an abortion for any reason, not necessarily medical, until at least 24 weeks of gestation. This is known as elective abortion. After 24 weeks, or whenever the resident’s state prohibits elective abortion, the woman can get a therapeutic abortion under a few exceptions: life in danger, physical health or mental health. China, North Korea and Canada do not have federally enforced limits on elective abortion. Gestation period restrictions in Canada, unlike the other two nations, are regulated at the local level, Johanna Fine, a Center for Reproductive Rights spokeswoman, told PolitiFact. Provinces can range from 10 to 20 weeks for the maximum gestation period. So this gets us to the mentioned four nations. However, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights, which published a 2013 chart that several reproductive rights experts referred PolitiFact to, Singapore and the Netherlands also fit the criteria. Both nations allow unrestricted abortion through Week 24 of gestation, after which therapeutic abortion is possible. Anita Perry’s statement, like the claim by Fiorina, also leaves off an important qualifier. She did not mention that dozens of countries permit abortions after 20 weeks for different reasons. Common exceptions to the gestational period requirement mean women may be able to get therapeutic abortions based on physical health, mental health or socioeconomic status. Just 29 countries (meaning independent states and semi-autonomous regions whose populations exceed 1 million) outlaw abortion entirely, with no exceptions to save the woman’s life. Thirty-seven other countries that routinely outlaw abortion, including Paraguay, Afghanistan and Uganda, make clear exceptions to save mothers. Another 59 will do so in general to preserve pregnant women’s physical health on a broader scale, with Israel, New Zealand and others also accepting mental health reasons as valid exceptions. India and Japan belong to a group of 13 countries that grant even wider exceptions that include access to the procedure for socioeconomic reasons based on factors like age of the woman or very low income. The remaining 61 countries legalize elective abortions with varying gestational period requirements, with the United States, Canada, North Korea, China, Singapore and the Netherlands being the six countries with the widest acceptable time periods. ""It’s not so much whether abortion is legal; it’s under what circumstances it's legal,"" Mindy Roseman, the Human Rights Program academic director at Harvard Law School, told PolitiFact. ""Even where abortion is highly restricted, it’s legal for the health of the woman."" By email, Perry spokesman Josh Havens said the initial PolitiFact article on Fiorina’s claim ""pretty much covers"" the Anita Perry claim. Our ruling Perry said only four countries allow legal abortions past 20 weeks into the gestational period. The United States, Canada, North Korea and China fit that measure, but Singapore and the Netherlands do as well. Also, far more countries permit abortions in certain circumstances in which the pregnancy would damage the woman’s well-being, be it physical, mental or economic. The statement is partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context."
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35223
|
"Johns Hopkins University published this ""excellent summary"" on avoiding COVID-19."
|
For starters, this list starts with the claim that COVID-19 is a protein molecule (DNA), but coronaviruses are RNA viruses which contain no DNA.
|
false
|
Medical, COVID-19
|
In late March 2020, a letter supposedly published by Johns Hopkins University containing an “excellent summary” of advice on how to avoid catching COVID-19 was widely circulated via email and on social media: But this content did not originate with Johns Hopkins, a spokesperson confirmed: This is not something produced by Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM). We have seen rumors and misinformation about COVID-19 citing our experts and circulating on social media, and we have received several inquiries from the general public about these posts. We do not know their origin, and they lack credibility. The spokesperson also noted that people seeking verified information from Johns Hopkins University should check the university’s COVID-19 Resource Center. We have not been able to definitively determine the origins of the list displayed above. Some iterations claim that this “excellent summary to avoid contagion” was sent out by Johns Hopkins University itself, but others involve a more convoluted attribution. For instance, some versions attribute the information to “Irene Ken,” an alleged physician, who received the information from her unnamed daughter, an assistant professor in infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins University. We also found versions that promote different advice. For instance, the Facebook post shown above from the “Gomes Football Club” claims that Listerine mouthwash can be used to fight COVID-19. But this bad advice is not included in other versions of this message posted to Facebook. This indicates to us that the list evolved as it circulated on social media to include a hodgepodge of unverified advice. Regardless of who penned the list, Johns Hopkins University told us such posts “lack credibility.” We won’t go through each point, but we did find a few items on this list to be factually inaccurate.
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14346
|
Most funding for tuberculosis research (is) provided by the U.S. National Institutes for Health.
|
Low said that most funding for tuberculosis research comes from the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Whether he used those exact words is a bit unclear, but in the sense that the NIH is the single-largest funder of research, the statement is correct. The only caveat is that when we factor in the size of the economy, the United States as a whole falls to third and Singapore rises to the top.
|
true
|
Global News Service, Federal Budget, Foreign Policy, Public Health, Marcus Low,
|
"Tuberculosis stands second to AIDS as the world’s deadliest infectious disease, killing about 1.5 million people in 2014. Only a small percentage of those deaths took place in the United States, yet the American government is the pre-eminent funder of tuberculosis research. HIV/AIDS activist Marcus Low, policy head for the South African-based Treatment Action Campaign, drove home that point when a United Nations taskforce met in Johannesburg. Low’s group urged the panel to recommend a global research and development treaty that would have governments commit money to tuberculosis -- an infection most often in the lungs -- and other disease research. By the World Health Organization’s estimate, research spending worldwide falls about $1 billion short each year. South Africa’s Business Day cited Low on March 19, 2016, as saying, ""Most funding for tuberculosis research was provided by the U.S. National Institutes for Health."" We asked Low if the paper had quoted him accurately. He offered a clarification. ""A better formulation of that line would have been, ‘the top contributor to TB research and development, according to a report published by Treatment Action Group, is the NIH’,"" Low told us. We’re not sure if that means the reporter got it wrong, or Low misspoke. Whichever it is, Low went on to tell us that the line in the news article is unclear. ""If most is read as more than any other, then it is correct,"" Low said. ""If most is read as more than 50 percent, then it is not correct."" Let us make things crystal clear about the American research effort. The NIH is the single-largest source of TB research money. The best overview of global tuberculosis research comes from the Treatment Action Group, a New York advocacy organization. The group assembled information from over 100 government, foundation and drug company research efforts. It’s most recent report found that the U.S. National Institutes of Health spent over $200 million on tuberculosis research in 2014. That was more than any other single entity, and represented more than 30 percent of the global investment in TB research and development. A bit over $674 million was spent worldwide. The U.S. total grows to nearly a quarter of a billion dollars when you add in the money from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and assorted other agencies. In raw dollars, the United States government has no match. But the United States is a big country with the world’s largest economy. So we assessed where America stands when you factor in population and Gross Domestic Product. Do that and an unexpected nation earns some bragging rights -- Singapore. While the small Asian nation spends about 3 percent what America does, relative to its size, it comes out on top in both of the relative rankings. The United Kingdom and Switzerland also show up in the top three, depending on the measure. (Methodology note: We adjusted spending by European Union members according to their contributions to the EU. Population data came from the U.S. Census Bureau, and GDP data came from the World Bank.) Why Singapore? Mike Frick, project officer at the Treatment Action Group, said he’s not exactly sure. It might have its roots in the legacy of the multinational drug company Novartis. ""Novartis's TB research used to be based in Singapore,"" Frick said. ""That has ended, but suggests there is some institutional capacity for TB research already established there."" Certainly, the National University of Singapore is eager to build support there for continued government funding. In a March 24, 2016, webpost, it touted that it is well placed to lead the fight against tuberculosis. ""Singapore is located at the heart of the TB epidemic, being close to Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, China and India -- countries with the highest number of TB cases in the world,"" the posting said. A professor at the university’s school of public health wrote in an op-ed about TB research and ""the breadth of Singapore's growing research infrastructure and human resources."" All of which suggests that at least some Singaporeans see this as a competitive niche that ought be expanded. The drivers behind the spending in the United States are a combination of tradition and political activism tied to AIDS. Audrey Jackson, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told us the federal government has put money into health research for decades. ""The U.S. has been a huge funder of science,"" Jackson said. ""Through the National Institutes of Health, it has funded a great deal of basic science and early work to translate findings into clinical applications."" Jackson noted that TB funding at the NIH itself has been flat for the past five years, ""even declining if you factor in inflation,"" but that the latest White House budget calls for an increase. Dick Chaisson, director of the Center for TB Research at Johns Hopkins University, said the AIDS epidemic played a key role in reigniting the tuberculosis research effort in America. ""Back in the 1970s, it was assumed that TB was a done deal, and all the scientific discoveries that were needed had been made, so science moved on to other issues."" Chaisson said. ""It turns out that the discoveries of the past were not good enough to result in TB elimination, and the advent of HIV and the emergence of drug-resistant TB made things even worse."" Around 1990, New York City became ground-zero for the resurgence of tuberculosis. The New England Journal of Medicine reported that ""with 3 percent of the country's population, New York City accounted for a remarkable 61 percent of cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in the United States."" Frick said that because the disease hit New York, and in particular, people with AIDS, there was ample political lobbying power to draw in the federal government. By 1992, Congress had made an emergency appropriation of $100 million to combat TB. Of that, $40 million went to New York City. ""That was a time when an institutional will to engage with TB research came together,"" Frick said. ""A lot of young doctors spent their formative years in that effort and now are making decisions."" A ready example supports Frick’s generational point. In 1992, New York City used part of its $40 million to create the Bureau of Tuberculosis Control. The man it picked as founding director was a young CDC doctor named Tom Frieden. Today, Frieden leads the CDC where he makes the case for more federal funding for disease control and oversees the more than $14 million it spends on TB research. Our ruling Low said that most funding for tuberculosis research comes from the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Whether he used those exact words is a bit unclear, but in the sense that the NIH is the single-largest funder of research, the statement is correct. The only caveat is that when we factor in the size of the economy, the United States as a whole falls to third and Singapore rises to the top."
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38757
|
A photo shows Asian beetles embedded in a dog’s mouth and warns of the potential dangers of dogs eating Japanese beetles.
|
Photo of Asian Beetles Embedded in a Dog’s Mouth
|
true
|
Animals
|
This warning about Japanese beetles embedded in a dog’s mouth is true. Asian beetles (which look a lot like ladybugs) have been known to embed themselves in roof of dogs’ mouths and cause serious health problems. The medical jargon for the Asian beetles embedded in a dog’s mouth is “acute corrosion of the oral mucosa in a dog,” according to a paper published by the National Institutes of Health. The author wrote that multi-colored Asian beetles that had been ingested by a dog became ingested in its mouth and caused chemical burns: A six-year old mixed-breed dog presented with severe trauma to the oral mucosa suggestive of chemical burn. Sixteen Harmonia axyridis (Coccinellidae) were removed from the oral cavity, which revealed trauma consistent with chemical burn. The beetles had become embedded in mucosa covering the hard palate and required manual removal. A diagnosis of beetle induced chemical burn was warranted and consistent with the nature of the chemical constituents of H. axyridis hemolymph. A photo that shows Asian beetles embedded in a dog’s mouth went viral on Reddit in November 2015. The warning is very real, but it’s not clear where that photo came from. Comments
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38533
|
A report that two Muslim men assaulted a Denny’s waitress because she served pork during Ramadan has gone viral.
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Denny’s Waitress Assaulted by Muslim Men for Serving Bacon
|
false
|
Religious, Terrorism
|
A fake news website is behind this false report of a Denny’s waitress being assaulted for serving bacon during Ramadan. The story originated at JTXH News under the headline “Denny’s Waitress Assaulted by Muslims for Serving Bacon During Ramadan” that begins: ROUND ROCK TX: A Denny’s waitress was allegedly assaulted by two Muslim men for serving pork during Ramadan. The woman, an 18 year old that had just graduated high school, was working at a local Denny’s restaurant when she was reportedly insulted by two passers-by on Wednesday. The men are said to have started to abuse her when they saw she was serving bacon to customers, The Times reported. She said one of the men screamed she was a “whore” and slapped her across the face, leaving her with a black eye after she was knocked to the ground. The story was widely shared on social media, and many believed that it was an actual news report about a waitress being assaulted for doing her job. However, JTXH News is a relatively new fake news website that was launched in April 2016. The site doesn’t clearly identify itself as fake or satirical news, which often leads to confusion. The fake Denny’s report even generated enough interest that the Statesman, a daily newspaper based in Austin, contacted local police about it: Round Rock police spokesperson Angelique Myers said there is no truth to the story. “The website is not one bit credible,” she said by email. Despite its lack of credibility, the story has been shared through social media and has garnered 61 comments on the website as of Wednesday afternoon. Most of the comments condemn the two men and contain anti-Muslim rhetoric. Alfonso Ruiz, an operating partner for the Denny’s restaurants in Round Rock and New Braunfels, said the corporate arm of the restaurant franchise made him aware of the story. “It’s unbelievable because I’m in my restaurant all the time,” he said. “I don’t know how they’d come up with a story like this.” In its short lifespan, JTXH News has (falsely) reported on a NASA announcement about “God and Religion,” and that Chic-fil-A is considering banning “anyone who can’t figure out their gender.” The story of a Denny’s waitress being assaulted by two Muslim men for serving bacon falls into the same category as those two stories: fake news. Comments
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10031
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“Heart disease potential breakthrough”
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This story covers a new study in which very high doses of the statin drug Crestor regressed atherosclerosis, or coronary artery plaque buildup, as shown on intravascular ultrasound, in high risk patients.The story states that the patients showed a 7 to 9% reduction in plaque. It is not clear if this is clinically meaningful. The story says “Crestor reduced so called bad cholesterol by more than 50 percent and increased good cholesterol by nearly 15 percent.” But 50 percent of what? 15 percent of what? What is the absolute increase or decrease? Although there is some mention of side effects, these are downplayed. Given that this trial used such high doses of Crestor, side effects are an important issue. The story also fails to mention that 12% of the patients discontinued using the drug before the end of the study. No costs are mentioned and only a single source, the lead author of the study, is quoted. The story doesn’t mention any alternatives, such as diet, exercise, or regular doses of statins (which is current practice). Although there is some description of the design of the study, there is no mention of the study’s limitations. The story hints at this point but doesn’t drive the point home: there can be a difference between surrogate markers (lowering LDL, raising HDL, shrinking plaque) and outcomes such as fewer heart attacks, strokes or deaths. These are important pieces of information that the viewer would need in order to critically evaluate the strength of the evidence. It was good that the story included the line, “Doctors say this does not suggest that everyone should start taking Crestor.
