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7499
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Straight-talking Fauci explains outbreak to a worried nation.
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If Dr. Anthony Fauci says it, you’d be smart to listen. As the coronavirus has upended daily life across the globe, Fauci has become the trusted voice in separating fact and fiction.
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true
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Ronald Reagan, AP Top News, Health, Anthony Fauci, General News, MERS, Politics, Infectious diseases, Virus Outbreak, Ebola virus, Donald Trump
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The fear and confusion of outbreaks aren’t new to Fauci, who in more than 30 years has handled HIV, SARS, MERS, Ebola and even the nation’s 2001 experience with bioterrorism — the anthrax attacks. Fauci’s political bosses — from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump — have let him do the explaining because he’s frank and understandable, translating complex medical information into everyday language while neither exaggerating nor downplaying. If you quizzed former presidents about who influenced their views on infectious diseases, “Tony’s name would be first on the list, and you wouldn’t have to remind them,” said former health secretary Mike Leavitt, who worked with Fauci on bird flu preparedness. At 79, the government’s top infectious disease expert is by age in the demographic group at high risk for COVID-19. But he’s working round the clock and getting only a few hours of sleep. He’s a little hoarse from all the talking about coronavirus, and he’ll be on the TV news shows Sunday. Yet his vigor belies his age, and he credits it to exercise, including running. As of Thursday, he had not been tested for coronavirus. The National Institutes of Health, where he works, said that’s because he hasn’t needed to be. Fauci uses a metaphor from one of the fastest-moving sports to describe his strategy on the outbreak. “You skate not to where the puck is, but to where the puck is going to be,” he told a House committee. So he’s simultaneously advocating containment to try to keep the virus from spreading, mitigation to check its damage once it gets loose in a community, immediate efforts to increase testing, and short-term and long-term science to develop treatments and vaccines. He’s hoping a dynamic response will put the nation where the puck ends up going. “It’s unpredictable,” he said. “Testing now is not going to tell you how many cases you’re going to have. What will tell you ... will be how you respond to it with containment and mitigation.” Serving a president who until recently dismissed coronavirus by comparing it to seasonal flu, Fauci has been even-handed in public. He’s won the respect of Democratic and Republican lawmakers, along with Trump administration officials. Almost in matter-of-fact fashion Fauci acknowledged to Congress in recent days that the government system wasn’t designed for mass testing of potential infections. “It is a failing, let’s admit it,” he told lawmakers. But he also supported President Donald Trump’s restrictions on travel from Europe. It’s part of the containment strategy, he explained. “It was pretty compelling that we needed to turn off the source from that region,” he said. The threat of a pandemic has been on Fauci’s mind for years. Many scientists thought it would come from the flu, but it turned out to be coronavirus. Fauci was unflappable answering questions for hours from the House Oversight and Reform committee last week __ except if there was any hint of questioning his scientific integrity. “I served six presidents and I have never done anything other than tell the exact scientific evidence and made policy recommendations based on the science and the evidence,” he said. Democrats and Republicans have welcomed his approach. “The scientists I’ve spoken with in committee see you as the lead man, and I believe most of America does,” Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., told Fauci. Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts praised Fauci for accurately stating that a vaccine would not be available in a matter of months, contrary to what Trump has suggested at times. “You have a certain level of credibility and honesty that I think ... should be persuasive to the American people,” Lynch told him. Fauci’s candor hasn’t stopped Trump from praising him. “Tony has been doing a tremendous job working long, long hours,” the president said Friday at a Rose Garden event. Anthony Stephen Fauci was born in Brooklyn, New York, on Christmas Eve, 1940, into an Italian-American family. President George W. Bush, who in 2008 awarded Fauci the Presidential Medal of Freedom, noted that even as a boy he showed an independent streak: In a neighborhood full of Brooklyn Dodgers fans, Fauci rooted for the Yankees. Fauci became head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 1984, when the nation was in the throes of the AIDS crisis. He’s recalled the huge frustration of caring for dying patients in the NIH’s hospital with nothing to offer. After hours, he’d chat with then-Surgeon General C. Everett Koop about what scientists were learning about AIDS, influencing Koop’s famous 1986 report educating Americans about the disease. In 1990, when AIDS activists swarmed the NIH to protest what they saw as government indifference, Fauci brought them to the table. Fast forward, and he helped to shape Trump’s initiative to end HIV in the U.S. Although he’s spent his career in government, Fauci doesn’t seem to have lost the human touch — and that may be part of the key to his success as a communicator. During the 2014 Ebola outbreak, many Americans panicked when a U.S. nurse got infected by a patient she was caring for, a traveler from West Africa. Ebola can cause deadly bleeding. Fauci confronted those fears by setting a personal example. When the NIH hospital released that nurse, not only did he say she wasn’t contagious, he gave her a hug before TV cameras to prove he was not worried.
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8317
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GM begins production of ventilators for U.S. government.
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General Motors Co said on Tuesday it had started producing ventilators in the volume needed to treat severely ill coronavirus patients and would deliver the first batch of the medical equipment to the U.S. government this month.
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true
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Health News
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded nine contracts totaling nearly $2.6 billion to produce 137,000 ventilators by the end of 2020 for the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile, including a contract to GM worth $489.4 million for 30,000 ventilators by the end of August after President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act. Other contracts announced by HHS in recent days include a $646.7 million contract to Dutch health technology company Philips and others to General Electric Co, Hill-Rom Holdings Inc, Medtronic Plc , ResMed Inc, Vyaire Medical Inc, Hamilton Medical AG and Zoll Medical Corp. Hamilton is receiving a $552 million contract for 14,115 ventilators, while Vyaire is receiving a $407.9 million contract for 22,000 ventilators produced by June 29 and Zoll is receiving a $350.1 million contract for 18,900 ventilators, HHS said on Monday. HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement the contracts “will mean we have more capacity to respond to the pandemic as it evolves.” GM, which is working with ventilator firm Ventec Life Systems to produce the medical equipment, said it would ship more than 600 ventilators in April. It added that it expected to fill nearly half the order by the end of June and the full order by the end of August. The ventilators will be produced at a plant in Kokomo, Indiana. White House adviser Peter Navarro said that “as these lifesaving ventilators roll off GM’s assembly line as fast as tanks once did in an earlier World War, they will be rapidly deployed.” GM’s shares closed flat. The stock has fallen more than 37% this year, as coronavirus-related lockdowns weigh on automobile sales.
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26447
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Facebook post Says Wisconsin’s in-person election has caused a “surge” in new coronavirus cases
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The claimed surge in cases was based on poor data work. The upward “trend” treated a dip in new cases due to lower testing as a baseline, rather than the outlier it was. State health officials say they haven’t yet seen evidence the election changed the trajectory of coronavirus in Wisconsin. Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 have actually dropped in Wisconsin since April 13 — the date cited in the story.
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false
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Health Care, Public Health, Wisconsin, Coronavirus, Facebook posts,
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"Wisconsin’s mid-pandemic election was a unique spectacle. The courtroom drama preceding the vote — and Wisconsin’s status as the only state with a primary election around this time that didn’t delay or cancel in-person voting — drew national attention and criticism. The fundamental question was simple: What would this do to the state’s coronavirus trends? Though polling places attempted to institute social distancing, voters said it was impossible to maintain at all times, particularly in Milwaukee and Green Bay where masses of voters were shuttled through just a handful of locations. A few people have tried to answer this question in the time since, including an April 17, 2020, article shared widely on Facebook. The story claimed ""immense consequences"" from in-person voting, with this headline: ""New Virus Cases Surge in Wisconsin a Week After Republicans Forced In-Person Election to Go Forward."" This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Have confirmed coronavirus cases really surged after the in-person election? No, they haven’t. At least not yet. Here’s what we found. The article, posted by the website Second Nexus, pulled its sole statistical evidence from a tweet by Topher Spiro, a health policy analyst with more than 100,000 followers on Twitter. He posted a chart showing a dip in the number of positive cases on April 13, followed by increases each of the next three days. The accompanying text said, ""Check out the uptick in transmission the GOP caused by forcing an in-person election in Wisconsin."" People who contract COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, typically don’t start showing symptoms for about five days. A study of 181 cases in China found the median incubation period — time before symptoms show — was five days, and only 1% first showed symptoms after 14 days (hence the standard 14-day quarantine). Spiro and the Second Nexus story are starting with a point a week after the April 7 election and saying the increase in new cases is connected. But there are several critical data errors here. First, calling the post-April 13 increase a trend assumes that April 13 is a valid baseline. If the state had been at the April 13 level for some time, then an increase from that level could be proof of a new trend. But that’s not what happened. April 13 was a very unusual day for coronavirus testing. The state administered an average of 1,600 coronavirus tests daily in the first three weeks of April. But on April 13 it administered only 940 — 400 less than any other day. Predictably, with fewer tests came fewer positive results, and a large dip in the number of new confirmed cases. The rise in the days after — identified by the story as proof of the election impact — was actually just a result of the number of tests growing to 1,355, then 1,495, then 1,802 the four days after April 13. Before and after that date, the percentage of tests that came back positive remained about the same: between 9% and 10% When presented with this data, Spiro deleted his tweet. ""It looks like testing has increased since April 13 and the positive rate has remained roughly constant,"" he said in an email to PolitiFact Wisconsin. The truth is, at the time of the Second Nexus article — and this one — it’s too soon to say what impact the election had on Wisconsin’s coronavirus outbreak. But so far there is no sign of an increase, said Andrea Palm, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. In the state’s daily coronavirus briefing on April 20, 2020, she also noted the time between contracting the disease and being a confirmed case involves more than just the five-day median incubation time. ""I think folks do need to remember sort of the progression of this virus, from infection to symptoms to the conversation with your physician to the test to the test results,"" Palm said. ""It’s not surprising that we have not seen … a large uptick from in-person voting."" The state averaged 153 new cases per day the week before April 13, and 153 the week after. The percentage of tests coming back positive remained relatively consistent throughout that span. And the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 actually dropped, from 431 on April 13 to about 360 every day from April 17-20. That’s not to say the election had no impact. There have been reports of infection potentially linked to the election. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported April 20 that seven people appear to have contracted COVID-19 through activities related to the April 7 election. Six are voters, and one is a poll worker. It’s too soon to say if there will be more, or if they in turn infected others. We don’t even know for sure that polling places are where those seven were infected. But that certainly doesn’t constitute a ""surge."" An article shared widely on Facebook claimed on April 17, 2020, that Wisconsin coronavirus cases had surged as a result of the in-person election. That’s not the case. The data the article cited failed to factor in a drop in the number of tests administered. It wrongly treated an unusually low number of cases on April 13 as a baseline against which to compare the following days’ new cases. The increase cited was in fact connected to an increased number of tests in the following days. We don’t know for sure what impact the election may prove to have, but we do know it’s wrong to say a surge has already surfaced."
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9172
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Researchers warn of hazards of smoking and need for wider use of varenicline to quit
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This news release from Florida Atlantic University amplifies a bold claim made in a medical journal commentary that the FDA’s “black box” warnings on varenicline (Chantix) medication labels encouraged many people to avoid the drug — and that failure to use the drug caused thousands of people to die prematurely from heart attacks and cardiovascular disease. That’s a speculative claim, and one that the release does not back up with evidence. The release also urges wider use of Chantix, a prescription medication. The FDA required Chantix to carry the warning of side effects from 2009 until December 2016. The release does not address the lingering debate over the safety of Chantix — or note that the senior author of the commentary has served as an advisor to Pfizer, the company that sells Chantix. Smoking tobacco is a serious health problem — that is, at this point, beyond argument. The questions of whether Chantix is safe and effective, and of how common and severe are its side effects, are much trickier questions. There is an ongoing, and heated, debate regarding the safety of Chantix (which we’ll touch on below) that this release glosses over. It’s important for readers to have a clear picture of the debate if they are going to make informed decisions about their own health. It does not help people make informed decisions if a release offers mortality numbers without explicitly explaining where the numbers come from. And it’s important for readers to be aware of any potential conflicts of interest among those who are offering advice.
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false
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Florida Atlantic University,smoking cessation,varenicline
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While the release explicitly urges the widespread use of Chantix, it does not discuss cost — and cost can be a considerable obstacle. Online estimates of cost related to Chantix vary widely, but all of them indicate that a prescription would cost well over $100 per month. The benefits here would presumably be the reduction in premature deaths among people who successfully quit smoking. The release provides one number, saying: “The authors speculate that if use of varenicline had not plummeted by 76 percent following the black box warning in 2009, perhaps 17,000 premature deaths from cardiovascular disease may have been avoided each year during the last few years.” However, that’s a somewhat vague estimate, and it’s not clear exactly where this number comes from. To be clear: the number may be completely accurate, but the release needs to explain where the number comes from. And it doesn’t. It also states that those using Chantix have a 25 percent success rate at stopping smoking, but they don’t say how this compares to overall success rates for those attempting to quit. The release includes results of the EAGLES study, which aimed to address concerns about the potential for Chantix users to experience related neuropsychiatric problems. However, there are significant concerns with both the EAGLES study and with the FDA’s subsequent decision to remove the “black box” warning from Chantix. Rather than trying to recap all of those concerns in this space, we refer you to a detailed piece by Alan Cassels that was published on HealthNewsReview.org’s blog in January. Suffice it to say, the EAGLES study did not settle the debate over the safety of Chantix — and that debate warrants some discussion in a release like this one. This release describes harms from smoking and specifically the harms of under-treating smoking. But it doesn’t discuss side effects of Chantix. While those side effects may be much less severe than combusted tobacco smoke that does not excuse their elimination from the news release. Ideally, people are provided enough information necessary for realistic, rational shared decision-making with their doctor about pharmaceutical medications, not false reassurance that there are no risks to this type of treatment. The release is focused on a commentary, and it makes that clear. Commentaries are, effectively, opinion pieces — and we bore that in mind when reviewing this release. The commentary does rely, in large part, on the EAGLES study, and the release does a fair job of providing an overview of the study design. While the release does not address the shortcomings charged by the study’s critics, we would not necessarily expect to see that in a piece designed to promote a commentary. What’s more, that’s an issue we raised above under the “harms” criterion, and we don’t want to ding the piece for the same thing twice. No disease mongering here, unless you count the unexplained nature of the “17,000 premature deaths” claim — which we already addressed under the section on benefits. The release includes an entire paragraph about the commentary’s senior author, but it fails to note that the author serves “in an advisory role…to Pfizer and their legal counsel” — as noted in the commentary itself. Pfizer is the company that markets Chantix. Note: this does not mean that the author is doing anything untoward, but it does raise the potential for a conflict of interest, and a release needs to make that clear. The release states that patients assigned to Chantix in the EAGLES trial “achieved significantly higher abstinence rates at 12 weeks than those assigned to placebo, nicotine patch or bupropion.” We give the release credit for naming some common alternatives for smoking cessation that were evaluated alongside Chantix in the trial but wish it had defined the comparison more concretely. It is clear that Chantix is commercially available. It is not clear what makes this commentary novel — it is effectively restating longstanding public health concerns regarding smoking and reiterating claims about the safety of Chantix that have been made (and debated) since the EAGLES study was published last year. It could be argued that the release (and the commentary it’s amplifying) took a novel approach in presenting a position on the issue of whether the 75% decrease in Chantix prescriptions was an overreaction to the black box warning — resulting in higher smoking rates and higher rates of mortality from smoking-related illnesses. However, since that’s speculative, there is no real novelty here. The release states that “failure to use [Chantix] has caused preventable heart attacks and deaths from cardiovascular disease.” But, and this is a key point, what is more accurate is that a failure to quit smoking is likely to have contributed to preventable heart attacks and deaths from cardiovascular disease. Could Chantix have helped people quit? That may well be. But this release makes a cause and effect connection that simply doesn’t hold up. In short: a failure to take Chantix does not kill people.
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2309
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"Pope Francis warns on the ""evil"" of legalizing drugs."
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Pope Francis on Friday called recreational drug use an “evil”, a day before he is due to visit Italy’s Calabria, home of the powerful ‘Ndrangheta mafia, which controls a significant share of the global trade in illegal narcotics.
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true
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Health News
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Francis, who has spoken out against drug use several times, said that to ensure young people did not fall prey to drugs, society had to say “‘yes’ to life, ‘yes’ to love, ‘yes’ to others, ‘yes’ to education, ‘yes’ to greater job opportunities”. “If we say ‘yes’ to all these things, there will be no room for illicit drugs, for alcohol abuse, for other forms of addiction,” he said in remarks to a drug enforcement conference in Rome carried on the website of Vatican radio. “The scourge of drug use continues to spread inexorably, fed by a deplorable commerce which transcends national and continental borders,” he said. Pressure on Western governments to ease restrictions on so-called “soft drugs” such as marijuana has led to a number of countries legalizing their use under certain circumstances. The state of New York prepared on Friday to pass measures that should lead to it becoming the 23rd U.S. state to allow medical use of marijuana. This week, Uruguay, which has already legalized the production and sale of cannabis, said it would also allow doctors to prescribe the drug to treat certain conditions. “Attempts, however limited, to legalize so-called ‘recreational drugs’, are not only highly questionable from a legislative standpoint, but they fail to produce the desired effects,” the pope said.
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8162
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Japan's coronavirus infections cross 1,000: NHK.
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Japan has recorded 1,016 cases of domestically transmitted cases of coronavirus as of Saturday, according to public broadcaster NHK, hitting a new milestone as the nation grapples with pressure to avoid a health crisis ahead of Tokyo Olympics.
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true
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Health News
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The tally rises to 1,728 if 712 cases of infections from a cruise ship moored near Tokyo last month are included, according to NHK. Although the number of cases is still on the rise, Japan has started scaling back some measures to fight the spread of the virus. On Friday, Japan said it would not extend its request to close schools, setting the stage for classes to resume at the start of the academic year in April. The Tokyo Olympics, set to start from July 24, have been cast into doubt by the coronavirus pandemic and the cancellation of sporting events and qualifiers around the world. Olympics organizers have repeatedly said the Games will go on as scheduled.
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9983
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Gastric bypass surgery cuts cancer risk, researchers say
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This was a story reporting on presentation of data suggesting that an additional benefit that may be gleaned from having weight loss surgery is a reduced cancer risk. It failed to mention that the results reported on were part of an oral presentation and have therefore not been through adequate peer review and should be considered as preliminary. The story did include several quotes from experts in the field tempering the enthusiasm of some of the other quotes. The story devoted a lot of space describing study results about reductions in various cancer incidences that were statistically insignificant. Many readers will not understand the term ‘statistically insignificant’, especially when coupled with statements of relative risk reductions of 50, 60 or 70%. By presenting only relative – not absolute – risk, the story made the differences seems quite large when in reality they might be the difference of only one or two and certainly might be the result of chance rather than an effect of the procedures discussed. (Overall cancer cases were reported but were not broken down by cancer type. So we don’t know what a 70% reduction in pancreatic cancer, for example, really means.)
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mixture
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The story provided cost comparisons for two of the procedures for weight loss. In addition, there was some discussion at the end of the piece about insurance coverage not being certain in some areas/circumstances. The story did not do an adequate job detailing the benefits of the treatment (weight loss surgery). While reporting on one group’s weight loss experiences, the story failed to document the broader experience about weight loss. The focus of the story was an oral presentation at a scientific meeting about the impact of weight loss surgery on cancer rates. These were presented as relative rather than absolute risks which inflates their seeming importance. The issue of relative vs. absolute risk reduction is very important here. The issue of statistical significance is also important because the lack of significance here indicates that we don’t know for sure that surgery reduces the risk of all of the types of cancer mentioned. The story did not adequately address the harms that may occur as a result of the treatment. While the incidence of ‘life-threatening’ events is down for the one group presenting its comparative outcomes over time, this may or may not be representative for other groups. In addition, there are a number of longer term consequences of weight loss surgery that affect quality of life. The story lead off with a misleading statement about the impact of weight loss surgery on cancer when it stated that weight loss surgery ‘decreases the incidence of cancer by 80%’. Later in the piece it was explained that the study found that the affect on many of the various different cancers examined were not statistically significant. But by presenting the relative reduction in risk rather than the absolute reductions, the importance of the data is inflated. In addition, the results discussed in this story were presented as part of an oral presentation. As such, they have not received adequate peer review and thus ought to be considered, at best, preliminary. There was no overt disease mongering about obesity or cancer. The story did a good job of identifying and interviewing individuals with points of view that provided some balance to the unbridled optimism of the study author. Again, though, if the story was based on a presentation at a scientific meeting, the study results have not been subjected to adequate peer review, and may be preliminary. This should have been noted in the article. The story included information about two forms of weight loss surgery. Although the story mentioned that most people who have surgery for weight loss have tried a number of diets previously to the procedure, there was really an inadequate discussion about options for weight loss, especially in the absence of details on the population for whom guidelines would recommend that weight loss surgery was an appropriate option. The story presented gastric banding and gastric bypass as generally available which was supported by the data on the number of procedures completed last year. In addition, there was some discussion at the end of the piece about some issues that may arise with insurance approval. The story adequately reflected the current utilization of the two weight loss surgical procedures discussed. The story does not appear to rely on a press release.
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8342
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GSK to partner with Vir for potential COVID-19 treatments, invest $250 million.
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British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline will invest $250 million in Vir Biotechnology Inc and collaborate to develop potential antibody treatments for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, the companies said on Monday.
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true
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Health News
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Vir’s shares rose as much as 34% following the news of GSK’s investment, priced at $37.73 per Vir share, a 30% premium to the stock’s Friday close. GSK was up about 2%. Vir’s shares, trading at $35.60 on Monday, have more than doubled in the year up to Friday’s close. Drugmakers across the globe are rushing to develop a treatment or vaccine for the fast-spreading coronavirus that has killed over 68,400 people globally. There is currently no approved treatment for the disease. “We are transferring antibodies that recovered patients have made, that have presumably helped them recover, to new patients,” said Vir Chief Executive Officer George Scangos. Vir’s approach, which is different from plasma therapy that involves giving newly infected patients the blood component that carries antibodies, lets it select the best antibodies out of the plasma, and makes it more convenient to administer. Cowen analyst Phil Nadeau says GSK’s selection of Vir as its partner in the race to identify COVID-19 treatments is encouraging, adding that GSK’s expertise combined with Vir’s demonstrated ability to identify antibodies should help accelerate the collaborative programs. Initial focus will be on accelerating development of Vir’s investigational treatments, VIR-7831 and VIR-7832, and then directly starting with a mid-stage trial within the next three to five months, the companies said. GSK has so far focused on providing adjuvants, efficacy boosters that play a vital role in many vaccines, as part of its efforts to find potential vaccines against the coronavirus. Experts have said it could take 12 to 18 months to develop a coronavirus vaccine. This is California-based Vir’s second partnership with a major drugmaker for the development of a potential coronavirus treatment, having last month signed a letter of intent with Biogen Inc. Gilead Sciences Inc is also testing its drug remdesivir as a potential coronavirus treatment. Moderna Inc, which started testing its vaccine candidate in people last month, signed deals with the U.S. government in March to produce massive quantities of coronavirus vaccines.
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6764
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Michigan center accused of honoring patients’ racist demands.
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A health care center in western Michigan is accused of agreeing to requests by patients for white-only caregivers.
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true
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Race and ethnicity, Health, Discrimination, Michigan, Assisted living, Lawsuits
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Six black certified nursing assistants filed a lawsuit April 11 against Providence Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, where they all work or formerly worked. The Zeeland facility offers memory care, rehabilitation, retirement and assisted living to mostly senior patients. The CNAs are accusing the center of race discrimination, race harassment and retaliation. They’re seeking compensation for mental anguish, emotional distress and damage to their professional reputation. “It’s embarrassing and humiliating and it shouldn’t be tolerated,” said Julie Gafkay, an attorney for the women. The CNAs listed in the lawsuit are Kimberly French, Gloria Reid, Tiesha Branch, Marquita Mills, Providence Ngoh and Valencia Washington. Providence Life Services spokeswoman Sheila King declined to comment on the allegations due to the litigation but said Providence doesn’t change staff assignments based on race. The center falls under a nonprofit that also has locations in Illinois and Indiana. The lawsuit alleges some residents said they didn’t want black caregivers, and the facility would grant the requests and put them in the patient’s care plan. “When (the CNAs) were assigned to care for said patients, they would be switched with a Caucasian employee, they would be told not to care for the patient,” Gafkay said. “If they cared for the patients, they were called racist names by the patients who believed such requests were permissible because (Providence Healthcare’s) failure to properly address.” Working conditions worsened for the caregivers after making a formal complaint in January against the administrator, according to the lawsuit.
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7956
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Coronavirus brings no-contact food delivery to United States.
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Leaving bags of food on doorsteps or texting your delivery driver a picture of where you want your meal dropped off - these are new methods for U.S. consumers to get their orders as the coronavirus spreads.
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true
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Health News
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The virus led McDonald’s Corp (MCD.N), Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) and other companies in China, where the outbreak originated, to broaden their use of contactless delivery last month as consumers were stuck at home, often in locked-off apartment complexes. Now, that concept is growing in other parts of the globe along with the illness. On Friday, San Francisco-based Postmates introduced no-contact delivery options in its app in all of the 4,200 U.S. cities in which it operates. “We think it is a way to make both customers and the fleet comfortable while making and receiving deliveries,” the company said in a statement. Postmates users got an email notifying them of the new service called Dropoff Options. Three choices pop up when a customer places an order - delivery to the door, leave it at the door, or meet the customer outside - for “whether you’re feeling under the weather or are working from home in your pjs,” the email said. Customers have also long been able to leave similar digital notes for delivery people via delivery platforms Grubhub Inc (GRUB.N) and Uber Technologies Inc’s (UBER.N) Uber Eats, which operates in 45 countries, when placing an order. DoorDash is also testing enhanced drop-off options for contactless delivery to be rolled out shortly and is reminding consumers that they can leave instructions for drivers in the app, which can include a photo of the spot where food should be placed. The COVID-19 virus has infected more than 111,600 and killed more than 4,000 people globally, largely in China, according to a Reuters tally. In the United States, more than 700 people have been infected and 27 people have died. Last week, new cases spread quickly from just a couple states to a majority of states. As more people consider staying home to limit exposure, restaurant traffic could take a hit. Technomic Inc, a consulting and research firm, found that more than 30% of U.S. consumers said they plan to not leave the house or go to restaurants as often, though only 13% of those people said they will order more delivery. The report surveyed 1,000 consumers from Feb. 28 to March 2. “The reduced foodservice visit incidence could be a boon for the grocery business, as almost half of these consumers say they will stockpile grocery foods and beverages as a substitute for away-from-home meals,” the firm said. In Europe, German supermarket chain REWE said that a significant increase in demand has led to longer online delivery times since it has limited delivery slots and drivers are already fully loaded. British online supermarket Ocado has advised customers to place orders further in advance because of “exceptionally high demand,” indicating a possible reaction from shoppers to the spreading coronavirus outbreak. Dutch online grocer Picnic BV has been getting more and larger orders and is “at about 20% beyond capacity,” Chief Executive Michiel Muller told broadcaster RTL. U.S. delivery companies contacted by Reuters will not say whether they are yet seeing any increase in demand. But one driver for DoorDash Inc in the Washington, D.C. area said his shifts had gotten busier. The driver, who did not want to be named, said his pay per delivery - which usually rises during busier times or bad weather - has also steadily gone up as coronavirus cases grew. His average pay per order rose from about $3.20 in mid-February to $4.72 during the last week of the month, though it was $4.37 during the first week of March, according to screenshots of his driving stats. People are scared to go to restaurants, he said. “So they’re paying $15 to $20 delivery fees for a small fry and an ice cream scoop,” he said.
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4462
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Year in space put US astronaut’s disease defenses on alert.
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Nearly a year in space put astronaut Scott Kelly’s immune system on high alert and changed the activity of some of his genes compared to his Earth-bound identical twin, researchers said Friday.
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true
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Biology, AP Top News, Genetics, Health, North America, Science, Mars, U.S. News
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Scientists don’t know if the changes were good or bad but results from a unique NASA twins study are raising new questions for doctors as the space agency aims to send people to Mars. Tests of the genetic doubles gave scientists a never-before opportunity to track details of human biology, such as how an astronaut’s genes turn on and off in space differently than at home. One puzzling change announced Friday at a science conference: Kelly’s immune system was hyperactivated. “It’s as if the body is reacting to this alien environment sort of like you would a mysterious organism being inside you,” said geneticist Christopher Mason of New York’s Weill Cornell Medicine, who helped lead the study. He said doctors are now looking for that in other astronauts. Since the beginning of space exploration, NASA has studied the toll on astronauts’ bodies, such as bone loss that requires exercise to counter. Typically they’re in space about six months at a time. Kelly, who lived on the International Space Station, spent 340 days in space and set a U.S. record. “I’ve never felt completely normal in space,” the now-retired Kelly said in an email to The Associated Press, citing the usual congestion from shifting fluid, headaches and difficulty concentrating from extra carbon dioxide, and digestive complaints from microgravity. But this study was a unique dive into the molecular level, with former astronaut Mark Kelly, Scott’s twin, on the ground for comparison. Full results haven’t yet been published, but researchers presented some findings Friday at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. A number of genes connected to the immune system became hyperactive, Mason said. It’s not a change in DNA but in what’s called “gene expression,” how genes turn off and on and increase or decrease their production of proteins. Mason also spotted a spike in the bloodstream of another marker that primes the immune system. Yet at the same time, Kelly’s blood showed fewer of another cell type that’s an early defense against viruses. It’s not a surprise that gene activity would change in space — it changes in response to all kinds of stress. “You can see the body adapting to the change in its environment,” Mason said. The good news: Most everything returned to normal shortly after Kelly got back on Earth in March 2016. Those immune-related genes, however, “seemed to have this memory or this need to almost be on high alert” even six months later, Mason said. “On the whole it’s encouraging,” said Craig Kundrot, who heads space life and science research for NASA. “There are no major new warning signs. We are seeing changes that we didn’t necessarily anticipate” but don’t know if those changes matter. From four Russians living in space for more than a year, NASA already knew prolonged time off Earth is possible, Kundrot said, adding, “We also aim for more than just possible. We want our astronauts to do more than just survive.” Ultimately, the twin study gives NASA a catalog of things to monitor on future missions to see if other astronauts react the same way. Astronauts on future missions will be able to do some of this testing in space instead of freezing samples for scientists back home, Mason said. Immune issues sound familiar to Dr. Jerry Linenger, an American astronaut who spent more than four months on the Russian space station Mir. He said he was never sick in orbit, but once he came back to Earth “I was probably more sick than I was in my life.” Astronauts launch into orbit with their own germs and get exposed to their crewmates’ germs and then after a week with nothing else new in the “very sterile environment” of a space station “your immune system is really not challenged,” Linenger said. A human mission to Mars, which NASA hopes to launch in the 2030s, would take 30 months, including time on the surface, Kundrot said. Radiation is a top concern. The mission would expose astronauts to galactic cosmic radiation levels higher than NASA’s own safety standard. It’s “just a little bit over,” he said. On Earth and even on the space station, Earth’s magnetic field shields astronauts from lots of radiation. There would be no such shielding on the way to Mars and back, but tunnels or dirt-covered habitats could help a bit on Mars, Kundrot said Kelly, who turns 55 next week, said he’d go to Mars. He said a trip that long “wouldn’t be worse than what I experienced. Possibly better. I think the big physical challenge, radiation aside, will be a mission where you are in space for years.” ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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11566
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Animal study suggests treatment that may improve heart function in heart failure
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This release focuses on a recently-published study in rats with high blood pressure that are at risk of heart failure, a condition in which the heart does not pump blood as efficiently as it should. The study’s findings suggest treating the animals with a low dose of the thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (T3) improved cardiac health in the rats. Specifically, the study focused on diastolic heart failure, in which the left ventricle of the heart does not fill with blood properly, limiting the amount of blood pumped through the body with each heartbeat. The release mentions right in the headline that the study involved animals, and it does a good job of highlighting that much work needs to be done before the work done in rats may lead to clinical use in humans. The release could have done a better job describing the known risks associated with this hormone and describing the benefits observed in the study. Heart failure is a big deal. According to the CDC, more than 5 million people in the United States are diagnosed with heart failure and — in 2009 — heart failure was a contributing factor in one out of every nine deaths in the U.S. The CDC also notes that heart failure costs the U.S. an estimated $32 billion each year in missed work and treatment costs. Because of its prevalence, health impact and economic impact, any new advances in treatment that could ameliorate health risks associated with heart failure are certainly of interest.
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true
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Academic medical center news release,Animal research
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This release is reporting on work done in an animal model, far removed from clinical use in humans. As such, it would be virtually impossible to tell readers precisely how much potential treatment might cost consumers. And so we won’t ding the story for not including a discussion of costs — we’ll rate this Not Applicable. That being said, it wouldn’t have been difficult to discuss costs in general. T3 is not a new drug. For example, combinations of T3 and thyroxine (another thyroid hormone) are prescribed to patients with hypothyroidism or thyroid cancer. The release could have mentioned that versions of T3 are already on the market and discussed cost at least in general terms. Is it relatively inexpensive? Expensive? The release refers to “encouraging cardiac improvements” and says “cardiac health improved,” but those benefits are not quantified. The release also tells readers that “T3 treatment inhibited the major cause of stiffening of the heart in hypertension” and “overall improvement in…heart function.” But it doesn’t tell readers what this means. How much improvement was there? And what, exactly, was improving? We recognize that this issue would have been difficult to address, since the paper itself does not provide specifics on these benefits. But we maintain a high standard, and the researchers could have been prodded to provide answers. It would have been nice at the least to have some sense of how the changes compared with those observed other studies. The release does not adequately discuss potential harms. Thyroid hormone treatment for other conditions, such as hypothyroidism, has been around for years. And, in those cases, it’s known that such treatment can cause side effects such as heart palpitations and insomnia. But there are other risks as well, which the release itself points out in a very roundabout way. The release says that the study’s lead author “has long argued that medical opinion on thyroid treatment for patients with heart disease is largely shaped by outdated studies that used toxic doses of thyroid hormones.” This sentence manages to highlight that there can be significant risks associated with the use of thyroid hormones (the “toxic doses” reference), but it isn’t clear what these risks are, and it’s not made clear that there may be risks (even lesser risks) associated with the undefined “low-dose” applications of thyroid hormone used in this study. First, let’s give kudos to the release for clearly stating in the headline and lead sentence that this was an animal study. News releases almost never take that simple step to clarify what kind of evidence we’re talking about. So that alone merits a Satisfactory rating here. Of course, we can quibble with the release’s description of the study. It tells readers “aging female rats with hypertension progressing to heart failure were treated for one year (half their lifetime) with a low oral dose of the active form of thyroid hormone, T3.” But how large was the study? Did they examine 3 rats? 30? 300? Was there a control group? Did the researchers vary dosage across the experimental group? What is a “low” dose? But this is a minor concern in the description of a study about rats. No disease mongering here. The release does not mention either how the study was funded or whether there were conflicts of interest for the authors. The study was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and there don’t appear to be any conflicts of interest — but it’s important to tell readers that. There are many heart failure treatment options, from surgery to drugs. But most of those treatment options, such as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, target systolic heart failure specifically. There are currently no effective treatments for diastolic heart failure, and the release tells readers this. (Diastolic heart failure happens when the left ventricle doesn’t let in enough blood; systolic heart failure occurs when the left ventricle doesn’t squeeze hard enough to push out sufficient blood.) The release does an excellent job of making clear that this was an animal model study and that clinical trials have not yet been approved for this treatment technique — meaning that this work is at least years away from widespread clinical use. The release does a good job of placing the new study into context, and articulating what sets the most recent study apart. The release notes that the lead author has published on 32 animal studies that looked at links between thyroid hormone levels and heart health, and offers some discussion of at least two of these other studies and why they’re relevant. The release also mentions other studies in the field (though it refers to them as “outdated”. The release makes very clear that this was an animal study, from the headline through the body of the text. It also puts the work into context, and uses cautious language when describing effects (e.g., “encouraging cardiac improvements”).
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4002
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American Samoa declares measles outbreak, closes schools.
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The government of American Samoa declared that the U.S. territory has an outbreak of measles, a move that will lead to the closure of public schools starting Monday and a ban on gatherings in parks.
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true
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Health, Measles, General News, Hawaii, Asia Pacific, American Samoa
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In its announcement Friday of the measles outbreak, the government says the territory has nine cases of the disease. Five of those infected had been traveling outside the territory. As for the other four people who tested positive for measles, “we’re suspecting that is local transmission — meaning that it’s most likely, that some of these travelers did transmit the measles virus to them, causing them to be sick,” Health Department Epidemiologist Dr. Aifili John Tufa said. Tufa said in a television broadcast that samples from those infected were sent to Hawaii for testing and the results came back Thursday, resulting in the move to let the public know that “we are currently in the state of emergency” and a “measles outbreak.” In the neighboring independent nation of Samoa, more than 60 people have died, mostly children, from the measles and more than 4,000 were infected since the outbreak started in mid-October,, health officials said. American Samoa will get a measles vaccine shipment from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Protection on Monday, Tufa said. Data presented by health officials early this week during a cabinet meeting shows a 99.7% vaccination rate for mumps, measles and rubella in the territory, officials said. But Tufa said that more needs to be done to up the rate for the 1-5 year age group which is currently at 84.7% “The number one way to stop the spread of measles is to immunize,” he said. The developments in American Samoa came after dozens of Hawaii health care workers returned to their homes across the state after voluntarily providing measles vaccinations to thousands of residents of the independent nation of Samoa, officials said. A team of 76 health care workers and support staff went to Samoa for a two-day medical mission to ensure residents in the independent nation of Samoa were immunized from the highly contagious virus, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. “You have scores of people dying, and the society is paralyzed,” said Honolulu surgeon Paulus Tsai. “Basically life has come to a standstill for the island.” Samoa declared a state of emergency and complete shutdown of government and business operations while vaccination teams searched for residents susceptible to the disease, health officials said. About 34,000 people were immunized over two days, officials said. “Of all the efforts to save children around the world, immunization has the most dramatic impact. Everybody came together with their aloha to unite and support Samoa and attack this disease head-on in a way that will make a permanent difference in the lives of the people,” Straub Medical Center family physician Dale Glenn said. The mission was coordinated by medical doctor and Lt. Gov. Josh Green who worked with Samoan leaders, the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, officials said. More than 500 people and groups responded ready to volunteer about 2600 miles (4,200 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii, officials said. “I hope the younger generation will realize health care can also touch other people’s live and can be a way for them to make things better for their society. It’s protecting their future generations,” Tsai said. Since the outbreak started in mid-October, more than 60 people have died, mostly children, and more than 4,000 were infected, health officials said.
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5247
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Bismarck addiction center to use telemedicine, expand reach.
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A Bismarck addiction treatment center is using telemedicine to extend its reach to western North Dakota, a rural region where such services are limited.
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true
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U.S. Department of Agriculture, Addiction treatment, Bismarck, Health, North Dakota
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced that Heartview Foundation in Bismarck received a nearly $155,000 grant to purchase telemedicine equipment, the Bismarck Tribune reported. The grant money comes from the federal agency’s Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant Program, which aims to encourage rural communities to use telecommunications to connect to resources and services. Kurt Snyder, Heartview’s executive director, said transportation is a barrier for people seeking treatment or overall access to health care. Patients travel a median distance of 37 miles (60 kilometers) to the Bismarck addiction treatment center. Snyder said that rural western North Dakota has “extremely limited services.” Heartview will establish a telehealth system by partnering with physicians at the Towner County Medical Center in Cando and at Coal Country Community Health Center’s clinics in Killdeer, Beulah, Hazen and Center. Coal Country has two licensed addiction counselors, who are spread between all of the provider’s clinics. Heartview will serve as a hub for the rural facilities, providing direct patient services, expertise and collaboration opportunities. “We’d love to have some providers (in western North Dakota), but really, as we interact statewide, we just develop partnerships where we find people that are open to doing the work,” Snyder said. He added that physicians will still have to see patients face-to-face before using telemedicine, which is also important to build rapport. “Without a doubt, telemedicine is very valuable and research supports that people respond well to it. There’s a feeling of, ‘I’m safe. I’m not as vulnerable.’ However, that (relationship with a provider) is without a doubt important,” Snyder said. ___ Information from: Bismarck Tribune, http://www.bismarcktribune.com
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27730
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Dallas Police Chief David Brown lost a son, brother, and work partner to gun violence.
