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26133
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League of Conservation Voters Says Donald Trump has opposed plans to clean up “Toxic chemicals that cause cancer (that) are in the water …. (and) put Wisconsin at risk.”
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The Trump Administration did release a statement opposing the PFAS Action Act But the ad does not take into consideration previous legislation that Trump signed into law, which does combat the chemicals
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mixture
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Environment, Public Health, Wisconsin, League of Conservation Voters,
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"For years, states across the country have waged a battle against the ""forever chemicals"" that have leached into water used for drinking. The technical term is per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances -- or, in the political lexicon, PFAS. Federal lawmakers have been pushing for regulation of the chemicals, despite indications that President Donald Trump may veto a bill that would designate the chemicals as hazardous substances and regulate their cleanup. That became the target of a television ad, which began airing in mid-May 2020, from the League of Conservation Voters. The ad features Elizabeth Neary, a pediatrician and public health advocate, standing in front of a backdrop featuring trees and a body of water. The ad features news clippings from Wisconsin publications and maps of contamination sites, while she says, in part: ""Toxic chemicals that cause cancer are in the water right here. There are dozens of water danger zones like it that put Wisconsin at risk. The plans to clean it up were opposed by Donald Trump. … Donald Trump has real consequences for our health."" So, does Trump oppose such cleanup plans? It’s more complicated than it seems. He could well block the current bill, but in December 2019 signed a bill that included legislation on PFAS. Let’s dig in. ""Forever"" chemicals remain in the environment and the human body and don’t break down over time, hence their nickname, according to an April 27, 2020 article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. There are more than 5,000 of the compounds, linked to cancer or other health issues, that collect in the human body, either through the consumption of food or water containing the chemicals. PFAS are used for their water- and stain-resistant qualities, in products such as clothing and carpets, nonstick cookware, packaging and firefighting foams. Though PFAS are generally no longer in use, they remain in the environment, and cause contamination issues. When we asked the League of Conservation Voters for comment, they provided citations for all of the claims in the video, including several sources that pointed to the evidence of the chemicals in the state. One of the most notable PFAS sites in Wisconsin is near Marinette, where Johnson Controls/Tyco tests fire fighting foams. The company stopped testing the foams outdoors in 2017, and now has a system to ensure that the foam is not flushed into sewers or bodies of water after tests. PFAS have also been found in Madison and Milwaukee near airports where military units use fire fighting foam containing PFAS. There is really no dispute PFASs are there and need attention. Thus, the focus of this fact-check is on the League’s claims about Trump’s position. H.R. 535, also known as the PFAS Action Act, was proposed in January 2019, according to congress.gov and passed 247-159 by the U.S. House in January 2020. The yes votes were primarily Democrats, while the no votes were primarily Republicans. There has been no action scheduled on the bill in the U.S. Senate, where it waits in committee. If the Republican-controlled Senate passed the bill, it would go to Trump. But the Trump administration has already signalled opposition to the bill. Indeed, in the ad, a news clipping is shown, referring specifically to the bill, and the administration’s response letter. In a Jan. 7, 2020 statement of policy, the administration says the bill would create significant risk of lawsuits, set unreasonable timelines and precedents and impose hefty costs on federal, state and local governments. The statement suggests that decisions regarding the regulation of PFAS be left to the Environmental Protection Agency: ""The regulatory process works best when EPA and other agencies are free to devise regulations based on the best available science and careful consideration of all the relevant facts."" So, Trump’s administration has stated opposition to this bill. But is it the only piece of PFAS-related legislation? No. In December 2019, Trump signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, which included action on PFAS. The law requires companies where PFAS are manufactured or used to track and collect data on the chemicals and establishes some limits for them, in addition to requiring testing of drinking water wells, according to the EPA website. The act also added some types of PFAS to the Toxic Release Inventory, which is a public database of toxic chemical releases and pollution prevention activities reported by companies. The act directs that PFAS contamination be addressed in both communities and near military bases, a common source of the chemicals, according to a March 20 Bloomberg Law analysis. In an ad that aired in Wisconsin, the League of Conservation Voters claimed Trump has opposed plans to clean up ""toxic chemicals that cause cancer (that) are in the water …. (and) put Wisconsin at risk."" Trump’s administration is opposed to the pending PFAS Action Act, and the ad made clear that is the measure it was referring to. That said, he has signed another measure that addresses the chemicals. Indeed, some parts of the proposed law overlap with what was signed."
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36338
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An X-ray shows hundreds of undigested boba pearls in the digestive tract of a young girl.
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Does an X-Ray Show Hundreds of Undigested Boba Pearls in a Young Chinese Patient?
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unproven
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Fact Checks, Viral Content
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In June 2019, a number of websites and news outlets reported that a young girl in China was treated for symptoms related to the discovery of “hundreds” of undigested boba pearls in her digestive tract via x-ray.Notably, headlines for the story often indicated that elements of it were mostly likely unedited and unvetted:Doctor Reportedly Found More Than a Hundred Undigested Tapioca Pearls in Girl’s StomachBoba blockage: Girl, 14, had hundreds of undigested boba pearls stuck in stomach, reports sayGirl, 14, who loves drinking trendy milk tea finds out she has more than 100 tapioca balls stuck in her belly after suffering from constipationOne widely shared version of the story was published by British tabloid Daily Mail on June 11 2019. It was an aggregation of stories from unidentified news organizations in China, claiming that the girl was seen for constipation and abdominal distention:A teenage girl has reportedly had more than 100 tapioca balls trapped in her body after drinking too much of a popular Asian beverage known as ‘bubble tea’. […]After an X-ray checkup, Dr Zhang was shocked to see more than 100 dark balls stuck in Xiao Shen’s body. They were said to fill the teenager’s stomach, intestines and rectum.After further questioning, Xiao Shen admitted she had drank bubble tea five days earlier.Dr. Zhang suspected the tapioca balls inside Xiao Shen had been accumulating over a long period of time, and were not the result of a single incident.He prescribed a laxative to help Xiao Shen pass the balls.Tthe story was popular on sites like Reddit, where it was shared to r/WTF. The Reddit post did not link to an article, instead embedding the X-ray purportedly showing the girl’s “digestive tract” and clusters of boba pearls:Hundreds of Bubble Tea pearls congeal inside teenager from WTFNone of the outlets reporting the story appeared to do anything other than repeat claims that allegedly originated with a Chinese news outlet. Most commonly cited was a June 5 2019 Shaoxing News article:On the evening of May 28th [2019], the girl Xiao Shen (pseudonym) was accompanied by her parents to the emergency department of Zhuji People’s Hospital in Zhejiang Province. She said that her stomach hurts, she could not have a bowel movement for a few days, and she could not eat anything. When the doctor Zhang Louzhen saw her belly, she arranged a CT of the abdomen. The result of the examination surprised him: the patient’s stomach, transverse colon, ascending colon, descending colon, sigmoid colon, all the way to the anus, all with granular shadows. There are more than a hundred . […]“The little girl may be afraid of her parents saying her, but concealing her medical history – so many undigested ‘pearls’ are not accumulated like a cup of milk tea, it should be caused by drinking for a while. ” Zhang Louzhen concluded. Later, he prescribed a laxative to the patient to help remove the undigested “pearl” from the body.An early iteration of the story was shared to Twitter by @AsiaOne:Chinese girl suffers constipation for 5 days. The cause? Bubble tea pearlshttps://t.co/tqbTb1xa6b pic.twitter.com/8JKLkXxSs5— AsiaOne (@asiaonecom) June 6, 2019Most commenters on that tweet pointed out boba and other foods are not visible in X-rays, and that the circled areas did not show only the digestive tract:She is definitely constipated but it’s not from bubble tea….they can’t be seen on an xray😡No way, if for no other reason, it wouldn’t migrate to parts outside the intestinesFirst off…that’s not her stomach!!! This makes zero sense.An unnamed doctor weighed in for another site to refute the claim that the masses seen on the x-ray were hundreds of boba pearls. That doctor asserted that the blockages were likely fecal matter, not bubble tea.The story itself called to mind a 2015 long-form piece published on BuzzFeed about dubious “weird news” stories published by tabloids and other sites through an agency called Central European News (CEN). That article detailed how thinly sourced, virtually-unverifiable claims were laundered through the agency to grab clicks and shares:CEN’s “weird news” stories and images appeal to news organisations precisely because they fall into the category of “too good to check”. They also appeal because they are perfectly tailored to the current media ecosystem, in which the holy grail is to have content go viral on Facebook and other social media platforms, delivering a surge of traffic.One tried and tested method for gaining those viral clicks is running precisely the kind of oddball human interest pieces in which CEN specialises: stories that are so intriguing or horrifying or just plain weird that you can’t help but share them with your friends.CEN was in the news not long before the viral boba pearl story was making the rounds. That agency was implicated in the widespread distribution of claims about the death of Noa Pothoven in the Netherlands just days prior.In summary, one news agency reported on an X-ray with unvetted markings and a claim that “hundreds” of boba pearls obstructed the patient’s digestive system. That unverified claim spread widely through various English-language news sites, with no further input about the accuracy of the claim.It is possible that excess consumption of bubble tea led to a young girl being constipated, but it was also possible that the claim was exaggerated or otherwise misleading. Without additional detail, the veracity of the story is unclear, and the history of similar and nonsensical claims circulating virally in the same ecosystem suggests that it should be be viewed with caution.
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12232
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Hillary Clinton has third heart attack — docs says she ‘won’t survive’.
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Hillary Clinton not dead from heart attack, as fake news site claims
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false
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Fake news, PunditFact, Bloggers,
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"An online story about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suffering not just one heart attack, but three, is a fake news story concocted by a parody site run by a liberal troll. ""Breaking: Hillary Clinton has third heart attack — docs says she ‘won’t survive’,"" read the headline on a July 28, 2017, post on PoliticsPaper.com. Facebook users flagged the post as being potentially fabricated, as part of the social media site’s efforts to combat fake news. The article called Clinton the ""Butcher of Benghazi"" and quoted Dr. Eugene Icsa of Westchester Memorial Hospital in upstate New York as saying, ""We predict she’ll be at rest within hours."" The story further said daughter Chelsea was visiting, but husband and former President Bill Clinton was ""sitting on the front porch of the Chappaqua mansion drinking what looks like either tomato juice or a Bloody Mary."" There have been no other reports of Hillary Clinton suffering a massive coronary episode; it’s because she hasn’t. The story is fake. The photo ostensibly of a doctor feverishly working to save Clinton’s life is actually a stock photo we most recently found on a Seattle Times story about the challenges facing trauma nurses. There’s not even a Westchester Memorial Hospital in upstate New York, as far as we can tell. There is a Westchester Medical Center in Westchester, N.Y., but that’s it. This item was originally posted on July 22 on TheLastLineOfDefense.org, a website run by a man named Christopher Blair, who creates absurd news stories in an attempt to fool conservative readers. A footnote on the bottom of the website said that ""everything on this site is a satirical work of fiction."" The warning is repeated in the About Us section, where a disclaimer reads, ""We present fiction as fact and our sources don’t actually exist."" This site and its troll-run brethren like to write about Clinton’s death quite a bit. OurLandOfTheFree.com, a related website, wrote on July 13 that Clinton died of an overdose of Dilaudid, which is a brand-name of the opioid painkiller hydromorphone. TheLastLineOfDefense.org also ran a series of stories in which Hillary and Chelsea Clinton died in a boating accident that was the result of sabotage. Clinton is still very much in the news, since Republican members of Congress continue to push for investigations into her own campaign activities. But she’s still alive."
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33509
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A childless couple discovered the cause of their infertility was a lack of sex.
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The woman’s symptoms led Doctor Liu to believe that she may have had some sort of gynaecological disease. But following an examination, the wife was revealed to be a virgin. Doctor Liu then inspected the woman’s anus and discovered that she ‘could fit three fingers’ inside. It was then that the medic is said to have learned the couple had been mistakenly having anal sex for four years, resulting in their failure to conceive.
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false
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Risqué Business, Gallery Of The Gruesome, Infertility, sex urban legends
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Sex is a subject which, because it has long been considered an inappropriate topic for public discourse in our society, is a particularly favorite topic of non-public discourse. We gossip about people who are having sex, we gossip about people who aren’t having sex, and we gossip about people who are having too much sex. We titter about people who know too much about sex, and we chortle at people who know too little about sex. The latter point is well-represented in urban folklore, which abounds with tales of sexually naive adults who don’t understand what sex is, have sex the “wrong” way, or don’t grasp the rudiments of birth control: Example: [The Mirror, May 2004] Fertility doctors were baffled when a perfectly-healthy couple claimed they couldn’t have children – until they confessed they had never made love.The husband, 36, and his 32-year-old wife thought that all they had to do to make a baby was to lie next to each other and let nature take its course. When nothing happened, they saved up £7,000 and went to an IVF clinic where they were given a quick lesson about the facts of life. A spokesman for the clinic said: “We’re not talking about retards here, but a couple who were brought up in a strict religious environment who simply did not know how babies were created. It was only after they were subjected to a battery of tests and both were found to be perfectly fertile that we asked them how often they had sex. “The husband said, ‘We’re not exactly sure what you mean’.” The couple are now doing a sexual therapy course, which, doctors hope, will lead to the child they are longing for. The spokesman for the clinic at the German University of Luebeck added: “They seemed to think that lying next to each other at night in their bedclothes would somehow miraculously produce a child.” He said the couple had read up about in-vitro fertilisation treatment but believed it was something to do with a “turkey baster, a mattress and a woman standing on her head.” He went on: “Although this does have its humorous side, the pair were woefully ignorant about sexuality. “But at least they have a marvellous awakening to look forward to at a time when most people have long shed their innocence.” The university plans to carry out a survey to discover how many more childless couples think the same way and are in desperate need of basic sex education. Thus we have tales of childless couples who discover their infertility is due to either a complete lack of intercourse or to the husband’s mistakenly penetrating his wife’s urethra (because no one ever explained sex or proper sexual techniques to them), couples who use prophylactics by placing them on the ends of bananas or broomsticks (because that’s how condom use was demonstrated to them), and women aghast at finding themselves pregnant even though they’ve been consuming contraceptive jelly. (In Joseph Heller’s novel Catch-22, Doc Daneeka reminisces to Yossarian about his days in private practice, and he talks about a couple who once came to him because they were unable to conceive a child. Despite the couple’s claims of regular sex, the doctor discovered upon examination that the wife was still a virgin. He used plastic models to demonstrate to the couple how to have sex the “correct” way, and a few days later the husband returned and punched him in the face.) In May 2004, yet another news article reported the classic “couple discovers they’re childless because they’re not having sex” tale, this one supposedly involving a couple who sought to undergo an IVF (in vitro fertilisation) procedure at the Lübeck University hospital fertility clinic in Germany, where the staff determined the cause of the couple’s childless state was their having “never made love”— the couple thought all they had to do in order to conceive was “to lie next to each other and let nature take its course.” (Their ignorance of sex was attributed to their having been brought up in a “strict religious environment.”) Although doctors at the Lübeck fertility clinic did treat a couple whose inability to conceive was a result of their never having engaged in intercourse, nothing else about the story as reported was accurate: the couple had not been raised in a “strict religious environment,” they were not “woefully ignorant” of sexual matters, they were not unaware of the necessary connection between sexual intercourse and conception, and they did not think the IVF process involved a “turkey baster, a mattress and a woman standing on her head.” What had happened was that in 2003 the German medical journal Gynäkologische Endokrinologie had published an article about the importance of sexual history in the diagnosis of infertility, and someone took one of the case studies presented in that article and rewrote it in farcical form. The UK newspapers The Mirror and The Sun and other media outlets (such as UPI) picked up the farcical version and published it as straight news in May 2004, and the story was quickly spread throughout the Internet as a real-life example of the “too dumb to know about sex” legend. What the original medical journal article actually documented was a case in which a 30-year-old woman and her 36-year-old husband presented themselves at the Lübeck infertility clinic and reported they had experienced difficulty conceiving a child. The couple had been together for eight years and had been married for three, but although they had wanted a child for the last four years, results were not forthcoming. Doctors at the clinic proceeded to give the couple a routine workup but discovered no immediately apparent medical indicator of infertility. When someone at the clinic noticed that the couple had written a question mark next to a questionnaire item asking about their frequency of sexual intercourse, doctors began making inquiries of the couple regarding their sexual history. What doctors learned from their questioning was that the couple had never engaged in sexual intercourse — not because they were ignorant of sexual matters, but because the husband had suffered from erectile dysfunction throughout the length of their relationship. Although the husband was reluctant to speak of the matter, the wife explained that she knew of no physical reason why her husband was unable to engage in sex with her; she had assumed the problem was a psychological one and had hoped that it would go away once they married, but it had not. Doctors performed a physical examination of the husband and found no abnormality other than a frenulum breve, which they treated with a minor surgical procedure. The husband was able to produce a semen sample through masturbation, and tests found the quantity and motility of the sperm in that sample to be within the normal range. Doctors advised the couple that IVF was not a recommended course of action until their relationship and sexual issues had first been addressed and urged them to seek counseling. Sightings: On 24 August 2018, a version of the long-circulating story was reported as news by the UK outlet Metro. That iteration was virtually identical to the legend, and light on credible detail about how the couple’s purported ignorance came to light: A married couple who had been trying to conceive for four years were told they had mistakenly been having anal sex all this time. The unnamed husband, 26, and wife, 24, from Bijie city in China, were forced to go to the doctors earlier this year to figure out why they couldn’t have a baby. But when they visited obstetrician Liu Hongmei, they made a shocking discovery.
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35645
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Six police officers were killed in 10 days while working during protests against police violence and racial injustice in the spring of 2020.
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The South Pacific island nation of Samoa on Saturday extended a state of emergency due to a measles outbreak which has killed 72 people, mostly infants, as New Zealand announced NZ$1 million ($640,700) to help combat measles in the Pacific.
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false
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Crime, George Floyd, George Floyd Protests
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Samoa said a state of emergency will be extended to Dec. 29 with 5,154 cases of measles now reported since the outbreak started in October. Samoa has a population of only 200,000. Measles started appearing en masse earlier this year in the New Zealand city of Auckland, a hub for travel to and from small South Pacific islands. The majority of those who have died in Samoa due to the highly infectious disease have been aged four and under. The island nation had a far lower vaccination rate than its regional neighbors. Following a mandatory immunization campaign, the Samoan government said approximately 93% of all eligible people in Samoa have now been vaccinated against measles. “Prevention through vaccination is the most effective way of avoiding illness and a costly health emergency,” New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement announcing the funding. Under the plan, children under five and new mothers and their families will be targeted for vaccination. The funding would be directed to the United Nations Fund for Children (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO has described the fact children die from a vaccine-preventable disease as a “collective failure” to protect the world’s most vulnerable children. The organization said measles infected nearly 10 million people in 2018 and killed 140,000, mostly children. The picture for 2019 is even worse, it said, with provisional data up to November showing a three-fold increase in case numbers compared with the same period in 2018. Measles epidemics have occurred this year in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar and Ukraine.
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4087
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State: 8 cases of severe lung disease from vaping, e-cigs.
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New Mexico Department of Health officials say they’re now investigating eight cases of severe lung disease associated with vaping and e-cigarette use.
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true
|
Health, General News, Lung disease, New Mexico, Santa Fe
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They say the eight state residents have required hospitalization following the development of respiratory symptoms such as cough and difficulty breathing. Five of them required intensive care during their hospitalizations. State health officials also say all of patients who have been interviewed regarding vaping behavior reported the use of vape cartridges containing Tetra hydro cannabinol (THC) oil. The patients range from 17 to 46 years of age, five are male and all eight live in either Santa Fe, Los Alamos or Bernalillo county.
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29259
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Scraping your tongue with a spoon, placing that spoon in a bag, and putting that bag under a light for a period of time will provide useful diagnostic information about your health.
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All told, claims made relating the “breath” portion of the spoon test are generally rooted in factual connections between mouth odor and internal health, but are effectively useless as a screening or diagnostic tool. Claims made of the “stain” portion of the spoon test are created by conflating unproven or confused claims borrowed from traditional Chinese medical practices or from misinterpreted and sparsely sourced websites to create an equally useless “screening” test.
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false
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Medical, alternative health, bad breath, david avocado wolfe
|
In January 2016, NBC News medical contributor Natalie Azar reported a segment for the Today show that highlighted six medical screenings that can purportedly be done at home. One of these screenings, the “bad breath test,” served as the original basis for a series of largely erroneous (but viral) health posts on dubious websites. We will collectively refer the claims made based on this information as the “spoon test.” The “Breath” Part of the “Spoon Test” The original test, as described by Azar, relies on factual science, which suggests that odors in one’s breath can be indicative of systemic health issues: Scrape the back of your tongue with a spoon, seal the spoon in a plastic bag and put it under a bright light for one minute. Then, smell it. A healthy tongue coating should be clear, but if what you find on the spoon is thick, colored or has an unpleasant odor, it could be an early sign of problems with your respiratory system, liver, kidneys, hormones or gut. Most cases of bad breath will be related to gum disease or tonsils, but really ominous odors could be a sign of a larger health problem. Azar said a fruity smell could be a sign of diabetes; an ammonia smell could be related to kidney problems, other smells could indicate gastric or lung problems. And while you’re at it, take note that this test is the closest indicator of how your breath smells to other people. The use of a spoon to test breath odor has long been used as a way to get a rough sense of a person’s own breath, which is normally not readily perceptible to the person creating the odor. The method, as an example, is described in a 1996 review paper in the Journal of the American Dental Association: Although the anterior part of the tongue usually smells … the main source of odor is usually farther back in the posterior region. The posterior area of the dorsal surface can be readily assessed by a gentle but thorough scraping using a disposable plastic spoon. Afterward, the spoon can be smelled to compare the odor with the overall mouth odor. Placing the spoon under the light presumably serves to increase the odor causing potential of the material sampled by the spoon. The notion that some odors can be indicative of conditions outside of dental hygiene, as well, is not controversial. The Today Show writeup of the test links to an entry on the NIH’s Medline website that describes various causes of bad breath, including the items referenced in the test: A fruity odor to the breath is a sign of ketoacidosis, which may occur in diabetes. It is a potentially life-threatening condition. Breath that smells like feces can occur with prolonged vomiting, especially when there is a bowel obstruction. It may also occur temporarily if a person has a tube placed through the nose or mouth to drain their stomach. The breath may have an ammonia-like odor (also described as urine-like or “fishy”) in people with chronic kidney failure. These facts (while not controversial) do not mean that such observations would have any diagnostic or screening value, because the conditions they describe would be so far progressed by the point that they would show up on your breath that you would already be well aware of serious health problems, or they would be caused by highly noticeable things like excessive vomiting or a tube in your throat. Joseph Wolfsdorf, a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Diabetes Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, told us that diabetic ketoacidosis would produce a fruity odor, but that this would be a sign of severe and pronounced illness that should already have produced more noticeable symptoms: A “fruity” odor of the breath (from acetone) is a feature of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). However, DKA is a late manifestation of severely uncontrolled diabetes. One would hope that classic symptoms: polyuria [frequent urination], polydipsia [excessive drinking], weight loss will lead to a person seeking medical attention long before a fruit odor was detected on the breath. The case is the same for that fishy odor on the breath — there is a connection between kidney failure and ammonia-breath, but this would be an extremely late manifestation of an already obvious and serious condition. We reached out to Azar multiple times through multiple channels to get more information on the scientific rationale behind her test, but have not yet received a response. The “Stain” Portion of the “Spoon Test” Perhaps as a result of the lackluster utility of the test as originally described, a variety of dubious websites like davidwolfe.com and Brightside.me added additional diagnostic features to the test inspired, it appears, by the largely unverified claims made by traditional Chinese medical practitioners. This mishmash of information has resulted in a viral but wholly useless video that includes a section on how to analyze the colors left on the spoon after the “bad breath test.” David “Avocado” Wolfe — one of the Internet’s worst offenders when it comes the mass production of incorrect medical information and illogical aphorisms — added these details to the test, which also appeared in the Brightside.me video: If the stains are white or yellow with a thick coating, it may be an indication of a thyroid gland dysfunction. The conversion of beta-carotene to Vitamin A depends on the thyroid hormone. A deficiency can manifest as a yellowish buildup of carotene. If the stains are purple, it may mean you have poor blood circulation or high cholesterol levels. It can also indicate bronchitis. Bronchitis cuts down the efficiency of airwaves that bring oxygen to the blood stream, which can cause a purple tint. If the stains are white, you may be suffering from a respiratory infection. White buildup on the tongue can be caused by several different infections and viruses. If the stains are orange, it may be a sign of kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease can either cause the mouth tissues to appear pale due to anemia, or orange due to carotene-like deposits. First, it should be noted that these claims (accuracy aside) all refer to a discoloration on the tongue itself, and none of the material used by Wolfe to defend the claims actually discuss a spoon or a light. In support of the claim regarding a yellow discoloration, Wolfe linked to a page on “holisticprimarycare.net” offering the unsourced claim that in a low thyroid state, “conversion stagnates and beta carotene builds up, causing a yellow tint in palmar and plantar surfaces.” While medical literature does support the notion that a buildup of carotene caused by hypothyroidism may result in a yellowish discoloration on the palms of the hands (palmar surfaces) or feet (plantar surfaces), it is unclear why this information has been re-interpreted as applicable to the tongue, especially when a yellow tongue discoloration is a common (and usually benign) symptom related to a variety of non-thyroid issues. Such a discoloration could also occur, Wolfe claimed three bullet points down with a similar lack of evidence, as a result of kidney diseases through the same dubious “carotenoid buildup” mechanism. In other words, a yellow tongue on its own, even by the incorrect logic presented in Wolfe’s post, tells you next to nothing. In support of the claim that purple stains could be indicative of “poor blood circulation” or “high cholesterol levels,” Wolfe linked to a post by the Daily Mail which provided the commentary of naturopaths and traditional Chinese herbalists (again, with no supporting evidence or links) about what various colors on the tongue might mean. There is no hard evidence to support a purple tongue (let alone a purple stain on a spoon caused by a purple tongue) as being indicative of poor blood circulation or high cholesterol levels. Chronic bronchitis, similar to claims made of breath odor, would be readily apparent to the sufferer without the use of a tongue test. If the spoon produces white stains, Wolfe says, you may be suffering from a respiratory infection. (We feel that we should point out here that bronchitis is also a respiratory infection, which Wolfe claims should produce a purple stain in his preceding bullet point.) Wolfe also suggested in his first bullet point that white stains could also be thyroid gland dysfunction. In fact, a white tongue can be caused by a large number of conditions (and also no condition whatsoever), including over sixty respiratory issues that would already be apparent to the screener, making it effectively useless outside of its dubious scientific rationalization.
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9003
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New Phase 3 Data Show Esketamine Nasal Spray Demonstrated Rapid Improvements in Depressive Symptoms in Patients with Treatment-Resistant Depression
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This news release focuses on two phase 3 clinical trials that evaluated the use of a drug called esketamine to treat depression. Both trials focused on patients who had not responded to at least two antidepressant drugs, and both trials used esketamine as a nasal spray, in conjunction with an oral antidepressant. One study focused specifically on patients over the age of 65. The release provides a great deal of detail about the trial protocols and the specific differences in the depression scale that was used. But the release, issued by a pharmaceutical company, does not address cost. And while the release does note that the trial in elderly adults produced no statistically significant results, it describes the results anyway. And while there may be promising results to report, the findings are reported in a way that makes it difficult to understand the advances — or even to tell the advances from the things that were inconclusive. [Editor’s note: The review originally rated the Evidence section unsatisfactory. That oversight has been corrected.] Clinical trials, indeed any medical research, can be extremely complicated. News releases, theoretically, are designed to help reporters (and presumably other members of the public) get a handle on new findings, so that they can determine whether the findings merit a closer look. In other words, a news release should give reporters a basic idea of the findings, so that reporters can decide whether to pursue a news story (which would entail talking to independent sources, analyzing the study, etc.). This release is, frankly, confusing. Hundreds of words are spent describing a trial for which there were no statistically significant findings, with the pharmaceutical manufacturer arguing that the findings should be considered anyway. The release also refers repeatedly to the “newly initiated oral antidepressant” used in both the control and placebo groups for both studies, without any information about which antidepressants were used. The release does refer to two pages on ClinicalTrials.gov, which contain relevant information on the first trial and on a second trial focused on older adults. But honestly, that’s not good enough. And the failure to address cost, even in general terms, is deeply problematic. What’s more, the primary efficacy endpoint (i.e., how they could tell whether the drug worked) is described in technical terms that are difficult to parse for many readers. Is there good news here? It’s hard to say. There’s a lot to wade through, and that makes it difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. Treatment-resistant depression is a common and vexing problem. Although many people may not receive adequate dosing or try a different antidepressant when the first one does not relieve symptoms, there are presumably a large number of people who would benefit from a different therapeutic approach. The danger of such news releases is in not being completely clear about when these drugs might be medically indicated and what the longer-term outcomes might be. Finally, the general anesthesia drug ketamine, an older sibling of esketamine, has been in the news a lot recently for its potential to treat people who have not been helped by depression medications. Many news stories reflect anecdotal results in a few patients or results from very small, short-term studies. Esketamine is sometimes portrayed as a milder or safer version of ketamine. It is expected that Janssen will apply for quick FDA approval of esketamine nasal spray based on the results of these two studies.
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true
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depression,esketamine nasal spray,Janssen
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Costs are not addressed and they should be. While esketamine spray is a newer version of ketamine, which has been in use as a general anesthetic for 50 years, that drug has been off-patent for many years. A new version of the drug, presented in a nasal spray formula, is eligible for patent protection once it is approved by the FDA. The release does include numbers for the one trial that produced statistically significant benefits, but it’s a very technical explanation and probably too difficult for most lay readers to interpret. It states: “The primary efficacy endpoint, change from baseline in the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) total score, demonstrated the statistically significant clinical improvement in patients’ depressive symptoms for esketamine nasal spray plus an oral antidepressant at day 28 (Least Squares Mean Difference Standard Error from placebo nasal spray plus a newly initiated oral antidepressant: -4.0 [1.69], 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: -7.31, -0.64; one-sided p=0.010).” That gets it a satisfactory rating here. However, it’s worth noting that a news release (or a news story) should be expected to provide some context and to help non-experts grasp technical concepts in real terms. How big a difference would these numbers make? An expert may be able to tell readers that, but that expertise is missing from the release. It would have been much stronger if it had provided even a concise explanation of what these numbers mean. The release discusses adverse effects. Sufficient detail was given about the double blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) study design, and the number of subjects enrolled was addressed in the “About the Studies” section of the release. It would have been helpful to know which oral antidepressant was used. The non-significant results of the second study involving elderly patient volunteers is addressed under the Unjustified Language criterion. No disease mongering here. It’s clear that the work was funded by Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, and the affiliation of the experts quoted in the piece is similarly clear. The trials at issue here are specifically aimed at patients for whom two or more antidepressants did not work. However, there are some additional alternatives for treatment-resistant depression which could have been included in the release, such as electroconvulsive therapy and atypical antidepressants. Many people with depression are given selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, or SSRI (Prozac, Lexapro, Zoloft and others) or similar medications by their primary care doctor, and if that fails, are given another medication in the same class or in the serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) class of medications. Psychiatrists have a larger arsenal of medications and therapies to try. The release is fairly clear that esketamine is still under investigation and is not yet clinically available. Although there are other medications used in combination with antidepressants, this treatment strategy is a novel use of a new medication class. We will see (presumably in additional trials) if the response is long-term. The headline refers to “rapid improvements in depressive symptoms.” The word “rapid” can mean different things to different people. But the key endpoint highlighted in the release was a change in baseline depression symptom scores at day 28 of the trial. For people experiencing depression, 28 days may not seem “rapid.” In addition, the release includes three bullets just under the headline. These are clearly placed to serve as highlights for readers. The second bullet notes: “Study in elderly patients is the first large clinical trial in treatment-resistant depression in this population.” Lower down, the release tells readers that: “Data from a second study, in elderly patients aged 65 and older with treatment-resistant depression, which is the first study of its kind, showed treatment with flexibly dosed esketamine plus a newly initiated oral antidepressant demonstrated clinically meaningful effects compared to placebo nasal spray plus a newly initiated oral antidepressant.” Wow! But wait a second. The very next sentence notes that the study missed statistical significance. We applaud the decision to tell readers that the study didn’t have any statistically significant findings. But the fact that they trumpeted those (statistically insignificant) findings first is problematic.