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false
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There is no mention of costs in the story. Quantitative estimates are given in relative frame only. The story states that the patients showed a 7 to 9% reduction in plaque. It is not clear if this is clinically meaningful. The story says “Crestor reduced so called bad cholesterol by more than 50 percent and increased good cholesterol by nearly 15 percent.” But 50 percent of what? 15 percent of what? What is the absolute increase or decrease? Although there is some mention of potential side effects, these are downplayed. Given the high dose of Crestor used in this study, side effects are important. The story also fails to mention that 12% of the patients discontinued using the drug before the end of the study. Although the story describes some aspects of the trial, there is no mention of the limitations of this trial. Specifically, there was no direct comparison of high-dose Crestor to current medical practice for this population, such as a lower dose statin. Furthermore, the study was not designed to look at the effects of the drug on hard cardiovascular end points, such as heart attack or death. The story hints at this point but doesn’t drive the point home: there can be a difference between surrogate markers (lowering LDL, raising HDL, shrinking plaque) and outcomes such as fewer heart attacks, strokes or deaths. No disease mongering. Story did a good job of including the line, “Doctors say this does not suggest that everyone should start taking Crestor. Only a single source, the lead author of the story, is quoted. Even in a short TV piece, time and space should be found to include the input of independent sources. The story doesn’t mention any alternative treatment options. It is clear from the story that Crestor is currently available. We can’t be sure if the story relied solely or largely on a news release, although, as noted, the story only included the input of the lead researcher.
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489
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Samoa extends measles state of emergency, NZ to fund Pacific vaccination campaign.
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The South Pacific island nation of Samoa on Saturday extended a state of emergency due to a measles outbreak which has killed 72 people, mostly infants, as New Zealand announced NZ$1 million ($640,700) to help combat measles in the Pacific.
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true
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Health News
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Samoa said a state of emergency will be extended to Dec. 29 with 5,154 cases of measles now reported since the outbreak started in October. Samoa has a population of only 200,000. Measles started appearing en masse earlier this year in the New Zealand city of Auckland, a hub for travel to and from small South Pacific islands. The majority of those who have died in Samoa due to the highly infectious disease have been aged four and under. The island nation had a far lower vaccination rate than its regional neighbors. Following a mandatory immunization campaign, the Samoan government said approximately 93% of all eligible people in Samoa have now been vaccinated against measles. “Prevention through vaccination is the most effective way of avoiding illness and a costly health emergency,” New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement announcing the funding. Under the plan, children under five and new mothers and their families will be targeted for vaccination. The funding would be directed to the United Nations Fund for Children (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO has described the fact children die from a vaccine-preventable disease as a “collective failure” to protect the world’s most vulnerable children. The organization said measles infected nearly 10 million people in 2018 and killed 140,000, mostly children. The picture for 2019 is even worse, it said, with provisional data up to November showing a three-fold increase in case numbers compared with the same period in 2018. Measles epidemics have occurred this year in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar and Ukraine.
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9669
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How a balloon can help you lose weight
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This story describes a medical intervention designed to help people lose weight. The intervention, called Orbera, involves placing a balloon in a patient’s stomach via the mouth and then inflating it with saline. This, according to the story, will limit the patient’s hunger, allowing the patient to eat less and still feel full. The balloon is then removed, via the mouth, six months later. However, the story reads more like a paid promotion than a news story. There is no discussion of how well it works (if at all) in either the short-term or long-term, no mention of serious risks, no input from third-party sources. This is the second recent story from Fox News that reads more like promotional material than health journalism, and that is troubling. (You can read our review of the earlier story here.) The same concerns that cropped up with that story apply here: Reporters need to ask questions, talk to independent sources, and help readers understand why (or if) something might be important to them. Reporters need to be skeptical critical thinkers, filtering information before passing it on to readers in a context that helps the reader understand what’s going on. In short, consumers need sources of news that can offer reliable, thoughtful insight into health issues—not news stories that offer vague information with little context and no verification. Does this technique work? How well does it work? What risks does it pose? How does it differ from other weight loss interventions—including other gastric balloon techniques—in terms of risks and benefits? This story tells readers none of those things, nor does it link to additional sources of impartial information—such as FDA materials or clinical trial results. Instead, the story links to only two sites: the Orbera site and the site of a doctor that offers Orbera to clients. Most concerning, the lack of information on risks in this piece is dangerous. There are many known risks to gastric balloons, including vomiting, ulcerations, infections and bowel obstructions.
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false
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gastric balloon,journalism,orbera,weight loss
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The story clearly notes that the device, known as Orbera, “is not covered by insurance and costs $8,000.” The story does not address benefits in any kind of meaningful way, much less offer any quantification of the benefits. Instead, the story tells readers what the “objective” of Orbera is. It also offers an anecdote from one patient who used Orbera and credited it with helping her lose weight. Is this one patient’s experience normal for other users of Orbera? The story doesn’t tell us. Other than this one patient’s testimony, the story offers no evidence that Orbera works at all, much less how well it might work. Is the weight loss short-term or long-term? Obesity is a chronic disease, but this device is temporary. How does that impact the patient’s weight in the long range? The story also doesn’t tell readers how weight loss might be related to an individual’s actual health. Instead, it notes that Orbera should not be used by people who are “morbidly obese.” The story says Orbera is for people with a body mass index of 30 to 40 and “is meant for people looking for an extra jumpstart on a diet, whether the purpose is cosmetic or for health reasons.” Why that BMI range? Another question the story doesn’t answer. The story spends more time playing down potential risks than it does addressing what risks are posed by Orbera. Risks are summed up with a line that says: “The most common side effect of installing the balloon is nausea that lasts a few days.” It also says that patients are kept under “mild to moderate” sedation when Orbera is put into the stomach. The story adds that Orbera eliminates “risks involved with more invasive options,” effectively playing down the risks associated with sedation. The story also doesn’t address risks such as “vomiting, abdominal or back pain, acid reflux, influence on digestion of food, blockage of food entering the stomach, bacterial growth in the fluid filling the balloon which can lead to infection, injury to the lining of the digestive tract, stomach or esophagus,” etc. — all of which are discussed on Orbera’s website. However, the most problematic line in the story related to harms states: “even if the balloon were to pop, the saline would be absorbed and pose no harm to the patient. The balloon would be removed in the same way it is at the six month mark.” Readers might think that this mean a popped balloon in the stomach is a trivial event. However, Orbera’s directions for use — which are also available online — note that “Bowel obstructions have been reported due to deflated balloons passing into the intestines and have required surgical removal. The risk of obstructions may be higher in patients who have diabetes, a dysmotility disorder, or who have had prior abdominal or gynecological surgery, so this should be considered in assessing the risk of the procedure. Bowel obstruction can result in death.” Not necessarily such a trivial event after all. Other than one patient’s testimonial, the story offers no evidence that Orbera works at all. That’s about as unsatisfactory as it gets. A story can be guilty of disease mongering if it conflates a risk factor with a disease. This story clearly treats weight loss as the health goal, even singling out cosmetic reasons as a reasonable rationale for using Orbera. What’s more, based on this story, one could be forgiven for thinking that trying to lose weight is a health problem in itself. As the opening sentence notes: “America’s ongoing battle with weight-loss that [sic] has led to fad diets and invasive surgeries like gastric bypass and stomach stapling.” A doctor quoted in the story, who provides Orbera for his clients, says that Orbera may “be able to prevent young, healthy people from having these chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension.” That would depend on how much weight the people lost, and how heavy they were to begin with. No one medical intervention is going to prevent chronic diseases associated with obesity — and it’s not clear from the story whether Orbera would help them lose weight in the first place. The story cites two sources. One is a pleased former patient who used Orbera. The other is a doctor who provides Orbera to his clients. There are no outside sources who can an offer impartial assessment of Orbera: it’s effectiveness, safety or novelty. And the story does not tell readers that the doctor offers Orbera to his clients (though a critical news consumer would probably guess). We only know because we went to his website (which the story links to). The only time alternative treatments are mentioned is when the story refers to gastric bypass and stomach stapling as “invasive surgeries” in the first sentence. There is no discussion of exercise and diet, other than in conjunction with Orbera. There is no discussion of how Orbera’s benefits compare to gastric bypass or stomach stapling. There is also no discussion of how Orbera differs from other gastric balloon procedures (more on that under “Novelty”). Also, the way these other surgical alternatives are characterized in the story is misleading. Yes, they’re “invasive,” but they’re also clinically proven to help obese patients lose weight, keep it off, and live longer. We’re not sure if the same is true for Obrera, because this piece includes no discussion of clinically tested benefits. And, it should be noted that Obrera is invasive, too — after all, it involves placing a large foreign body in a person’s stomach. The story doesn’t tell readers that Orbera is available, but it can be inferred from the patient’s testimonial, so we’ll give it a pass. This fails for a couple of reasons. First, the story does not explain how Orbera is different (if at all) from other gastric balloon techniques designed to aid patients with weight loss. For example, here’s a 2014 story from HealthDay News about a gastric balloon product called the ReShape Duo. Is this different from Orbera? Better? Worse? Safer? Cheaper? Exactly the same? Impossible to say. What’s more, the FDA approved Orbera in August 2015 — so why is Fox News running a story on this now? The story doesn’t tell us. The story does not appear to be based on any specific news release that we could find.
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7505
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White House unveils $2.5B emergency coronavirus plan.
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The White House on Monday sent lawmakers an urgent $2.5 billion plan to address the deadly coronavirus outbreak, whose rapid spread and threat to the global economy rocked financial markets.
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true
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Virus Outbreak, Health, General News, Politics, Infectious diseases, Science, Travel, U.S. News, Ebola virus, Donald Trump
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The White House budget office said the funds are for vaccines, treatment and protective equipment. The request was immediately slammed by Democrats as insufficient and came as coronavirus fears were credited with Monday’s 1,000-plus point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and are increasingly seen as a potential political threat to President Donald Trump. The request was released Monday evening and came as key government accounts were running low. The Department of Health and Human Services had already tapped into an emergency infectious disease rapid response fund and was seeking to transfer more than $130 million from other HHS accounts to combat the virus but is pressing for more. “Today, the Administration is transmitting to Congress a $2.5 billion supplemental funding plan to accelerate vaccine development, support preparedness and response activities and to procure much needed equipment and supplies,” said White House budget office spokeswoman Rachel Semmel. “We are also freeing up existing resources and allowing for greater flexibilities for response activities.” The administration is requesting $1.25 billion in new funding and wants to transfer $535 million more in funding from an Ebola preparedness account that’s been a top priority of Democrats. It anticipates shifting money from other HHS accounts and other agencies to complete the $2.5 billion response plan. Senators returning to Washington after a weeklong recess will receive a classified briefing Tuesday morning on the government’s coronavirus response, a Senate aide said. A spokeswoman for Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said the panel “will take their input into account as we continue to do our due diligence to determine what additional resources are necessary.” Democrats said the request was insufficient and that Trump’s attempt to go after existing Ebola prevention funding was dead on arrival. “All of the warning lights are flashing bright red. We are staring down a potential pandemic and the administration has no plan,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who blasted a shortage of kits to test for the virus and President Donald Trump’s proposed budget cuts to health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We have a crisis of coronavirus and President Trump has no plan, no urgency, no understanding of the facts or how to coordinate a response.” Trump was a vocal critic of President Barack Obama’s response to the 2014 Ebola scare, which barely touched the U.S. but was seen as a factor in that year’s midterm elections, which restored control of the Senate to Republicans. Trump took to Twitter Monday to defend his record. “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA. We are in contact with everyone and all relevant countries. CDC & World Health have been working hard and very smart. Stock Market starting to look very good to me!” he tweeted. Among the needs is funding to reimburse the Pentagon, which is housing evacuees from China — who are required to undergo 14-day quarantines — at several military bases in California. Democrats controlling the House wrote HHS Secretary Alex Azar earlier this month to request funds to help speed development of a coronavirus vaccine, expand laboratory capacity, and beef up screening efforts at U.S. entry points. House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., called the plan “woefully insufficient.” “Despite urgent warnings from Congress and the public health community, the Trump administration took weeks to request these emergency funds,” Lowey said in a statement. “Their answer now is to raid money Congress has designated for other critical public health priorities.” Azar is slated to testify before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, and the U.S. response to the outbreak is sure to be a major topic. The quickly spreading virus has slammed the economy of China, where the virus originated, and caseloads are rapidly increasing in countries such as South Korea, Iran, and Italy. Almost 80,000 people have contracted the disease, with more than 2,500 deaths, mostly in China. The United States, however, has had only 14 cases of the disease spread across seven states. In San Francisco, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took a walking tour of Chinatown on Monday to let the public know the neighborhood is safe and open for business. Pelosi, a Democrat who represents the heavily Chinese American city, visited the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, whose owner Kevin Chan, says his business and others are down 70% since the outbreak of the coronavirus. “Çome to Chinatown,” Pelosi said. “Precautions have been taken by our city, we know that there’s concern about tourism, traveling all throughout the world, but we think it’s very safe to be in Chinatown and hope that others will come.” In a statement Monday night, Pelosi called the president’s request “long overdue and completely inadequate to the scale of this emergency.” She said the House would advance “a strong, strategic funding package that fully addresses the scale and seriousness of this public health crisis.” ___ Associated Press writer Janie Har in San Francisco contributed to this report.
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11331
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Breast cancer drug may slow lung cancer’s march
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This article briefly (353 words) examines a retrospective analysis of 6,655 Swiss breast cancer patients followed between 1980 and 2003 . The study looks at the hypothesis that there might be a link between estrogen and lung cancer. Patients taking tamoxifen had a lower rate of lung cancer deaths, but statistically insignificant reduction in the development of lung cancer. The actual number of study patients with both breast and lung cancer was small, and the article contained little or no discussion of possible confounding factors, side effects, or costs. There were no independent sources quoted. This article offers more promise than evidence or context . Both small-cell lung cancer and breast cancer are devastating diseases. The article would be improved with more well-presented, high quality evidence and the framework to make sense of it.