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All three claims about Dallas’s police chief were true. In 1988, Brown’s former partner Walter Williams was shot to death. In 1991, his brother Kelvin was killed by drug dealers in Phoenix. And in 2010, his son David Brown killed an officer and was shot and killed at the scene, just seven weeks after the elder Brown became the Dallas Chief of Police.
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true
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Politics, chief david brown, dallas, dallas shooting
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On 12 July 2016, the Facebook page “Heroes In Blue” published the status update depicted above, describing the life of Dallas Police Department Chief David Brown, who lost his son, his brother, and his police partner in separate incidents of crime and gun violence: Almost exactly six years before the Dallas police shootings, local news outlets reported the death of Brown’s 27-year-old son, after he shot and killed a police officer in 2010: The son of Dallas Police Chief David Brown killed a Lancaster police officer and another man during a Sunday melee that left three people dead, according to a law enforcement official. David Brown Jr., 27, was himself shot and killed by officers, according to the official. The elder Brown had been serving as Chief for less than two months at the time of the incident (which took place on Father’s Day). Shortly before Brown’s son and the police officer were killed, the normally circumspect Chief spoke to The Dallas Morning News about the unrelated 1988 and 1991 deaths of former partner Walter L. Williams and Brown’s brother Kelvin: More Dallas cops were shot to death in 1988 than in any other year in department history. For Brown, one case was particularly devastating. It was Aug. 2. Brown was only weeks into his assignment in the physical evidence section when he responded to an officer-involved shooting in west Oak Cliff. The cop was reportedly in grave condition. At the crime scene, on the ground, Brown soon spotted a familiar pair of eyeglasses. They were like the ones worn by his police academy classmate and former partner, Walter L. Williams … Williams, a 47-year-old father of three, died at a hospital hours after the shooting. Brown left the crime scene and was with his friend’s children when they got the news. “When things like that happen and you’re really close, you don’t believe it for the longest time,” Brown said. “I really relate to all of those in-the-line-of-duty deaths [on a] much more personal level … you lose a partner, you just never get over it.” Three years after Williams’ death, violence came even closer. His younger brother, Kelvin Brown, was killed in 1991 in the Phoenix area by drug dealers. He resists speaking about his brother’s death, in part because of his concerns that it might hurt the rest of his family. “I can’t deny that’s a part of who I am,” Brown said. “The families of victims, I know what they go through. My family had to go through that. But does it make me police in a different manner or lead in a different manner? I’m not sure. “I really enjoyed catching bad guys before that happened,” Brown said. “And I still really enjoy it.” Brown was also criticized by fellow officers over a last-minute police escort his son’s funeral.
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34276
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Justice Anthony Kennedy suddenly resigned from the Supreme Court as part of a deal to shield his son from ongoing Russian investigations.
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It may be true, as outlined above, that members of the Trump administration undertook efforts to “assure Kennedy that his judicial legacy would be in good hands should he step down at the end of the court’s [current] term.” But no substantive evidence yet suggests anything more than that President Trump and other members of his administration might have sought to curry favor with a justice who was already mulling retirement to influence the timing of that event.
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unproven
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Politics
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Any occasion on which a member of the U.S. Supreme Court leaves the bench through retirement (or death) is a significant political event, providing the incumbent president with the opportunity to nominate a successor who is ideologically congruent with the party in power and (in most cases) will remain on the bench for decades to come. The requirement that a Supreme Court nominee be confirmed by a vote of the U.S. Senate often touches off bitter fights between the two parties on the floor of that chamber. When Justice Anthony M. Kennedy announced his imminent retirement at the end of June 2018, it set the stage for a particularly momentous shift in the makeup of the Supreme Court, as Kennedy had long been the bridge between the court’s liberal and conservative sides on a number of contentious social issues: Justice Kennedy, 81, has been a critical swing vote on the sharply polarized court for nearly three decades as he embraced liberal views on gay rights, abortion and the death penalty but helped conservatives trim voting rights, block gun control measures and unleash campaign spending by corporations. His replacement by a conservative justice — something Mr. Trump has vowed to his supporters — could imperil a variety of landmark Supreme Court precedents on social issues where Justice Kennedy frequently sided with his liberal colleagues, particularly on abortion. Many critics still smarting over the Republicans’ successful (and unprecedented) efforts at blocking approval of Merrick Garland, who had been nominated by outgoing president Barack Obama in 2016 after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia — thus allowing incoming president Donald Trump the opportunity to fill the vacant court seat instead — immediately jumped on a conspiracy theory involving the timing of Kennedy’s resignation and his son’s employment: The details of this conspiracy theory were somewhat hazy, most versions of it seemingly implying that President Trump somehow leveraged his financial connections with Kennedy’s son Justin to convince or coerce the jurist to retire ahead of the November 2018 U.S. mid-term elections (during which Democrats might pick up enough Senate seats to block confirmation of Trump’s preferred nominee). The most coherent form of the conspiracy theory posited that Kennedy’s retirement was a sudden and unexpected event, a strategic move intended to allow Trump to nominate a friendly successor who would vote favorably on any issues involving Justin Kennedy that might come before the court as a result of the ongoing Mueller investigation into Russian election interference (whereas Kennedy would have to recuse himself from such issues if he remained on the bench): As the New York Times noted, Donald Trump did have a business relationship with Deutsche Bank, where Justin Kennedy once worked (he left the company in 2009), that went back many years to a time when many other banks were leery of doing business with Trump: [Anthony Kennedy and Donald Trump] had a connection, one Mr. Trump was quick to note in the moments after his first address to Congress in February 2017. As he made his way out of the chamber, Mr. Trump paused to chat with the justice. “Say hello to your boy,” Mr. Trump said. “Special guy.” Mr. Trump was apparently referring to Justice Kennedy’s son, Justin. The younger Mr. Kennedy spent more than a decade at Deutsche Bank, eventually rising to become the bank’s global head of real estate capital markets, and he worked closely with Mr. Trump when he was a real estate developer, according to two people with knowledge of his role. During Mr. Kennedy’s tenure, Deutsche Bank became Mr. Trump’s most important lender, dispensing well over $1 billion in loans to him for the renovation and construction of skyscrapers in New York and Chicago at a time other mainstream banks were wary of doing business with him because of his troubled business history. And, of course, many news outlets have reported on the potentially suspect coincidence that right about the time Trump was sworn in as U.S. president, Deutsche Bank was fined an aggregate $630 million for their involvement in a $10 billion Russian money-laundering scheme — and Deutsche Bank’s records were later reportedly subpoenaed by special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections: [Trump] took out two mortgages against a resort in Miami and a $170 million loan to finish his hotel in Washington, D.C. According to Bloomberg, by the time Trump was elected president of the United States in November 2016, he owed Deutsche around $300 million, an unprecedented debt for an incoming president. (His June financial disclosure showed he owes the bank $130 million, which is due in full in 2024.) The loans to Trump weren’t the only abnormal behavior at Deutsche. Around the same time he received his new line of credit, the bank was laundering money, according to the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS). Russian money. Billions of dollars that flowed from Moscow to London, then from London to New York — part of a scheme for which European and American regulators eventually punished the bank. Was the timing of this illicit operation and the loans to Trump coincidental? Or evidence of something more sinister — a critical chapter in the president’s long history of suspicious business deals with Russian and post-Soviet oligarchs? Little hard evidence suggests that the Kennedy rumors are more than political conspiracy-driven speculation, however. Justin Kennedy left Deutsche Bank before the money laundering activity referenced above took place, and some sources have asserted that Justin Kennedy had little or no involvement with Trump’s Deutsche Bank dealings: MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle, who worked for eight years at Deutsche Bank before joining the news network, cautioned about reaching conclusions because there are multiple parts of the bank that “can easily get confused and lumped together.” “While I know and it has been well-reported, Deutsche was a massive lender to Mr. Trump, I want to put a new context,” she said. “A lot of this comes from multiple sides of the bank, specifically the private bank, and that was not where Mr. Kennedy worked.” Citing two former members of senior management, Ruhle said, “a lot of the recent lending comes from the private bank … most of which was done after Justin left the bank.” “The business Mr. Kennedy ran was part of a real estate team that did some business. It was not part of the private bank business,” Ruhle continued. “To say that he was the point guy that lent all of this money to Trump, I think, is short-sided. It’s a lot more complicated.” The level of engagement Justin Kennedy might have had with Donald Trump’s financial dealings at Deutsche Bank remains ambiguous for now, but the New York Times gave little weight to the notion that Anthony Kennedy was directly pressured into retiring, observing that it’s not unusual for presidents to be mindful of when an open seat on the Supreme Court bench might be in the offing and strategize around the possibility: There were no direct efforts to pressure or lobby Justice Kennedy to announce his resignation, and it was hardly the first time a president had done his best to create a court opening. “In the past half-century, presidents have repeatedly been dying to take advantage of timely vacancies,” said Laura Kalman, a historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara. When Mr. Trump took office last year, he already had a Supreme Court vacancy to fill, the one created by the 2016 death of Justice Antonin Scalia. But Mr. Trump dearly wanted a second vacancy, one that could transform the court for a generation or more. So he used the first opening to help create the second one. He picked Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, who had served as a law clerk to Justice Kennedy, to fill Justice Scalia’s seat. And when Justice Gorsuch took the judicial oath in April 2017 at a Rose Garden ceremony, Justice Kennedy administered it — after Mr. Trump first praised the older justice as “a great man of outstanding accomplishment.” “Throughout his nearly 30 years on the Supreme Court,” Mr. Trump said, “Justice Kennedy has been praised by all for his dedicated and dignified service.” There is reason to think, then, that Mr. Trump’s praise of Justice Kennedy was strategic. Then, after Justice Gorsuch’s nomination was announced, a White House official singled out two candidates for the next Supreme Court vacancy: Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Judge Raymond M. Kethledge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in Cincinnati. The two judges had something in common: They had both clerked for Justice Kennedy. Moreover, Politico reported back in April 2017 (before the Mueller investigation into Russian interference was even underway) that the Trump White House might have been utilizing connections between Trump’s and Kennedy’s children to ease the elder Kennedy into retirement. Notably, Politico referenced Justin Kennedy’s having a connection with Donald Trump, Jr., not President Trump himself, and made no mention of Deutsche Bank: While the White House is focused on shepherding Trump’s first Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, through the Senate confirmation process, the president and his team are obsessed with the next possible vacancy. The likeliest candidate is Kennedy, who has sat at the decisive fulcrum of the most important Supreme Court cases for more than a decade. Replacing him with a reliable conservative would tip the court to the right, even if no other seat comes open under Trump — whose team has taken to exploring every imaginable line of communication to keep tabs on the justice and to make him comfortable as he ponders a potential retirement. One back channel is the fact that Kennedy’s son, Justin, knows Donald Trump Jr. through New York real estate circles. Another is through Kennedy’s other son, Gregory, and Trump’s Silicon Valley adviser Peter Thiel. They went to Stanford Law School together and served as president of the Federalist Society in back-to-back years, according to school records. More recently, Kennedy’s firm, Disruptive Technology Advisers, has worked with Thiel’s company Palantir Technologies. The White House has also closely monitored retirement chatter by tapping into the network of former Kennedy clerks, a group that includes Gorsuch himself. Some in the legal world viewed Gorsuch’s selection — he would be the first Supreme Court clerk to serve alongside a former boss — as an olive branch to Kennedy that, should he retire next, his seat would be in reliable presidential hands. Those close to Trump’s judicial-selection process stress that they’re not pressuring Kennedy to hang up his robe, only seeking to put him at ease.
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29849
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An ad for Winston brand cigarettes featured a pregnant woman touting low birth weight as a benefit of smoking.
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Of all the dubious health claims made about the benefits of cigarette smoking, this one seemingly took the cake.
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false
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Fauxtography, Advertisements
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Ubiquitous cigarette advertisements of the mid-20th century often touted to consumers that smoking particular brands of cigarettes actually provided health benefits — or at least caused less damage than rival brands. Cigarettes were frequently endorsed by doctors and dentists, and they were promoted with an array of medical-sounding claims ranging from “less irritating to the nose and throat” to “improves digestion” to “helps maintain slender figures.” The nadir of such dubious advertising would seemingly be an ad for Winston brand cigarettes that employed the slogan “Taste Isn’t the Only Reason I Smoke” and featured a pregnant woman disdaining the notion that smoking while pregnant could result in low birth weight, proclaiming that “an easy labor” and “a slim baby” was a “win-win” scenario: This “When you’re smoking for two …” graphic was just a fabrication and not a genuine vintage print advertisement, however. It was the winner in a “Bad Ads” Photoshop competition hosted by the Worth1000 website (now DesignCrowd), in which participants were challenged to “create a failed ad campaign — a parody of an ad that wasn’t quite right in one way or another.” As for real cigarette ads, the following is a true example of one that perhaps can’t be beat for irony in light of modern medical knowledge:
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2647
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Italy scientists say they have found oldest human blood.
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Scientists examining the remains of “Otzi,” Italy’s prehistoric iceman who roamed the Alps some 5,300 years ago, said on Wednesday they have isolated what are believed to be the oldest traces of human blood ever found.
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true
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Science News
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"An undated handout file photo shows ""Otzi"", Italy's prehistoric iceman. Scientists examining the remains of ""Otzi,"" Italy's prehistoric iceman who roamed the Alps some 5,300 years ago, said on May 2, 2012 they have isolated what are believed to be the oldest traces of human blood ever found. REUTERS/Handout/Files. The German and Italian scientists said they used an atomic force microscope to examine tissue sections from a wound caused by an arrow that killed the Copper Age man, who was found frozen in a glacier, and from a laceration on his right hand. “They really looked similar to modern-day blood samples,” said Professor Albert Zink, 46, the German head of the Institute for Mummies and the Iceman at the European Academy in Bolzano, the capital of Italy’s German-speaking Alto-Adige region. “So far, this is the clearest evidence of the oldest blood cells,” he said by telephone, adding that the new technique might now be used to examine mummies from Egypt. The studies were carried out in conjunction with the Center for Smart Interfaces at Darmstadt Technical University in Germany and the Center for Nano Sciences in Munich. Over the last two decades, scientists have collected data from the stomach, bowels and teeth of the well-preserved man, who was found protruding out of a glacier by German climbers in 1991 in the Tyrolean Alps on the Austrian-Italian border. Otzi, whose nickname derives from the German word for the area where he was found, had brown hair and type-O blood and was believed to be 45 when he was felled by an arrow while climbing the high mountains some 5,300 years ago. The nanotechnology instrument used by Zink and his team scans the surface of the tissue sections using a very fine probe, the scientists said in a summary of their report. As the probe moves over the surface, sensors measure every tiny deflection of the probe, line by line and point by point, building up a three-dimensional image. Zink, an anthropologist, said the red blood cells his team found had a classic doughnut shape seen in healthy people today. “It is very interesting to see that the red blood cells can last for such a long time,” he said. “This will also open up possibilities for forensic science and may help lead to a more precise determination of the age of blood spots in crime investigations,” he added. Earlier this year, the scientists made the first complete genome-sequencing on Otzi, determining that the man had a predisposition for cardiovascular diseases and brown eyes that betrayed possible near-Eastern origins. Otzi had lactose intolerance that was common among Neolithic agrarian societies and was also the first-known carrier of Lyme disease, a bacterial infection spread by ticks. Examination of the wound where the arrow entered Otzi’s back identified fibrin, a protein involved in the clotting of blood, a summary of the report said. Because fibrin is present in fresh wounds and then decays, this appears to show that the hunter died quickly rather than after a few days as had been previously thought, it said. Zink carried out his research with Marek Janko and Robert Stark, professors of material sciences at the Center for Nano Sciences in Munich and Italian colleagues in Bolzano. To be certain that the specimens they were examining were blood and not pollen, the scientists used a second analytical method known as the Raman spectroscopy method. In that method, a laser beam illuminates a tissue sample and analysis of the spectrum of the scattered light permits the identification of various molecules. Zink said he and his colleagues hope to carry out further analysis on Otzi’s enzymes, proteins and immune system. “We hope we can make good progress in this area too,” he said. The complete results will be published by Britain’s Journal of the Royal Society Interface."
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32508
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France deliberately suppressed information about torture and mutilation at the Bataclan in November 2015 to avoid upsetting Muslims.
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Even if the French government hadn’t made public their findings about torture and evisceration at the Bataclan prior to the attacks in Nice, the post-Bastille Day attack rumor operated on the assumption such a coverup was even possible. By all accounts, 89 people died at the Bataclan on 13 November 2015, while another 200 were wounded but survived, and many more escaped unscathed. Contemporaneous reports estimated that 1,000 people were in attendance at the Bataclan on 13 November 2015 with 700 of them were physically unharmed. Had the French government opted to cover up acts of torture and emasculation at the venue, there was nothing stopping the vast majority of surviving witnesses from sharing their stories. None did.
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false
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Politics, bastille day, bataclan torture, nice
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On 14 July 2016, scores of people were killed in Nice, France, when a large truck plowed through a Bastille Day crowd. This terror attack took place just eight months after a series of coordinated terrorist attacks hit Paris and claimed the lives of 130 people, 89 of whom were killed at the Bataclan nightclub. As the world reacted in grief and horror to the Nice trgaedy, both Fox News and Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper published articles reporting that France affirmatively covered up unspeakable acts of torture that occurred at the Bataclan on the night of the November 2015 attacks. A headline published by the latter sensationally asserted that France (then grieving) purposely covered up the worst details of what was by all accounts unbridled horror: After repeating most of the rumors as if they were fact, the paper added that “prosecutors at the parliamentary inquiry into the Bataclan deaths have cast doubt over the claims after revealing that no sharp knives were found at the scene.” Fox News (aggregating from a separate source) similarly framed the rumors as fact: A French government committee has heard testimony, suppressed by the French government at the time and not published online until this week, that the killers in the Bataclan tortured their victims on the second floor of the club. The chief police witness in Parliament said that an investigating officer, tears streaming down his face, rushed out of the Bataclan and vomited in front of him just after seeing the disfigured bodies. According to this testimony, Wahhabist killers apparently gouged out eyes, castrated victims, and shoved their testicles in their mouths. They may also have disemboweled some poor souls. Women were stabbed in the genitals — and the torture was, victims told police, filmed for Daesh or Islamic State propaganda. For that reason, medics did not release the bodies of torture victims to the families, investigators said. But prosecutors claimed these reports of torture were “a rumor” on the grounds that sharp knives were not found at the scene. They also claimed that maybe shrapnel had caused the injuries. Both outlets single-sourced their claims from a 15 July 2016 article published by the HeatStreet web site. That outlet chose the hours after the Nice attack to dredge up old claims from an inquiry that occurred in March 2016, with the only marginal relevance to the claims being another outbreak of carnage and a frightened public. Nothing more occurred between the March 2016 inquiry and the July 2016 spate of claims to warrant republication of unvetted rumor in a time of international grief and worry. The portion in question originated via an inquiry published (not suppressed) by the French government, based on 21 March 2016 testimony in which investigators were asked about rumors of torture or propaganda creation at the Bataclan. A translated version of the inquiry’s minutes revealed that investigators soundly debunked the claims on record: Mr President Fenech For the information of the inquiry, Mr. PT, can you tell us how you learned that there had been acts of barbarism within the Bataclan: beheadings, evisceration, enucleations? MTP After the assault, we were with colleagues at the passage Saint-Pierre Amelot when I saw tears streaming out of the eyes of an investigator who went to vomit. He told us what he had seen. I did not know this colleague, but he was so shocked that it went to see it myself, naturally. Alain Marsaud. Acts of torture happened on the second floor? MTP I think, as I entered at the ground floor I saw there no such thing had occurred, only people hit by bullets. Minutes from the inquiry session of 30 March 2016 again addressed what were clearly marked as rumors, and the government inquisition again heard no forensic evidence that supported such claims: Mr. President. Following the November attacks, he was referred to the commission of barbaric acts. François Molins. It’s a rumor. Forensic doctors were categorical: there was no act of barbarism, no use, including knives. According to a witness, the testicles of a victim were cut off, but no findings have corroborated it.
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2196
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Indonesia's 'Good Palm' drive enflames anger as smoke clouds skies.
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Indonesia is facing a backlash over an online campaign backing palm oil at a time when forest fires, often linked to slash-and-burn land clearance, have spread choking smoke across the region, raising growing concern about damage to health.
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true
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Environment
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The Southeast Asian country is the world’s biggest producer of the edible oil and is often vilified abroad for the destruction of forests to make way for plantations, and for the fires that are often started to clear the land. While Indonesia’s neighbors complain about the impact of the smoke drifting in, the criticism at home, where the smoke is usually much more severe, has been more muted. But that might be changing, if the reaction to a government campaign launched to support the palm oil industry is anything to go by. “We plant palm to fulfill Indonesia’s needs, including to develop biodiesel and to lift Indonesia’s hopes,” the cheery Good Palm campaign said on its Twitter account - @SawitBaikID. But the campaign, launched by the government and the state Palm Crop Estate Fund agency, could not have come at a worse time. Fires, at their most serious since 2015 because of an El Nino weather pattern causing an extended dry spell, have been sending clouds of acrid smoke up over Sumatra, parts of Borneo islands and beyond for more than a month. The government, once again trying to deflect the anger of its neighbors, has sent in more than 9,000 workers to try to beat down and douse the flames. The smoke, or haze as it is known, has forced schools and airports to shut, while tens of thousands of people have suffered from respiratory problems. In one widely reported case, a four-month-old girl from a haze-hit village on Sumatra island died this week. Doctors said she bore signs of lung infection, though they have yet to give the official cause of death. “The government should stop using the ‘palm oil is a very productive crop’ card to justify their negligence on the poor management of existing palm oil plantations,” wrote one Twitter user - @agnarendra. Sheany, a journalist based in Bali, who uses only one name, said it was “bizarre” that the authorities were launching their campaign to make palm oil look good at this time. “So many Indonesians living in those areas are choking,” she said. In another sign of changing attitudes toward palm oil, some supermarkets in the capital, Jakarta, have begun displaying products with “palm oil-free” labels, to the anger of government officials. Dono Boestami, head of the Palm Crop Estate Fund, defended the campaign to support palm oil, noting the “huge contribution” it makes to the economy. Authorities say fire has scorched 328,000 hectares (810,000 acres) of land since January but it is not clear how much of that has been to make way for palm plantations. Greenpeace Indonesia said 80% of cleared forests had been turned into become palm and pulpwood plantations. Referring to the Good Palm campaign, Greenpeace called for tighter controls of the palm oil industry. Environmentalists say poor farmers are often blamed for the fires when the plantation companies egg them on, knowing they can expand later into land that has been cleared. Police say many of the fires are started in forest and scrub next to plantations, which are often untouched. The chairman of Indonesia’s palm oil association, Joko Supriyono, said the companies should not be blamed for fires they do not start. “There are reports from our members that fires on their concessions were because of widespread fires outside of the concessions,” he told foreign correspondents on Tuesday. President Joko Widodo has not responded directly to the backlash. This week, he attended Islamic prayers for rain in an area shrouded in heavy haze. “We have done everything we can, but the correct way is to prevent this from ever happening. Whenever there’s a fire, it should be put out,” Widodo said in a statement.
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26970
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The president of the United States already has the legal authority to reduce the price of many commonly used prescription drugs.
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"Warren said, """"The president of the United States already has the legal authority to reduce the price of many commonly used prescription drugs."" Multiple presidential candidates have talked about ways to bring down drug prices without new legislation. We focused on Warren’s argument: that the president already has this legal authority for many drugs, and that the power stems from Section 1498 and the march-in rights provision of a 1980 law. On these points, she is on firm ground.y Legal experts agreed that laws on the books do, in some cases, give the president that executive power ― and the cases Warren outlined are viable candidates, especially for ""compulsory licensing."" The same experts also pointed out that even with this authority, the politics and logistics could be tricky, and that using these mechanisms wouldn’t address the entire drug pricing issue."
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true
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Health Care, Health Check, Elizabeth Warren,
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"On the presidential primary campaign trail in Iowa, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., brought out a favorite talking point: ways the president can bring down drug prices without waiting for Congress. It’s not the first time Warren and other candidates have referenced this alleged power. In this case, she pointed to insulin, EpiPens and HIV/AIDS drugs as possible targets. We asked the Warren campaign for the basis of her claim and they directed us to her ""Medicare for All"" transition plan. It identifies two legal mechanisms ― ""compulsory licensing"" as outlined in 28 U.S. Code Section 1498 and the so-called march-in rights provision of the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act. We spoke to legal and pharmaceutical policy experts about whether those mechanisms could be used to bring down drug prices, as Warren described. The answer? Yes. But it’s complicated and controversial. The legal mechanisms Of the two legal levers, Section 1498 is perhaps more straightforward. The law says the government can intervene to take over patents without a company’s permission, if the price is too high. The government can then create competition to bring down prices by importing those products from abroad, or manufacturing them. The original manufacturer can sue for damages but cannot stop Washington from breaking the patent. ""What they would do is announce they are taking other bids from other companies to supply the product"" to government programs such as Medicare, said Aaron Kesselheim, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who researches drug pricing laws and has written extensively about Section 1498. The provision has been used before ― in the 1960s to procure cheap generic drugs ― and was invoked as recently as 2001, as a threat to get a better price on Ciprofloxacin, a high-powered antibiotic used to treat anthrax. It also was used in 2014 in non-pharmaceutical contexts, such as by the Defense Department to acquire lead-free bullets. Invoking this part of the U.S. code wouldn’t necessarily apply to all drugs, said Jacob Sherkow, a professor at New York Law School. But products such as the ones Warren mentioned ― insulin and EpiPens, for instance, which are patented in the United States and abroad, and cost far less in other countries ― would qualify. And that could send a message to other drug manufacturers. ""If you’re a particularly aggressive president, you can find some low-hanging fruit, and use 1498 to show other pharmaceutical companies you’re damn serious,"" Sherkow said. There are other caveats. Sherkow noted that licensing a competing drug is only part of the equation; competition often brings down drug prices, but not always. In addition, not all drugs have equivalent patents here and abroad, which complicates importation. But many of the technical obstacles are surmountable, argued Amy Kapczynski, a professor at Yale Law School. The march-in rights authority a little trickier. Bayh-Dole, the law that created march-in rights, suggests the government can ""march in"" when a drug isn’t available amid concerns over public health, such as an epidemic. It applies only to pharmaceuticals for which the government holds all the patents because it funded the research that led to their development. An example could be Truvada for PrEP, the HIV prevention pill, Kesselheim said. Unlike Section 1498, march-in rights have never been used to negotiate a lower price ― despite multiple petitions to the National Institutes of Health, the federal agency that would approve and oversee the process. The question is whether high prices can constitute both a barrier and a public health concern having rendered a drug unavailable. Sherkow, for one, expressed skepticism. NIH has historically opted against making this determination. For one, its directors have typically argued that cost isn’t within their area of expertise. And, for another, they have suggested that ""marching in"" would discourage pharmaceutical companies from using government-funded research ― ultimately leading to fewer breakthrough drugs being developed. ""That is a matter of culture, and I think a president could alter that perspective,"" Kesselheim said. Doing so, though, would require political capital. Even though Congress isn’t required to vote on the matter, the president would have to, for instance, appoint officials willing to change the NIH perspective ― and those leaders do require Senate confirmation. ""You’d probably have to defend it in court,"" Kesselheim added. Finally, these mechanisms would also draw sharp pushback from the pharmaceutical industry. Given the fervor over the drug pricing debate, neither Section 1498 nor march-in rights should be used ubiquitously, Kesselheim said. ""It is a complicated enough and politically charged enough procedure, that it’s something that should be reserved as a safety net for real public health emergencies,"" he said. ""I think Sen. Warren is identifying some of those cases."" They’re all talking about it Warren’s proposals are part of a larger pattern ― Democratic presidential candidates including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg ― have talked about ways to bring down drug prices without congressional action. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar also referenced such action during the January presidential primary debate. ""I have a plan of 137 things I found that a president can do herself in the first 100 days without Congress that are legal. And one of those things is that you can start bringing in less expensive drugs from other parties,"" she said. According to Klobuchar’s campaign, she was referring to a list she published on Medium in June 2019 in which she wrote that she would use ""existing Food and Drug Administration authority to grant a waiver that allows people to import safe prescription drugs for personal use from countries like Canada to decrease drug costs for seniors and all Americans."" Sherkow said this is indeed another example. Section 804 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act authorizes the HHS secretary to order the importation of specific drugs if it would impose no additional risk to the public’s health and safety and would result in a significant cost reduction. But this example also highlights the complexities involved and why it is not necessarily fast or easy. He pointed out that the president would have to nominate a candidate for secretary, get that person confirmed, then have the secretary make this order in respect to specific drugs, certify that the drugs are safe and would result in cost reduction ― then have the importation take place. ""Kudos to anyone for trying that in the first 100 days,"" Sherkow said. Our ruling Warren said, """"The president of the United States already has the legal authority to reduce the price of many commonly used prescription drugs."" Multiple presidential candidates have talked about ways to bring down drug prices without new legislation. We focused on Warren’s argument: that the president already has this legal authority for many drugs, and that the power stems from Section 1498 and the march-in rights provision of a 1980 law. On these points, she is on firm ground.y Legal experts agreed that laws on the books do, in some cases, give the president that executive power ― and the cases Warren outlined are viable candidates, especially for ""compulsory licensing."" The same experts also pointed out that even with this authority, the politics and logistics could be tricky, and that using these mechanisms wouldn’t address the entire drug pricing issue."
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10920
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Brain stimulation limits calories consumed in adults with obesity
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Sometimes a short news release is too short. This one, at 267 words in the main body, describes a study of direct brain stimulation to control eating behavior in only nine human patients, over two 8-day periods of time. The patients were divided into two groups. A control group received sham treatment and an experimental group received direct-current brain stimulation aimed at a part of the brain that might control eating behavior. The five patients who received the stimulation lost an average of 8/10 of a pound. The news release is accurate, but lacks context that might have pointed to potential obstacles for this avenue and put the early results into some larger landscape of research on obesity. This is a very small experimental treatment. Why not wait until there’s more credible results from a larger group to write the release? Obesity is a well-known epidemic in the United States, causing chronic health problems and swelling demands on scarce health care resources if it continues. Any method that might help change eating behavior is exciting, but this too-short news release seems to raise more questions than it answers by trumpeting a study of only nine people over less than a month. Just a few more sentences quoting an expert from outside the study and some comments on costs would have helped. Or, wait and write a release after more than a handful of patients have been treated.
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mixture
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Government agency news release,Weight loss
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The news release does not provide any information on what the experimental therapy, known as transcranial direct current stimulation, might cost if and when it is available to the public. We’ll rate this Not Applicable because it’s too early to know what it might cost and the release doesn’t make it sound like the technology will be available imminently. However, we’d note that a close cousin of this method, transcranial magnetic stimulation, is FDA approved for major depression and migraine. Sessions cost about $300 each and may include 20 or more sessions and run several thousand dollars. The release could have mentioned this. The story does quantify the very slight benefits of a very small study (fewer than 10 patients). Unlike the control group, five people who received active stimulation of their brain “consumed an average of 700 fewer calories and lost an average of 0.8 pounds on the second visit.” But the story misses an important point here — the reduction in calories consumed was not statistically significant. That important detail deserved comment. The news release does not contain a single sentence regarding whether there might be harms if this technique were expanded and used in a wider setting as a treatment for obesity. We wondered: Would people get used to the stimulation if it were used on a long-term basis and stop showing the “benefit?” Are there other cognitive abilities that are in any way muffled by the stimulation? The release should at least acknowledge that there could be potential harms uncovered in further study. The limitations section of the paper itself even states that is was not entirely clear that the treatment reached the targeted brain areas and not other areas. We find this concerning if not a bit alarming. The release describes the size (small) and the duration (short) of the study, but it offers no explicit comment on how those factors limit our interpretation of the study. The release should have pointed out that this is not meant to be anywhere near clinically available, but rather in the realm of understanding neurobiology of obesity. There is no disease mongering in this release. The principal investigator in this research is an employee of a federal agency. There does not appear to be any conflict of interest and funding sources are named. The story does not compare alternatives. It does state that this new therapy of brain stimulation would be combined with existing known treatments for obesity, such as exercise. The first line of the release states “… when combined with diet and exercise.” This was a lost opportunity later in the story to discuss intensive behavior changes interventions and surgical treatment for severe obesity with known efficacy. A brief comment that this is not expected to be available anytime soon would have been helpful to readers. However, the release does say that “More study is needed to confirm the safety and effectiveness of tDCS for weight loss.” While it’s a close call, we think most readers can gather from this that the technique isn’t likely to be available soon. It’s clear this is being studied at a federally funded obesity center and that the approach of measuring calorie intake after stimulation is new. We might have liked a headline that said “Tiny study showed some possible benefit to brain stimulation.” But the release did not use unjustifiable language.
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22135
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I'm well aware that medical marijuana is a recognized, medical, viable treatment for this sort of [pancreas] pain condition.
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Former House Minority Leader says marijuana is recognized as a treatment for his pancreas pain.
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false
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Rhode Island, Candidate Biography, Drugs, Health Care, Legal Issues, Crime, Public Health, Marijuana, Robert Watson,
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"On the night of April 22, 2011, Rep. Robert Watson, R-East Greenwich, was stopped at a Connecticut sobriety checkpoint and ultimately charged with both driving under the influence and marijuana possession. In a floor speech the following Tuesday, the then-House minority leader said he was not under the influence. He said he had not smoked marijuana, and his blood-alcohol level tested at 0.05, which is below the legal limit of 0.08. Watson told fellow House members he had ""a very small bag with trace amounts of marijuana and a smoking instrument."" He was carrying the marijuana, he said, in case he had an attack of pancreatitis. ""I'm well aware that medical marijuana is a recognized, medical, viable treatment for this sort of pain condition,"" he said in his speech, which garnered a standing ovation from Republicans and other House members at the time. (But a week later, the Republican caucus ousted him as minority leader.) Watson, citing personal privacy, has not released details of his medical record; results of his blood test will be the subject of his court hearing in Connecticut. But we wanted to weed out the facts on whether marijuana is actually recognized as a treatment for the pain of pancreatitis, an extraordinarily painful condition that Watson described as akin to a gunshot to the chest. First, some background. The pancreas, located behind the stomach, releases enzymes that aid in digestion. It also releases the insulin the body needs to control blood sugar. The enzymes flow out a tube into the small intestine near the stomach. Unfortunately, a portion of that tube is shared with the gallbladder. Sometimes tiny stones form in the gallbladder, migrate down the tube and block the portion that drains the pancreas. The result is painful inflammation -- pancreatitis. Doctors can usually see the stones with ultrasound or some other form of imaging. In those cases, either the stone eventually works its way free or doctors remove it. In either case, doctors urge patients to have the gall bladder removed. End of problem. The second major cause of pancreatitis is alcohol. When that's the case, doctors insist that patients abstain from drinking because one attack can lead to others, damaging the pancreas in a way that leads to chronic pancreatitis. ""The recommendation is pretty much to not take any alcohol because alcohol is a toxin to the pancreas,"" said Dr. Alyn Adrain, a gastroenterologist and clinical assistant professor of medicine at Brown University. Heavy smoking may also increase the risk, said Dr. Vikesh Singh, director of the Pancreatitis Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. That risk can be difficult to tease out because smoking and drinking often go hand in hand. Pancreatitis can also be caused by inherited deformities in the pancreas. There have also been at least two studies covering four patients suggesting that marijuana, by itself, can cause a pancreatitis attack. In other instances, doctors have trouble pinpointing a cause. Watson politely declined to answer most questions about his condition, saying he believes his health should be a private matter. Watson did, however, reveal elements of his illness during his speech on the floor of the House. He said his initial attack of pancreas pain was at Halloween. He said he went to the hospital the next day, where he had a severe reaction to a drug, prompting doctors to put him in a medically induced coma for five days. He said he subsequently had other attacks. He did not disclose the number and severity. ""I did treat with medical marijuana on one of those rare occasions where I had that debilitating pain that had me flat on my back"" wondering whether to call an ambulance, he said. He also reported having a recurrence the day before his arrest, but said he did not use marijuana then. Watson said that when he tried the drug, ""it provided relief and it alleviated the pain . . . I believed it was responsible self-therapy."" Watson said he had not applied for authorization to use medical marijuana. But is marijuana ""a recognized, medical, viable treatment for this sort of pain condition,"" as he contends? As a treatment for pancreatitis pain, let's be blunt. The simple answer is ""No."" Both Doctors Singh and Adrain said there are no studies in the medical literature showing that marijuana is an effective treatment for the pain of a pancreatitis attack. ""There is no reason to use marijuana for acute pancreatitis,"" said Singh. ""There are no studies evaluating the use of cannabis for the treatment of chronic pancreatitis pain."" ""I've never given it for chronic pain from pancreatitis and I don't know anyone who has,"" said Adrain. When we contacted Watson, he said his statement should be considered in the context of treatment for severe pain in general. The state's guidelines for medical marijuana use say ""qualifying debilitating medical conditions"" include ""a chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment"" that produces any of six conditions, including ""severe, debilitating, chronic pain."" In that context, the doctors we interviewed said marijuana MIGHT be useful in some cases, just as the drug helps some patients cope with cancer pain. ""It might help. There's just no good evidence to prove it’s worthwhile,"" said Singh. Finally, we looked to Canada, where the use of medical marijuana has been legal for years. Health Canada, which authorizes medical marijuana use, lists seven conditions -- multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury or disease, cancer, HIV, epilepsy, severe arthritis -- where the use is routinely accepted. For other conditions, a specialist must confirm ""that conventional treatments have failed or [are] judged inappropriate to relieve symptoms."" And Dr. Mark Ware, associate medical director of the McGill University Health Centre Pain Clinic in Montreal, told us in an email that pancreatitis is a different kind of pain. ""This is a visceral pain syndrome and most cannabis studies have focused on neuropathic pain."" The personal reports you can find on the web ""have not been validated or evaluated."" So as far as we could determine, it's neither recognized nor recommended by the medical community for this use. There are certainly no studies to support its use."
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10095
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Research shows benefits of cranberries
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At Thanksgiving time it is not unusual for news organizations to roll out stories about health benefits of turkey or cranberries. This story reports on health claims without providing the reader with any data about the claims made. The article did not include information about the magnitude of benefit that one might reasonably expect to attain from consumption of cranberries, the amount of cranberries that would need to be consumed and/or the frequency with which cranberries would need to be consumed in order to attain the benefits listed, and it failed to mention the potential harmful interaction for individuals using warfarin and eating cranberries. The story overstates the certainty of health benefits of cranberries. The information in the article was just a list of some cranberry-related research currently under investigation. It failed to provide the reader with the information needed in order to assess the value of such material. It included ony a single scientific source, who may have had a conflict of interest.
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false
|
This story contained no estimates about cost, but again, we consider the price of cranberries and their juice as common knowledge. The story provides no quantitative assessment of the benefits presented. How big is the observed benefit? The story provides no information about potential harms associated with cranberry consumption. There is good evidence about potentially serious lethal interactions between warfarin and cranberry-based products. The story mentions work by a researcher at Rutgers (without mentioning that she works at the Rutgers Blueberry and Cranberry Research Center which is funded, in part, by Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.). The story mentions work currently funded by the National Institutes of Health and other unnamed funding agencies. The story does not provide any information about where the data for these observations come from or any details like the size of the benefit or the dosage needed to attain the benefit. While not overt disease mongering, the last two claims made in the story, namely that cranberries may prevent tumors and that extracts of chemicals from cranberries may prevent breast cancer cells from multiplying – play into people's fears about cancer. Nonetheless, we'll give the story the benefit of the doubt on this criterion. The story contained a single quote from a researcher, who although funded by the National Institutes of Health, also appears to have a financial link with Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. Quotes from others who study compounds from plants to determine how they may affect health would have been helpful. It would have been more useful to readers to provide information from independent scientists who could have commented about the tiny bits of information provided. For example: how do the antioxidants found in food translate into antioxidants available for the body to use against damage from free radicals; what is the evidence about cranberry juice and urinary tract infections – what exactly do we know, how do we know it, and how can a person make use of this information. While touting the potential benefits from cranberries, the story made no mention of other means for preventing or treating the conditions mentioned. So there was no basis for comparison with other approaches. It is commonly known that both cranberries and their juice are easily obtained from the supermarket. So, while the story didn't explicity discuss availability. This story presents summary statements on some of the latest research on possible health benefits from cranberries. We can't be sure if the story relies solely or largely on a news release. We do know that it quotes only one source.