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4494
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Ex-PM Sharif leaves Pakistan for medical treatment in London.
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Pakistan’s ailing former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was convicted of corruption, left the country on Tuesday to travel to London for medical treatment.
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true
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Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, Health, General News, Lahore, Asia Pacific
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The 69-year-old Sharif, who served three times as prime minister but fell from grace after the Supreme Court ousted him from office over corruption allegations two years ago, has had a history of health problems, including heart disease. He departed on a specially equipped medical plane from the Pakistani city of Lahore, after a court granted him permission to leave for four weeks abroad for medical treatment. His conviction was earlier suspended for eight weeks on medical grounds. Local television stations broadcast footage of Sharif being helped by one of his brothers and another man to board the plane, which was then shown in the air after takeoff. Sharif’s younger brother Shahbaz Sharif, who is the head of Pakistan Muslim League opposition party, is accompanying him along with his physician Adnan Khan. Nawaz Sharif has always maintained his innocence and denied the corruption charges that prompted the country’s top court to remove him from office in July 2017. He claims he has been politically victimized. Elections that followed that year ushered in the government of Imran Khan, who has vowed to root out corruption. Sharif was earlier this year sentenced to seven years in prison. After his health deteriorated last month, he was rushed from his prison cell to a hospital in Lahore where he later suffered a minor heart attack. Khan on Monday dismissed all speculation about a political deal to allow Sharif to leave and reaffirmed his intention to fight corruption. He said Sharif’s brother had made a personal appeal and that he could not stand in the way of medical treatment for his ailing predecessor. Sharif’s party has blamed Khan’s government for imposing a heavy bail bond on the former premier, a sum that was later overturned by the authorities, allowing Sharif to leave. His permit for four weeks abroad can be extended if he isn’t well enough to travel back. During his tenure, Sharif had a bitter relationship with Pakistan’s powerful military establishment and did not complete any of his three five-year terms as prime minister. He entered politics as a protege of dictator Gen. Zia ul-Haq, who seized power in a military coup in 1977 and appointed Sharif finance minister for the province of Punjab. Sharif’s first stint as prime minister, from 1990 to 1993, ended when then-President Ghulam Ishaq Khan dismissed him amid corruption allegations. Sharif’s second stint as premier, which began in 1997, was cut short when he was toppled in a military coup in 1999 and sent into exile by Gen. Pervez Musharraf who grabbed power. Musharraf is currently living in exile in Dubai and a treason case is pending against him. The case was filed by Sharif when he was in power, angering the army. ___ Ahmed reported from Islamabad.
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16657
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25 percent of all drug-related fatal vehicle accidents in the U.S. involve marijuana.
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"Don’t Let Florida Go To Pot said, ""25 percent of all fatal drug-related vehicle accidents in the U.S. involve marijuana."" Some other research backs up that number, although the studies are limited in scope and descriptiveness. Reports usually don’t show whether marijuana use was the cause of the accident or how long ago the drug was ingested, and are limited in several other ways. Marijuana, for example, can be detected in person’s system for weeks after ingestion. The study cited by the group also only measured drivers that died and were tested for drugs, a very specific scope that doesn’t tell the whole story. Experts warned it’s not wise to imply causation among marijuana users in fatal crashes, but a 25 percent rate of involvement has been established in some studies."
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mixture
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Drugs, Health Care, Florida, Don't Let Florida Go To Pot,
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"Medical marijuana opponents are taking to the streets to oppose Amendment 2, citing statistics that drugged driving would be a major side effect to legalizing cannabis. Don’t Let Florida Go To Pot, a coalition of more than 40 organizations fighting against the proposed medical marijuana amendment, says on its website that the drug is implicated in a fourth of all fatal accidents. ""Twenty five percent of all drug-related fatal vehicle accidents in the U.S. involve marijuana,"" the group says under the header ""Statistics"" (the number is repeated on an infographic on the site). Was marijuana a factor in a quarter of all fatal car accidents involving drugs? PolitiFact Florida hit the books to see what Don’t Let Florida Go To Pot was driving at. For the record First of all, we have to note this check began when we noticed on Aug. 4, 2014, that the Statistics page actually had the sentence, ""25 percent of all fatal vehicle accidents in the U.S. involve marijuana."" That certainly sounded like too much to us, so we asked the group about it. Eric Pounders, spokesman for the Florida Sheriffs Association, responded to our questions that evening by saying the statement included the phrase ""drug-related."" That’s not what we read, but it’s what the site says now. Pounders concluded that although the prior phrasing had been used as recently as three months ago, it had been clarified to be more accurate. He told PolitiFact Florida we may have ""encountered a previous version of the site that had been temporarily restored to fix an issue."" In any event, he said the 25 percent stat came from an October 2011 White House Office of National Drug Control Policy report that measured the rate of positive results among drivers that had been tested for drugs in fatal crashes between 2005-2009. The study used National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System data of accidents across 50 states in which the driver was killed and subsequently tested for drugs. The report noted that of the roughly 127,000 fatal crashes in that time frame, almost 78,000 drivers were tested for drugs. Winnowing down those results, positive tests for cannabinoids rose steadily from 22.6 to 26 percent between 2005 and 2008, dropping slightly to 25.3 percent in 2009. There are some problems with that data. First of all, there is no set procedure or uniform level of toxicity for drug testing among the states, as laws and protocols vary widely. The report says ""a positive test result does not necessarily imply impairment or causation,"" and says testing often is inaccurate. Furthermore, data in which a driver may have been using drugs but survived a crash in which someone else died is not included. There is often no universally accepted threshold of impairment for illicit drugs, the White House report says. There also is some question as to whether the specific presence of cannabinoids, including the main psychoactive chemical component, tetrahydrocannabinol, is an accurate indicator of impairment. The NHTSA states, ""It is difficult to establish a relationship between a person's THC blood or plasma concentration and performance impairing effects."" That’s in part because cannabinoids linger in a person’s system long after they’ve ingested the drug. ""Marijuana, unlike alcohol and most other drugs, stays in a person’s system for up to 30 days,"" says Ben Pollara, spokesman for United for Care, the group promoting Florida’s Amendment 2. ""So its presence in a person’s blood is not an indicator that they were impaired at the time of the accident."" That 25-percent figure seems to track with other studies of drug-related fatal crashes, however. One 2011 study from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Calverton, Md., examined fatal single-vehicle accidents between 1998 and 2009 that involved speeding, failure to obey or yield, inattention and failure to use a seat belt. That study found about 23 percent of those crashes involved cannabinoids, although the study adds the caveats that the drivers’ drug levels were not available, and those deaths most often involved speeding and the driver not using a seat belt. When you change the parameters of the research, the numbers vary. A 2014 Columbia University study looking at six states reported marijuana was present in 12 percent of accidents in 2010, up from 4 percent in 1999. A University of Colorado School of Medicine study released in May 2014 comparing Colorado to 34 other states concluded marijuana was present in 10 percent of fatal accidents by the end of 2011, as opposed to 4.5 percent at the beginning of 1994. But yet another study from 2012 from universities in Oregon, Montana and Colorado measured crashes in medical marijuana states. The study found that while instances of drugged driving went up in those places, total fatal accidents dropped somewhere between 8 and 11 percent overall. The possible reason, in a nutshell? Most people probably smoke their weed at home instead of driving home drunk from a bar, the study’s authors hypothesized. Alcohol still remains the most abused substance involved in fatal drug-related accidents -- as high as 60 percent, depending on the year and study. Montana State University economics professor D. Mark Anderson, one of the authors of the study showing a decrease in fatalities, said that the numbers didn’t supply a direct link between marijuana use and accidents. Indeed, none of the research PolitiFact Florida cited above claimed to establish a definite cause and effect. ""Maybe 25 percent of all people involved in fatal vehicle accidents also drank milk for breakfast,"" Anderson said. Our ruling Don’t Let Florida Go To Pot said, ""25 percent of all fatal drug-related vehicle accidents in the U.S. involve marijuana."" Some other research backs up that number, although the studies are limited in scope and descriptiveness. Reports usually don’t show whether marijuana use was the cause of the accident or how long ago the drug was ingested, and are limited in several other ways. Marijuana, for example, can be detected in person’s system for weeks after ingestion. The study cited by the group also only measured drivers that died and were tested for drugs, a very specific scope that doesn’t tell the whole story. Experts warned it’s not wise to imply causation among marijuana users in fatal crashes, but a 25 percent rate of involvement has been established in some studies."
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29165
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The Denver City Council recently legalized public urination and defecation.
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What's true: In May 2017 the Denver City Council passed a set of reforms that, among other provisions, lessened the penalties for public urination or defecation. What's false: The Denver City Council did not legalize public urination or defecation, as the separate and existing prohibitions on such behavior remained in place in the city's Code of Ordinances.
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false
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Politics, joe for america
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In early 2019, an old story re-emerged online claiming that authorities in the city of Denver, Colorado, had taken the step of legalizing public urination and defecation. On 17 January, the right-leaning web site “Joe for America” — started by the conservative commentator Joe “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher — re-published an article with the headline “It is now legal to defecate and urinate on Denver sidewalks,” an article which reported that: Denver, Colorado has decriminalized public defecation in order to make life easier for immigrants and the homeless … No Board of Health? That’s how diseases spread. Now every time I think of Denver I will see visions of poop and other body fluids on the sidewalk. People are required to dispose of dog poop and Denver is letting humans defecate any where they please. The Denver City Council had an unanimous vote to decriminalize the offense of people committing certain low-level crimes like lying in a public right-of-way, urinating in public and panhandling. After decriminalizing defecating on sidewalks, the Chamber of Commerce will probably rename Denver as the “Mile High Pile City”… Before the vote, all violations of the Denver municipal code were punishable by up to a year in jail and/or a fine of up to $999. The new ordinance creates a brand new sentencing category that carries out different penalties. Most municipal offenses will carry a maximum of 300 days in jail and up to a $999 fine. The new ordinance creates “Class 1” and “Class 2” offenses. The article was disseminated widely on Twitter and on Facebook, especially after Joe For America’s Facebook account “Freedom and the American Way” shared it on 13 February. The use of the word “now” in the headline created the misleading impression that the article described events that had taken place in early 2019. In reality, the article had been published in 2017 and had been updated and re-shared by Joe for America on several occasions since then, each time creating the false impression that Denver City Council had recently voted to make public urination and defecation legal. In reality, Denver City Council did not make it “legal to defecate and urinate on Denver sidewalks,” in 2017, 2018, or 2019. However, they did vote to implement lesser penalties for such antisocial behavior back in May 2017. Joe for America’s article featured significant plagiarism of an accurate 23 May 2017 report published by Denver television station KUSA, which stated: Denver City Council voted unanimously to lessen the punishment for people convicted of certain low-level crimes like lying in a public right-of-way, urinating in public, and panhandling. City leaders and immigrant rights advocates argued the changes will protect Denver’s immigrant community from facing unintended consequences. “Many times it becomes a deportable offense if you’ve been convicted of even a minor ordinance violation that’s punishable by a year in jail,” Mark Silverstein said, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado. Before the ordinance passed, all violations of Denver municipal code were punishable by up to a year in jail and/or a fine of up to $999. The ordinance creates new sentencing categories that carry different penalties. Most municipal offenses will carry a maximum of 300 days in jail and up to a $999 fine. The ordinance also creates “Class 1” and “Class 2” offenses. Class 1 offenses, which carry a maximum jail one-year jail sentence and/or a $999 fine. Class 2 offenses, which carry a maximum 60-day jail sentence and no fine. The “class 2” offenses are so-called “quality of life” offenses that often impact the homeless community. Denver’s Democratic mayor, Michael Hancock, introduced the set of reforms as Council Bill 17-0513 on 25 April 2017. The City Council unanimously voted in favor of them on 22 May, and Mayor Hancock signed the reforms on 25 May, thereby creating the new three-tiered structure for certain violations of city ordinances. The text of the bill made it clear that “urinating or defecating in public” remained an offense under the city of Denver’s Code of Ordinances, Title 2, Chapter 38.99: Sec 1-14. Offenses classified … (b) Class 2 Offenses (1) Any person convicted of a class 2 offense may, for each offense, be jailed not to exceed sixty (60) days. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit sentencing options that are otherwise available to the court, except that no person convicted of a class 2 offense shall be subject to any fine. (2) Class 2 offenses shall include the following … c. Sec. 38-99. Urinating or defecating in public. So in casting their votes on 22 May 2017, Denver City Council members were passing a set of ordinances that meant anyone convicted of public urination or defecation would be liable to a jail sentence of up to 60 days, although they would not face any fine. Before the bill was signed, a conviction for public urination or defecation could have yielded a prison sentence of up to one year and a fine of up to $999. Therefore, the claim that Denver City Council made it “legal to defecate or urinate on Denver sidewalks,” as Joe for America phrased it in their headline, was and is false. Indeed, the body of the article contained much more nuance than the headline, largely because it plagiarized an earlier KUSA-TV report which accurately described the lower penalties — but not legalization — that had been implemented for such antisocial offenses. Joe for America’s headline is therefore no more than sensationalist and inaccurate sharebait, made even more misleading by its use of the phrase “It is now legal,” which means that every time Joe for America re-publishes and reshares the story with its inaccurate headline, social media users are misled into believing they are reading recent news. In reality, the headline was as false in 2019 and 2018 as it was when it was first published in 2017.
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4361
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New chief of Global Fund says accountability is ‘imperative’.
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The new executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria says he is committed to ensuring the group is as transparent as possible about how its billions of dollars are spent to fight the three killer diseases.
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true
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Health, Malaria, Tuberculosis
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The Global Fund’s board appointed Peter Sands to be its new chief on Tuesday. Sands, a Briton, is a former chief executive officer of Standard Chartered Bank. In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Sands said it was “absolutely imperative” that the fund be able to demonstrate that the $4 billion it gives out annually to about 100 countries is used appropriately. “In places where infrastructure and governance issues are challenging, we have to be thoughtful about how we operate,” he said. Sands said he had already spoken to the Fund’s Inspector General and would be looking to tap into insights his office has gathered about how to effectively track grants. “We shouldn’t be content with gaps in accountability,” he said. The Global Fund is a partnership between governments, civil society and the private sector and gets most of its funds from donor countries. It has raised $13 billion for the 2017-2019 period, a rare increase in public health funding. It has been plagued, however, by corruption scandals that it has uncovered itself in recent years; since 2002, more than $111 million has gone missing. That figure is less than 1 percent of the $36 billion the fund has distributed in total. Of the missing $111 million, just over $70 million has been recovered. In some ways, the fund’s own transparency draws attention — few other international health agencies, including the World Health Organization, are as aggressive in reporting how their resources are used or attempt to claw back stolen goods. In a September report, the Global Fund found “gaps in internal financial control systems” in its Cambodia project, noting that the accounting software being used by the government was “very weak” and allowed officials to change payroll and other sensitive information without approval. Another report issued that same month on Burkina Faso revealed the Fund had spent more than 70,000 euros ($82,895) buying faulty motorbikes intended for use in a tuberculosis program. Sands said he was excited to take over the Global Fund and aims to work toward eliminating the epidemics of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, in line with previously stated United Nations goals. Although numerous health experts have doubted whether the three diseases can ever be truly wiped out — given the lack of effective vaccines for AIDS and malaria and the resistance problem in tuberculosis — Sands said setting the target was a worthy goal. “It really puts into focus what we need to do to help people worldwide.”
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28431
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Donald Trump donates his entire presidential salary and Melania Trump has a White House staff of only four, while President Obama donated nothing and First Lady Michelle Obama had a staff of 23.
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What's true: President Trump has so far donated his whole presidential salary to various agencies, and Michelle Obama's White House staff numbered about 23 in the latter part of her husband's administration. What's false: President Obama donated millions of dollars to charities during his time in office, and Melania Trump's White House staff is greater than just four people.
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mixture
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Politics, barack obama, donald trump, melania trump
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Rarely does a month go by without the emergence of a new Internet meme comparing the presidencies of Donald Trump and Barack Obama, typically favoring the former over the latter. In July 2018, we were alerted to a meme declaring that while President Trump donates all of his salary and First Lady Melania Trump makes do with a small White House staff of four people, President Obama donated none of his salary and First Lady Michelle Obama surrounded herself with a large staff of 23 attendants. “In life there’s givers and takers,” the post concluded. It was straightforward, to the point, and grossly misleading all at the same time: As for President Trump’s donating all of his presidential salary (as he promised to do during his campaign), to date that is an accurate statement. We reported previously that Trump has so far written a personal check each quarter in an amount equivalent to one-fourth of his annual salary to the following federal agencies: the National Park Service, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the Department of Homeland Security. Former president Barack Obama, on the other hand, did not convert his entire presidential salary into donations (nor did he promise to), but it’s false to say he donated “none” of it. According to Forbes, President Obama donated some $1.1 million (an amount representing 34% of the $3.2 million aggregate salary he received over eight years in office) to charitable causes during his term in office. This is a partial accounting of those donations: The biggest recipient was the Fisher House Foundation, which supports families of veterans and received $392,000 from the former commander in chief from 2009 to 2015. That money appears to have come from sales of Obama’s children’s book Of Thee I Sing. Just before entering the White House, Obama finished a manuscript for the book, which he published with Random House. Obama pledged to donate all of his post-tax proceeds from the book to the Fisher House Foundation to support a scholarship fund for children of wounded and fallen soldiers. He gave away $190,000 more to children’s causes, including $48,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs. He also gave away $19,500 to the Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit. Another $13,500 went to the Christopher House, a Chicago-based group that supports poor working families. Even after he moved to Washington, Obama remained loyal to his Chicago roots. He poured $11,500 into the Midtown Educational Foundation, which offers enrichment programs to poor urban youth in the Windy City, and he gave $20,500 to two groups fighting hunger in Illinois. President Obama handed out his own money after national tragedies. He gave $2,000 to a fund for families affected by the Boston bombing in 2013 and another $2,000 to the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, which promotes gun control, three years after a shooter terrorized Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. Obama gave $5,000 to the Beau Biden Foundation, which supports children’s causes, in 2015, the same year former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Beau, passed away. President Obama also more than doubled that charitable total by also donating the entire $1.4 million he received as the winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to ten different organizations: – $250,000 to Fisher House, a national nonprofit organization providing accommodation for families of patients receiving medical care at military and Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers. – $200,000 to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, which was set up in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake to help survivors. – $125,000 to College Summit, a national nonprofit organization to increase college enrollment rates. – $125,000 to the Posse Foundation, which awards scholarships to promising public high school students. – $125,000 to the United Negro College Fund. – $125,000 to the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. _ $125,000 to the American Indian College Fund. – $125,000 to the Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation. – $100,000 to AfriCare, which promotes health, food security and access to water primarily in Africa. – $100,000 to the Central Asia Institute, which promotes education and literacy, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Taken together, all those donations represented more than 78% of the total salary President Obama was paid during his time in the White House. Although President Obama’s donations may have amounted to a lesser percentage of his presidential salary than the 100% President Trump is projected to donate over the course of his presidency, the comparison is a lopsided one unless one takes into account that Trump entered office with a reported net worth in the multi-billions, while the Obamas’ combined wealth was a bare fraction of that. Trump didn’t need his presidential salary, and he said as much — before Trump took office, the only presidents who had donated their entire salaries were John F. Kennedy and Herbert Hoover, both of whom were also independently wealthy. The matter of the first ladies’ staff sizes is similarly prone to misrepresentation. A rumor that circulated while the Obamas were still in the White House alleged that Michelle Obama had an “unprecedented” number of staffers working for her, but in fact her staff, which totaled between 22 and 24 employees, was comparable in size to that of Laura Bush during the final year of the George W. Bush administration. (And their staffs paled beside those of Lady Bird Johnson and Betty Ford, each of whom had around 30 employees, and Jackie Kennedy, who reportedly had about 40.) Things get more complicated when it comes to Melania Trump. For one thing, she didn’t move into the White House until 11 June 2017, five months into her husband’s presidency. For another, she was far less active during her inaugural year as first lady than her immediate predecessors. Does Melania Trump have a smaller staff than Michelle Obama? Yes, but the disparity is smaller than alleged. The claim that she only has four staff members is based on the 2017 annual report to Congress on White House office personnel. That report does list exactly four staff members whose titles link them directly to the first lady, but it is neither a full nor a current count, for the following reasons: First, the report was published on 1 July 2017, only slightly more than two weeks after Melania Trump moved into the East Wing. Her staff was skeletal then, at best. Second, if we apply the same criteria used to arrive at a count of Michelle Obama’s staff, at least two employees who aren’t directly linked to the first lady by title must also be included: special assistant to the president/White House social secretary, and deputy social secretary. Those positions alone bring the total size of Melania Trump’s staff in her first two weeks in the White House to six. Lastly, for whatever reasons, the annual reports to Congress don’t list the first lady’s entire staff. For example, in January 2018 Melania hired three new employees, but only one of those is accounted for in the 1 July 2018 report. Statements made to the press by the first lady’s communications director, Stephanie Grisham (who did not respond to our request for an updated list), indicated Melania Trump’s staff numbered nine employees as of October 2017. Her three new hires in January 2018 would have brought that total to 12 staffers — a total still lower than Michelle Obama’s, but triple the mere four claimed of her. The meme under discussion, therefore, deploys inaccurate numbers and misleading comparisons to portray the Trumps as “givers” and the Obamas as “takers.”
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27252
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Detained immigrant children were strapped to chairs with bags over their heads.
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According to the Associated Press, SVJC is “one of only three juvenile detention facilities in the United States with federal contracts to provide ‘secure placement’ for children who had problems at less-restrictive housing.” Roughly half the beds at any time are filled with migrant children aged 12 to 17 wading through either deportation proceedings or asylum cases. Children can languish in the facility for months or even years because “Virginia ranks among the worst states in the nation for wait times in federal immigration courts, with an average of 806 days before a ruling.” The lawsuit alleges Doe’s psychological state deteriorated due to his continued detention there.
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true
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Politics, immigrant children, immigration, zero tolerance
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In mid-August 2018, the state of Virginia made public the findings of an investigation detailing conditions inside the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center, several weeks after after the Associated Press reported multiple migrant children detained there had alleged abuse that included beatings and being tied down to chairs with bags over their heads. A class action lawsuit was filed on 4 October 2017 on behalf of a 17-year-old asylum seeker (identified in court documents as Doe) from Mexico who had fled his home two years earlier seeking refuge in the United States from an abusive father and drug cartel violence. The lawsuit alleges that staff at the Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center (SVJC) discriminated against Doe and other unaccompanied children from Mexico and Central America and abused them both verbally and physically. The suit also alleges that although Doe and other children exhibited signs of significant psychological distress including a suicide attempt, “staff are deliberately indifferent to the children’s serious mental health needs.” Children as young as 14 years old said they had been stripped and restrained to chairs with “bags” over their heads, according to the 21 June 2018 Associated Press report: Multiple detainees say the guards stripped them of their clothes and strapped them to chairs with bags placed over their heads. “Whenever they used to restrain me and put me in the chair, they would handcuff me,” said a Honduran immigrant who was sent to the facility when he was 15 years old. “Strapped me down all the way, from your feet all the way to your chest, you couldn’t really move … They have total control over you. They also put a bag over your head. It has little holes; you can see through it. But you feel suffocated with the bag on.” The reports prompted some readers to ask if they were true because, “this is just too draconian to believe.” The treatment of migrant children has been the center of fraught focus and public outcry due to harsh immigration policies adopted by the Trump administration. It is true that migrant kids detained at SVJC were tied down to chairs, and the “bags” children said were placed over their heads were “mesh spit guards,” according to the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) report released on 13 August 2018, which stated that the “The restraint chair is used for out-of-control residents who cannot be safely restrained by less intrusive methods. While in the chair, a mesh spit guard can be placed on the resident’s head to prevent spitting or biting.” Although the lawsuit was filed in late 2017, the related story was initially reported by the news media in June 2018 at the height of blow back against President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, under which children were taken from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. The specter of roughed-up and restrained migrant children with bags placed over their heads added to already present anger over such policies and prompted protests at the facility, spurring the governor to call for a state investigation. The the accusations against SVJC staff made in the lawsuit are serious and allege that physical violence and punitive confinement, along with humiliation and racist insults, were routine, according to court documents: For example, Doe once became so frustrated by a staff member’s repeated taunting that he pushed the staff member. In response, four SVJC staff members shoved Doe to the floor and piled on top of him, and they began hitting him in his abdomen with their elbows. Doe sustained significant bruising as a result. On another occasion, Doe asked to come inside during his recreation time because he had a headache. SVJC staff suspected, for no apparent reason, that he may have found a piece of glass outside. Doe was thrown to the ground and forcibly strip searched, and his clothes were shredded. Though they found no contraband items, staff nevertheless transferred Doe to Alpha Pod — the pod designated for children who have engaged in bad behavior — in response to this incident. Other immigrant detainees have reported similar incidents of being physically assaulted by SVJC staff after verbal altercations with them … SVJC staff also exert their control in a way that is intended to demean and humiliate the children. Several immigrant detainees have reported being stripped of their clothes, occasionally including their underwear, while being placed on “restriction,” or confined to their rooms, as a form of punishment. There is no legitimate penological justification for such behavior. SVJC staff also subject the immigrant youth to disparate discipline, doling out harsher punishments to the immigrant youth than to juvenile offenders who have engaged in the same or considerably worse behavior. Upon information and belief, the majority of the local juvenile offenders detained at SVJC are Caucasian and were born in the U.S The lawsuit alleges that immigrant children, who made up a significant number of detainees at the facility, were often treated worse than youngsters being held on criminal charges, despite the fact their cases were civil in nature. According to the state report, neither DJJ nor Child Protective Services found evidence during their investigation that rose to the level of criminal neglect or abuse at the facility. However, state investigators acknowledged that because the children making the allegations of abuse were federal detainees, they were not able to access those children for direct interviews nor access their records: During this investigation DJJ staff found no life, health, or safety violations for youth in ORR’s custody who have been placed at SVJC. Likewise, CPS, in their investigation, did not find evidence to support allegations of abuse or neglect. The team did find that the SVJC is a well-run facility that attempts to treat its staff and residents with respect and dignity … In addition, DJJ identified a gap in its certification authority over local detention centers which is that, without permission from the custodian agency [the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement], DJJ does not have access to the records of youth, nor the youth themselves, who are in the custody of ORR or other third parties. State authorities made several recommendations, including staff training for dealing with traumatized youth and cultural sensitivity, and clarifying procedures for restraining detainees. They also recommended that any third-party contractors be required to allow state investigators to have access to all children detained there.
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32252
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A photograph shows an African tribe performing a ritual to reconnect a misbehaving person with his good nature.
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It should come as no surprise that the misidentified image is marked with the name of David “Avocado” Wolfe, who is single-handedly responsible for a disproportionate share of the misinformation to be found on the Internet.
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false
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Fauxtography, david avocado wolfe, People, soccer
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A photograph of a young man is frequently circulated online with the claim that it depicts a member of an “African tribe” who practice a unique method for encouraging good behavior from misbehaving tribe members: Of course, additional information — such as the name of the tribe or the part of Africa they inhabit — is suspiciously lacking. Although it’s possible some community in Africa holds a ritual like the one described, the photograph displayed above doesn’t capture it. The image seen here was taken in Ghana in 2008 by photographer Jessica Hilltout, who set out to visit several African countries in order to take “a different look the meaning of football in Africa.” Accordingly, this picture represents a young man posed with his football team, engaging in a “spontaneous gesture” before a recreational sporting match: This is one of my favorite images. This young footballer is called Tawfig. I spent six days in his village. The main activity here is farming. Everyday around 4pm the boys gather on the field and play football after farming. Football is a way of getting ridding of stress after a long day in the fields. Football is precious, its a necessity. The heat of the day is disappearing, the field is surrounded by spectators, the boys play with an amazing energy. No rules just fun and fair play. You hear giggling, laughter, oooooing aaaahhhing, the chickens and the goats wandering or grazing off the edge of the field, a young girl sells nuts … Then the light falls and within minutes the field is empty, everyone goes home, relaxed, exhausted, smiling, ready to eat, sleep and start a new day. In this image, I made group shot of Tawfig’s team. A magical moment came and went. I saw Tawfig through my lens, eyes closed, hand to heart … a spontaneous gesture. For me this image breathes belief, passion, love, happiness and that special pulsating energy which is unique to the African continent. I was very keen on taking a different look at the meaning of football in Africa. There was no real planning for the nine month trip. I flew to Cape Town with a Hasselblad, an 80 mm lens, 300 rolls of film, a digital camera, my log book, a mini printer and a stock of new footballs. 15,000 km later I returned the car to my Dad. Then I set off to Accra, Ghana, where I got a Nissan Vanette. I build a bed for the inside. I had four boxes; one for footballs, one for food and the other two for clothes and film. This mobile home took me 5,000 km across six countries in West Africa. Throughout the trip I had exchanged manufactured footballs for homemade ones. Back in South Africa, I found myself with thirty-five such balls and realized the extent to which they represented the essence of my trip and the heart of the project. I am looking to exchange the 35 balls I collected for equipment for all the players that made this project come to life… so that they can keep on playing the game they love
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8799
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Study shows RAD001 froze kidney cancer for a year.
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Nearly two-thirds of kidney cancer patients taking Novartis AG’s RAD001 had progression of their disease delayed by a year, a significantly better result than in those taking placebo, investigators said.