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false
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Cancer,Los Angeles Times
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Although generic tamoxifen is a relatively inexpensive medication, there was neither discussion of the medication cost in the article nor discussion of the cost of tests involved in evaluating such a treatment. As this is an observational study, much of the problem with understanding benefits/harms of tamoxifen in this article involves an incomplete description of what is known and not known. In particular, there was not discussion of the significance of the small number of women who developed lung cancer, the statistical comparison used was based on general assumptions and not further addressed in the story, and possible confounding factors were not addressed either. There is a brief reference to side effects from tamoxifen As some effects are dangerous, clearer information on the potential harms would be critical in the decision-making process between patient and physician. On the one hand, the writer carefully differentiated between those who develop lung cancer and those who die from lung cancer. On the other hand, there was no caution in the article regarding the preliminary, limited nature of this evidence for breast and lung cancer patients, and the need for a fully developed trial rather than relying on retrospective data alone. There is no disease-mongering in this story. Although the original journal was mentioned, there was no independent expert source quoted. The likelihood of conflict of interest is not addressed. Current treatment of non-small cell lung cancer was not discussed. The article adequately establishes that although Tamoxifen is available by prescription, largely for treatment of breast cancer, it is not currently prescribed for lung cancer. The article makes clear the fact that tamoxifen is not a new medication, but rather, that the association with lung cancer survival is relatively new. .References to newer estrogen blockers were vague. Not applicable because we’re can’t be sure whether the story relied on a news release. No one was quoted.
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34258
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A young couple unable to conceive a child visited a fertility doctor, who discovered that they were engaging solely in anal sex.
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It’s difficult to prove a negative, but typically when we see familiar legends and humorous anecdotes playing out as “real” news taken from a questionable single source, it’s a sign someone’s leg is being pulled.
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unproven
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Risqué Business
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In late August 2018, a number of English-language websites rehashed a story about a young Chinese couple who had reportedly struggled with infertility issues for years, until they visited a doctor who informed them that they could not become pregnant through anal sex alone. The woman’s symptoms led Doctor Liu to believe that she may have had some sort of gynaecological disease. But following an examination, the wife was revealed to be a virgin. Doctor Liu then inspected the woman’s anus and discovered that she ‘could fit three fingers’ inside. It was then that the medic is said to have learned the couple had been mistakenly having anal sex for four years, resulting in their failure to conceive. Doctor Liu reportedly handed the couple each a sex-ed handbook and also gave them ‘guidelines’ before they were sent home. The advice appeared to work, as news of the wife’s pregnancy arrived just a few months later. The doctor said: ‘Four years of marriage and neither the husband nor wife knew how to get pregnant. Couples so lacking in general knowledge are very rare.’ Multiple news outlets, including the Daily Mail, the Sun, Metro, and Newsweek all aggregated their own versions of this story, all citing a single report from the Guiyang Evening News as the source of their information: Our search to verify this information raised a number of red flags which indicated that the story may have been a humorous (or denigrating) anecdote about the importance of sex education and awareness rather than an account of a genuine medical incident. The Guiyang Evening News is a real Chinese newspaper, but we were unable to locate this story on their website or their Weibo (a Chinese social media site similar to Facebook) page. Our search for information about obstetrician Liu Hongmei (刘红梅) turned up a number of pages on the Guiyang Evening News website, none of which dealt with the possibility (or lack thereof) of getting pregnant via anal sex. We did find an article attributed to the Guiyang Evening News on the new.qq.com. website which appears to be the source used in the aforementioned English-language articles. However, we are skeptical about the authenticity of that source. The web site QQ.com features a news client that appears to pull stories from various sources in order to serve the community of WeChat, a multi-purpose messaging and social media app that was developed by Tencent. As we could not find this story on the official web site of the Guiyang Evening News, it’s possible this story was erroneously credited to them on QQ.com, or that they deleted the original article after it was pulled by the QQ.com news client. Either way, many readers of the original Chinese article were skeptical that the story relayed a true event. Here is the most popular comment about the article published to QQ.com (roughly translated via Google): 这篇文章的可信度几乎为零，这是贬低农村人，当今的年轻人虽然是农村的但也不至于愚昧到如此程度啊？我们成年人都知道，男女双方一旦接触就会有生理反应，二反应的部位，自然是最需要的器官，自然而然的相互就找到了部位。根本不是谁告诉你的，有过性生活的人，你是谁告诉的？谁教你的？纯粹是胡编乱造并且太低级了。 The credibility of this article is almost zero. This story is intended to degrade rural people. Although some young people today come from rural areas, they are not ignorant to this degree. We all know that when men and women engage in physical contact with each other, they will experience a physiological reaction. The second part of the reaction is naturally to use the appropriate body parts. They figure out how to make it work on their own. Do you really have to depend on someone who has had sex to explain it to you or teach you how? We attempted to locate a second source in the hopes of turning up some supporting evidence for this story, but we found only near–verbatim copies of the original article. With the primary source apparently missing from the Guiyang Evening News web site and no secondary source available to substantiate the reporting, we are skeptical of this rather implausible story. This story appears to be a slight variation of another piece of folklore concerning couples who discover the reason they’re childless is because they’re not having sex at all. It’s also a near-identical retelling of a tale attributed to a Romanian newspaper back in 2001: A Romanian couple who went to their local fertility clinic to complain that, despite frequent sex, they could not conceive. They went home however with new hope after doctors explained to them that they were doing it all wrong. That one cannot get pregnant having anal sex.
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33528
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Home remedies to repel mosquitoes are effective ways to defend yourself from West Nile Virus.
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Are home remedies to repel mosquitoes effective ways to defend yourself from West Nile Virus?
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false
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Old Wives' Tales, ASP Article, home remedies, mosquitoes
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If we had a frog, we’d be tempted to drop it down the back of whoever wrote this. Once again inboxes have been flooded with yet another “here are easy ways to protect your loved ones” mailing. Concern about the danger of attack from mosquitoes bearing the dreaded West Nile Virus has made combating the pesky critters an even greater priority than in earlier years (when only annoyance and itchiness were at stake), making these bits of e-mailed advice more popular than ever. Many of these mailings indeed make that point openly, claiming the various proffered solutions will help “fight West Nile Virus.” The truth is although many home remedies and oddball uses of everyday products do serve to repel mosquitoes somewhat, they don’t work very effectively for very long. If you’re worried about West Nile, douse yourself in a product that contains DEET rather than entrust your safety to used dryer sheets, VapoRub, vanilla, frogs, marigolds, or any other item touted by even your closest friends. DEET is a chemical compound that effectively repels mosquitoes. It does not kill the critters; it just makes them unable to locate those wreathed in its essence. (Most mosquito repellents, despite the nomenclature, don’t technically “repel” mosquitoes; they block the receptors on mosquitoes’ antennae for the aspects of human beings — moisture, warmth, body odor, exhalation of carbon dioxide — which attract the critters.) DEET has been used by many millions of people worldwide for decades, and it’s considered safe when used according to directions. Some concerns have been raised about how safe it might be to use on children, so follow directions carefully when applying DEET-laced products to tykes. According to the first study to scientifically compare a wide range of products for their effectiveness in repelling mosquitoes, most insect repellents containing herbal oils proved far less effective than those containing DEET. This study appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine in July 2002. Mark Fradin and Jonathan Day of the University of Florida tested 17 nationally marketed mosquito repelling products under laboratory conditions. They asked 15 volunteers to stick a forearm coated with repellent into a cage containing 10 mosquitoes and observed how much time elapsed before the first bite. Products containing DEET repelled best, and the more DEET they contained, the better they worked. Off! Deep Woods, which contains 23.8 percent DEET, provided the longest-lasting protection: 302 minutes on average. By contrast, Avon Skin-So-Soft Bath Oil failed after 9.6 minutes, on average. For decades rumor has held that Skin-So-Soft Bath Oil is an effective counter to mosquitoes, yet a 1993 Consumer Reports analysis found it ineffective for that purpose. Because so many people were buying the product for its purported mosquito combating properties, in 1994 Avon added a non-DEET repellent and a sunscreen to the popular bath oil and began marketing the new concoction as Avon Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard Repellent. Avon disputes the 2002 results posted in the New England Journal of Medicine study, claiming its Bug Guard Repellent works for three hours, not the 10.3 minutes for its Bug Guard Repellent (and the 22.9 minutes for its Bug Guard Repellent Plus) the study found, but a 2003 Consumer Reports analysis found the Skin-So-Soft repellent deterred mosquitoes for only one hour. Folks delight in looking for homegrown solutions to various problems. Part of this urge is a need to feel in control, and part is a distrust of science, but part is also a recognition that kitchen wisdom has proved right on a number of past occasions. Besides, people love feeling they’ve been entrusted with or have stumbled upon valuable pieces of information unknown to others of their acquaintance. (We all want to feel special, after all.) Yet the desire to seek out folk remedies has at times caused folks to place their faith in the outlandish, such as the notion that burying a statuette of St. Joseph on their property will speed the sale of the land. Usually such forays into the realm of lore result in nothing worse than solutions which might not work all that well (if at all), but in the case of combating disease-bearing mosquitoes, a less-than-effective solution could prove a deadly choice. Perhaps in those halcyon days before West Nile Virus it might have seemed reasonable to take a chance on non-DEET solutions to the mosquito problem, when all that was being risked was the transient discomfort of a few bug bites, but no longer. In this instance, placing one’s faith in lore over science is a dangerous error to make. In 2002 we saw another mosquito-related “wisdom of the inbox” piece, one which advised folks that placing bowls of water containing the dishwashing soap Lemon Joy around their yards would fell mosquitoes as they flew by. In a nutshell, no, it doesn’t work either.
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10662
|
Studies: 1 dose of swine flu vaccine works
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This story makes the main point clear: that a single dose of the new H1N1 flu vaccine may be effective enough that the initial plan to give people two doses won’t be necessary. However, important caveats about the small size and rushed nature of these preliminary trials are buried deep in the story, where they would be missed by readers who see only the lead paragraphs. While readers do get a sense that officials have been trying decide on the best policies despite scant evidence, they could come away from this story with the mistaken impression that officials now have all the evidence they need about how the new vaccine will work. For instance, there is no mention that these small trials cannot answer concerns about of the potential risk of Guillain-Barre disease that was seen in rare cases after vaccination against the 1976 swine flu. Also, juxtaposing the annual death toll from seasonal flu with reports of H1N1 flu spreading widely in schools could lead to the unsupported impression that many thousands of students are likely to die from H1N1 flu. The story does tell the news that officials will probably change their recommendation and tell people to get only one H1N1 flu shot, but at almost 900 words long, it could have told more.
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mixture
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The story should have mentioned the typical range of charges for seasonal flu and whether there would be any difference in the price of the H1N1 flu shots. Near the top, the story notes that the new trials indicate the H1N1 flu shots appear to be as effective as seasonal flu shots. However, there is no explanation of the phrase that “75 percent and 96 percent of vaccinated people should be protected with one dose.” Does it mean that that percentage of people won’t get sick? This story uses the term “effective” without defining just what it means for individuals or society. The story says that the participants in the H1N1 flu vaccine trials reported side effects similar to those seen with seasonal flu vaccination; that is, almost half had some soreness or rash at the injection site or a headache. However, the story should have pointed out that these small and very brief trials don’t reveal whether the new H1N1 flu shots may be linked to the sort of rare cases of Guillain-Barre diseases that were seen during the rushed attempt to vaccinate people against a variety of swine flu in 1976. The story explains that the trials involved just a few hundred people and were rushed through so that health officials could get a preliminary sense of the best way to use limited H1N1 vaccine supplies and that more and longer trials are underway to develop better evidence. However, caveats about the trials are buried deep in the story, so readers skimming the lead paragraphs would get the impression that the results are more conclusive than they actually are. The story reports that the seasonal flu “every year kills 36,000 Americans and hospitalizes 200,000” and that H1N1 swine flu is already causing outbreaks in schools. As a result of reporting these disconnected facts, without also reporting anything about what is known about the severity of swine flu, readers may get the impression that there will be widespread swine flu deaths at schools, perhaps even concluding that if swine is likely to hit more people than seasonal flu, that the death toll could be higher than the 36,000 figure mentioned. Although there is a great deal of uncertainty about how many people will be hospitalized or die following swine flu infection, the story should have mentioned something about the outcomes seen so far. This story points out that several of the trials were done by vaccine manufacturers. It quotes government officials who were not directly involved in those trials. However, as noted above, the story is a primarily summary of official statements. There are no quotes from independent experts in infectious diseases. The focus of this story is on the effectiveness of different immunization schedules and doses. However, as part of the background information, it could have noted that even after receiving a flu shot, public health officials are urging people to minimize close contact with other people, use good hygiene, and stay home when sick in order to reduce the likelihood of spreading or catching flu viruses. The story reports that H1N1 vaccinations are expected to be available in mid-October and that seasonal flu shots are available now. The story reports that the H1N1 flu vaccine is new and makes clear the distinction between H1N1 flu shots and seasonal flu shots. The story does not appear to be based on a press release; but it does appear to be primarily a summary of news conferences and official statements.
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31001
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High diabetes rates among African-Americans are caused by a genocidal government plot to ship weaponized radioactive milk to black communities.
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Moret uses the disparity in health outcomes between impoverished, inner-city black Americans and other populations (arguably one of the most pressing healthcare injustices facing the United States) to push a conspiracy theory against nuclear power that lacks both evidence and logic. As such, we rank this claim as false.