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4444
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Time ticks away at wild bison genetic diversity.
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Evidence is mounting that wild North American bison are gradually shedding their genetic diversity across many of the isolated herds overseen by the U.S. government, weakening future resilience against disease and climate events in the shadow of human encroachment.
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true
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North America, Genetics, General News, Parks, National parks, Bison, Science, U.S. News
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The extent of the creeping threat to herds overseen by the Department of Interior — the backbone of wild bison conservation efforts for North America — is coming into sharper focus amid advances in genetic studies. Preliminary results of a genetic population analysis commissioned by the National Park Service show three small federal herds would almost certainly die off — extinguishing their DNA lineage — within 200 years under current management practices that limit transfers for interbreeding among distant herds. The study is awaiting peer review by other scientists. It does not include Yellowstone National Park’s herd of some 5,000 unfenced bison, the largest federal conservation herd that’s seen by millions of people who visit the park annually. “Some of these herds that lost the most genetic diversity do have a high probability of going extinct, due to the accumulation of inbreeding,” explained Cynthia Hartway, a conservation scientist at the bison program with Wildlife Conservation Society who led the analysis. The preliminary findings were presented at a workshop of the American Bison Society in the buffalo-raising Native American community of Pojoaque, amid impassioned discussions about ensuring the iconic mammal’s lasting place in the wild. Bison squeezed through a perilously small genetic bottleneck in the late 1800s with the hunting and extermination of the massive animals that had numbered in the tens of millions. At one point, fewer than a 1,000 survived. Federal wildlife authorities now support about 11,000 genetically pure bison with only the slightest traces of cattle interbreeding. The herds represent one third of all bison maintained for conservation purposes across North America. Many of the conservation herds overseen directly by the Interior Department have 400 or fewer animals — leaving them prone to problems of inbreeding and genetic drift that reduce environmental adaptability. The new analysis suggests the problem, left unchecked, would likely spell doom for small herds wandering the immense Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska, the hemmed-in bison at the Chickasaw National Recreation Area in Oklahoma that descended from a group of six animals, and a tiny educational display herd at Sullys Hill National Game Preserve in North Dakota. At the same time, strategically exchanging as few as two bison between herds every 10 years would forestall the genetic deterioration of small herds, the research found. Hartway said transfers alone don’t stop that slow ebb of genetic diversity from the combined “meta-population” — the collective DNA profile of scattered federal conservation herds — and that more large herds may be needed in the long run. “We’re kind of putting a band-aid on the problem. The problem is we have small, isolated herds.” Others see modern reproductive technology as a solution. Frozen bison embryos and in vitro fertilization hold out promise for easing genetic isolation among herds without the risks of transferring hulking mammals or spreading diseases such as brucellosis that leads to aborted calves, said Gregg Adams, a professor of veterinary biomedical sciences at the University of Saskatchewan who has pioneered the reproductive technologies on bison. But federal wildlife managers and some indigenous communities are loath to adopt such techniques that move away from natural selection in mating. Peter Dratch, a senior biologist in Colorado for the Fish and Wildlife Service’s wildlife inventory and monitoring program, cautioned against even more subtle human interference in managing wild herds, such as inoculations or rescuing ailing bison for treatable diseases. He believes domestic versions of bison will emerge from commercial herds, where bison number 400,000 or more. “You don’t want to go overboard, to play God,” he said. Wild bison DNA is typically sampled from tail-hair gathered at cattle-style roundups, or with small flesh-biting darts, and even blood samples from animals killed by hunters in remote locations. In its cooperative effort with federal and state agencies, the Wildlife Conservation Society assembled DNA information from more than 1,800 bison among 16 federal herds, with additional sampling from two publicly managed Canadian herds. Brendan Moynahan, chairman of the Interior Department’s Bison Work Group, said genetic-diversity concerns could add momentum to initiatives already afoot for larger conservation herds where enough open space can be found, potentially in collaboration with Native American communities that revere the buffalo. At the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana, tribal leaders who re-established wild bison in 2016 have described their vision for herds that roam freely into neighboring Glacier National Park, the Badger-Two Medicine wilderness and Canada’s Waterton Lakes National Park — an area spanning several thousand square miles. Despite concerns, Moynahan insisted the plains bison and larger northern wood bison are on a better genetic footing than other wild North American mammals such as the black-footed ferret that have had close brushes with extinction.
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35144
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Taking a few sips of water every 15 mins will prevent the new coronavirus from entering your windpipe and lungs.
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The “serious excellent advice by Japanese doctors” text is often combined with other viral coronavirus claims including a paragraph about a “self-check” attributed to “Taiwan experts,” and a set of recommendations that begins with a claim about differentiating between a cold and COVID-19. Snopes addressed the “Taiwan experts self-check” claim here and addressed the list of tips that begins with a dubious method of distinguishing a cold from COVID-19 here. This article deals only with the claim regarding sipping water every 15 minutes.
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false
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Medical, COVID-19
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Inaccurate messages about the new coronavirus are spreading and mutating online. One frequently copied and pasted bit of text that has gone viral on Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp purports to impart “serious excellent advice” from “Japanese doctors treating COVID-19 cases.” That “advice” asserts regular sips of water can prevent the coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease, from entering the respiratory system: SERIOUS EXCELLENT ADVICE by Japanese doctors treating COVID-19 cases. Everyone should ensure your mouth & throat is moist, never DRY. Take a few sips of water every 15 mins at least. WHY? Even if the virus gets into your mouth … drinking water or other liquids will WASH them down through your oesophagus and into the stomach. Once there in tummy … your stomach ACID will kill all the virus. If you don’t drink enough water more regularly … the virus can enter your windpipes and into the LUNGS. That’s very dangerous.
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4351
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Evacuation order lifted after ‘inadvertent’ TB release.
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Baltimore firefighters on Thursday cleared people out of two medical research buildings due to tuberculosis contamination, but authorities later said there was no risk of infection to anyone and the evacuation order was lifted.
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true
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U.S. News, Evacuations, Medical research, Tuberculosis, U.S. News, Baltimore
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Kim Hoppe, a spokeswoman with Johns Hopkins Medicine, said a small sample of frozen tuberculosis was “inadvertently released” in an internal bridge between two cancer research buildings that don’t connect to the hospital. The release prompted the evacuation of both Hopkins research buildings in the early afternoon. Employees who were in the area where the release occurred were isolated and evaluated. But authorities later confirmed “that there was no risk to anyone on campus,” Hoppe said. She thanked Hopkins employees and city firefighters for their speedy response. Baltimore Fire Chief Roman Clark said people were allowed back into the research buildings by late afternoon. Tuberculosis is the world’s leading infectious killer. It has long been on the decline in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there were 9,272 U.S. cases in 2016. Airborne germs spread the disease from person to person.
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31863
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"A Navy officer was arrested for ""abuse of public animal"" and ""drunken or reckless driving"" after he used a raccoon to bypass an ignition interlock system."
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The Court of Appeal of Quebec upheld on Friday the bulk of a 2015 decision that awarded around C$15 billion ($11.29 billion)to smokers in the Canadian province, dealing a blow to Big Tobacco.
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false
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Viral Phenomena
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The judgment involves class action suits that were consolidated against the Canadian subsidiaries of British American Tobacco, Philip Morris International and Japan Tobacco International, known respectively as Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd, Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Inc (RBH) and JTI-Macdonald Corp. The companies were appealing a 2015 Quebec Superior Court ruling to award damages to some 100,000 Quebec smokers and ex-smokers who alleged the companies knew since the 1950s that their product was causing cancer and other illnesses and failed to warn consumers adequately. The province’s Council on Tobacco and Health, a non-profit smoking-prevention group that was also a plaintiff in the suits, said the “historic judgment” would cost the companies almost C$17 billion ($12.79 billion), reflecting additional interest since 2015. RBH said in a statement that it will try to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada. JTI-Macdonald said it would consider that option. While big tobacco companies in the United States have faced lawsuits for decades, the Quebec class action marked the first time tobacco companies went to trial in a civil suit in Canada. “This is a huge defeat for the tobacco industry,” said Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst from the Canadian Cancer Society. “The Court of Appeal did reverse the Superior Court on some relatively minor points, but that does not materially change the overall result.” The judgment comes as Big Tobacco firms are pouring billions into vaping devices that deliver nicotine through vapor they say is less harmful than smoke, and as smoking rates fall in many countries. The two Quebec suits, called the Letourneau and Blais cases, were filed in 1998 and certified as class actions in 2005. They were consolidated into one before the 2012 start of trial proceedings, which ended in 2014. JTI-Macdonald said in a statement it “fundamentally disagrees” with the court’s judgment and that Canadians “have had a very high awareness of the health risks of smoking.” A spokesman for Imperial Tobacco Canada told reporters at the Montreal courthouse the company was “disappointed” with the decision. British American Tobacco Finance Director Ben Stevens told analysts on Thursday that the Canadian cases would likely take years to play out in the courts. British American Tobacco said in a statement late on Friday: “Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. needs to review the court’s decision in more detail and will decide on next steps over the coming days and weeks.”
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7469
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Mass testing to begin in Wuhan amid fears of virus comeback.
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At least one community in the Chinese city of Wuhan was to begin testing residents for the new coronavirus Thursday after officials were given 10 days to test everyone in the city where the pandemic began, Chinese media reports said.
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true
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Beijing, Understanding the Outbreak, Health, General News, Wuhan, China, Asia Pacific, Virus Outbreak
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About 1,000 residents of a compound in Qiaokou district were to be tested in groups, according to a website of Hubei TV, the official provincial broadcaster. No official announcement has been made, but district officials have confirmed receiving mass testing orders from the city’s coronavirus task force, the reports said. It remained unclear if everyone in the city of 11 million people would actually be tested and how such a monumental campaign would happen. The short order came after the discovery last weekend of a cluster of six infected people at a residential compound in the city, the first new cases in more than a month. China has moved quickly to snuff out new outbreaks wherever they pop up, even as it relaxes restrictions on the movement of people and reopens public attractions to limited numbers of visitors. Jilin province, which borders North Korea in China’s northeast, has suspended all public transport and imposed other restrictions as it battles a fresh outbreak. In neighboring Heilongjiang province, which dealt with its own outbreak recently, the city of Harbin is quarantining anyone coming from Jilin for 14 days and banning them from hotels. The sudden order appeared to confuse local officials. A man who answered the mayor’s hotline in Wuhan said that districts have 10 days to arrange the testing in their respective jurisdictions. But a woman who answered later Wednesday said the tests must be done in the next 10 days. A major state-owned news website, Jiemian, said it had obtained an implementation plan for the city’s Wuchang district that said all residents should be tested by May 20. Wuhan was the area hit hardest by the coronavirus in China. Of the 4,633 reported deaths nationwide, 4,512 were in Hubei province, including 3,869 in Wuhan, the provincial capital. China imposed a lengthy lockdown on most of Hubei in late January to stem the spread of the virus. People were forbidden from entering or leaving the province, public transportation suspended and residents were mostly restricted to their homes. The lockdown was lifted outside of Wuhan after two months, and in Wuhan itself on April 8, after 2 1/2 months. The new cases appear to have shocked city officials into action. They dismissed the Communist Party secretary of the neighborhood where the cluster was found for poor management of the residential community, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The order said the testing should focus on the elderly, densely populated areas and those with mobile populations, according to the media reports. It wasn’t clear if that meant only some people would be tested or if they would be prioritized. One expert at Wuhan University told the Global Times newspaper that 3 million to 5 million residents have already been tested, which could leave 6 to 8 million others for a citywide test. In Beijing, a shorter-than-usual ban on drone use in the Chinese capital is being interpreted as a signal that China will curtail its major political meeting of the year because of continuing concern about the outbreak. Police said Wednesday that the use of drones, balloons, gliders and other low-flying objects will be banned for nine days, from May 20 to May 28. Such bans are common during major events. The National People’s Congress usually happens over two weeks in March but was postponed this year because of the coronavirus outbreak. It is scheduled to start on May 22, so it may last just one week. Some participants in a recent preparatory meeting joined by video conference, sparking speculation that some of the 3,000 delegates may do so at the Congress itself. ___ Associated Press researcher Yu Bing contributed to this report.
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2557
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Reality TV beauty show viewers more likely to tan: study.
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College students who watch reality television beauty shows are at least twice as likely as non-viewers to use tanning lamps or tan outdoors for hours at a time, according to a U.S. study.
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true
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Health News
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"The findings, which appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, doesn’t prove that simply watching shows such as America’s Next Top Model and Toddlers & Tiaras drives people to the tanning booths, researchers said. But it does suggest the shows aren’t promoting the healthiest views on tanning, which has been linked to a higher risk of skin cancer - especially among young people. “TV shows might not realize the message they’re (promoting) by having all of these attractive, tanned people,” said study co-author Joshua Fogel, a health policy researcher at Brooklyn College, part of the City University of New York system. For both skin specialists and primary care doctors, he added, “it’s worth asking their younger patients if they do use tanning lamps and outdoor tanning ... especially those that watch reality TV shows.” The findings were based on surveys of 576 college students who were in their early 20s, on average. About 61 percent of them watched reality TV beauty shows. Watching reality TV was tied to both indoor and outdoor tanning. Among people who watched the beauty shows, 13 percent had used tanning lamps in the last year and 43 percent had tanned outdoors for more than two hours at a time. In comparison, fewer than four percent of non-watchers used tanning lamps and 29 percent tanned outdoors. Not surprisingly, women were ten times more likely to use tanning lamps than men. The researchers didn’t ask survey participants exactly what shows they watched, so they couldn’t tie specific programs to tanning. “It’s very clear that people who are watching (these shows) view this as something positive to do,” Fogel told Reuters Health, adding that it’s possible the programs may directly encourage viewers to tan because they imply tanned people are cooler and more attractive. “The alternative possibility is the people who are tanned in the first place like watching these shows,” he added, perhaps because the characters look more like them. Another study, in The Journal of Pediatrics, found that reality TV viewing was tied to better self esteem among adolescent girls. But the girls who watched the shows also focused more on their appearance. A representative from TLC-Discovery Communications, which airs Toddlers & Tiaras, said the network had no comment on Fogel’s findings. Dermatologist Elizabeth Tanzi, who wasn’t involved in the study, said the results were consistent with what doctors in the field know about the media’s influence. “The images on TV of celebrities, they really do send powerful messages to the masses,” said Tanzi, from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and the Washington Institute of Dermatologic Laser Surgery. ""And if they are going to the tanning salons and giving the impression that to be beautiful you have to be tan, and that's the ideal, that message is a very powerful one that's going to our young people."" SOURCE: bit.ly/XMT6Q5"
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10038
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The Beep of the Sensor, the Thrill of Control
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The article describes one man’s experience using a new combination glucose sensor and insulin pump for diabetes. The article explained some of the expenses (although it never gave the cost of the device itself), described the device and how this compared to the rest of the options, and described harms or disadvantages, at least those experienced by this one person. The story could be improved by describing published harms or side effects. What was actually found in the clinical trials? Because the story describes one man’s experience, much of the information is anecdotal and could be biasing. The story is lacking any description of the evidence to support using this new device or this level of monitoring (how do we know this works?) and what it can actually do (will it improve A1C–average blood sugar over the past 2 to 3 months–or will it improve the number of severe low blood sugar episodes experienced or something else?). No independent source was obtained to discuss the new device, another problem with this purely anecdotal approach.
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mixture
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The story does describe monthly testing supply costs for the new device ($350). However, the article could be improved by telling readers how much the actual device costs and/or comparing this to typical blood glucose testing monitors and supplies. There is no discussion about clinical outcomes, such as by how much it might improve A1C levels, or on average, how many severe low blood sugar episodes were avoided by using this device compared to traditional devices. Through one man’s story-telling, harms are described and included malfunctions with the machine leading to recalibration or inserting new catheters, trouble relying on machine recommendations for insulin dosages, potential for infection at the injection site, and inconvenience of being awakened or disturbed by the beeping or buzzing alarm. Of course, it’s not clear whether these are the only harms, but they seem reasonable. The story could be improved by reporting on actual harms reported in clinical trials. The article does not describe the evidence (trial, observational, or otherwise) supporting effectiveness of the new device. It does tell readers that this new device may be inaccurate in its blood sugar readings by as much as 18%, but there is no discussion about outcomes, such as by how much it might improve A1C levels, or on average, how many severe low blood sugar episodes were avoided by using this device compared to traditional devices. The level of monitoring and use of injections as described in this article are beyond what has been tested in randomized controlled trials. No independent sources of information were obtained. In fact, the only information is related anecdotally by only one man, which could be biasing. The story describes alternative options, including traditional blood glucose monitoring devices and insulin pumps (minus the glucose sensors). The story also describes other similar devices that may be on the market soon. The story states the “Paradigm Real-Time” combination insulin pump and glucose sensor was approved by the FDA, implying it is available to consumers. It was a little confusing to hear one man’s story about traveling to another city for a “test-period” in which the manufacturer paid for supplies, which sounded a bit like a study scenario or a special promotional deal. And, it’s still not clear whether this is available everywhere or only at certain locations. But, the article also tells readers that insurance won’t pay for the supplies as yet (even though the anecdotal story-teller felt it was worth it to him to start paying this), adding to the idea that if one wanted to pay the out-of-pocket expense, one could obtain this device. The story tells readers that the device was approved in June, which lets people know this is new to the market. We can’t be sure if the story relied largely on a news release. No sources are quoted anywhere in the story.
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5873
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University of California to dump fossil fuel investments.
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The University of California is dumping fossil fuel investments from its nearly $84 billion pension and endowment funds because they are a financial risk, its top financial officers announced Tuesday.
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true
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General News, California, Endowments, Science
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“Our job is to make money for the University of California, and we’re betting we can do that without fossil fuels investments,” said an opinion article in the Los Angeles Times written by Jagdeep Singh Bachher, UC’s chief investment officer and treasurer, and Richard Sherman, chair of the Board of Regents Investments Committee. UC’s $13.4 billion endowment fund will be “fossil free” by the end of the month and its $70 billion pension fund “will soon be that way,” the article said. “We want to ensure that the more than 320,000 people currently receiving a UC pension actually get paid, that we can continue to fund research and scholarships throughout the UC system, and that our campuses and medical centers earn the best possible return on their investments,” the article said. The article appeared the same day that UC announced its president and chancellors had signed a letter declaring a “climate emergency,” joining more than 7,000 colleges and universities around the world. The UC leaders agreed to increase climate research and environmental education and to achieve climate neutrality by 2025. “We have a moral responsibility to take swift action on climate change,” UC President Janet Napolitano said. “This declaration reaffirms UC’s commitment to addressing one of the greatest existential threats of our time.” A global campaign for universities and other organizations to disinvest has been waged by climate activists for nearly a decade. In July, UC faculty members called on the university to divest its fossil fuel endowments. However, Bachher and Sherman said the decision to disinvest was based on financial rather than political or idealistic pressures. The 10-campus system has been shedding fossil fuel investments for several years. It previously dumped several hundred million dollars’ worth of investments in coal, tar sands and companies building a Dakota-to-Illinois oil pipeline. The university, which has seen its investment assets grow to $126.1 billion, hasn’t made any new investments in fossil fuels since 2014, the article said. “We have been looking years, decades and centuries ahead as we place our bets that clean energy will fuel the world’s future. That means we believe there is money to be made,” the article said. “We have chosen to invest for a better planet, and reap the financial rewards for UC.”
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31005
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"The makers of a television commercial for a car company were so ""freaked out"" by an apparent ""ghostly"" apparition in the raw footage that the ad was never released."
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An actual television ad that pranked European viewers with a shock ending in 2005 has since been revived on the internet with a fabricated backstory.
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false
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Fauxtography Does a Never-Aired ‘Ghost Car’ Commercial Depict an Unexplained Supernatural Event?, Commercials, ghosts, k-fee
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In late summer 2017, several unreliable web sites published identical reports alleging that the makers of a car commercial reluctantly decided never to air the ad because of a “ghostly” apparition the crew accidentally captured on film: Advertising companies can come up with a lot of brilliant ways to sell their products. And because of this, commercials have become part of our culture, so much so that they’ve become an event in and of themselves at least once a year. But while there are a lot of things that help sell products, creepy ghost-like figures aren’t among them. A British camera crew was filming a car commercial in the countryside. In it, you can see the car drive smoothly on a winding road, lined with trees. Soothing music plays in the background. It seems like the perfect advertisement. But something ended up being wrong. The editor was watching the footage when he noticed something odd. As the car cleared one group of trees, something popped up on screen that no one noticed while watching it in person. There was a mist moving along the side of the road, that the editor couldn’t help but notice appeared to have a ghostly aura to it. So the film crew began digging. After they did some research, they discovered something even more spooky: someone had been killed on that exact spot, years ago. They died in a car accident, right where the editor noticed the mist appearing. The crew was so freaked out, they decided never to air the commercial. We’ve posted the video below. Remember, you have to pay very, very close attention. Watch very carefully. Make sure you read the intro. For anyone unable (or unwilling) to watch the video, it consists of a long preamble reiterating the story above, followed by about 20 seconds of footage showing a vehicle navigating along a winding roadway in a bucolic setting, followed by (spoiler alert!) a still shot of a frightening, zombie-like face accompanied by a loud, high-pitched scream, capped off by a title card reading: “Now … go change your shorts and get back to work!” In short, it’s a prank, and it’s a prank that works quite well thanks to the misdirection of the false preamble. What none of the web sites on which the video clip has appeared discloses, however, is that it’s an ever-so-slightly altered version of a real commercial that actually did air on European television networks in April 2005 (when it was also teased to American viewers via The Tonight Show with Jay Leno). Here is the original version, which advertised not a vehicle, but a caffeinated energy drink called K-fee: The slogan and basic concept were used in a series of award-winning TV, Internet, and radio spots produced by the Hamburg marketing firm Jung von Matt for K-fee in 2004. All featured the same “screamer” or “jump scare” ending (all nine of the original television spots can be viewed in one sitting here). The campaign was so successful that it was followed up a year later with milder, self-parodying versions of the ads featuring the reworked tagline, “Jetzt auch mit weniger Koffein” (“Now also with less caffeine”):
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2718
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U.S. judge limits evidence in trial over Roundup cancer claims.
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A federal judge overseeing lawsuits alleging Bayer AG’s glyphosate-based weed killer causes cancer has issued a ruling that could severely restrict evidence that the plaintiffs consider crucial to their cases.
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true
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Health News
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U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco in an order on Thursday granted Bayer unit Monsanto’s request to split an upcoming trial into two phases. The order initially bars lawyers for plaintiff Edwin Hardeman from introducing evidence that the company allegedly attempted to influence regulators and manipulate public opinion. Thursday’s order applies to Hardeman’s case, which is scheduled to go to trial on Feb. 25, and two other so-called bellwether trials which will help determine the range of damages and define settlement options for the rest of the 620 Roundup cases before Chhabria. But Hardeman’s lawyers contended that such evidence, including internal Monsanto documents, showed the company’s misconduct and were critical to California state court jury’s August 2018 decision to award $289 million in a similar case. The verdict sent Bayer shares tumbling though the award was later reduced to $78 million and is under appeal. Under Chhabria’s order, evidence of Monsanto’s alleged misconduct would be allowed only if glyphosate was found to have caused Hardeman’s cancer and the trial proceeded to a second phase to determine Bayer’s liability. Bayer denies allegations that glyphosate causes cancer, saying decades of independent studies have shown the world’s most widely used weed killer to be safe for human use. But the company faces more than 9,300 U.S. lawsuits over Roundup’s safety in state and federal courts across the country. Bayer in a statement welcomed Chhabria’s decision. “The court’s decision to keep the focus of the trial on the extensive science relevant to human health is encouraging,” the company said. Aimee Wagstaff, one of Hardeman’s lawyers, in a statement said she was confident the jurors will find Roundup caused the man’s cancer and proceed to the second phase. Hardeman’s attorneys had opposed proposals to split up the trial on the grounds that their scientific evidence allegedly showing glyphosate causes cancer was inextricably linked to Monsanto’s alleged wrongful conduct. Bayer has also asked that some of the plaintiffs’ evidence on causation, specifically a finding by the World Health Organization’s cancer unit that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic,” be excluded in the first phase because it has no basis in science. Chhabria, who has previously expressed skepticism of that finding, on Thursday said he would soon decide to which degree he would allow it to be introduced at trial. The assessment is central to the plaintiffs’ claims, as other regulatory agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, have determined glyphosate likely does not cause cancer.
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35934
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"American tycoon and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller wrote a ""masonic creed"" that started with the sentence: ""We will keep their lives short and their minds weak while pretending to do the opposite."
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The above-displayed text has been online for nearly two decades. One hint that it was not penned by Rockefeller is that it mentions a number of modern inventions that were not widespread or didn’t exist during Rockefeller’s life, which ended in 1937. For example, this text mentions “video games,” but the first video game, “Pong,” wasn’t invented until two decades after Rockefeller’s death.
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false
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Politics Quotes
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A lengthy piece of text touching on a wide range of Illuminati-related conspiracy theories is frequently circulated on social media as if it were taken from a “Masonic Creed” written by John D. Rockefeller, a businessman who founded the Standard Oil Company in 1870 and who is widely regarded as the richest American in history. As this text is rather long, we’ll only include the first few paragraphs below: TEXT TAKEN FROM JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER MASONIC CREED We will keep their lives short and their minds weak while pretending to do the opposite. We will use our knowledge of science and technology in subtle ways so that they never see what is happening. We will use soft metals, aging accelerators and sedatives in food and water as well as in the air. They will be covered in poisons wherever they turn. The soft metals will make them lose their minds. We will promise to find a cure from our many funds, and yet we will give them more poison. Chemical poisons will be absorbed through the skin of idiots who believe that certain hygiene and beauty products presented by great actors and musicians, will bring eternal youth to their faces and bodies, and through their thirsty and hungry mouths, we will destroy their minds and systems of internal organs. reproduction. However, their children will be born as disabled and deformed and we will hide this information. The general gist of this text is that the “New World Order,” the Illuminati, or some other global group of elites is enslaving the population via various nefarious deeds. The text is supposedly written from the perspective of some ominous insider of this shadowy group. But it was not written by Rockefeller. And in all likelihood, this text was not written by anyone with a connection to a global group of world-controlling elites. This text comes from an anonymous email that was posted to a banking website back in 2002.
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8338
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EU weighs new requirements for firms against biodiversity, pandemic risks.
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The European Commission is considering whether to impose new reporting requirements on firms to shield them from growing risks of biodiversity loss and pandemics, a draft document shows, as the EU grapples with the COVID-19 outbreak.
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true
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Environment
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The document is meant to attract comments from experts and the wider public on next possible legislative steps to strengthen financial sustainability. Among the issues on which Commission officials are seeking advice is linking managers’ bonuses with carbon reduction results and green capital requirements. The draft public consultation seen by Reuters asks whether biological risks should be taken into account in a more comprehensive manner when companies disclose investment strategies, in light of the growing negative impact these exposures have on profitability and long-term prospects. The document, which is expected to be published in the coming days and could lead to legislative proposals at a later stage, says the COVID-19 epidemic is showing more clearly the risks associated with human activity and biodiversity loss. Experts that it cites suggest that degraded habitats, coupled with a warming climate, may cause higher risks of disease transmission, as pathogens spread more easily to livestock and humans. “It is important – now more than ever - to address the multiple and often interacting threats to ecosystems and wildlife to buffer against the risk of future pandemics,” the document said. Among options under consideration are more stringent reporting requirements for listed companies, banks and insurance firms about their exposure to biodiversity loss and pandemic risks. It asks whether investors and lenders should be required to disclose which temperature scenario their portfolios are financing, notably if they entail a rise of 2 degrees Celsius or more. The Commission also raises the issue of whether a share of managers’ bonuses should be linked to their climate achievements. Some firms might be required to include carbon emission reductions among factors that would affect directors’ variable remuneration, the document shows. Banks could face new capital requirements or incentives linked to their exposure to climate risks, the document shows. There could be a so-called “brown penalising factor” whereby lenders exposed to coal or other fossil fuel investments would need to set aside more capital to hedge the higher risks posed by polluting assets. But banks could also profit from a “green supporting factor”, allowing them to reduce their capital requirements if they invest in green infrastructure such as renewable energy facilities.
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37270
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Various stories and questions about Barack Obama.
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Senator Barack Obama is a Moslem
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false
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Obama, Politics
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Barack Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States in February, 2007. As with other high profile politicians there are stories and questions that began circulating on the Internet about him. There are several emails circulating that, in different ways, say that Obama is Muslim. In December 2009 a new rumor began circulating with a photo of the President saying that he was preparing to pray with Muslims at the Whitehouse in Washington DC during a Muslim prayer event in September 2009. The photo was taken several months before in April 2009 while the President was removing his shoes to visit a mosque in Turkey. Whitehouse photo: Obama visits mosque in Turkey Obama’s middle name is Hussein (named after his father, Barack Hussein Obama, Sr.), his heritage does include Islam, and his grandfather was Muslim. But there does not seem to be a time when either he or his parents were practicing Muslims and Obama regards himself as a Christian. Until his resignation from membership in 2008, he was a member of Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ where one Sunday morning in 1988 he said walked down the aisle during an alter call by the pastor, Jeremiah Wright. One of the emails says that Obama used the Koran for his swearing-in ceremony in the Senate and intended to use it for his swearing in as president. He did not use a Koran for his swearing in to the Senate and used a Bible when he was inaugurated as president. Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, a Muslim, did use the Koran for his swearing in ceremony in 2007. In response to email rumors that have circulated about Obama, his campaign has created a page to respond to the rumors including ones about his faith. CLICK HERE for the “Fight the Smears” page. Falsini Interview Some of the most definitive information about Obama’s faith comes from an interview he did with journalist Cathleen Falsini. She writes that Obama was born in 1961 in Hawaii to a white mother who came from Protestant Midwestern stock but whom Obama describes in his own book as a Christian but “a lonely witness for secular humanism.” Obama’s father was a black African from the Luo tribe of Kenya. Obama called him agnostic. Obama’s grandfather on his father’s side was Muslim. When he was six years old, Obama’s mother and father divorced and she married an Indonesian man who was a non-practicing Moslem. They moved to Indonesia where Obama said he attended a Roman Catholic school until he was 10. An article Scott Turow on Salon.com in 2004, however, said that while in Indonesia, Obama spent 2 years in a Moslem school then 2 more in the Catholic school. In terms of actual beliefs, Obama told Falsini that he has a deep faith “…rooted in the Christian tradition.” He added, “I believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people, that there are values that transcend race or culture, that move us forward, and that there’s an obligation for all of us individually as well as collectively to take responsibility to make those values lived.” He said his mother “…was a deeply spiritual person and would spend a lot of time talking about values and give me books about the world’s religions and talk to me about them. Her view always was that underlying these religions was a common set of beliefs about how you treat other people and how you aspire to act, not just for yourself but also for the greater good.” He also told Falsini, “Alongside my own deep personal faith, I am a follower, as well, of our civic religion. I am a big believer in the separation of church and state. I am a big believer in our constitutional structure.” Regarding his conversion experience, Obama said, ” It wasn’t an epiphany. It was much more of a gradual process for me. I know there are some people who fall out. Which is wonderful. God bless them. For me, I think it was just a moment to certify or publicly affirm a growing faith in me.” Critics have said that his Christian faith is a political choice to help his image and conceal Islam in his life. Supporters point out that his conversion took place before he ran for any public office. In the Falsini interview he said he reads the Bible, although not as much as he wants to, and that prayer is a part of his daily life but not in the formal sense. “I think I have an ongoing conversation with God. Throughout the day I’m constantly asking myself questions about what I’m doing, why I am doing it,” he said. “The difficult thing about any religion, including Christianity, is that at some level there is a call to evangelize and proselytize. There’s the belief, certainly in some quarters, that if people haven’t embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior, they’re going to hell,” he told Falsini. She said Obama did not believe that he or anyone else was going to hell and that he wasn’t sure he was going to heaven either. “What I believe in is that if I live my life as well as I can, that I will be rewarded. I don’t presume to have knowledge of what happens after I die. But I feel very strongly that whether the reward is in the here and now or in the hereafter, aligning myself to my faith and values is a good thing.” Obama’s support of abortion, including the controversial partial-birth abortion procedure, resulted in controversy when he was invited by evangelical pastor Rick Warren to be the keynote speaker at an AIDS conference at Saddleback Church in Southern California in 2006. Warren, who is opposed to abortion, said his invitation to Obama had nothing to do with abortion and that he wanted to embrace diverse voices in his fight against AIDS. Abortion opponents argued, however, that someone like Obama whose support of abortion included something so extreme as partial-birth abortion should not be given such a prominent platform and endorsement from pro-lifers. Christianity Today In an interview published in Christianity Today magazine in January, 2008, Obama said regarding his beliefs “I am a Christian, and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful.” In the same interview Obama said, “There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we’ve been seeing during the course this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in the U.S. Senate with a Quran in my hand or that I don’t pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it’s really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it’s not my own.” Click here for the page on Obama’s site that deals with his faith. Links: CLICK HERE for a list of other related stories about Barack Obama Updated 12/12/09
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32873
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A recall was issued for Bumble Bee Tuna after human remains were found in the product.
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In early 2017, an iteration of the “remains in tuna” fake news item (copied and reposted by a scraper “tips” site in late 2016) circulated. However, its details remained false and the appended image was identical to the one used in the original Racket Report fabrication.
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false
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Uncategorized, bumblebee tuna, health and diy tips, the racket report
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In March 2016, Bumble Bee Foods announced a pre-emptive recall of some of their canned tuna products due to an issue with the sterilization process at a co-pack facility, even though no problems had been reported in association with the products: Bumble Bee Foods, LLC announced that it is voluntarily recalling 3 specific UPC codes of canned Chunk Light tuna due to process deviations that occurred in a co-pack facility not owned or operated by Bumble Bee. These deviations were part of the commercial sterilization process and could result in contamination by spoilage organisms or pathogens, which could lead to life-threatening illness if consumed. It is important to note that there have been no reports of illness associated with these products to date. No other production codes or products are affected by this recall. There are a total of 31,579 cases that are included in the recall which were produced in February 2016 and distributed nationally. The products subject to this recall are marked with a code on the bottom of the can that starts with a “T” (example: TOA2BSCAFB). The recall is being initiated out of an abundance of caution due to the possible under-processing of the affected products discovered by the co-packer during its routine quality audit. Bumble Bee is working closely with the co-packer and the FDA to expedite the removal of products from commerce. Over three years earlier, back in October 2012, a tragic incident at a Bumble Bee Foods processing facility had resulted in the death of a worker named José Melena, who was killed after being accidentally locked in a large industrial oven: Melena was responsible for loading the 54-inch by 36-foot ovens with 12 rolling metal baskets full of tuna cans. The ovens are used to sterilize aluminum cans and to process the tuna in the cans. At the start of his 4 a.m. shift on Oct. 11, 2012, Melena was ordered by his supervisor to load one particular oven. Sometime before 5 a.m., according to the report, Melena entered the oven to make a repair or to adjust a chain inside the machine, leaving the pallet jack he was using outside the oven. At that time, a second employee noticed the unused pallet jacket. Assuming Melena was in the bathroom, the second employee took the machine and loaded the oven with the baskets. “Around the same time, the supervisor questioned why the employee was using the pallet jack and began asking employees if they had seen” Melena, the [Division of Occupational Safety and Health] report said. The report states an announcement was made on the intercom. Workers also began looking for Melena. They discovered that his vehicle was still in the parking lot. After searching for nearly an hour and a half, the boiler operator suggested that they open the last oven that was loaded. The workers waited about 30 minutes for the oven to cool down before they could open it. Melena’s body was eventually found at the exit side of the oven. Firefighters pronounced him dead at the scene. This death did not result in any product contamination, nor did it have anything to do with the voluntary recall issued by Bumble Bee Foods over three years later. But the fake news sites News 4 KTLA and The Racket Report published misleading articles shortly after the recall announcement that falsely linked the two events, reproducing (genuine) three-year-old news reports of Melena’s death under the fabricated clickbait headline “Massive Bumble Bee Recall After 2 Employees Admit Cooking a Man and Mixing Him with a Batch of Tuna”: It is true that two Bumble Bee employees were charged with violating safety regulations in Melena’s death back in 2012, but those employees did not “mix [his remains] with a batch of tuna,” nor were their actions in any way related to the March 2016 recall. The Racket Report‘s disclaimer notes that the site’s articles should not be mistaken for factual news items: The Racket Report is a news web publication with news articles, inspired by real news events. The articles and stories may or may not use real names, always a semi real and/or mostly, or substantially, fictitious ways. A few articles are for entertainment purposes only. The purpose of said stories is to entertain and amuse and not to disparage any persons, institutions, in anyway and no malice is intended towards anyone or anything, nor should any be construed from the fictional stories. That means some stories on this website are fictitious. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental or is intended purely as a spoof of such person and is not intended to communicate any true or factual information about that person.
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3952
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Six deaths related to flu outbreak in Minnesota .
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Minnesota health officials say an outbreak of early flu strains has contributed to the deaths of six people.
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true
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Health, Infectious diseases, General News, Flu, Minnesota
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There were 60 cases of flu-like illness reported to the state last week, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. That’s a five-fold increase from the week before. The Department of Health says the flu continues to spread statewide, with cases reported in every region . It has hit children particularly hard, the Star Tribune reported. “We use a threshold of 5% absenteeism, and we’re seeing much higher levels than that,” said Kris Ehresmann, director of the department’s infectious disease division. Health officials say some schools are missing as many as one-fifth of their students. They have a a higher than usual share of the 262 flu-related hospitalizations reported so far this season, although none of the deaths involved children.
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6433
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Southern Illinois Healthcare seeks trauma center status.
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Southern Illinois Healthcare is taking steps to expand access to trauma care in the southern part of the state where the lack of trauma centers can add stress, cost and risk for those needing immediate attention.
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true
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Health, Illinois, Trauma, Carbondale, Indiana, Evansville
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SIH Memorial Hospital has applied to the Illinois Department of Public Health for Level II Trauma Center designation, The Southern Illinoisan reported. The designation is important because the hospital doesn’t have a trauma center and the closest are in St. Louis and Evansville, Indiana, said Dr. Eduardo Smith Singares, who joined Memorial Hospital as its trauma medical director in May last year. St. Louis and Evansville are each about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Carbondale by road. “If you get injured here, and what we call your ‘golden hour’ starts ticking, your best bet is to get transported by helicopter to one of these places. Each one of them is over an hour away,” Smith Singares said. Longer transport times directly decrease the rate of survival, since travel time can eat into the “golden hour,” which is the period following an injury during which medical treatment and surgery has the best chance of preventing death, he said. Transporting patients to a trauma center also adds a huge financial burden for families, who may have to pay up to $60,000 for helicopter transport, in addition to the cost of hotels to stay in another city, Smith Singares said. “This is an unmitigated calamity,” he said. “We’re all about to change that.” Hospitals seeking the Level II designation are required to have certain services available 24 hours a day, while other services must be made available within 30 minutes. Memorial Hospital has 24-hour offerings in traditional trauma surgery, emergency general surgery and critical care services for surgical patients in the intensive care unit. Hospitals must also be able to access air medical transport. Arch Air Medical Service recently opened a base at the Southern Illinois Airport. ___ Information from: Southern Illinoisan, http://www.southernillinoisan.com
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26837
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“Breaking: UK Prepares For Full Lockdown After Hundreds Of New Cases — Wuhan Super Virus Updates.”
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Only about a dozen coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the United Kingdom. British officials are monitoring the situation but have not taken steps toward any lockdown.