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true
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Health News
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The disease did not progress for one year in 65 percent of patients taking the once-daily RAD001 tablet, compared to 37 percent in those taking placebo, according to detailed results from a late-stage trial, which was stopped early because it met its main target. The drug is also known as everolimus and works by blocking a protein known as mTOR and hence disrupting the growth, division and metabolism of cancer cells. “RAD001 resulted in a statistically and clinically significant improvement in progression free survival over placebo with a favorable safety profile in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma,” the investigators wrote. The investigators’ written summary was presented ahead of an American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference. Full results of the trial are due to be presented at ASCO, which starts May 30. There were 410 patients in the trial, 272 taking RAD001 and 138 placebo. Novartis has said it intends to file the drug for regulatory approval later this year. The study assessed patients whose cancer had worsened despite receiving approved treatments for renal cancer, such as Bayer AG’s Nexavar or Pfizer Inc’s Sutent, or both.
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7912
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Thailand warns of coronavirus danger of sharing drinks, cigarettes.
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Thailand issued a new coronavirus warning to the party-going public on Friday after a cluster of 13 cases was traced to a group of friends who shared cigarettes and drinks.
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true
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Health News
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Sukhum Kanchanapimai, the health ministry’s permanent secretary, told reporters some friends who met up were responsible for the highest daily jump of 11 new coronavirus cases, reported on Thursday. “There was inappropriate behaviour, sharing drinks, cigarettes and not avoiding social activities after returning from an at-risk country,” Sukhum said. One of the friends had been earlier been in contact with tourists from Hong Kong. “Don’t share cigarettes and drinks,” Sukhum warned. Thailand on Friday raised its official coronavirus count by five cases on Friday, bringing the total to 75. Three of the cases reported on Friday are connected to a confirmed patient who returned from South Korea and went out with friends and family, including the three, to an entertainment venue before being quarantined, he said. Officials were monitoring the condition of eight other people linked to that case. One person has died of the virus in Thailand. Thirty-five people have recovered and been discharged from hospital.
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29417
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A very spicy pepper burned a hole through a man's esophagus.
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What's true: A man ended up with a torn esophagus after eating an extremely spicy pepper. What's false: The heat from the pepper did not burn a hole in his throat.
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false
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Uncategorized, capsaicin, ghost pepper, spicy food
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In October 2016, a story cropped up about a 47-year-old man who ate a ghost pepper and then went to the hospital with a one-inch tear in his esophagus. The story was picked up by numerous media outlets from a study published in the Journal of Emergency Medicine titled “Esophageal Rupture After Ghost Pepper Ingestion.” In many cases, that title was spun into a sensational headline about a ghost pepper burning a hole in the man’s throat. “‘Ghost Pepper’ Burns Hole in Man’s Esophagus,” said WebMD. “Ghost pepper burns a 1-inch hole in man’s esophagus,” said the New York Daily News, repeated almost word for word by local news affiliates. Even Time magazine got in on it (telling us: “A Man Ate a Ghost Pepper So Hot He Ripped a Hole in His Esophagus,” closer to the truth but still misleading). Typical of the reporting behind these clickbait headlines is the following blurb from the Washington Post: But, demonstrated by a rare though severe incident reported recently in the Journal of Emergency Medicine, super hot peppers can cause bodily harm. A 47-year-old man, unnamed in the case study, attempted a super-spicy feat — eating a hamburger served with a ghost pepper puree — and tore a hole in his esophagus. That makes ghost peppers sound particularly dangerous, and in all fairness India’s bhut jolokia, popularly known as the ghost pepper, is one of the hottest peppers in the world. It burns up most of the competition on the Scoville heat scale, landing somewhere in the range of 1 million units, depending on growth and testing methods. For comparison, jalapeños usually measure around 2,500-5,000 units. If you eat a ghost pepper, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll find yourself suffering from “nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and burning diarrhea” produced by ingesting ghost peppers. There’s no question that ghost peppers really, really burn. But can they burn or tear holes in you? To answer, we first need to take a look at capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot chili peppers. This compound is found in the highest concentration hugging the seeds inside the pepper. Indeed, ingesting capsaicin will certainly make you feel like you’re on fire on the inside, but there is no actual burning taking place. That’s why capsaicin is classified as an irritant — it doesn’t literally burn you, it simply produces the sensation of burning. In fact, capsaicin is used as an ingredient in analgesics (painkillers); in low concentrations, it has the effect of soothing pain from arthritis and other chronic conditions and has been shown to promote gastric protection. Notably, capsaicin plays an important role in the reproductive cycle of chili peppers. The burn is a defense mechanism. Ghost peppers, and in fact all chili peppers that “burn” with capsaicin, are simply protecting themselves from predators: The primary function of ripe, fleshy fruit is to facilitate seed dispersal by attracting consumers, yet many fruits contain unpleasant-tasting chemicals that deter consumption by vertebrates. Here we investigate this paradox in the chili (Capsicum) and find that capsaicin, the chemical responsible for the fruit’s peppery heat, selectively discourages vertebrate predators without deterring more effective seed dispersers. Lately there’s been a spate of YouTube videos portraying people who eat ghost peppers for the challenge of it. Most recover pretty quickly after a bout with a ghost pepper, but every once in a while there’s a nasty side effect. That’s what happened with the aforementioned 47-year-old. As most of the sensationalized stories will admit if you read past the headline, that man experienced a rare surgical emergency called spontaneous esophageal perforation, which according to the National Institutes of Health is also known as Boerhaave syndrome: Boerhaave syndrome (BS) is a very rare surgical emergency, most usually diagnosed in men aged 50-70 years after heavy meal ingestion combined with abundant alcohol consumption. … The pathogenesis involves sudden pressure increase caused by forceful vomiting against a closed glottis because of incomplete cricopharyngeal relaxation. In other words, if vomit can’t take the front door because your throat muscles are locked up, it will find another way out. The man in question had eaten a burger topped with ghost pepper purée, but it was the resulting complications — not the ghost pepper itself — that led to the perforation. In conclusion, ghost peppers can’t burn, rip, tear, or give you a hole in your esophagus, or any other body part. Or anything at all, for that matter.
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26298
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Chip Roy Says Wisconsin has not had a spike in coronavirus cases that was “statistically significant related to the fact that they had voting.”
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Wisconsin has linked 67 cases to the April 7 primary election in the state, a small portion of the state's overall cases. Health officials said there has not been a spike in coronavirus cases that can be tied to the election. But they said it may be impossible to assess the true impact of the election, given the uncertainty of the data.
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true
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Texas, Wisconsin, Coronavirus, Chip Roy,
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"During a video interview with the Texas Tribune, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican from Austin, discussed the status of coronavirus in the state and spoke about a number of policies under consideration — including whether mail-in voting should be expanded for the general election in November. Citing concerns about voter fraud, Roy said it doesn’t make sense to ""flip our system on its head and convert to all, or significant, mail voting"" or online voting. Instead, he said state officials should be able to find a way to make in-person voting safe by the time the November election rolls around. He pointed to Wisconsin as evidence that in-person voting could be safe, even during a pandemic. Wisconsin’s presidential primary election was held April 7, after a legal fight and much public debate about whether it was safe for voters to go to the polls in the middle of the pandemic. ""If you look at Wisconsin, I’ve yet to see a spike or anything (in coronavirus cases) that anybody has said was statistically significant related to the fact that they had voting,"" Roy said. Evan Smith, chief executive officer of the Texas Tribune, interjected and said: ""In fact, the Wisconsin Health Department said that 36 people at least are believed to have gotten the virus as a consequence of voting in person. There has been reporting on this."" Roy replied: ""I’ve looked at that report and I’ve looked at studies and I’ve not seen any significant study that has shown a spike as a result of their election. By the way, that was in the heat of the initial outbreak a few weeks ago. What we’re talking about is laying out a system where this can work, and we’ve got until November to do it."" PolitiFact Wisconsin has examined other claims related to its election, but is it true that there was no statistically significant spike in COVID-19 cases as a result of the election? Roy’s office did not return a request for comment. Tracking cases In the weeks since April 7, health experts in Wisconsin have attempted to track the number of COVID-19 cases with links to the election. The tally includes people who tested positive for COVID-19 after April 9 who reported having voted in person or who worked at the polls on the day of the election. The tally does not include people who voted or worked the polls but started to display symptoms after April 21. As of May 7, Wisconsin had identified 67 people who fit this criteria, according to Jennifer Miller, spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. But that does not guarantee that these individuals contracted the virus while voting, a point state health officials have emphasized. In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (a PolitiFact Wisconsin partner), Darren Rausch, lead for the Milwaukee County COVID-19 Epidemiology Intel Team, said the election’s timing makes it difficult to link cases to the voting. ""What complicated our analysis is also included in this time frame is both the Easter and Passover holiday weekends, and both of those included the opportunity for significant breaches of the safer-at-home order,"" he said. ""So that was complicating our work from the beginning."" In total, Wisconsin had reported 8,901 cumulative positive coronavirus tests on May 6, when Roy made this statement. That total includes 335 new cases recorded that day. On election day, an estimated 413,000 people voted in person across Wisconsin, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Experts said a surge tied to the election would have appeared in statewide data at the end of April, given the incubation period of the coronavirus. But, no surge appeared. One factor could be mitigation efforts in place across the state at the time, as cellphone data analyzed by researchers showed residents complying with stay-at-home orders in the week after the election. Since then, the number of cases linked to the election increased from about 40 to 67. Dr. Ryan Westergaard, the chief medical officer at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, said there is reason to believe the election did expose some individuals to the virus, but there is not enough data to point towards a statewide trend. ""With the data we have, we can't prove an association,"" Westergaard said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. ""It would be speculative to say that was definitely the cause without really investigating closely and being clear that somebody really had no other potential exposure to infected people. I don’t think we have the resources to really do that to know definitely."" Public figures have repeatedly tried to connect trends in coronavirus cases in Wisconsin with the election, but other factors have impacted the data. On April 22, the state saw a spike in cases, but the spike was tied to outbreaks at meatpacking plants in the state — not the election. A different spike, identified earlier in April, was due to a change in the number of tests being administered. Facebook posts suggested that the state was seeing more cases, but this was due to a dip in the number of tests administered and a subsequent increase in testing. Our ruling Roy said Wisconsin has not had a spike in coronavirus cases that was ""statistically significant related to the fact that they had voting."" Wisconsin has linked 67 coronavirus cases to the April 7 primary election in the state, a small fraction of the state’s total cases. But the data is limited. Health officials said there is significant uncertainty surrounding these figures, and the election’s true impact might be impossible to determine."
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162
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Big Oil undermines U.N. climate goals with $50 billion of new projects: report.
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Major oil companies have approved $50 billion of projects since last year that will not be economically viable if governments implement the Paris Agreement on climate change, think-tank Carbon Tracker said in a report published on Friday.
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true
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Environment
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The analysis found that investment plans by Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), BP (BP.L) and ExxonMobil (XOM.N) among other companies will not be compatible with the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. “Every oil major is betting heavily against a 1.5 degree Celsius world and investing in projects that are contrary to the Paris goals,” said report co-author Andrew Grant, a former natural resources analyst at Barclays. (Graphic: Carbon Tracker 2 link: here) Big oil and gas companies have welcomed the U.N.-backed Paris Agreement, in which governments agreed to curb greenhouse gas emissions enough to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, or “well below” 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Scientists view 1.5 degrees Celsius as a tipping point where climate impacts such as sea-level rise, natural disasters, forced migration, failed harvests and deadly heatwaves will rapidly start to intensify if it is breached. Carbon Tracker’s analysis, co-authored by Mike Coffin, a former geologist at BP, found that 18 newly approved oil and gas projects worth $50 billion could be left “deep out of the money” in a lower carbon world. The projects include Shell’s $13 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) Canada LNG project, a $4.3 billion oilfield expansion project in Azerbaijan owned by BP, Exxon, Chevron (CVX.N) and Equinor (EQNR.OL), and a $1.3 billion deepwater project in Angola operated by BP, Exxon, Chevron, Total (TOTF.PA) and Equinor. The report also concluded that oil and gas companies risk “wasting” $2.2 trillion by 2030 on new projects if governments apply stricter curbs on greenhouse gas emissions. Previous reports on the implications of climate change for oil and gas companies by Carbon Tracker and other researchers have contributed to a wave of investor pressure on majors to show that their investments are aligned with the Paris goals. While some companies including Shell, BP, Total and Equinor have increased spending on renewable energy and introduced carbon reduction targets, the sector says it needs to continue investing in new projects to meet future demand for oil and gas as Asian economies expand. Shell said in a statement that it has set out an “ambition” to halve net carbon emissions by 2050 “in step with society as it moves towards meeting the aims of Paris.” “As the energy system evolves, so is our business, to provide the mix of products that our customers need,” Shell said. BP said its strategy to produce low cost and low carbon oil and gas was in line with the International Energy Agency (IEA)forecasts and the Paris agreement. “All of this is aimed at evolving BP from an oil and gas focused company to a much broader energy company so that we are best equipped to help the world get to net zero while meeting rising energy demand,” the company said in a statement. Chevron said in a statement that while it was tracking policy changes around climate, “most outlooks we track conclude that oil and gas demand will continue to grow over the coming decades.” Exxon, Equinor and Total did not reply to requests for comment. Nevertheless, the latest Carbon Tracker report said the big oil and gas companies spent at least 30% of their investment last year on projects that are inconsistent with the path to limit global warming to even 1.6 degrees Celsius. “These projects represent an imminent challenge for investors and companies looking to align with climate goals,” the report warned. Carbon Tracker’s calculations were based on three scenarios produced by the Paris-based IEA models of oil and gas supply under different warming pathways. With fossil fuel supply on course to outstrip demand if the world is to limit warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, the report assumed that the projects with the lowest production costs would be the most competitive. “Demand for oil can be satisfied with projects that break even at below $40 per barrel and pursuing higher-cost projects risks creating stranded assets that will never deliver adequate returns,” the report said. Benchmark crude futures were trading at around $62 per barrel on Thursday. (Graphic: Carbon Tracker link: here)
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32007
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Mike Pence credited 'gay conversion therapy' with saving his marriage.
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Novartis’s shift into high-tech drugs won praise for providing patients with new options but criticism over prices that may run into the millions of dollars at the Swiss drugmaker’s annual general meeting on Thursday.
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false
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Junk News, gay conversion therapy, mike pence, nevada county scooper
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Shareholders at the event in Basel also approved Novartis’s planned spin-off of its Alcon eyecare unit, due for coming months, with investors with five Novartis shares due to receive one share of Alcon stock. Swiss shareholder group Actares said insurance systems are being “taken hostage” by high prices for life-saving drugs. It called out Novartis’s $475,000 cancer cell therapy Kymriah and its still-unapproved gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy that Novartis contends is cost-effective at $4-$5 million per patient, while independent groups have concluded its value is less than that. Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan, who did not testify this week before the U.S. Senate with other global drug industry executives also facing criticism for drug prices, said he seeks to price medicines based on their value, adding Novartis needs a fair return to further research and development. “With respect to pricing in cell and gene therapies, I think what’s often lost in the discussion is the remarkable impact of these medicines,” Narasimhan said. “These are true breakthroughs that come from a single infusion of a medicine that don’t require lifelong therapy.” Actares President Veronika Hendry said high drug prices present society with difficult questions over access. “With this business model you are taking hostage an insurance system that depends on solidarity,” Hendry said. “There’s currently a broad discussion going on over exorbitant drug prices, and this discussion is creating resentment and disbelief.”
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3666
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To battle opioid crisis, some track overdoses in real time.
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Drug overdose patients rushed to some emergency rooms in New York’s Hudson Valley are asked a series of questions: Do you have stable housing? Do you have food? Times and location of overdoses are noted, too.
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true
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Opioids, New York, General News, Technology, AP Top News, Science, Health, U.S. News
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The information is entered into a new overdose-tracking system that provides near real-time glimpses into the ravages of the opioid-fueled drug crisis. The Hudson Valley Interlink Analytic System is among a number of surveillance systems being adopted around the country by police, government agencies and community groups. While the number of drug overdose deaths appears to have fallen nationally in 2018 for the first time in nearly three decades, the overdose death rate remains about seven times higher than a generation ago. If there’s a spike in overdoses, the system will send text alerts to health administrators and community workers. And system users can see what drugs are being abused for faster and focused responses to the ever-evolving problem. “We can’t get ahead of a situation that’s already passed. This kind of information has to be given almost instantaneously or else the narcotics that we’re trying to track have already been sold, and they’re already on to the next batch,” said Sgt. Julio Fernandez of the New York National Guard’s Counterdrug Task Force, which helped usher in the system. The Hudson Valley system was adopted earlier this year by two hospitals north of New York City serving areas hard-hit by drug abuse: St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh and Ellenville Regional Hospital. Administrators say nearby Catskill Regional Medical Center is ready to enter information and that Orange Regional Medical Center in Middletown will begin data entry next month. Administrators are talking to other hospitals in the region about signing up. When a patient comes in, a nurse or another worker enters data about the overdose and the drug. Patients retain their legally required anonymity, but system users can still glean general information about the age, gender and housing status of people in trouble. The idea is to “get that information out there as efficiently and as quickly as we can,” said Daniel Maughan, a senior vice president at St. Luke’s. The data has helped track the rise of fentanyl being laced into cocaine, Fernandez said. Dawn Wilkin, director of prevention services at Catholic Charities of Orange, Sullivan, & Ulster, said the system has guided workers on where to conduct needle cleanup within days, instead of waiting a week or more. Wilkin said there have been no text alerts to warn of a spike in overdoses sent out yet, likely due in part to a drop in overdoses locally. Participation by patients is voluntary. If someone is unresponsive or unwilling to answer questions, workers enter the data that’s available. Kathy Sheehan, director of emergency and trauma services at St. Luke’s, said many patients cooperate, though there are just as many others who are not willing to speak. “They’re private,” she said, “they’re maybe afraid of the repercussions.” Around the country, workers on the front lines of the opioid crisis are looking to speedier data access as part of their prevention strategy. In northeastern Minnesota, a pilot system involving six hospitals uses information from case reports submitted by emergency room staff to quickly provide health officials with warnings about overdose clusters or unusual symptoms. The Minnesota Drug Overdose and Substance Use Surveillance Activity system also analyzes blood or urine samples from a subset of patients to be able to detect patient exposure to fentanyl or other substances. In Michigan, the System for Opioid Overdose Surveillance processes data from medical examiners and from EMS encounters in which overdose-reversing naloxone was administered. The system maintained by the University of Michigan Injury Prevention Center sends out reports to county health departments and other users. The most ubiquitous surveillance system is the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program, or ODMAP. The system allows first responders and others to enter data on suspected overdoses, including locations, times, naloxone dosages, victim ages and suspected drugs. The system designed by the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program in the Washington/Baltimore area sends out spike alerts to police and other agencies. Launched as a pilot in January 2017, it is now in 48 states. Officials in Oneida County using ODMAP in upstate New York last month were able to marshal forces after receiving a spike alert notification for 21 overdose reports and four fatalities suspected to be associated with heroin within 15 days. The Hudson Valley system gathers much of the same data as ODMAP, though Wilkin said it also collects information on patients’ housing and transportation status to give system users additional insights into the social conditions of people fighting addictions. The Hudson Valley groups had been logging local overdose data on to a shared Google Document before health-care IT consultant Marisa Barbieri volunteered to create the current system. She designed a dashboard to give users an at-a-glance look overdose trends. She hopes to add a feature to warn where deadly batches of drugs are headed next, similar to how meteorologists track of deadly storms. “We need to be able to predict when a cluster is forming,” she said. “I don’t want to see on the news that 12 people died. I want a system to be watching.”
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10584
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Implant Device Can Treat Clinical Depression
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This story reports on vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) as a newer method for treating people with depression; however, it is currently approved only for people with treatment resistant depression, that is, depression that has not responded to trials of at least four medications and/or electroshock therapy. While the story does mention these other treatment options, it is out of balance when it portrays anti-depressant medications as “risky”. The surgery for VNS carries greater short-term risk than a trial of anti-depressant medications. The story also does not mention talk therapy, which when used in conjunction with medications may help people with clinical depression. The story also does not mention that VNS is typically used in conjunction with other forms of depression therapies, such as medication and talk therapy. No evidence is given to support the statement that most people with clinical depression never receive treatment. The story does not provide quantitative evidence of the effectiveness of VNS in relieving depression or preventing suicide in people with treatment resistant depression, which does a real disservice to the viewer. The story does not explain the benefit of VNS over existing treatments for depression, or the clinical trials which showed no significant effect of the device. The story mentions that changes in voice are the “only side effect†of VNS. This is not true. In clinical trials, side effects from vagus nerve stimulation included tickling in the throat, hoarseness or temporary change in voice tone, and shortness of breath upon exertion, and these were described as are mild to moderate. The story also does not discuss the potential harms of surgery and general anesthesia. Lastly, the story does not provide the cost of the device or surgery for implantation, which is approximately $20,000. Patients also typically require regular visits to physicians for adjustments to the device. The cost of these follow-up visits is not mentioned. Even though the VNS candidate in this story could not get his health insurance to pay for this treatment, insurance benefits for VNS therapy vary by health plan. The comment that 12 people died because they did not receive a VNS device in a timely manner is an overstatement. We do not know that VNS therapy would have prevented their deaths.
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false
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The story does not provide the cost of the vagus nerve stimulator (VNS) or surgery for implantation of the device, which is $20,000. Patients also typically require regular visits to physicians for adjustments to the device. The cost of these follow-up visits is not mentioned. Even though the VNS candidate in this story could not get insurance to pay for this treatment, insurance benefits for VNS therapy vary by insurance carrier. The comment that 12 people died because they did not receive a VNS device in a timely manner is an overstatement. We do not know that VNS therapy would have prevented their deaths. The story does not mention the benefit of VNS over existing treatments for depression. Clinical trials on which the device was approved showed that there was a benefit in only about 3 out of every 10 people after about one year. Other therapies often need to be continued in conjunction with VNS. Also, the story states that the device saved this patients live “for sure”, which is not true. The story mentions that changes in voice are the only side effect of the VNS device. This is not true. In clinical trials, side effects from vagus nerve stimulation include tickling in the throat, hoarseness or temporary change in voice tone, and shortness of breath upon exertion, and these were described as are mild to moderate. The story also does not discuss the potential harms of surgery and general anesthesia. The story does not provide evidence of the effectives of VNS in relieving depression or preventing suicide in people with treatment resistant depression. The only controlled trial of this device showed no effect. The story does an important disservice because it does not report on the available evidence The story states that 40,000 people commit suicide each year. This number is high for the incidence of suicides in U.S, but the bigger issue is that depression and related suicidality is not solely responsible for these deaths. Also, depression may co-exist with alcohol and substance abuse, psychosis, or other mental or physical illnesses which may contribute to successful suicide attempts. The story relies on anecdotal information from one person for whom the VNS was a success. The physician interviewed is a psychiatrist treating this patient and he only describes how the device works, not the risks and benefits. Other perspectives from specialists in treatment resistant depression or VNS surgery are needed for greater perspective on this treatment. The story does mention other treatment options for depression such as medications and electroshock therapy. However, the story is out of balance when it portrays medications as “risky”. The surgery for VNS implantation carries more short-term risk than a trial of most anti-depressant medications. The story also does not mention talk therapy, which when used in conjunction with medications may help people with clinical depression. The story does not mention that VNS is typically used in conjunction with other forms of depression therapies, such as medication and talk therapy. There is also no evidence given to support the statement that most people with clinical depression never receive treatment. The story does not mention that this device was approved in 2005. It is available for people only with treatment resistant depression, which is depression that has not responded to trials of at least four medications and/or electroshock therapy. The story also does not mention if it is available only at specialized centers or more widely available through community hospitals. The story mentions that vagus nerve stimulation is a newer method for treating people with depression that has not responded to drugs or electroshock therapy. We can’t be sure if the story relied solely or largely on a news release, although it was based on the experience of only doctor and his patient at only one medical center.
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5578
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Another case of meningococcal disease at Oregon State.
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Oregon State University said Wednesday it will fight an outbreak of meningococcal disease by requiring students 25 and younger to be vaccinated against the disease by Feb. 15.
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true
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Health, Oregon State University, Oregon, Meningitis
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The university announced its decision after the Oregon Health Authority reported that an undergraduate has been diagnosed with the disease, the sixth case in an outbreak that began a little more than a year ago. “We’re raising the bar, and that happens today,” university spokesman Steve Clark said. The latest case is a 21-year-old student enrolled at the Corvallis campus who was hospitalized Dec. 17 with meningitis — a potentially lethal infection of the brain and spinal cord — while visiting family. Preliminary tests found meningococcal disease to be the probable cause, and additional testing will determine whether it’s the same strain of meningococcal bacteria that caused the other illnesses. The first five patients all made full recoveries. Charlie Fautin, deputy director of the Benton County Health Department, said that’s statistically unusual, and the disease has fatality rate of about 10 percent. Symptoms include the sudden onset of a fever, stiff neck and headache. It can also cause flu-like symptoms and nausea, vomiting and a rash. “This disease can progress from sort of feeling like you have the flu — feeling kind of cruddy — to being catastrophic very quickly,” Fautin said. Health officials urged students to get vaccinated during the winter break that began Dec. 9 and continues through Jan. 7. The university held three mass vaccination clinics this fall, but attendance was not mandatory. The disease primarily afflicts young people and can spread in group living situations such as dormitories. A University of Oregon student, Lauren Jones, died during an outbreak on the Eugene campus in 2015. A doctor at the hospital near campus diagnosed her with a flu-like illness and sent her home to rest. The 18-year-old woman died later that day in her dorm room. A jury in September ruled that the hospital provided negligent medical care, and awarded $1.5 million to the student’s mother.
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28745
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Watching horror movies increases calorie consumption and reduces the risk of obesity.
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What's true: An informal study commissioned by a movie rental service found that watching certain horror movies increased viewers' heart rates and burned more calories in a small sample of adults than simply sitting quietly did. What's false: The study was neither peer-reviewed nor published (nor, apparently, meant to be taken seriously), there have been no follow-up studies replicating its findings, and people who wish to lose weight are probably better advised to get some exercise.
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mixture
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Medical, calories, horror movies, obesity
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The Internet is still abuzz over a 2012 medical study supposedly showing that the average adult burns as many calories while watching a scary movie as he or she would during a 30-minute walk — and the scarier the movie, the more calories burned. Some even go so far as to say that watching horror movies reduces one’s risk of obesity. Is there anything to these claims? Is watching horror movies a good weight-loss strategy? The timing of the release of the findings offers a clue: Halloween. According to a 28 October 2012 report in The Telegraph, the study was commissioned by the UK movie rental service LoveFilm (since acquired by Amazon) and was publicized just before the spooky holiday with the clear aim of beefing up video sales. It doesn’t appear that the study was ever peer-reviewed, or published, or even meant to be published. That having been said, the research was conducted at an actual medical institution, the University of Westminster in London, and supervised by an actual specialist in cell metabolism and physiology, Dr. Richard Mackenzie. The Telegraph summarized its methodology and findings as follows: The University of Westminster study measured the total energy expenditure of ten different people as they watched a selection of frightening movies. Scientists recorded their heart rate, oxygen intake and carbon dioxide output — and discovered the number of calories used increased by an average a third during the films. The research also revealed films featuring moments designed to make viewers jump in terror are the best calorie-burners, as they cause heart rates to soar. Dr. Richard Mackenzie, senior lecturer and specialist in cell metabolism and physiology at the University of Westminster, said: “Each of the ten films tested set pulses racing, sparking an increase in the heart rate of the case studies. “As the pulse quickens and blood pumps around the body faster, the body experiences a surge in adrenaline. “It is this release of fast acting adrenaline, produced during short bursts of intense stress (or in this case, brought on by fear), which is known to lower the appetite, increase the Basal Metabolic Rate and ultimately burn a higher level of calories.” Two things to note are the very small sample size (just 10 people) and the narrow scope of the study, which only measured participants’ metabolism in real time and did not track actual weight loss over an extended period or compare the efficacy of weight loss methods. Moreover, the number of calories allegedly burned while viewing horror films simply isn’t that large or impressive. “The movie top of the list of calorie-burners was found to be the 1980 psychological thriller The Shining, with the average viewer using up a whopping 184 calories,” The Telegraph reported. “Jaws took the runner-up spot, with viewers burning on average 161 calories, and The Exorcist came third, with 158 calories.” But some of the other films shown to participants — The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, to name one — burned as few as 107. According to a popular fitness and weight loss web site, a 150-pound person burns that many calories just sitting still for 90 minutes (the average length of a feature film). So, while the 2012 study does suggest, based on very slight evidence, that some people might burn a few more calories passively watching a horror film than sitting still for 90 minutes, the research was conducted for publicity purposes and ought not to be taken terribly seriously. People with a sincere interest in losing weight are better advised to consult a physician and develop an appropriate weight loss plan.
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463
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Merck says Ebola vaccine to be available at lowest access price for poor nations.
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Merck & Co (MRK.N) said on Friday it expects to make licensed doses of its recently approved Ebola vaccine available in the third quarter of 2020 and price the single-dose injection at the lowest possible access price for poor and middle-income countries.
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true
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Health News
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The vaccine, Ervebo, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday, a month after Europe gave its nod to the vaccine, a move that has been hailed by the World Health Organization. “We have made a commitment to making the vaccine available to GAVI-eligible countries at the lowest possible access price,” Merck spokesman Skip Irvine said. “We have made that commitment but we have not yet established the price for the vaccine.” Stockpile of 500,00 doses of Ebola vaccine is being established for emergency use in outbreaks of the deadly fever by the GAVI global vaccine alliance, Reuters reported earlier this month. The stockpiling will start with Merck’s Ervebo vaccine. GAVI, a public-private partnership backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the WHO, the World Bank and UNICEF, arranges bulk buys to reduce vaccine costs for poor countries. “We are partnering with both GAVI and WHO to put that stockpile in place as quickly as possible,” the company said in a statement, adding that the stockpile of vaccines will be governed and executed by the owner of the stockpile and not by Merck. The Ebola virus causes hemorrhagic fever and spreads from person to person through direct contact with body fluids. It kills around half of those it infects. There have been more than 3,000 cases of Ebola, including 2,199 deaths, in the outbreak that was declared in August 2018. The WHO declared it an international emergency in July 2019. The company said it was working closely with the U.S. government, WHO, UNICEF, and GAVI to prepare against the disease. Johnson and Johnson’s (JNJ.N) two-dose vaccine is currently being reviewed by the European regulator. The company is in discussion with the FDA for U.S. approval. Merck shares rose as much as up 2.8% to record high of $92.55 on Friday.
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8840
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Cholesterol scientist balked at delay: lawmaker.
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The lead researcher for a study of Schering-Plough Corp and Merck & Co’s controversial cholesterol drug Vytorin had expressed strong concern over the companies’ decision to delay the findings, according to e-mails released on Monday.