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false
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Racial Rumors, conspiracy theories, genocide, milk
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In August 2017, a years-old video excerpt from a presentation by “independent scientist” and conspiracy theorist Leuren Moret went viral on Facebook. In the short clip, Moret claimed that the relatively high rates of diabetes found in poor and ethnic minority communities in the United States are caused by the deliberate shipment of radioactive milk to those communities as part of a U.S. government policy of genocide against black Americans: Why do [poor and ethnic minority communities in New York] have much higher rates of diabetes than the rest of the affluent part of New York City? The answer is that we discovered, after Chernobyl, that the state milk boards are taking the most contaminated radioactive milk from dairies near nuclear power plants and they’re shipping that into black, inner-city communities where it’s sold in the mom and pop stores … U.S. national policy is to genocide the black communities with radiation. The video clip was originally disseminated to Facebook in April 2015 via the Indigengine page, and a month later it was also posted by Your Black Reality. The latter instance of the video experienced an explosion of Facebook shares in August and September 2017. Although it has proved popular, Moret’s claim lacks both a scientific basis and supporting evidence and is false on a number of levels. Its largest scientific misstep is one as old as time: offering mere correlation as support for an untenable hypothesis. Black Americans and Type II Diabetes African-American adults do have higher rates of diabetes than the general population. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the prevalence of diabetes is 9.4 percent among American adults overall, but 12.7 percent among black American adults. Although the increased risk for Type II diabetes among non-Latino black men and women is well known and robustly documented, complete explanations for the relationship are lacking. Scientists agree that both biological and socioeconomic factors are likely at play. One partial explanation is that men and women of African descent appear to differ from other ethnicities in the ways in which their bodies metabolize glucose and regulate its levels, according to a 2012 review of the topic: The higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes in minorities compared with [non hispanic white] populations is partially attributable to differences in glucose metabolism and homeostasis. Compared with their [non hispanic white] counterparts and independent of [body fat, non hispanic blacks] have greater hyperinsulinemia [an elevated amount of insulin in the blood relative to glucose] and insulin resistance [a reduced ability for insulin to affect glucose levels]. Scientists have considered a number of social factors to explain the difference as well, such as access to health care, availability of healthy foods, household status, and others. A 2015 study conducted by researchers with the National Minority Quality Forum, described on their web site as a “research and educational organization dedicated to ensuring that high-risk racial and ethnic populations and communities receive optimal health care”, noted that although numerous adverse health factors may apply to everyone living in America’s poorest neighborhoods (regardless of one’s ethnicity), black Americans are more likely to reside in such areas: Among Black adults aged >45 years at baseline, residence in the most deprived neighborhoods significantly increased odds of obesity, high blood pressure, lower HDL-cholesterol, elevated fasting glucose and markers of inflammation. White adults living in these neighborhoods also had increased likelihood of several cardiometabolic risk factors. However, Blacks were roughly four times more likely to live in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods than Whites. Moret’s assertion that radioactive milk explains differing rates of diabetes ignores myriad other racial disparities in health outcomes that likely could not be answered with one single, milk-based hypothesis. A famous 2006 paper nicknamed the “Eight Americas” study divided the country into eight ethno-sociographic groups (Asians, northland low-income rural whites, Middle America, low-income whites in Appalachia and the Mississippi Valley, western Native Americans, black Middle America, low-income southern rural blacks, and high-risk urban blacks) and investigated the disparities in health care and mortality between these populations. The group which Moret’s map of New York highlights includes poor, urban, and predominantly black neighborhoods that would fall into that study’s “high-risk urban blacks” grouping, and the “Eight Americas” study found that within this group, young and middle-aged members faced the largest health disparities when compared to the most affluent groups. The study noted multiple varied types and causes of such disparities: The major mortality gradients in these age groups are observed for injuries, cardiovascular diseases, and other noncommunicable causes such as liver cirrhosis and diabetes. Injuries are especially important for the observed mortality gradients between the ages of 15 and 44. If radioactive milk were the cause of diabetes, is it also the cause of physical injuries and cardiovascular disease? Moret provided no mechanism to explain the myriad other factors that increase early mortality in these communities, which are also equally correlated with the geographic and racial disparities she speaks of. It would be a challenging argument to suggest that radioactive milk is the cause of each and every one of them, or, conversely, that it affects only one aspect of these neighborhoods’ health outcomes. Radioactive Milk in the Inner Cities Despite a veritable smorgasbord of potential explanations for higher rates of diabetes in poor urban black communities, Moret decided to go with radioactive milk as an explanation for the relationship. This is an enigmatic choice for several reasons, albeit one that makes a grain of sense when one considers that Moret’s main cause is fearmongering about nuclear power. Regardless, the radioactive milk hypothesis fails on both scientific and historical grounds. It is unclear in the brief video clip exactly what Moret is talking about with respect to shipments to inner cities of contaminated milk from areas ambiguously “near” nuclear power plants, but an article published on her web site seems to hint at a 1930s farm program as evidence, though the article provides no sourcing for it: It so happened that there existed a federal program for controlling the shipment of most of the milk in the nation from farms to the consumers in the cities that had been developed in the 1930s in order to protect the income of farmers when the milk from their farms occasionally did not taste well. The program forced wholesalers who bought the milk to pay the normal price, even when on some occasions there was a problem with the quality of the milk, which could be diluted with the milk from other areas that did not have such a problem. Dilution of the poorly tasting milk with milk from other farms was therefore believed to be a way to solve the problem. What Moret (who did not respond to our request for clarification) seems to be talking about is the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937. Part of the intent behind this act was to stabilize pricing in the milk market and ensure a constant supply of milk, which at the time was subject to major transportation losses, price fixing through unregulated farmers’ co-ops, worker strikes, and inconsistent quality. What Moret is likely referencing is the legal classification between Grade I raw milk (which can be used in the production of actual milk for human consumption), and Grade II raw milk (which can be used for animal feed or in cheese and other secondary products). For a variety of reasons, the law essentially turned the entire federal milk market into a co-op, whereby dairy farmers split revenues from the sales of both grades of milk evenly as a way of sustaining regular prices and eliminating waste. What the law did not include was anything about the transportation of low quality milk to the inner cities, but Moret nonetheless, makes this claim of it: Thus, [the law makes it] possible to direct milk shipments from farms close to nuclear plants into the inner city areas where few White people lived, in the hope that dilution at the dairies and processing facilities would make any adverse effects on human health statistically undetectable. Although the law may have further facilitated the mixing of milk from different geographic areas, nothing Moret writes in her argument provides any semblance of support for the notion that large quantities of milk are being transported from areas near nuclear reactors to the inner cities — in large part because no such evidence exists, and in small part because it represents a gross misunderstanding of the law’s intent and effect. Using a vague description of an agricultural law meant to aid dairy farmers which was passed long before nuclear power plants existed, Moret argues that an incidental discovery of radioactive iodine in milk potentially linked to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 offers clear evidence of a concerted effort to transport radioactive milk to America’s inner cities. To make this argument, she cites reporting published in a controversial 1990 book titled Deadly Deceit: Low-level Radiation, High-level Cover-Up: When the authors [of Deadly Deceit] examined the reported levels of Iodine–131 [a radioactive byproduct of fission reactions] in the milk in May and August 1986 for seven cities along the east-coast from Baltimore, Maryland down to Norfolk, Virginia, the highest levels of Iodine–131 were found in Washington in the District of Columbia both for May and August, followed by Baltimore […]. But as the authors point out, it is unlikely that the high concentrations of Iodine–131 in Washington and Baltimore, more than twice as high as for the other cities, could be explained solely by the fallout from Chernobyl. First of all, the highest levels of Iodine–131 measured in the rain in May of 1986 was reported for Virginia, whereas the levels measured in the milk in Virginia were less than half of those in Washington and Baltimore. Secondly, the level of Iodine–131, which is only produced by nuclear fission, continued to be highest in August 1986, three months after the fallout from Chernobyl arrived, so that with its short half-life of about one week it should have been completely undetectable 12 weeks later. But most importantly is the fact that since there are no dairy cows in the small District of Columbia in which Washington is located as well as no nuclear reactors. There is no way that the high concentration of iodine-131 in the Washington milk could be explained by anything else than extraordinarily high levels in the milk shipped into the city, due to emissions from the nuclear reactors in the surrounding states with high levels persisting through August. Here would be a good place to point out that, in fact, very few dairy farms exist in any urban settings due to the rural environment such farms by necessity must inhabit. As such, it is nearly a given that milk will be shipped from somewhere else to cities. Moret’s only evidence of targeted radioactive milk shipments to the inner cities, then, is that in August 1986 two cities with larger relative black populations than other east coast cities (Baltimore and Washington, D.C.), had higher levels of radiation in their milk. Yet she provides no documentation showing an intentional shipment of more radioactive milk to specific neighborhoods within any of these cities, even though that claim is her primary thesis. Additionally, radioactivity in milk is regularly tested as part of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Total Diet Study, which carefully monitors foodstuffs for a range of potentially harmful substances, including radionuclides. If evidence for Moret’s conspiracy theory existed, would it surely not be found more conclusively in these data and not in a single data point from August 1986? We analyzed the results of the Total Diet Study from 1992-2005 and 2006-2014, but we turned up not a single instance of milk’s containing radionuclide levels that even came close to levels that the FDA considers to be potentially harmful. Could Radioactive Milk Cause Diabetes? The final problem with Moret’s argument is the connection between low-level radiation and diabetes. Though Moret makes great pains to suggest the hazards of low-level radiation have been intentionally minimized by the government, diabetes has been linked to radiation exposure in only a few groups, such as animals exposed to heavy and acute amounts of radiation, or childhood cancer survivors who underwent radiation treatment earlier in their lives; both groups were exposed to radiation at levels that are much higher than would be found in milk. In response to our queries, the American Diabetes Association told us that they “are unaware of any link between radiation and diabetes at any levels of radiation that would regularly be encountered in the U.S.”
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29615
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The film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was based on a true story.
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"A remake of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' was promoted with the tagline, ""Inspired by a true story,"" prompting fans to wonder about the origin of this horror classic."
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false
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Horrors, Films, horror movies, Movies
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When The Texas Chain Saw Massacre hit movie theaters in 1974, it quickly supplanted the previous year’s top horror flick, The Exorcist, as “the most terrifying movie ever made.” Unlike The Exorcist, however, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre eschewed standard production values and modern special effects in favor of a grainy documentary-like approach with decidedly low-tech visual effects. The tale of five young students who unwittingly meet up with a sinister hitchhiker and the mask-wearing maniac Leatherface (whose mask is actually made from dried human skin, not leather), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre turned “a lumberjack’s tool into the stuff of nightmares and the blood-curdling scream into an art form,” in the words of Toronto Star writer Melissa Aronzyk. The 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has been touted with the tagline “Inspired by a true story,” leading many horror fans to wonder whether the grisly film was actually based on real events, or whether the claim is simply another bit of Hollywood promotion intended to attract filmgoers via the extra-chilling lure of a macabre tale not entirely the product of a screenwriter’s imagination (a technique successfully used by the Coen brothers to entice viewers into suspending disbelief for 1996’s Fargo, their gruesome cinematic depiction of a kidnapping-for-hire scheme gone awry). Actually, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre has been promoted as being “based on a true incident” for quite a few years now, as the original videocassette cover includes the following synopsis: The film is an account of a tragedy which befell a group of five youths, in particular Sally Hardesty. For them an idyllic summer afternoon drive became a nightmare when they were exposed to an insane and macabre family of chain saw killers. One by one they disappear to be brutally butchered, each murder more horrendous than the last with one victim being hung live on a meat hook, another trapped in his wheelchair as he is hacked to death and the surviving member of the group making a frantic bid for escape in the horrific climax.This video cassette is based on a true incident and is definitely not for the squeamish or the nervous. So, true story or not? Certainly there was no real family of cannibalistic chainsaw murderers slaughtering people in Texas, nor any actual series of chainsaw-related killings. Writer/director Tobe Hooper said the inspiration for the film came from his spotting a display of chainsaws while standing in the hardware section of a crowded store: I was in the Montgomery Ward’s out in Capital Plaza. I had been working on this other story for some months — about isolation, the woods, the darkness, and the unknown. It was around holiday season, and I found myself in the Ward’s hardware department, and I was still kind of percolating on this idea of isolation and such. And those big crowds have always gotten to me. There were just so many people to go through. And I was just standing there in front of an upright display of chainsaws. And the focus just racked from my eyeball to the people to the saws — and the idea popped. I said, “Ooh, I know how I could get out of this place fast — if I just start one of these things up and make that sound.” Of course I didn’t. That was just a fantasy. Hooper has also said that he based the character of Leatherface on Ed Gein, a Wisconsin farmer who robbed graves (his own mother’s supposedly among them), allegedly engaged in necrophilia and cannibalism, and murdered at least two women in the 1950s (one of whose corpses was found hanging naked — decapitated and disembowelled — in Gein’s residence). As Gunnar Hansen, the actor who portrayed Leatherface, notes in his Texas Chainsaw Massacre FAQ: Here’s what Tobe (director) and Kim (writer) told me themselves one night during the filming. They had heard of Ed Gein, the man in Plainfield, Wisconsin, who was arrested in the late 1950s for killing his neighbor and on whom the movie Psycho was based. So when they set out to write this movie, they decided to have a family of killers who had some of the characteristics of Gein: the skin masks, the furniture made from bones, the possibility of cannibalism. But that’s all. The story itself is entirely made up. So, sorry folks. There never was a massacre in Texas on which this was based. No chainsaw either. And, in spite of those of you who have told me you remember when it happened, it really didn’t happen. Really. Believe me. This is an interesting phenomenon. I’ve also had people tell me that they knew the original Leatherface, that they had been guards at the state prison in Huntsville, Texas, where he was a prisoner. Maybe they knew somebody who dreamed of being Leatherface. It is, I suppose, something to aspire to. Police eventually discovered the remains of 15 different mutilated female bodies in Gein’s filthy farmhouse, parts of which (mostly skin and bones) had been fashioned into a variety of bizarre objects (including drums, bowls, masks, bracelets, purses, knife sheaths, leggings, chairs, lampshades, and shirts), as well as a refrigerator full of human organs. Gein later admitted to killing two women, one in 1954 and one in 1957. He was suspected of involvement in the disappearance of four other people in central Wisconsin (two men and two young girls) between 1947 and 1952, but the remains found in his farmhouse all came from adult females, and none of them matched up with any of the four missing persons. (Gein maintained that with the exception of the two women he had admitted killing, all of the body parts in his farmhouse had been taken from corpses he dug up in the local cemetery.) Gein’s story inspired (at least in part) the Norman Bates character — a young man who murders women out of a twisted sense of loyalty to his dead mother — in the classic thriller Psycho, and the Buffalo Bill character — a transvestite serial killer who murders women to make use of their skin — in the horror novel Silence of the Lambs. Although the Leatherface character and the events depicted in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre differ in many substantial ways from what is known about the life and activities of Ed Gein (most notably in that Gein was apparently far more a grave robber than a murderer, and he didn’t go around slicing up live victims with a chainsaw), there are definite similarities between the film and the Ed Gein story as well (e.g., hanging a murder victim’s corpse in the house, making functional use of the skin from dead bodies, elements of cannibalism). Whether these similiarities are sufficiently close to justify the statement that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was “based on a true story” is up to filmgoers to decide for themselves.
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21791
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Barack Obama Says that when President Bill Clinton raised the top tax rates to levels now proposed by Obama, the country experienced significant job growth.