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false
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Public Health, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts,
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"A split-screen video with a chyron broadcasting ""Breaking News"" exacerbates fears about the 2019 novel coronavirus, circulating mistruths about the state of the virus’ spread through the United Kingdom. The 22-minute video post being shared on Facebook starts by simultaneously rolling three videos under this headline: ""Breaking: UK Prepares For Full Lockdown After Hundreds Of New Cases — Wuhan Super Virus Updates."" The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) It’s not clear where the video clips were shot, but they show a variety of disturbing scenes, including what appear to be four people in hazmat suits loading something into a van; an older Asian man being handcuffed and led away by what appear to be two police officers wearing medical face masks; and a younger Asian man outdoors wearing only underwear being led away by two men wearing uniforms. As the video clips play, a male narrator says officials in the U.K. — which comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — are desperately searching for hundreds of coronavirus cases. He goes on to share more conspiracy theories about the virus’ origins. But the data doesn't indicate any such panic in the U.K. As of Feb. 24, 2020: The World Health Organization reported only nine confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.K. (British officials say the number has risen to 13.) Eight of the people have been treated and discharged, The Telegraph, a British news organization reported. The risk of catching the coronavirus in the U.K. is low, according to the country’s National Health Service. British officials say they are monitoring airports with direct flights from China, and are recommending movement restrictions to residents only if they have been to Wuhan recently or have been to China or nearby countries and have respiratory symptoms. The post was made by STFN Reloaded. We have also rated as a claim by that group that the coronavirus ""causes sudden death syndrome."" And the Australian Associated Press said an STFN Reloaded claim that the coronavirus came from a Chinese lab is . Our ruling A Facebook post says: ""Breaking: UK Prepares For Full Lockdown After Hundreds Of New Cases — Wuhan Super Virus Updates."" There are fewer than 10 coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom and no signs that travel or other aspects of life in Britain have been shut down by the virus."
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29248
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The latest social media craze entails teens making videos of themselves snorting condoms into their nostrils and pulling them out through their mouths.
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"What's true: YouTube videos, mostly dating from 2013, capture young people inhaling condoms into their nostrils as part of a so-called ""condom snorting challenge."" What's false: Despite an uptick in media hand-wringing over the alleged ""craze"" in 2018, few people appeared to have attempted it since the challenge first went viral in 2013."
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false
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Viral Phenomena, condom snorting challenge, dares, viral challenges
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Once you’ve watched someone inhale a condom through their nostril and pull it out of their mouth, it’s a hard thing to unsee. Where would one see such a thing, you might ask? On YouTube, of course, where people began uploading videos of themselves taking part in the so-called “condom snorting challenge” in 2013 (not to be confused with the not-nearly-as-gross “condom challenge,” which involved dropping water-filled condoms on other people’s heads). In answer to the several queries we’ve received: yes, the videos are real. We’ve watched them so you don’t have to. We hasten to add this caveat, however, that despite what you may have read in alarmist press coverage of the phenomenon in early 2018, it is not accurately described as a current “craze,” “fad,” or “trend.” The vast majority of condom snorting videos we found in a YouTube search were at least a year old. Most dated from 2013, with a few going all the way back to 2007. Mainstream news outlets reported on the condom snorting challenge in 2013, but the phenomenon was never that widespread and gradually petered out. March 2018 saw an uptick in media coverage, but it wasn’t because people were snorting condoms again. The more likely reason was publicity surrounding a phenomenon that had gone viral a few months earlier, the so-called “Tide pod challenge,” which triggered safety warnings from poison control experts and led to a ban on videos of people eating laundry detergent. As with the Tide pod challenge, the press went into full-on moral panic mode in their coverage of condom snorting. Fox News was one of many news outlets warning that the “disturbing new trend” could be deadly: Tide Pods are so January. Now teens are taking on an even grosser challenge in pursuit of Internet fame — and this one is making stomachs turn, as it is as disgusting as it is dangerous. The latest challenge involves snorting a condom up one nostril, inhaling, and finally pulling it from the throat out the mouth. Like other viral fads, this one has been around for years but is just now catching fire on social media, mostly via YouTube. Health authorities warn that the new “game” poses a real risk and can kill. And, indeed, the unintended consequences can be fatal. Bruce Y. Lee, an associate professor of international health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, penned an article for Forbes citing examples of fairly serious injuries sustained by people who accidentally inhaled or ingested condoms during oral sex. In one case, a woman suffered a collapsed lung and contracted pneumonia after a condom went down her trachea. In another, a woman developed appendicitis after a condom fragment became lodged in her appendix. “While this does not necessarily mean that you should panic if you accidentally swallow a condom (because you may just eventually poop it out),” Lee wrote, “it does strongly suggest that you should not deliberately inhale or swallow a condom.” We concur. Let the record show that while we pooh-pooh the media’s claims that condom snorting rises to the level of a “trend,” we urge anyone tempted to try it to think hard about the possible consequences, which could, in fact, be dire.
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2017
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Don't worry, be happy and live longer: scientific studies.
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Today’s lesson: be happy, live longer. Now science seems to back the glass half-full approach.
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true
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Science News
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A model laughs while talking to other models backstage before the Varanasi 2011 Fall/Winter collection show during Buenos Aires Fashion Week, February 22, 2011. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci A review of more than 160 studies on the connection between a positive state of mind and overall health and longevity has found “clear and compelling evidence” that happier people enjoy better health and longer lives. In fact, evidence linking an upbeat outlook and enjoyment of life to better health and longer life was stronger even than that linking obesity to reduced longevity, according to the review published on Tuesday in the journal “Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being.” “I was almost shocked, and certainly surprised, to see the consistency of the data,” said Ed Diener, the University of Illinois psychology professor emeritus, who lead the review. While Diener said a few studies he reviewed found the opposite, the “overwhelming majority ... support the conclusion that happiness is associated with health and longevity.” The review looked at eight different types of long-term studies and experimental trials of both human and animal populations. For example, 5,000 university students studied for more than 40 years provided evidence that the most pessimistic students tended to die younger. In the laboratory, positive moods were found to reduce stress-related hormones, increase immune function and help the heart recover following exertion. Animals who lived in stressful conditions such as crowded cages had weaker immune systems and a higher susceptibility to heart disease, and died at a younger age than those in less crowded conditions. Diener noted that while current health edicts focus on obesity, smoking, eating habits and exercise, “it may be time to add ‘be happy and avoid chronic anger and depression’ to the list.”
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11045
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Vaginal gel reduces preterm births in some women
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Both stories hit many of our marks, but this one provided much needed independent commentary, provided a better explanation of the evidence and gave readers cost information and information about possible clinical applications that were either missing or confusing in the Times story. Preterm births can lead to serious complications for both the chlidren and the mothers and are a leading cause of neonatal death. So far, treatments to prevent preterm birth have had limited success. This study indicates that there is a superior intervention for women who meet certain criteria, and this story does a better job explaining what this new study means in a way that women both inside that category and outside will be able to easily understand.
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true
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Associated Press
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The story addresses costs in a much more straight forward way than the LA Times blog piece. It says, “Although the company didn’t address price, vaginal progesterone already is sold to treat different conditions, for roughly $20 for a day’s dose.” The story stated, “The women experienced no significant side effects” – so we’ll give it a satisfactory score. The study itself found that, “There were no differences in the incidence of treatment-related adverse events between the groups.” This is important context because pregnancy interventions can have consequences for both the mother and the child. The story adequately evaluated the quality of the evidence and provided good cautionary notes. For example, the first quote in the story says tells readers that this is not a silver bullet study. “There will never be ‘the’ solution to preterm birth,” cautions lead researcher Dr. Roberto Romero of the National Institutes of Health. “There will be multiple solutions, and we believe this is one important solution.” The LA Times story lacked this context and also had a headline that was too definitive, saying “Premature births may be reduced with hormone gel”. Both stories were scant on details about the study design, saying only that the study was conducted at “44 medical centers around the world.” This story, at least, provided the additional detail that the study initially sought out women suffering from a shortened cervix by screening a huge number of women. “The study screened 32,000 otherwise healthy pregnant women and found 2.3 percent did, which Fleischman said would equate to about 100,000 U.S. women in a year.” The story did an adequate job explaining pre-term labor in clear terms and in showing that this study only provides hope for a subgroup of women it says. “Many factors can lead to premature birth, but Wednesday’s study targets one subset: the thousands of women who develop an unusually shortened cervix, the gateway to the uterus.” We wish, though, that the story had been as specific as the Times story in explaining the conditions necessary for this treatment to work. The Times story said, “The reduction applies only to women with a short cervix (between 1 centimeter and 2 centimeters), not for women at high risk for other reasons. But for these women, few medications have been found effective at keeping a baby in the womb longer.” We do wish that both stories had included some of the information provided by the National Institutes of Health, which said in its news release about the study, “Infants born preterm are at high risk of early death and long term health and developmental problems. In 2005, there were 12.9 million preterm births worldwide (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20428351). In the United States, 12.8 percent of infants were born preterm in 2008 (http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/health.asp). Preterm infants are at increased risk for death in the first year of life, and breathing difficulties, cerebral palsy, learning disabilities, blindness and deafness (http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/Preterm_Labor_and_Birth.cfm).” The story does a much better job than the LA Times blog piece of making it clear which drug could end up being a good therapy for certain women. The Times story, through confusing language, may lead readers to believe that an expensive, injectable drug called Makena, which has made headlines recently because of its high price, was one of the drugs studied and a possible solution for women. This story, however, said clearly, “This treatment is not related to an injection called Makena, a synthetic hormone that is controversial because of its high price tag. That drug is aimed at women who’ve already had one preemie and now are pregnant again.” This story also provided additional context about the possible clinical applications of this study’s findings. It says, “The findings may prompt more doctors to begin routinely measuring cervical length, using an easy and fairly inexpensive ultrasound scan, midway through pregnancy.” Should this treatment method become standard for certain women, it would be a novel intervention, and this story makes that clear. This story went well beyond the news releases from the journal and from the NIH, while the LA Times story provided only a little additional information beyond the releases.
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1295
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Play predicts chilling future for Britain's prized health service.
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A desperate mechanic driven to operate on his sick wife is the subject of a disturbing play which looks at the future of Britain’s prized public health service, shown at the Edinburgh Fringe.
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true
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Health News
|
“After the Cuts” is the dystopian story of Jim, a retired mechanic, and his wife Agnes who cannot afford medical treatment when she is diagnosed with cancer. Years into the future, healthcare in Britain is no longer free. The performance coincides with the celebration of the seventieth anniversary of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) and its “cradle to grave” care. The anniversary has provoked public reflection on its integrity as tight government budgets put pressure on services. Cost restraints amid the growing demands of an aging population have compounded anxiety over the consequences of Britain’s exit from the European Union next year, and the potential impact on the supply of medicines and staff. The subject is close to the public’s heart, director Beth Morton told Reuters at the world’s biggest arts and culture festival in Edinburgh. “The audiences react so differently (...) some laugh a lot, in serious places too, perhaps because of discomfort. People cry, because they feel the human connection,” she said. “The message is not to take the NHS for granted.” Accompanied by dim lighting and a soundtrack that is by turns mournful and menacing, the setting in a small performing space creates a charged atmosphere. The drama culminates a scene where Jim operates on his wife to a backdrop of metallic, violent sound effects. Despite the grim topic, the play is also peppered with bittersweet jokes: the couple laugh over the costs of a hospital trip where they are billed for electricity, water and toilet trips and Agnes is continually compared to the broken vacuum cleaner, which Jim haphazardly mends. A recent poll found the NHS is a principle concern of British voters, with 77 percent of the public backing an increase in public spending on healthcare. The show will tour Britain in spring 2019.
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1588
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A rural retirement in Chernobyl's radioactive shadow.
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Ninety-year-old Ivan Shamyanok says the secret to a long life is not leaving your birthplace, even when it is a Belarusian village poisoned with radioactive fallout from a nuclear disaster.
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true
|
Environment
|
On April 26, 1986, a botched test at a nuclear plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, then a Soviet republic, sent clouds of smouldering nuclear material across swathes of Europe and forced more than 100,000 people to leave a permanently contaminated ‘exclusion zone’ stretching across the Ukraine-Belarus border. Shamyanok’s village of Tulgovich is on the edge of the zone, which at 2,600 square kilometers (1,000 square miles) is roughly the size of Luxembourg. But he and his wife turned down the offer to relocate and never felt any ill effects from the radiation. “So far, so good. The doctors came yesterday, put me on the bed and checked and measured me. They said ‘everything’s fine with you, granddad,’” Shamyanok said. “My sister lived here with her husband. They decided to leave and soon enough they were in the ground ... They died from anxiety. I’m not anxious. I sing a little, take a turn in the yard, take things slowly like this and I live,” he said. Images of Shamyanok can be seen at reut.rs/1VlhTbt The forthcoming 30th anniversary of the disaster has shone a new light on the long-term human impact of the worst nuclear meltdown in history. The official short-term death toll from the accident was 31 but many more people died of radiation-related illnesses such as cancer. The total death toll and long-term health effects remain a subject of intense debate. Shamyanok says life didn’t change much after the meltdown at Chernobyl, the world’s worst nuclear disaster. He and his family continued to eat vegetables and fruit grown in their own backyard and kept cows, pigs and chickens for the meat, milk and eggs. Now that his wife has died and children moved away, he and his nephew, who lives on the other side of the village, are the only people left. “Will people move back? No, they won’t come back. The ones who wanted to have died already.” Shamyanok lives a quiet life. He gets up at 6 a.m. when the national anthem is played on the radio, lights his cast iron stove to heat his breakfast and feeds his pigs and his dog. A mobile shop operating out of the back of a car visits the village twice a week and on Saturdays Shamyanok’s granddaughter comes to cook food for the week and clean his house. He says he doesn’t have any problems with his health, but takes medication sometimes and drinks a small glass of vodka before meals “to help the appetite.”
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38681
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Toe tourniquet syndrome happens when a piece of hair or string becomes wrapped so tightly around a baby’s toes that it cuts off circulation and sometimes leads to amputation.
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The Dangers of String or Hair on Baby Toes
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true
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Health / Medical
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Toe tourniquet syndrome is a real threat to babies, but it doesn’t happen very often. Warnings about the dangers of string or hair becoming tightly wrapped around a baby’s toe and cutting off circulation gained widespread attention in 2012. That’s the year author Pam Belluck’s book “Island Practice: Cobblestone Rash, Underground Tom and Other Adventures of a Nantuket Doctor” was released. In the book, Belluck recounts how Dr. Timothy Lepore’s encountered toe tourniquet syndrome: He even saved the toes of a two-month-old by spotting the rare “toe-tourniquet syndrome,” which is caused by hair wrapping around infants’ toes and cutting off circulation. Because 90% of mothers experience postpartum hair loss, babies are most at risk when they’re between four days and 19 months old. Dr. Muhammad Ali Hussain, the senior plastic surgery registrar at Canberra Hospital in England, told the Daily Mail he’s seen three or four cases of toe tourniquet syndrome: ‘They get entangled and the mother doesn’t notice what has happened until the time they start crying and they don’t know exactly what is happening, why they are crying. ‘By the time they present it’s already a couple of days and it has been cutting through the toe. ‘In a fair-coloured child and with blonde-coloured hair you can’t identify there is a hair. ‘Even under a microscope it’s difficult.’ And it turns out that baby toes aren’t the only appendages in danger. An article published by Pediatrics medical journal in 1988 reported that fingers, toes and external genitalia could all be in danger. Doctors discussed six cases — all infants between 12 days and 5 months old — in which hair or fiber was removed from toes before any long-term damage was done. After reviewing literature, they found 60 documented cases — 24 involving toes, 14 involving fingers and 22 involving genitals: The majority of the toe and external genitalia cases were caused by hair, whereas the majority of finger strangulations were caused by thread from mittens. At greatest risk for strangulation are the middle finger and third toe, followed by the index finger and second toe. Patients with finger or penile involvement were more likely to suffer significant complications from the injuries than those patients with toe involvement. Based on our own experience and that described in the literature, we recommend prompt removal of the offending fiber, followed by prolonged conservative management of the damaged distal tissue, in the hope of maximal tissue salvage. Increased physician awareness of this syndrome is mandatory for prevention, diagnosis, and early treatment. There’s no current data on how common string-hair tourniquet syndrome is, but plenty of credible first-person accounts are relatively easy to find online. The most common symptoms are fingers or toes appearing purple or swollen, or a baby being in distress for no apparent reason. Comments
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12443
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Texas leads the country in animal deaths by sodium cyanide M-44s.
|
"Hudspeth wrote: ""Texas leads the country in animal deaths by sodium cyanide M-44s."" Texas would have ranked lower if each state’s tally were adjusted for population or land area, but Hudspeth’s claim was only that Texas had more animal deaths than any other."
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true
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Animals, Texas, Ann Hudspeth,
|
"A toxic bomb that kills wild animals and sometimes even pets should be banned, an Austin resident urged in a letter to the editor of the Austin American-Statesman. Ann Hudspeth stirred our curiosity by writing: ""Fourteen states are using cyanide bombs to kill wildlife — and Texas leads the country in animal deaths by sodium cyanide M-44s."" Her April 2017 letter continued: ""Thousands of coyotes, foxes, possums, raccoons and skunks meet their end this way in our state. According to figures from the Humane Society of the United States, last year seven Texas dogs were killed by these bombs."" She closed her letter by advocating for a proposed national ban on sodium cyanide M-44s, pointing out legislation introduced in March 2017 by U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., to ban the use of sodium cyanide and another compound for predator control. A 2010 U.S. Department of Agriculture leaflet, from its Animal Health and Plant Inspection Service, calls sodium cyanide M-44s, which are placed with the permission of ranchers and landowners by the agency’s Wildlife Services branch, ""an effective and environmentally sound wildlife damage management tool."" The leaflet specifies how it works: ""The spring-activated device delivers a dose of cyanide powder to targeted animals,"" who draw the poison into their mouths by tugging on baited capsule holders. According to a 2012 Sacramento Bee news series, the service’s roots reach to 1915, when Congress – hoping to increase beef production for World War I – allocated $125,000 to exterminate wolves, starting in Nevada. ""Popular among ranchers, the effort was expanded in 1931 when President Herbert Hoover signed a law authorizing the creation of a government agency – later named the Branch of Predator and Rodent Control – ‘to promulgate the best methods of eradication, suppression or bringing under control’ a wide range of wildlife from mountain lions to prairie dogs,"" the Bee reported. Reader cites society research Hudspeth, describing herself as a Congressional District 10 Texas volunteer with the Humane Society of the United States, told us by email that she based the claim on a humane society ""data sheet."" The undated sheet, which she provided, has a chart indicating that in 2016, Texas ranked first among 14 states with 4,865 animals killed by sodium cyanide M-44s. According to the sheet, the animals felled in Texas included 4,210 coyotes, 521 gray foxes, 56 red foxes, 40 raccoons, 25 opossums, 7 dogs and 6 skunks. Oklahoma placed second, per the sheet, with 3,930 such animal deaths, with New Mexico third at 901 such deaths: SOURCE: Document, ""Wildlife Services, M-44 Data by Species and State,"" 2016, the Human Society of the United States, undated (received by email from Ann Hudspeth, Austin, April 28, 2017 and confirmed by email, Wendy Keefover, carnivore protection manager, Wildlife Department, the Humane Society of the United States, April 30, 2017) We spot-checked and confirmed the society’s presented totals for the top three declared states from USDA-posted data. By email, we heard back from a service spokesman, Andre Bell, that the death counts by state are annually updated. Rates of animal deaths We recognized, too, that Texas was by far the most populous of the states with M-44 deaths. When we adjusted for population differences, using U.S. Census Bureau estimates, we found Oklahoma leading the 14 states with 10 such animal deaths for every 10,000 residents. By this metric, Texas ranked No. 8, with nearly 2 such deaths per 10,000 residents--higher than the rates for Nevada, Virginia, Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Colorado and lower than the rates for Oklahoma, North Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, West Virginia and Nebraska. We also tried ranking the deaths by state by adjusting for each state’s total area in square miles as posted by the bureau. By this sort, West Virginia had the highest rate of M-44 animal deaths per square mile--with Texas second, followed by Nebraska, North Dakota, Virginia, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Human exposures Hudspeth put us in touch with Wendy Keefover, a manager for the Humane Society of the United States, who guided us to news accounts of human and pet dog exposures to the sodium cyanide explosives intended to kill predators. A 1971 Sports Illustrated story described the 1966 death of Texas surveyor Raymond Medford, 49, near Fort Stockton due to accidental sodium cyanide exposure from a predecessor predator-control device to the M-44. Keefover wrote that through a Freedom of Information Act request to the Environmental Protection Agency, the society drew reports of four other Texans exposed to sodium cyanide, none fatally, all in connection with M-44s, from 1998 into 2011. Keefover also noted an April 20, 2017, National Geographic news story stating that according to the EPA, ""an average of 30,000 M-44s, deployed by the federal government in concert with Western states and counties, are triggered each year. Baited to entice animals, they’re indiscriminate in their victims,"" the story said. Also noted: Wildlife Services reporting that in 2016, 12,511 of 76,963 coyotes killed for livestock protection were felled with M-44s. Most recently, Keefover noted, a March 2017 incident resulted in a boy and his dog briefly getting exposed to an M-44’s contents. According to an Idaho State Journal news story noted by the fact-checkers at Snopes.com, 14-year-old Canyon Mansfield was walking with his dog when he noticed what he thought was a sprinkler head protruding 6 inches from the ground. ""Like many curious teenagers would, he bent down and touched the pipe, which erupted with a loud popping noise that knocked Canyon off his feet,"" the story said. ""A hissing sound ensued and Canyon noticed his clothing and face were covered with an orange, powdery substance,"" the story said, which the boy washed off in nearby snow; his dog, though, shortly died. The story said Wildlife Services issued a statement referring to the dog’s death as a regretted ""unintentional lethal take."" Humane Society stands by claim Reminded that Texas falls far short of No. 1 in animal deaths due to M-44s once the federal counts are adjusted for each state’s population, a national Humane Society official, Carol Misseldine, replied by email that Hudspeth and the society intended a different emphasis. ""Texas ranks number one in total numbers of animals killed by these cyanide bombs and we stand by our numbers,"" Misseldine wrote. Our ruling Hudspeth wrote: ""Texas leads the country in animal deaths by sodium cyanide M-44s."" Texas would have ranked lower if each state’s tally were adjusted for population or land area, but Hudspeth’s claim was only that Texas had more animal deaths than any other. The statement is accurate and there’s nothing significant missing."
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9620
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Breast cancer treatment shows benefit to extended treatment with aromotase inhibitors
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This is a story about a new study on whether extending the use of letrozole (brand name Femara), a type of drug known as an aromatase inhibitor, reduces recurrence in breast cancer survivors. Women who have undergone treatment for hormone-receptor positive breast cancer typically take aromatase inhibitors for the subsequent five years. The study showed that extending this treatment to 10 years lowers the rate of recurrence. The added benefit of continuing aromatase inhibitors for 10 years as opposed to five must, however, be weighed against the side effects. For women who are at high risk of recurrence, the results of this study are of particular interest. The story does a commendable job of presenting a clear and balanced report of the study findings, and by stating that the results did not find a difference in overall survival. Continuing aromatase inhibitors beyond the standard five years is already a choice undertaken by some women and their doctors. This study is the first to rigorously address whether this is beneficial.
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true
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aromatase inhibitors,breast cancer
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The story mentions costs. Letrozole, the aromatase inhibitor used in the trial, is available as a generic for less than $100 a month. The benefit of continuing aromatase inhibitors for five additional years is presented clearly. The study shows that among hormone-receptor positive breast cancer survivors, the risk of recurrence is lower for women continuing aromatase compared to those who did not, particularly in the opposite breast. The story breaks down the figures by whether recurrence occurred in the original breast or in the opposite breast: In a randomized controlled trial, 959 women were given the drug and 959 a placebo. Thirteen of the women taking the drug for an additional five years developed breast cancer in the opposite breast during the study, compared with 31 taking the placebo; 55 and 68, respectively, developed a recurrence of cancer in the original breast. Later in the story, the overall recurrence rate is given. 95 percent of those taking letrozole for the additional five years remained free of breast cancer (meaning the disease had not returned in the original breast or developed in the opposite one). Of those taking an inert pill, or placebo, 91 percent did. The story could have gone a step further by explaining more clearly what the recurrence rate for breast cancer is normally. The description of “200 to 1 odds per year” is not easy to understand and it’s unclear if the recurrence rate in the study was lower than expected in the general population. First, we applaud the story for recognizing the difference between absolute and relative benefits. But because the absolute benefits were not huge, and because the drug did cause side effects, it makes sense to consider this for women at the highest risk of a recurrence of breast cancer, he said. The story also clearly understands that the absolute benefit of the treatment must be weighed against the side effects: Aromatase inhibitors cause side effects in some women, especially night sweats, hot flashes, and sexual dysfunction. Women receiving five more years of letrozole also had greater loss of bone in their hip, worse osteoporosis, and more fractures. One thing that would have made this even stronger: Including the rates of the different side effects. The type of conclusions drawn by the story are supported by the design study being a randomized controlled trial. A strong grasp of the quality of the evidence is exhibited by recognizing these important caveats: The study did not continue long enough to discover whether the lower risk of developing cancer in the opposite breast translated into a lower risk of death. There was no difference in survival, however: 100 women in each group died during the study. Dr. J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society cautioned, however, that “one has to be cautious in interpreting these results,” partly because “based on what they show, there is no overall change in survival.” There is no disease mongering in terms of the overall risk of developing breast cancer or the risk of recurrence. Kudos here, too. Dr. Richard Schilsky was interviewed as an independent source. Conflicts of interest were also disclosed: The study was funded by Novartis which sells letrozole, and several of the study authors are connected to pharmaceutical companies. Continuing aromatase inhibitor was compared to not continuing it. There was a brief mention that study participants had taken another drug, tamoxifen, before starting letrozole. However, we’d have liked to have seen details on what other long-term alternatives women have for preventing recurrence. The drug letrozole is already available, and the story makes this clear. The story adequately establishes the novelty of the study: “The reason this is a milestone trial is that it’s the first to show that 10 years [on letrozole] is better than five,” said Dr. Nicholas Robert, an oncologist with Virginia Cancer Specialists and a co-author of the study. “…If you can tolerate the side effects, I think many women will opt to take the extra years of letrozole, so this study is practice-changing.” This is important because many patients already continue aromatase inhibitors: Experts said the study was significant because some women and their doctors choose to continue aromatase inhibitors past the standard five years. There had been no research on whether that was beneficial. The story had interviews with independent sources and does not appear to be copied from a news release.
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25820
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“CDC reports, but media silent on truth about April 7 Wisc election” not causing a spike in COVID-19 cases.
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The two-page CDC report didn’t exactly break any new ground - media outlets in Wisconsin and elsewhere had reported for months that the April 7 election didn’t generate any spike in COVID-19 cases. At the time of this tweet, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had already posted a story on the CDC finding. Other state news orgs posted stories in the hours after. The coverage delay was likely due in large part to the report begin released on a Friday. Of the three stats Knudson attributed to the CDC that the media was supposedly “silent” on, only one was actually referenced in the CDC report, and that was summarized incorrectly.
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false
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Elections, Wisconsin, Dean Knudson,
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"A member of the Wisconsin Election Commission unhappy with perceived lack of proper COVID-19 media coverage took to Twitter to voice his frustrations. Dean Knudson, one of six commissioners who oversee the state election system, focused on a July 31, 2020, report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that confirmed a conclusion widely reported earlier — the mid-pandemic election of April 7, 2020, didn’t generate any spike in COVID-19 cases here. ""CDC reports, but media silent on truth about Apr 7 Wisc election: No lines at 99.9% polling places, over 70% absentee, no evidence in-person voting risky,"" Knudson’s tweeted on Aug. 3, 2020. He went on to link to coverage of the CDC study by the National Review. CDC reports, but media silent on truth about Apr 7 Wisc election: No lines at 99.9% polling places, over 70% absentee, no evidence in-person voting risky. Masks encouraged not mandated for Nov voting; request absentee ballot now at https://t.co/QnzrV5VWKF https://t.co/f6ZPLqCX5m https://t.co/VMx6XyEH8d Knudson — a former Republican lawmaker appointed to his post by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester — is voicing an allegation that’s become routine in all corners of the political universe: That his preferred viewpoint is being muzzled due to selective coverage by ""the media."" Let’s check the tape. We’re focusing on Knudson’s claim about media coverage, but we’ll take a quick moment to examine what he says the media is missing. He highlighted three statistics that he said were in the CDC report, but the media was ""silent"" on. ""No lines at 99.9% of polling places"" — The CDC report only examined data from Milwaukee, and it didn’t make any reference to lines. Knudson said in an email he added this based on an assumption that there were no lines at any polling places outside of Milwaukee and Green Bay, where long lines generated extensive media coverage. He did not cite any survey or research actually establishing that no other locations had lines. ""Over 70% absentee"" — The CDC report, looking only at Milwaukee, noted 68% of Milwaukee votes were cast by absentee ballot. But Knudson’s tweet references Wisconsin, not Milwaukee. And the statewide rate of absentee voting was actually a bit higher at 74.4%, according to the election commission. The massive jump in ballots cast this way has been extensively covered. ""No evidence in-person voting risky"" — This is the lone element Knudson cites that is referenced in the CDC report, but his summary is not accurate. The report didn’t say in-person voting wasn’t ""risky"" — that’s a general statement that would apply to all in-person elections. The report simply looked at the data in the wake of the April 7 election and tentatively attributed the lack of impact to mitigation measures at polling locations. It said, ""No clear increase in cases, hospitalizations, or deaths was observed after the election, suggesting possible benefit of the mitigation strategies, which limited in-person voting and aimed to ensure safety of the polling sites open on election day."" Now on to the media coverage. Knudson’s claim of no media coverage — first highlighted by Associated Press reporter Scott Bauer — hits a bit of a logical hurdle immediately since Knudson’s tweet included a link to a news account of the CDC report, but let’s assume he’s referring more to in-state media. The two-page CDC report labeled ""Notes from the Field"" wasn’t exactly breaking news. Media outlets in Wisconsin have been reporting for months that the COVID-19 trends after the election weren’t anywhere near a spike. Here’s a sampling: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel headline on April 22, 2020, was, ""Two weeks after election, COVID-19 cases have not spiked in Wisconsin but experts urge caution about conclusions."" A week later, the paper used a similar headline as more data became available: ""In-person voting didn't lead to spike in COVID-19, but concerns remain."" The Associated Press took a similar approach May 6: ""No spike, but no certainty on fallout of Wisconsin election."" And a Wisconsin State Journal headline on April 25 made the point as well: ""No bump in COVID-19 rates after Wisconsin's April 7 election, study says."" The Journal Sentinel also noted in a May 11 story that a total of 71 people tested positive for COVID-19 after voting or working the polls April 7, according to the state Department of Health Services. It noted those cases accounted for less than 4% of the positive tests in the two weeks after the election. Meanwhile, PolitiFact Wisconsin posted a series of fact checks correcting errant claims of a surge. We rated a viral Facebook post on April 21 that claimed a ""surge"" based on shoddy data work. We rated a claim from state Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, on April 24 when he said a jump in COVID-19 cases was due to the election (again due to poor data analysis). And we rated a viral video from One America News as on May 12 when it asserted without offering evidence that ""The mainstream media pretended there was a deadly surge in COVID cases thanks to Wisconsinites voting."" Knudson said in an email to PolitiFact Wisconsin he was most frustrated with the lack of coverage of the CDC report itself. As noted, numerous prior studies and reports had established the same thing months earlier, so the CDC finding wasn’t breaking any new ground. But it’s also worth noting that the report was released on a Friday, heading into a weekend where staffing across all media organizations drops dramatically. On Monday, several media outlets did cover the CDC report, including the Journal Sentinel, the State Journal and several TV stations, including Channel 3000 and WKOW in Madison. The Journal Sentinel story was posted about 45 minutes before Knudson’s tweet, while the others were posted later in the day. Knudson acknowledged he overlooked the Journal Sentinel story in a Twitter reply. Knudson said the media was ""silent on truth"" about the April 7 election, citing lack of coverage of a CDC report. But news organizations around the state have reported regularly on the COVID-19 trends after the April 7 election — including the lack of any spike attributable to the election. The CDC report wasn’t immediately covered by many outlets, but that’s explained in part by the timing of the report and in part by its lack of original findings. And the state’s largest news organization had written about the CDC report before Knudson tweeted."
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40948
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Italy has found that Covid-19 is actually disseminated intravascular coagulation (thrombosis).
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This disease has been observed in Covid-19 patients but it’s not correct that patients have that and not Covid-19.
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false
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online
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Italy has concluded Covid-19 is not a virus, and people are actually dying of amplified global 5G electromagnetic radiation poisoning. Italy disobeyed world health law from the WHO saying not to carry out autopsies on Covid-19 patients. The WHO never said autopsies couldn’t take place. Italy has found that Covid-19 is actually disseminated intravascular coagulation (thrombosis). The way to cure this is antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and anticoagulants. Antibiotics do not directly treat Covid-19, which is caused by a virus. The anti-inflammatory ibuprofen is being trialled for use against Covid-19 and an anticoagulant has been used in some Covid-19 cases. Aspirin is not a specific cure. Covid-19 is not a virus, but a bacterium being amplified by 5G which causes inflammation and hypoxia. Covid-19 patients can get secondary infections from bacteria. Hypoxia and types of inflammation can be symptoms of Covid-19. There’s no proof Covid-19 is in any way related to 5G. People with Covid-19 should take aspirin 100mg and Apronax or paracetamol. Trials into both of these drugs’ effectiveness in treating Covid-19 are ongoing, but haven’t concluded yet. Paracetamol can ease symptoms but isn’t a specific treatment. Covid-19 clots the blood causing thrombosis, stopping blood flow and oxygenating the heart and lungs. Severe Covid-19 can cause blood clotting problems and issues like this have been seen in Covid-19 patients, but this is not the only thing that can be fatal in patients. In a day, Italy sent home more than 14,000 patients after treating them with Aspirin and Apronax. The Italian Medicines Agency doesn’t mention aspirin or apronax in its list drugs used to treat Covid-19 outside of clinical trials. And there’s no record of a day when 14,000 people were sent home from hospital in Italy. There is an order to incinerate or immediately bury Covid-19 bodies without autopsy. There is no such order. Claim 1 of 10
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1249
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Drug and medical suppliers say Brexit freight plans needed urgently.
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Makers and suppliers of life-saving drugs and medical devices say they have still not been told by British authorities how their goods will be handled if the UK leaves the European Union without a deal at the end of October.
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true
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Health News
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Some larger pharmaceutical companies have opted to make their own plans to replenish supplies of critical medicines in the event of a “no deal” Brexit, industry groups said on Friday, while others are aiming to book slots in the government’s air and ferry freight plan. Despite repeated and urgent requests to the government for details, medicines suppliers still don’t know which ports such shipments will depart from, the timings and lengths of the journeys or where they will arrive in the UK. With some cross-channel trips taking as little as an hour, and others taking six or more, this heightens the potential risk for some medicines that may need refrigeration, the groups said, and raises questions about the number of drivers needed and the length of their working shifts. “The industry doesn’t know which ports will be available, which ferries will be available. So we don’t known which ferries are coming from where to where,” said Steve Bates, chief executive of the UK BioIndustry Association. “We have been repeatedly asking for this,” he said, adding that with fewer than six weeks to go before the Oct. 31 Brexit deadline “everything is become increasingly urgent”. The Department for Transport on Friday said that it had shortlisted eight companies that could bid to bring in drugs, using ports away from areas that are likely to face disruption. It said the contracts - awarded to ferry companies, Eurotunnel and an aircraft charter company - would provide capacity equivalent to thousands of trucks per week. Two Brexit deadlines have already been and gone, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson has now vowed to take Britain out of the EU with or without a deal by the end of October - increasing the chance of a sudden departure that will bring trade tariffs and customs checks with the continent for the first time in decades. The risk is particularly acute for the pharmaceutical industry, which imports 37 million packs of medicines into the UK from the rest of Europe every month. Briefing reporters on Friday, leaders of drug industry groups and medical research charities said they have been working for three years on contingency plans and are broadly confident that UK doctors, hospitals and patients will not face immediate or dangerous medical shortages. “This is all about managing risk,” said Mike Thompson, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. “The scale of this means that we have to be sensible and prepare for shortages, but the system is well geared up for managing that.” Responding to the concerns, a government spokeswoman said in an emailed statement that “comprehensive plans” are in place to ensure that vital medicines are brought into the UK after Brexit. “We want to alleviate any fears by stressing that the government is doing everything we can to make sure patients receive the medicines they need,” she said.
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9040
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Direct-to-implant breast reconstruction provides good results in older women
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The motivation for this study, in the words of the authors, seems to be: “half of all breast cancers occur in women over 65, yet only four to 14 percent of these women undergo reconstruction.” Most existing studies on breast reconstruction in older women focus on a technique involving gradual tissue expansion, followed by a breast implant. The authors wanted to see if going from mastectomy directly to implant in a single procedure — called ‘direct-to-implant,’ or DTI — had similar complication rates and outcomes. This news release would have benefited from being more explicit about the nuts and bolts of how different breast reconstructions differ, as well as being more clear about costs and availability. Age is a major risk factor for developing breast cancer. The proportion of women age 65 and over is expected to increase in the near future. That means more women are likely to be diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. Whether reconstruction will follow suit remains unclear. However, if reconstructive surgery does become more popular, surgical approaches that promise to be more convenient and less risky for women, need to be comprehensively studied. The study mentioned in this news release is a very small step in that direction.
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mixture
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breast cancer,breast reconstruction,Wolters Kluwer Health
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This news release doesn’t mention the cost of either the new approach being studied (direct-to-implant, or DTI, breast reconstruction) or the widely used tissue expander/subsequent implant approach to which it’s compared. It also made no mention on whether Medicare would cover either procedure. Multiple follow-up benefits (measured at 30 days and 1 year) are cited, with the DTI group having fewer readmissions, fewer days with a drain in place (13 vs 23), fewer days in hospital after the procedure, and fewer follow-up office visits (6.5 office visits vs 12 visits for the non-DTI group.) The news release highlights the following benefit: “avoiding some of the inconvenience and risks of staged approaches to breast construction.” So, It would have been helpful to clarify for readers what the staged approach with tissue expanders involves; mainly inserting an inflatable expander in the space left by the removed breast, gradually filling the expander with saline over weeks or months, and eventually placing an implant once the area can safely and comfortably accommodate it. In framing this emerging technique as “safe and effective,” as well as highlighting complication rates that are no different from the standard approach, this news release may be minimizing the very real complication rates. The release states, “Complication rates were similar between groups, including blood and fluid collections (hematoma and seroma), infection, unplanned surgery, and failed reconstruction.” The rates may not have been any different between the groups but that does not mean harms can be dismissed. It’s not hard to find disquieting statistics on the rate of complications after mastectomy with reconstruction, for instance this study showing a 10.3% overall complication rate after mastectomy with implant — and 6% of implants being removed within 60 days. The published study mentioned previous research had found greater complication rates with the direct-to-implant approach. These contradictory findings are not mentioned in the news release. The news release does well in reminding us this is a retrospective chart review of just one hospital’s experience. The size of the study — comparing 24 breasts reconstructed by DTI in just 19 patients, with 109 breasts with expander-implant approach in 98 patients — also limits the generalizability of these findings. With just over 100 patients the study is quite small. We appreciate mention of the fact that DTI is not an appropriate choice for all women (breast size, shape, and other factors come into play). The study mentioned that many of the DTI reconstructions necessitated the use of acellular dermal matrix (a soft tissue substitute that is derived from donated human skin tissue) which has to be considered with regards to risk profile of the patient and whether this is a suitable procedure. There is no disease mongering in this news release. However, the assumption of the release is that there is something wrong with the fact that most women older than 65 choose not to have breast reconstruction. And the implication is that these women would opt for reconstruction if it were more convenient than the current procedure. Maybe that is the case, but we don’t know why they choose what they choose. Reconstruction requires being under anesthesia for a long time and there are known risks associated with implants. It also takes a while before the implants feel “normal.” None of these potential reasons for not having reconstruction surgery over age 65 were addressed in the release. That omission could suggest that women not opting for reconstruction is somehow a problem that needs to be remedied. And that’s concerning if those women are simply making a sensible choice to forego a procedure that lacks medical need but carries higher risks. The funding sources for the study are not disclosed. The point of the study was comparing two options for breast reconstruction. Although the release does mention that the tissue expander approach is more established and widely used, it could have been more explicit — as the authors of the study were — in letting us know “this is relatively new technique.” We’re told that DTI “has emerged as a single-stage approach to immediate breast reconstruction after mastectomy” and we get this quote from one of the lead authors: The DTI approach is a powerful tool for breast reconstruction in elderly patients. Taken together these two quotes could give readers an erroneous sense that this is an established and proven option. It’s not. It’s never really fully explained how the direct-to-implant approach differs from the tissue expander approach. But it is made clear that DTI is better studied in younger women than older ones. No major issues noted here.