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true
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Health News
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In a note to Schering executive John Strony last July, John Kastelein said he was troubled that the drugmakers delayed publication of the results, which found that their jointly sold drug Vytorin failed to reverse heart disease any better than cheaper statin drugs. “This starts smelling like extending the publication for no other political reasons and I cannot live with that,” wrote Kastelein, a professor of medicine at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam who oversaw the Vytorin study known as Enhance. The e-mails, released by the Senate Finance Committee’s ranking member Sen. Charles Grassley, come after scientists on Sunday urged patients to try older cholesterol drugs, and turn to pricier Vytorin as a last resort. The companies first released some of the findings in January on Vytorin — a drug that combines the statin Zocor, known generically as simvastatin, with Zetia, or ezetimibe. The full study was released on Sunday at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting. Vytorin and Zetia have annual sales of about $5 billion, helped in large measure by a clever TV advertising campaign and aggressive marketing to doctors. In the e-mails, Kastelein said he had been cleared by the companies to present the findings at the American Heart Association meeting last November. “You will be seen as a company that tries to hide something and I will be perceived as being in bed with you!” he wrote. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, made the e-mails public in a letter sent to Schering Chief Executive Officer Fred Hassan and Merck Chief Executive Officer Richard Clark asking for documents. Schering-Plough spokeswoman Rosemarie Yancosek said the drugmaker had received the letter and was cooperating with the request. She added that the e-mails from Kastelein involved issues the companies consider “long resolved.” A spokesman for Merck did not immediately return a call seeking comment. It was not immediately clear if Democrats, who hold majority control in Congress, would take any action over the delayed results. Some analysts have said the drugmakers could face legislative scrutiny and possibly fines. Grassley said he was particularly concerned because the government pays for cholesterol drugs for patients under its Medicare and Medicaid insurance programs.
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4898
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New Mexico sizes up potential of recreational pot market.
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A panel of legislators delved into the uncertain market economics of legalizing recreational marijuana and thorny concerns about public health on Wednesday, in a prelude to a rapid-fire legislative session that could open the doors to recreational cannabis in New Mexico.
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true
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Michelle Lujan Grisham, Health, General News, Recreational marijuana, Marijuana, Local taxes, New Mexico
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A legalization work group assembled by Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is pitching an oversight system that would limit state and local taxes on recreational marijuana to roughly 17% and license producers for as little as $500 a month with additional per-plant fees. Medical marijuana would become tax-free and be sold separately at all dispensaries, under the recommendations, in an effort to ensure affordable access to patients coping with conditions such as nausea and pain from cancer. About 78,000 people participate in the medical program. Legislators listened at a public hearing as University of New Mexico economics professor Sarah Stith cautioned against legalization measures that might make retail prices uncompetitive with Colorado’s recreational market, through restrictions on supplies or excessive taxation. “You can’t push that tax too high or it’s just going to go on the black market,” she said. The work group’s chairman, Albuquerque City Council member Pat Davis, told lawmakers to expect more than $50 million in tax revenues within a year from recreational marijuana sales — and at least $94 million as the market stabilizes in five years. He emphasized the potential for economic development in rural farming communities, a $5 million set-aside for spending by local law enforcement and public safety precautions such as clearly identifiable labeling of cannabis sweets that contain the psychoactive ingredient THC — to prevent child access. None of it persuaded Republican state Rep. Martin Zamora of Clovis that the state should go forward with legalization. He objected to new burdens placed on law enforcement, said marijuana farmers won’t be immune from losses and raised the specter of a pregnant woman consuming recreational marijuana. “I could sit here and rant and rave all day long and I intend to do that when it comes to the legislation part,” Zamora said. “I just want more factual stuff — more scientific, more medical, in a more direct way.” In a counterpoint, Rep. Antonio Maestas of Albuquerque said marijuana “prohibition simply does not work.” A bipartisan legalization bill this year won House approval before stalling in the state Senate. Both chambers are controlled by Democratic majorities. Democratic Senate President Mary Kay Papen said Wednesday she was “not really enthusiastic” about the prospect of legalization but could change her mind. Papen, who is being challenged in the Democratic primary, said a large share of tax proceeds from marijuana sales should be allocated by the state to health care spending. Lawmakers led by Democratic Rep. Javier Martinez of Albuquerque are in the process of drafting a legalization bill for the state’s 2020 legislative session — limited to 30 days beginning in January. Lujan Grisham has highlighted her own concerns about recreational marijuana and roadway and workplace safety, along with precautions against child access.
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7203
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NY Assembly OKs universal health care; bill halted in Senate.
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The New York state Assembly has again endorsed a single-payer universal health care system.
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true
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Health care reform, Legislation, Universal health care, New York, Bills
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The Democrat-led chamber passed the measure last week for the fourth year in a row. Passage of the legislation is largely symbolic, however. The Republican-led Senate is not expected to take up the measure before lawmakers adjourn for the year next year. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie says Democrats in his chamber believe all Americans deserve a health care system that guarantees coverage for all. The proposal would allow all New Yorkers to enroll for health coverage that comes with no network restrictions, deductibles or co-pays. The system would use state and local funds that now go to Medicaid and other health care programs.
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26290
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“Hydroxychloroquine cures this ‘virus.’ It just so happens this is the treatment used for radiation sickness!!”
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Amnesty International attacked the electric vehicle (EV) industry on Thursday for selling itself as environmentally friendly while producing many of its batteries using polluting fossil fuels and unethically sourced minerals.
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false
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Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Facebook posts,
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Manufacturing batteries can be carbon intensive, while the extraction of minerals used in them has been linked to human rights violations such as child labor, a statement from the rights group said. “Electric vehicles are key to shifting the motor industry away from fossil fuels, but they are currently not as ethical as some retailers would like us to believe,” it said, announcing the initiative at the Nordic Electric Vehicle Summit in Oslo. Production of lithium-ion batteries for EVs is power intensive, and factories are concentrated in China, South Korea and Japan, where power generation is largely dependent on coal or other fossil fuels, Amnesty said. Global automakers are investing billions of dollars to ramp up electric vehicle production. German giant Volkswagen for one plans to raise annual production of electric cars to 3 million by 2025, from 40,000 in 2018. Amnesty demanded the EV industry come up with an ethical and clean battery within five years and in the meantime that carbon footprints be disclosed and supply chains of key minerals identified. Last month, a letter seen by Reuters showed that 14 non-governmental organizations including Amnesty and Global Witness had opposed plans by the London Metal Exchange to ban cobalt tainted by human rights abuses. Instead of banning the cobalt brands, the LME should work with firms that produce them to ensure responsible sourcing, they said.
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6741
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Indiana teachers learning to spot suicide warning signs.
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Teachers in Indiana are learning to spot the warning signs that students might be considering killing themselves and how to help pupils cope with classmates’ suicides or attempted suicides.
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true
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Mental health, General News, Suicide prevention, Anderson, Indiana
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Nearly 30 educators and staff from Anderson Community Schools attended a suicide prevention training session last month where they learned the red flags for suicide and the resources available for prevention. Nancy Smith, a trainer with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said the training for teachers can be an important first line of defense in turning around the life of a student facing mental health issues or the pressures of young life. “They spend the most time with our children every day. They see the changes. They’re the first ones who will notice the changes in their demeanor, their behavior,” she said, adding young people should take the training, too, because friends are usually the first to notice changes. Warning signs include isolation, use of drugs and alcohol, and giving away prized possessions. The in-person training is mandatory every three years for all Indiana educators teaching grades five through 12 under a state law passed in 2017. Anderson Community Schools tries to offer the class twice a year. Student suicides or attempted suicides are “becoming more and more prominent. You need to be aware, especially with older kids,” said Elizabeth Reed, who teaches the fifth grade at Anderson Intermediate School. When Reed was a teacher at Shenandoah School Corp., she experienced firsthand how a student’s suicide rocked an entire student body. “There was kind of a somber feeling, but there was uplifting support as well,” she told The Herald Bulletin . Smith, of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, is the parent of a 16-year-old who tried twice to commit suicide in 2017. She advises teachers to tell an administrator or medical or mental health professional everything they know when they refer students who’ve said they would harm themselves. “That’s just another way to tell the person you were listening, you care,” Smith said. Julie Russell, a social worker at Anderson Intermediate, said the training teaches educators when to ask for help. “We’re trying to teach the teachers it’s not their job to assess; it’s their job to refer,” she said. ___ Information from: The Herald Bulletin, http://www.theheraldbulletin.com
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26410
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“We are currently using only around 20% of our testing capacity.”
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Vos and Fitzgerald cited capacity while criticizing Evers for waiting on more testing to re-open Wisconsin, implying the state could be doing 5x more tests now. That’s wrong. Half that listed capacity is from a new lab that is several weeks from being able to actually receive that volume of tests. While testing is far more available than it once was, the state doesn’t yet have the collection materials and infrastructure to use the other half of the listed capacity on an ongoing basis.
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mixture
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Health Care, States, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Republican Legislative leaders,
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"Gov. Tony Evers has said expanded testing capacity is one of the benchmarks needed to begin a phased re-opening of Wisconsin in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Testing has been a key chokepoint in Wisconsin and nationwide, with some people initially unable to get tested despite serious symptoms and officials scrambling to increase access. Republicans in the state Legislature — who are suing to block an extension of Evers’ ""Safer at Home"" order — honed in on this piece of the plan. An April 20, 2020 joint statement from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald listed a series of criticisms, including this one: ""The governor also wants to postpone reopening until we increase testing when we are currently using only around 20% of our testing capacity."" Is Wisconsin really only using 20% of its testing capacity? The claim implies the state could be conducting five times more tests if it chose. It’s a key question since the testing volume is one of the key areas of improvement Gov. Tony Evers has said we need before Wisconsin can take steps toward re-opening. It’s part of a general outline he presented in his Badger Bounce Back plan April 20. It set a goal of 12,000 tests per day. We found testing is a lot more complicated than how this claim presents it. Let’s start with the basics of what goes into a coronavirus test. There are two elements to the test — the part done at the clinic or testing site by a health care worker, and what is done at the lab. Here’s the breakdown from Dr. Alana Sterkel, assistant director of the Communicable Disease Division of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She’s one of the people coordinating testing and distribution of collection supplies statewide. The in-office portion — commonly called a collection kit — includes a nasal swab and a vial of transport liquid, which stabilizes and preserves the sample in transit to the lab. These are the exact materials that have been used for years to test for other respiratory viruses, such as the flu. Collecting the sample also means the health care worker and patient both need personal protective gear (PPE) of some kind, typically a mask for the patient and full-body protection for the worker. The vial is then sent to a lab, which if it’s located offsite would require shipping materials and a courier service. As of April 24, the state reports 48 labs are actively testing — a combination of the government labs, hospital system labs and independent private labs. At the lab, they need machines to run the physical test and chemicals to aid in the analysis. An array of different chemicals are used at different labs to conduct the test, collectively referred to as ""reagents."" The majority of tests done in Wisconsin now return results within 24 to 48 hours. A relatively small number of health care systems have rapid testing that can accomplish all this in-house and get a result before the end of an office visit. In some extreme cases, tests sent to a backlogged outside lab could take up to 10 days. That brings us to the key word in the Fitzgerald/Vos claim — capacity. The day Vos and Fitzgerald made this claim, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services reported a statewide testing capacity of 7,608. The actual number of tests conducted was 1,433, about about 19% of the testing capacity. The state’s capacity tally is referring to how many tests labs are theoretically able to process, if everything else in the supply chain was in place to collect and deliver them. Vos and Fitzgerald, meanwhile, are framing their claim around the idea that the capacity level cited by the state represents what can actually be conducted on a given day. But the process involves collection and testing, and sometimes transport. And, as seen in the process above, the list of components to a test is long — swab, transport liquid, protective gear, lab machinery and reagent, at a minimum. ""It’s like baking cookies, that you need to have flour, eggs, butter and chocolate chips to make a batch of cookies, and if you don’t have any one of those, you can’t make cookies,"" Sterkel said. ""If one of those supply lines goes down, you go down altogether."" In short, the labs can handle a higher volume of tests than the rest of the system can actually conduct and send them right now. ""That (20%) number is I think inaccurately representing what we’re capable of doing right now,"" Sterkel said. For starters, the state isn’t exactly overflowing with testing supplies. Asked which elements of the supply chain are preventing Wisconsin from doing more tests, Sterkel said, ""Just about everything."" And the testing capacity number is skewed by the inclusion of Exact Sciences, a Madison-based lab that has just started doing coronavirus testing. The massive lab accounts for about half of the state testing capacity number, but they are at least several weeks from being able to actually obtain that many tests to process. ""This is testing that they did not previously do. They do not have existing relationships and ways to get samples to their lab, and this is something that needs to develop over time as they build those relationships with hospital systems,"" Sterkel said. ""They double the capacity in a very short amount of time in the state, but using that capacity will take time."" Sterkel made sure to note that the outlook for testing in Wisconsin is positive and improving quickly from initial logjams. She is working to make sure patients and doctors both know testing is widely available. ""For a while we had to limit to only the most ill where it could make the biggest difference because that’s all we could test,"" Sterkel said. ""Now we’re able to test more, we need to get the message out that people should be testing more."" She said about half of the state’s testing capacity — up around 11,000 as of April 24 — could be used today, though the collection supplies available now wouldn’t necessarily sustain that volume indefinitely. ""The labs have been working very hard to build capacity very quickly,"" she said. In a joint statement, Vos and Fitzgerald criticized plans to hold up re-opening Wisconsin — in part — for increased testing, saying Wisconsin is ""currently using only around 20% of our testing capacity."" That is indeed the portion of testing currently in use, but the implication that the state could simply flip a switch and increase testing fivefold is wrong. The state is in better shape than it was, but it still doesn’t have the sample collection materials it would need to sustain that kind of increase. And half of the state’s capacity is from Exact Sciences, which is likely a few weeks from having the supply chain in place to actually utilize its listed capacity. We define as a statement that’s partially accurate but leaves out important details or takes things out of context. That fits here."
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29866
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"In late 2018 or early 2019, the Girl Scouts of the USA gave a Tucson, Arizona, member the ""Gold Award"" for a project that promoted abortion. "
|
Following confirmation from the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona that Gopalan’s project “will not cover abortion in any way,” and that it had never been her intention to address that issue in her project, we have changed our rating from “Mixture” to “False” in relation to the claim, reported by LifeNews and the Daily Wire, that the Girl Scouts had given the Gold Award to a project which promoted abortion.
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false
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Politics
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In March 2019, right-leaning and pro-life websites criticized the Girl Scouts of the USA in response to reports about a member in Southern Arizona who planned to achieve the organization’s “Gold Award” with a project about women’s reproductive health. On 5 March, the website LifeNews.com published an article with the headline “Girl Scouts Gives Its Highest Award to Teen Who Organized Campaign Promoting Abortion,” which continued: The Girl Scouts’ support of abortion is growing increasingly apparent in the information age. Its materials, social media accounts and more point to the organization’s pro-abortion bias. One of the groups exposing it, MyGirlScoutCouncil.com, posted more evidence Friday on its Facebook page. Breitbart reports the group discovered that the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona recently honored a teen for her volunteer work on “reproductive health justice” – an umbrella term that includes abortion on demand. Meghna Gopalan, recently profiled in a Tucson publication, received the Gold Award, the Girl Scouts highest honor, for her work. Her project involved working with the pro-abortion Women’s March and its affiliate in Tucson. She said her goal was to “educate people about and destigmatize access to women’s healthcare” — euphemisms for abortion. The right-leaning website Daily Wire published an article with a headline that similarly claimed “Girl Scouts Give Highest Award to Girl Who Organized a Pro-Abortion Campaign.” Also, MyGirlScoutCouncil.com, a pro-life website that publishes criticisms and concerns about the iconic civic group, posted to Facebook, describing the controversy as follows: “A project to “educate people about and destigmatize access to women’s healthcare” earns Girl Scouts Gold Award, its highest award. Completing this Girl Scout project for “reproductive health justice” began by joining the Women’s March.” “In the last few years, Meghna Gopalan has found her voice. The 2016 election sparked her interest in civic engagement, and earlier this year she participated in March for Our Lives. Then, while working on her Girl Scout Gold Award, the Basis Tucson North sophomore decided to speak up about women’s healthcare. Now, she’s helping with media outreach for the Tucson Women’s March.” Of her Gold Award project, Gopalan said: “I’m planning on hosting an event to educate people about and de-stigmatize access to women’s healthcare. I’ve been working with El Rio Reproductive Health Access Project, and they offered ideas on reproductive health justice which would broaden the scope of the project a little bit.” It’s true that a Girl Scout in Arizona discussed in an interview her plans for a Gold Award project involving an event associated with “women’s healthcare” and “reproductive health justice.” However, the claim that she achieved the Gold Award for ‘promoting abortion’ falls down on two grounds. Firstly, a spokesperson for the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona clarified, in response to our questions, that as of 8 March 2019, Gopalan had not yet completed her Gold Award project, and therefore had not yet risen to the rank of “Gold Award Girl Scout.” Secondly, after this fact check was originally published, a spokesperson for the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona provided additional details and clarification about Gopalan’s planned Gold Award project. Whereas previously there had been uncertainty over whether Gopalan intended to promote access to abortion or present a pro-choice viewpoint, the spokesperson definitively clarified that Gopalan’s project “will not cover abortion in any way,” and would focus instead on issues such as the HPV vaccine and domestic violence, and that it had never been her intention to examine the issue of abortion in her Gold Award project. In a statement, the spokesperson wrote: In the case of Girl Scout Meghna Gopalan, her passion is healthcare. Her Gold Award proposal was accepted, after undergoing the rigorous process of attending our Gold Award Workshop, meeting with our Highest Awards Coordinator and Gold Award Committee, forming community connections to support her project, and ensuring that her project met the standards of the Girl Scout Gold Award. The capstone of her Gold Award project is a community health fair, where attendees will learn about topics within women’s health: the HPV vaccine, how to seek help in response to intimate partner violence, and the basics of keeping their bodies healthy, from pap smears to breast self-examinations. Experts from El Rio Health and Emerge! Center Against Domestic Violence will serve as speakers. Meghna’s health fair will not cover abortion in any way, and it has never been her intention to broach the subject. Her goal is, and has always been, to educate, and to combat the stigma she sees among girls her own age when it comes to seeking personal health information and resources. In her own words: “Reproductive justice to me means making sure that all girls and women—regardless of our background, education, income, or age—have access to education and information about healthcare. We all have bodies, but we don’t all know how to keep them healthy.” This means that the reports by LifeNews.com and The Daily Wire were without factual basis not only because they inaccurately claimed that Gopalan had already achieved the Gold Award (when she had not), but also because they had conflated “women’s healthcare” and “reproductive health justice” with abortion, when in fact, Gopalan had never mentioned abortion in her interview and had never intended to address abortion in her project, but was focusing instead on some of the many other issues relating to women’s healthcare. My Girl Scout Council’s Facebook post, which formed the basis of articles by LifeNews.com and The Daily Wire, was also inaccurate in claiming that Gopalan had already achieved the Gold Award. In our original fact check, we signalled this as a possibility, pointing out that LifeNews had inaccurately described “access to women’s healthcare” as a “euphemism for abortion,” whereas in reality women’s reproductive healthcare encompasses much more than merely abortion services and includes access to contraception and birth control, among other matters. We also pointed out that the El Rio Reproductive Health Access Project (RHAP), the initiative with which Gopalan said she had been working, is part of the Tucson, Arizona El Rio Health Center, a federally-qualified health center that is legally barred from providing abortion services. As a result, a spokesperson confirmed, the El Rio RHAP is also barred from providing abortion services and does not even give direct referrals for such services, instead focusing on sex education, contraception and birth control and STI testing. Although it was inaccurate to claim that Gopalan’s planned project would give expression to a pro-choice viewpoint on abortion, it seems likely that the Girl Scouts organization would not object to such a Gold Award project. We asked the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona whether they encourage scouts to avoid certain topics or issues in their Gold Award projects. Their answer strongly indicated that neither that Girl Scouts organization nor its guidelines would prove to be an obstacle if a Girl Scout proceeded with a project that promoted a pro-choice viewpoint on abortion: “Regarding content: neither our staff nor our volunteer Gold Award committee determine the topics, causes, or issues that girls choose to address through their Gold Awards. At Girl Scouts, we don’t seek to censor girls or dictate to them what they must feel strongly about—and we support all girls regardless of their personal beliefs. Instead, we seek to give girls the tools and skills to take action on any issue they choose. That’s what it means to be girl-led.”
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30222
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Imam Siraj Wahhaj, the father of a suspect accused of training children to be school shooters at a compound in New Mexico, was the keynote speaker at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
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In partisan hands, this morphed into the rumor that Wahhaj led a prayer at the Democratic National Convention itself, which in turn has morphed into the rumor that Wahhaj was the keynote speaker at the convention, and therefore somehow intimately connected to Democratic Party politics and Obama’s presidency. Those rumors are false.
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false
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Politics, barack obama, democratic national convention, Imam Siraj Wahhaj
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The arrest of five adults for child abuse in August 2018 at a New Mexico compound where the principal suspect was accused of training children to be school shooters took an unexpected turn when far-right websites declared that the suspect’s father, a well-known Muslim cleric, had been a keynote speaker at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. One of those sites, True Pundit, reported on 9 August that Siraj Wahhaj, who is the American-born imam of the Al-Taqwa mosque in Brooklyn, New York, spoke at the Charlotte, North Carolina, convention where President Obama was nominated to run for a second term in office: Radical Father of Man Who Trained SCHOOL SHOOTERS Was Keynote Speaker at Obama’s Democratic National Convention, Possibly Tied to World Trade Center Bombing The Democrats really know how to pick their role models and keynote speakers. This one, however, is going to give the battered political party another black eye. Let’s begin here. Per CBS NEWS: The man arrested at a squalid New Mexico compound is the son of a controversial Brooklyn imam who was on a list of people who “may be alleged as co-conspirators” to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, according to court documents released by prosecutors Wednesday. Siraj Wahhaj, who shares a name with his son who was arrested Saturday, testified as a character witness for Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the notorious “blind sheikh” who was convicted in 1995 of plotting terror attacks in the U.S. Worse yet, the entire Democratic party celebrated this man during Obama’s second trip to the White House. That was AFTER his alleged role in the WTC bombing. The article is correct in stating that Imam Wahhaj is the father of Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, who was one of the five arrested in New Mexico and is under investigation in the death of an unidentified child whose body was found on the compound. The imam acknowledged their relationship (as well as his familial connections to the other four suspects) during a press conference one week after the arrests. However, the claim that Wahhaj was the keynote speaker at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, and therefore somehow connected to Obama, is false, basically a regurgitation of a years-old, politically-motivated Internet rumor. Wahhaj neither participated in nor spoke at that convention. The rumor that Wahhaj was supposedly going to speak at the 2012 DNC erupted on right-wing blogs and websites during the weeks leading up to the September 2012 event. It so happened that an Islamic group called the Bureau of Indigenous Muslim Affairs (BIMA) announced it would host several public events, including an open-air prayer gathering (to be called “Jumah at the 2012 DNC”) the weekend before the convention. The prayer gathering was slated to take place in Marshall Park (about a mile from the convention center) on Friday, 31 August 2012 (four days before the convention opened on 4 September). It was announced that Imam Siraj Wahhaj would lead the Friday prayer. Jumah at the 2012 DNC did take place, but it was not an official Democratic National Convention event. It wasn’t organized or sponsored by the Democratic Party, and it was over before the convention even started. It never appeared on the party’s roster of official convention activities. According to the Charlotte Observer, the BIMA prayer meeting was one of about a thousand “nonofficial convention-related events” planned by independent groups to coincide with the Democratic Party gathering. However, those facts did not stop hyperpartisan websites from publishing articles stating variants of the following: The false claim that the convention would open with a Muslim prayer was ultimately coupled with another false rumor to the effect that the Democratic National Committee had rejected an offer by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, to deliver a Christian prayer at the event. But there was no Muslim prayer, and Dolan did, in fact, deliver the closing benediction at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. The keynote speaker at that convention was then-San Antonio mayor Julian Castro. He is a Roman Catholic, not a Muslim. It is a fact that Imam Siraj Wahhaj led a prayer at an Islamic event (Jumah at the 2012 DNC) that took place in Charlotte, North Carolina, a few days before the opening of the convention that would deliver Barack Obama his second Democratic presidential nomination.
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26623
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“No city in the state can quarantine itself without state approval.”
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Cuomo said that cities do not have the power to order quarantines without state approval. Based on the powers of the state to override local orders contained in state Executive Law and in Cuomo’s recent executive order.
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true
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New York, Coronavirus, Andrew Cuomo,
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"Gov. Andrew Cuomo, trying to calm fears amid the spread of the novel coronavirus, told reporters there are no plans to issue quarantine measures for entire cities. And if mayors are talking about that, they can’t do it without state approval, he said. ""Mitigation is continuing and is ramping up,"" Cuomo said on Tuesday. ""There are many rumors out there - part of the fear, the anxiety. People spread rumors. Well, maybe you're going to quarantine New York City. We hear New York City is going to quarantine itself. That is not . That cannot happen. It cannot happen legally. No city in the state can quarantine itself without state approval, and I have no interest whatsoever and no plan whatsoever to quarantine any city."" Later that day, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said city residents should prepare for a shelter-in-place order, though he said the decision needs to be ""made together with the state."" De Blasio said that quarantine and shelter-in-place represent different approaches. ""Shelter in place, to me, is a kind of way of life, if you will, and a more total strategy and quarantine suggests when you're dealing with a very specific, narrow area and who goes in and who goes out of that area,"" he said. In an interview on Wednesday with The Daily podcast, Cuomo said whatever it’s called, quarantine or shelter in place, he’s not interested. ""That is not going to happen, shelter in place, for New York City,"" Cuomo said. ""For any city or county to take an emergency action, the state has to approve it. And I wouldn't approve shelter in place. That scares people, right? Quarantine in place - you can't leave your home. The fear, the panic is a bigger problem than the virus."" We wondered if a city or a county could unilaterally order its residents into isolation, whether by ordering a quarantine or shelter-in-place, or if Cuomo is right in his claim that only the state can do that. We spoke with Thomas Merrill, who retired in January as general counsel for the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. ""It’s a complicated answer,"" Merrill said. ""Local governments have the authority under state law to enact curfews and take other emergency actions. But state law also gives the governor emergency powers, including the right to suspend any law or local order he feels impends a response. So ultimately the state likely has the final say,"" he said. ""The practical answer is they have to be working together,"" Merrill said of local governments and the state. He directed us to state Executive Law Section 24, which says that the New York State Legislature can override a local action, and Executive Law Section 29-A, which gives the governor power to override local laws or orders in a state emergency. In addition, Cuomo issued an executive order on March 7, requiring that local actions be approved. Merrill was the top lawyer for the state Department of Health during the H1N1 pandemic, Ebola outbreak, and a recent measles outbreak. He said that during a quarantine, specific people are told that they are confined at home. In some cases, during an Ebola outbreak, police officers stood at patients’ doors to ensure they did not leave, he said. But with Covid-19, the novel coronavirus, the pandemic is past the phase when quarantines of specific patients would be effective in slowing the spread of the virus, he said. Whether the directive is to ""shelter in place,"" which is common during an active shooter situation, or ""quarantine,"" the goal is that people socially distance themselves as much as possible, Merrill said. Other experts we spoke with said the state has broad powers. Generally, matters of public health are allocated to the state level, not the local level, said James A. Gardner, SUNY distinguished professor at the University at Buffalo. ""Generally, the state is in a better position than a locality to make defensible decisions that restrict public travel on health grounds,"" he said. We reached out to Cuomo and de Blasio’s press offices but did not hear back. However, de Blasio said in an interview on Wednesday morning with TODAY on NBC that any shelter in place order would need to be done in cooperation with the state. ""It’s only a decision we would make with the state of New York, of course,"" de Blasio said. Cuomo said that cities do not have the power to order quarantines without state approval. Based on the powers of the state to override local orders contained in state Executive Law and in Cuomo’s recent executive order."
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218
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AstraZeneca Imfinzi combination fails advanced lung cancer study.
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A combination of AstraZeneca’s lung cancer drug Imfinzi and an experimental treatment failed to extend the lives of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and high levels of gene mutations, the drugmaker said on Wednesday.
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true
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Health News
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The late-stage clinical trial was testing Imfinzi, chemically known as durvalumab, along with another treatment tremelimumab and compared the combination to platinum-based chemotherapy to treat patients whose cancer had spread beyond the lungs. London-listed AstraZeneca said that though the trial involved a wide range of patients, the primary group being tested had high levels of mutations in their DNA. The trial looked at stage IV patients - those with the most advanced form of cancer. “This (the result) is clearly disappointing, albeit we do not think hopes were especially high for the durvalumab plus tremelimumab combination given the relatively poor data shown by the combination to date,” said Liberum analyst Graham Doyle. Imfinzi and tremelimumab belong to the immunotherapy class of treatments that boost the body’s own defenses to fight cancer, and tumors with high levels of mutations may be more visible to the immune system. Mutations in tumors are measured using a system called tumor mutational burden (TMB) and the primary group had TMB of 20 or more. Imfinzi, which was the first immunotherapy to be approved in the stage III lung cancer setting, targets the PD-L1 protein on tumor cells, while tremelimumab targets the CTLA-4 protein. The combination treatment did not meet the main goal of improving overall survival in the primary group of the so-called NEPTUNE study, AstraZeneca said. The combination is also being tested in other clinical trials such as those for bladder and blood cancers. In November, the duo had failed another late-stage study. AstraZeneca has been seen as having a head start in the race for cancer treatments and sales of those medicines, including Imfinzi, have been key to its turnaround. “Estimates for Imfinzi remain achievable given the approvals to date and the near-term potential for further line extensions,” said Doyle, who has a “hold” rating on AstraZeneca shares with a price target of 64 pounds. NSCLC is a major area of focus for drugmakers in developing immunotherapies and rival treatments include U.S.-based Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Opdivo and Merck & Co’s Keytruda. NSCLC accounts for up to 85% of lung cancers, by far the leading cause of cancer death among men and women, according to the American Cancer Society.
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9764
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Prenatal Blood Tests Could Detect Cancer in Mothers
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This Wall Street Journal story offers a thoughtful and thorough summary of a presentation (and related study in JAMA) about the ability of commercial prenatal blood tests to also uncover hidden cancers in pregnant women. The story makes clear that the study’s finding of “rare cases” of cancer “underscores both challenges and opportunities” for the tests, particularly those related to the tests’ potential to reveal elevated risks for future diseases. Other stories, including one from CBS News, focused more viscerally on the handful of mothers whose hidden cancers were detected by the fetal blood work. While stories focusing on such vignettes may pack a significant emotional punch, they also may leave readers with an exaggerated sense of these tests’ cancer-finding ability and the risk that most women face. As demonstrated by the WSJ coverage, there are many ethical and social issues raised by widespread DNA testing that also merit discussion. There is increasing demand by physicians and pregnant women to perform noninvasive prenatal blood tests as a safer means of establishing fetal risk for Down Syndrome and other serious genetic abnormalities. Although professional guidelines suggest that only women at high risk of carrying fetuses with serious genetic abnormalities get these tests, they are already widely used because other procedures, such as amniocentesis, can occasionally lead to miscarriage. The discovery that in a few rare cases, the abnormalities detected in the tests have nothing to do with the fetus, but with a mother’s undiagnosed cancer instead, will likely lead to even more demand for use of these tests. That poses not only the ethical problem of whether and when to divulge incidental genetic risks also uncovered in maternal DNA (say, of breast cancer), but also a potential explosion of costs related to use of the blood tests to screen every pregnant woman to find a very small number of cancers.