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Obama claims job rate soared after Clinton raised taxes
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mixture
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National, Deficit, Jobs, Taxes, Barack Obama,
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"While many Republicans have warned that President Barack Obama's plan to raise taxes on wealthy Americans would hurt the fragile economy, Obama fired back in a Twitter town hall on July 6, 2011, that he's only proposing to return the top tax rate to the level it was raised to under President Bill Clinton, when job growth subsequently soared. Said Obama: ""If wealthy individuals are willing to simply go back to the rates that existed back in the 1990s when rich people were doing very well -- it’s not like they were poor -- and by the way, that’s when we saw the highest job growth rates, and that’s when we saw the highest -- the greatest reduction in poverty, and that’s when we saw businesses very profitable -- if the wealthiest among us -- and I include myself in this category -- are willing to give up a little bit more, then we can solve this problem. It does not take a lot. ""And I just have to say, when people say, job-killing tax increases, that’s what Obama is proposing, we’re not going to -- you’re entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts. And the facts are that a modest increase for wealthy individuals is not shown to have an adverse impact on job growth. ""I mean, we can test the two theories. You had what happened during the ‘90s -- right? Taxes for wealthy individuals were somewhat higher, businesses boomed, the economy boomed, great job growth. And then the 2000s, when taxes were cut on wealthy individuals, jobs didn’t grow as fast, businesses didn’t grow as fast. I mean, it’s not like we haven’t tried what these other folks are pitching. It didn’t work. And we should go with what works."" First, let's look at the history of the top tax rates at issue here. Clinton raised the top marginal rate from 31 percent to 39.6 percent with the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (previously, President George H.W. Bush had raised the top tax rate from 28 percent to 31 percent in 1990). At the time, Clinton said, ""The deficit has increased so much beyond my earlier estimates and beyond even the worst official government estimates of last year. We just have to face the fact that to make the changes our country needs, more Americans must contribute today so that all Americans can do better tomorrow."" Sound familiar? President George W. Bush later lowered the top marginal rate to 39.1 percent in 2001 and 38.6 percent in 2002 by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. And then he lowered the top rate again, to 35 percent, with the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. The Bush tax cuts -- extended in a compromise deal in December -- are set to expire at the end of 2011 unless Congress seeks to extend them or make them permanent. Obama proposes to let the Bush tax cuts expire for people making over $250,000 a year. In other words, Obama would like to return the top marginal tax rate to the 39.6 percent it was under Clinton. As for Obama's claim that in the years after the Clinton tax increase, job rates soared, the numbers back him up. Employment rates grew a healthy clip through the mid 1990s after Clinton's tax hike, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. And it's also true that jobs didn't grow as quickly after the Bush tax cuts were enacted. So tax hikes equal job growth? ""The 1990s were very good, but not because of higher tax rates,"" said Dan Mitchell, an economist with the libertarian Cato Institute. In an April 18, 2010, blog post, Mitchell argued that ""while Bush had a better record (than Clinton) on taxes, he had a much worse record on spending."" Other economists say the trend at least shows raising taxes on the wealthy isn't going to cause the economy to tank. ""I don't think Obama was claiming that the higher tax rates in the '90s led to the boom, just that they did not prevent it,"" said Dean Baker, a liberal economist and co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. ""Similarly, the tax cuts of the Bush years did not lead to strong growth. Most of the evidence shows that tax increases with a given level of deficits will have a modestly negative impact on the economy."" Higher tax rates in the top brackets does create some disincentive effect, Baker said, and some people work less, ""but it is not a very big deal in the scheme of things."" ""The idea that going back to something like Clinton era tax rates would be a disaster is nonsense,"" Baker said. Said Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics with Moody's economy.com: ""I think he (Obama) is making the point that higher tax rates, at least at the levels under President Clinton, are compatible with strong economic growth, and the evidence is clear on that."" ""You can argue that one reason we had strong growth in the 1990s is that Bush I and Clinton reduced the deficit (cut spending and raised taxes), bringing down budget deficits,"" Faucher said. ""This, in turn, lowered long-term borrowing costs and made more capital available to the private sector. The strong growth then helped bring down the deficit further, and eventually we got surpluses. I think the fiscal discipline of Bush I and Clinton was a reason for the strong growth in the 1990s."" J.D. Foster, an economist with the right-leaning Heritage Foundation, scoffed at the suggestion that higher tax rates might be responsible for higher job growth rates and a booming economy. ""The most you could even hope to say is that the Clinton tax hikes didn't do much damage,"" Foster said. ""The economy was poised for a dramatic boom in 1993, and instead we got muddle and negative real wage growth,"" Foster said, drawing from arguments he made in a March 4, 2008, post on the Heritage website about this very topic. ""The Clinton boom? It started not in 1993, but in 1997, which not coincidentally coincided with Republicans taking firmer control of the budget, welfare reform, and especially the capital gains tax rate reduction. Did these policies cause the boom? I argue they contributed to a propitious moment. But at least the case is plausible, whereas to ignore history and argue that the tax hikes somehow led to a boom that began four years later is simply laughable."" Foster argued that while the Clinton tax hikes didn't trigger job losses in the 1990s, tax increases could now. ""The real difference between 1993 and 2011 is that the circumstances of 1993 suggested a recovery well underway that was on course for rapid expansion, an expansion that was dulled by the tax hikes,"" Foster said. ""We had just come out of a very mild domestic recession, inflation was low, energy prices were low, peace reigned as democracy bloomed and a confluence of new technologies were about to transform the world economy. ""2011? We're still struggling out of a finance-centered deep global recession, the recovery is weak and retarded by a series of economic policy gaffes by this administration, global political tensions are high, oil prices are high, Europe is in the grips of a massive sovereign debt crisis of their own making. Do you really think the consequences of a tax hike today would be the same as in 1993? Not hardly."" Eric Toder, co-director of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center, doesn't dispute Obama's facts. But he questions what it proves. ""It does not prove that tax increases cause growth and tax cuts retard it,"" Toder said. ""Lots of other stuff was happening in both decades, and simple correlations don’t prove causation. It is even possible that growth in the 1990s would have been stronger without the tax increases and weaker in the 2000s without the tax cuts. It is true, however, that the Clinton tax increases did not prevent an economic boom from occurring, whatever their incremental effect may have been. And the Bush tax cuts did not forestall a decade of relatively weak performance, even if one is willing to argue that things would have been worse without them."" So where does this leave us? It is true that when Clinton raised the top marginal tax rate to 39.6 percent -- the same level Obama would like to return it to now -- the U.S. saw strong job growth in the ensuing years. But to the extent Obama is suggesting a cause and effect relationship between those two events -- and we think he certainly leaves that impression when he says we ""should go with what works"" -- that is dubious, according to the cross-section of economists we spoke to. There were many other economic factors that played a larger role in job growth, they said. However, most agree that the tax increases did not appear to hinder job growth, and that's significant given the dire warnings some Republicans have issued about Obama's plan to return the top tax rate to Clinton levels. Perhaps, as Foster argues, the situation is different enough now -- more precarious -- that a tax hike would have a more damaging effect. That's a matter for economists to debate. When Obama says we saw job growth in the 1990s even as Clinton raised taxes, he's right. But to the extent that he's suggesting raising taxes created job growth -- as he appears to be when he says ""we should go with what works,"" he goes too far."
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21639
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[T]his breed (of pit bulls) is most often associated with aggressive behavior.
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Are pit bulls more aggressive than other dogs?
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true
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Georgia, Animals, Elaine Boyer,
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"DeKalb County commissioners are considering a reversal of an ordinance that has tongues wagging in Georgia’s third highest-populated county. County leaders are thinking about removing pit bulls from its list of banned household pets. Commissioner Elaine Boyer, whose district includes a politically conservative area in north DeKalb, raised some concerns about changing the ordinance. ""[T]his breed (of pit bulls) is most often associated with aggressive behavior,"" Boyer said in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution published July 20. There is no date immediately scheduled to discuss the idea. You don’t have to look far to find some tragic story of a child being horrifically mauled by a pit bull, which is known for its vise-like jaws. There are the frequent media accounts of pit bull dogfighting, which most famously involved former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who pleaded guilty and served prison time for and his role in conspiring in a dogfighting ring. But some counter that this breed of dog is not as vicious as its public portrayal. Many pit bull owners say the dogs are loving animals, which are sometimes trained by owners to be violent. Pit bulls are not the problem, they argue, people are. We wanted to see if Boyer is right. The commissioner, who said she has no position on the proposed ordinance change, explained her initial comments to us via e-mail. ""I am an animal lover,"" she wrote. ""Our family owns small breed dogs, and we have personally never had an encounter with a pit bull. But friends and constituents have told me they have had bad experiences with pit bulls... I imagine even the sweetest puppy of any breed could snap at you if taunted or not trained properly."" In 2008, a team of University of Pennsylvania researchers completed a study of aggressiveness of 30 breeds of dogs. The researchers collected about 15,000 questionnaires for the year-long study. The researchers asked owners a series of questions concerning how their dogs reacted in various situations to other canines and humans they know as well as strangers. The questions included how does the dog react when a stranger arrives. The results found Chihuahuas and Dachshunds were the most aggressive toward both humans and other dogs. Those breeds, however, are smaller and usually inflict less-severe injuries. The findings were a mixed bag for Pit Bull Terriers. The dogs were among the most aggressive toward other dogs, particularly those they didn’t know. Pit bulls, the researchers found, were not significantly more aggressive than other breeds toward strangers and their owners. ""(Pit bulls) tended to be on the high side, but there were lots of breeds that were higher,"" said James Serpell, one of the researchers. Serpell told us they felt confident with their findings. He acknowledged that some owners may have over reported or under reported how aggressive their dog acted in some scenarios. The results were widely reported by many newspapers. One study of aggression done by a specialist in Australia found the pit bull terrier attacked humans at a higher level than any breed. German Shepherds and crosses were a close second. For nearly 35 years, a Missouri-based group has conducted its own research on canine aggressiveness. The American Temperament Test Society conducts a 10-step exam and has checked out nearly 31,000 dogs, according to its website. The test includes seeing how the dog reacts to strangers,reacts to someone the animal doesn’t know but tries to pet it, how it reacts to loud noises and its response to a stranger who approaches in a menacing fashion. The two types of pit bulls (the American Pit Bull Terrier and American Staffordshire Terrier) they’ve studied have aggression scores that are not as bad as boxers, bulldogs, collies, Great Danes, Greyhounds and Shetland sheepdogs. They are in the same range as the German Shepherd and golden retriever. Labrador retrievers scored better than pit bulls. ""On an even playing field, a pit bull is no more dangerous than a collie,"" said Salliann Comstock, the society’s chief tester and director of operations. Comstock contends pit bulls are trained to be aggressive and argues many people, including some animal shelter workers, mistake other animals for pit bulls. ""A small boxer is called a pit bull,"" she said. There is some skepticism about the society’s exam. One blogger said the test is geared toward bold dogs who are better equipped to face danger. Some discount dog aggressiveness studies altogether, saying the breeds are often misidentified even by owners. The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control & Prevention once conducted a study of 20 years worth of fatal dog bite data. The study found 66 people died through bite-related incidents involving various types of pit bulls, which was more than any other type of dog. Rottweilers were a distant second, with 39. Rottweilers, though, were involved in 30 fatal dog bites for the last six years of the study while pit bulls were involved in 15 fatal dog bites. The study, however, was from 1979 through 1998. The CDC has not updated that study. CDC spokeswoman Gail Hayes stressed via email that their study does not conclude which dogs are most likely to bite or kill. She also noted that the estimated 4.7 million Americans bitten by dog bites annually result in about 16 fatalities, a ratio of well less than 1 percent. The past studies and research we’ve reviewed shows pit bulls are among the most aggressive dogs. Some breeds, however, have been shown to be more aggressive in each report. However, the widely held perception is that they are dangerous, which was Boyer’s over-arching point. An Associated Press poll done in October found of the dog owners who would support breed bans, 85 percent would outlaw pit bulls. Her statement has merit, but could have used additional context about the breed, which would have put it in a slightly different light."
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37484
|
"White House Advisor Kellyanne Conway said ""this isn't COVID-1, folks"" during a Fox News appearance."
|
Did Kellyanne Conway Say ‘This Isn’t COVID-1, Folks’ on Fox News?
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true
|
Fact Checks, Viral Content
|
"On April 15 2020, a viral tweet asserted Trump White House advisor Kellyanne Conway appeared on Fox News, stating “this isn’t COVID-1” when discussing challenges posed by the novel coronavirus and COVID-19:Kellyanne Conway: ""This is COVID-19, not COVID-1 folks, and so you would think the people in charge of the World Health Organization, facts and figures, would be on top of that."" pic.twitter.com/losQ3H4ZhW— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) April 15, 2020The RumorIterations of the tweet spread in screenshot form on Facebook and other platforms, with only the text of the tweet visible or accessible. It read:Kellyanne Conway: “This is COVID-19, not COVID-1 folks, and so you would think the people in charge of the World Health Organization, facts and figures, would be on top of that.”The tweet above was liked and shared thousands of times, but a follow-up tweet from the same user was even more popular. In that second tweet, @revrrlewis maintained that Conway’s phrasing suggested she believed that COVID-19 was the nineteenth coronavirus in a series:the “19” stands for 2019, the year it was discovered, not that this is the 19th time that this virus has appeared. kellyanne conway probably knows this; she’s just serving dumbass lines that sound good because it gets the base riled up. what was that about putting politics aside?A similarly popular retweet of the clip included the following commentary:Kellyanne Conway’s stupid ass thinks there was a COVID-1 through 18 before #COVID19 and doesn’t know the 19 stands for 2019.How COVID-19 Got Its NameThe “19” in COVID-19 was came from for the year in which it was identified by epidemiologists:On February 11, 2020 the World Health Organization announced an official name for the disease that is causing the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak, first identified in Wuhan China. The new name of this disease is coronavirus disease 2019, abbreviated as COVID-19. In COVID-19, ‘CO’ stands for ‘corona,’ ‘VI’ for ‘virus,’ and ‘D’ for disease. Formerly, this disease was referred to as “2019 novel coronavirus” or “2019-nCoV”.There are many types of human coronaviruses including some that commonly cause mild upper-respiratory tract illnesses. COVID-19 is a new disease, caused be a novel (or new) coronavirus that has not previously been seen in humans. The name of this disease was selected following the World Health Organization (WHO) best practiceexternal iconexternal icon for naming of new human infectious diseases.What Kellyanne Conway Said About “COVID-1” and the World Health OrganizationOn April 15 2020, Conway appeared on Fox News’ morning show Fox & Friends.As she broadly discussed the federal government’s early response to a then-emerging pandemic, Conway made a confusing statement about a resurgence of COVID-19 in the autumn of 2020, adding:The President took decisive and immediate action at the end of January [2020] to shut down flights to China. That was criticized by the WHO. It was criticized by other people as xenophobic and racist and travel bans don’t work.Well, this one sure did. We have every right to know. And every right to know because what’s happened here in this global pandemic.But there’s another reason, some of the scientists and doctors say that there could be other strains later on. This could come back in the fall in a limited way.This is COVID-19, not COVID-1, folks. You would think that people charged with the World Health Organization facts and figures would be on top of that.This is just a pause right now. So there is an investigation, examination to what happened. But people should know the facts.Conway’s statement was broadly interpreted as indicative she believed that the World Health Organization had “18 COVIDs” to prepare for the COVID-19 pandemic:Kellyanne Slams WHO For Handling of Covid-19, Given They’ve Had 18 Covids to Practice With: ‘This is Covid-19, Not Covid-1 Folks’Did Kellyanne Conway Believe COVID-1 Through COVID-18 Preceded COVID-19?It’s impossible to parse or decipher the meaning behind Conway’s assertion that “this is COVID-19, not COVID-1, folks” for several reasons. Nevertheless, the statement was accurately described in many tweets — Conway, while criticizing the WHO, stated COVID-19 was “not COVID-1.”"