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30119
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"Taylor Swift was photographed in the company of former NFL quarterback and ""take a knee"" protester Colin Kaepernick at a San Francisco nightclub."
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Two other websites that reposted the same spurious article verbatim (astepaheadofeveryone.live and phoenixnews5.site) bore no such disclaimer.
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false
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Junk News, america's last line of defense, colin kaepernick, taylor swift
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Pop songstress Taylor Swift made waves in early October 2018 by announcing she would vote for a Democratic senatorial candidate in Tennessee’s upcoming midterm election, breaking her longstanding silence on political issues, according to multiple press reports. The move earned Swift both kudos and jeers from the public. Predictably, it also inspired junk news purveyors to fabricate stories related to her foray into politics. A report that appeared on America’s Last Line of Defense (LLOD) (and was reposted on at least two other websites) proclaimed that Swift was “busted” on a date with former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who is best known for protesting racial injustice by kneeling during renditions of the national anthem: Taylor Swift destroyed her career yesterday by coming out to back the Democrat party of losers. Nobody could understand why. Her post on Instagram looked like a leftist cult member wrote it. Freedom of choice and the gays are all well and good, but they don’t belong in your job. Today, the truth has come out. A photographer snapped 14 pictures of Taylor Swift and Colin Kaepernick last night at Klub Karl in downtown San Fransisco [sic]. The club is a known socialist hangout. The photographer was spotted and searched and his camera was destroyed but he was able to get a headshot of Swift with his phone, proving she was at the infamous club. The wall behind her is unmistakable. Swift and Kaepernick arrived and left at different times, but people inside the club have confirmed that they acted like a couple. Security officers at the building across from Swift’s hotel said that Swift and Colin Kaepernick arrived together and he never left. Despite the claim that a photographer documented Swift’s presence outside an “infamous club” and “known socialist hangout” called “Klub Karl” in San Francisco, the only image accompanying the article appeared to show her instead standing outside Alice Tully Hall in New York’s Lincoln Center. There is, in fact, no “Klub Karl” in San Francisco. America’s Last Line of Defense is part of a network of websites and social media accounts notorious for publishing so-called “satirical” content with clickbait headlines aimed at ridiculing conservative viewpoints. A disclaimer on the site warns: Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site’s pure fantasy and actual people, places and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical.
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28180
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Colorado has offered free birth control for five years, leading to: a 40 percent drop in unintended pregnancy, a 42 percent drop in abortions, and millions of dollars in healthcare savings.
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What's true: The state of Colorado's long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) funding initiative appeared to lead to a large drop in abortion, unintended pregnancy, and millions of dollars saved in prevented costs associated with childbirth. What's false: The statistics only reflected LARCs, not all birth control.
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true
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Politics, birth control, colorado
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As early as August 2015, this meme circulated on social media, claiming that during a five-year period in Colorado, the availability of free birth control led to many positive outcomes: COLORADO HAS OFFERED FREE BIRTH CONTROL FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS AND HAS SEEN: * UNINTENDED PREGNANCIES DROP BY 40% * ABORTION FALL BY 42% * MILLIONS IN PUBLIC HEALTH COVERAGE SAVED SHARE IF YOU THINK WE NEED TO DO THIS WITH THE WHOLE COUNTRY The meme included at least five claims: that the state of Colorado offered free birth control for a five-year period before August 2015, that unintended pregnancies fell by 40 percent in that time, that 42 percent fewer abortions were obtained during the period, that millions of dollars in healthcare expenditure were spared by it, and that the program ought to be (but was not) replicated elsewhere in the United States. A July 2015 article appeared to be the source for the meme’s statistics, as well as a reference for details that did not appear in the graphic. According to the piece, the program had operated for six years at the time of publication, and the statistics came from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. The numbers from CDPHE specifically reflected long-acting reversible contraceptives, or LARCs, such as intra-uterine devices or hormonal implants, not birth control pills or similar methods: Over the past six years, Colorado has conducted one of the largest experiments with long-acting birth control. If teenagers and poor women were offered free intrauterine devices and implants that prevent pregnancy for years, state officials asked, would those women choose them? They did in a big way, and the results were startling. The birthrate among teenagers across the state plunged by 40 percent from 2009 to 2013, while their rate of abortions fell by 42 percent, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. There was a similar decline in births for another group particularly vulnerable to unplanned pregnancies: unmarried women under 25 who have not finished high school. The July 2015 article included a link to an undated CPDHE report: For every dollar invested in the LARC program, an estimated average of $5.85 was avoided within a three-year period by the Colorado Medicaid program—a good return on investment. The birth rate for Medicaid-eligible women ages 15 to 24 dropped sharply each year between 2010 and 2012. CDPHE estimates that Colorado saved between $49 million and $111 million in birth-related Medicaid costs. As of early 2014 (a year before the Times article), the provisions of the Affordable Care Act led to a 67 percent rate of coverage among patients prescribed birth control pills. That number was slightly lower for patients using IUDs: The proportion of privately insured U.S. women who paid zero dollars out of pocket for oral contraceptive pills increased sharply, from 15% to 67%, between the fall of 2012 (before the ACA’s contraceptive coverage requirement took effect for most women) and the spring of 2014, according to a new Guttmacher study published in the journal Contraception. The study found that the proportion of women who paid nothing out of pocket also increased among those using the vaginal ring (from 20% to 74%) and among those using injectable contraceptives (from 27% to 59%). For women using the IUD, the proportion increased from 45% in the fall of 2012 to 62% in the three subsequent waves of the study combined. Despite Colorado’s birth control program success, it met with lawmaker opposition in 2015. But in April 2016, the state once again secured funding for the program. Widely circulated figures did not, however, include all methods of birth control; the statistical differences between LARCs and more popular methods like the Pill were stark: LARC methods are around 20 times more effective than any other type of reversible birth control excluding the DMPA injection. In a 2012 study of over 7400 participants, the failure rates in participants using oral contraceptive pills, birth control patch, or the vaginal ring was 17-20 times higher than the risk of those using LARC methods. For those under 21 using the pills, patch or ring, the risk of failure was almost twice as high as the older participants. But rates of unintended pregnancy regardless of age remained low in the LARC (and depo-provera group)[.] It is true that CDPHE’s figures reflect a 42 percent drop in abortions, a 40 percent drop in unintended pregnancies, and a savings range of $49 to $111 million in birth-related Medicaid costs during the period of time that LARCs were available for free to residents of Colorado. Funding for the program was briefly disrupted in 2015, and re-enabled in April 2016.
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11308
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A daily aspirin to prevent cancer? Maybe.
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This story about aspirin’s potential benefits in cancer prevention does a better job than some others we reviewed, yet this story still left a lot of gaps in the picture. The overall tone couched the potential benefits in cautious statements about the potential risks of aspirin and scitific uncertainties that this study leaves unresolved. The story was one of the few to quantify the potential harms involved in taking aspiring daily. It also made good use of outside experts. However, we wish it had provided readers with more of the absolute numbers behind what appear to be stunning relative differences in treatment effects. There were clear examples of the small differences in the absolute number of deaths featured in the study that could have been featured in the coverage here and elsewhere. Aspirin’s benefits to reduce cardiovascular problems are well established, but there appears to be a growing body of evidence about its strengths in preventing certain cancers, too. If aspirin turns out to be a simple solution to preventing cancer with negligible side effects, it could prove to be a massive boon to health worldwide. With stakes this high, it’s all the more important for reporters to carefully weigh the evidence and explain to readers the science in clear terms with real numbers.
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true
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Cancer,NPR
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This story does not discuss the cost of daily aspirin intake. Because the cost to individuals is low and well-known, we won’t insist on this point. Nevertheless, were a recommendation made for everyone to begin taking aspirin daily starting at age 45 the national price tag would be substantial. Readers would also benefit from an acknowledgement that such a recommendation would lead to higher spending on treatment of bleeding ulcers and other adverse events that would offset some of the potential cancer-related savings. This story does not put the relative differences between aspirin and placebo in these studies into the proper perspective. The story says, “For some of these cancers, the reduction in death was remarkable.” What is considered remarkable? “Twenty years after people had started taking aspirin regularly (and kept it up for at least five years), their deaths from esophageal cancer were reduced by 60 percent compared to study subjects who got a placebo.” How many people died from esophageal cancer? We never find out. In fact, we don’t know how many people died period. There is a mangled sentence in the story that indicates that the study captured “cancer deaths for up to 20 years after those studies ended [for]… nearly 13,000 people.” Esophageal cancer is rare compared to other cancers studied, and its low numbers may account for the high relative difference in preventative benefits of aspirin. To make that determination, though, readers would need the absolute differences. The story should have at least mentioned the number of cancer deaths. Telling readers that 674 participants died of cancer out of more than 25,000 included in the original studies would help them understand the actual size of any reduction in risk. The same is true for the claims about risk reduction over a 20 year period, where there were a total of 1634 cancer deaths among 12,659 participants. When readers are told of a “20 percent reduction” they should be told it was 20 percent of the number of actual cancer deaths, not 20 percent of the much, much larger total number of participants. This is one of the few stories to put a number to the potential harms. “But aspirin carries risks. The biggest is stomach bleeding, although it also raises the risk of brain hemorrhage. Daily aspirin doubles a person’s gastrointestinal bleeding risk to about 2 in every 1,000 people a year. But Rothwell says this bleeding hazard is “drowned out” by the cancer benefit.” This story performs better than some others in presenting the quality of the evidence. First, it takes a cautious tone from the top. The second sentence says, “A British study offers compelling — though not clinching — evidence that the humble aspirin tablet can prevent death from a variety of cancers, if you take the medicine long enough in middle age. Don’t start popping aspirin every morning to fight tumors without talking to your doctor, though.” Secondly, it provides more details about the study, although we would have liked to have seen more. For example, the story says, “The new study didn’t find any anticancer benefit for aspirin doses above 75 milligrams a day — the British dose for a “baby” aspirin. In the United States, a baby aspirin weighs in at 81 milligrams. However, experts say more information is needed on the optimum dose for cancer prevention.” But then it allows a researcher with an unsubstantiated claim to get in the last word. “There’s a little controversy about whether a baby aspirin dose is enough,” says Harvard’s Chan. “We think that probably a standard adult aspirin dose of 325 milligrams is more likely to be effective.” One important point that is neglected here is the limited data in women in this study. Also, the story says the study “encompasses eight earlier studies that compared cancer deaths among more than 25,000 people randomly assigned to get aspirin (of different doses) or placebo.” What readers aren’t told is that those earlier trials were looking at heart disease, not cancer. Readers should have been alerted that the data is being analyzed in ways that were not part of the original study designs. There may be gaps or other issues in the original data that raise dome questions about how solid the study results really are. Nevertheless, the overall tone is appropriate to the quality of the evidence. The story does not engage in disease-mongering. The story makes pretty good use of outside sources. It points out that “the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s currently recommends against taking aspirin to prevent colorectal cancer, the type of cancer for which there is the largest body of scientific work.” At the same time, the statement that the effects on cancer are larger than for heart disease is misleading for middle-aged and older adults who are not at high risk for cancer. Heart disease is 10 times more likely in these populations, so even with a lower relative risk reduction, more heart attcaks are going to be prevented than cancers. The story would have been better if it had told readers that although this study received no outside funding, some of the authors have had consulting relationships with pharmaceutical companies. This story does not present alternative ways of reducing cancer risk. Some other news reports specifically noted that avoiding smoking and obesity are both known to reduce cancer risk. The availability of aspirin is widely known. What is unique here is how common is it to be used as a cancer prevention method. This story, like others, makes clear that it is commonly used for other reasons but not for cancer prevention. “To be sure, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s currently recommends against taking aspirin to prevent colorectal cancer, the type of cancer for which there is the largest body of scientific work. The benefits of daily low-dose aspirin can exceed the risks for many middle-aged and older people when it comes to preventing heart attacks and strokes, the task force says. So for those already taking prophylactic aspirin for this reason, the possible anticancer effects are just icing on the cake.” The story makes it clear that aspirin has been studied as a potential preventative tool for other cancers but that aspirin is not in wide use for this purpose. This story does not appear to rely on a news release.
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822
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Ebola spreads to remote, militia-run Congo territory.
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Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have confirmed a new case of Ebola in the remote, militia-controlled territory of Walikale, hundreds of kilometers away from where previous cases near the border with Uganda and Rwanda occurred, the Health Ministry said overnight.
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true
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Health News
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Pinga, the village where the case was reported, lies about 150 km (95 miles) northwest of Goma, one of the towns affected by the Ebola epidemic, and much further away from the epicenter of the epidemic in Butembo and Beni. The ministry data also showed a third case confirmed in South Kivu region, which on Friday reported its first cases, more than 700 km (430 miles) south of where the first case was detected. The widening geographic spread of the virus, and its presence in yet another zone under the sway of armed groups, raises the risk of it spreading out of control, even while the technical tools to rein it in are better than ever. Walikale is controlled almost entirely by a Mai Mai ethnic militia, surrounded by forest and difficult to access because of poor roads. Ebola has killed at least 1,900 people in Congo over the past year, the second biggest toll in the disease’s history, after a 2014-16 outbreak in West Africa that killed 11,300 people. Unlike during that outbreak, there are now major medical advances that have helped fight the disease, including two trial vaccines, both of which are being deployed, mobile treatment units and experimental treatments that show the promise of a 90% survival rate. But public mistrust and rampant insecurity in parts of east Congo where there are a plethora of armed groups and criminal gangs left over from two major wars in the late 1990s have hampered the response. The hemorrhagic fever, first discovered in Congo in 1976, spreads through direct contact with body fluids and typically kills roughly half of those it infects. The mortality rate is closer to two thirds during the current outbreak because so many victims have failed to seek treatment.
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1113
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Singapore makes second huge seizure of pangolin scales in days.
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Singapore intercepted a second shipping container packed full of pangolin scales destined for Vietnam in less than a week, authorities said on Wednesday, a combined haul that set a new record for the global transit hub.
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true
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Environment
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The seizure of 12.7 tonnes of scales, worth an estimated $38 million, follows last week’s haul of 12.9 tonnes. The scales in that seizure, the biggest of its kind worldwide in five years, were said to have come from about 17,000 pangolins. “The container was declared to have contained cassia seeds,” Singapore’s National Parks Board, Customs and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said in a joint statement, adding that the shipment came from Nigeria. The authorities said the scales in this week’s seizure came from two species, equivalent to around 21,000 pangolins, the world’s most poached animal. Pangolins, also known as scaly anteaters, are critically endangered. They are coveted for their meat, which is considered a delicacy, and scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat aliments from cancer to arthritis.
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22975
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"We’ve been able to create about 60,000 net new jobs"" in Virginia since February."
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Bob McDonnell says Virginia has gained 60,000 jobs since he became governor
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true
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Jobs, Virginia, Bob McDonnell,
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"It’s all about jobs, Gov. Bob McDonnell says. During an Election Day interview, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough hailed McDonnell as the ""Elvis"" of the job creation message that moved voters this fall. ""You started this in 2009 before anyone got this,"" Scarborough told the governor, referring to McDonnell’s pledge to create jobs during his successful campaign last year. McDonnell replied that since taking office in January, ""we’ve been able to create about 60,000 net new jobs"" in Virginia. We had two questions about McDonnell’s statement: Is his number right; and how much credit does the governor deserve for any upswing in Virginia employment since he took office? We first checked the claim of ""about 60,000 net new jobs."" Stacey Johnson, McDonnell’s press secretary, said the number came from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Our next call went to the office of Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who heads McDonnell’s jobs team. Randy Marcus, Bolling’s chief of staff, compiles the job-creation figures for the administration. Marcus said he takes the most current BLS monthly figure for non-farm jobs in Virginia. Then he subtracts the number of non-farm jobs in Virginia in February, McDonnell’s first full month in office. The remainder is what the administration considers to be Virginia’s net job gain under McDonnell. It includes full and part-time jobs in the public and private sectors. We ran the computation, based on the latest BLS numbers that had been posted more than a week before McDonnell’s appearance on MSNBC. Here’s our result: Virginia Workers, Sept. 2010 3,637,200 Virginia Workers, Feb. 2010 3,581,800 Net job gain under McDonnell 55,400 The governor’s claim of creating about 60,000 new jobs was a tad inflated, but certainly in the ballpark. In July, McDonnell claimed 71,500 new Virginia jobs had been created since he took office. We checked those numbers and found them dead on. Much of the job loss since then was caused by the layoff of federal census workers and the slowing of construction. McDonnell also said on MSNBC that only Texas has gained more jobs than Virginia since February. He’s right, according to BLS statistics. Texas has added 128,800 jobs since February. Virginia has experienced a 1.55 percent increase in jobs since February. That ranks sixth. The District of Columbia leads everyone with 2.38 percent growth. Now, let’s look at McDonnell’s statement ""we’ve"" created about 60,000 jobs. It suggests the new slots are the result of his administration’s actions. ""It’s not unique to the Governor, but it bothers me how all politicians take credit for creating jobs,"" said John Knapp, senior economist for the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at The University of Virginia. ""Barack Obama is not president of the economy and Bob McDonnell is not governor of the economy. Of course, what they do can have a marginal affect on things, but there are many other elements involved in creating jobs."" Knapp added that state policies affect job creation development over the long run. ""But as year or two out, new state policies are not going to have a major impact on the economy."" During recent decades, an array of prominent publications have consistently rated Virginia in the top handful of business-friendly states, noting the Commonwealth’s low tax rates, and laws barring compulsory union membership. Johnson said it is not McDonnell’s intention to claim credit for all new jobs under his watch. ""It’s a cumulative effort,"" she said. ""It’s the private sector that creates jobs; government can merely help set a conducive climate."" Johnson said that when McDonnell said ""we’ve"" created about 60,000 net new jobs, ""he was referring to Virginia."" It’s noteworthy that this February -- the month McDonnell uses as the starting benchmark for his administration’s job efforts -- Virginia’s unemployment rate was 7.2 percent, the highest in 28 years. The unemployment rate in September dipped to 6.8 percent, ranking Virginia as the eighth lowest state. The national unemployment rate was 9.7 percent in February and 9.6 percent in September. The vast majority of new Virginia jobs since February fell into one of three broad categories: leisure and hospitality; professional and business services; or trade, transportation and utilities. McDonnell, a Republican, has been praised by legislators from both political parties for aggressively recruiting new businesses. Over the first nine months of his administration -- starting in February, as the governor prefers -- the state has announced 186 business development deals promising 12,249 new jobs, according to statistics kept by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. In comparison, the state announced 213 development deals promising 11,656 new jobs during the final nine months of Gov. Tim Kaine’s term, ending in January. It’s impossible to know how many how many of the jobs promised in state economic development announcements actually translate into employment gains recorded by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many of the jobs are speculative and depend on construction and expansion of plants before people are hired. So let’s review. It’s clear the governor wants credit for the new jobs created in Virginia since February. But many factors beyond a governor’s purview influence employment figures and Virginia has benefited a strong business climate for decades. Some of the jobs filled since McDonnell took office were no doubt spawned by economic developments deals announced Kaine. It’s impossible to assign full credit to anyone. Regardless of credit, have ""about 60,000 net new jobs"" been created in Virginia since February? It depends how you measure ""about."" The correct number at the time was 55,400. The governor was a little bit off, but he wasn’t blowing smoke."
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21484
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Mayor Fung wants to punish our children's education by removing 12 million dollars from current funding to pay for his private charter school. Your taxes would increase by between 6 and 8 percent per year.
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Robocall says Cranston mayoral academy would increase taxes 6 percent to 8 percent
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false
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Rhode Island, Children, City Budget, Deficit, Education, State Budget, Taxes, Richard Tomlins,
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"Last month, many residents of Cranston received an anonymous recorded call with a message delivered by an authoritative-sounding male voice warning: ""Parents, teachers, students and taxpayers. On Wednesday, Aug. 24, at 5 p.m. in front of the Cranston City Hall there will be a rally to save Cranston's award-winning school district. Mayor Fung wants to punish our children's education by removing $12 million from current funding to pay for his private charter school. Your taxes would increase by between 6 and 8 percent per year. This will be your last chance to deny the mayor from making our district second class. Be there."" Pulling $12 million out the Cranston school system sounded bad enough, but the prospect of a tax increase of 6 percent to 8 percent was even more frightening. But we were skeptical because, in the first place, state law limits property tax increases (the limit is currently 4.25 percent) unless a city or town gets a special exception from the General Assembly. So we decided to investigate. THE BACKGROUND Charter schools are financed by local tax dollars but are free from many of the requirements that apply to traditional public schools. Supporters say such flexibility allows charters to have longer days and longer school years, and to experiment with alternative teaching methods. The students are usually chosen by lotteries and most schools are not unionized. Cranston Mayor Allan Fung had proposed a public charter school, known as a mayoral academy, for Cranston and Providence. A similar school is operating for residents of Cumberland, Lincoln, Central Falls and Pawtucket. Under Fung’s proposal, the school would have been run by Achievement First, a nonprofit group that operates 19 similar charter schools in Connecticut and New York City. A board of directors headed by the mayor would have overseen the school. The proposal was rejected by the Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education on Sept. 1, 2011, after intervention by Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who recommended an alternative: studying the possibility of creating an Achievement First mayoral academy in Providence, drawing students from that city, Cranston, and other communities. In his letter, Chafee urged the regents to take the opposition in Cranston -- and there was a lot of it -- seriously. Opponents say such schools are a threat to traditional public schools because they siphon away the most-promising students (those whose parents are involved enough to apply for the lottery) and drain the resources needed to make public schools better. The robocall was reflecting that concern. The calls were financed by Richard Tomlins, a Democrat who ran against Fung for mayor in 2010. He wrote the script for the calls. We asked Tomlins why he referred to the academy as a ""private"" school when accountability would lie with the mayor, any Cranston child could apply for the lottery and parents wouldn't have to pay tuition. Tomlins said it was because the nonprofit company that runs it, Achievement First, accepts corporate donations. He said the $12-million figure came from multiplying the amount spent on teaching a child in Cranston (about $13,000 per pupil) by the number of pupils who would be leaving the system (950). He said the robocall predicted an annual 6 percent to 8 percent tax increase because that's what it would take to raise the $12 million from property taxes. THE ACTUAL NUMBERS To check, we turned to an analysis by the Rhode Island Department of Education, which developed a list of the costs to Cranston of the proposed charter school. First we looked whether the mayoral academy, if approved, would draw $12 million from ""current funding."" The fact is, the project would not have removed a dime from the budget for the current fiscal year because the school would not have begun operations until a year from now. So right off the bat, we were smelling lighter fluid. Then, we examined whether the $12 million would be true for subsequent years. According to the Rhode Island Department of Education, in the first year of operation, the school would have had 88 Cranston kindergartners, not 950 students as Tomlins had said. The state said the cost to the city that first year would have been $664,670, a price tag that would continue to grow as the school added more grades. By the time those kindergartners had become fifth graders and the academy had evolved into a full-fledged elementary school in the fall of 2017, the annual loss to Cranston's school department was projected to be $6.2 million. At that point, it would have had 460 students, nearly half of what Tomlins said. Thus, the amount of ""current funding"" being diverted to the academy this year, or six years from now, would not have come close to the $12 million mentioned in the robocall. THE TAX QUESTION How much would taxes go up if there had been a mayoral academy in Cranston? For most PolitiFact items, we don't look at predictions. After all, things can change and predictions can only be fact-checked in retrospect. But the debate over taxes offers some insight into one reason the academy was so controversial. Fung’s proposal came at a time when Cranston is getting a big infusion of state education money -- the amount goes up by an extra $2.3 million per year every year through 2018 -- thanks to the state's new financing formula that benefits some communities over others. The bad news for the School Department: It doesn't necessarily get to keep that money; it follows the student wherever that student goes. Thus, if pupils get diverted to a mayoral academy that the School Department doesn't control, the department loses revenue. Fung said that should not have mattered. The School Department may lose some financing, but it would also be losing students and the costs associated with teaching them. The cumulative projected cost of Cranston's share of the academy over six years was $20.3 million. Extra aid from the state financing formula over the same period will be $63.4 million. ""The funding formula is a per-pupil allocation and schools have to live within that,"" said Fung, whose Aug. 9 financial analysis of the proposal asserted that any fears that the mayoral academy ""would necessitate new tax dollars, or may add an additional tax burden on Cranston residents are unfounded."" But opponents of the academy said it's not so simple. Losing 4 percent of your students may immediately take away 4 percent of your revenue, but it doesn't automatically cut 4 percent of your costs. Steven Bloom, the unofficial budget expert on the School Committee and the man Tomlins himself suggested we consult, said that if the academy had been approved, it would have plunged the School Department's budget into the red by $20 million after five years and necessitated an annual tax increase of 2 percent to 3 percent per year. (One reason: The department is trying to pay the city back for the $6 million it overspent in the previous years. Bloom said that without the academy, the department should be in the black by the 2016-17 fiscal year, thanks in part to the extra state money.) ROBOCALL DOES NOT COMPUTE But we're checking the facts behind Tomlins' robocall, a call that may have galvanized some of the local opposition Chafee was talking about. It is also a call that Bloom, an opponent of the mayoral academy, characterized as ""infuriating"" and misinformed. So let's summarize. Tomlins characterized the mayoral academy as Fung's ""private charter school,"" said it would have removed ""$12 million from current funding,"" and would have increased taxes ""between 6 and 8 percent per year."" It would not have been Fung's private school -- he would not have been able to take it with him when he left office. It would not have been a private school at all. It would not have drained any money from the current school budget. It would not have drained $12 million from the city in any annual budget projected through 2018. The projected cumulative cost over six years would have been $20.3 million at a time when the city would be getting a $63.4 million infusion in additional state aid. Even if you bought Bloom's argument that the academy would ultimately have sent the School Department $20 million into the red, that still would have left Cranston with $23.1 million more in its coffers to help improve the city's public schools. And to threaten that the mayoral academy would have increased taxes by 6 percent to 8 percent each year when state law makes it difficult to impose such big tax hikes is ridiculous. There were legitimate reasons to support or oppose Cranston's mayoral academy, but this robocall didn't correctly cite any of them. And because the false, inflammatory statements were made anonymously, we're going to do a little inflaming of our own."
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7955
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Battle against coronavirus turns to Italy; Wall Street falls on pandemic fears.
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The coronavirus death toll climbed to seven in Italy on Monday and several Middle East countries were dealing with their first infections, sending markets into a tailspin over fears of a global pandemic even as China eased curbs with no new cases reported in Beijing and other cities.
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true
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Health News
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While health experts have expected limited outbreaks beyond China, the rapid acceleration of cases in Italy going from three on Friday to 220 on Monday is concerning, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement. Just as China put cities on lockdown, Italian authorities sealed off the worst-affected towns, closed schools and halted the carnival in Venice, where there were two cases. Shops are shut, bars are closed and people speak to each other from a safe distance in northern Italy. Markets are nervous that Europe could experience disruptions similar to China, where air traffic has been disrupted and global supply chains rattled for everything from medicine to cars to smartphones. But China’s actions, especially in Wuhan - the epicenter of the outbreak - probably prevented hundreds of thousands of cases, said the head of the WHO delegation in China, Bruce Aylward, urging the rest of the world to learn the lesson of acting fast. “They’re at a point now where the number of cured people coming out of hospitals each day is much more than the sick going in,” he said. The surge of cases outside mainland China triggered sharp falls in global markets as investors fled to safe havens. European equities markets suffered their biggest slump since mid-2016, gold soared to a seven-year high and oil tumbled 4%. The Dow Jones Industrials and S&P 500 posted their biggest one-day percentage drops in over two years and Nasdaq had one of its worst days since December 2018. All three indexes closed down more than 3% after notching record highs last week on optimism the coronavirus would not seriously hurt global economies. Wall Street’s fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index , jumped to a one-year high. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the word “pandemic” did yet not fit the facts. “We must focus on containment while preparing for a potential pandemic,” he told reporters in Geneva, adding that the world was not witnessing an uncontained spread or large-scale deaths. The epidemic in China peaked between Jan. 23 and Feb. 2 and has been declining since, the WHO said. Dr. Mike Ryan, head of WHO’s emergencies program, told reporters it was still possible to contain the virus and that it might appear each year like the flu. “The virus may settle down into an endemic pattern of transmission, into a seasonal pattern of transmission, or it could accelerate into a full-blown global pandemic,” he said in Geneva on Monday. “And at this point, it is not possible to say which of those realities is going to happen.” In the United States, the White House is considering asking lawmakers for emergency funding to ramp up its response to the fast-spreading virus, a White House spokesman and an administration source said on Monday. Politico and the Washington Post had reported the Trump administration may request $1 billion. Liang Wannian of China’s National Health Commission said while the rapid rise had been halted, the situation was still grim. He said over 3,000 medical staff had become infected, most in Hubei province surrounding Wuhan, probably due to the lack of protective gear and fatigue. Excluding Hubei, mainland China reported 11 new cases, the lowest since the national health authority started publishing nationwide daily figures on Jan. 20. Overall, China reported 409 new cases on the mainland, down from 648 a day earlier. That took the total number of cases to 77,150, while the death toll rose by 150 to 2,592. There was a measure of relief for the world’s second-largest economy as more than 20 province-level jurisdictions, including Beijing and Shanghai, reported zero new infections. Outside mainland China, the outbreak has spread to some 29 countries and territories, with a death toll of about two dozen, according to a Reuters tally. South Korea reported 231 new cases, taking its total to 833. Many are in its fourth-largest city, Daegu, which became more isolated with Asiana Airlines (020560.KS) and Korean Air (003490.KS) suspending flights there until next month. Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Afghanistan and Iraq reported their first new coronavirus cases, all in people who had been to Iran, where the toll was 12 dead and 61 infected. Most of the Iran infections were in the Shi’ite Muslim holy city of Qom. A WHO team is due in Iran on Tuesday. Japan had 773 cases as of late Sunday, mostly on the cruise ship quarantined near Tokyo. In South Korea, drone footage here showed what appeared to be hundreds of people queuing up outside a Daegu supermarket to buy face masks. (Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus here)
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8796
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Hormone therapy safe in early menopause: researchers.
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Women entering menopause should not worry about hormone replacement therapy — despite a highly publicized study that put off many woman from the drugs, an international panel of experts said on Tuesday.
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true
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Health News
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Researchers told a global menopause summit in Madrid that a 2002 study which discouraged many women from hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was flawed, as the subject group was relatively old and suffered from other conditions that all boosted risk. Amos Pines, chairman of the International Menopause Society, said his team had reviewed dozens of published studies and found no increase in the risk of heart disease in women aged 50 to 59. “The message is that each woman should discuss her general health, and risk factors such as family history...with her doctor, but generally healthy women entering the menopause should not have fears,” Pines, of the Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv, said. HRT was popular until 2002 when a Women’s Health Initiative study suggested it could raise the risk not only of breast and ovarian cancer, but also strokes and other serious conditions. The findings spurred millions of women to abandon HRT and hit shares in makers of hormone therapies such as Wyeth. But the international team of menopause experts — which issued their consensus statement after reviewing the safety and effectiveness of HRT use in early menopause — said HRT showed no increase in heart disease risk for women aged 50 to 59, and estrogen alone actually decreased risk for these women. Certain types of HRT can slightly increase risk of breast cancer but it is minimal compared to other risks such as smoking or having a first child over the age of 30, they added. “We are not suggesting that people should stay on treatment forever,” David Sturdee, a researcher at Solihull Hospital in Britain who worked on the review, said in a telephone interview. Not everyone is convinced, however. Valerie Beral, an epidemiologist at the University of Oxford cautioned that the Pines-led review only looked at a fraction of the evidence, saying regulators recommend women only use HRT for short periods. “They quote a small number of the very large studies that have been done,” Beral said in telephone interview. “The review does not agree with regulatory bodies in the United Kingdom, U.S. or Europe who have reviewed the totality of the evidence.”
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3674
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Rural Kansas struggles to attract psychiatrists.
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Psychiatrists are so hard to come by in some rural parts of Kansas that out-of-state doctors now commonly treat patients through video conference.
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true
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Health, General News, Kansas, Topeka, Mental health
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Kansas, like the rest of the U.S., is seeing an increase in patients seeking mental health treatment. The state can’t find enough doctors, nurses and therapists to treat them, and providers say the problem is worse in the state’s least-populated rural areas. The Kansas News Service reported that the High Plains Mental Health Center in northwestern Kansas has long struggled to attract psychiatrists for patients in its 20-county coverage area. Executive Director Walt Hill stopped even trying because it typically took him more than a year to fill a position. Attracting psychiatric nurses is hard, too. So Hill turned to providers who conference in from Kansas City, Missouri, Texas and Oklahoma. “Fewer and fewer individuals are going into these professions,” Hill said. “We’re seeing a demographic challenge, a crisis coming.” One measure from the federal government suggests only nine of the counties in Kansas have enough psychiatrists, and they’re mostly in or near populated areas like Kansas City, Wichita and Topeka. Community mental health centers, like the one Hill manages, face an even greater challenge because they treat people regardless of their ability to pay. And as reimbursement rates from insurance companies have stagnated, Hill’s center has had to raise its base fees to cover costs. The center sees 6,000 patients a year, about half of whom need medication. Some wait six weeks for an initial appointment. Greg Hennen, executive director of the Four County Mental Health Center in Independence, said his center has been trying to recruit a psychiatrist to serve as medical director for two years. One of the two applicants couldn’t get his license. The other decided he didn’t want to live in southeast Kansas. “They just want to be a little closer to the cultural offerings of a big city,” Hennen said. Pay is another issue. Neighboring Nebraska and Colorado can afford to pay medical staff and therapists partly because they expanded Medicaid coverage. Oklahoma and Missouri have federal funding from the Excellence in Mental Health Act, a program Kansas never applied for. Hiring nurses is the challenge for Lisa Southern, executive director of Compass Behavioral Health in Garden City. The center paid a recruiter $20,000 to find a qualified nurse. But in 18 months, just two applied, and neither decided to take the job. Kansas passed a law in 2017 adding psychiatry to the state’s medical student loan program. The program helps pay for tuition and other expenses in exchange for the student practicing primary medicine in the less-populated counties after graduation. It’s too early to tell how well it’s working, said Dr. William Gabrielli, head of psychiatry at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. But as attitudes toward mental health treatment change, Gabrielli is optimistic more students will feel encouraged to do psychiatry residencies in rural areas. “Most of the people that pursue psychiatry as their medical specialty are not focused on maximizing their incomes,” he said. “They’re focused on taking care of the people.”
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11389
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Moderate drinking may help men with high blood pressure
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"This ""brief"" reports on the results of a study looking at alcohol consumption and risk for heart disease among men who have high blood pressure. That moderate alcohol consumption reduces heart disease risk is not a new idea, however recommending it in individuals with high blood pressure is controversial given that excessive alcohol can actually raise blood pressure. This study supports the idea that moderate amounts of alcohol can be just as beneficial to men with hypertenstion as it is for those who do not have high blood pressure. The story adequately describes the strength of the existing evidence and points out some of the limitations, for example, that the results may not be generalizable to a broader population. However, the story should have also mentioned that any study using self-reported intake of food or drink is always prone to error in how consumption is measured. The story does not quantify the benefits of moderate drinking. The story only provided qualitative descriptions of the benefits. Furthermore, the story does not mention any alternatives to reduce cardiovascular disease risk. Finally, the story only quotes one expert, the lead author on the study. The story should have quoted multiple experts who could provide more perspective. This ""brief"" is clearly designed to be so; an editorial decision by the Globe. But there is only so much you can do in a 273-word story, and the limitations in such a word count were evident in this story."
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mixture
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The story does not mention the cost of having one or two drinks a day, but most people know what the tab can be. So we consider this criterion not applicable for this story. The story does not quantify the benefits of moderate drinking. The story only provided qualitative descriptions of the benefits. Readers deserve the data in order to make their own judgments of the strength of the evidence. Although the story does mention excessive drinking as a harm (it could raise blood pressure), it does not mention any of the other potential adverse effects. The story adequately describes the strength of the existing evidence and points out some of the limitations, for example, that the results may not be generalizable to a broader population. The story should have also mentioned that any study using self-reported intake of food or drink is always prone to error in how consumption is measured. The study does not exaggerate the prevalence or seriousness of heart disease. The story only quotes one expert, the lead author on the study. The story should have quoted multiple experts who could provide more perspective. The story does not mention any alternatives to reduce cardiovascular disease risk. Clearly alcoholic drinks are available. The idea that moderate alcohol consumption can reduce cardiovascular disease is not a new one, however the story points out that it had never been advocated in those with hypertension. There is no way to know if the story relied on a press release as the sole source of information.
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26218
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"Priorities USA Action Says President Donald Trump is trying to make $451 billion in Medicare cuts ""in the middle of a deadly pandemic."
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The timeline of events doesn’t support this statement. The $451 billion figure is accurate, but presented in a misleading way. It is not a direct program cut to beneficiaries. Instead, it is the result of lowering payments to providers. It also reflects a 10-year budget window.