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true
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prenatal testing
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Although the story does not explicitly note the cost of the two commercially available tests, it does provide substantial context about the rising popularity of the tests among clinicians and pregnant women, as well as cautionary notes about their use from both those involved in the study and an expert who wrote an accompanying editorial to the JAMA article. The story clearly explains that the eight cases of maternal tumor DNA findings came from a collection of more than 125,000 blood samples submitted to one of the companies over a two-year period, and that about 3 percent were positive for one or more chromosomal abnormalities. It also points out that follow-up tests showed the fetus was normal in a “very small number of instances” and that among those just 10 cases of maternal cancer were suspected. Further, of the eight women featured in the published report, just three had their cancers diagnosed because of the findings. The story earns a Satisfactory grade here. Some additional questions that could have been addressed by the coverage include: The WSJ article very explicitly notes that there are harms from invasive prenatal tests, although it does not give rates of miscarriage; and it goes into welcome detail about the challenges of giving women genetic risk information for themselves or their infants based on the noninvasive blood test, noting “there is no consensus on when or how to inform” patients of such findings. On the other hand, the story explains, if maternal tumor DNA is detected, the need to inform the mother may be urgent and life saving. The story gets a passing grade here. It adequately describes the study and notes appropriately that “the full implications of the new findings need further study.” Some discussion of the strengths and limitations of the study design, and what additional information is needed to inform clinical practice related to these tests, would have been welcome complements to the coverage. The story never suggests that fetal chromosomal abnormalities or maternal cancers uncovered by the blood tests are a major threat. Unlike the CBS story, WSJ notes that the cases identified in the study were culled from more than 100,000 samples and that such findings are “rare.” The tone of the story is cautious and it quotes experts who call for further studies and conversations about the current and potential use of diagnostic prenatal blood testing. The story importantly refers to “ongoing debates” within the medical and scientific community about the wider use of the blood tests, and quotes an editorial written by an expert who did not participate in the study itself. However, while the story notes that the study was funded by Illumina, which markets the test, it did not alert readers that Dr. Bianchi, the study author who is quoted in the piece, is a paid advisor to the company. CBS, by contrast, made note of that relationship. We reluctantly grade the story Not Satisfactory based on that omission. The article explains nicely the major alternatives to the fetal blood tests and also mentions both companies that market the test. Again, the story could have benefited from some cost information about the tests and whether they are covered by most insurance plans. It also would have benefited from a sentence about how women can best arrange for such testing, and how widely available they are at prenatal clinics and private practices. But it does give information about the total number of tests done in the U.S. and about their growing popularity. The story points out that the findings are new and serendipitous, then ties them in nicely to the broader issue of maternal and fetal DNA testing and the serious debate about testing’s benefits and potential harms. There was a JAMA release on the study, but the story also appears to be solidly based on a presentation at a scientific society meeting and the JAMA article and accompanying editorial.
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15024
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"HIV/AIDS is ""dramatically on the rise in the U.S. South."
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CDC data support the claim of superstar and part-time Atlanta resident Elton John that the South is the region most dramatically affected by the HIV epidemic. Whether that’s because cases are rising in the South or declining in other regions, or a combination of both, is not entirely a clear. Data from 2012-13 shows new HIV diagnoses on the rise in most parts of the country, with the largest -- a 7.5 percent increase -- in the South. John’s overarching point is that the South has seen an increase in AIDS/HIV, greater than any other region in the nation. The data supports that. You can quibble about whether there is enough of a trend line to term this a dramatic jump in cases. That takes his statement down a notch on the Truth-O-Meter.
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true
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Georgia, Gays and Lesbians, Health Care, States, Elton John,
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"Celebrity just keeps elbowing its way into the 2016 presidential race. It could be argued that it started with Donald Trump. The man known best to many Americans as the star of the long-running ""Apprentice"" reality TV show jumped into the presidential race in June and into first place in the crowded field of Republican contenders. And it continued last week in advance of the first Democratic debate. That’s when CNN decided to ask some of the rich and famous what question they’d like to put to candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee. Celebrities Katy Perry and Margaret Cho said they’d pose questions about LGBT rights and the abortion/Planned Parenthood funding flap. Other headliners said they would press the candidates on the hot-button issues of gun control, jobs for the middle class and medical marijuana. Atlanta’s own part-time celebrity-in-residence -- Sir Elton John -- said his question to the candidates would be about his personal passion, the fight against HIV/AIDS. ""In spite of great progress, HIV/AIDS is actually dramatically on the rise in the U.S. South. What would you do as president to help stop this epidemic, particularly among minority communities?"" John said he’d ask. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, about 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV, and about 12.8 percent of them don’t know they’re infected. HIV/AIDS didn’t wind up a discussion point in the first Democratic debate. But PolitiFact Georgia decided John had a point worth checking. Is HIV/AIDS dramatically on the rise in the South? We began our fact-check by contacting the Elton John AIDS Foundation in New York City, asking for evidence backing up John’s statement. The foundation was quick to respond, sending us, among other things, a link to a story that appeared in The Washington Post in September 2014 under the headline ""Southern States are now epicenter of HIV/AIDS in the U.S."" The article quoted Rainey Campbell, then-executive director of the nonprofit Southern AIDS Coalition, as saying Southern states now have the highest rates of new HIV diagnoses, the largest percentage of people living with the disease and the most people dying from it. The foundation also sent a link to a report by the Southern HIV/AIDS Strategy Initiative (SASI) from November 2012, examining HIV epidemiology in the South using 2010 data from the CDC and other government agencies. The report focused on nine states in the South that were identified as ""particularly affected by HIV"" -- Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. The targeted states had the highest rates of HIV diagnoses in the United States -- 23.8 per 100,000 -- according to the CDC data, the report found. The South, the report said, makes up a third of the country’s population, but is home to more than half of the new HIV diagnoses. Nine of the 10 metropolitan areas with the highest HIV incidence rates, and seven of the 10 with the highest AIDS incidence rates, were in the targeted states, according to the report. We decided to check in ourselves with the Atlanta-based CDC to see if we could learn more. Ranking regions by the rate of new HIV diagnoses, the South is highest with 24,323 new cases, or a ratio of 20.5 per 100,00 population, based on the latest data available from 2013. Next highest is the Northeast (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont), with 8,908 new HIV diagnoses, or 15.9 per 100,000 population. The West (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming) is next with 8,013 new diagnoses, or 10.8 per 100,000 population. And the last is the Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin) with 6,109 new diagnosis, 9 per 100,000 population, according to the CDC. So clearly the South has a big problem. But we still weren’t sure whether any of this proved that HIV/AIDS was rising dramatically in the South. Couldn’t it be that other regions are doing a better job with education/treatment? Nic Carlisle, executive director of the Southern AIDS Coalition, said it’s likely ""a combination of both."" The most recent CDC surveillance report shows the country was making moderate progress until 2011, when the number of new diagnosis started moving in the wrong direction again -- with only the West showing a decrease in 2012-2013, Carlisle said. The increases were 3.4 percent in the Midwest, 3.2 percent in the Northeast, but substantially greater -- 7.5 percent for the South in 2012-2013, he said. ""True, we’ve have made remarkable progress in addressing the HIV epidemic in the United States. Treatment advances have transformed what was once a fatal diagnosis into a chronic disease for many,"" Carlisle said. ""Unfortunately, while the rest of the country reaps the benefits of this progress, the South is in danger of being left behind."" Even the Obama administration recognizes the need to stem the widening HIV-related health disparities that plague the South. In its update to the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS), the administration set a goal of reducing disparities in the rate of new diagnoses by at least 15 percent among persons living in the Southern United States, Carlisle said. Patrick Sullivan, a professor at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health who has spent much of his career on HIV/AIDS research, said it’s true that the Southern U.S. is disproportionately impacted by HIV. The increases in new diagnoses in the South are occurring only in specific subgroups, Sullivan said. ""When we look more specifically at HIV diagnoses among young, 13-24 year old, gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in the South, the story is different: according to CDC data, there was a 25 percent increase in new HIV diagnoses in young gay men in the South between 2008 and 2013. For epidemiologists, this is indeed a dramatic increase,"" he said. ""Finally, even when considering the lack of increases in HIV diagnoses in the South overall, it’s important to note that new HIV infections and new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. have both been stubbornly stable at around 45,000 to 50,000 cases each year,"" Sullivan said. ""And in this context, the lack of substantial decreases in new HIV infections is also a dramatic public health problem."" The Elton John AIDS Foundation has made 31 grants worth a combined $1.4 million aimed at addressing the South's HIV/AIDS epidemic. These includes grants worth $315,000 given out earlier this year, in partnership with The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, to six organizations. The Equality Foundation of Georgia and the Racial Justice Action Center, both in Atlanta, were among the latest grant recipients Our ruling CDC data support the claim of superstar and part-time Atlanta resident Elton John that the South is the region most dramatically affected by the HIV epidemic. Whether that’s because cases are rising in the South or declining in other regions, or a combination of both, is not entirely a clear. Data from 2012-13 shows new HIV diagnoses on the rise in most parts of the country, with the largest -- a 7.5 percent increase -- in the South. John’s overarching point is that the South has seen an increase in AIDS/HIV, greater than any other region in the nation. The data supports that. You can quibble about whether there is enough of a trend line to term this a dramatic jump in cases. That takes his statement down a notch on the Truth-O-Meter."
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11391
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FDA approves first pill meant to end periods
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"This story was about FDA approval of another oral contraceptive that also suppresses or stops menstrual periods. The story didn’t include any data and didn’t evaluate the quality of the evidence for Lybrel in any way. So it didn’t disclose that many women dropped out of the trials of Lybrel because of spotting or breakthrough bleeding. That’s important to include, since the story called this ""the next generation of birth control pills."" The story says ""most doctors aren’t worried about safety"" because the drug is not really different from ones that preceded it. (Then why does it ""herald the next generation"" of such pills?) The story only says ""Like all birth control pills, there can be side effects."" But what did the studies show? There was also no discussion (as another network included in its story) of concerns over ""medicalizing"" menstruation. Instead, the story focused on ""lifestyle choice"", and on ""control and convenience."" We think more time should have been spent focusing on what’s not known about long-term safety in such a medication. The viewer is left with a confusing picture of a new version of a common type of prescription medication intended for contraception but now being described in consumer terms as a desirable convenience. Since existing monophasic pills can be used in the same fashion at lower cost (because of generic availability), the story needed to do a better job of portraying whether the formulation and ""repackaging"" into a daily use format will achieve the desired results."""
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false
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"There is no mention of the cost of Lybrel, not even a projection from Wyeth of what they may charge. Whatever the cost, the point should have been made that the same result can be achieved using cheaper generics. There was no discussion of data nor of the quality of the evidence for Lybrel – which seems important for a drug that the reporter says ""heralds the next generation of birth control pills."" If the benefit is ""no more periods,"" then they shoul dhave reported how likely that is for the average user. The story says ""most doctors aren’t worried about safety"" because the drug is not really different from ones that preceded it. (Then why does it ""herald the next generation"" of such pills?) The story only says ""Like all birth control pills, there can be side effects."" But what did the studies show? The studies showed that many women in the trials dropped out because of spotting or breakthrough bleeding. That was only alluded to, but the trial data were not given. The ""harms"" of poor cycle control and uNPRedictable spotting and bleeding are very common and certainly impact quality of life and result in an outcome different from what the woman who selects this method is seeking. And that point was not emphasized in this story. There’s another risk beyond dissatisfaction with bleeding pattern – that is that women stop their contraception completely and are at risk of pregnancies from not contracepting or using an inferior method in the interval before they return to their provider to discuss dissatisfaction and arrange a change. There was no discussion of data nor of the quality of the evidence for Lybrel – which seems important for a drug that the reporter says ""heralds the next generation of birth control pills."" Essential evidence would seem to be what is the probability of success in stopping periods, which is the whole point of this pill schedule and marketing. There is no discussion about any of the oft-stated concerns about ""medicalizing"" menstruation. At least a competing network’s story had two interviews with women who felt it was better to let nature run its course. The story turned to two physicians for perspectives, one of whom stated some concern about ""trading scheduled bleeding for unscheduled bleeding."" The story mentioned that there are other birth control pills on the market that allow women to have only four periods a year. However, they still missed the point that any low-dose monophasic can be used in the same way. It’s clear from the story that the drug Lybrel has just been approved by the FDA. But it won’t be known for some time how many insurers will cover it because it is so similar to other products already on the market. Indeed, women can achieve the same result with cheaper, generic products. The story both states that Lybrel ""heralds the next generation of birth control pills"" and says ""there is no real difference between this pill and the ones that preceded it."" That’s too confusing. It is not even the case that combined levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol low-dose formulations are new. Likewise, continuous use is not new – physicians, especially ob-gyn’s, have been selectively assisting patients with continuous use regimens for decades. We can’t be sure if the story relied solely or largely on a news release."
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1567
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U.N. supports 'brelfies' to encourage breastfeeding.
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If you’re hesitating about sending a brelfie, the United Nations says go for it.
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true
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Health News
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A social media trend of mothers sharing “brelfies” - pictures of themselves breastfeeding - is a good way to break down any stigma about breastfeeding in public and spread the word about the importance of a mother’s milk, the United Nations said on Friday. “It’s absolutely to be encouraged,” World Health Organization spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told a regular U.N. briefing in Geneva when asked about the brelfie fad. Christophe Boulierac, a spokesman for the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF, said “World Breastfeeding Week” starts on Aug. 1, and the U.N. wants to get people talking about breastfeeding to improve infant nutrition around the world. “Everything that can be done should be done. This is a golden opportunity,” he said. UNICEF says 77 million newborns, about half of all babies, are not fed at the breast within an hour of birth, depriving them of the essential nutrients, antibodies and skin-to-skin contact that protect them from disease and death. Babies who get no breast milk at all are seven times more likely to die from infections than those who got at least some breast milk in their first six months, UNICEF said in a statement.
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9560
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Walking Fends Off Disability, And It's Not Too Late To Start
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This story focuses on a study showing that elderly persons recovering from a disability get back to normal 25 percent sooner if they participate in a program of physical activity including “150 minutes of aerobic activity as well as strength, flexibility and balance training” per week. It points out that “walking was the cornerstone of the program.” While it described the program in helpful terms, the story was light on the study’s specific findings, and seemed to assume that all people in this age group would see comparable results. Also, we would have been more satisfied if the story had mentioned early on that people in this age group should consult with their physicians before undertaking any kind of exercise program. The story points out that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that “just 28 percent of those 75 and up meet the recommendation for aerobic activity, and only 8 percent also did the suggested amount of strength training.” It says that too many of the elderly are sedentary, believing they’ve earned a focus on relaxation. But this and many other studies outline numerous health benefits from exercise and physical activity, even among the elderly, assuming their physical status is up for it. Physicians should help their patients decide what kind of physical program they should undertake, and as the story shows, even regular walking can be very helpful.
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true
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exercise
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We’ll rate this category as non-applicable since the thrust of the story and the project it reports about is for elderly persons to adopt a routine of physical activity, the core of which is walking, which costs nothing. Certainly some costs are possible, say if for example a gym membership was desired, but neither the study or the story recommended that. Simple walking seemed to net ample positive results. While quantification was minimal in this story, we’ll rate it barely satisfactory since it states those participating in the physical activity part of the study “cut the amount of time that people spent with a “major mobility disability” — defined as being unable to walk a quarter mile — by 25 percent compared to the education program.” But 25% of what? It also stated that, “Previous findings from the same study showed that the exercise program lowered the risk of becoming disabled in the first place; this one showed that it sped recovery from an episode of disability and lowered the risk of subsequent episodes.” However, it failed to explain how much that risk was lowered, or whether it was an absolute risk or a relative risk. Statements offered by others in the story said that “people who engage in physical activity have a lower risk for heart disease, diabetes, certain cancers, depression, cognitive impairment and functional decline,” but gave no measures of how much those risks were lowered. This story basically recommends physical activity for the elderly, which most experts would support. But the study in question focused on “sedentary people between 70 and 89 years old who had some functional limitations, but who could walk about a quarter of a mile in 15 minutes or less, unassisted by another person or a walker. (Canes were OK.)” There is obviously a great deal of variation in a population that broad and many included in that age bracket may also have balance, pain or stability issues that might preclude jumping into a similar program. We would have been happier if the story focused early on any new program of physical activity being clearly linked to an initial consult with the person’s physician. While the story does mention at the end that the authors of an accompanying editorial advised physicians that, “Prescribing exercise may be just as important as prescribing medications — perhaps even more important in some cases,” that seemed insufficient compared to the consequences of physical-activity-induced injury among the elderly. As mentioned before, the story showed that the physical activity program “sped recovery from an episode of disability and lowered the risk of subsequent episodes” by 25 percent. It also explains that the study itself followed 1,600 participants for about 2.7 years — a considerable length of time for such a study. But that’s really the extent of the information offered. It describes participants only as being “sedentary” without defining the extent of that state. Nor does it give any information about the strength or endurance of the participants at the beginning and at the end of the study, indications that might help readers place themselves in a comparable continuum. It doesn’t even provide a gender breakdown of the participants although we know there are gender differences in stress and exercise among the aged. The story, while informative, deserved more specific information. The story does not commit disease-mongering. The story quotes an independent source, and doesn’t appear to have missed any conflicts of interest. The most likely alternative is a rehab program that would incorporate many of the same elements as the study protocol. Since walking and physical activity are available to all capable of such exercise, there is no question about availability here. Yes, the story establishes novelty this way: “Previous research has suggested that exercise can improve memory and reverse muscle loss in older adults, among other benefits.” and “Previous findings from the same study showed that the exercise program lowered the risk of becoming disabled in the first place; this one showed that it sped recovery from an episode of disability and lowered the risk of subsequent episodes.” There is no evidence that this story relied on a news release.
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36237
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In the wake of an outrageous proposal by the Trump administration to buy Greenland, Denmark has offered to buy the United States from Russia.
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North Korea, one of the world’s most reclusive states, plans to branch out into medical tourism next year, offering foreign visitors, most likely from China, treatments including cataract surgery, dental implants and therapy for tumors.
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false
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Fact Checks, Politics, Viral Content
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The ruling party’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported on Friday the recent launch of the “Treatment Tourism Exchange Corporation”, aimed at capitalizing on the “rising demand for tourism, including medical care, in line with an international trend”. The new state entity will operate health clinics near hot springs, whose mineral waters, it said, can help treat neuralgia, arthritis, and heart and skin ailments. Private tourism is one of the few remaining areas of business not blocked by sanctions imposed on North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs. As many as 350,000 Chinese tourists have visited North Korea this year, potentially netting the authorities up to $175 million, according to some analysts. Last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a hot spring resort nearing completion in the central alpine town of Yangdok, one of major construction projects at the heart of his drive to build a “self-reliant” economy. Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean studies in Seoul, described the medical tourism campaign as propaganda designed at showing progress, while adding that it could appeal to some Chinese tourists. “North Korea primarily offers natural tourist attractions and appears to believe they can be a money maker if combined with elements of oriental medicine, which many Chinese people like,” he said. A recent report by a government-affiliated health institute in neighboring South Korea said North Korea was struggling to provide basic health care. “The reality is that primary-care providers — local clinics and doctors — are so short of basic equipment and supplies that they barely provide what may be called medical consultation,” it concluded in the report on the state of the health sector in the North. “The situation is not much better for secondary-care providers including state hospitals in cities and counties,” it said.
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28825
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Researchers have discovered that octopus genomes contain alien DNA.
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"Rsearchers didn't discover that octopus DNA is ""alien,"" or that it originated anywhere but on Earth, although a few have suggested the possibilty."
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mixture
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Science
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In June 2016, a number of web sites reported that, according to recent study, researchers had examined octopus DNA and discovered it was either “alien” or “from space”: The DNA of octopus may not be from this world, scientists revealed. The new study concluded that octopuses actually have alien DNA! According to the study published in the journal Nature, octopuses have a genome that yields an unprecedented level of complexity, composed of 33,000 protein-coding genes. This number is way beyond the number that can be found in a human being. Other dubious online site made similar assertions, claiming that the study showed beyond a doubt that octupuses don’t come from the planet Earth: Now, it seems as if aliens always existed amongst us, but we never knew it! If a new study is to be believed, Octopuses are actually aliens! The study concluded that octopuses have “alien” genes and more probing from the marine biologists can reveal more breakthroughs. The world is still so vast and we only knew half of what is really out there! A new study has led researchers to conclude that Octopuses (NOT Octopi) have Alien DNA. Their genome shows a never-before-seen level of complexity with a staggering 33,000 protein-coding genes identified, more than in a human being. US researcher Dr. Clifton Ragsdale, from the University of Chicago, said: The octopus appears to be utterly different from all other animals, even other molluscs, with its eight prehensile arms, its large brain, and its clever problem-solving abilities. “The late British zoologist Martin Wells said the octopus is an alien. In this sense, then, our paper describes the first sequenced genome from an alien.” The underlying study did not assert extraterrestrial origins for the octopus, however: Our analysis suggests that substantial expansion of a handful of gene families, along with extensive remodelling of genome linkage and repetitive content, played a critical role in the evolution of cephalopod morphological innovations, including their large and complex nervous systems. The study had been published in August 2015, and it was unclear why multiple web sites suddenly picked up and ran with a completely erroneous interpretation of it nearly a year after it first appeared. The “alien” angle seems to have originated with a press release, which (like the study) was published in 2015: “The octopus appears to be utterly different from all other animals, even other molluscs, with its eight prehensile arms, its large brain and its clever problem-solving capabilities,” said co-senior author Clifton Ragsdale, associate professor in Neurobiology and Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago. “The late British zoologist Martin Wells said the octopus is an alien. In this sense, then, our paper describes the first sequenced genome from an alien.” It was clear that Ragsdale meant that the octopus was an alien metaphorically, not literally. But, as is often the case, a number of web outlets seized upon the use of the word to spin up stories without first reviewing the source material: Yesterday, a number of sites started running stories that seemed to imply that octopuses are aliens. As in, from outer space (?). The Yahoo! News headline ran with Octopus genetic code reveals ‘alien creature’; over at the Mirror, they were having a field day with Octopus genetic code is so strange it could be an ALIEN, according to scientists; and the Irish Examiner proudly proclaimed, Don’t freak out, but scientists think octopuses ‘might be aliens’ after DNA study. The words “alien,” “space,” or even “Earth” didn’t appear in the August 2015 study of octopus gene sequencing. However, a tongue-in-cheek remark made later by one researcher was widely taken out of context to suggest otherwise. Coincidentally, a controversial paper subsequently published in the March 2018 issue of the journal Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology (“Cause of Cambrian Explosion – Terrestrial or Cosmic?”) examined whether some aspects of evolutionary theory might be better explained by positing that the precursors of some Earth organisms could have been extraterrestrial in nature. The paper offered an example which suggested — but did not prove — that one possible explanation for why octopuses (cephalopods) are very different from their presumed evolutionary ancestors (nautiloids) might be that their genes came “from the cosmos at large”: Some genetic features from recent data in the Octopus and other Cephalopods provide challenging examples to conventional evolutionary thinking. The genome of the Octopus shows a staggering level of complexity with 33,000 protein-coding genes more than is present in Homo sapiens. Octopus belongs to the coleoid sub-class of molluscs (Cephalopods) that have an evolutionary history that stretches back over 500 million years, although Cephalopod phylogenetics is highly inconsistent and confusing. Cephalopods are also very diverse, with the behaviourally complex coleoids, (Squid, Cuttlefish and Octopus) presumably arising under a pure terrestrial evolutionary model from the more primitive nautiloids. However, the genetic divergence of Octopus from its ancestral coleoid sub-class is very great, akin to the extreme features seen across many genera and species noted in Eldridge-Gould punctuated equilibria patterns. Its large brain and sophisticated nervous system, camera-like eyes, flexible bodies, instantaneous camouflage via the ability to switch colour and shape are just a few of the striking features that appear suddenly on the evolutionary scene. The transformative genes leading from the consensus ancestral Nautilus (e.g. Nautilus pompilius) to the common Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) to Squid (Loligo vulgaris) to the common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris) are not easily to be found in any pre-existing life form — it is plausible then to suggest they seem to be borrowed from a far distant “future” in terms of terrestrial evolution, or more realistically from the cosmos at large. The paper maintained we should not “discount” the notion that octopus genes may have been “extraterrestrial imports” which “arrived in icy bolides several hundred million years ago”: One plausible explanation, in our view, is that the new genes are likely new extraterrestrial imports to Earth — most plausibly as an already coherent group of functioning genes within (say) cryopreserved and matrix protected fertilized Octopus eggs. Thus the possibility that cryopreserved Squid and/or Octopus eggs, arrived in icy bolides several hundred million years ago should not be discounted, as that would be a parsimonious cosmic explanation for the Octopus’ sudden emergence on Earth ca. 270 million years ago. However, the paper also noted that “such an extraterrestrial origin as an explanation of emergence of course runs counter to the prevailing dominant paradigm.” And as Ephrat Livni observed in Quartz, other scientists don’t necessarily find the paper’s ruminations something to be taken seriously: Virologist Karin Moelling of the Max Planck Institute Molecular Genetics in Berlin isn’t convinced, although she says that the paper is worth contemplating because there’s still so much we don’t know about the origins of life on Earth. She writes in in a commentary in the same publication, “So this article is useful, calling for attention, and it is worth thinking about, yet the main statement about viruses, microbes and even animals coming to us from space, cannot be taken seriously.” Evolutionary scientist Keith Baverstock from the University of Eastern Finland, in his commentary on the paper, is equally wary. The proposed theories “would support an extra-terrestrial origin of life,” he writes. Still, they don’t necessarily lead to that conclusion; there are other plausible explanations for the evidence the paper offers.
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9980
|
Method effectivein detecting coronary plaque
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"This piece on a new imaging technique to detect noncalcified arterial plaques is described as a Sun-Sentinel ""staff report."" In fact it is a word-for-word replication of a press release issued by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, which employs the lead researchers. It’s difficult to imagine why an editor would try to pass off a press release as a ""staff report."" Newsroom budgets are tight. But news services usually provide perfectly adequate news reports. Failing that, a house ad for the newspaper or a public service accouncement could have been published instead. Failing even that, the press release could have been described as a press release. To label an unedited handout as a staff report is to abuse whatever trust the public has for the Sun-Sentinel. The ratings above for the press release, by the way, represent a worthwhile exercise. How does an unedited press release measure up to HealthNewsReview.org criteria? Poorly–but it turns out no worse than previous Sun-Sentinel stories. Of the three articles previously reviewed, two earned only two stars as well."
|
false
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The news release does not report a price for the imaging technique. The press release fails to quantify the benefit of using this technique for diagnosis of noncalcified plaques. The press release fails to account for the possiblity of false positives or false negatives, or other potential harms of using the diagnostic technique. The study featured in the press release analyzed the efficacy of new imaging techniques to detect noncalcified arterial plaques. These findings were not connected to patient outcomes. The press release failed to mention this limitation. And it did not give any caveats about drawing conclusions from a very small pilot study. The news release does not exaggerate the frequency or severity of undiagnosed noncalcified plaque. The only source is the press release itself, which is issued by the hospital that employs the researchers involved. No other sources were consulted for this press release. The press release describes the two treatments currently used to detect arterial plaques and heart disease risk–a stress test and angiography. The news release says nothing about availability of the experimental procedure. The press release correctly describes the pairing of voxel analysis and multi-detector computed tomography angiography as novel. The article is a verbatim copy of a press release available via Eureka Alert, from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
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36200
|
"In September 2019, a pastor died after fasting for 30 days in an attempt to ""equal or break Jesus Christ record of fasting for 40 days."
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Did a Pastor Die After 30 Days of Fasting to Beat Jesus Christ’s Record?
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unproven
|
Disinformation, Fact Checks
|
In September 2019, an article with the headline “Pastor Dies After 30 Days of Fasting To Beat Jesus Record” appeared in several Facebook groups and users’ feeds:A South African pastor, Alfred Ndlovu has died of malnutrition after going without food for 30 days when he tried to emulate Jesus Christ and fast for 40 days and 40 nights.Buzz South Africa reports that the 44-year-old pastor left home on June 17 [2019] for a nearby bush to have prayers, just like Jesus did. Attempting to equal or break Jesus Christ record of fasting for 40 days, Mr Alfred Ndlovu died just a month despite having no history of illness. He was alone in the wilderness and his body was found by a stranger who then called the police. He was known by his family and community at large as a very spiritual person whose faith could move mountains and his death surprised everyone, even church members.When we first attempted to archive the article, which is datelined August 2 2019, we noted that it had been previously archived in late 2018 or early 2019. That previous version of the page was dated May 2017, and the possibility existed that the date had been changed even before that.Strike one: The page’s author was clearly eliding the age of the article in an attempt to suggest its claims were more novel than they were. Strike two: The accompanying photograph showed several individuals carrying a stretcher. A reverse image search indicated the image was from at least August 2016, if not before. That means that before we even looked into the origin and veracity of the claim, the site had already demonstrated its use of at least two techniques used by hoaxsters and disinformation purveyors.On August 4 2016, the story was shared to Reddit’s r/atheism:Pastor tries to beat Jesus’ record, dies after 30 days of fasting from atheismThe same claim and image was shared in what seemed to be its very first iteration by BuzzSouthAfrica.com on August 1 2016. An “about” page for BuzzSouthAfrica.com described the site as a “news and entertainment site,” which occasionally was verbiage used to cover “satirical” stories.Two days after the image was first crawled by reverse image search site TinEye, a since-expired link to an apparent early version of the same claim was similarly recorded. The Internet Archive preserved a copy of the original page, dated August 4 2016, which itself linked to a separate, expired link. That link was also preserved by the Internet Archive, and was dated August 2 2016. It cited an outlet called NigeriaToday, which claimed:A South African pastor learned the hard way not to “beat God,” as he lost his life due to malnutrition after trying to breach the number of days that Jesus of Nazareth fasted for 40 days and 40 nights.Alfred Ndlovu, 44, decided to embark on dry fasting, which lasted for only 30 days, a NigeriaToday report confirmed.In a determined bid to break the record, the cleric left home on June 17 [2016] for a nearby bush to spend his days in prayer, much like the Messiah did.Little information about the initial site sharing the claim was available, but the same outlet was the subject of an April 2019 AFP fact check, which determined it was spreading untrue claims in at least one instance.We were unable to find any sites under the name “NigeriaToday,” if that was the original source. The first result for that search was VanguardNGR.com — which, interestingly, carried a version of the same story dated September 5 2019. Titled “Pastor dies of starvation while observing 30 days fast,” it claimed:A Zambian pastor identified as Brighton Samajomba has reportedly died of starvation 10 days before the end of his annual 30-day fasting programme.Samajomba, 37, of “Heaven Is My Home” in Solwezi, Northwest area of Zambia, was reportedly found dead by his wife in the early hours of the 20th day of his 30-day fasting programme of standing in the gap for his family and church members. Samajomba’s death was confirmed by his brother Reagan Samajomba in Solwezi [in late August 2019].SaharaReporters.com published a very similar article on September 6 2019; and FacesofMalawi.com’s September 4 2019 report credited but did not link the Zambian Sun. A report with the same date on TheZambianSun.com noted that local police were unable to corroborate the claim:But when contacted for a comment North-Western police commissioner Mr Hudson Namachila said he had no yet received a report on the matter.Finally, the story of a pastor who died attempting to fast for 30 days and beat Jesus’s record was suspiciously similar to a widely-reported 2017 claim about a pastor who attempted to walk on water — only to be devoured by crocodiles. We investigated that claim in May 2017, and discovered that it originated on a satirical website.To recap, in late August and early September 2019, a thinly-sourced story about a pastor dying after attempting a 30-day-long fast in Zambia circulated on blogs and viral news sites in Africa. Local police were unable to confirm whether there was any such death. At the same time, a site that first ripped off a similar yarn in August 2016 changed the page’s date to September 2019 and that story re-spread on Facebook.Not only were both stories suspiciously similar to one another, they both resembled a 2017 falsehood about another pastor who died in an attempt to beat Jesus at something — that time, walking on water. Although it’s possible one or both deaths occurred, it is highly unlikely either did in the fashion described.The longest recorded fast on record to date was Angus Barbieri’s in 1965, which lasted for more than a year — 382 days. However, he did so for medical reasons rather than religious ones, and he remained under direct medical supervision for its duration.