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3876
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Medicaid expansion has saved Montana $30 million.
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Montana’s Medicaid expansion program has saved the state health department more than $30 million since its start in January 2016, mostly because the federal government paid a bigger share of the costs for some recipients, officials said.
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true
|
Montana, Medicaid, Health care services
|
Erica Johnston with the Department of Public Health and Human Services told a legislative oversight committee on Wednesday that the program covers nearly 84,000 residents and has paid for $574 million in health care services since it began. Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government began picking up all of the costs, rather than 65 percent of the costs, for families with children and an income between 24 and 50 percent of the federal poverty level as well as for people with severe mentally disabling conditions, people determined to be medically needy, and women in the breast and cervical cancer program. Beginning in January, the state became responsible for 5 percent of those costs. The state will have to pick up 6 percent of the costs in 2018, 7 percent in 2019 and 10 percent starting in 2020. Johnston told the Medicaid Expansion Oversight Committee that even as the state continues to pay a share of the costs for recipients under Medicaid expansion, Montana is still ahead of the game. “Our current budget crisis would be worse today in the absence of Medicaid expansion,” she said. Enrollees are required to pay 2 percent of their monthly income in premiums. The state has collected $5.6 million in premiums, Johnston said. The Department of Corrections reported Wednesday it has saved several million dollars on inmate hospital stays since January 2016 because of Medicaid expansion. The department automatically applies for Medicaid coverage for inmates. While they are not eligible to receive benefits while incarcerated, coverage begins if they are admitted to the hospital for more than 24 hours. Without the expansion, the department would have been responsible for those charges, Johnston said. The billed charges were more than $8 million, but that’s not necessarily how much the department would have paid. Corrections also began reimbursing other outside medical claims at the Medicaid rate, rather than the higher commercial rate, saving $7.66 million in the fiscal year that ended in June, the department said. Bob Olsen, vice president of the Montana Hospital Association, told the committee that change hurts small hospitals near Montana’s corrections facilities. For example, the Deer Lodge Medical Center received $1.2 million less in payments from the prison over one year, he said. Olsen suggested the Legislature might want to look at the effects of the payment model on smaller hospitals near correctional facilities when Medicaid expansion is up for renewal in 2019.
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9385
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Boomers are going bionic, and they want joint replacements to let them do it all
|
This story reported on the growing popularity of joint replacement surgery, which it said is driven by Baby Boomers who want to take advantage of improving technology to regain their active lifestyles. To its credit, the story addressed costs, highlighted overly optimistic expectations by patients, and mentioned the generous incomes of surgeons who perform these operations. Yet, in some parts of the story, it reads like an advertisement for joint replacements and for the doctors and hospitals that perform them, compounded by futuristic terminology like “bionic.” This was amplified by the lack of specific data on benefits for patients, and the only expert quoted has a conflict of interest that wasn’t disclosed. The story also could have mentioned evidence that many joint replacements don’t do much good. The estimated global market for joint replacement is $16 billion, with most of that spent in the U.S. However, there’s evidence that many of these procedures aren’t providing much benefit for the people who get them, so restraint is warranted in reporting about these invasive and costly procedures.
|
mixture
|
medical devices
|
The story states: “The procedures can cost up to $50,000 for knees and $40,000 for hips, though the prices vary widely among Medicare and private insurers, which typically bear the bulk of the cost.” The story offered several positive anecdotes, such as a former mountain climber and football player who resumed his ability to hike and run on a treadmill after two knee replacements. But there was little data. It would have been much better to quote an objective research study about knee and hip replacements and to present real estimates of these patient-reported outcomes. The story mentioned at least some potential harms: In patient-reported surveys, some still complain of pain and tissue inflammation after their procedures. Smaller numbers suffer serious complications, ranging from blood clotting to hospital-acquired infections. Still, it could have devoted more attention to risks, including the lax regulation of implantable devices. The story offered some cautions, noting boomers “may have a tougher time coming to terms with the reality that a new body part doesn’t mean they can resume all of the high-impact activities that were a major part of their lives. “Nobody will return to playing football,” (surgeon David) Mattingly said. “The person who struggles is the one who’s done long-distance running for years and just doesn’t want to give it up.” But the story could have given more caveats. For example, an analysis funded by a government-industry initiative concluded that total knee replacements for patients with osteoarthritis had “minimal effects on quality of life” and may be warranted only for those with more severe symptoms. The story also reported that implants “don’t wear down as fast as they once did” and have a “90% chance of lasting two decades,” but no evidence was cited. Some research has questioned the safety and efficacy of new hip and knee implants, and that wasn’t mentioned. The story ignored a body of evidence showing many patients who receive joint replacements don’t get much benefit, including a recent report that found one in four joint replacements in Australia weren’t needed. The story admirably reported the generous pay of doctors who do joint replacements: “Last year, the average salary for joint-replacement specialists topped $575,000, reported the Dallas consulting firm Merritt Hawkins & Associates, compared with just over $230,000 for family doctors.” But the story doesn’t tell readers that the only doctor it quotes — orthopedic surgeon David Mattingly, M.D. — has received $160,000 from joint maker DePuy Synthes, a division of Johnson & Johnson, in recent years, according to the database Open Payments. It would have been good to quote a doctor who doesn’t make a living doing these surgeries (e.g. an internist or sports medicine doctor who treats hip and knee osteoarthritis). There was no mention of alternatives such as cartilage restoration procedures to stabilize joints, losing weight to ease joint strain, and managing activity to avoid injury. Treatment of hip and knee osteoarthritis is a classic example of a “shared decision” that should be made based on patient preference because there is no “right” answer – joint replacement is often no better than physical therapy, for example, but this did not come across at all in the piece. Here’s an example of a decision aid for hip and knee osteoarthritis. The story made it clear that knee replacements are widely available and covered by insurers. The story said “joint implants have become more customized to suit individual patients, but a Billerica company is pushing the personalization trend further. ConforMIS Inc. uses 3-D printing and imaging software to more precisely tailor replacement joints.” This seems to be a new trend although we weren’t able to find any independent research about whether customization leads to better for patients. The story did not appear to rely on a news release.
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5838
|
Phoenix-area officials record 5 baby deaths from syphilis.
|
Health officials recorded five baby deaths from congenital syphilis in the Phoenix area last year.
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true
|
Health, Arizona, Phoenix, Syphilis
|
The Arizona Republic reports the Maricopa County Department of Public Health counted 30 babies born with the disease in 2018. The department says the county’s rate of the disease has doubled over the last two years and is nearly 60 percent higher than the national average. Congenital syphilis is when an infected mother passes the disease to her baby during pregnancy. Rebecca Sunenshine, department medical director, says more men and women are getting the disease and not enough doctors are screening for it during pregnancy, leading to the increase in congenital syphilis. State law requires medical providers to test pregnant women for syphilis at the first prenatal visit. ___ Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com
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5456
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Michigan health chief fights to undo manslaughter charges.
|
The head of Michigan’s health department is trying to overturn a decision that sends him to trial for two deaths in the Flint water crisis.
|
true
|
Health, Michigan, Legionnaires disease, Flint, Disease outbreaks
|
In court filings Monday, Nick Lyon’s legal team asked a judge to dismiss involuntary manslaughter and other charges. A lower court judge in August said there was enough evidence to send Lyon to trial. Lyon is accused of failing to prevent the deaths of two men by not timely informing the public about a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in 2014-15. Some experts have blamed an outbreak of the severe pneumonia on dirty water from the Flint River. Lyon’s attorneys note that Robert Skidmore and John Snyder were elderly men with countless health problems. They say there’s no evidence that Lyon contributed to their deaths. They also say there was “substantial notification” of Legionnaires’ to area doctors and hospitals.
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1342
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Scientists urge UK to fortify flour with folic acid to limit birth defects.
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Britain’s failure to legislate to make food producers fortify flour with folic acid to help prevent babies being born with birth defects is based on flawed analysis and should be reversed, scientists said on Wednesday.
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true
|
Health News
|
Urging the UK to follow more than 80 other countries, including the United States, who have mandatory fortification, the scientists said there was no need for an upper limit on folate intake because there is no risk of harmful overdose. Deficiency in folate, by contrast, can cause pregnant women to have babies with serious birth defects called anencephaly and spina bifida. Also known as neural tube defects, the conditions affect 1 in 500-1,000 pregnancies in Britain. Folic acid is a synthetic form of the B vitamin folate, which is found in asparagus, broccoli and dark leafy vegetables. Folic acid can be taken as pills or added to staple foods such as flour and cereals. In countries that have introduced mandatory folic acid fortification, neural tube defects in babies have fallen by as much as 50 percent, according to experts from Queen Mary University of London and the School of Advanced Study at University of London, who published a study on the issue on Wednesday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the cost of folic acid fortification at around 1.0 cent per person per year. “Failing to fortify flour with folic acid to prevent neural tube defects is like having a polio vaccine and not using it,” Nicholas Wald of Queen Mary’s Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine told a briefing in London. He said that on average every day in Britain, two women terminate pregnancies because of neural tube defects, and every week two women give birth to an affected child. “It’s a completely avoidable tragedy,” said Joan Morris, who works with Wald. She said that from 1998, when the US introduced mandatory folic acid fortification, to 2017, an estimated 3,000 neural tube defects could have been prevented if the UK had adopted the same level of fortification. In the UK, white flour is already fortified with iron, calcium and the B vitamins niacin and thiamin. Yet despite recommendations from experts, Britain has not introduced mandatory folic acid fortification, partly due to concerns it might lead to some people having too high a folate intake. However Wednesday’s new research, published in the journal Public Health Reviews, found those concerns were unjustified. “With the upper limit removed there is no scientific or medical reason for delaying the introduction of mandatory folic acid fortification,” Wald said.
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31158
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A waste company will be offering curbside dead body pickup service to offset “TrumpCare.
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"Reports that a waste company will be offering curbside dead body pickup service to offset “TrumpCare"" deaths originated as satire."
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false
|
Junk News, nevada county scooper, trumpcare
|
On 19 July 2017, the Nevada County Scooper (NC Scooper) web site published an article positing that a prominent waste management company would soon be offering a curbside dead body pickup service to offset the results of “TrumpCare” (the Trump administration’s proposed legislative replacement for the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as “Obamacare”), which many critics contended would leave millions of Americans without adequate health insurance: Houston, TX — The Houston-based Waste Management corporation announced a plan to offer curbside dead body pickup service to offset what critics say would be a direct result “TrumpCare,” which will overwhelm present mortuary services. Weekly pickup will be available at a reduced rate but special same day retrieval will cost more for individuals not comfortable with the smell of death lingering in their home. Body bags are available on their website but they will accept bodies properly bagged and duct taped to ensure minimal leakage of fluids. As the largest environmental solutions provider in North America they have the power to revolutionize the business model for cleaning up neighborhoods of excess dead bodies. Many have expressed concerns this will impact the small mortuary businesses so we talked to our local mortuary, Hooper and Weaver to document their opinion on the subject. The owner didn’t want to talk to us, but we were able to talk to Gus the embalming guy. “With millions of Americans about to lose health coverage I think there will be plenty of dead bodies for everyone,” Gus told us while he searched for a vein on an elderly man’s bloated corpse. The NC Scooper article was widely circulated via social media as if it were real news. However, a glance at the Scooper‘s tongue-in-cheek “About” page is an obvious clue to the site’s satirical nature. And if that isn’t sufficient, the site’s “Terms and Conditions” page lays that concept out explicitly: This website is satirical in scope and intent. It provides social criticism in a satirical, sometimes news-genre setting. We are not a fake news site, but rather an entertainment one. Sometimes it’s just plain-old crappy writing with a few bad jokes. Anyhow, if this offends you, you might want to consider doing something else with your time not looking at the Internet. Really, the quality of your life will improve dramatically. Also, our intention is not to fool anyone, but if you do get fooled please don’t sweat it. Please have fun and lighten up and watch out for Snopes.com. We’re not sure they’ve had all their vaccinations.