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false
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Medicare, Health Check, Coronavirus, Priorities USA Action,
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"Priorities USA Action, a Democratic super PAC, announced a new digital and TV ad series criticizing President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Among the ads is a 15-second spot, titled ""Pause,"" that alleges Trump is trying to cut Medicare during the global health emergency. ""Our lives are on pause. We’re worried about our health. So why is Trump still trying to cut our Medicare? $451 billion in cuts in the middle of a deadly pandemic. Trump is putting us at risk,"" the commercial’s narrator says. The PAC, which was formed in 2011 to support President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign, has been tapped by Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, as his preferred choice among Democratic super PACS for big-donor giving. This ad caught our attention for two reasons. First, the term ""Medicare cuts"" has long been volleyed between both Republicans and Democrats in Congress and the White House — and often has proven to be a powerful political tool. Second, the connection between ""cuts"" to Medicare and the coronavirus pandemic was a new concept we wanted to explore. We reached out to Priorities USA Action to ask for the basis of these statements. Josh Schwerin, a PAC spokesperson, sent us a links to news articles and confirmed that the ""$451 billion in cuts"" referred to Trump’s 2021 proposed budget for Medicare. Asked to pinpoint where the $451 billion came from, Schwerin pointed us to a February ABC News article that said the president’s budget plan would ""whack away at federal spending on health care over the next 10 years ... including $451 billion less spent on Medicare."" He also sent us links to a February Washington Blade article and February press release from Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.) — both of which also cited that figure. In fall 2010, a few months after the Affordable Care Act was enacted, Republicans aired midterm campaign ads attacking Democrats for ""cutting"" or ""gutting"" Medicare. The reason was the law included a $500 billion reduction in projected spending for Medicare over 10 years, which would be used to help fund the ACA. The Obama administration said the reductions in spending would come from lowering payments to Medicare Advantage plans and providers and would not affect the level of care that Medicare beneficiaries received. They also said it would help make the Medicare system more financially stable. Now, almost 10 years later, Democrats are using the same language to criticize the White House’s long-term plan for Medicare spending. ""‘Cuts’ is a term that has been thrown around for many years,"" said Tricia Neuman, executive director of the Program on Medicare Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. ""This is a semantic issue that often gets politicized, often in an election year."" (Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the foundation). Neuman explained that what is being considered here is a reduction in the projected increase in spending over a certain period. This reduction is based on estimates of how much the government is projected to spend on programs — factoring in proposed policy changes — for the following 10 years, taking into account current levels of spending, assumptions about economic growth and trends in use of Medicare coverage, said Neuman. Trump’s 2021 budget blueprint for Medicare estimated that spending would increase each of the 10 years. But the estimate also suggested that the administration’s proposed policy changes would reduce the spending increase compared with estimates of what would be spent if the changes were not implemented. ""Let’s say Medicare spends $100 in 2020 and is projected to spend $200 in 2021,"" Neuman said. ""If the budget said we’re going to reduce the growth in spending by $25, that's a reduction in an increase. But other people might call that a cut."" We reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Medicare, for its take on that $451 billion figure, but have not heard back. Marc Goldwein, senior policy director for the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said the actual figure could be anywhere from $400 billion to $600 billion, depending on how calculations are done. His analysis relied on the executive branch’s Office of Management and Budget calculations and landed on a figure close to $505 billion. Other variables, such as ""likely savings from drug price reform"" — yet to be enacted — move it closer to $600 billion. The left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities came up with a similar estimate: $501 billion. The Congressional Budget Office’s estimate not including savings generated from proposed drug pricing reforms was closer to $400 billion. In all cases, though, the reductions in Medicare spending would be achieved through proposals such as lowering payments to providers and paying the same amount for the same health service offered in different settings, among other things. Goldwein said these proposals for Medicare reform are largely bipartisan and ""either mimic or build upon"" those advanced during the Obama era. He also said that, in his organization’s view, the ""cuts"" are savings to the Medicare program and beneficiaries, who would see lower premiums and out-of-pocket medical costs. The policy experts said it’s likely the reductions in spending wouldn’t directly affect the care that Medicare beneficiaries receive. But provider groups have complained that lower reimbursements might drive some doctors to leave Medicare. Hospitals have argued against the proposal for equalizing payments for similar services because they say their overhead expenses are higher than those of a doctor’s office or off-site clinic and their higher rates help finance other necessary services. The Priorities USA Action ad also alleges that Trump is trying to cut Medicare ""in the middle of a deadly pandemic."" But the timeline of events doesn’t support this statement. The White House released the 2021 budget proposal on Feb. 10 — well before the COVID-19 outbreak had become a part of our national consciousness. The first domestic case of COVID-19 was announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Jan. 21. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus a ""public health emergency of international concern"" on Jan. 30. On Feb. 10, the day the budget was released, the CDC put out a press release stating there were 13 cases of the disease in the U.S. CNN also published an article that day stating the vast majority of COVID-19 cases and deaths had occurred in China. Authorities didn’t announce the first U.S. death from COVID-19 until Feb. 29. The WHO declared a pandemic on March 11. ""These budget proposals were probably developed well before the pandemic hit the U.S. and hit it hard,"" said Neuman. However, she added, ""the administration hasn’t disavowed these proposals, but they also haven’t pushed them forward."" Joseph Antos, a scholar in health care and retirement policy at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, said it was a ""ridiculous statement to connect cutting Medicare spending to the COVID crisis."" ""The implication of the video that this is going on actively while we’re in the middle of this crisis, that’s dead wrong,"" said Antos. The Priorities ad said Trump is trying to make $451 billion in Medicare cuts ""in the middle of a deadly pandemic."" This is an exaggerated attack, even before the pandemic is layered on top of it. The dollar figure itself is ""in the ballpark"" of what the policy proposals would generate in spending reductions, giving this ad a sliver of truth. However, in the Trump budget, the amount is spread out over ten years -- important context that was omitted. What’s in Trump’s budget proposal is not a direct cut to Medicare benefits. Instead, Priorities uses the age-old political tactic — employed on both sides of the aisle — of holding up a reduction in projected spending growth as a ""cut."" Moreover, the ad leaves the impression that Trump is trying to whack Medicare for seniors at a time when panic is particularly high because of the coronavirus. But that connection to the pandemic is also misleading. The presidential budget was released weeks before most of the nation began to comprehend the threat of COVID-19. The claim contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts and context that would give a different impression."
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6174
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Minnesota poultry farmers warily watch bird flu outbreaks.
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Poultry farmers in Minnesota are cautiously watching the spread of bird flu in Europe and Asia.
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true
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Health, Flu, Minnesota, Bird flu, Infectious diseases
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The World Health Organization is on “high alert” because the virus has been found in 40 countries around the world since last fall and is spreading quickly, Minnesota Public Radio (http://bit.ly/2kAR42I ) reported. Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, said the spring waterfowl migration will increase the risk of the virus coming to Minnesota. Outbreaks in 2015 devastated more than 100 Minnesota farms and cost the state economy over $500 million. The H5 virus family that hit the state two years ago is the most widespread now. But Osterholm said there’s also an H7 cluster in China that is particularly worrisome because it has infected hundreds of humans in addition to birds. “About 30 to 35 percent of the people who are developing this H7N9 infection are dying,” Osterholm said. Experts think the virus has been spreading to people from birds, but not from human to human. If person-to-person transmission flares, it could produce an influenza pandemic, Osterholm said. Glen Taylor owner of Rembrandt Foods, one of the nation’s largest egg producers, said it’s unclear how the virus made its way into the company’s barns in 2015. Taylor said Rembrandt Foods has taken steps to keep out any new virus. Supply trucks that may visit other poultry farms are strictly controlled, and employees unload at an entrance gate if possible. “We’ve got more emergency response equipment in the state to be able to react quicker,” said Steve Olson, who heads turkey and chicken trade groups in Minnesota. “There are processes that have been streamlined. I think that’s going to help the situation overall.” He said Minnesota is much better prepared than it was two years ago, adding that the poultry industry hopes its defenses don’t have to be tested. ___ Information from: Minnesota Public Radio News, http://www.mprnews.org
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37530
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In 2013's The Purge, a surveillance feed of near-future societal breakdown in Celina, Ohio and Warren, Rhode Island was dated March 21 and 22 2020.
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Was ‘The Purge’ Feed Set on March 22 2020?
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mixture
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Fact Checks, Viral Content
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One in five Americans were on official coronavirus lockdown on March 21 2020, and many of those Americans watched movies to pass the time — leading to a rumor that those viewing 2013’s The Purge spotted surveillance feed video in the film dated March 21 and 22 2020:While watching the purge (2013) in quarantine i see that the day of the purge is today the 21 of March 2020 pic.twitter.com/QhDBkDJU9k— Movie Details (@moviedetail) March 21, 2020In the above tweet, @moviedetail said they were “watching The Purge (2013) in quarantine,” and spotted that “the day of the purge is today,” on March 21 2020, along with photograph of a screen marked with red circles around the points of interest — the film’s title and the surveillance footage date and timestamps.The latter read:PM 10:24:07 03.21.2020 PURGE FEED CELINA, OHAnother tweet was nearly identical to that one; @moviedetail evidently swiped their screenshot:so california going on lockdown 3/21/2020… well what if i showed you THIS. pic.twitter.com/Z28VZzjrLO— ً (@homoseokjin) March 20, 2020Versions of the same claim also spread in meme form:Although the first image appeared to be a cropped version of the Twitter screenshot, the second had a slight variation on the “Purge feed” date and timestamps. Beneath a message stating the UK “goes into lockdown” on March 21 2020, the screencap read:PM 03.21.2020–PURGE FEED WARREN, RIA third tweet purportedly showed “The Purge Rules”:Is it purge day ? pic.twitter.com/kR9yyWOXBZ— ༺𖤐✩Xander✩𖤐༻ (@XANSWRLD_) March 21, 2020Underneath “The Purge Rules,” text read:Since the success of the first purge, the US Constitution was ratified to make way for The Purge, an annual 12-hour event from March 21 at 7:00 PM to March 22 at 7:00 AM where all crime, including murder, becomes legal throughout the United States.Text of “purge rules” circulated separately, using the March 21 and 22 dates without a specific year:FYI – The Purge starts tomorrow. #ThePurge pic.twitter.com/UFWe9z1eOr— Clint Gamache (@iamcg83) March 20, 2020A July 2016 Vox.com explainer addressed the premise of The Purge and the franchise of media following the original 2013 film:The Purge is a movie franchise named after its own dystopian premise: Each year, America has a 12-hour Purge (from 7 pm to 7 am on the designated Purge day) where anyone can commit any crime they want (murder, rape, burglary, cow tipping, etc.) and not face any kind of criminal charges. The catch is simple: You’re always in danger of being killed. The event has become an annual tradition because people realized that since the introduction of the Purge, the country’s socioeconomic ills — crime, unemployment, a weak economy — have disappeared.Wikipedia’s The Purge meta-page provided dates in the franchise’s films and media:In 2014, following an economic collapse and rising social unrest, a political organization named “The New Founding Fathers of America” (NFFA) is formed and is voted into office. The organization establishes a new totalitarian government and a police state. In 2016, the NFFA devises a plan to help stabilize American society and later in 2017, the 28th Amendment to the U.S Constitution is ratified. This amendment establishes a 12-hour event known as “The Purge” which would take place from 7:00 in the evening of March 21, 2017 to 7:00 in the morning of March 22, 2017 wherein all crime including murder becomes legal. Before the Purge begins, the Emergency Broadcast System is activated with rules and a prayer saying “Blessed be our New Founding Fathers and America, a nation reborn” before ending with “May God be with you all”.That excerpt addressed the again near-future date of 2017 — not 2020. In June 2013, a YouTube video titled “The Purge Opening Scene” displayed both of the screenshots for March 21 and 22 2020 in Celina, Ohio:That clip began with a “purge feed” from 2017 (first in Jacksonville, Florida, and then in Syracuse, New York), showing a “purge feed” for each successive year through 2021.A purge feed from Celina, Ohio was also seen (although text was cut off in that iteration), before the footage skipped to 2021 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Celina, Ohio footage was also seen in a trailer for The Purge published to YouTube in April 2013, without a visible year. Warren, Rhode Island was not in either clip, but another site indicated it might be in the film itself.A The Purge trailer analysis blogged in January 2014 mentioned Celina, Ohio and Warren, Rhode Island as it described the clips. A year for the Celina, Ohio footage was described (2015), as well as Warren, RI (2016):After all the change and disruption the next scene that appear is of cctv camera clips where you can see individuals being beaten and murder[ed] by others.03.22.2013-PURGE FEED, HOUSTON, TX; AM 04:42:0903.21.2014-PURGE FEED, JACKSONVILLE, FL; AM 07:44:0503.22.2015-PURGE FEED, CELINA, OH; AM 04:31:35Looking at the different clips it showed that with the dates and information shown at the bottom that whatever was taking place was clearly an annual thing as the dates went up a year. After viewing the cctv another black background appears with the same white styled text with the message “All crime is legal” which also jumps all over the screen like the following message. Another cctv footage appears;03.21.2014-PURGE FEED, SIOUX FALLS, SO, CAM 1; PM 20:53:04[…]Again we then view another set of cctv footage of a guy being beaten to death, followed by crane view of fires over roads and gangs in hoodies and then a huge house fire with a camera view from the front;PURGE FEED- 03.21 2016, WARREN, RI, PM 09:25:30:14PURGE FEED, 03.21.2016, PROVO, UT, PM 08:35:15PRUGE FEED, 03.21.2016, SALEM, CR, PM 23:29:23Having a variety of different footages from different times and different states of America also informs the audience it happens all over the country between the 21st March at 7pm and 22nd March 7am (12 hours).Although the “purge feed” on March 21 2020 in Celina, Ohio was seen in the 2013 film, there was an important element of context was left out of the viral posts — and anyone watching the film would have noticed the context. In 2013’s The Purge, the film opens with several years of footage leading up to the year 2022. The purges in the film franchise started in 2017, and footage from 2017 through 2021 (setting it up for 2022’s purge) bookended the three March 21 and 22 2020 “Purge feed” clips. On social media, the clips were shared to suggest that the film had “predicted” the date more accurately than it actually did.It is true that The Purge‘s titular purges occurred on March 21 and 22 2020, but that was just one of five years shown in the film. Celina, Ohio’s “purge feed” can be seen above in a longer montage, where various cities and various years are shown to provide background for the fictional film. A 2014 trailer analysis indicated the respective March 21 and 22 years for Celina, Ohio and Warren, Rhode Island were 2015 and 2016 respectively — not 2020.
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4938
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Pollution fears: Swollen rivers swamp ash dumps, hog farms.
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Flooded rivers from Florence’s drenching rains have swamped coal ash dumps and low-lying hog farms, raising pollution concerns as the swollen waterways approach their crests Monday.
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true
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Floods, North Carolina, Wilmington, North America, Environment, AP Top News, Hurricanes, U.S. News, Pollution
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North Carolina environmental regulators say several open-air manure pits at hog farms have failed, spilling pollution. State officials also were monitoring the breach of a Duke Energy coal ash landfill near Wilmington. Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan said Monday that the earthen dam at one hog lagoon in Duplin County had been breached. There were also seven reports of lagoon levels going over their tops or being inundated in Jones and Pender counties. Regan said state investigators will visit the sites as conditions allow. The large pits at hog farms hold feces and urine from the animals to be sprayed on nearby fields. The Associated Press published photos of a hog farm outside Trenton on Sunday with long metal buildings ringed by dark water. Satellite photos of the same farm taken before the storm show the location of a hog waste pit completely submerged under floodwaters in the AP photos. The N.C. Pork Council, an industry trade group, emphasized Monday that the hog waste pits flooded by Florence represented a comparatively small number when compared with the total number statewide. “While there are more than 3,000 active lagoons in the state that have been unaffected by the storm, we remain concerned about the potential impact of these record-shattering floods,” the pork council’s statement said. An AP analysis of location data from hog waste disposal permits shows at least 45 active North Carolina farms are located in 100-year and 500-year floodplains.ook Federal forecasters predicted several rivers would crest at record or near-record levels by Monday, and high water could linger for days. Duke Energy said the flow was stopped Monday from the weekend collapse a coal ash landfill at the L.V. Sutton Power Station near Wilmington, North Carolina, and that cleanup work had begun. Duke spokeswoman Paige Sheehan said a full assessment of how much ash escaped from the water-slogged landfill is ongoing. The company initially estimated Saturday that about 2,000 cubic yards (1,530 cubic meters) of ash were displaced, enough to fill about 180 dump trucks. The coal-fired Sutton plant was retired in 2013 and replaced with a new facility that burns natural gas. The company has been excavating millions of tons of leftover ash from old waste pits at the site and removing it to a new lined landfill constructed on the property. The gray ash left behind when coal is burned contains toxic heavy metals, including arsenic, lead and mercury. Photos from the site provided to AP by Cape Fear River Watch, an environmental advocacy group, show cascades of gray-colored water spilling from at least two breaches at the landfill and flowing toward Sutton Lake, the plant’s former cooling pond which is now used for public recreation, including fishing and boating. Sutton Lake drains into the Cape Fear River. Sheehan said Duke’s assessment is that there was minimal chance any contaminants from the spill had reached the river. At a different power plant near Goldsboro, three old coal ash dumps capped with soil were inundated by the Neuse River. Duke said they had no indication that those dumps at the H.F. Lee Power Plant were leaking ash into the river. Duke’s handling of ash waste has faced intense scrutiny since a drainage pipe collapsed under a waste pit at an old plant in Eden in 2014, triggering a massive spill that coated 70 miles (110 kilometers) of the Dan River in gray sludge. The utility later agreed to plead guilty to nine Clean Water Act violations and pay $102 million in fines and restitution for illegally discharging pollution from ash dumps at five North Carolina power plants. It plans to close all its ash dumps by 2029. Environmentalists have warned for decades that Duke’s coal ash ponds were vulnerable to severe storms, potentially threatening drinking water supplies and public safety. “Duke Energy should learn its lesson from this latest coal ash failure, and pledge today that it will remove all its coal ash from dangerous unlined riverfront pits,” said Frank Holleman, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “If Duke Energy’s newly-designed and built landfill cannot withstand flood waters, there is even more reason to fear Duke Energy’s continued disposal of coal ash in unlined riverfront pits.” ___ Associated Press investigative reporter Michael Biesecker reported from Washington. Data journalist Angeliki Kastanis contributed to this report from Los Angeles. ___ Follow Biesecker at http://twitter.com/mbieseck
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29316
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A photograph shows two men standing on a road in front of a tornado in Oklahoma in 1898.
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A centuries-old photograph purportedly showing a tornado in Oklahoma is actually an early example of composite photography.
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false
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Fauxtography, fake photos, fauxtography, oklahoma
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In May 1898, a tornado touched down in Waynoka, Oklahoma. At the time, a photograph purportedly showing two men on a road watching the twister was published in contemporary newspapers such as Philadelphia Press. Many years later, the image reappeared and made the usual viral rounds on social media, now bearing claims that it was one of the first photographs ever taken of a tornado: The story behind this image actually starts with yet another photograph. A man (only identified as a “Mr. Connor”) sent the Monthly Weather Review an image purportedly showing the tornado. The editors of the weather journal, who were growing accustomed to fans sending in photographic fakes, were skeptical about the authenticity of the image and decided to file it away rather than publish it: We have watched with interest and curiosity the efforts of some manipulators of the camera to reproduce the phenomena of nature in all her varying moods. There can be no particular fault found with the enterprise of the photographer, be he amateur or professional, who sallies forth at high noon, or soon thereafter, and under the friendly shadow of an accommodating cloud makes moonlight views by the score. We confess, too, that we can pass into the waste basket without hesitation the many poor attempts to fabricate the funnel cloud of a tornado. We received one such not very long ago from Mr. Connor. It was better than the average, and instead of going into the trash basket it went into a convenient drawer. The Monthly Weather Review received another curious photograph shortly after a tornado hit Kirksville, Missouri on 27 April 1899, this one from a “Mr. Gosewisch”. Although this photograph featured two men on a road and was attached to a different date and location, it featured the same twister: Now we are glad that we kept it, for along comes a photograph kindly sent us by Mr. Gosewisch, of the tornado cloud that brought death and destruction to so many homes in Kirksville, Mo., on April 27, 1899. We thought we had seen that tornado cloud before, and the more we looked at it the more certain we were that we had met an old friend. When we first saw it our funnel cloud was stirring up the dust and incidentally frightening the inhabitants of Waynoka, in far-off Oklahoma, and this was more than a.year ago. The scene has now changed to a quiet road in Missouri across which our Oklahoma tornado cloud appears to be crossing, while a couple of artistic Rubens watch its progress in wonder and amazement. The job is well done. There is no particular fault to be found either with the conception or the execution, but it pains us to think that people will take such liberties with the business end of a tornado. Only to think, “It was taken at 100 yards.” We sincerely hope that the pioneer who “took it at 100 yards” will some day meet a real robust tornado. The images — as stated by the Monthly Weather Review — are composites, originally created by photographer North Losey. Losey was a frontier photographer who captured images of Native Americans, presidents, and daily life throughout the Midwest. Losey held various photography patents, and ended up gaining some notoriety in the early 1800s for superimposing tornadoes into various rural settings. We found several similar images (most likely created by Losey) via the American Museum of Natural History and the Library of Congress: (We flipped the photograph shown in the top left in this image to better match the position of the other twisters.) While it is clear that many of these images are composites, as they all feature identical funnels supposedly taken at different times and locations, were they all based on a photograph of a real tornado? The Library of Congress examined a scan of “Oklahoma Cyclone (no.2)” — pictured at the bottom right — and told us that the tornado appeared edited or possibly faked: The scan we have online was made quite some time ago from a copy negative so the quality isn’t as good as current scans. Looking at the actual photo here, it appears there was some editing done where the tornado touches the cloud. There’s also a line towards the top of the photo which could be the edge of the glass if he faked it. I can’t say for certain it was faked, but I would believe it someone else had proof. A.J. Henry of the Weather Bureau proposed two theories in a 1 May 1899 article (with the pointed title “Spurious Tornado Photographs”) about the authenticity of the photographs. The first dealt with the bulbous clouds, which Henry believed to be genuine, although taken from a less ominous event (such as a sunset). The second theory dealt with the twister itself, which Henry believed was hand-drawn onto a piece of glass that was then placed over a landscape negative and photographed: It is possible that the Waynoka picture was made by superposing a tornadic funnel upon a beautiful photograph of sunset clouds and landscape. The Kirksville picture retains the funnel and clouds of the Waynoka picture, but substitutes a view of a road and its Osage hedges, such as might occur in Missouri. But where did the original funnel come from? It is evidently not a photograph from nature of a genuine tornado funnel. It has every appearance of having been drawn in india ink on glass and then photographed by printing upon the landscape negative. The retouching of original negatives so as to convert a portrait from nature into a beautiful work of art is carried on in great perfection by modern artists, but any application of this art to photographs that are to be used for scientific purposes does more harm than good. Professor Henry ended the piece with a piece of prescient wisdom: We shall doubtless see the Waynoka clouds and funnel reproduced again, at no distant date, in connection with some other dreadful disaster. The argument seems to be: “If there was a disaster, it must have been a tornado; if a tornado, it must have had a funnel; if a funnel, there must be a picture; this is a photograph, therefore it will do.” The Monthly Weather Journal could not have been more right, as evidenced by a plethora of fake or miscaptioned photographs of water spouts, hurricanes, storm clouds, and, of course, tornadoes. Although many of today’s hoaxes are created in an effort to do nothing more than deceive, that may not have been North Losey’s goal. Relatively few people had witnessed an actual tornado in the late 1800s, and those who had not had to rely largely on sketches or textual descriptions of what they were like. Photographers at the time were not equipped to capture clear images of these extreme storms, and so they often augmented their photographs to make the story they told more appealing to the public: In the late 1800s, meteorology was still in its infancy. In 1883, the government had banned the word “tornado” from official forecasts because they were concerned the word would cause widespread panic. Historically, the only extreme weather images were from eyewitness sketches. Very few Americans had actually seen a tornado until the 1880s, when photographers released the earliest known tornado photographs. Photographic evidence provided experts with valuable insight and proved fascinating to a public more familiar with legend than science. […] “In the last couple of years, with the proliferation of cameras, it just became easier to go out after a storm,” Mark Fox, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service told the Huffington Post. In the late 1800s, early photographers relied on cumbersome box cameras, with exposure times ranging from two to ten minutes or more, to capture tornadoes. The first two known photographs of twisters emerged in 1884 — one in South Dakota and another in Kansas. According to the New York Times, the following image is often considered the first photograph of a tornado. It was retouched and then sold as a postcard:
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8496
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World's biggest water fight cancelled as Thailand combats coronavirus.
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Thais will have to find another way to cool off this year after the government called off the annual water festival that celebrates the Buddhist New Year to curb the outbreak of the new coronavirus.
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true
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Health News
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Thailand usually celebrates its traditional new year or Songkran from April 13 to 15, when crowds pack the streets in a boisterous festival, spraying water guns and hurling water off pick-up trucks in a free-for-all water fight. Thailand has reported 2,579 confirmed cases and 40 fatalities since the outbreak began in January, with over half the cases in Bangkok, a spokesman of the government’s Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration, Taweesin Wisanuyothin said on Monday. Forty-year-old Ratikorn Cheunsuksombook lamented being unable to celebrate the water festival. “I have to stay home, can’t go anywhere. I want to see my friends, but none of them want to see me,” the office worker said. Last week, the government announced a ban on the sale of alcohol to limit social gatherings and urged the public to refrain from Songkran activities, travelling back to home towns and pouring water for blessings with older family members. Malls in Bangkok have been ordered to close except for restaurants for delivery and a nationwide curfew from 10 PM to 4 AM has been instated. The unusual calm has left some feeling dazed. “It feels strange,” said Srisopa Phogphun. “It feels like it is supposed to be a long weekend, even if it is postponed to later in the year, but it does not feel the same,” she said. Other Southeast Asian governments have also cancelled or scaled back celebrations More than 1.8 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 113,849 have died, according to a Reuters tally, as of 0200 GMT.
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3966
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Elanco becomes 2nd largest animal health co after $7.6B deal.
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Elanco Animal Health will spend $7.6 billion to acquire Bayer AG’s veterinary medicines business, which would make it the second-largest animal health company.
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true
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Indianapolis, Health, General News, Animal health, Business, Indiana
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Elanco said Tuesday that it will pay $5.3 billion, or about 70% of the total price, in cash and the rest in stock. The deal would mean that half of Elanco’s overall business would be in the lucrative pet products market. The other half would be generated by livestock related sales. Company shares fell nearly 4% in early morning trading. Elanco was spun off from the Indianapolis drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co. The company makes antibiotics and feed additives for livestock and flea and heartworm treatments for pets. The acquisition will expand Elanco e-commerce sales for pets, a hot corner of the market. This summer, the online pet food company Chewy went public and shares soared about 60% on the first day, driving its market value to $14 billion. Its shares have moderated somewhat since. Germany’s Bayer is divesting several of its businesses to lower debt after spending $63 billion last year to acquire Monsanto. It also faces thousands of lawsuits claiming that the Roundup weed killer made by its new subsidiary causes cancer. Bayer says studies have established that Roundup’s active ingredient is safe. The companies expect the deal to close by the middle of next year, subject to approval by antitrust authorities. Elanco, headquartered in Greenfield, Indiana, has 5,800 employees and is active in more than 90 countries. Company shares slipped $1.12 to $28.65 in premarket trading Tuesday. The stock had already fallen more than 5% so far this year.
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10619
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‘Breakthrough’ melanoma drug shrinks tumors, may prolong life*
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"Clearly, in the big picture, we liked this story. It addressed most of our criteria. Our negative comments are about structure not the reporting. We found the story online. We didn’t see the print version. The sidebar could have been easily missed. (In fact, we’ve been criticized by various USA Today staffers in the past for missing sidebars entirely when we do our reviews. Online, at least, we think that’s sometimes an easy miss.) But here’s why that’s troubling in this case. The main text focuses almost exclusively on the ""breakthrough"" nature of the findings and speculates about how the new drug being studied might be used with other therapies to offer ""rare hope"" to patients with advanced melanoma. Critical details and caveats, however, are relegated to the ""Questions and Answers"" sidebar. One of our reviewers wrote that this story reminded him of one of those cell phone offers that has a great monthly rate but wallops you with fees in the fine print. We don’t mean to suggest that this story is intentionally misleading, but when the headline proclaims ""breakthrough"" and claims that the treatment ""may prolong life"" on the basis of a phase 1 study, we think that’s irresponsible. And the story’s structure further clouds the overall picture by playing up the benefits and making the caveats seem like an afterthought. The reporting was solid – if you happened to catch all of it – presumably, as we acknowledge, a bigger issue online than in print. * Update added August 30: We’ve been advised that now neither the online nor print versions of the story use the phrase ""may prolong life."" We’re told that USA Today’s online producers (not the actual copy desk) briefly used that headline. But the copy desk was told that this was wrong — and that it was explicitly contradicted by the actual story. The newspaper’s print headline was always correct, and the online versions were corrected very quickly. Our reviewers read the earlier online headline. We think it’s important to share this information with readers. Many hands in many different parts of a news organization may touch and impact a story. This is how good things can go bad – and then go good again."
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true
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"This was the only one of the three competing stories we reviewed which mentioned costs. While an accurate estimate of the new drug’s costs can’t be provided at this early stage of development, the story tells us that other new cancer therapies cost $5,000 to $7,000 a month. If more stories even attempted this kind of ballpark estimate, we wouldn’t have to report that 70% of stories are ruled unsatisfactory on this criterion. Since we already dinged this story for being insufficiently cautious in its evaluation of the evidence (a criticism that might also apply here), we’ll award a satisfactory here to recognize its generally good reporting of the numbers. It notes early on that the findings are applicable only in the estimated 50% of advanced melanoma patients with a specific gene mutation. And it provides the absolute number of patients who responded to therapy and compares this with the responses typically seen with other drugs. Again, we wish the story had specified the limitations of a small, uncontrolled study that assessed an outcome (tumor shrinkage) that might not reflect longer life or better quality of life. A decent effort here that ultimately did not meet our standard. The story notes that the side effect profile of the drug is relatively benign compared to chemo and lists common adverse events associated with the drug such as rashes and joint pain. It added a clarifying comment from an expert who said that even these ""mild"" side effects can become bothersome over time–a nice touch. Still, we think it’s unsatisfactory that the story made no attempt to quantify these harms, especially the sharp increase in squamous-cell carcinoma associated with the treatment. In our view, any treatment that increases risk of cancer — even a highly treatable cancer — has to be viewed very cautiously. The squamous cell cancers are called ""non-lethal"" but we don’t know how the treatment itself could modify their behavior and it is conceivable they could be more aggressive or difficult to treat. In addition, could the drug also promote other cancers that aren’t showing up in this very small sample of patients? Perhaps this story’s sidebar should have answered the questions: ""What is a Phase 1 clinical trial designed to evaluate"" and ""What are the different types of cancer clinical trials?"" This story and its competitors seem a bit confused on this point. Although the story does a reasonable job of summarizing the details of the research and the outcomes the study authors reported, it got swept up a bit in the excitement surrounding the new study and failed to address some key issues. Most notably, the story did not call attention to the fact that this small, uncontrolled study cannot tell us whether the new drug improves overall patient survival compared with standard care. So the headline’s suggestion that the drug ""may prolong survival"" seems quite premature. The story makes much of the fact that tumors shrank and were ""kept in check"" by the new drug, but tumor shrinkage does not always translate to longer life in cancer studies. Another issue not explicitly addressed is that most patients’ cancers developed resistance to the drug and eventually resumed growing. Although the story does state that the drug is ""not a cure for melanoma,"" we think the story should have included some direct comment on the fact that the drug’s effects, for now, appear to be short-lived for many patients. This story did not exaggerate the consequences of advanced melanoma. A borderline satisfactory. While the sidebar notes that the study was funded by drug developer Roche, we wish it had commented a bit more on the extensive links between the study authors–several of whom are quoted in the story–and the drug industry. Notably, lead author Keith Flaherty reported receiving consulting fees from Roche, and several of the study coauthors were employees of Roche or its partner, Plexxikon. This story did include comments from two experts who were not affiliated with the study. The story discusses the ineffectiveness of currently approved treatments for advanced melanoma and mentions another experimental drug that has shown encouraging results in investigational studies. The story calls the new drug experimental but notes that there are trials recruiting advanced melanoma patients where treatment with the drug might be available. However, it could have cautioned that many patients are deemed ineligible for these trials as the inclusion and exclusion criteria are often very strict. The story also notes that Roche plans to apply for approval of the drug in 2011 ""if additional studies are positive."" We wish the story had included a caveat about the many obstacles that might affect this timeline. A close one here, but we’ll err on the side of generosity since the story provided more information than competitors. While the results do appear to herald a potentially important advance in melanoma treatment, we think it’s too early to conclude that this therapy is ""the most important breakthrough in melanoma, ever,"" as one researcher affiliated with the study breathlessly put it. This enthusiasm might have been acceptable had some more cautious voices been included to balance things out. This story was clearly not based on a news release."
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3533
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Second Illinois residents dies of vaping-related lung damage.
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The Illinois Department of Public Health is reporting a second state resident has died after being hospitalized for a vaping-related lung injury.
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true
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Patient privacy, Health, Injuries, Vaping, Illinois, Public health
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The department on Thursday refused to give the patient’s identity, age or where they died, citing patient privacy concerns. Illinois’ health department in August reported the nation’s first death related to vaping. According to the department, 153 people in Illinois, ranging in age from 13 to 66 years old, with a median age of 22, have experienced lung injuries after using e-cigarettes or vaping. Another 41 cases of vaping related illnesses are being investigated. Health department director Dr. Ngozi Ezike says the illnesses are serious and concerning and new cases are reported daily. The department reports more than 80% of the cases in Illinois have recently used tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-containing products. They note the products were primarily obtained from friends or on the street.
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8971
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Preliminary Data from Study Demonstrates 94% Accuracy in Detecting Aggressive Prostate Cancer
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This news release is about a blood test intended to more specifically define a man’s likelihood of having a high-grade prostate cancer tumor. It alerts readers several times to the preliminary nature of the small “proof of concept” study. However, highlighting a “94% accuracy” in the headline and lead paragraph is unjustified. The release does not mention cost, nor does it adequately discuss potential benefits or harms. The release implies that this test offers something unique, but it fails to tell readers that other blood tests are much farther along in the research process. “Preliminary,” “proof of concept” and references to the need to confirm and expand the findings of a study all point out how much more work needs to be done in order to find out if this experimental blood test might offer anything of value. Putting a number on the “accuracy” of the test, especially without defining or explaining details of the assessment, implies a level of certainty that does not exist. It is well known that the PSA test for prostate cancer screening isn’t very reliable. There are several efforts underway to develop improved tests. The biggest problem is that the PSA test isn’t very specific — meaning that a man with an abnormal test result may not have cancer. That is termed a “false positive” test. Even among those with an abnormal PSA test who are diagnosed with cancer, many of these cancers (some experts suggest up to 40%) may be so small or otherwise innocuous that they really should be left alone. Can a new test be developed that identifies cancers that need to be treated more accurately than the currently available tests? As presented, a reader may surmise that this new test looks promising, but for a number of reasons it may be “too good to be true.” First, we don’t know very much about the men studied, but often patients in such initial studies are more likely to have prostate cancers that need treatment. When later the test is applied to a larger, more diverse population, the test may not perform as well. Moreover, the definition of what is a cancer that requires treatment is not clearly stated in this release. We know that the referenced Gleason score which is based upon the biopsy specimen isn’t perfect either and we’re not sure what criteria was used in this study. Finally, any new test that cuts down on false positive results is likely to lead to missing some cancers that really do need treatment. These are termed false negative test results.
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false
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cancer screening,prostate cancer,VolitionRx
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Although this blood test is still experimental, the company must have some idea about how much it thinks it will charge if it ever gets into clinical use. Another way the release could have addressed cost, absent an estimated cost for this test, would be to comment on the cost of a PSA, other similar blood tests this company has developed for other conditions, or even the cost of a biopsy that in theory could be avoided. It’s impossible to judge the potential benefits because basic information is missing. For example, the release does not define what it means by “high-grade” prostate cancer. It says it used the Gleason Score, but not what cutoff the company used in this analysis. Did they consider a Gleason score of 7 to be high-grade? Without such specifics, it is impossible to interpret the meaning of “94% accuracy.” The release states: “At 88% specificity, the Volition panel of five assays (including PSA) identified 94% of high-grade prostate cancers that require treatment (as defined by Gleason Score1). This compares with just 33% identified by Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) alone.” There are problems with this data on several levels. First, they refer to the 94% as accuracy. But the description implies something else. The 94% refers to what sounds like the sensitivity of the test, not its accuracy. Sensitivity is the number of true cancers (a gold standard defined based upon the biopsy result showing a “high-grade” cancer) picked up by the test. So the 94% implies sensitivity or that 6% of patients with true cancers were missed by this new test. What is confusing is that this is compared to a 33% accuracy of the PSA test. And here also the new test is stated to have a specificity of 88%. So we’re left wondering if the 33% refers to the PSA’s specificity, and not the accuracy. If it’s not clear to us, it may not be clear to lay readers either. For more explanation on sensitivity and specificity see our toolkit article on the topic. There is no discussion of harms. How might the false positive rate compare with current practice? Even if, as the company hopes, this blood test might reduce the total number of men sent to have biopsies who turn out to have low-grade tumors, could this test send some men to biopsy who would not have been subjected to it based on current practice? On the other hand, what is the false negative risk; that is, the chance that identification of a high-grade tumor might be delayed because a man was not referred for a biopsy based on the results of this blood test? The quality of the evidence is insufficient. There is inadequate description of who these patients are. Many times by identifying and focusing on higher risk patients in a trial, the test will look better than when applied to a broader range of patients in routine practice. We give the release some credit for calling attention to the preliminary nature of this research. However, since this is a small study and preliminary, highlighting a “94% accuracy” in the headline and lead paragraph overstates the evidence… especially since no information is provided about the range of the confidence interval around that number. There is really no way to say how accurate this test might be, based on the information in this release and the description of the study, so it would have been better to just leave out the accuracy claim. It’s nice to see a prostate cancer release that notes, “most men with elevated PSA levels referred for prostate biopsy either have no cancer or have low-grade cancer which needs monitoring but not treatment.” Although it is clear that this study is funded by a company hoping to market a new blood test and that most of the quotes come from company employees, the release should have explained the relationship between the company and the principal investigator. Did the company just provide funding for the study? Were there direct payments to the researchers, including consulting or lecturing fees outside of the study budget? What was the role of the company in designing the study and reporting the results? The release directly compares this experimental blood test to current practice employing the PSA blood test, but there aren’t enough details about how the comparison was made for readers to get a sense of whether the claim of superiority has a reasonable basis. There is no justification for stating it is 94% accurate compared to PSA testing being 33% accurate at identifying high-grade tumors at this preliminary stage. It is well known that the PSA is not a very accurate screening test. There are other attempts to improve upon it., including using MRIs to determine whether someone has a lesion that corresponds to the elevated PSA or not. The release makes clear that this blood test is experimental and one can safely assume it is not yet available. Based on what is provided in the news release (we could not find any published or unpublished studies) this appears to be a new approach to screening for prostate cancer. The release highlights the test’s “94% accuracy” in the headline and text but only after reading the entire release does it become clear that this is very preliminary work, and the claim is unjustified.
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10192
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Eylea outperforms Avastin for diabetic macular edema with moderate or worse vision loss
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Results from a two-year comparative effectiveness randomized clinical trial are summarized in this news release from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The trial compared aflibercept (marketed as Eylea), bevacizumab (Avastin) and ranibizumab (Lucentis) in the treatment of 660 people with vision loss caused by diabetic macular edema (DME). The trial found that all three commonly prescribed drugs were effective in treating DME but that among patients with 20/50 vision or worse, Eylea led to better outcomes than Avastin. In patients with 20/32 or 20/40 vision at the start of treatment, all three drugs were equally effective. Fewer of the patients receiving Eylea needed corrective laser treatment to meet a visual acuity of 20/40, which is necessary to pass a driving exam (41% versus 64% for those getting Avastin and 52% who received Lucentis). The release is an exemplary presentation of an important study. It provides detailed cost information, presents benefits in terms that are meaningful to readers, and pays considerable attention to the potential harms of these treatments. The only area that we found Not Satisfactory was the discussion of novelty: we felt that the release could have done even more to explain just how uncommon this type of study is and why it’s newsworthy. Patients with diabetes are at risk of developing DME, a consequence of diabetic retinopathy. It causes swelling in an area of the retina called the macula due to fluid build-up. Diabetic retinopathy is responsible for an estimated 12,000 to 24,000 new cases of blindness in the United States each year. The reason this particular trial matters is that it compares three existing drug treatments for DME which vary significantly in cost. The difference in cost for these medicines has been a huge issue in ophthalmology. Comparative effectiveness trials are desirable and necessary in a system that seeks to contain health care costs.
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true
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diabetes,Government agency news release,Health care costs
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The release states that based on Medicare allowable charges, each injection of Eylea costs $1,850, Lucentis is $1,200 per injection and Avastin is $60 per injection. Patients received nine monthly injections, on average. This is good detail, although total costs of all treatments (medication plus laser) would have been even more helpful. The release states the general benefits over time for each group assigned to one of three drugs and gives some specifics about the improvements seen. Among participants with 20/50 or worse vision at the trial’s start, visual acuity on average improved substantially in all three groups. At two years, Eylea participants were able to read about 3.5 additional lines on an eye chart; Lucentis participants were able to read about three additional lines, and Avastin participants improved about 2.5 lines. The release also does a pretty good job of quantifying how many people in each group needed laser surgery. By two years, 41 percent of participants in the Eylea group received laser treatment to treat their macular edema, compared with 64 percent of participants in the Avastin group and 52 percent in the Lucentis group. The release notes that “The risk of heart attack, stroke, or death from a cardiovascular condition or an unknown cause by the end of the trial was higher among patients in the Lucentis group. Twelve percent of Lucentis participants had at least one event, compared with five percent of the participants in the Eylea group and eight percent of the participants in the Avantis group.” This is useful information. The release also points out that more study is needed to determine if these treatments affect the rate of heart problems or if this observation was due to chance. The release is very thorough in describing the format of the trial, the volunteer population and how they were selected, how long the trial lasted, and the different drug formulations. One significant concern is that the trial was not blinded, and this could introduce bias as there are some strong opinions among ophthalmologists on this issue. The release did not comment on this. In addition, the time trends could have been discussed more, as the differences narrowed over time and might have continued to decrease with additional follow-up. But the discussion of evidence overall is Satisfactory. The release does not engage in disease mongering. The release clearly spells out that the trial was funded by the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. It further states that two drug companies provided their drugs for the trial. Corrective laser surgery is named as the alternative therapy to drugs. The release notes that all three drugs compared are available and in use. It could have noted that payers may not cover them all. The release missed an opportunity to explain why this kind of research is new and important. Without studies that compare the effectiveness of existing treatments, doctors and patients have incomplete information about which treatments work best and which ones deliver the most value. Such studies are uncommon but much needed. No unjustifiable language here.