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17589
|
"Florida’s proposed medical marijuana amendment ""would make Florida one of the most lenient medical-marijuana states, allowing use for limitless ‘other conditions’ specified by any physician."
|
"Bondi’s office is arguing the proposed Florida Amendment is worded loosely enough in its definitions of what could be treated by the drug that it would put it in league with ""the most lenient medical-marijuana states."" The Florida proposal would allow doctors to make recommendations for marijuana use without getting approval from a designated state agency, a rare guideline. Only two states with medical marijuana laws, California and Massachusetts, allow patients to obtain cannabis this way. But if we look at the amendment’s approach to regulation, distribution and registration, it’s a different picture. Florida actually places plenty of restrictions on these categories, moving the proposal closer to the middle of the pack. Bondi’s brief didn’t focus on those other considerations. Some outside experts feel it’s a little misleading to say Florida will become ""one of the most lenient medical-marijuana states"" without explicitly couching it in terms of getting an unspecified condition approved for treatment with only a doctor’s written recommendation."
|
true
|
Drugs, Health Care, States, Florida, Marijuana, Pam Bondi,
|
"If there’s one issue sure to spark up a debate in Florida, it’s medical marijuana. United for Care, a medical marijuana advocacy group, is in the middle of a petition campaign to place a medicinal cannabis bill on the November ballot. The campaign has until Feb. 1 to qualify, but Attorney General Pam Bondi isn’t waiting that long. On Oct. 24 her office filed a challenge to the Florida Supreme Court, arguing that the summary of the amendment on the ballot is designed to mislead voters. The court heard arguments on Dec. 5, 2013, and has until April 1, 2014, to rule. Among the claims made in the brief is that the 74-word summary doesn’t go far enough to explain the extent of how the amendment would affect state law. ""The proposal hides the fact that the Amendment would make Florida one of the most lenient medical-marijuana states, allowing use for limitless ‘other conditions’ specified by any physician,"" the brief reads. ""With no ‘condition’ off limits, physicians could authorize marijuana for anything, any time, to anyone, of any age,"" it continues. ""But rather than tell voters of this extraordinary scope, the summary uses language to prey on voters’ understandable sympathies for Florida’s most vulnerable patients — those suffering ‘debilitating diseases.’ "" We’re not here to dispute whether the proposal is hiding anything from voters; that’s for the state Supreme Court to decide. But is Florida’s proposed amendment lenient compared with the rest of the country’s medical marijuana laws? It’s going to take us some time to roll that one up. Allowing medical marijuana for 'other conditions' Twenty states currently have medical marijuana laws, and all of them have at least a partial list of specific medical diagnoses that can be treated with cannabis. These diseases typically include cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, or wasting syndromes like cachexia, although the lists vary by state. (We should note that among those 20 states, Colorado and Washington state voted in 2012 to decriminalize marijuana altogether.) The Florida amendment spells out its covered diagnoses as cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, hepatitis C, ALS, Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis. But it also allows for ""other conditions for which a physician believes that medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient."" Any other use would have to fall under that rather open-ended description. It’s the ""other conditions"" that Bondi and others say is a major loophole. Florida Sheriffs Association President Grady Judd has argued that by using the term ""condition,"" there’s a virtually unlimited number of ways that can be applied, including muscle spasms and menstrual cramps. We found that . Other state laws use words like ""other conditions"" to allow for diseases or symptoms not mentioned in their statutes. Usually there is a process to petition a state board or other group to allow medical marijuana use for one of those conditions after it’s approved by a doctor. Florida’s law would not require the creation of such a board to approve a disease or symptom not listed -- only that a doctor give a written recommendation. (To abide by federal law, no state requires a prescription, only a recommendation.) Only two other states, California and Massachusetts, have laws that are that relaxed. Massachusetts only requires written consent from a doctor, while California lets patients get medical marijuana with merely verbal recommendations (for example, a dispensary calls a doctor to verify a patient who doesn’t have written documentation, which is an uncommon occurrence). Neither state requires a board to approve requests. United for Care campaign manager Ben Pollara said the loose requirements for the approval process in Florida was by design. ""Health care decisions should be made between a doctor and their patient not by whether it is included or excluded on an arbitrary list drawn up by lawyers, politicians or bureaucrats,"" he told PolitiFact Florida. Other states have slightly stricter guidelines for what constitutes a non-specified conditions. Alaska, for example, has an approval process for any ""debilitating medical condition"" with symptoms such as pain, nausea or seizures. Montana gives leeway for severe pain with a second doctor’s opinion. New Hampshire makes exceptions for other conditions including severe pain or if current treatments result in side effects like nausea, vomiting or muscle spasms. New Mexico also allows for severe pain, if a doctor and the state agree other treatments won’t work (hospice patients are allowed, too). Vermont will let patients treat severe pain, severe nausea, or seizures if other efforts have failed -- or if those conditions are caused by other treatments. Jennifer Meale, communications director for Bondi’s office, confirmed to PolitiFact Florida that the wording in the initial brief was intended to apply only to the amendment language referring to ""other conditions,"" which are described as ""debilitating diseases"" in the ballot summary. ""Other aspects of the amendment weren’t considered in this way,"" she said. ""That’s the portion that was misleading."" Cultivation, distribution and possession restrictions In regards to overall leniency, however, there is much more to consider than just the definition of what could be covered. The Florida law would not, for instance, protect patients growing their own plants, which 15 states permit to some degree. Michigan and Montana, for example, don’t specify there have to be medical marijuana dispensaries, according to pro-legislation Marijuana Policy Project spokesman Dan Riffle, so cultivation at home is a common method for patients to maintain a supply of the drug. Arizona lets you grow marijuana plants if you live more than 25 miles from a dispensary. Instead, the Florida amendment outlines that the state department of health or some other designated agency must regulate a dispensary network, a requirement by 14 states. (States are limited to regulating the distribution network instead of operating it, lest the states open themselves up to a violation of federal law.) Furthermore, the proposal does not contain wording on possession limits, which also vary by state. ""Most allow 2 to 2.5 ounces, but some are as low as one ounce, and some are as high as 24 ounces,"" Riffle said. ""The Florida initiative leaves that up to the Department of Health to determine, and they'll probably say 1 to 2 ounces if this passes."" Riffle added the amendment also does not carry any protections for housing or employment discrimination against patients or caregivers. One example he gives is how in Arizona, a licensed patient cannot be fired from a job for failing a drug test. The Florida law makes no mention of such instances. Riffle said the Florida proposal overall ""is a relatively average medical marijuana law,"" not as restrictive as places like Connecticut, Illinois or New Jersey, but not as liberal as California, Arizona or Massachusetts. Vanderbilt Law School professor Robert Mikos agreed that by using the term ""conditions"" in its language for recommendations, the Florida amendment is ""on the lenient side."" But, he added, ""it looks like Florida is going the more restrictive route by requiring the use of treatment centers and licensing and regulation through the state."" Even the language for doctor recommendations is a little stricter, he said, such as saying the benefits of approved cannabis use ""would likely outweigh the potential health risks,"" instead of wording it that drug use ""might benefit"" a patient, as is used by some other states. Our ruling Bondi’s office is arguing the proposed Florida Amendment is worded loosely enough in its definitions of what could be treated by the drug that it would put it in league with ""the most lenient medical-marijuana states."" The Florida proposal would allow doctors to make recommendations for marijuana use without getting approval from a designated state agency, a rare guideline. Only two states with medical marijuana laws, California and Massachusetts, allow patients to obtain cannabis this way. But if we look at the amendment’s approach to regulation, distribution and registration, it’s a different picture. Florida actually places plenty of restrictions on these categories, moving the proposal closer to the middle of the pack. Bondi’s brief didn’t focus on those other considerations. Some outside experts feel it’s a little misleading to say Florida will become ""one of the most lenient medical-marijuana states"" without explicitly couching it in terms of getting an unspecified condition approved for treatment with only a doctor’s written recommendation."
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5507
|
State’s 1st measles case confirmed in northeastern Indiana.
|
State health officials have confirmed a case of measles in northeastern Indiana.
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true
|
Angola, Health, Measles, Michigan, Sturgis, Indiana
|
The Indiana State Department of Health says it’s working with local health departments to identify anyone who may have been exposed to the patient at Cameron Memorial Community Hospital Urgent Care in Angola on March 30. It says the patient also visited three locations in Sturgis, Michigan, on March 31: Holy Angels Catholic Church, San Miguel Grocery and the Walmart Supercenter. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 387 individual cases of measles have been confirmed in 15 states this year through the end of March. Michigan health officials on Friday said that state has 39 confirmed cases this year, including 38 in Oakland County, near Detroit. Indiana had one confirmed measles case in 2018.
|
9932
|
Test of “artificial pancreas” offers diabetes hope
|
If the Times account of the study reviewed here was good, and WebMD’s was bad, then this write-up is just ugly. Misleading description of the experiment. Sensational terms. No independent perspective. They might have served readers better by simply posting a link to a more detailed press release about the study. Advances in technology could help ease the burden of managing insulin for individuals with type 1 diabetes, and the study covered here is an important step forward. That being said, journalists aren’t doing anyone any favors when they fail to ask tough questions about a study and overhype its results.
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false
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"If we’re far enough along to determine that that the ""artificial pancreas"" was better than conventional techniques at managing glucose, we’re far enough along to start talking about what this approach may cost. Many patients with type 1 diabetes are not using currently available pumps and sensors because of the high cost of these devices. It seems likely that this new treatment, if it ever becomes widely available, will be as expensive or more so than the current pump and sensor technology. The story cites study data showing that the system increased the amount of time the study participants spent with normal blood sugar levels and that it ""halved"" the amount of time blood sugar dropped to ""worrying or dangerous levels."" Saying that the system ""halved"" time with low blood sugar suggests a big effect, but absolute rates were 4.1% for the experimental group and 2.1% for the control group — a 2% absolute difference. The true clinical significance of these differences may not be another matter. The story gives no sense of what could go wrong if this technology malfunctions and delivers the wrong dose of insulin while someone is sleeping. The consequences could be fatal. The story misstates what happened in this experiment, giving the impression that the ""new system"" automatically monitored and adjusted patients’ insulin throughout the night, when in fact there were nurses adjusting the patients’ insulin pumps based on the calculations made by an algorithm. It might not be that hard to develop a device that would handle these adjustments automatically, but we won’t know for sure until we see the study proving it. The story also should have done more to call attention to the small size of this study and what kind of conclusions we can draw from an experiment involving only 17 patients. Although there are some cautionary notes sounded in an interview with one of the investigators, the claim made in the headline — that ""the new device works better than conventional treatment""– is not well supported. It will take much larger and longer studies with patients living at home (and using an actual device that hasn’t been built yet) to show whether this new technololgy is safe and manages glucose better than conventional methods. The description of type 1 diabetes in this story is a bit sensational. If type 1 diabetes is left untreated, the story states, ""blood vessels and nerves are destroyed, organs fail and patients die."" While this is technically true, patients with type 1 diabetes are treated and their experiences with the disease, while often frustrating and frightening, are not well-represented by this overly dramatic one-sentence description. We’ll flag this one for disease-mongering. The story cites one interview with a study researcher and provides no other independent perspective. It does not inform us that this source had financial ties to one of the study sponsors. The story doesn’t describe how type 1 diabetes is currently managed and why new automated systems might be an improvement. An important benefit would be the prevention of nighttime episodes of hypoglycemia. The story doesn’t make this clear. The story suggests that it will be several more years before the ""new device"" supposedly tested in this study will be available on the commercial market. But as the competing story in the New York Times makes clear, the researchers in this study did not test a ""device"" per se but rather an algorithm that could hypothetically be used to link up a glucose monitor and an insulin pump to create a new device for automatically managing blood glucose. The suggestion that there is a device already in testing exaggerates the level of progress that has been made and will give readers a false sense as to how close this product is to becoming a reality. The story says that medical device makers have been working for years to develop a so-called artificial pancreas. While this is perhaps enough to satisfy the criterion, the story could have mentioned that some of the most important features that an ""artificial pancreas"" might provide can already be found on commercially available products. A Medtronic Insulin pump can suspend insulin delivery when it gets a low blood glucose reading from the continuous glucose monitor to prevent hypoglycemia. This pump is not available in the U.S. because it doesn’t have regulatory approval–something that is also likely to take a long time for an ""artifical pancreas."" Because there are no independent perspectives in this piece, we can’t be sure of the extent to which it may have been influenced by a news release."
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10731
|
Ankles Gain as Candidates for Joint Replacement
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This article reviews ankle joint replacement, a relatively uncommon procedure, when compared with knee or hip replacement. This topic is of interest as ankle replacement surgery is a procedure that may be unknown to many readers. A graphic and overview of an ankle replacement is provided below. This story provides a general overview of the topic including risks and benefits. However, the lead-in should have been more specific to clarify that knee and hip replacement are most often associated with osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, while ankle replacement is largely performed in patients with post-traumatic osteoarthritis and the much less common rheumatoid arthritis. This story provides very little scientific evidence or independent expert testimony to support the information provided. In addition, the main expert interviewed has a financial relationship with the company that produces the implant he uses. It is possible that this creates an incentive to use this procedure more and to describe it in a more positive light. This story also has other omissions and inaccuracies including the cost of the procedure and that 5, not 4, devices are FDA approved. This is a relatively uncommon procedure that many readers may not be aware of. Unfortunately this column didn’t do the best job of presenting the information in a complete and balanced manner.
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false
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"This article does not discuss costs – a significant oversight. Potential benefits including, decreased pain, improved physical function and quality of life, are mentioned – but no data is provided. How often do these occur? That’s a pretty important piece of information for readers. The story presents some risks, i.e. replacement failure, loosening, slow healing, infection and amputation. It also mentions that not all individuals are appropriate candidates for surgery. It could have provided numbers for how often these harms occur. Nonetheless. we’ll give it the benefit of the doubt on this criterion and grade it barely satisfactory. No real concrete scientific evidence is presented in the story. General points are made, such as the concern of failed surgery or loosening of the artificial joint; however, these points were not backed up by published data. The article quotes an expert saying that 90% of ankle replacements last about eight and a half years. A citation of this information would have been helpful to include. Data suggests that these results may be applicable for a much shorter time frame on average and that the survival rate of implants may be quite variable. For example, one recent publication indicates that the 5 year implant survival rate is about 78% and that approximately 7% of implants require revision surgery within 5 years. Borderline. The numbers fly fast and furious – ""Each year about two million Americans visit the doctor for ankle pain from arthritis or fracture. An estimated 50,000 people a year experience end-stage ankle arthritis."" In framing the ankle as ""fast becoming a candidate"" for joint replacement, there is a whiff of disease-mongering in the air. Given the sourcing on the story – all experts with potential conflicts of interest – we’re going to give this one a thumbs down. The story clearly indicates that all of the experts interviewed had ties to manufacturers of the joint implants. While this may be expected due to the relatively small number of surgeons who perform this procedure, this is a clear example of conflict of interest. The story should have included comment from an independent unconflicted surgeon or referring physician (non-surgeon) with no stake in this. Disclosure is one thing; providing balance is quite another. This article correctly indicates that ankle fusion is the only surgical option to joint replacement. Many experts consider ankle fusion to be a highly successful procedure that relieves pain for many patients despite some loss ankle flexibility. A more detailed comparison of the procedures would have been informative to the readers. In addition, the story should have indicated that non-surgical options such as medication, physical therapy and orthotics, are the more common treatment approaches. This story correctly notes that ankle replacement has been available for several decades but is not widely performed. However, there was an omission in not indicating that that knee and hip replacement are most often associated with osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, while ankle replacement is largely performed in patients with post-traumatic osteoarthritis and the much less common rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, the article inaccurately states that 4 models are FDA approved. A fifth model, the STAR, which has a unique design, was FDA approved in May 2009. This story highlights a procedure that may readers may not be aware of because it is not commonly performed although it has been available for some time. It does not appear that the article is based on a press release."
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37770
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A nineteen-year-old developed pleurisy because she wore a mask for extended periods at her job in a grocery store.
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Many iterations of an anecdote about a healthy nineteen-year-old grocery store worker developing pleurisy specifically due to the fact she wore a face mask during her shifts was repeatedly debunked by doctors and public health experts asked about the story’s plausibility. As they noted, medical professionals have long worn masks during each shift for years on end, suffering no ill effects other than occasional skin irritation from mask friction. The rumor was one of many pieces of anti-mask propaganda spreading unchecked on Facebook, with the above iteration being shared more than 17,000 times without any sort of fact-check flag.
|
false
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Disinformation, Fact Checks
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On May 31 2020, Facebook user Lena Kovacs shared the following screenshot of a redacted post, in which a person claimed their neeninet-year-old daughter developed pleurisy solely due to her use of a face mask in her job at “a huge grocery store chain”:Text-based versions of the post circulated as well, and they read in full:⚠️Be careful HEALTHY people, shared from a friend….My daughter. 19 yrs old. Healthy. Frontline worker at a huge grocery store chain. Started feeling sick about two weeks ago. Side and back pain. Nausea.. Chest pain. Primary doc sent her for chest x-ray.. Something “lit up” on right side. Sent for MRI. Cat scan. Ultra sound of back and abdomen areas..NOTHING.. While at work was unable to breathe. Chest pain. Rushed to e.r. quarantined. Tested for covid. Young. By herself because no one can be with her. Turns out its pleurisy.. An inflection of the outside of the lining of the lungs. They basically tell her.. It’s because she has been wearing a mask for over 8 hours a day 5-6 days a week. Breathing in her own bacteria. Carbon dioxide.. Caused an infection. And now she is in severe pain. Has to be off work with no pay.. But you wont see that on social media! She’s 19. Healthy. And now is bed bound and struggling to breathe. Antibiotics. Steroids. Breathing treatments.Appended to the image- was a photograph of a Fox News broadcast, a chyron for which read “[World Health Organization/WHO] Guidance on Masks,” and a subsequent statement that masks should “only be used by healthcare workers.” We previously addressed the context of early WHO guidance about reserving face mask and PPE supplies for frontline medical professionals, here, here, and here:There’s No ‘New Evidence’ Face Masks Pose Health Risks to Healthy People During the COVID-19 Pandemic‘Copied From an OSHA Certified Friend’What’s Pleurisy?Pleurisy is type of chest pain caused by a bacterial or viral infection.The pleura is a thin layer of tissue that wraps your lungs. They fit snugly within your chest, which is lined with another thin layer of pleura.These layers keep your bare lungs from rubbing against the wall of your chest cavity every time you breathe in. There’s a bit of fluid within the narrow space between the two layers of pleura to keep everything moving smoothly.When you’re healthy, you never notice your pleura at work. But if your pleura has a problem, you’ll feel it.When the pleurae are swollen and inflamed, they rub against each other in a very painful way each time your lungs expand. When you inhale deeply, cough, sneeze, or laugh, you’ll probably feel a sharp, stabbing pain in the area that’s affected.Most of the time, pleurisy happens because of an infection. If your doctor treats your infection, that can make it — and the pain — go away.Pleurisy is caused by bacteria or viruses, not by face masks or coverings.A ‘Friend of a Friend’ Anecdote, or, Did Anyone Actually Develop Pleurisy from Wearing a Mask?Like the post (‘Copied From an OSHA Certified Friend’) above, the story of the grocery store worker was suspiciously source-free. It also circulated at a time of widespread, global use of prophylactic masks and other face coverings.News of the supposed mask-related pleurisy appeared to begin and end with the Facebook post and its iterations, despite people using masks to prevent others from getting sick for many, many years. Without a story to specifically check, the claim could easily spread in perpetuity as one of several anecdotes about the purported risks of wearing a face mask during a pandemic.In short, the claim itself was dubious on its face.Recycled Air, Recycled ClaimsIn our above-linked page “There’s No ‘New Evidence’ Face Masks Pose Health Risks to Healthy People During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” we addressed earlier rumors about “rebreathing” infected, exhaled air. In a broad May 2020 fact-check on the Plandemic video, experts explained:Wrong Message on Masks In attacking public health measures taken to address the pandemic in the U.S., [Plandemic’s Judy] Mikovits wrongly suggests that using masks could lead to people infecting themselves with their own breath. “Wearing the mask literally activates your own virus,” Mikovits said. “You’re getting sick from your own reactivated coronavirus expressions and if it happens to be SARS-CoV-2, then you’ve got a big problem.”Experts were perplexed by what she meant and said the implication that simply breathing through a mask could lead to self-infection doesn’t square with science.Linsey Marr, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech who studies airborne disease transmission, told us: “If you’re shedding (breathing out) virus, then you’re already infected. Even without a mask, infected people who are shedding virus probably rebreathe some of their own viruses, but there are already billions times more viruses in your body. Hopefully, the mask is protecting other people from your exhalations.”A Related FalsehoodA June 24 2020 Associated Press fact-check addressed a similar claim after Florida business owner and congressional candidate Jessi Melton claimed that “excessive use” of face masks can cause “fungal and bacterial pneumonia.”Once again, that claim stood in conflict with all known science, as well as how masks work. Moreover, those knowledgeable about best practices and public health noted that the spread of mask disinformation was especially detrimental during a pandemic:“There’s no evidence of masks leading to fungal or bacterial infections of the upper airway or the lower airway as in pneumonia,” said Davidson Hamer, infectious disease specialist and professor of global health and medicine at Boston University.Hamer noted that bacterial growth could occur, in theory, if someone wore a mask that was already contaminated with moisture and became moldy. “I don’t know why anybody would do that. Theoretically, it could happen, but it’s highly unlikely with just typical mask use,” he said in a phone call with The Associated Press. […]“It’s so highly unlikely with normal mask use,” Hamer explained. “There’s a real danger at spreading incorrect information like this, especially at a time when we really need to be encouraging more people to wear masks,” he added.Experts Weigh in on the ‘Pleurisy from a Face Mask Claim’After a North Carolina politician shared the claim a 19-year-old grocery store worker developed pleurisy due to face masks, WTVD consulted medical experts about the claim:“It does not make any logical or medical sense,” said Dr. Momen Wahidi, a pulmonologist, or lung doctor, at Duke University Hospital.We asked him to look at [state representative Michael] Speciale’s post, one of several similar social media claims linking masks and pleurisy.Speciale’s post said it’s written by a woman named Jennifer Brown but there is no link to the woman’s Facebook page or anything that identifies her as a real person.In the post, Brown said her teenage daughter is a grocery store worker who became very ill and that doctors not only determined the teen had pleurisy, but that it was caused by the mask she was required to wear, forcing her to breathe her own bacteria 40 hours a week.But Wahidi said our lungs are specially equipped to handle the bacteria we inhale and exhale. “We breathe bacteria and chemicals all the time,” he said. “Our lungs have a defense mechanism and can fight bacteria … there’s no logical mechanism that wearing a face mask will cause you to have pleurisy or inflammation in your lungs,” he said.Wahidi explained that there have “never been any reports of health effects or retention of carbon dioxide or lack of oxygen” due to the use of masks, and saliently observed that medical professionals have long worn face masks for eight to twelve hours shifts with no respiratory consequences prior to the pandemic.ClickOnDetroit.com ran the claims by Dr. Frank McGeorge, who also indicated they were not medically sound:As far as breathing your own bacteria, fortunately there are mechanisms that clear out any bacteria that might make it into our respiratory tract, and breathing with a mask doesn’t cause bacterial lung infections or pleurisy.Perhaps the simplest way to think of the question is to recall that many health care providers, particularly operating room staff members, wear masks continuously for many hours, day after day, and don’t have harmful effects.Trust Index: Not true Dr. McGeorge is giving these claims a “not true” on the Trust Index.There are no medial facts that support any of the posts. It does take a little while to get used to wearing a mask, but it’s not harmful.In a very concise post about the claims, HealthFeedback.com noted:Face mask filters are porous enough to allow gas molecules such as carbon dioxide and oxygen to pass through freely. Healthcare workers who wear masks for long periods of time do not demonstrate significant impairment in work performance, as would be the case if masks caused hypercapnia.TL;DRMany iterations of an anecdote about a healthy nineteen-year-old grocery store worker developing pleurisy specifically due to the fact she wore a face mask during her shifts was repeatedly debunked by doctors and public health experts asked about the story’s plausibility. As they noted, medical professionals have long worn masks during each shift for years on end, suffering no ill effects other than occasional skin irritation from mask friction. The rumor was one of many pieces of anti-mask propaganda spreading unchecked on Facebook, with the above iteration being shared more than 17,000 times without any sort of fact-check flag.Comments
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31860
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Two handfuls of cashews are equivalent to one dose of Prozac in treating depression, and can be safely substituted for prescribed drugs.
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While the meme has been circulating on Facebook since at least May 2014, we located no evidence to support the efficacy of using cashews (or anything containing tryptophan) as a treatment for depression.
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false
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Medical, antidepressants, dangerous memes, david avocado wolfe
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In late 2016, a long-circulating claim that cashews could wholly replace prescribed antidepressants like Prozac once again made the rounds on social media. The claim was not new in 2016, but it spiked in circulation after the site Newz Magazine reiterated the rumor on 15 November 2016. According to the newer article, research purportedly proved the efficacy of cashews as an antidepressant, adding that “big pharma” suppressed the findings in order to cash in on prescription drugs: Cashew nuts are more than great source of tryptophan, which is a vital amino acid our body needs to take it throughout the food. This amino acid helps children develop and grow, regulates mood, balances our behavior, improves sleep and can significantly lower the level of stress, anxiety and depression. Just two handfuls of cashews contain somewhere between 1.000 and 2.000 mg of tryptophan. This compound has been proven to be as equally successful as prescription antidepressants. The best thing about treating depression with cashews is that you will surely avoid side effects that are usually caused by antidepressants. Of course, this is yet another thing big pharma carefully hides from us … there is much effective and safer natural depression treatment they want to hide from the common people because thus they will lose lots of money. One popular version was shared by alternative health promoter David “Avocado” Wolfe on 21 December 2015 (making it possible Facebook’s “On This Day” feature helped bring the story back in December 2016). In his article, Wolfe maintained: As it turns out, cashews contain niacin and tryptophan, and, according to some, two handfuls of cashews contain a “therapeutic amount” of tryptophan, enough to alter and elevate your mood. The real measurement, apparently, is three and a half ounces of cashews, about a one-half cup, which provides approximately 470 mg of tryptophan. (HER) This is great news for people who want a more natural response to their depression or for those who react terribly to Prozac. Also, cashews are delicious and can be found in milk or butter form. It is also possible to take cashews and turn them into something one can eat everyday to keep depression at bay. The claim appeared to originate with a May 2014 Men’s Journal article (“The Case for Cashews”), which asserted: Two handfuls of cashews each day may keep depression at bay. A growing body of research has found that in lieu of taking a prescription drug, some people can turn to foods that are high in tryptophans, like cashews. Depressive episodes are often triggered when the body drops in serotonin and tryptophans can boost it again, but people tend to turn to nutrition as a last resort. One more natural source of tryptophan is cashews. “Several handfuls of cashews provide 1,000-2,000 milligrams of tryptophan, which will work as well as prescription antidepressants,” says Dr. Andrew Saul, a therapeutic nutritionist and editor-in-chief of Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. The claim that “two handfuls of cashews” could sufficiently replace an antidepressant was potentially dangerous; the original report did not come from a clinical study or credible research, and the doctor quoted identified himself not as a psychiatrist but a nutritionist. The pieces referenced tryptophan as the key antidepressant in cashews, an amino acid which can be purchased in capsule form (but is not accepted as a valid treatment for clinical depression). Tryptophan has long been misidentified as a substitute for medication. In 2003, Psychology Today noted that claims about the amino acid in food were distorted: You’ve picked the bones of the Thanksgiving bird; you’re in an easy-chair nearly napping: “It’s the tryptophan!” you say. But it isn’t: you’ve fallen victim to a common myth about an uncommon molecule, tryptophan. Thought to have effects on mood, memory, and sociability, tryptophan is an amino acid with a checkered past, an obscure present and a promising future. Misconceptions and confusion abound, especially in the popular press If anything eating turkey lowers tryptophan. That’s because tryptophan uses the same means of transport into the brain as other amino acids, and has to compete against them to cross the blood-brain barrier. As it happens, tryptophan is the least abundant amino acid. Forced to fight for access against the more common amino acids, it’s left waiting at the gate: the amount of tryptophan entering the brain decreases … For similar reasons, a glass of warm milk at bedtime will not raise the level of tryptophan entering your brain. Neither will walnuts, strawberries or salmon, though many nutrition columns say so. If a glass of warm milk at bedtime helps you fall asleep, it’s not because of its tryptophan content. The only surefire way to increase tryptophan to the brain is with dietary supplements. Taken in pure form, tryptophan works in a qualitatively different way than when obtained from a food source. The concentration of tryptophan becomes high enough to compete on a level playing field against other amino acids; plenty of it gets into the brain. The rumor’s spread was particularly pernicious, as abrupt cessation of antidepressants treatment (encouraged by the articles’ suggestion Prozac be replaced with cashews) is linked with severe adverse outcomes: Discontinuing antidepressant medications can precipitate a variety of somatic and psychological reactions in patients. These reactions, often termed antidepressant withdrawal or discontinuation syndrome, have been noted with all classes of antidepressant agents including TCAs, MAOIs, SRIs, SSRIs, and SNRIs. Since antidepressants are not addictive agents and do not directly evoke the brain reward systems, the term “discontinuation” is preferred over “withdrawal” when describing these symptoms. Although discontinuation symptoms are most often associated with the abrupt discontinuation of an antidepressant, they have been reported during gradual tapering and intermittent noncompliance as well. Although much of the evidence for the discontinuation syndrome comes from case reports, controlled clinical trials involving the abrupt switch from active antidepressant to placebo also have documented the occurrence of these reactions.