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24569
|
President Obama . . . wants to mandate circumcision.
|
Limbaugh wrong that Obama is mandating circumcision
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false
|
National, Health Care, Pundits, Rush Limbaugh,
|
"PARENTAL ADVISORY: We don't imagine there are a lot of kids reading PolitiFact, but this item contains explicit language you don't normally see here. Parental discretion is advised. A new rap song by the hip-hop artist Jay-Z takes a shot at Rush Limbaugh. But the radio talk show host — referring to the rapper as ""Mr. Z"" — said he was honored to be mentioned. ""Does this, Snerdley, mark a new development in my career to be singled out in a rap song by the famous rapper Jay-Z?"" he said to his call screener on his Aug. 25, 2009, show. ""I guess it is. As far as I know I have never been mentioned in a rap song by anybody. I guess it means I've made it. I'm now in a rap tune by the famous rapper Jay-Z. (The song says) '[T]ell Bill O'Reilly to fall back. Tell Rush Limbaugh to get off my balls.' I would remind the rapper Jay-Z: Mr. Z, it is President Obama who wants to mandate circumcision. We had that story yesterday; and that means if we need to save our penises from anybody, it's Obama. I did not know I was on anybody's balls, either. I'm happy to know that they think I am, though! But I didn't actually know that I was."" It's an issue Limbaugh explored on his Aug. 24 show as well, saying, ""Not that I'm against circumcision, but it's a family's decision. Leave our penises alone, too, Obama!"" He cited a Fox News story about an upcoming report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that may recommend circumcision for newborn boys as a way to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, because studies show that the procedure can reduce transmission of the disease from women to men. The CDC will be discussing what to include in the recommendations at the National HIV Prevention Conference, which is being held in Atlanta this week. The CDC is still mulling its decision, CDC spokesman Scott Bryan said in an e-mail. ""It is important to note that the recommendations are still in development and the CDC has made no determination at this time about the final content,"" he wrote. ""There is a deliberative process for our circumcision recommendations that allows for both external and internal CDC experts to weigh in, followed by a period of public comment after the draft recommendations are published. With respect to infant circumcision, it is important to recognize that many options are still being considered in this process, including simply educating parents about the potential benefits and risks in order to ensure they can make an informed decision."" CDC is also considering whether to recommend circumcision for adult men who are at high risk for HIV infection, Bryan wrote. He emphasized that the recommendations ""will be completely voluntary."" We wondered whether Obama had been involved in the issue and specifically in the CDC's decision to write the guidance, as Limbaugh's claim indicates. We scoured his voting record on Congressional Quarterly , his position papers and speeches on Project Vote Smart , and even typed ""circumcision"" into the White House Web site , and came up with nothing. From what we found, Obama has not used the word ""circumcision"" in any public statement as a candidate or as president. We also found no evidence that he has recommended circumcusion to the CDC. The only link — and it's an indirect one — that we could find between Obama and the CDC's efforts was a press release on the White House Web site announcing a series of HIV/AIDS community discussions, the first one being held in conjunction with the National HIV Prevention Conference we mentioned earlier. But the release did not mention circumcision. It turns out that circumcision recommendations have been under discussion since 2007, when George W. Bush was president. Given the fact the CDC was pondering the idea back then, it is no more accurate to say Obama wants to mandate circumcision than to say Bush did. So, back to Limbaugh's claim. He says Obama ""wants to mandate circumcision."" But the CDC's eventual recommendations — if they even include circumcision — will be voluntary, not mandatory. In addition, we could we find no connection between Obama and the new guidance, and no evidence that Obama had even used the word in a public forum. In fact, the recommendations were under discussion long before Obama took office. This one is ridiculous enough to set the meter ablaze — !"
|
713
|
Neurotoxin may have caused diplomats’ illness in Cuba: study.
|
Fumigation against mosquitoes in Cuba and not “sonic attacks” may have caused some 40 U.S. and Canadian diplomats and family members in Havana to fall ill, according to a new study commissioned by the Canadian government.
|
true
|
Health News
|
The incidents took place from late 2016 into 2018, causing the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to charge that diplomats were attacked by some sort of secret weapon. Canada has refrained from such charges. The United States in 2017 reduced its embassy staff to a minimum and Canada followed more recently, citing the incidents and the danger posed to staff from what has become known as the “Havana Syndrome.” Various scientific studies have yet to identify the cause of the diplomats’ cognitive ailments, ranging from dizziness and blurred vision to memory loss and difficulty concentrating. The Canadian study by a team of researchers affiliated with the Brain Repair Centre at Dalhousie University and the Nova Scotia Health Authority studied Canadian victims and even the brain of a pet dog after its demise in Canada. The study was the first to include diplomats for whom there was baseline medical testing from before their postings in Havana, so as to better compare with the tests from afterwards. Canada started implementing the practice after diplomats first started complaining of sickness. The researchers said they had detected different levels of brain damage in an area that causes symptoms reported by the diplomats and which is susceptible to neurotoxins. They then concluded that cholinesterase, a key enzyme required for the proper functioning of the nervous system, was being blocked there. Some pesticides work by inhibiting cholinesterase, the report said, and during the 2016-2018 period when diplomats became ill normal fumigation in Cuba was stepped up due to the Zika epidemic in the Caribbean. The report said the diplomats’ illnesses coincided with increased fumigation in and around residences where they lived. One of the authors of the study, Professor Alon Friedman, clarified in an email to Reuters that both Canadian and Cuban authorities were fumigating. “We report the clinical, imaging and biochemical evidence consistent with the hypothesis of over-exposure to cholinesterase inhibitors as the cause of brain injury,” the study concluded, while cautioning that other causes could not be ruled out and more study was needed. Friedman said it was not clear whether the broader Cuban population was affected by the fumigation and if not, why, but his team was planning a further study on this together with Cuban scientists.
|
7298
|
Planned Parenthood Florida gives transgender hormone therapy.
|
Planned Parenthood is now offering hormone therapy and other services for transgender patients in Florida, starting with two health centers in Miami this week. It plans to expand statewide within the year.
|
true
|
Planned Parenthood, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Health
|
The services could help a patient who, for example, was born as a female and still has female organs but identifies as male. Oral, topical and injectable hormones would address issues like facial hair, redistribution of fat and muscle and thicker vocal chords. The prescriptions are written after extensive medical and blood tests and are only available for patients 18 and older. The cost varies based on insurance and ranges from roughly $250 to $350 if paying out of pocket. Planned Parenthood is also training staff on how to better serve the transgender population, including helping them manage routine reproductive check-ups and screenings that may be emotionally uncomfortable. That could include cancer screenings and annual gynecological exams for a patient born as a female who identifies as male who may have trouble finding a provider or have lost health care because of discrimination. “We were hearing from our allies and witnessing the kind of barriers that transgender people experience trying to secure healthcare and that is from just walking into a health facility and being treated with judgment and discrimination,” said Lillian Tamayo, president of Planned Parenthood Florida. The organization started offering appointments at two locations in Miami on Monday and plans to provide services to 11 counties where they currently provide health care within the year from the Florida Keys up to Jacksonville and over to Tallahassee. They join about 200 Planned Parenthood affiliates already providing hormone therapy in several other states including California, New York and Virginia. That’s a 150 percent increase from 2016. Almost half of all the Planned Parenthood affiliated nationwide now provide hormone therapy to transgender patients, said Tamayo. She noted that Planned Parenthood’s services are not just for women and that the organization has offered services for men for years, including testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, working with couples and providing birth control for family planning, HIV testing and referrals and abortion counseling and procedures. Conservatives were quick to criticize the organization, saying the services are a waste of taxpayer funds and are harmful to transgender patients. “Like abortion, these services are not health care. I believe that they’re abusive to the person taking them and create more problems than they solve,” said John Stemberger, president of Florida Family Policy Council. “Gender dysphoria is a legitimate mental disorder ... these people need help and counseling,” he said. “The fact that so many are plunged into suicide and depression has nothing to do with external forces and has more to do with they’re not aligning themselves with reality.” Planned Parenthood has faced numerous attacks from conservative lawmakers in recent years and attempts to withdraw state and federal funding, but Tamayo said that will not change their mission. “People deserve access to high quality, compassionate health care. Your health care decisions should be between you and your doctor and not with a politician,” she said. “Our view is to lead with those values.”
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27754
|
Feminine hygiene products are subject to sales tax in most states.
|
In May 2016, the majority of the 40 states with a tampon tax retained it (although New York was on its way to tax-free status for feminine hygiene products). By and large, social media tampon tax claims were accurate. To be clear, tampons weren’t taxed at a special or higher rate than other taxable items — they simply were subject to sales tax in general.
|
true
|
Politics, taxes
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A tax on feminine hygiene products (also known as a “tampon tax”) was not new by the time social media interest in the topic appeared in May 2016, but a screenshot published by the page “Women’s Rights News” contributed the buzz: The image originated with a 15 January 2016 interview between YouTube personality Ingrid Nilsen and President Barack Obama. The “I don’t know anyone who has a period who thinks it’s a luxury” comment was made by Nilsen, not the President: The topic was already steadily popular. NYMag.com published an article on 29 April 2016 that explored social media interest in the tampon tax: Pads and tampons have made political headlines in every single month of this year. In January, lawmakers in California, Utah, Virginia, and Michigan introduced anti-tampon-tax bills. They were mostly sponsored by women (shout out to Delegate Mark Keam in Virginia, though!). Notably, in each of those states, except California, the mostly Democratic sponsors are vastly outnumbered in their Republican-heavy legislatures. Also in January, the tampon tax made headlines when Obama learned about it while the camera was rolling, and declared he thought the tax was unfair. Then, in February, similar bills were introduced in Illinois, Wisconsin, and New York. In March, the city of Chicago dropped its tampon tax, and a class-action lawsuit brought by women in Ohio and New York state added pressure to stop taxing periods. In April, the New York Senate unanimously passed the tampon tax bill. This is an astounding amount of national legislative momentum for an issue that was long considered to be women’s private, shameful burden. It’s no coincidence that efforts to end the tampon tax have cropped up alongside viral art projects, new businesses, and digital campaigns to destigmatize menstruation. The tampon tax is the perfect of-the-moment issue for lawmakers who want to signal their support for women — and take a stance on inequality. Ending the tax, which promises practical benefits for low-income women, is low-hanging fruit for legislators in liberal states. A widely circulated June 2015 map created by Fusion illustrated the tampon tax with color coding. Most states taxed feminine hygiene products, except a few that had either specific exemptions or no sales tax at all: Minnesota, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Maryland specifically did not tax [PDF] feminine hygiene products. Alaska, Oregon, Montana, New Hampshire, and Delaware do not have sales tax on any items (including tampons). The rest of the states maintained a tax on such products. One outlier was the state of New York, which moved in April 2016 to abolish the tax: The Republican-led Senate on Monday unanimously passed a bill exempting feminine hygiene products from sales tax, two months after the debate over the so-called tampon tax reached Albany. The bill, sponsored by freshman Sen. Sue Serino, a Republican from Hyde Park, passed with 58 votes. The vote on the Senate floor took about one minute, just enough time for at least one period joke. “It is a way of providing some tax relief to women everywhere, young girls in particular,” Sen. Diane Savino said, thanking the bill sponsor. “But on behalf of women of a certain age everywhere, I would love to offer a friendly amendment and ask for a rebate program, Senator Serino. But I know it would probably bankrupt the state.” Lawmakers in Michigan expressed interest in advancing a similar initiative, and the city of Chicago (but not the state of Illinois) axed the tax. On 12 April 2016, MarketWatch reported some momentum both in and outside the U.S. to end the additional charges: The issue has made it onto the agenda in about 10 states, seven of which introduced the legislation, including New York (though Utah’s never made it out of committee) and three, South Carolina, Tennessee and Illinois, that recently debated it. It has also gone international, with France cutting the sales tax in late 2015 and the European Union taking a stance on the issue this year.
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2680
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Study finds welfare cuts can cost lives.
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Radical cuts in social welfare spending by governments intent on reducing budget deficits can cost lives as well as cause economic pain, according to a study published on Friday.
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true
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Science News
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British researchers found that levels of social spending in Europe are strongly associated with risks of premature death, particularly from diseases linked to wealth and social circumstances such as heart attacks and alcohol-related illness. In a study published in the British Medical Journal, the researchers calculated that for approximately every 80 euros ($107) cut from social welfare spending per person, alcohol-related deaths would rise by about 2.8 percent and heart disease deaths by around 1.2 percent. The global recession and financial crisis have driven many governments in Europe to make drastic budget cuts to try to reduce ballooning deficits. Some, like Britain, have ring-fenced health spending with a view to keeping voters on their side. But the study suggested that while such governments may think they are safeguarding the population’s health by protecting healthcare budgets, they may be ignoring the health dangers implicit in welfare cuts. “This report reveals that ordinary people may be paying the ultimate price for budget cuts — potentially costing them their lives,” the authors, led by sociologist David Stuckler from the Oxford University, wrote in the study. Heart disease is already the number one killer in Europe, the United States and other wealthy nations, while alcohol-related illnesses rank at number eight in the World Health Organization’s top 10 leading causes of death worldwide. Previous studies have found that in developed nations, both heart disease and alcohol-related health problems are more prevalent among people in deprived communities. Stuckler’s team looked at Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data on welfare spending in 15 European countries between 1980 to 2005. These included programs to provide support to families and children, to help the unemployed get jobs, and support for people with disabilities — all of which could plausibly affect health, the researchers explained. Analyzing trends in the data, they found that when social spending was high, death rates fell, but when they were low, death rates rose substantially. “Health and social welfare programs appear to be a key determinant of future population health that should be taken into account in ongoing economic debates,” Stuckler wrote.
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22876
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The cost-saving measures we put into place at Columbia/HCA drove down national health care inflation from 18% to 8% in seven years.