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8486
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Singapore about-turns on masks, making them compulsory in virus fight.
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Singapore made it mandatory to wear masks in public from Tuesday to prevent the further spread of the new coronavirus, a turnaround from authorities’ initial advice as evidence grows that undetected cases may be more prevalent than thought.
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true
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Health News
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When the virus broke out in the city-state nearly three months ago, officials told locals to wear masks only if they were sick, to avoid transmitting the infection. But in the last few days, authorities have started advising the use of masks and made them compulsory in certain places like public transport. “The minute you leave your house, you have to wear a mask when you go out,” Lawrence Wong, a minister who co-heads Singapore’s virus fighting task-force, said on Tuesday. He cited potential undetected cases and the risk of the virus being spread by people who do not show any symptoms. First-time offenders caught without a mask will be fined S$300 ($212). Exceptions will be made for children with special needs or aged under two as well as for individuals engaging in strenuous exercise outdoors. The government has distributed reusable masks to households, while conserving surgical masks for healthcare workers. Authorities confirmed 334 more coronavirus cases on Tuesday, mostly linked to outbreaks in migrant workers’ dormitories, taking its tally to 3,252. Singapore is in a partial lockdown to control the spread of the coronavirus, with schools and most workplaces closed for a month from last week to try to control the spread of the virus. Essential services and some businesses are still allowed to operate although the government is looking to tighten further the list of companies permitted to work in order to minimise the movement of people.
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8423
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Explainer: Why are some South Koreans who recovered from the coronavirus testing positive again?.
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South Korean health officials are investigating several possible explanations for a small but growing number of recovered coronavirus patients who later test positive for the virus again.
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true
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Health News
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Among the main possibilities are re-infection, a relapse, or inconsistent tests, experts say. South Korea had reported 141 such cases as of Thursday, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). RE-INFECTION OR RELAPSE? Although re-infection would be the most concerning scenario because of its implications for developing immunity in a population, both the KCDC and many experts say this is unlikely. Instead, the KCDC says it is leaning toward some kind of relapse or “re-activation” in the virus. A relapse could mean that parts of the virus go into some kind of dormant state for a time, or that some patients may have certain conditions or weak immunity that makes them susceptible to the virus reviving in their system, experts said. A recent study by doctors in China and the United States suggested the new coronavirus can damage T lymphocytes, also known as T cells, which play a central role the body’s immune system and ability to battle infections. Kim Jeong-ki, a virologist at the Korea University College of Pharmacy, compared a relapse after treatment to a spring that snaps back after being pressed down. “When you press down a spring it becomes smaller, then when you take your hands off, the spring pops up,” he said. Even if the patients are found to have relapsed rather than to have been re-infected, it could signal new challenges for containing the spread of the virus. “South Korean health authorities still haven’t found cases where the ‘reactivated’ patients spread the virus to third parties, but if such infectiousness is proven, that would be a huge problem,” said Seol Dai-wu, an expert in vaccine development and a professor at Chung-Ang University. Patients in South Korea are considered clear of the virus when they have tested negative twice in a 48-hour period. While the RT-PCR tests used in South Korea are considered generally accurate, experts said that there are ways they could return false or inconsistent results for a small number of cases. “RT-PCR tests boast an accuracy of 95%. This means that there still can be 2-5% of those cases that are detected false negative or false positive cases,” Kim said. Remnants of the virus could remain at levels too low to be detected by a given test, Seol said. On the other hand, the tests may also be so sensitive that they are picking up small, potentially harmless levels of the virus, leading to new positive results even though the person has recovered, Kwon Jun-wook, deputy director of KCDC said at a briefing on Tuesday. The tests could also be compromised if the necessary samples are not collected properly, said Eom Joong-sik, professor of infectious diseases at Gachon University Gil Medical Centre. (This story adds missing words in paragraph 5)
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7881
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Ford, GE to produce 50,000 ventilators in 100 days.
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Ford Motor Co said on Monday it will produce 50,000 ventilators over the next 100 days at a plant in Michigan in cooperation with General Electric’s healthcare unit, and can then build 30,000 per month as needed to treat patients afflicted with the coronavirus.
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true
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Health News
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Ford said the simplified ventilator design, which is licensed by GE Healthcare from Florida-based Airon Corp and has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, can meet the needs of most COVID-19 patients and relies on air pressure without the need for electricity. Officials in states hard hit by the pandemic have pleaded with the Trump administration and manufacturers to speed up production of ventilators to cope with a surge in patients struggling to breathe. Hospitals in New York already are using one ventilator to sustain two patients. New Orleans has a fraction of the ventilators it needs for a surge of COVID-19 patients, Louisiana officials said. On Friday, President Donald Trump said he would invoke powers under the Defense Production Act to direct manufacturers, including Ford and General Motors Co, to produce ventilators. On Monday, the head of the United Auto Workers and other officials compared the auto industry’s effort to build ventilators to Detroit’s conversion to bomber production during the World War Two. Ford said it plans to begin production of ventilators at a plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan, deploying 500 United Auto Workers employees. It said it plans to start production at the facility the week of April 20. That is roughly when New York officials expect the peak of COVID-19 cases to hit their state. Ventilators built by Ford, GM and others could be used in other parts of the United States where the peak case loads are expected later. GM said Sunday it plans to produce up to 10,000 ventilators a month by this summer at a plant in Kokomo, Indiana. The Ypsilanti workers will be stationed at a safe distance apart and will be screened for symptoms of coronavirus infection before they enter the plant, Ford officials said. “We’re using and deploying a whole host of technologies to keep workers safe,” said Adrian Price, director of global manufacturing core engineering for Ford. The safety procedures will be adapted from work Ford and the UAW have been doing to prepare for the automaker to reopen other U.S. factories, Price said. Separately, GE and Ford engineers are working together to boost production at a GE plant in Madison, Wisconsin, of a GE ventilator, different from the model licensed from Airon. GE expects to double ventilator output from the Wisconsin plant during the second quarter, Tom Westrick, GE Healthcare’s vice president for quality, said during a call with reporters on Monday.
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23865
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"Of hospitals in Rick Scott’s Columbia/HCA health care company, ""A top executive said they even turned away a poor man and left him to die outside their door."
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Group's ad attacks Rick Scott over history as Columbia/HCA CEO
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false
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Health Care, Message Machine 2010, Florida, Florida First Initiative,
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"With his multi-millions and meteoric rise to frontrunner status in the Republican gubernatorial primary, former Columbia/HCA hospital CEO Rick Scott has become a formidable figure in Florida politics.Look no further than a new attack ad by Florida First Initiative that paints Scott as a ruthless moneyman whose success hinged on shunning the nation's poor, and in at least one incident, the near-dead. The shadow group, a 527 under federal tax code, has used rival Bill McCollum's name in its fundraising pitch and is unregistered in Florida.Attack ads generally try to undermine an opposing camp, and the rancor seeping from this ad campaign comes across as a screaming alarm bell. ""As CEO, Rick Scott profited from the largest Medicare fraud in American history,"" begins Refused, a 30-second spot that began airing June 12, 2010. ""His hospitals illegally refused emergency room patients who were poor. They turned away sick people... and pregnant women. ""The ad is set against a backdrop of images of seemingly frail elderly men and women and a harrowing score.The most shocking claim comes near the end of the ad: ""A top executive said they even turned away a poor man and left him to die outside their door."" The words, ""they even turned away a poor man and left him to die outside their door"" flash across the screen.The $616,282 TV ad buy is scheduled to air through Wednesday -- two days before the state election filing deadline.Scott's opponents have rarely missed the opportunity to point out his corporate troubles. Scott was CEO of Columbia/HCA in 1997 when federal agents made public an investigation into the company. Scott resigned that year. He notes that he was never indicted and says he was never questioned in the case. In a 2000 settlement, the company agreed to plead guilty to at least 14 corporate felonies, including three counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States, and pay a $1.7 billion fine. But the claim that a man died at one of the company's hospitals after being turned away was new to us. Could it be true? Federal records list Alachua County GOP Chairman Stafford Jones as the contact for Florida First Initiative. Reached by phone, he declined to answer questions and did not return a request for comment. The group's registered agent, Ken Cleary, hung up on a reporter when reached by phone. The ad attributes the allegation to an ABC News 20/20 interview from Sept. 26, 1997. We found no reference in the 20/20 transcript to ""they even turned away a poor man and left him to die outside their door."" We also searched a newspaper database and found no references to those exact words. The interview features Marc Gardner, a former Columbia administrator who went on a 1997 media blitz, including the appearance on 20/20, in a bid to secure a book deal about the hospital chain's alleged illegal dealings. Among his many allegations of wrongdoing, Gardner claimed the hospital and other facilities owned by Columbia/HCA limited treatment of uninsured patients. ""Columbia hospitals exist to make money -- period,"" he told the Wall Street Journal in 1997. Gardner pointed to several deaths tied to improper care at the hospitals, including a 1995 case involving Adolph Anguiano, a homeless man who was found dead outside the Las Vegas hospital -- where Gardner served as vice president -- hours after he was examined by an emergency room doctor. We couldn't reach Gardner for comment. Scott's campaign attributed the allegation to Gardner in an e-mail response to the ad. The campaign dismissed Gardner as a ""publicity hungry wannabe writer"" and insisted the hospital did not turn Anguiano away. Rather, he was evaluated and then discharged. The emergency room physician, Susan Meyer, was later suspended over the incident, Scott's campaign said.With Meyer's name, we tracked down court records that detail the July 1995 death.On the day he died, Anguiano was found unconscious on the lawn of a hotel and taken by ambulance to Columbia Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas. Meyer gave him a full physical, but decided against further tests, according to court records. Anguiano had not eaten in three days and had been drinking and smoking marijuana. He was given some juice and crackers, and hospital security escorted him out. He was found dead on the hospital grounds two hours later. Hospital officials said Meyer treated Anguiano for roughly seven minutes, which violated hospital rules, according to court records. Meyer was suspended. She sued the hospital and lost. The Nevada Supreme Court eventually concluded the hospital acted with the reasonable belief that it was furthering quality care. Hospital officials said they worried Anguiano's death might be seen as new evidence of ""patient dumping,"" or refusal to treat patients in need of emergency care, according to court records. Federal law prohibits emergency rooms from turning away patients because they don't have insurance. Columbia Sunrise had already been under investigation for denying care to uninsured patients after a homeless person passed out at a casino shortly after being released from the hospital in 1994, according to multiple news reports. Federal officials threatened to take away the hospital's Medicare contract until a second investigation a few weeks later found the hospital was providing emergency beds to the uninsured. Columbia Sunrise wasn't the only Columbia/HCA hospital hounded by reports of patient dumping. From 1988 to 1997, Columbia/HCA was fined at least $180,000 for alleged patient dumping violations at eight hospitals, according to news accounts. In all of those settlements, the company did not admit wrongdoing. Where does all that leave us? We know a former Columbia/HCA executive did complain about the company's alleged penchant for patient dumping. In several interviews, he discussed the death of Adolph Anguiano, a homeless man who was found on hospital property. Court records confirm Anguiano died outside a Columbia/HCA hospital and that the hospital was under scrutiny for mistreating poor patients. But Anguiano was not turned away, as the ad claims. He received some care before he was shown the door. Also, court records state Anguiano wasn't intentionally left to die.So while what happened to Anguiano is an ugly tale, it is not as ugly as the story portrayed in the attack ad."
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11398
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Kidney cancer drug gets FDA approval
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This story discusses FDA approval of a new drug, Nexavar, for the treatment of advanced kidney cancer. There is a claim that it is a “major advance” in the treatment of this type of cancer, but it does not cure cancer and there is no mention if overall survival is improved in patients who took this drug. Nexavar only shrinks cancer in 2%, so it really does not work that well for its intended purpose. There is little information about the study design and no discussion of how many patients received the drug or the stage of their kidney cancer at the time of enrollment in the study. The quantitative results are meaningless here as there is no mention of patient sample size or how a 30% tumor reduction translates into improved quality of life. There is no link between stabilization of cancer growth and improvement in quality of life. There is also no meaningful comparison with existing treatments and no long-term data on the side effects or safety of Nexavar compared to existing drug therapies. Discussion of which dimensions of quality of life are reportedly improved is lacking, as is a comparison of the quality of life of patients who choose not to take the drug. Given that 40% of Nexavar users experienced side effects, these are downplayed in the story. One of the side effects mentioned is diarrhea, which can potentially pose a serious problem for cancer patients. Since this drug is not a cure and does not extend life, the story should have pushed for further data on quality of life measures – an important end point in a study of advanced cancer patients.
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false
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No mention of cost and no cost comparison with existing treatments. The story allows an FDA scientist to call this a “major advance” in the treatment of this type of cancer, but the story doesn’t even mention if overall survival is improved in patients who took this drug. The quantitative results that are given are meaningless as there is no mention of patient sample size or how a 30% tumor reduction translates into improved quality of life. No quantitative comparison of side effects. There is no comparison with the side effects of existing drug treatments. No discussion of what constitutes “serious problems” and no discussion on how side effects may affect quality of life in these cancer patients. No mention of patient selection, randomization, number needed to treat and little on study design. 2% of how many patients saw reduced tumors? No mention of possible longer term outcomes, given the relatively brief study (only 6 months). Also, there is no mention of the study funding. How does a drug that only moderately shrinks a tumor improve quality of life in kidney cancer? A reduced tumor is still not a cure and there is no discussion of how patients’ quality of life is improved. Gives prevalence of kidney cancer. It does not say how many of these progress to advanced kidney cancer or at what stage Nexavar should be administered. No mention of funding source or if principal investigator who is quoted received funding from Bayer, the maker of Nexavar. Mentions other drugs, but does not give a comparison with other treatments in terms of effect on tumor size. The story says that Nexavar is easier on patients, but then says 40% of patients experience side effects. What is the quality of life comparison for those taking older drugs and those taking Nexavar (or Nexavar and no drug treatment)? Story focuses on FDA approval. Mentions it is a new drug for kidney cancer.
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Study: Civic engagement may stave off brain atrophy, improve memory
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This news release describes a small study that appears to show an increase in brain volume and improved memory among some low-income seniors who participated in a civic engagement program. We say “appears” because it’s debatable whether the study did, in fact, show any such benefits. In the results section of this study, the researchers acknowledge that their analysis of the full study sample “revealed no significant intervention effects” on brain volume. However, they highlight the findings of a “sex-stratified” analysis in the abstract that seems to indicate a benefit. But that positive result was found only in men, who comprise only about 28% of the subjects, or just 16 men in each group — a very tenuous base to support any claims of effectiveness. A plainer way to state the findings would be that there was no significant difference between the groups overall — a simple acknowledgment that we never receive in the study abstract or the news release. Instead, the release keeps the spin cycle going by suggesting that this intervention can help “reverse part of the aging process” and “improve memory.” But no memory test results are actually reported in the study to show that there was any “improvement.” The only results provided show a correlation between brain volume and memory performance — there’s nothing to show that that the intervention itself produced a change in this outcome compared with the control group. So again, there’s a disconnect between the actual study results and what’s getting reported to the media and news consumers. We’re all for exploring non-drug interventions that may help stave off dementia, and the Baltimore Experience Corps could possibly help do so through a combination of cognitive and social stimulation, as well as participation in purposeful, meaningful activity. (Who doesn’t love the idea of grandpas growing their brains by reading to schoolchildren!) But nobody is helped by studies that overstate the importance of their results or attempt to spin negative results as positive. Nor is it helpful for news releases to pass along such findings without providing some level of critical appraisal.
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mixture
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Baltimore Experience Corps,Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
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The program under study welcomes study participants as volunteers, so there is no “cost” to them. It is not a drug or device, but we still might encourage the next release to quantify the costs a bit better. Bare minimum Satisfactory for this mention: “Experience Corps is a national program, however it can be costly and isn’t available everywhere.” The description of benefits is certainly not as clear as it could be, and arguably represents an attempt to put a positive spin on a study showing no overall effect. As noted above, the release focuses almost entirely on results in men. It never acknowledges that there was no statistically significant difference between the intervention and control groups as a whole. Moreover, the headline’s suggestion that the intervention “improves memory” isn’t quantified or supported by evidence in the paper. The only results reported in the paper show a correlation between brain volume and memory — there’s no direct evidence that the intervention improved memory results. Due to the nature of the intervention – which was volunteering in a school setting – it’s difficult to imagine harms occurring. There was no mention of harms in the release, but we won’t penalize the release for that omission. In our view, the release overstates the study findings, and never warns readers about the limitations of the sex-stratified analysis involving less than a third of the overall study population. The release says brains in the study “maintained their size,” but that was not a statistically significant finding. (To be fair, this is merely an extension of an overstatement that exists in the conclusion of the original study being reported on.) The researchers obliquely allude to the “limited power” of their study, but suggest — with unjustified optimism, in our view — that the most likely effect of this limitation was “an underestimation of program benefits”. Highlighting the results in men might have been more acceptable if the authors were able to cite other data indicating activity-based sex-differences on brain effects, which they don’t, and which to our knowledge haven’t been shown. There was no disease-mongering in this report on cognitive decline. The release clearly lists the funding sources. While this study suggests that social activity (in a special program) may be nourishing to brain health, it does not compare or mention other research into possible methods for preserving brain mass and preventing cognitive decline. For instance, a healthy diet, exercise, not smoking, drug therapy, etc. We don’t believe that the availability of volunteering is an issue, but the story does note that this particular program — the Experience Corps — isn’t available everywhere. The study concept — a randomized controlled trial of a civic engagement program — is novel and builds upon findings from a smaller pilot study. However, the release doesn’t establish what is new or different about the study compared with previous research. The suggestion that this study demonstrates “reversing part of the aging process,” based on such a small subgroup of a small study, is an exaggeration.
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French coronavirus death toll hits new high as nursing home tally swells.
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The total number of deaths from the coronavirus in France reached a new high on Saturday as the government included more previously unreported deaths in nursing homes.
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true
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Health News
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The health ministry reported 441 new deaths from COVID-19 in the country’s hospitals on Saturday - less than the high of 588 reported on Friday - for a total hospital death tally of 5,532. For the third day in a row, the ministry also reported the cumulative tally of deaths in nursing homes since the start of the epidemic in early March, which were previously unreported. This added another 2,028 deaths to the national tally for a total death toll of 7,560, an increase of 1,053 on the cumulative figure reported on Friday. Previously unreported, nursing home deaths now make up nearly a third of total coronavirus deaths. “This pandemic is totally unprecedented. It is imperative that people respect confinement, now is not the time to ease up,” health ministry director Jerome Salomon said at a daily briefing. Salomon said that confirmed coronavirus infections in hospitals rose by another 4,267 cases to 68,605 - up 7% but slower than Friday’s 9%. But he also said that the number of “confirmed or possible” cases in nursing homes rose by 20% to 21,348. Salomon did not give a breakdown between confirmed and possible cases. Adding hospital and nursing home cases, France has a total of 89,953 confirmed or suspected cases. Epidemiologists say the case count is hard to compare to other countries as some have more extensive testing policies than France. Salomon said 28,143 people were in hospital with COVID-19 infection. That number showed a net 711 more admissions compared with the previous day after 2,111 people were discharged. A total of 6,838 serious coronavirus cases were in intensive care units, he said. In the past 24 hours, 502 new cases were admitted to intensive care - an increase of 3% - compared with 641 the previous day and 729 on Thursday. “This slowdown of the increase is good news but we want a decrease. We still have more patients coming into ICUs every day which means more pressure,” he said. Italy on Saturday reported that the number of patients in intensive care fell for the first time. Pressure was easing on the need to find new space in intensive case, Salomon said. This trend was due to more people leaving, and was an important indicator of how hospitals were coping and using available resources. “The number of people who have recovered is also increasing rapidly, because we have 15,438 people who have come out of hospital cured, and thousands of others who stayed confined at home and have also recovered,” Salomon said.
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Judge orders Australian animal health firm to repay $33K.
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An Australian animal health company has been ordered to repay some of the incentives it received from the Kansas city of Lawrence and Douglas County after abandoning its offices in the area.
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true
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Lawrence, Health, Kansas, Animal health, Local governments
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Douglas County District Court Judge Amy Hanley recently ruled that Integrated Animal Health breached its incentives contract with the local governments and must pay back more than $33,300, the Lawrence Journal-World reported . But Lawrence officials said it’s unlikely they’ll be able to recoup the money because the Australian company appears to be defunct. Integrated Animal Health moved its global headquarters to Lawrence in 2015. The city and county had approved incentives for the company, such as subsidized rent and a $100,000 forgivable loan. The company promised to expand to 50 employees and a $4 million annual payroll in Lawrence. The business is believed to have abandoned its Kansas lab and offices in 2017, but city officials didn’t figure out Integrated Animal Health wasn’t operating until last year. The two local governments sued the company in 2018, but the court has been unable to contact any of its representatives. City officials said they’ve only been able to reach the company’s former CEO, Blake Hawley, who filed his own lawsuit against Integrated Animal Health in 2017. Hawley is no longer affiliated with the business after resigning amid financial questions regarding the company’s founder. Lawrence officials said the company’s former officers are Australian nationals who are beyond the city’s reach. Senior City Attorney Randy Larkin? said the city and county were aware that it was unlikely they would be able to collect the money. Larkin said the governments proceeded with the lawsuit primarily to have the judgment on record. ___ Information from: Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, http://www.ljworld.com
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High-tech lives spur back-to-basic fitness workouts.
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While people are becoming more dependent on high-tech gadgets in many areas of life, fitness experts say they are turning back to basics for their workout routines.
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true
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Health News
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They see more exercisers shedding prop-heavy fitness classes for short-burst, equipment-free workouts. “It’s my theory that we’ve hit a critical mass in group fitness,” said Donna Cyrus, senior vice president of programming Crunch Fitness. “Mats, Bosu (stability) balls, body bars: by the time you put all this stuff on the floor it’s 10 minutes into your workout.” These days, Cyrus said, most successful fitness classes require very little equipment and many are 30 minutes long, down from the hour or more that was standard a few years ago. She chalks it up to the time saving necessitated by the 24/7-connected world. “With every minute taken up by social media, and people never out of a working state, (it’s) a way for people to get these workouts in,” she explained. Cyrus’ observation are supported by a recent survey by the American College of Sports Medicine, which predicted High Intensity Interval Training and bodyweight training will be the top two fitness trends of 2014. “It appears that people are going back to basics,” said Dr. Walter Thompson of ASCM, which has conducted the survey since 2008. He said HIIT, which involves short bursts of activity followed by a short rest or recovery, jumped to the top of the list in its first appearance in the poll about fitness trends, which was completed by 3,815 health and fitness professionals worldwide. Thompson believes the shaky economy favors what he calls “low-cost delivery programs” such as HIIT bodyweight training. “Folks just can’t afford to go to specialized exercise programs,” he said, noting that neither Pilates nor Zumba are predicted to trend in 2014. “Retention data shows that people get bored with an exercise program in three to six months if they’re not challenged or the program is not varied enough,” he explained. The exception is yoga, which still popular. “The yoga folks change it enough to maintain interest,” he said of the ancient practice that has spawned countless variations from power yoga and prenatal yoga to hot yoga. Andy Smith, chief executive of Daily Burn, which streams a variety of workout programs to some three million subscribers, said modern bodyweight training borrows freely from seemingly unrelated genres, such as wrestling and mixed martial arts. “People used to think of bodyweight training as just push-ups but there’s a lot more emphasis on mobility and work on the ground,” he said. “I don’t think of calisthenics, I think of other things.” He sees the renewed interest in HIIT as part of a larger turn towards functional fitness and away from the model of “aesthetic” training, typified by the body builder. “There’s a renewed interest in functional training, (or) training for everyday life,” he explained. “You don’t have to be ripped, but fit to perform everyday tasks.” Smith, whose background is in HIIT, applauds the intensity of the workout. “Most people tend to under train rather than over train. So something that pushes you to another level is good, so long as you mitigate the risk of injury,” he said about HIIT. But he added that HIIT comes with a lot of cautions. “It’s not for a person unaccustomed to exercise,” he said. “I wouldn’t want a 67-year old dad doing HIIT, but for a 22-year-old who lifts weights, why not? Nevertheless HIIT’s sudden popularity surprised him. “It’s a time thing. It’s a challenge for young folks,” he said. “A guy like me, I’m happy jogging.”
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Double agricultural research to help world's poorest: Bill Gates.
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The world needs at least to double its spending on agricultural research if it is to produce reliable crops and improve the lives of the one billion people who battle starvation every day, Bill Gates said in an interview on Tuesday.
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true
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Environment
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A Kashmiri woman carrying fodder for her cattle on her head walks on a cold day in Srinagar January 4, 2012. REUTERS/Fayaz Kabli A day before flying to Davos to meet political and business leaders, Gates said he was concerned the austerity drive in Europe could lead to a fall in foreign aid spending, setting back the fight against poverty, hunger and disease. While acknowledging the difficulties policymakers in the richer world face at a time of slumping growth, the world’s second wealthiest man said now was the time to invest in research and development. “The big choice is whether the crisis in the rich-country governments will cause them to stop increasing the aid that’s been so key to reducing disease, improving food availability for the poorest, and bringing down the number who suffer from AIDS or malaria or malnutrition,” Gates told Reuters in Brussels, where he met EU officials. Referring to agricultural research, he said it was shocking - as well as short-sighted and potentially dangerous - that only $3 billion is spent each year on seeking to improve the seven most important staple crops on which the poor depend. “The number should easily be double what it is,” Gates said of research spending while underlining there had been an increase in investment by the private sector. “Capitalism always has a challenge that research is not funded as well as it should be. That is, that the innovator can’t capture enough of the benefit to society. So they tend to be risk-averse, and that’s why basic research - medical basic research, agriculture basic research - has to be funded by governments.” European governments have been among the most generous in providing aid - more than half the world’s aid spending comes from European or EU-level budgets - but there is no guarantee it will go on rising during the economic downturn. Europe’s aim is to raise its aid spending to 0.7 percent of gross domestic product by 2015. Some countries are lagging and nations such as Italy are not best placed to hit the target. That in turn can have a direct impact on improving the lives of the one billion people - 15 percent of the global population - living in poverty and hunger. “If you don’t fund $300 a year, you can’t put a person on AIDS drugs. If you don’t buy a bed-net, then there’s additional children who die of malaria. If you don’t fund the agricultural system, you leave these billion that wake up every day wondering if they’re going to get enough food,” said Gates. “The benefit of this money is in a league of its own compared to other government spending.” There can also be a pay-off in terms of security and cost-saving elsewhere in richer countries’ budgets. Poverty, disease and hunger frequently go hand in hand with political instability and the geopolitical insecurity that can foster. “The national security and economic opportunity benefits of helping these countries out is quite significant,” said Gates, who gave up day-to-day running of Microsoft in 2000 and set up the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with his wife. “It’s a huge cost when you have instability. You’ve got to look at upping defense budgets and the human cost that creates, and so we need to be able to justify this not only on a humanitarian ground, although that alone should be enough. “But we need to be able to tell the story of where it stands in terms of security and economic development as well.” With a fortune estimated at $56 billion while also heading one of the world’s most generous foundations, Gates straddles the gap between the globe’s super-rich and those battling to survive. “Capitalism has done a fantastic job,” he said. “The state of the world 300 years ago versus where we are today - you’ve got to certainly say that capitalism was one of the elements that came into that - scientific understanding, reduction in violence. “We have some pretty dramatic understanding that capitalism can provide food and access to information at really phenomenal levels, and that’s why it’s a little disappointing why the equity element has lagged as much as it has,” he said, referring to the fact many basic needs are not being met. “But it’s about tuning societal expectations and aid policies far more than going back to the basic mechanism that inspires people to try new things... Overall those innovations are changing lives at a faster rate today than ever before.” Gates, who has pledged to give away the bulk of his fortune, hopes that over time more super-wealthy people will follow his example. “I have a view that they are missing out if they don’t do it,” he said. “(Philanthropy) can’t be a substitute for government delivery. What governments do in education delivery, aid delivery, that’s still a primary function. “But more philanthropy will drive the pace of innovation for all these activities.”
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Dubai to support Emirates airline, halts tourist market to fight coronavirus.
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Dubai said on Tuesday it would help its state-run Emirates airline mitigate the financial blow from the coronavirus outbreak as authorities enforced a full lockdown on a district famous for gold and spice markets.
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true
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Health News
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The United Arab Emirates, the Gulf region’s tourism and business hub which includes Dubai, has taken measures including temporarily halting passenger flights and launching a nationwide disinfection drive as the disease spreads. Total infections in the six Gulf Arab states surpassed 4,000 on Tuesday, with 22 deaths, after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar all recorded new transmissions. Saudi Arabia, which has the highest regional tally, reported two more fatalities among expatriates, taking its total to 10, and confirmed 110 new cases to reach 1,563. The kingdom asked Muslims to wait for more clarity about the pandemic before planning to attend the annual haj pilgrimage, which begins in late July and usually attracts some 2.5 million worshippers from around the world. The UAE announced one more death, a 67-year-old Asian man with pre-existing conditions, bringing its total to six, and recorded 53 more infections to raise the count to 664. It had already extended a nightly curfew to April 5 to deep- clean the country, but Dubai announced on Tuesday it was imposing a 24-hour curfew on the normally bustling tourist and trade district of Al Ras for two weeks. “I am glad they are doing this because it is for our protection,” said a rice trader who works in Al Ras but resides in the UAE’s Sharjah emirate. The trader, who declined to be named, told Reuters he was now conducting business online. Dubai closed the main road entrances and halted public transport to Al Ras, which abuts Dubai Creek where dhows have been banned from shipping goods between Dubai and Iran, a regional epicenter for the virus. Authorities will provide residents with essential needs, the Dubai Media Office said. The UAE plans to open more drive-thru testing centers after the first was opened last week in the capital, Abu Dhabi. “We will never hesitate to take any measures against any potential threat to people’s life. At the same time, we won’t let development grind to a halt,” said Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the country’s de facto ruler. Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed said the emirate’s government would inject fresh equity into the Emirates airline, given its strategic importance to the Dubai and UAE economy, but gave no details. In Kuwait, the first Gulf state to halt passenger flights and impose a partial curfew due to the pandemic, the health minister said a clearer picture of the success of containment efforts would emerge by early June. “If infection numbers stabilize, there may be a gradual easing of current measures,” Basil al-Sabah told Al Rai newspaper. “But if the average rate of transmission increases then...I do not rule out the cabinet enforcing a full curfew.” Qatar reported its second death and 88 new cases. Gulf states continued repatriation flights from countries around the world. The UAE said it had evacuated more than 1,700 nationals and “those accompanying them”. Kuwait said it has brought back more than 2,700 citizens.
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In dramatic step, Trump restricts travel from Europe to US to fight coronavirus.
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President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed sweeping restrictions to prevent people from 26 European countries from traveling to the United States for a month as he responded to mounting pressure to take action against the spread of the coronavirus.
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true
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Health News
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The president took the dramatic step in a somber Oval Office speech as he battled to address the health and economic shocks to Americans from the sometimes fatal virus and responded to criticism he has not taken the threat seriously enough. The travel order does not apply to the United Kingdom and Ireland, and does not apply to American citizens. Trump also announced several economic steps aimed at cushioning the blow to American businesses struggling with a sudden loss of consumer demand. “This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history,” he said. “I am confident that by counting and continuing to take these tough measures, we will significantly reduce the threat to our citizens, and we will ultimately and expeditiously defeat this virus.” After triggering confusion by suggesting that “trade and cargo” from Europe would also be banned, Trump was forced to clarify his statement with a tweet moments after the speech that “trade will in no way be affected” by the travel restriction. “The restriction stops people not goods,” he said in the tweet. U.S. stock futures ESv1 slid further as the president spoke, down more than 4% and signaling another day of losses awaits Wall Street. Trump, whose re-election bid on Nov. 3 could hinge on how well he responds to a crisis that has suddenly enveloped his presidency, stopped short of declaring a national emergency. The president used the Oval Office for the speech, a venue he has largely avoided in favor of free-wheeling, unscripted remarks elsewhere, and he did not appear entirely comfortable in the setting, reading through his speech quickly and uttering an expletive in an off-mic moment. His goal was to show he is on top of the situation after facing criticism from Democrats for not moving quickly enough to provide coronavirus testing for Americans. But he failed to mention other pressing issues such as accelerating the production of testing kits and face masks. Trump pulled no punches in saying Europe was partly to blame for the virus’ spread in the United States, where it has killed at least 37 people and infected 1,281. His travel restrictions on Europe were similar to what he declared on travel from China earlier this year when the illness was spreading wildly there. “The European Union failed to take the same precautions and restrict travel from China and other hot spots. As a result, a large number of new clusters in the United States were seeded by travelers from Europe,” he said. Trump signed an order that suspends the entry of most foreign nationals who have been in certain European countries at any point during the 14 days prior to their scheduled arrival to the United States. The list of countries included Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, the Homeland Security Department said. The order did not apply to American citizens, legal permanent residents of the United States, immediate family members of U.S. citizens, and other individuals who are identified in the proclamation. Trump said the restrictions will be adjusted subject to conditions on the ground. The U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory on its website on Wednesday, advising U.S. citizens to reconsider travel abroad due to the global impact of the coronavirus outbreak. As the U.S. stock market took another hit from the virus on Wednesday, Trump said he would take emergency action to provide financial relief for workers who are ill, quarantined or caring for others due to the illness. He said he was instructing the Treasury Department to defer tax payments without interest or penalties for certain businesses and individuals affected. Trump added he was also instructing the Small Business Administration to provide capital and liquidity to firms affected by the virus.
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Experimental blood test could detect melanoma skin cancer early, study finds
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The story provides a review of early research examining an experimental blood test for the detection of melanoma. The addition of the comments from an unaffiliated expert place the research into context and provide important caveats to the study. But early on the story makes a bold claim that the test could save thousands of lives, yet in many cases, early detection of cancer does not guarantee a longer, healthier life. That’s an important reality that should be shared with readers. The story also would have been stronger had it discussed the downsides to screening tests — notably the risk of false-positive and false-negative results — and the risk of overdiagnosis. For example, this dermatologist’s perspective would have been a refreshing take to include in this story. Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer. Early detection is essential for good clinical outcomes. A blood test to easily detect the disease would be a welcome addition especially in those areas with a high prevalence of the disorder. However, there are many pitfalls to consider, and news stories must be cautious not to oversell the benefits and downplay the risks.
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true
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melanoma
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This test, since it involves ten separate autoantibody antigens is likely to be expensive. A test to determine breast cancer recurrence risk, Oncotype DX cost approximately $3,000. It is unclear how often a blood test for melanoma would need to be repeated, so the cost will be an important consideration, and should have at least been acknowledged. The story provides both sensitivity and specificity for the test and notes that both need to be in excess of 90% for it to be useful. Of course, there is an assumption that the test–if proven to be validated–would reduce deaths from melanoma due to early detection. That will take a lot more research to determine. “Early detection saves lives” is not always true. Like many other stories about screening tests, the reader is not provided with any comments on the potential harms. Even with a 90% sensitivity and specificity (a high mark for such a test), there would be many people with both false positive and false negative results. Read more about this issue in our primer: Understanding medical tests: sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value These cancers are frequently overdiagnosed, so a diagnostic test that finds a lot of low-risk cancers could be harmful by leading to overtreatment. Ideally, we want know that the test is leading to finding early-stage, high-risk cancers that require and would benefit from treatment. The story provides a modest amount of information on the study methods and carefully describes the results. The comments of Dr. Moffat place the research in proper context, “We need to know how accurate it is, if it can save lives, and how it could work in practice. So, although a blood test to find skin cancer earlier is certainly exciting, research in this field still has hurdles to overcome…” However, one important point to make about this level of research — the scientists were using blood samples from confirmed melanoma patients. Will the blood test’s performance hold up when used widely and only among people with unknown cancer status? The study was conducted in Australia, where melanoma is very prevalent. The story provides statistics without hyperbole. We did not detect any conflicts of interest that should have been disclosed, though it would have been useful to explain how the study was funded (a grant from the Australian government). The story provides comments from Dr. Moffat, an unaffiliated expert who places the tests and the results in context. The story does a good job in providing the current diagnostic methods. The story seemed to give mixed messages about the value of screening with the new blood test. An investigator is quoted as noting that current methods of melanoma detection are expensive and invasive, involving a trip to a clinician, who must biopsy the lesion to discover whether it is cancerous. Elsewhere, the release notes that you still need a biopsy to evaluate a positive blood test. Clearly, a clinician visit and biopsy will always be required to diagnosis a cancer. Aside from self-examination, having a clinician perform a skin exam during routine examinations is another alternative to the blood test–but is not addressed in the story. It is clear from the story that the tests are in the experimental stages and not available commercially. This report appears to be the first of its kind related to melanoma. The story does not appear to rely on a press release.
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Although criticized as highly expensive additions to an already costly health care system, robotic surgery systems begin to earn their keep.
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This newspaper article describes increasing adoption of the daVinci surgical robot in the state of Minnesota. It provides useful specifics to demonstrate the increased use. It also discusses two incidents in which the device appears to have been used successfully and appropriately. But the article suffers from several key flaws: The issue of high cost and uncertain benefits is central to the controversy about the daVinci’s use. Yet specific costs are not mentioned and the inconclusive outcome data are not examined at all. The reporter allows the source’s assertion that hospital stays are cut in half stand unchallenged. The reporter did not speak with an opponent of the daVinci’s wider adoption. Only physicians who use the device are quoted. The story does not mention the likely conflict of interest both sources have as users and surgeons at hospitals that have made the risky, substantial investments in the devices, partly as marketing tools. The article provides no takeaway for readers. Patients facing heart surgery, prostate removal or hysterectomies do not have information to help them make informed decisions about whether the device might be appropriate in their cases.
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mixture
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"The article says the daVinci devices have ""a million dollar price tag."" But it does not say whether any of this cost is passed along to insurers and patients in the form of higher costs. The story also mentions the possibility that hospital costs will be reduced but does not provide any data to back it up. Nonetheless, at least it nodded in the direction of costs. The report does not summarize findings of benefits and harms. It also allows a surgeon to say it has the benefit of reducing hospital time by half without pressing for some detail or source. The story does not mention negative outcomes that may be associated with the daVinci machines. It does not indicate whether complication rates are higher, lower or equal. The story also fails to mention the potential harm if the machine is used to justify a hospital’s investment or support surgical revenues regardless of whether it’s the best use for a particular patient. The article mentions briefly that there is little evidence to show that the daVinci improves outcomes. Some details are necessary in a story centered on its increasing adoption. The only evidence given to support the daVinci’s use is a physician’s statement that he’s ""seen enough cases to believe it’s making a difference."" No evidence cited to defend the claim that use of the device reduces hospital costs by half. Two anecdotes are provided that forecast successful outcomes. The article focuses on an extraordinary application of the daVinci device–in a highly trained athlete whose disease and lifestyle led to a decision to use the machine. This unusual story may create the impression that the robot is a life-saving necessity for hospitals and patients. Nonethless, the story did not exaggerate the condition being treated. The article quotes two physicians, both of whom use the machine–and work at hospitals that have invested in the machines. The reporter should have talked to at least one surgeon who has declined to use the device, and one independent researcher with no conflict of interest who could summarize the findings of safety and efficacy. Finally, there is some federal data about negative outcomes with the device–including at least one unnecessary death early in the device’s development–that should have been drawn on. In the two cases cited, the article at least briefly describes what treatment without the machines would have been like. In each case, it’s open-heart surgery, which carries higher risks in the patients described. But it would have been valuable to know where robot-assisted surgery falls among treatment choices–including non-robot-assisted minimally invasive surgeries and non-surgical options–for someone found with clogged coronary arteries, for instance. The article does a good job of specifying how many daVinci surgery robots are available in Minnesota–and which facilities have them. The story makes no false claims of novelty. It does a good job of describing the state of the machines’ use in the paper’s circulation area. There does not appear to be a press release associated with this report."