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8010
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Israel to use computer analysis to find likely coronavirus carriers.
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Israel’s defense ministry plans to use software that analyses data gathered from mobile phones - produced, according to Israeli media, by the spyware firm NSO - to help locate likely carriers of the coronavirus in order to test them.
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true
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Health News
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Defense Minister Naftali Bennett told reporters that the “coronameter” would need approval from the cabinet - likely to be given - as well as an assessment of privacy issues from the attorney general, who has the power to block it. But it could be operational within 48 hours of getting the go-ahead. Israel already tests around 5,000 people a day for the new virus, which can cause respiratory failure but also be present for several days without causing symptoms, and imposes strict quarantine on those found to have it. It hopes soon to double the number of tests. To help it decide who to test, it is using military-level surveillance to tracks civilians’ movements - prompting complaints about invasion of privacy from rights groups. So far, Israel has recorded 4,347 cases of the virus, and 15 deaths. As of Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was self-isolating after a parliamentary aide tested positive for the virus. Bennett said the cellphone tracking and geolocation data currently being used were no longer effective in finding the most likely carriers. According to Israeli media, the system assigns a rating of 1 to 10 to the likelihood that a person is carrying the virus. This is updated in real time and could, for example, jump if someone visits a grocery store where carriers have been identified. Israeli media said the software had been developed in cooperation with NSO. NSO declined to comment and Bennett said he would not “announce who and what, because there are also complex elements in this context”. The FBI is investigating NSO on suspicion of hacking U.S. residents and companies and gathering intelligence on governments, as reported by Reuters in January. Facebook’s WhatsApp sued NSO in October after finding evidence that it had abused a flaw in the popular chat program to remotely hijack hundreds of smartphones. Bennett said that, while not perfect, the new software was the best option available to find likely carriers. “All that is needed is to pour in the testing information, to link up the cellular tracking which we are making use of anyway, today, in the epidemiological tests.” A source close to the matter said NSO’s first civilian product was being tested by about 15 governments around the world for use by health regulators.
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29919
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The Disney cartoon character Goofy was modeled after a breed of Scottish cow.
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We’ve reached out to Disney Animation Studios for more information on Goofy’s background.
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false
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Humor, disney
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Classic Disney cartoons have proved to be a consistent source of conspiracy theories, rumors, and urban legends. For instance, we’ve previously investigated claims that Winnie the Pooh was actually a girl, that the Seven Dwarfs were modeled on cocaine addiction and that a topless woman could briefly be spotted in VHS copies of “The Rescuers”. In January 2019, we encountered yet another Disney rumor: This time, the internet asked, is the Goofy cartoon character actually a cow rather than an (anthropomorphic) dog? Although this dog vs. cow debate wasn’t entirely new in 2019, that time around it was supposedly supported by an “investigative article” published in 2012 by the website Reel Rundown. While that article did contain some factual information regarding the history of the Goofy character, which is likely the reason why some people have accepted it as a truthful account of Goofy’s supposed sordid past, it is peppered with exaggerations, speculation, outright fabrications, and was clearly written with humorous intentions. Reel Rundown presented their argument as if they were uncovering a vast Disney conspiracy theory aimed at covering up Goofy’s unsavory bovine heritage. In the introductory section, entitled “Goofy Is Not a Dog — The Cover Up,” the author argued that Goofy was actually a foreign-born cow and that Disney was forced to conceal this fact due to the political climate in the 1930s: Goofy has always been thought of as a “dog with human features” according to Disney’s Mouselinks. However what the Disney establishment isn’t telling you is the goofy is really a cow. To be specific an Aberdeen-Angus Cattle. A fact that Disney would love to cover-up considering that Goofy’s national origin is anything but American. In 1939 with American nationalism at an historic high, Goofy’s true heritage could have created a huge scandal for Disney. A Scandal that would have finished Goofies [sic] career just as it was starting to take-off.” The next section, “Goofy’s Heritage Revealed,” was even more outlandish. Reel Rundown imagined Goofy as a living, breathing, physical animal who was born “Dipalwa Dawala” to Egyptian immigrants in Scotland and was “discovered by Disney talent scouts during a livestock sale.” During the “Dark Years” section of the article, the website upped the absurdity and claimed that Goofy’s son died from Mad Cow disease. For those who took the time to read the article, it should have been obvious that it was a work of humorous fiction. However, it seems that some readers stopped at the headline and were left convinced that Goofy was actually a cow, not a dog: Although this article was clearly written in jest, some of its curious claims have been spread in support of the “Goofy is a cow” argument. We’ll dispel some of this misinformation to stop malicious propagation of rumors about this beloved Disney dog. Was Goofy “born” to Egyptian immigrants in Scotland and named “Dipalwa Dawala?” First off, Goofy wasn’t “born” anywhere: He was created by Disney animators Art Babbitt and Frank Webb in the 1930s. Goofy was introduced as a side character named “Dippy Dawg” in the cartoon short Mickey’s Revue (1932) but underwent some revisions over the next few years. While Goofy has gone by a number of names during his Disney career (including Super Goof, Dippy Dawg, George G. Geef, Goofus D. Dawg, and Goofy Goof), we were unable to find any credible source listing the character as “Dipalwa Dawala.” In fact, the only search results we could find for this term all point back to this Reel Rundown article. In other words, Goofy has never been named “Dipalw Dawala.” Does Goofy’s old love interest, Clarabelle the Cow, prove that Goofy is also a cow? Reel Rundown ended their humorous work of fiction with an “evidence” section claiming that Disney’s history of creating same species couples (Mickey and Minnie, Donald and Daisy, etc.) pointed to Goofy’s being a cow since he once had a love interest named Clarabele Cow: Goofy’s love interest in the Mickey Mouse clubhouse is Clarabelle the Cow. The on-screen chemistry is obvious. Disney often couples characters with the opposite sex of the same species. Mickey and Mini, Donald and Daisey [sic] both follow this pattern. So why would the writers at Disney have Goofy and Clarabelle coupled up? While it’s true that Goofy and Clarabelle Cow were once an item, this is not proof that they were the same species of animal. Clarabelle was the sometimes girlfriend of Horace Horsecollar, who was a horse and not a cow, and the Disney universe includes multiple examples of inter-species couples: Ben Ali Gator, for instance, woos Hyacinth Hippo in Fantasia; Jessica Rabbit (a cartoon human) has a rabbit husband in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog have an ongoing (if one-sided) relationship in the Muppet canon. Outside the Disney universe, Bimbo, a cartoon dog, was the occasional love interest of Betty Boop (a human female), and of course, Tillie Tiger once planted a kiss on Elmer Elephant: The Reel Rundown article was clearly a jape. However, it made us curious about Goofy’s actual origins and whether the character was originally intended to represent a dog. In Art Babbitt’s character analysis of Goofy from 1934 (available via the website of animator Michael Sporn), Goofy is described as a “composite of an everlasting optimist, a gullible Good Samaritan, a half-wit, a shiftless, good-natured coloured boy and a hick.” In his description of how Goofy should be drawn, Babbit mentioned two real-world creatures, neither of which was a cow: It is true that there is a vague similarity in the construction of the Goof’s head and Pluto’s. The use of the eyes, mouth and ears are entirely different. One is dog, the other human. The Goof’s head can be thought of in terms of a caricature of a person with a pointed dome—large, dreamy eyes, buck teeth and weak chin, a large mouth, a thick lower lip, a fat tongue and a bulbous nose that grows larger on its way out and turns up. His eyes should remain partly closed to help give him a stupid, sloppy appearance, as though he were constantly straining to remain awake, but of course they can open wide for expressions or accents. He blinks quite a bit. His ears for the most part are just trailing appendages and are not used in the same way as Pluto’s ears except for rare expressions. His brow is heavy and breaks the circle that outlines his skull. A description of the character from Disney.go.com also compares Goofy to Pluto but notes that Goofy was created as more of a human character: “Goofy was created as a human character, as opposed to Pluto, who was a pet, so he walked upright and had a speaking voice.”
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10545
|
Stem cells may help heart disease
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"This story was about an experimental approach using adult stem cells to limit heart damage after a heart attack. The story explained that the evidence came from a small phase I clinical trial, the results of which were presented at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting. It should have mentioned some of the problems with trying to reach conclusions about research that has not yet been peer reviewed, with results that have not been replicated. (See primer on ""News From Scientific Meetings."") The story included quotes that described the results of the study (which was sponsored by the company that developed the approach) as 'really quite spectacular', 'more encouraging than anything we've seen', and that those involved in the study were 'blown away' when they saw the outcome. But all of the sources interviewed were connected to the trial in some way, and had a vested interest in reporting positive findings. Again, especially since the work has not been peer-reviewed, it would have been helpful to have included comments from independent experts. The story didn't discuss costs of the approach. It also didn't mention any harms observed or even comment about an absence of observed harms if this was the case."
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mixture
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"There was no estimate for the cost of this experimental approach. The story included evidence that fewer patients receiving the treatment had arrhythmias in the months after their heart attack than those who received the placebo. The story mentioned that those receiving the treatment were able to walk farther and had better heart muscle than the placebo group, though it did not provide any estimates of the magnitude for these differences The story included no mention of any harms observed or even a comment about an absence of observed harms if this was the case. The story explained that the evidence came from a small phase I clinical trial, the results of which were presented at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting. It should have mentioned some of the problems with trying to reach conclusions about research that has not yet been peer reviewed, with results that have not been replicated. This story did not engage in disease mongering. The story included comments from four different stem cell researchers, but all were connected with the research in some way. It would have been better to get an independent perspective from someone not involved in this research. In addition, there were no caveats given about results that have only been presented at a meeting, have not yet been peer reviewed, and have not been replicated. While presenting information about decreased numbers of patients experiencing arrhythmias and better capacity to walk as a result of the experimental approach, the story did not discuss how this new experimental approach compares with existing treatment options. Although the story called the stem cell approach ""an experimental treatment"" and mentioned that the information presented came from a phase I clinical trial conducted with a small group of patients, it did not explain that this treatment is not widely available. This is a novel treatment and was presented as such. Does not appear to rely exclusively on a press release."
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8167
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Delayed by sanctions, border checks, first medical aid trickles into North Korea.
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The first shipments of international medical aid are due to arrive at North Korea’s borders this week to shore up its defenses against the coronavirus, but strict border controls could mean the stream of supplies remains a trickle.
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true
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Health News
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Some aid organizations had to get emergency sanction exemptions from the United Nations to clear the way for the shipments and are now navigating North Korea’s border controls imposed in a bid to shut out the virus. North Korea has not reported any confirmed cases of the new coronavirus that was first detected in China late last year, though a top U.S. military official said last week he is “fairly certain” there were infections in North Korea. The North’s state-run KCNA news agency reported on Friday that all but three foreigners who had been in quarantine had been released after “medical monitoring and examination”. It ordered all foreigners to spend 30 days in quarantine. North Korea is especially vulnerable to a coronavirus outbreak as its health system lacks resources, in part, aid organizations say, because of international sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. Aid groups have made urgent pleas for the United Nations to grant sanctions exemptions and it has approved six-month waivers for the World Health Organization, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Doctors without Borders to send thermometers, portable ventilators, resuscitators, gloves, face shields, surgical masks, gowns and goggles. The U.N. children’s fund, UNICEF, which said it did not need a waiver to import personal protective equipment such as gloves, protective suits and respiratory protective equipment, expected its first shipment to be delivered to North Korea by land from China this week. But North Korea’s own strict border quarantine measures have kept some initial shipments waiting, humanitarian sources say. More supplies of items from masks to test machines, sent by international agencies, were being held up in China, despite North Korea asking for them, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. They declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue. “North Koreans need assistance and have asked for it, but things are now on hold,” one source from a humanitarian group said. KCNA reported on March 13 that as part of “super strong prevention measures” all imported goods were being quarantined for 10 days. State media has shown workers in protective gear disinfecting trains and trucks. Doctors without Borders said in a statement emailed to Reuters that their supplies had arrived in Beijing and the border city of Dandong, and North Korean authorities had agreed to facilitate the transport despite the border closures. The agency said it was till unclear when the supplies would reach North Korea. The IFRC said it was working hard to send “urgently required goods”, but had to consider “restrictions on incoming goods” to North Korea. The federation did not say when it expected its shipment to arrive. The WHO did not respond to calls from Reuters. Experts say the planned supplies to help contain the coronavirus in North Korea are far short of what it needs. Harvard Medical School’s Kee Park, who has worked on health projects in North Korea, said a lack of testing equipment may mean infections are going undiscovered. “To confirm it you have to actually do confirmatory diagnostic testing,” he said. North Korea has said it is monitoring thousands of people with possible symptoms. Russia said it had donated 1,500 coronavirus test kits at North Korea’s request. “We should do everything in our power to provide help without delay,” Park said. “Because this is an emergency situation.” North Korea has a high number of doctors per capita, and the authoritarian government is capable of controlling or blocking the movement of people. But its health system is chronically under-resourced, defectors and foreign medical experts said. Garment factories were manufacturing masks instead of clothes, state media reported. On Tuesday, leader Kim Jong Un broke ground for a big new hospital in the capital, Pyongyang. He lamented the poor health sector and ordered that the facility be completed by October. Many North Korean defectors say sick people have to rely on smuggled medicine or illicit drugs for treatment. John Linton, head of International Health Care Centre at Severance Hospital in Seoul, said some doctors scoured mountains for medicinal herbs. North Korea has made “indirect” requests to South Korean aid groups for supplies including masks, said Linton, who has worked on building operating rooms and tuberculosis projects in North Korea. He did not know if any had been sent. Sanctions prohibit the import of computers or metal objects to North Korea, which restricts it ability to repair medical equipment, Linton said. Intravenous (IV) fluids are made in hospitals, Linton said, adding: “Beer bottles or whatever bottles are used as containers for IV fluids, made at home.”
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37504
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The website for the federal Strategic National Website was changed after remarks by White House Advisor Jared Kushner on April 2, 2020.
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Was the United States’ Strategic National Stockpile Website Altered After Remarks by Jared Kushner?
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true
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Disinformation, Fact Checks
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Journalists and social media users alike keyed on to a change to a government website after heavily-criticized remarks by presidential advisor Jared Kushner.On April 2 2020, Kushner was discussing the use of the Strategic National Stockpile as part of the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic when he said:You have instances where the cities are running out, but the state still has a stockpile. The notion of the federal stockpile was it’s supposed to be our stockpile. It’s not supposed to be states stockpiles that they then use. We’re encouraging the states to make sure that they’re assessing the needs, they’re getting the data from their local situations and then fillng it with the supplies that we’ve given them.At the time, observers noted that Kushner’s claim ran counter to the program’s description on the Department of Health and Human Services website:Strategic National Stockpile is the nation’s largest supply of life-saving pharmaceuticals and medical supplies for use in a public health emergency severe enough to cause local supplies to run out. When state, local, tribal, and territorial responders request federal assistance to support their response efforts, the stockpile ensures that the right medicines and supplies get to those who need them most during an emergency. Organized for scalable response to a variety of public health threats, this repository contains enough supplies to respond to multiple large-scale emergencies simultaneously.Journalists Laura Bassett and Daniel Dale, among others, also posted screenshots showing the changes to the website copy, which now read:The Strategic National Stockpile’s role is to supplement state and local supplies during public health emergencies. Many states have products stockpiled, as well. The supplies, medicines, and devices for life-saving care contained in the stockpile can be used as a short-term stopgap buffer when the immediate supply of adequate amounts of these materials may not be immediately available.This is what the website for the federal stockpile said yesterday vs what it says today, after Kushner was caught lying about how states aren’t supposed to be using it. It was changed to say, “Many states have products stockpiled, as well.” https://t.co/kbNXiwaJbX pic.twitter.com/xAtPKIyHnA— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) April 3, 2020After Jared Kushner’s comment about how the Strategic National Stockpile is not supposed to be for states, lots of people pointed to the fact that its own website says it is.The language on the website has now been changed.My screenshot from last night vs. one from today: pic.twitter.com/UwJFAr7uoV— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 3, 2020But as the Washington Post reported, the national Health and Human Services webpage on emergency medical management for chemical hazards (which we have archived here) still retains the original description for the stockpile: “The SNS is designed to supplement and resupply state and local public health agencies in the event of a national emergency anywhere and at any time within the United States or its territories.”The newspaper also reported:Another part of the HHS’s website offers a similar description as the original one above:The Strategic National Stockpile was formerly known as the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile. In a description of what was then known as the NPS in 2001, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged that states couldn’t be counted on to have sufficient supplies in situations such as biological or chemical terrorism and that’s why the federal stockpile was needed.“Few U.S. state or local governments have the resources to create sufficient pharmaceutical stockpiles on their own,” the report says. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, under U.S. Congressional mandate, has developed and implemented a National Pharmaceutical Stockpile (NPS) to address this need.”</According to the news site Politico, Health and Human Services spokesperson Katherine McKeogh claimed that the change to the website had already been planned — a claim that also ran counter to a department statement from earlier in the week.“This is language we have been using in our messaging for weeks now,” McKeogh said. She added that the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response “first began working to update the text a week ago to more clearly explain to state and local agencies and members of the public the role of the [Strategic National Stockpile].”An HHS spokesperson also told Politico Tuesday that the role of the stockpile “is to supplement state and local supplies during public health emergencies, limited displacements, localized disasters and terrorist attacks.”
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41185
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The estimated cost of Brexit is £4.15 per person per day.
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U.S. health officials on Thursday reported 805 confirmed and probable cases and 12 deaths so far from a mysterious respiratory illness tied to vaping, with the outbreak showing no signs of losing steam.
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false
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online
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Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 530 cases and seven deaths due to severe lung illnesses. U.S. public health officials have been investigating these illnesses, but have not linked it to any specific e-cigarette product. As of Sept. 24, the confirmed deaths were reported in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, and Oregon, the CDC said. The House of Representatives began public hearings about the illness this week while Massachusetts imposed a four-month ban on sales of all vaping products, including those used for tobacco and marijuana, which is legal in the state. Investigators have, however, pointed to vaping oils containing marijuana ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or vitamin E acetate, a substance used in some THC products, as a possible cause of these illnesses. The increased scrutiny also prompted leading e-cigarette maker Juul Labs to suspend all broadcast, print and digital product advertising in the United States and bring in a longtime Altria Group Inc executive as its CEO. Altria owns a 35% stake in Juul. Public health officials have advised consumers to quit vaping and urged those who continue using the devices to avoid buying such products on the street, using marijuana-derived oil with the products or modifying a store-bought vape product.
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9555
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Botox Works As Well As Nerve Stimulator for Incontinence - Study
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This news story covers a clinical trial that compared two different treatments for severe urinary urge incontinence in women. One treatment, which is more standard, is an electrical stimulator that calms nerves. The other and less well-understood treatment is shots of Botox (also known by its scientific name, onabotulinumtoxinA) to the same nerves. The story doesn’t go over-the-top in its characterization of how Botox shots for incontinence could help people, and especially women (who disproportionately deal with the problem). It also hedges the benefits well and discusses the primary potential harm of Botox injections for severe incontinence. However, the story missed some of the nuances about the study’s findings (such as the researchers’ conclusions that the results are of “uncertain clinical importance”). It also attempts to discuss cost, but provides no prices, and doesn’t go far enough in detailing the potential harms of either treatment. And, because the story’s only interviewed source has potential conflicts of interest, independent scrutiny was needed. Urinary incontinence is common, affecting millions of individuals, both women and men. The prevalence increases with age, but it is not a normal result of aging. The condition is more prevalent in women, though beyond the age of 80, both men and women reportedly have similar rates. The kind of incontinence studied here–“severe refractory urge incontinence”–specifically means a person has an abnormally frequent urge to urinate, and it is resistant to standard treatments.
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mixture
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Botox,urinary incontinence
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We hear a lot about costs throughout this story, but see no specific numbers or meaningful discussion. And this is a major oversight, since—at least according to a 2015 study that focused on the UK National Health Service—Botox combined with quality supportive care “appears to be a cost-effective use of resources.” A neurostimulator for bladder issues costs between $20,000 and $30,000. Meanwhile, one unit (or “U”) of Botox costs roughly $10-$28, with a typical cost hovering between $10-$12 per U. Since the treatment uses 200 U of Botox, its price is likely about $2,000-$2,500 per 6-month treatment course, but that doesn’t include the cost of administering it, which is likely to be considerable. The benefits are stated as such: The Botox injections freed 20 percent of the women in the study of incontinence, compared to 4 percent who had a nerve stimulator implant, Amundesen and colleagues reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “Forty-six percent in the onabotulinumtoxinA (Botox) group and 26 percent in the sacral neuromodulation group had at least a 75 percent reduction in the number of episodes of urgency incontinence,” they added. and On average, both treatments cut the number of “accidents” – Botox by almost four times a day and the nerve stimulator by about three times a day. This is sufficient for a Satisfactory rating on this criterion. We would have liked to have seen more discussion about actual improvements (perceived and otherwise) to patient quality of life. The closing line of the study brings this into question, i.e. how the work is of “uncertain clinical importance,” and good interview questions with both a study author and independent expert source could have greatly clarified the issue. Urinary tract infections were three times more common in the women who received Botox shots, and the reader is informed of this. But a lot is left out. We would have also liked to see noted other side effects of Botox for urinary incontinence, such as blood in the urine, fatigue, insomnia, and inability to completely empty the bladder (in about 17% of people) — and the need to self-catheterize to relieve the problem. And then there are the more general side effects left out of the story, including “dry mouth, discomfort or pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, neck pain, and eye problems: double vision, blurred vision, decreased eyesight, drooping eyelids, swelling of your eyelids, and dry eyes,” according to botoxforincontinence.com. And what of the harms of a neurostimulator implant? There’s no mention of this, and the side effects are numerous. The story does a decent job of explaining that the study, stating it was “a head to head comparison of a single Botox injection to the implanted medical device, assigning 381 women to randomly get one or the other treatment. The women were asked to keep diaries for six months.” We’re also told that the women had to have about 6 accidents over three days to be included in the study, and that other more standard treatments didn’t help. The headline is also accurate, in terms of what the study found, and it doesn’t overplay the results. In looking at the study, however, we’ll note how we were struck by two things. First, the patients’ reported impression of improvement in bladder leakage and function failed to pass a test of statistical significance, which undermines the story’s claim that “both groups of women reported equal satisfaction.” Second, the closing lines of the study point out how the treatment “resulted in a small daily improvement in episodes that although statistically significant is of uncertain clinical importance.” This should have been explained to readers, along with details on what this means when researchers draw this conclusion. We don’t see any language that would unnecessarily frighten a reader. The condition is real, uncomfortable, and carries significant impact on people’s daily lives. We didn’t see any backstopping of this study by an outside source. Although nonprofit websites are quoted, that material is used for purposes of background — not to assess the study’s claims. Another significant oversight here is no mention of co-authors’ financial relationships with the products used in both arms of the trial. (We give props to a Duke University press release about the study for pointing this out.) A quick Google search of the lead author’s name and the term Medtronic reveals that she has been a consultant for the neurostimulator devicemaker, as well as for Allergan, Botox’s manufacturer. We not only see a comparison to the medical device that the study focused on, but also methods that require no overt treatment, “such as weight loss, drinking less caffeine and alcohol, and avoiding lifting heavy objects.” The story also notes that “[e]xercises to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles can help, as can ‘bladder training’ to accustom the body to urinating at regular times.” The story could have been more clear that these treatments aren’t likely to work for the women in this study who had a specific type of severe urge incontinence that is usually not responsive to exercise and other less invasive measures. Both of these treatments are widely available. But, a description of the procedures themselves would have been helpful (they are both quite invasive and require seeing providers with special training). While ‘regular’ Botox cosmetic treatments can be easily given by various medical professionals, without specialized training, in the office, this may not be the case for Botox injections into the bladder. The story didn’t establish what’s novel about this study. As the news release states, the study was “the first randomized trial comparing the efficacy of two FDA-approved, third-line therapies in a severely affected population.” We didn’t catch any overtly copy/pasted quotes or language that made its way into the story from the Duke University news release.
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1962
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Comfort eating helps stave off the blues: study.
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A sweet tooth might not be the only reason why we reach for ice cream and cake in times of stress.
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true
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Health News
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Comfort from the consumption of fatty foods is not derived purely from the pleasurable sensory experience of eating but also through gut-brain signaling, according to a study by scientists at the University of Leuven, in Belgium. The study, which was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, used MRI scans to investigate the effects of fatty acids on emotion when directly injected into the stomach. Scientists played mournful music and showed sad images to a group of 12 participants before giving half the group fatty acids through a feeding tube and a saline solution to the rest. Without knowing which substance they received, the volunteers rated their mood on a scale of one to nine before and during scanning. The results showed that those who were injected with fatty acids were only half as sad after watching the images and listening to the music as the participants who were given the saline solution. “Eating fat seems to make us less vulnerable to sad emotions, even if we don’t know we’re eating fat,” Lukas van Oudenhove, who led the research, told medical research news website HealthDay. “We bypassed sensory stimulation by infusing fatty acids directly into the stomach, without the subjects knowing whether they were getting fat or saline,” he said. Although the study has implications for obesity, depression and eating disorders, more research is needed to determine whether the findings may have any value in treatment of the illnesses, van Oudenhove said.
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22424
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"The American Academy of Pediatrics ""supports banning guns."
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Gun lobbyist says doctors play politics with gun question
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true
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Children, Florida, Guns, Marion Hammer,
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"One of the more intriguing subplots so far during the 2011 Florida legislative session has been a fight between two powerful Tallahassee special interests -- the gun lobby and doctors. The bills at issue are SB 432 and its companion HB 155. The measures, being pushed by gun interests, would prohibit doctors from asking their patients, or their patients' families, if they keep a gun at home. An original version of the bill made it a felony punishable with up to a $5 million fine for asking whether a patient owned a firearm. An amended version lowered the penalty to a non-criminal violation with a $500 fine (which could grow if the doctor willfully broke the law or was a repeat offender). The American Academy of Pediatrics currently encourages physicians to counsel parents on creating a safe home environment and offers advice to avoid preventable accidents. The long list of recommendations includes mainly innocuous tips like ""Keep plastic bags and balloons away from your children,"" and ""NEVER place an infant in front of an air bag."" But physicians also are told to tell parents to remove guns from places where children live and play. Previously, we've looked into a claim by state Rep. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, that part of the reasoning behind the bill he sponsored is to keep gun ownership information from being recorded and collected by the federal government and insurance companies as part of the federal health care law. We rated that claim False, noting that the federal health care law specifically prohibits doctors and insurance companies from collecting gun information. Marion Hammer, a longtime lobbyist for the Unified Sportsmen of Florida and a former president of the National Rifle Association, offered another reason to support the gun legislation. Doctors are playing politics in the exam room by asking a question they don't need to know the answer to. ""Doctors are pushing gun-ban politics on their patients,"" Hammer told a Senate committee on Feb. 22, 2011. Hammer made similar comments to a House committee on March 8, as well as in this e-mail to gun-rights supporters. ""They have been pushing a gun-ban agenda and have been bringing their gun-ban politics into examining rooms. ""The American Academy of Pediatrics supports banning guns,"" she said. ""It's blatant, and it's there on their website. All you have to do is log on and see it."" So log on to the academy's website we did, at www.aap.org. Sure enough, we quickly found a long list of policy statements, including a policy paper called ""Firearm-Related Injuries Affecting the Pediatric Population."" The academy says its policy on firearm-related injuries was first set in 1992 and reaffirmed in 2004. The policy paper says that in 1997, 32,436 firearm-related deaths occurred in the United States, and 4,223 of the victims were children and teenagers under 20. The paper also says that in 1997, 306 children and teens under 20 were killed by firearms as a result of unintentional firearm-related injuries. The academy then makes several recommendations to reduce firearm-related injuries. The first recommendation is that ""the most effective measure to prevent firearm-related injuries to children and adolescents is the absence of guns from homes and communities,"" the academy writes. ""Firearm regulation, to include bans of handguns and assault weapons, is the most effective way to reduce firearm-related injuries."" Other recommendations include urging pediatricians to inform parents about the danger of guns, advocating for trigger locks and other safety mechanisms, and supporting the development of nonviolent, gun-free television programs and video games. The policy paper clearly supports banning handguns and assault weapons, but it does not explicitly advocate a complete ban on guns, which likely would require an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It addresses legal concerns by saying the federal government could ban ""whole categories of firearms."" The academy notably also supported Chicago's handgun ban in a case that came before the U.S. Supreme Court. ""The best way to truly protect children from firearm injuries is to get guns out of their homes, their neighborhoods and where they play,"" said AAP President Judith S. Palfrey. ""If we don't, too many children will continue to be hurt or die needlessly."" And Hammer pointed us toward another position statement that she said had been on a second AAP website, www.healthychildren.org. ""The most effective way to prevent firearm-related injury to children is to keep guns out of homes and communities. The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly supports gun-control legislation. We believe that handguns, deadly air guns and assault weapons should be banned."" That statement appears to have been replaced on the website. The statement on ""where we stand"" now reads: ""The safest home for a child is a home without a gun. However, if a gun is present in the home of a child, the gun should be stored unloaded and locked, with the ammunition locked separately, so that a child cannot access the gun."" Interestingly, some gun-control groups have realized the use of the word ""ban"" is a red flag and have tried to avoid it. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, for instance, says it is not a ""gun-ban"" organization and that ""a safer America can be achieved without banning guns."" Brady does say certain types of guns, such as military-style assault weapons like Uzis and AK-47s, should be ""out of bounds for private ownership."" Debbie Linchesky, a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics, referred comment on the issue to Louis St. Petery, a Leon County pediatrician and member of the academy's Florida chapter. St. Petery said Hammer is distorting the position of doctors. ""It's certainly a mischaracterization of where we are on things,"" St. Petery said. ""Forty percent of folks in this country own guns. We (my family) own a gun. ""It's not that we feel that guns need to be eliminated from the face of the Earth, which is what Ms. Hammer would suggest,"" he said. St. Petery said doctors aren't pushing a political agenda; rather, they're trying to keep children safe. If doctors know someone owns a pool, they want to use their limited time with a patient discussing pool safety. If doctors know someone owns a gun, they want to discuss gun safety, he said. ""We are trying to do the best job we can to protect children,"" St. Petery said. ""We feel that's our job, prevention is what it's about."" That brings us back to Hammer's claim. In making her case to support a bill that would make it illegal for doctors to ask patients about guns, Hammer says doctors -- particularly pediatricians -- are bringing politics into the exam rooms. We cannot make a judgment on that, but we can assess her claim that the American Academy of Pediatrics ""supports banning guns."" We found no evidence that the academy supports an outright ban on all guns. But the academy does say that ""firearm regulation, to include bans of handguns and assault weapons, is the most effective way to reduce firearm-related injuries."" It also voiced support for Chicago's handgun-ban law. We think Hammer could have been slightly more clear in making her case to the Legislature."
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4599
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Study: Missouri’s marijuana supply will outpace demand.