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Rick Scott claims his company caused national health care inflation to nosedive
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false
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Health Care, Florida, Rick Scott,
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"Florida Gov.-elect Rick Scott touted himself as a businessman during his 2010 campaign. Now he says that steps he took at his former health care company caused national health care inflation to drop dramatically. In a written copy of his speech to the Florida Council of 100 Governors on Nov. 18, 2010, a couple weeks after his victory, Scott said: ""We need to get a waiver to reform our Medicaid program and rework our health care benefits for state employees. Consumer directed care will lower the costs and increase the available choices. I have considerable experience in driving down health care costs while maintaining quality. The cost-saving measures we put into place at Columbia/HCA drove down national health care inflation from 18% to 8% in seven years."" That's a massive drop -- and a major claim to suggest that the actions of one company could take credit for driving down national health care inflation. We wanted to know what seven-year period was Scott referring to and what was his source for his figures? We contacted Scott's transition team and proceeded with our own research. First, a refresher on Scott and Columbia/HCA that we pulled from a June 11, 2010, PolitiFact Truth-O-Meter item: ""Scott started what was first Columbia in the spring of 1987, purchasing two El Paso, Texas, hospitals. He quickly grew the company by purchasing more hospitals. A hospital network created efficiencies. Efficiencies created profits. In 1994, Scott’s Columbia purchased Tennessee-headquartered HCA and its 100 hospitals, and merged the companies. When Scott resigned as CEO in 1997, Columbia/HCA had grown to more than 340 hospitals, 135 surgery centers and 550 home health locations in 37 states and two foreign countries, Scott’s campaign says. The company employed more than 285,000 people."" Scott resigned amid a federal Medicare fraud investigation that led to the company paying $1.7 billion in fines. For decades, he has worked in the field of health care at high levels -- which means he should be an expert when talking about health care inflation. In addition to running Columbia/HCA and Solantic, a chain of walk-in clinics, Scott has long weighed in on national health care policy. An Aug. 7, 2010, Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times profile of Scott stated that in the 1990s Scott was a vocal critic of then-first lady Hillary Clinton's health care plan. In 2009, he formed a political action group called Conservatives for Patients Rights which fought President Barack Obama's health care plan. In a May 11, 2009, Washington Post wrote that Scott invested $5 million of his own money into CPR and up to an additional $15 million from supporters and had been making the rounds talking with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Scott is a guy with health care and business acumen. Now, let's return to our research about national health care inflation. We contacted the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics to obtain information on inflation. Since Scott started at Columbia in 1987, we thought he might have been referring to the seven years starting at that point. We looked at the years 1987 through 1997 -- when he started at Columbia and when he left Columbia/HCA. We checked the ""medical care"" category, which includes physician services as well as expenses such as medications. BLS spokesman Gary Steinberg said Consumer Price Index data in the ""December"" category represents the 12-month change while ""annual"" reflects the change over 24 months. To find double-digit increases in health care inflation over a 12-month period, we had to go back to the early 1980s -- before Scott's tenure at Columbia. The data showed national inflation for medical care at 12.5 percent for 1981 and a drop to 11 percent in 1982 -- that's as high as it climbed during the 1980s or since. In 1987, when Scott started at Columbia, national health care inflation was 5.8 percent, it dropped to 4.9 in 1994, and decreased again to 2.8 percent in 1997. Those figures are vastly different from the 18 percent to 8 percent drop that Scott cited. It's worth noting that overall inflation in the U.S. also dropped between 1987, when it was 4.4 percent, and 1997, when it hit 1.7 percent, according to the CPI. Inflation refers to how much more -- or less -- the same service costs from year to year. For example in the health care arena, how much did a heart bypass cost in 2009 compared to 2008. On Dec. 7, Brian Burgess, a Scott transition team spokesman, replied to our e-mail: ""Either you heard him wrong or he simply misspoke,"" Burgess wrote. ""In fact, the numbers are even better than that. The national health care inflation rate (i.e. measured as the cost of obtaining health care coverage) was around 18% in 1987 (Rick Scott's first year as CEO) and declined to 0.2% in his last year there."" (Actually, we didn't ""hear"" Scott at all, since the press was barred from his speech. Nor did he misspeak, since the comment is part of the prepared written remarks distributed by Scott's staff.) Burgess wrote that the source for Scott's claim was Mercer, a national HR consulting company based in New York. Burgess provided a link to a chart from Mercer called ""Annual Change in Average Total Health benefit cost"" for 1989 to 2006. The chart states that the data came from Mercer's national survey of employer-sponsored health plans. The chart shows costs rising 16.7 percent in 1989, peaking at 17.1 percent in 1990 and then nosediving during the next several years -- hitting 8 percent in 1993 and 0.2 percent increase in 1997 -- the year Scott left Columbia/HCA. We spoke to Beth Umland, director of research for health and benefits at Mercer. She sent us data from Mercer showing cost increases at 18.6 percent in 1988. But Umland said Mercer's data in that chart isn't national health care inflation -- it is the cost for employer-sponsored health plans. That means Mercer's data doesn't reflect health care consumers who use Medicare or buy their own individual plans or lack insurance entirely. Scott's tenure at Columbia/HCA coincided with a major change in health care delivery. Before the 1990s, patients picked their own doctors and then sent in an insurance claim form. But in the 1990s, health plans started putting together provider networks and negotiating with doctors to provide lower rates. That's why costs dropped as consumers moved into less expensive plans, Umland said. Later, costs started rising because doctors started negotiating. Consumers also pushed back because they didn't like restrictive networks, so those networks grew. Umland sent us a chart comparing overall inflation, workers' earnings and annual change in total health benefit cost per employee between 1988 and 2008 -- which showed dramatic changes in health benefit costs. We also spoke to Steven Ullmann, a professor and director of programs in health sector management and policy at the University of Miami. We asked: Could a single company -- such as Columbia/HCA -- claim credit for bringing down national health care inflation? ""No,'' Ullmann said. ""There were many factors impacting health care inflation at the time that brought it down."" Ullmann agreed with Umland at Mercer that the growth of managed care brought down costs. But Scott's former company deserves some credit because HCA, as well as other for-profit chains, brought down some of their own costs, which put competitive pressures on other health care facilities to do the same, he said. But the Mercer data that Scott cited is not inflation, Ullmann said; it is the cost for employers to ensure their own employees. Burgess sent several other links to charts about health care costs but since he said Scott's claim was based on information from Mercer we decided to focus on that information. We looked at the charts and three of them still showed health care inflation at no more than 12 percent over the past three decades. And the fourth one was about employer based health care premiums and underlying health care expenditures. Let's review: Was Rick Scott's Columbia/HCA a slayer of the national health care inflation? He specifically claimed: ""The cost saving measures we put into place at Columbia /HCA drove down national health care inflation from 18% to 8% in seven years."" As evidence, he cited data from Mercer -- but that data was about employer costs, not national health care inflation. Health care inflation did drop between the late 1980s and the 1990s -- but not by the numbers Scott cited. And it's a stretch for Scott to suggest the actions of a single company caused that drop -- while the country was transitioning to managed care. With his hospital chain CEO background and national leadership on medical care and insurance issues, Scott should be considered a well-spoken expert on health care inflation."
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26019
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Video of man using an air-quality monitor proves that people are “not getting enough oxygen” while wearing masks
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This claim has been repeated and debated by professionals for the past three months. Air-quality monitors take 10 seconds on average to adjust to the air quality in an environment, so they are not ideal for measuring the oxygen concentration in a mask where the air being inhaled and exhaled is changing constantly. While some healthy people wearing N95 masks could be affected by low oxygen concentrations, cotton masks and surgical masks shouldn’t limit oxygen.
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false
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Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts,
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"A two-and-a-half minute video shared thousands of times on social media warns viewers that the protective face masks recommended to stop the spread of coronavirus are not safe for work. The man in the video uses an air-quality monitor to measure the oxygen saturation under his mask before determining that wearing a mask leads to dangerously low oxygen intake. This post was flagged by Facebook as part of efforts to combat false news and information on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) We took a closer look at this claim and found it lacks credibility. First, air quality monitors are not applicable for this kind of experiment. Second, scientists say that overall air quality is not generally adversely affected when healthy people wear most types of masks. The video Referencing Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards, the man in the video explains that an environment must be at least 19.5% oxygen for it to be safe for someone to work in. To demonstrate, he puts the hose of the air-quality monitor next to his mouth without a mask on and then shows the camera the 20.6% oxygen reading on the monitor. The man then puts on a protective face mask like those recommended to protect against the spread of the coronavirus and again tests the air quality, this time placing the hose underneath the mask. After a few seconds the monitor’s alarm begins to go off and the man explains that this means it is measuring a ""hazardous atmosphere."" After measuring the air for about 17 seconds, he pulls the hose out from under his mask and holds the monitor up to the camera again. The monitor reads 17.4% oxygen. It takes 10 seconds for the monitor’s alarm to stop as it climbs back up to a safe level of 19.5%. The man pulls off his mask and explains that if you are ""getting headaches and stuff like that, there’s why, because you’re not getting enough oxygen."" He goes on to explain that if ""you are exerted ... it’s only going to get worse from there."" A similar but longer video post by Pennsylvania state Senate candidate Jeff Neff arrives at a similar conclusion and has gotten thousands of shares. Measuring oxygen in a mask is complicated The OSHA guidelines the man in the video references are correct. OSHA defines an atmosphere that is less than 19.5% oxygen as oxygen deficient. A Department of Labor spokesperson told PolitiFact that OSHA has not determined how face masks impact oxygen levels and caution employers to consider how they use masks in atypical work environments. OSHA promotes the use of personal protective equipment and other safety measures by employers. As long as the atmosphere outside of your mask is normal and not oxygen deficient, you should be fine. Ben Neuman, a Texas A&M University-Texarkana virologist, explained in another fact-check that masks ""won't materially change the makeup of air that comes through the mask."" The oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in a mask are constantly changing as humans breathe frequently and quickly, about 12 to 25 breaths per minute when at rest. Breathing in a mask, you expel high levels of carbon dioxide before quickly sucking in oxygen from the outside atmosphere into your mask. Roy McKay, professor emeritus for environmental and public health sciences at University of Cincinnati, explained that sudden breathing changes within a mask can cause meters like the one in the video to display short ""peak"" values that are tracking a quick change in oxygen concentration. Kirsten Koehler, associate professor at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, agreed that the sensor could have been having a response to a rapid change in oxygen levels. She said that it takes about 10 seconds for a sensor to respond to a change in oxygen concentrations, which can’t keep up with human breathing. In an article McKay is writing on the quick changes in carbon dioxide and oxygen concentrations within N95 masks, he concludes that ""most healthy people are unaffected by these concentrations… however, some otherwise healthy people are more sensitive and find the concentrations uncomfortable and possibly cause headaches."" An N95 mask is designed to form a seal around the mouth and nose, so the only air entering the mask is through a filter. The CDC currently does not recommend the general public wears N95 masks. That research is specifically on N95 masks, and doesn’t apply to thin surgical masks and cloth masks, which McKay assumes will have better oxygen concentrations because of their relaxed fit. Our rating In a video on Facebook, a man uses an air-quality monitor to prove that people are ""not getting enough oxygen"" while wearing masks. While the sensor he used is probably showing a somewhat accurate reading, experts explained that this sensor can’t pick up on how the oxygen within the atmosphere of the mask changes with each breath. Unless you are using an N95 or sealed mask, you probably won’t experience dangerously low oxygen levels or get a headache from wearing a mask.ostly False."
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32289
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A woman who appeared in New York after Hillary Clinton left a 9/11 memorial service for medical reasons was body double Teresa Barnwell, not Clinton herself.
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It also doesn’t require a denial from Teresa Barnwell to determine she was not the woman depicted in the 11 September 2016 footage of Clinton following her early exit from a 9/11 memorial event. Whether Clinton looked the same in the two photosets is a subjective assessment, but video and photographs of the subsequent appearance reveal a woman who is clearly not Teresa Barnwell. There is no way the two women could be confused for each other, given their clear facial dissimilarities.
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false
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Fauxtography, clinton health, hillary's body double, politics
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On 11 September 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton made headlines for appearing unsteady on her feet before abruptly leaving a 9/11 memorial event (a phenomenon later attributed to pneumonia). Two hours later, Clinton appeared outside daughter Chelsea Clinton’s apartment, sparking rumors (along with a hashtag, #HillarysBodyDouble) that political impersonator Teresa Barnwell had “filled in” for the candidate in public later in the day to create a false appearance of renewed vigor. The rumor took off on Twitter alongside the aforementioned hashtag, with a number of details appended to the intriguing mystery. Twitter users were confused by Clinton’s seemingly vast medical improvement in the space of two hours and referenced a widely-circulated clip of a visibly recovered of the presidential candidate: Here is Hillary Clinton leaving Chelsea’s apartment. (A little girl came up to give her a hug) pic.twitter.com/VreSXmT1Yh — Liz Kreutz (@ABCLiz) September 11, 2016 Even before rumors began flying about Barnwell filling in for Clinton, commenters balked at an apparent lack of Secret Service agents visibly present and an atypical amount of space around the candidate: @ABCLiz is this a joke? Secret Service would never allow this unless it was staged. No spontaneous actions like this would happen. — Wylde Rhoads (@WyldeRhoads) September 11, 2016 Among further evidence circulating on Twitter was a screenshot from a post attributed to Barnwell about a particularly intensive gig impersonating Clinton for an event: Here’s #HillarysBodyDouble @teresa_barnwell claiming she was contracted to double for Hillary last June pic.twitter.com/SVO8SxrNWI — Deplorable (@JaredWyand) September 12, 2016 The referenced post was legitimate, but it was clear that Barnwell had previously appeared as a political impressionist and not as part of any attempts to trick people into believing she was genuinely Hillary Clinton. Images circulating under the #HillarysBodyDouble hashtag contrasted earlier shots of Clinton with enhanced photographs of her second 11 September 2016 appearance: #HillarysBodyDouble Clinton’s ‘body double twin’, Teresa Barnwell, 61, earns $1000’s monthly impersonating Hillary pic.twitter.com/Wx36rO58aZ — A World of Truth (@aworldoftruth) September 12, 2016 Rumors of #HillarysBodyDouble maybe True! Notice very different noses & subtle hair differences! ? ?pic.twitter.com/u3rdkuU2GN — Vegas4Trump (@trump2016fan) September 12, 2016 Users contrasted footage of Clinton at the 9/11 event with photographs of Clinton taken later in the day, not with images of Barnwell specifically. Barnwell shared a photograph of herself on 11 September 2016: Had a blast today! We were LIVE on Lip Sync Battle! Fight the power! pic.twitter.com/FcYGGeyL54 — Teresa Barnwell (@teresa_barnwell) September 12, 2016 Although Barnwell clearly kept busy impersonating Clinton for entertainment purposes, her imperfect resemblance to the former Secretary of State made the conspiracy theory less plausible. Additionally, Barnwell said that she was in Los Angeles that day, not New York City: OK people, calm down. I was in LA today, all day. Was just messin’ with your crazy conspiracy minded little heads. Go to bed. — Teresa Barnwell (@teresa_barnwell) September 12, 2016 Many speculated that a lack of Secret Service agents in view around the candidate was a clear indicator that the Clinton spotted later that day was an impostor. However, if that unprotected “Hillary Clinton” were seriously wounded or killed by an assassin, it would be impossible for the real Clinton to recover from the subterfuge and go on to win the 2016 election, so the risk of fallout from such a large cover-up would far outweigh the benefits of Clinton’s faking a “body double” reappearance on 11 September 2016.
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3975
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Horse racing canceled in Britain over flu outbreak.
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Horse racing has been canceled in Britain on Thursday due to an equine flu outbreak.
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true
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Health, Sports - Europe, Horse racing, Flu, Animal health
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The British Horseracing Authority said it was informed Wednesday night by the Animal Health Trust of three confirmed flu cases from vaccinated horses in an active racing yard. They raced on Wednesday and the BHA says they potentially exposed the flu to a “significant number of horses from yards” in Britain and Ireland. Racing was due to take place Thursday at several tracks. The BHA says “The fact that the cases have been identified in vaccinated horses presents a cause for significant concern over welfare and the potential spread of the disease and the action to cancel racing has been viewed as necessary in order to restrict, as far as possible, the risk of further spread of the disease.”
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