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2550
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Science cafes offer a sip of learning.
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Americans may be turning away from the hard sciences at universities, but they are increasingly showing up at “science cafes” in local bars and restaurants to listen to scientific talks over a drink or a meal.
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true
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Science News
|
Want a beer with that biology? Or perhaps a burger with the works to complement the theory of everything? Science cafes have sprouted in almost every state including a tapas restaurant near downtown Orlando where Sean Walsh, 27, a graphic designer, describes himself and his friends as some of the laymen in the crowd. “We just want to learn and whatever we take in, we take in. But we’re also socializing and having a nice time,” said Walsh, who a drank beer, ate Tater Tots and learned a little about asteroids and radiation at two recent events. Others in the crowd come with scientific credentials to hear particular scientists lecture on a narrowly focused field of interest. But the typical participant brings at least some college-level education or at least a lively curiosity, said Edward Haddad, executive director of the Florida Academy of Sciences, which helped start up Orlando’s original cafe and organizes the events. “You’re going to engage the (National Public Radio) crowd very easily here,” said Linda Walters, a marine conservation biologist from the University of Central Florida who has lectured twice at the Orlando-area science cafes. Haddad said the current national push to increase the number of U.S. graduates in science, technology, engineering and math, or the STEM fields, is driving up the number of science cafes. In Orlando, an Orange County STEM Council consisting of business, government and educational leaders recently asked Haddad to help two interested parties launch new science cafes in the downtown library and in a large new town development. The U.S. science cafe movement grew out of Cafe Scientifique in the United Kingdom. The first Cafe Scientifique popped up in Leeds in 1998 as a regularly scheduled event where all interested parties could participate in informal forums about the latest in science and technology. Traditionally held in pubs and restaurants, the Cafe Scientifique would start as a short lecture, followed by a short break to re-fill glasses, and then an open discussion, according to the organization’s website. The American movement of independent cafes is loosely organized at the sciencecafe.org website created by public broadcaster WGBH’s NOVA science program. Haddad said NOVA several years ago provided a few hundred dollars of seed money to groups around the country that wanted to start a cafe. However, anyone with a venue, a speaker and a marketing plan can start one. On the sciencecafe.org website, an interactive map shows the location of cafes across the United States and around the globe from Islamabad, Pakistan, to Antwerp, Belgium, to the Hawaiian islands. Some cafes have cropped up in bookstores, theaters and high school campuses. In Viera, Florida, about 60 mostly retirees regularly pack a pizzeria to hear speakers from the well-regarded Brevard Zoo or NASA’s nearby Kennedy Space Center. In Daytona Beach, scientists from the internationally known Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University draw standing-room-only crowds at a local coffee shop. Haddad said his hope for the cafes is to engage the public and generate excitement about the STEM fields that might filter down to the next generation. “My feeling is STEM begins at home, with students who are being brought up by parents or relatives who have some interest in science and may encourage them to do that,” Haddad said. Attending a cafe does not guarantee a speaker as engaging as the popular host of television programs Bill Nye the Science Guy, as Walsh learned when he got lost in the extensive jargon of one lecture. “I don’t know that every scientist is gifted with the ability to work a crowd as well as deliver a lecture on targeted radiation therapy for tumors,” said Walsh. “If you can find one that hits both those things, they should have their own television show.”
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141
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Australia to fund research on medicinal cannabis as demand grows.
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Australia will provide A$3 million ($2.03 million) for research on the use of cannabis to help cancer patients, its health minister said on Sunday, as the demand for medicinal cannabis products grows rapidly.
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true
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Health News
|
While legal in most of Australia, such products are allowed only to patients on the prescription of a doctor, and a license is required to grow and make medicinal cannabis. On Sunday, Health Minister Greg Hunt said access had been permitted to more than 11,000 patients, with most approvals this year. “There have only been a limited number of well-designed clinical studies on medicinal cannabis, and we need to increase the evidence base to support medical professionals,” a ministry statement cited him as saying. Health ministry data shows 78 companies now licensed to grow and harvest medicinal cannabis, up from one in March 2017. Hunt was speaking at a fundraising walk led by Olivia Newton-John, the English-born Australian singer and actress who became an ardent advocate of medical cannabis after being diagnosed with cancer. “I’m a great proponent of it, for general health, for pain, for sleep, for anxiety,” Newton-John told Nine News television last week. “I really believe it is important in my journey.” Newton-John’s experience and efforts had helped shine a light on the benefits associated with medicinal cannabis, Hunt said, adding that the government would work to ensure access for Australian patients. “But only when it is prescribed by a medical professional,” he added. The government looks unlikely to change its stance on the recreational use of cannabis, however. Federal law prohibits such use, although late in September, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) became the first of the country’s six states and two main territories to legalize cannabis for personal use. Attorney-General Christian Porter is awaiting a copy of the final version of the ACT bill before deciding whether the federal government should override the territory legislation, the Weekend Australian newspaper said on Saturday. The ACT law, due to take effect from January 31, conflicts with national drug laws that ban possession of marijuana.
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4991
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Volunteers battle health crisis of asylum seekers in Mexico .
|
When the Honduran boy complained of a toothache, Dr. Psyche Calderon asked the obvious question: “When did the pain start?”
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true
|
Mexico, Health, General News, Immigration, Asylum seekers, Central America, United States
|
The answer broke her heart. “When La Mara broke all my teeth and killed all my family,” the 14-year-old said. He said little else about the attack by the infamous Central American gang, La Mara Salvatrucha. Just: “I was the only one that survived.” Calderon is not a therapist, nor a lawyer or a dentist. She is a general practitioner volunteering to provide care for Central Americans stuck in Mexico while they try to obtain asylum in the United States. There was little she could do for this teenager. “So I gave him an antibiotic, then went home and cried,” she said. Calderon is part of a movement of health professionals and medical students from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border that is quietly battling to keep asylum seekers healthy and safe while their lives are in flux. They try desperately to tend to a need left largely unmet by the governments of both countries. It has thrust volunteer doctors into new and unusual roles where they often have to improvise while working with limited donated medications and equipment and dealing with non-medical issues. Besides giving patients a pill for pain relief, the doctors might need to direct them to legal help for their cases while offering a listening ear as a kind of therapist to a population suffering deep trauma from violence that forced them to flee their homelands. With little training or preparation for this type of medical work, doctors like Calderon are trying to come up with guidelines to better treat migrants with emotional trauma. Tens of thousands of people are stuck in Mexican border cities as their asylum cases wind their way through the U.S. court system under a Trump administration policy that returns them across the border to wait out a decision. Thousands of others wait for their numbers to be called so they can start their claim in a process that meters the number of asylum requests that are submitted to U.S. officials. Along the U.S.-Mexico border, thousands are living in crowded shelters or outside in makeshift tents. The health crisis spans both sides of the border. In the past year, at least three children, detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents, have died from the flu while being held. Meanwhile, in Tijuana, volunteers like Calderon have been setting up weekend, pop-up clinics at shelters rarely visited by Mexico’s public health doctors. “I shouldn’t be doing this,” said the 34-year-old Tijuana doctor whose private practice caters to uninsured Americans. “They need to be in another place to be safe. That other place should be taking care of them, or the Mexican government should be taking care of these refugees.” She helps run the Refugee Health Alliance, one of a handful of such groups along the 1,954-mile border. In the past year, the Refugee Health Alliance has hosted 800 volunteers who have seen more than 9,000 patients; in addition to treatment, they document signs of torture and abuse for asylum cases. On the group’s 52nd consecutive Saturday at the shelters, the volunteers are given a brief orientation: Don’t ask about people’s backgrounds, which could trigger traumatic memories, or take photographs. Fill out medical forms that ask for a person’s medical history and dates for their asylum process, which could disrupt their care. The volunteers also are told to put labels on any medication given to the asylum seekers so U.S. immigration officials will not take the pills away — though they often do, anyway. Their first stop: the bottom of “Scorpion Canyon.” Calderon leads the volunteers into a Christian church that first sheltered Haitians who flocked by the thousands to this border city in 2016. Now the church is filled with scores of tents housing Central Americans. The two dozen volunteers include two pediatricians, a university professor who also practices medicine, medical students from Phoenix and San Francisco, a Stanford University psychology doctorate student who worked with children at refugee camps in Iran, and two sisters from Los Angeles who have relatives in Tijuana. They unfold tables and metal chairs in the congregation hall to make makeshift examining spaces. They unpacked a half-dozen duffel bags and suitcases bursting with plastic bags filled with donated medications brought in by volunteers. Calderon works between the church where she sees mostly Central Americans and a neighboring cluster of rooms housing several dozen Haitians. She sees a woman with a badly healed broken wrist, a girl’s belly covered with scabies, an undernourished pregnant woman, a baby with a cold, a toddler who is underweight, a woman with a swollen check and infected tooth, another with a red, swollen eye. With a warm smile and a pink stethoscope around her neck, she saw patient after patient. Eight months have passed since that day she saw the boy with the broken teeth. She still thinks of him. She never saw him again. The experience made her a better doctor, she said. Now when Calderon asks about their pain, she treads carefully: A hurt neck, might be from getting a head smashed in by thieves. A case of acid reflux might stem from anxiety about not being in a safe place. “When you see someone who comes to you with insomnia, with no hope, it’s really hard on us too. What do we say? What do we treat? Is this an illness?” she asks. “That’s why we’re trying to write the protocol for mental health, and trying to get experts for refugee medicine to help us out with these questions.” Calderon always wishes she could do more. But she has learned to accept the limitations after treating the boy with the toothache. She took time off and sought therapy for herself, feeling overwhelmed. Then she took a course to learn how to treat patients who have endured tragedies. “I need to be OK that I did something,” she said. “It’s a thing that all doctors come to understand at some point, right? I hope. We do what we can.” _____ Associated Press Writers Sharon Cohen and Nomaan Merchant contributed to this report. _____ The Associated Press produced this story with support by the Solutions Journalism Network.
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28827
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After the Orlando shooting, President Obama recruited Laila Alawa to serve on an anti-violent extremism Department of Homeland Security task force.
|
"What's true: In 2015, Laila Alawa participated in a panel discussion for the ""Homeland Security Advisory Council Countering Violent Extremism Subcommittee."" What's false: Alawa wasn't employed by the DHS, her appointment to an advisory council was not made by President Obama, she isn't a Syrian refugee, and she didn't ""praise the 9/11 attacks."""
|
mixture
|
Politics Conspiracy Theories, daily caller, department of homeland security, laila alawa
|
One day after the Pulse Orlando nightclub shooting in June 2016, the web site Daily Caller published an article reporting that a sitting member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council is a Syrian immigrant who said that 9/11 “changed the world for good” and has “consistently disparaged America” on social media: Laila Alawa was one of just 15 people tapped to serve on the newly-formed HSAC Subcommittee on Countering Violent Extremism in 2015 — the same year she became an American citizen. Just last week, the subcommittee submitted a report to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, recommending that the DHS avoid using Muslim terminology like the words “sharia” and “jihad” when discussing terrorism. By 15 June 2016, various versions of this story reported that President Barack Obama personally appointed Alawa “recently” to “the Homeland Security Advisory Council’s Subcommittee on Countering Violent Extremism”: President Obama once again has shown his cards as an out of touch progressive with an agenda. He recently appointed a 25 year old Syrian immigrant to the Homeland Security Advisory Council’s Subcommittee on Countering Violent Extremism. This is the same person who rejoiced and praised the September 11th attacks and racially baited and attacked white people on social media. The new appointee is Laila Alawa. She is placed on a committee that serves to stop another terrorist attack like September 11th. Despite the fact she praised it as a good thing. Seems rather ironic. In September of 2014 she said, “9/11 changed the world for good and there’s not other way to say it. I just hope we keep having open conversations about our differences.” All versions of claims about Laila Alawa appeared in conjunction with widespread reporting on the mass shooting in Orlando, with some unreliable web sites claiming that President Obama personally appointed Alawa to a DHS role: It is true that Laila Alawa’s name appears on a document titled “Countering Violent Extremism Subcommittee Membership Roster,” but (contrary to what some outlets implied or stated) that group was neither a “task force” nor was it connected to any law enforcement initiative. A 9 June 2016, DHS issued a report that described a discussion-based meeting, “an incubator of ideas” that aimed “to leverage outside expertise and new thinking to support and enhance as well as assist” existing efforts. In other words, a roundtable discussion, not a law enforcement initiative, that took place well before the Orlando nightclub shooting (the linkage of the DHS subcommittee with the Orlando shootings apparently occurred because the former released its report just a few days before the latter event): In November 2015, Jeh C. Johnson, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (the Department), directed the Homeland Security Advisory Council (“HSAC”), to establish a subcommittee (“Subcommittee”) that is focused on Countering Violent Extremism (“CVE”). The Subcommittee was stood up to act as an incubator of ideas for the new Office for Community Partnerships (DHS/OCP), and has worked to leverage outside expertise and new thinking to support and enhance as well as assist in reframing and re-envisioning, where necessary the Department’s CVE efforts. Specifically, the Subcommittee was asked to address how the Department could best support non-governmental initiatives that either directly or indirectly counter violent extremism, including: o Identifying opportunities or platforms useful for the Department’s facilitation of public-private partnerships with both technology and philanthropic sectors. o The development of new networks and a framework for sustained dialogue and engagement with those partners to include non-governmental sectors. o Other non-governmental sectors, besides technology and philanthropic, that should be leveraged for CVE and how the Department should engage them. o How best to work with education and mental health professionals to help parents and schools understand how they can counter youth radicalization to violence. o How the Department can inspire peer-to-peer attempts to challenge violent extremism through public-private partnerships. As usual, the Daily Caller made hay out of selectively quoting material to create impressions unsupported by facts For example: Laila Alawa was one of just 15 people tapped to serve on the newly-formed HSAC Subcommittee on Countering Violent Extremism in 2015 — the same year she became an American citizen. Just last week, the subcommittee submitted a report to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, recommending that the DHS avoid using Muslim terminology like the words “sharia” and “jihad” when discussing terrorism. Apparently in the Daily Caller‘s view, the avoidance of “Muslim terminology” is a really bad thing, something that Laila Alawa clearly had a hand in. But of course, the Daily Caller quoted nothing documenting how much of a hand Laila Alawa in making that particular recommendation (she was but one of 15 people on the subcommittee), nor why that recommendation was made. A bit later, though, the Daily Caller did offer their own disingenuous explanation for that recommendation: As originally reported by The Daily Caller, the subcommittee Alawa serves on instructed the DHS to begin “using American English instead of religious, legal and cultural terms like ‘jihad,’ ‘sharia,’ ‘takfir‘ or ‘umma‘” when discussing terrorism in order to avoid offending Muslims. In fact, the DHS report made no mention of eschewing the use of such terms to “avoid offending Muslims.” Rather, it suggested that the use “plain meaning American English” was preferable to jargon that is often poorly understood by Americans: Reject religiously-charged terminology and problematic positioning by using plain meaning American English. a. US v THEM: For example, use “American Muslim” rather than “Muslim American”; “Muslim communities” rather than “Muslim world.” b. AMERICAN ENGLISH: For example, on using American English instead of religious, legal and cultural terms like “jihad,” “sharia,” “takfir” or “umma.” The Daily Caller‘s “original report” on the matter also falsely stated: The report instructs the DHS not to use any language that might be “disrespectful” to Muslims, including (but not limited to) the words “jihad,” “sharia” and “takfir.” In fact, the DHS report did not state that the subcommittee had “instructed DHS not to use any language that might be disrespectful to Muslims,” nor did the referenced passage cite any particular words to be avoid. The report merely noted that multiple reports (not just the report of this subcommittee) had advised the avoidance of any language “disrespectful of fellow Americans” (Muslim or otherwise): At the same time, report after report has recommended that the U.S. Government be consistent in its language and its meaning, highlighting that tone and word choice matter. Under no circumstance should we be using language that will alienate or be disrespectful of fellow Americans. Thus, we need to be clearer in what we mean and how we say it. The Daily Caller also misreported another aspect of the DHS report, stating that: In the Countering Violent Extremism report, Alawa and her fellow subcommittee members recommended that the Department of Homeland Security “adapt to the changing nature of violent extremism itself” by devoting more attention to “anarchists, sovereign citizens, white-supremacists, and others.” But the report didn’t say that subcommittee members had advised the DHS to “devote more attention” to other groups. What the subcommittee suggested was that violent extremism and radicalization are not the province of any one group or ideology, and that the U.S. government should prioritize their efforts based on “forms that pose the greatest threats to safety and security”: The United States Government must take all forms of violent extremism and radicalization seriously, prioritizing those forms that pose the greatest threats to safety and security, most urgently. Ultimately, the approaches this report recommends for the Department will help it evolve over time and adapt to the changing nature of violent extremism itself, namely, the convergence and alliances of violent extremist groups across the full spectrum of grievances: To include those that espouse and/or undertake violence justified through various ideologies, to include anarchists, sovereign citizens, white-supremacists, and others. We contacted Laila Alawa ourselves for additional details about the issue, and she confirmed that President Obama was not linked with her appointment to the subcommittee, adding that the Daily Caller had urged people to call for her to be fired from that appointment. What she was referencing was apparently a Daily Caller poll asking readers to vote on whether she should be fired: (Contrary to some reports, Alawa isn’t actually employed by the DHS in any capacity; she heads a media organization called The Tempest, “created and run by diverse millennial women.”) The Daily Caller also referenced or reproduced a 2014 tweet from Alawa six different times in the course of their article, without once explicating what she meant by it (thereby creating the misleading impression that it intended to be disparaging): Alawa told us she didn’t mean that 9/11 had changed the world “for the [greater] good,” but that she meant the attack had changed the world “forever.” She also disputed frequent characterizations of her as a “Syrian refugee,” noting that she was around six years old when her family moved to Japan before settling in the United States. Alawa is 24 (not 25, as is often stated), and her move to the U.S. occurred well before the recent mass exodus of refugees from the strife in Syria.
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34260
|
In August 2018, President Donald Trump colored a stripe blue on a U.S. flag template.
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We sent the White House several questions about this episode but did not receive a response in time for publication.
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unproven
|
Politics, donald trump
|
President Donald Trump has fought a symbolic battle during his tenure in the White House against National Football League players and staff who have protested racial injustice by kneeling or refusing to stand on the field during the playing of the U.S. national anthem. Trump has consistently emphasized the importance of paying respect to the anthem and the American flag, a track record which provoked allegations of hypocrisy in August 2018 after the president traveled to Ohio. On 24 August 2018, President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump accompanied Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services, on a visit to a children’s hospital in Ohio as part of a trip addressing the opioid crisis in the United States. The White House described the purpose of the presidential visit to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus as follows: From 2000 to 2012, America saw a i>five-fold increase in the share of babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) — equivalent to one baby suffering from opiate withdrawal born every 25 minutes, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Last year, 198 babies were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, for NAS. Today, President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will tour that facility, discussing the Administration’ three-part plan to halt the opioid crisis. As part of the visit, the Trumps and Secretary Azar spent time with children in a classroom at the hospital, talking and participating in joint arts and crafts activities, including coloring in U.S. flag templates. This innocuous moment sparked a wave of controversy and bafflement after photographs appeared to indicate that President Donald Trump had incorrectly colored in parts of the U.S. flag. In a photograph posted to Twitter by Azar, the president was shown with a blue marker on the table before him, along with a flag template in which the fourth stripe had been colored in blue. (The national flag of the United States bears only red and white stripes; the color blue appears solely in the flag’s canton.) We’ve magnified the photograph posted to Twitter by Azar in order to more clearly show the apparent error: This image prompted several news articles either speculating or asserting that President Trump had incorrectly colored in parts of the American flag. Newsweek, for example, ran with the headline “Donald Trump Colored the American Flag in Wrong,” adding that “A photo posted to Twitter Friday by one of his Cabinet secretaries shows President Donald Trump coloring the U.S. flag incorrectly.” That description was not technically accurate. The photograph posted by Azar showed President Trump sitting before a flag template with a blue marker in front of him and one of the flag’s stripes colored blue. The picture did not actually capture the president coloring the stripe blue. The same is true of a short video which the White House published on 27 August. Around the 30-second mark, President Trump can be seen, with a red marker in hand, coloring in a stripe red, with another stripe already colored blue: However, another image appears to show President Trump actually using a blue marker to color the fourth stripe blue: We have been unable to so far identify the original source of this image or corroborate its authenticity. But even if it is authentic and does show President Trump coloring one of the flag stripes blue, the context behind it is unknown. It is possible that the president was indulging or amusing one of the children around him by using a blue marker to color one of the stripes, rather than making an inadvertent error or acting out of ignorance about the flag’s design.
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3021
|
Infected Douglas County deer traced to Pine County farm.
|
Investigators have traced a deer on a Douglas County farm that was infected with chronic wasting disease to a farm in Pine County that supplied the animal, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health said Friday.
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true
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Animals, Health, Deer, Minnesota, Animal health
|
A doe on the Pine County farm that tested positive has been put down and the eight other deer still alive there will be destroyed, board spokesman Michael Crusan said. The herd owner is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on compensation. Both deer that were living on the Douglas County farm were killed earlier to stop the spread of the fatal brain disease. Both farms must fence off their deer pens to keep wild deer out and keep biohazard signs posted around them for five years. The board is still investigating whether other deer from the Pine County farm have been transferred to other farms. In response to the Douglas County discovery, the state last month temporarily banned the movement of all farmed white-tailed deer within Minnesota. Chronic wasting disease is caused by a prion, an abnormal protein that can persist in the environment for years. It’s not known to infect humans, but it’s fatal to deer and elk, and authorities advise against eating infected meat.
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17587
|
By using a little-known loophole ... Obama minions are allowing Nestle Company to export precious fresh water out of Lake Michigan.
|
"Bloggers have said that ""by using a little-known loophole ... Obama minions are allowing Nestle Co. to export precious fresh water out of Lake Michigan."" There is an ongoing debate over whether Great Lakes water should be sold commercially out of the region, but Obama’s role in creating, approving and enforcing the Great Lakes Compact on an ongoing basis -- which is likely the driving reason the claim has attracted attention on social media -- is actually minimal, experts say. In other words, his ""minions"" have not meddled in this dispute. The claim contains some element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression."
|
false
|
Environment, National, Corporations, Legal Issues, Regulation, States, Bloggers,
|
"These days, President Barack Obama gets blamed for a lot of things -- the glitchy rollout of the healthcare.gov website, an unusually slow economic recovery, an out-of-control electronic surveillance network. But is he also at fault for selling off Lake Michigan’s water to the highest bidder? Several readers recently asked us to check a claim they had seen circulating on social media. The most commonly shared versions seems to have originated on the conservative blog Coach is Right and the website of the Western Center for Journalism, whose president is longtime conservative activist Floyd Brown. The post on the Western Center for Journalism’s site is headlined, ""Barack Obama’s war on America’s fresh water supply."" It reads: ""By using a little-known loophole in the 2006 Great Lakes Compact, Obama minions are allowing Nestle Company to export precious fresh water out of Lake Michigan to the tune of an estimated $500,000 to $1.8 million per day profit. By draining the precious jewel of the Great Lakes in the middle of America, our federal water managers are allowing the export of our water out of our country across thousands of miles of oceans into the Asian basin plagued by huge population centers that are suffering from their constant lack of fresh water."" We did not hear back from the Coach is Right site, but PolitiFact Ohio has previously looked at the question of water being removed from the Great Lakes and found that it was a genuine issue. It stems from an agreement known as the Great Lakes Compact. It was negotiated by and has the force of law in eight states -- Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. (Two Canadian provinces are also involved in Great Lakes water policy decisions, but technically aren’t part of the compact.) The most important provision for this fact-check is its prohibition on diverting water from the Great Lakes basin -- with a key exception. That exception -- the ""loophole"" referred to in the blog post -- is that the compact permits the removal of water in containers of 5.7 gallons or less. The existence of this provision has enabled the bottled-water industry to construct major facilities in the Great Lakes basin, including one by Nestle Waters North America in Mecosta County, Mich. Because the compact was designed to regulate and preserve the Great Lakes -- one of the world’s great natural repositories of fresh water -- such commercial sales have been controversial. Peter Annin, author of The Great Lakes Water Wars, told PolitiFact Ohio that the provision was one of the most emotional issues during the compact’s negotiation. ""Many people opposed the loophole during the negotiations, but each state included it anyway when they passed the legislation,"" said Melissa K. Scanlan, a professor at Vermont Law School who specializes in water law. Legislative fixes have been periodically floated in Congress, but none has yet advanced. So there’s no doubt that the question of whether Great Lakes water should be bottled for sale elsewhere is hotly contested. But does Obama have a role in it? No, experts tell us. Here’s why: • The compact was in force before Obama was even inaugurated. The agreement was negotiated during the mid 2000s, then approved individually in 2007 and 2008 by the legislatures and governors of all eight member states. Then, it was passed by both chambers of Congress and signed by President George W. Bush in 2008. Obama became president in 2009. We should note that Obama was in the U.S. Senate when it passed that chamber. The compact passed the Senate by unanimous consent -- that is, approval without any objections from senators and without a recorded vote of yeas and nays. Still, the heavy legislative lifting was long done by that point, and with so many other state and federal entities weighing in during the lengthy negotiation and approval process, it seems a stretch to attribute primary blame for the ""loophole"" to then-Sen. Obama. • It is a compact among states, not something imposed by the federal government. According to Article 1, Section 10 of the Constitution, the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate and the president must give their approval to an interstate compact. However, once approved, compacts are fundamentally agreements between states, not between the states and the federal government. Several experts told PolitiFact that there is no significant oversight or enforcement role for the federal government in regards to the compact -- in other words, no opportunity for Obama’s ""minions"" to cause havoc. • Elected officials from both parties had a role in approving the compact, and continue to carry out its provisions. State legislatures and governors of both parties approved the compact initially, and today, a majority of the states and legislative chambers that are party to the agreement are actually controlled by Republicans, not Democrats. In Michigan, the state where the Nestle plant is located, the governor’s office and both chambers of the Legislature are in Republican hands. In general, the Great Lakes Compact has been ""very nonpartisan for an environmental policy,"" said Noah Hall, a professor at Wayne State University Law School in Detriot and author of the Great Lakes Law blog. Our ruling Bloggers have said that ""by using a little-known loophole ... Obama minions are allowing Nestle Co. to export precious fresh water out of Lake Michigan."" There is an ongoing debate over whether Great Lakes water should be sold commercially out of the region, but Obama’s role in creating, approving and enforcing the Great Lakes Compact on an ongoing basis -- which is likely the driving reason the claim has attracted attention on social media -- is actually minimal, experts say. In other words, his ""minions"" have not meddled in this dispute. The claim contains some element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression, so"
|
40146
|
Warnings on Facebook have gone viral alleging that using Huggies Snug and Dry diapers on babies could result in second degree chemical burns.
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Second Degree Chemical Burns from Huggies Diapers
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unproven
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Household, Warnings
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TruthOrFiction.Com was contacted a spokesperson at Kimberly-Clark who gave us an official statement saying that “there is no indication that this complaint is part of any larger product issues.” The statement also said that such customer complaints are rare but when Kimberly-Clark hears about them they follow up to ensure the safety of their products. Here is their statement : At HUGGIES, nothing is more important than the safety of the little ones who use our products. Families have put their trust in HUGGIES diapers for decades and all of our diapers have been thoroughly tested to ensure they are safe. Our primary interest remains with the wellbeing of the child involved. When we first learned about this report, we immediately reached out to the mom to express our concern and learn as much as we could about what happened. In addition to requesting samples of the diapers used by the mom for testing, we also initiated an internal review. While we have not yet received any samples from this consumer, our internal review has not found any product issues or abnormalities. We understand how deeply moms care about the health of their baby’s skin and we are always troubled by any report of skin irritation. In each and every case, we try to work closely with the moms to learn about their individual situation to ensure that our products can better meet their needs and help inform our ongoing product development. All of our products must pass stringent safety reviews prior to making it to retailer shelf. This review includes the superabsorbent material in question which has been thoroughly evaluated by more than 450 medical and scientific studies and has been used safely for years in our HUGGIES products and across the diaper industry. There is no indication that this complaint is part of any larger product issues. Complaints of this nature are highly unusual – in fact over the past six months the rate is about one for every 40 million diapers sold. We take our responsibility to provide families with products they can use with confidence very seriously, and will continue to do everything we can to understand what occurred and how we can help. Additional Background The Superabsorbent materials (SAM) found in HUGGIES diapers is being used in virtually all disposable diapers on the market today. Superabsorbent materials (SAM), also known as polyacrylate absorbents, are a family of polymers that have extraordinary absorbency — the particles will absorb up to 100 times their weight in moisture. The safety of superabsorbent material has been proven in more than 450 consumer safety tests that have studied every way a person could come in contact with it — through skin contact, ingestion or even inhalation. Each study has consistently demonstrated the safety and efficacy of this material. The crystals in the diaper are forms of a superabsorbent material that’s been used in diapers for many years. The superabsorbent material looks like a tiny bead when it’s dry and looks like a gel when it’s wet (and mixed with the other fluffy fibers in the diaper). Superabsorbent material in diapers offers significant benefits, like drawing wetness away from baby’s skin and helping to keep baby’s skin healthy. In HUGGIES diapers, superabsorbent material is mixed with the fluffy diaper padding. This material turns liquid into a gel, helping to prevent leakage. Occasionally, you may see small beads of gel on the diaper or on your baby, but the gel is nontoxic and not harmful. Posted 11/7/13 Updated 11/13/13 Comments
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9533
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SWEAT IT OUT! SKIN PATCH AIMS TO TEST SWEAT FOR HEALTH
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This story covers a study on the accuracy and durability of a microfluidic skin patch that collects sweat and analyzes it with the help of a smartphone. Researchers found the device detected lactate, glucose, and chloride ion concentrations as well as sweat pH while sticking to the skin of 21 athletes during a controlled cycling test. The story rightly cautions that the technology is “experimental” and notes that additional research is needed before it can be used for health monitoring. But if that’s the case, it’s not clear why this is newsworthy. There are no interviews with medical experts that might help readers understand whether this technology has viable clinical applications. Also, the story doesn’t discuss costs, potential harms, or the researchers’ commercial ties. Wearable technology presents a huge business opportunity, but health benefits can be elusive. Take a recently published study of 471 young adults that showed carrying technology such as a Fitbit to monitor diet and physical activity did not help with weight loss and in fact might have hindered it. Researchers speculated that activity trackers might actually shift a person’s focus from individual behavior to technology and ultimately reduce motivation. When it comes to sweat, there’s evidence it contains some valuable health data. For example, sweat tests are used to confirm a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis in infants. But it’s far from clear that real-time sweat monitoring is superior to existing tools when it comes to screening for health conditions or helping endurance athletes avoid an electrolyte imbalance. Still, there’s money to be made in the athletic market, and it’s not surprising that patch developers are going after it. Even if this technology does prove effective, which is a big if, the ultimate question may be whether the data turns out to benefit athletes or act as a pernicious distraction.
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false
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medical devices
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The cost of this patch or of a comparison approach involving sending absorbent pads to a lab aren’t addressed. The story doesn’t give quantified benefits because there aren’t any–and it should have made that point much stronger versus expanding on speculative uses for the device. We’re told a study “found it worked on sweaty bicyclists, sticking even during a long-distance race in Arizona.” So what does that mean in clinical terms? Nothing yet. The purpose of the study was to show that the patch would stick and collect good data, not to show that it generates a health benefit. The story also allowed speculation of benefits beyond electrolyte monitoring, too: (Researcher John A.) Rogers envisions more sophisticated use of such devices, such as real-time monitoring of how the body adjusts during military training, or even to screen people for diseases such as diabetes or cystic fibrosis. The study doesn’t contain data on adverse effects, and the story doesn’t touch on potential harms. Have patches been tested for skin irritation, for example? More broadly, could skin patches give athletes a false sense of security, prompting them to ignore physical symptoms, or distract them from the basics of proper training, nutrition and hydration? That’s not addressed. The paragraph mentions one study limitation: that the tested patches were capable of taking only one measurement versus taking multiple measurements over time, which would be essential for monitoring. The story misses other important limitations. For example, it says the patches can measure such things as sweat loss, acidity, and levels of chloride, glucose and lactate, but it does not explain that because a substance is present in sweat does not mean it is a good clinical indicator of what’s going on inside a person’s body. Further, there’s no discussion of whether this device is practical or useful for athletes. The story does not engage in disease-mongering. However, it does suggest electrolytes are a concern for athletes engaged in a relatively short bout of exercise. In turn, this notion fuels the sports drink industry which in turn markets to the general public and contributes to the consumption of excess calories and sugar. The story includes an independent source, a researcher who also works in developing biomedical materials. However, there are no medical experts who could comment on how well this technology might work in clinical or athletic settings. And, the story does not mention that three of the authors are inventors on a patent application that covers “devices and related methods for epidermal characterization of biofluids.” Nor does it state that two authors are officers and co-founders of MC10, a company that develops wearable, stretchable electronics. Three other researchers are affiliated with cosmetics firm L’Oreal, which began marketing a stretchable patch for UV monitoring this year. L’Oreal was also among the funders of this study. The story does state that the patch was shown in the study to be just as good as a pad sent to a laboratory for analysis in terms of collecting sweat samples. But there’s no comparison with other alternatives for monitoring health measures such as blood tests, and in the case of dehydration, good old-fashioned thirst. The story doesn’t describes the steps that need to be taken for this technology to become available to consumers and clinicians. Beyond calling the device “experimental,” it gives no sense as to how close the device is to being marketed. The story mentions other researchers working on similar technology. The story does not appear to rely on a news release.
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26544
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"The government is closing businesses to stop the spread of coronavirus even though ""the numbers are nothing compared to H1N1 or Ebola. Everyone needs to realize our government is up to something ...”"
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A few days after President Donald Trump declared the coronavirus a national emergency and cautioned against gathering in groups, a Facebook post accusing the government of being “up to something” went viral in Pennsylvania. Any suggestion that the coronavirus isn’t real or that it’s part of a government conspiracy is a ridiculous claim. The deadly virus is killing Americans right now, and abiding by unprecedented orders to stay home is the best way to halt its spread.
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false
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National, Coronavirus, Pennsylvania, Facebook posts,
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"A few days after President Donald Trump declared the coronavirus a national emergency and cautioned against gathering in groups, a Facebook post accusing the government of being ""up to something"" went viral in Pennsylvania. Here’s the full post: ""Is anyone paying attention to the bigger picture? And not what the media is feeding you? This virus is a distraction from the truth. Coming through Pennsylvania and stopped at a store and they have stopped selling gun ammo until further notice and all the cases are full so it’s not like they have run out. They are closing liquor stores. Next will be the banks. Then our phones will stop working. They don’t want venues of 50 or more people because they would have trouble trying to control 50-plus people. Something’s not right here and everyone is dumb enough to think it’s really just a virus. The numbers are nothing compared to H1N1 or Ebola. Everyone needs to realize our government is up to something and we are dumb enough to believe what you see on TV or on Facebook. Everyone better stock up on defense supplies because that toilet paper isn’t going to protect you when they come."" Before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight – the coronavirus is real. The number of cases in the U.S. and the grim tally of deaths caused by the virus climbs exponentially every day, and the restrictions that drew skepticism from this Facebook user are the very measures that public health experts say will help slow the virus’ spread. There’s a lot to unpack in this misleading Facebook post, so we’ll take the claims one by one. When the post first appeared on March 16, there were no restrictions on the sale of guns or ammunition in Pennsylvania, and customers anxious about the coronavirus flooded firearms dealers. Then Gov. Tom Wolf ordered gun sellers and other businesses not deemed ""life-sustaining"" to close their doors. But he quickly reversed course under pressure from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and allowed them to reopen so long as the shops agreed to keep customers six feet apart. The Trump administration also advised states to consider gun sellers and shooting ranges essential businesses – on par with grocery stores and pharmacies. The post gets one thing right. Pennsylvania did initially close liquor stores, which are state run. Liquor stores reopened on Wednesday for online sales, but demand was so overwhelming that the Pennsylvania Fine Wine and Good Spirits website was unavailable for most users. The state liquor control board said access to the site would be ""randomized"" to prevent it from crashing. The Facebook user also warned that the government would soon close banks and cut the phone lines. There’s no evidence of this. Banks appear on Wolf’s list of life-sustaining businesses allowed to remain open, although some bank branches have closed voluntarily to keep customers and staff safe and others have reduced their hours or moved to drive-through service. Telecommunications companies like Philadelphia’s Comcast are easing shutoffs and waiving late fees to accommodate customers. Next the post argues that new rules against gathering in large groups are designed to prevent people from organizing. Really they’re the most important tool government officials have to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which scientists say is far more contagious than the flu. Pennsylvanians who defy the rules now risk arrest, and in New Jersey, 15 men who attended an ultra-Orthodox Jewish funeral were charged Wednesday with violating that state’s ban on large gatherings. Finally, the post suggests that coronavirus numbers don’t compare to H1N1 or Ebola, but top government scientists now predict that the coronavirus will be far deadlier than either of those diseases. During the H1N1 outbreak that started in 2009, more than 12,000 people in the U.S. died. About a dozen people were sickened with Ebola in 2014, but no one died. Last week, members of the Trump administration leading the government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak announced that the deadly pathogen could kill between 100,000 and 240,000 Americans. So far, nearly 5,000 people have died – 90 of them in Pennsylvania. State-run liquor stores did close in Pennsylvania as government officials scrambled to halt the spread of the coronavirus, but all the other claims made in this post are false. Most importantly, any suggestion that the coronavirus isn’t real or that it’s part of a government conspiracy is a ridiculous claim. The deadly virus is killing Americans right now, and abiding by unprecedented orders to stay home is the best way to halt its spread."
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665
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Moo-ving to the future? Cows try 'Floating Farm' in Rotterdam.
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Dutch businesswoman Minke van Wingerden looks on proudly as one of her 32 brown-and-white cows makes a pit stop at an automated milking station on an unusual farm: a platform located on one of the waterways in Rotterdam port.
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true
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Environment
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Van Wingerden is one of the developers of the “Floating Farm”, testing whether small-scale, sustainable dairy farming is feasible in the heart of one of the world’s most urban, industrial areas - far away from rolling green fields of a traditional agribusiness. “This idea started in 2012, my partner Peter he was involved in a project in New York and then Hurricane Sandy hit New York very badly, so it was flooded and after two days there was no fresh food on the shelves anymore because the logistic hub was also flooded,” she said. “So then we realized ‘why not produce fresh food healthy food on the water close to the city?’, and that’s where the idea came up.” The cows, seemingly unperturbed by their futuristic setting on the fringe of Europe’s largest and busiest port, can rest on the upper level of the structure or head to a feeding station for a mix of hay, grass clippings and beer byproducts. Milk and manure processing facilities are located on the lower deck, as well as the visitors’ entrance and store. A quay side pasture gives the animals the chance to be on dry land. The structure’s roof is used to collect rainwater. Power for the farm comes from a solar panel array floating nearby. “The amount of arable land is decreasing and the world population is growing so how can we produce enough healthy food in the future?,” Van Wingerden said. “Seventy percent of the world is water so why not use the water to produce fresh healthy food near to the consumers?” Close to the town of Schiedam, the farm is located in one channel of the “Merwehaven”, a harbour within the sprawling 105 square kilometer port, which handles containers ships from all over the world. The whole farm site is kitted out with the latest in dairy tech such as an automated feeding system, manure-scooping robots, self-serve cleaning stations, and the smartphone app on-site farmer Albert Boersen uses to monitor his cows. “We try to be as circular as can be and it’s still a (matter of) research how we can find out more circles in this farm,” Van Wingerden says. As part of its aim to be self-sustainable, the farm already has a manure separator used to separate dry material from urine, with the dry part used as bedding for the cows and the urine turned into an organic fertilizer. It sells some bottles of raw milk on-site to visitors, while the rest is pasteurized and turned into milk or yoghurt. It is sold to customers who live nearby via a online grocer, Picnic, known for its small, electric delivery vans.
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