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Missouri won’t have enough demand for medical marijuana to support the number of businesses the state is required to license by next year, according to a new study.
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true
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Medical marijuana, Marijuana, Business, Missouri, University of Missouri
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Three University of Missouri researchers recently told state officials that Missouri will need fewer than half of the 60 commercial growers that must be licensed by January, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. At most, 29 cultivators could grow enough marijuana for what researchers estimate could be 26,000 qualified patients by 2022, according to the report commissioned by state medical marijuana regulators. The researchers’ findings extend beyond cultivators, showing the state could scale back licenses across the board. Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment in November legalizing marijuana use for patients with cancer, Parkinson’s disease and other serious conditions, as well as for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. The state is already planning to license at least 192 dispensaries, 86 manufacturing facilities and two testing facilities, in addition to the 60 cultivators. By the end of last month, Missouri had made more than $3 million in application fees from businesses wanting to grow or sell the plant or infused products. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, which requested the study, declined to comment on the findings. The university researchers used data from 19 states that have legalized medical marijuana to make their projections, but industry groups questioned the report’s findings. Jack Cardetti, a spokesman with the Missouri Medical Cannabis Trade Association, said the study’s estimate for the number of patients by 2020 is a “ridiculously low number not based anywhere in reality.” Cardetti predicts 122,500 qualifying patients next year, while the researchers estimate 19,000 residents. He said the study relies on old data from state medical marijuana programs that vary widely. Dan Viets, who helped draft the state’s medical marijuana law, said he agreed with the study’s findings that Missouri could meet demand with fewer cultivators. But he said the amendment was written to allow for more competition to drive down prices. “There is no such thing as an oversupply,” Viets said. “Prices should be allowed to fall to what the market determines. That is what is in the best interests of patients.” ___ Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com
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8863
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U.S. FDA Official Says Heart Stent Guidelines Near.
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New guidelines for the testing of drug-coated heart stents will be released soon, the Food and Drug Administration’s device chief said on Monday.
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true
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Health News
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The guidelines are meant to address concerns that drug-coated heart stents are more likely than bare-metal versions to raise the risk of blood clots months after the devices are implanted. Dr. Daniel Schultz told reporters the publication of proposed guidelines was “imminent.” Asked to be more specific, he said they would be unveiled within days or weeks. “Our goal is that we have a high bar, but that we have people understand exactly what we want to see so there aren’t too many detours in getting things to market,” said Schultz, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. He added the long-awaited document will address stent design, the polymer used to adhere a drug to stents and the drugs used, among other factors for laboratory and human testing. Stents are tiny wire-mesh tubes that doctors implant to prop open arteries that have been cleared of blockages. Drug coating was added to newer versions to reduce the chances of artery reclogging. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N), Boston Scientific Corp (BSX.N) and Medtronic Inc (MDT.N) make the drug-coated stents now on the market. Abbott Laboratories Inc (ABT.N) also is expected to receive approval for a new drug-coated stent. Once a $6 billion a year market, drug-coated stents were hailed as a major medical advance in 2003, when J&J’s device was approved and the newer generation rapidly replaced cheaper and older bare-metal stents in many uses. But the emergence of an increased risk of blood clots in some patients months later led some doctors to switch back to bare-metal stents. Still another large study, released late last year, suggested patients who received drug-coated stents were not more likely to die or suffer heart attacks than those who got bare-metal versions, fanning the debate further. The FDA’s Schultz said the agency has tried to learn from that initial experience and is working with companies as they embark on newer versions. “We would like to see broader premarket trials ... but probably more importantly we need to have post-market studies that are what we call large simple trials that really do look at a broad experience of all these different types of patients,” he said. The Wall Street Journal reported in December that Schultz said the stent guidelines would be released within a few weeks.
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11458
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Cataract Surgery May Be Safer With Laser
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“Cataract surgery may be safer with Laser.” How one could arrive at this conclusion based on a couple of 7 minute presentations is a mystery to us. Based on very preliminary studies that have questionable clinical relevance, these researchers seem all but ready to conclude that laser surgery for cataracts is superior to traditional surgery. It was the story’s job to point out that these views might not represent a totally objective evaluation of the evidence. The story should also have sought out an independent take on the role of this technology for cataract removal — something similar, perhaps, to the views expressed earlier this year by an Australian surgeon in this blog post . Cataract surgery is the most common procedure performed in the US with over 22 million adults having at least one affected eye. Current surgical methods are safe and effective. So reporting on a new technology should be done carefully and claims of superiority should be viewed with a healthy skepticism. A technology that is expensive to acquire ($4-500,000) that adds to operative time needs to demonstrate a clear and unequivocal advantage prior to adoption. Suggesting superiority based on a brief presentation at an annual meeting is simply not very good reporting.
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mixture
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WebMD
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The story notes that cost is an important barrier to wider use of the laser procedure, since the equipment carries a price tag of $400,000 and insurers currently won’t cover the extra cost. We’ll call this satisfactory, but to make the information more meaningful to readers, the story should have broken down how the cost of an individual laser procedure compares with that of the standard procedure. We felt that the caveats presented in this article came too late, and were took weak, to provide readers with a balanced perspective on the findings. The headline and first three paragraphs include talk of the laser procedure being “safer” and offering a “benefit” in terms of “less damage to the eye.” There is also the suggestion later down that the procedure might lead to “fewer complications, less inflammation and swelling of the eye, and faster recovery of vision.” Only far down in the piece does it begin to become clear that these studies looked only at surrogate outcomes such as the amount of ultrasound energy applied during the procedure and the number of movements the surgeon performed. As the story belatedly points out, it is uncertain if improvements in these outcomes reflect benefits that actually matter to patients. The article does not discuss potential harms of femtolaser surgery or mention any adverse effect data reported in the studies being discussed. (Given the brevity of the presentations, it is perhaps not surprising that potential harms were not mentioned.) While there are no data for the use of the femtolaser in cataract surgery, the risks associated with its use are well described when used in vision correction surgery and could have been mentioned here. The story is based on 7 minute presentations at an annual meeting. The study results have not been subjected to peer review and two of the three physicians quoted have clear ties to the manufacturers of ophthalmic lasers. While there are provisos noted late in the story (including a note about the limited peer review that occurs at meetings), we think that the evidence for the headline and most of the positive comments is a bit overstated. The story did not engage in overt disease-mongering. However, one might quibble with the fact that the story did not discuss the track record for traditional cataract surgery, which according to NIH is one of the most common, safe, and effective types of surgery performed in the U.S. How important is it for us, given escalating healthcare costs, to have a pricier alternative to a treatment that is already quite successful? While the story appropriately discloses that an author of one of the studies — Mark Packer, MD — consults for a manufacturer that makes lasers, it did not mention that the lead author of the second study — William Culbertson, MD — also has relationships with laser manufacturers, as disclosed in this recent Medscape CME article (login required). In addition — and more troubling — it did not disclose the fact that an American Academy of Ophthalmology spokesman quoted in the story — James Salz, MD — has received clinical research grants from another laser manufacturer (as disclosed in a different Medscape CME article — login required). Since readers may justifiably assume that Salz is presenting disinterested views on behalf of the association, the failure to discuss his industry ties is a significant shortcoming of the piece. The story suggests numerous times that laser surgery is likely to be safer and lead to better outcomes compared with traditional surgery. Again, these statements are based on very brief presentations and with limited information. While it may in fact be true, there is no reason to believe that the femtolaser is superior in any way to conventional surgery at this time. But it would have helped to have some idea of the outcomes currently seen with traditional surgery and how frequently complications occur. This information would have helped us judge how much we stand to gain from the new technology. Unfortunately, these details are not provided. The story states that the femtosecond laser procedure is approved by the FDA, but not widely used in the U.S. The story did not exaggerate the novelty of this procedure, which is just starting to be evaluated clinically. The story includes commentary from an expert who wasn’t involved in either study, so we can be sure it wasn’t based entirely on news releases.
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34330
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Vegetarians live longer than meat eaters.
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While an increasing number of studies are skeptical of a direct correlation between vegetarianism and longevity, the question remains controversial in epidemiological research. Therefore, we rank claims that vegetarians live longer than meat eaters as unproven.
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unproven
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Medical, death, diet, health
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A popular topic of debate on Facebook timelines (and around family dinner tables) is whether or not it is healthy to eschew eating meat. Well-informed advocates of the practice will likely eventually point to scientific research demonstrating that vegans or vegetarians live longer lives than their omnivorous counterparts; most likely, the results they cite have their origins in a long-term study of Seventh Day Adventists. The survey, a well known epidemiology project undertaken by Loma Linda University, compares the health metrics and life outcomes of a large population of Seventh Day Adventists, a religious group noted for promoting a strict and healthy lifestyle, to the general population. The first Adventist Health Study utilized data collected from 1976 and 1988, and a second study — Adventist Health Study 2 — is underway as of December 2017: Adventist Health Studies are long-term studies exploring the links between lifestyle, diet, and disease among Seventh-day Adventists. More than 96,000 church members from the U.S. and Canada are participating in the current study, AHS-2, conducted by researchers at the Loma Linda University School of Public Health. A 2001 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) based on data from the first Adventists Health Study provides the basis for most vegetarian longevity claims. The study provides a comparison between Adventists’ and non-Adventists’ longevity by diet type: Adventist vegetarian men and women have expected ages at death of 83.3 and 85.7 years, respectively. These are 9.5 and 6.1 years, respectively, greater than those of the 1985 California population in a univariate analysis. The average of those two numbers — 6.1 years and 9.5 years — is 7.8 years, the length of time referenced by a popular, if not quite accurate or precise, meme (the numbers refer to vegetarians, not vegans): Researchers at Loma Linda published a follow-up paper in 2013, but their earlier figure is still frequently cited, in part because its findings offer the perception of being unambiguous. The 2013 study, which includes more recent data, found a similar association, but was more muted in its treatment of a potential direct causation between vegetarianism and longevity. The authors of the study suggested its results, presented here as a chance of death over a given study period, may not be directly applicable to other populations: Observed mortality benefits may be affected by factors related to the conscious lifestyle choice of a vegetarian diet other than dietary components. […] Caution must be used in generalizing results to other populations in which attitudes, motivations, and applications of vegetarian dietary patterns may differ; dietary pattern definitions used may not reflect some common uses of these terms. Seventh Day Adventists are not the only people scientists have used in an effort to investigate this question. A study in 2015 of more than 60,000 people in the United Kingdom, part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition–Oxford (EPIC-Oxford) survey, found that vegetarianism provided no overall reduction in risk of early death, though it found that some low-meat diets reduced the risk of death from specific ailments: In this analysis of mortality by diet group in a population with a high percentage of vegetarians and others who eat little or no meat, we found no significant differences in all-cause mortality between the diet groups. For specific causes of death, compared with regular meat eaters, low meat eaters had ∼30–45% lower mortality from pancreatic cancer, respiratory disease, and all other causes of death, fish eaters had ∼20% lower mortality from malignant cancer and ∼20% higher circulatory disease mortality, and vegetarians and vegans had ∼50% lower mortality from pancreatic cancer and cancers of the lymphatic/hematopoietic tissue. A 2017 paper that analyzed similar health metrics for over 240,000 Australians, part of the “45 and Up Study”, similarly found no increased longevity from avoiding meat: We have shown in a large population-based Australian cohort that there is no difference in mortality between vegetarians and non-vegetarians. The results of our study seem consistent with other studies and meta-analyses which have shown that in non-selected populations a vegetarian diet is not associated with reduced mortality. In a piece discussing the results of the Australian survey at The Conversation, co-author Melody Ding explained why this question is, from a methodological standpoint, difficult to study: It’s standard practice in epidemiological studies to statistically control for various factors (we call them “confounders” as they may confound an association). We controlled for a number of factors to get a true sense of whether vegetarianism by itself reduces risk of death. It’s important to acknowledge that in most studies vegetarians tend to be the “health-conscious” people, with overall healthier lifestyle patterns than the norm. […] In most previous studies, vegetarians did have lower risk of early death from all causes in unadjusted analysis. However, after controlling for other lifestyle factors, such as the ones listed above, the risk reduction often decreased significantly (or even completely vanished). […] This suggests other characteristics beyond abstinence from meat may contribute to better health among vegetarians.
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35319
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"As of April 25, 2020, the rate of people dying from the COVID-19 coronavirus disease in New York City was at least 250 times ""higher"" than Tokyo's — and growing with time."
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What's true: Based on available data, New York City's COVID-19 death rate (per population) far exceeded that of Tokyo, as of late April and early May 2020. What's undetermined: Comparing the death rates per population between Tokyo and New York City is thorny for a few reasons: The cities' populations vary depending on what geographic areas one considers, their regions' processes for COVID-19 testing are different, and it's unknown to what extent those testing practices influence government-compiled death tolls.
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true
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Politics, COVID-19
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In spring 2020, as Americans fought over the duration of government-imposed lockdowns to limit the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease, critics of the rules on social distancing drew comparisons between U.S. officials’ response to the outbreak and that of leaders in other countries. Among the critics was John McAfee, the controversial founder of the McAfee Antivirus software company and a cryptocurrency advocate (as well as 2020 U.S. presidential candidate for the Libertarian party). Aiming to call attention to what he viewed as unnecessary business closures and stay-at-home orders in the U.S. during the pandemic, he took to Twitter to highlight the rate at which people were dying from COVID-19 in New York City — the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak — compared to other major cities globally, specifically Tokyo. On April 25, 2020, he tweeted: His assertion accurately makes the point that Japan is not under compulsory lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19. Rather, it is under a state of emergency, which empowers officials to request that residents stay home and businesses close. But —since the country’s post-World War II constitution bars officials from enforcing Wuhan-style shutdowns in the name of protecting residents’ civil liberties — government leaders cannot punish citizens if they don’t follow the recommendations on social distancing. The day following the viral tweet, McAfee again authored claims that were similar in nature — posts that compared New York City’s pace of death to the average rate of large cities worldwide including Delhi and Mexico City — aiming to raise suspicion among his followers of the U.S. governments’ rationale for, as he put it, “shutting down and destroying the economies of the world.” Even Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk chimed in on the campaign, tweeting: McAfee made several claims in his tweets, but we are focusing on whether New York’s death rate was truly 250 times “higher” than Tokyo’s as of April 25, 2020, and whether that pace increased over the following week. It’s important to note at the start that this is a thorny comparison for a couple reasons: The cities’ populations vary depending on what geographic areas you consider, the regions’ processes for COVID-19 testing are different, and it’s unknown to what extent those testing practices influence government-compiled death tolls. On May 1, Snopes reached out to McAfee to ask how he reached the calculation in the above-displayed tweet, and he answered with a phone call, emails, and direct messages on Twitter. One correspondence read: To calculate the rate at which the novel coronavirus is killing in New York City, McAfee said he considered the metro’s population to be 8 million. (2018 census data show 8,398,748 New York residents.) But for Tokyo’s population, he said he used a population size of 23 million — a number that apparently includes not only people living within the city’s official boundaries (about 9.2 million) but also residents in surrounding jurisdictions. That’s a step where the calculating gets murky. Like McAfee, the United Nations also measures Tokyo’s population as the sum of the entire metro area. But the U.N. documented more than 37 million residents as of 2018, not 23 million. From that point, McAfee said he divided his estimates for the cities’ populations by their total of COVID-19 deaths, respectively, and then compared the two death rates. While repeating that step for Snopes on May 1, he used about 13,000 for the number of deaths in New York City and about 97 deaths in Tokyo, totaling one COVID-19 death per 615 people in New York City and one death per roughly 237,000 people in Tokyo. Using that math by McAfee, as of May 1, New York City’s rate of death was about 385 times higher than Tokyo. But to check his work, we first analyzed the New York City Health Department (NYC Health) criteria for counting fatalities. In March, when the department tallied the city’s first handful of deaths, it only considered fatalities of people who had tested positive for COVID-19 via a laboratory-sponsored test. That meant that, initially, patients who died at home and didn’t seek medical treatment were not included in the statistics. But in mid-April, the health department changed its system and also began tracking fatalities of people who had showed symptoms of COVID-19 but were never tested for it. As of April 25, the day of McAfee’s viral tweet, NYC Health reported 17,393 deaths total, including both types of fatalities: people who had officially tested positive and those who medical examiners had determined “COVID-19” or the equivalent as their cause of death. Meanwhile, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government documented less than 120 deaths. Using those numbers and population estimates via the U.S. census and United Nations, NYC’s rate of COVID-19 deaths was almost 640 times greater than Tokyo’s as of April 25. But, for several reasons, people should not take the government-compiled death tolls at face value. For one, the pace at which all local jurisdictions, whether in the U.S. or not, report deaths varies. Medical examiners can take days or weeks to process death certificates and compile that information for public records. Referring to the worldwide COVID-19 casualty count, Tim Riffe, a demographer at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, told The New York Times: Whatever number is reported on a given day is going to be a gross underestimate. […] In a lot of places the pandemic has been going on for long enough that there has been sufficient time for late death registrations to come in, giving us a more accurate picture of what the mortality really was. Additionally, cities and countries have different criteria for administering COVID-19 tests, and residents in some locations have greater access to the testing compared to others. In Japan, officials have decided against widespread testing for COVID-19, “instead focusing on targeting clusters of infection when they appear in an effort to snuff out any further spread,” The Wall Street Journal reported. As of May 5, Tokyo had tested roughly 12,500 people for COVID-19 and about 4,700 of them were positive, according to the city’s government, which is publishing its updates via an interactive web page. (For perspective, about 901,000 New York residents had been tested within roughly the same window.) In addition to excluding potential patients who are returning to the country via cruises or charter flights, the Tokyo statistics do not include people who showed mild-to-moderate symptoms — a shortness of breath, coughing or fever — and might have tested positive for COVID-19 if they had a test. Professor Kenji Shibuya, who leads King’s College London’s Institution of Population Health, told BBC that from a physician’s viewpoint, Japan’s approach to testing makes sense: “Forget about mild cases, focus on cases with major symptoms and save lives. Focus testing on those who have symptoms.” But it also means the total number of infections in the country, including in Tokyo, are likely far greater than what public health officials are reporting and do not lend themselves to an apples-to-apples comparison with other cities, such as New York City. “We are definitely missing a lot of asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic cases,” Shibuya told BBC of the COVID-19 outbreak in Japan. “There is clearly widespread community transmission. I am very worried by this situation.” What’s undetermined is to what extent the differences in testing for COVID-19 between Tokyo and New York impact their death tolls. In other words, it’s unclear how many people in each city have been fatally infected with the novel coronavirus yet do not appear in government-certified mortality statistics, whether because they didn’t seek medical help or didn’t receive a COVID-19 test.
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8140
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Greece imposes lockdown after coronavirus infections jump.
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Greece announced a lockdown on Sunday, restricting movement from Monday morning with only a few exceptions, to combat the spread of coronavirus.
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true
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Health News
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“It is maybe the last step, one that must be taken promptly and not in vain,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a televised address. “We have to protect the common good, our health.” Greece confirmed 94 new cases on Sunday, its largest single-day jump, taking its total to 624, with 15 deaths, up two. Citing Italy, which reported almost 800 new deaths on Saturday, Mitsotakis said it was his duty to prevent such a tragedy hitting Greece. “We must not get to the point where we will have to choose who lives and who dies,” he said. Only those going to or returning from work, shopping for food or medicines or visiting a doctor will be allowed onto the streets from Monday. Starting on March 10, Greece acted fast to gradually close schools, gyms, cinemas, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, retail shops, shopping malls, museums and archaeological sites including the Acropolis, ahead of other governments in Europe. Public gatherings were restricted to 10 people and authorities subsequently ordered hotels across Greece to close until April 30, stepping up measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 respiratory disease. Greeks have for the most part heeded the government’s call to stay home and practice social distancing. But some opted to flee to the islands or head to their countryside homes, defying official warnings of contagion risks. This prompted the government to ban such trips on ferries and allow them only for island residents. Mitsotakis said he would not allow a frivolous few to undermine the safety of most. “Staying at home is essentially the most profound demonstration of our collective duty,” he said. Effective from Monday, people venturing out of their homes to head to or return form work will have to carry a completed form detailing their residence, work address and working hours or otherwise face a 150 euro fine if stopped by the police. All other allowed reasons to be on the streets - to visit a pharmacy, doctor, bank, food store or supermarket as well as to walk a pet and for physical exercise - will require a completed form or notifying the civil protection ministry via text messaging and mentioning the reason one has to be outside. “We do not circulate outside for no reason. We stay at home,” crisis management minister Nikos Hardalias told reporters.
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5234
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Beshear stresses health care, defends Medicaid expansion.
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Democrat Andy Beshear offered a vigorous defense of Kentucky’s Medicaid expansion, warning Monday that health care policy is at stake when voters choose between him and Republican Gov. Matt Bevin.
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true
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Health care policy, Addiction treatment, Health, General News, Steve Beshear, Kentucky, Matt Bevin, Louisville, Medicaid
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After touring an addiction treatment center, Beshear said increasing Medicaid rolls made rehabilitation programs available to more people in a state fighting severe drug-abuse problems. The Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act was set into motion in Kentucky by Beshear’s father, former Gov. Steve Beshear, but Bevin has been a frequent critic of its implementation. It has become a flash point in the state’s combative governor’s race to be decided Nov. 5. The Democratic challenger continued lashing out at Bevin’s proposed Medicaid waiver, which would require some “able-bodied” Medicaid recipients to get a job, go to school or volunteer to keep their benefits. “The governor’s Medicaid waiver is going to result in people losing coverage that would otherwise be getting services here or elsewhere,” Andy Beshear told reporters at the Centerstone facility in downtown Louisville. Medicaid is a joint federal and state health care program for poor and disabled people. Former President Barack Obama’s signature health care law allowed states to expand the program to include adults with no children. Beshear’s father used an executive order to expand Medicaid coverage while he was governor. His order increased Kentucky’s Medicaid rolls by more than 400,000 people, many getting coverage for the first time. In a state plagued by high rates of cancer and other diseases, the uninsured rate dropped dramatically after the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare,” was implemented. Bevin has said the Medicaid expansion was too expensive. He gave a stout defense of his proposed Medicaid waiver during an exchange with Beshear at a debate last week. The governor said his objective is to ensure that the medically frail and disabled “do not lose out” on coverage. “I am a strong proponent of able-bodied, working-aged men and women who do not have dependents and have the capability of going to work to go to work in exchange for that which is provided for them by people who do go to work,” Bevin said. A federal judge blocked the work requirements and Bevin’s administration is appealing. Beshear, the state’s attorney general, says Bevin’s proposal would result in at least 95,000 people losing coverage. Beshear says most Medicaid recipients at risk of losing coverage are already working. He vows to rescind Bevin’s proposal if he’s elected, warning that scaling back Medicaid coverage would undermine rural hospitals. “The future of Kentucky ... in on the line in this race because the future of health care is,” Beshear said. Beshear is an unabashed supporter of the Affordable Care Act, as is his father, who preceded Bevin in office. Andy Beshear routinely refers to health care as a basic human right. At last week’s debate, Bevin responded: “It’s easy to say that health care is a right, but the reality is it’s one that costs money and that someone then is forced to pay for.” Bevin accuses his opponent of failing to lay out how he’d pay for his plans, including a $2,000 across-the-board pay raise for public school teachers. The governor ridicules such proposals as “Andy Candy.” Beshear, meanwhile, frequently touts backing he has gotten from Republicans, including supporters of President Donald Trump. That theme got a boost Monday when he was endorsed by a Republican who ran against Bevin in the primary. William Woods said his endorsement of Beshear was the “right thing to do.” Woods said Kentucky needs a governor who respects everyone and supports public education. Bevin has feuded with education groups that opposed his efforts to revamp public pension systems, but he staunchly defends his education record. Woods finished far back in the May primary, receiving more than 14,000 votes. Bevin campaign manager Davis Paine said the governor has support from “real” Kentucky leaders. It’s not news, he said, that Beshear garnered support from someone who is “unknown.” The governor barely surpassed 50% of the vote in the spring primary. He made a caustic comment this summer about his closest primary rival, state Rep. Robert Goforth, telling a TV reporter that “it’s a name so easily forgotten.” Bevin’s comment came after being told that Goforth had expressed his support for the GOP but did not specifically commit to voting for him. Goforth received nearly 40% of the GOP primary vote, carrying large sections of eastern and southeastern Kentucky. Earlier in the campaign, Beshear was endorsed by Republican state Sen. Dan Seum. Bevin, meanwhile, has made a pitch for support from conservative Democrats by touting his opposition to abortion.
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6685
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Trump launching campaign to end HIV epidemic in US by 2030.
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President Donald Trump is launching a campaign to end the HIV epidemic in the United States by 2030, targeting areas where new infections happen and getting highly effective drugs to people at risk.
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true
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Alex Azar, Health, Politics, North America, Campaigns, Epidemics, United States, Public health, Donald Trump
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His move is being greeted with a mix of skepticism and cautious optimism by anti-AIDS activists. State and local health officials are warning the administration not to take money from other programs to finance the initiative, whose budget has not been revealed. Briefing reporters ahead of Trump’s State of the Union speech , Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and senior public health officials said the campaign relies on fresh insights into where about half of new HIV cases occur — 48 out of some 3,000 U.S. counties, and Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and seven states with at-risk rural residents. “We’ve never had that kind of ‘This is the target,’” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s pre-eminent AIDS warrior and head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The government has “been trying to address HIV, but never in such a focused way,” he said. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. “Together, we will defeat AIDS in America and beyond,” Trump said in his speech. While he pledged funding in his upcoming budget, he did not say how much. That raised a flag for state officials. “This effort cannot move existing resources from one public health program and repurpose them to end HIV without serious consequences to our public health system,” Michael Fraser, CEO of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, said in a statement. Anti-AIDS activists said they’re ready to work with the White House, but wary because of Trump’s previous efforts to slash Medicaid health care for low-income people, and his administration’s ongoing drive to roll back newly won acceptance for LGBTQ people. “To date, this administration’s actions speak louder than words and have moved us in the wrong direction,” said AIDS United, which funds and advocates policies to combat AIDS. The ONE Campaign, the global anti-poverty group co-founded by rock singer Bono, called Trump’s pledge a “welcome sign,” but pointed out that the administration has also proposed deep cuts in U.S. funding for efforts to battle HIV in Africa. “While we might have policy differences with the president and his administration, this initiative, if properly implemented and resourced, can go down in history as one of the most significant achievements of his presidency,” Michael Ruppal, executive director of the AIDS Institute, said in a statement. While Azar said significant new funding would be included in the president’s budget, he also emphasized that the campaign is about making more efficient use of existing programs like the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which provides medical care and support services. “The tools are there,” Azar said. “This is about execution.” Today’s HIV treatments work so well they not only can give people with the AIDS virus a near-normal life expectancy, they offer a double whammy — making those patients less likely to infect other people. At the same time, a longtime HIV medication named Truvada can prevent infection if taken daily by healthy people who are at risk from their infected sexual partners, a strategy known as “pre-exposure prophylaxis” or PreP. The people most at risk include men who have sex with men, minorities, particularly African-Americans, and American Indians/Alaska Natives. Azar said the administration’s campaign would rely on public health workers to identify people at risk for HIV/AIDS, get them tested, and on medication. The 48 counties HHS is focusing on are mainly metro areas. The states are Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and South Carolina. Researchers noted that will require working with groups that often shun health services, including injectable drug users. “Trust is a crucial weapon in our fight to eradicate HIV and it’s necessary to encourage people from marginalized groups to get tested,” said Dr. Albert Wu, an HIV researcher at Johns Hopkins University. The initial goal is to reduce new HIV infections by 75 percent in five years. There are about 40,000 new cases of HIV infections a year in the U.S. That’s a dramatic reduction from the crisis years of the AIDS epidemic, but progress has stalled. More than 1 million Americans live with the disease. William McColl of AIDS United said the Trump administration’s goal is “very doable,” based on currently available technology and trends. “I think the HIV community would work with the administration on this issue if they’re serious, but it’s also going to take real action, including possibly regulatory and legislative changes to achieve the goal,” said McColl. Azar said the idea for the new push came from within the ranks of HHS, building on progress made over the last 30 years under administrations of both parties. “There was a recognition that we were facing a unique and historic moment where all the strands were coming together,” said Azar. They took the idea to Trump, who “is personally invested in this,” said Azar. In recent years a number of health organizations, including the United Nations, have called for coordinated steps to end the HIV epidemic by 2030. Trump’s CDC director, Dr. Robert Redfield, told agency employees last March that it would possible to end the AIDS epidemic in less than seven years. ___ Associated Press writers Matthew Perrone and Lauran Neergaard contributed to this report.
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6645
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UW teaching hospital plan passes Washington House.
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The state House approved a plan for a new University of Washington teaching hospital, a prominent part of Gov. Jay Inslee’s plans to address the state’s mental health crisis.
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true
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University of Washington, Mental health, Health, Washington, Frank Chopp, Seattle, Jay Inslee
|
Lawmakers unanimously approved the proposal Wednesday. It would charge UW officials with starting a new facility focused on training medical students to enter the broader behavioral health field, which includes both mental health and substance abuse treatment. The bill comes as one part of a broader push from Democrats and Inslee to address the state’s troubled mental health system along with surging substance abuse and homelessness -- problems advocates say are interlinked. Under the proposal, the university’s school of medicine would draw up plans for a new teaching campus with a capacity for 150 patients. Other key details of the facility haven’t been hammered out yet, said Rep. Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, but it will likely take the form of a new building at one of three sites: the university’s existing medical center campus in Seattle, Harborview medical center, and Northwest hospital in North Seattle. Inslee has described a deficit of trained health care providers as a contributing factor in the state’s mental health crisis. In 2018, one of the state’s two psychiatric hospitals lost its federal certification and federal funding after failing health and safety inspections, and courts have cited long wait times for treatment in ruling against the state in at least one prominent case. Chopp sponsored the proposal at Inslee’s request, a first during his 20 years as speaker of the House, and introduced it before Tuesday’s vote. “Every one of us in this House knows someone, either a family member or a friend, who is afflicted in this way,” Chopp said, his voice audibly breaking. Chopp afterward explained that a close family member has dealt with significant mental illness, giving him a personal window into the state’s mental health system. Rep. Joe Schmick, a Colfax Republican and the ranking GOP member on the House Health Care and Wellness committee, said after the vote that mental health has become a bipartisan issue in the House. But Schmick said he wanted to see changes in the bill, including some mechanism to keep trainees in Washington for a period of time after graduation. “I want these folks to serve in Washington. I don’t want to raise them up and train them with public dollars to see them move away,” Schmick said. Schmick also said he thought remodeling existing facilities could be an alternative to building a new one. Funds for initial planning and preliminary construction costs will likely be included in this year’s budget from House Democrats, but the total cost of building the facility is still unclear, potentially until the university submits specific plans in advance of the 2020 legislative session. Following Wednesday’s vote the proposal heads to the Senate for consideration.
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1934
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Smoking still high in U.S. mining, food service.
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Cigarette smoking remains stubbornly high among workers in the mining, food services and construction industries despite dramatic overall declines in the United States in recent decades, a federal study released Thursday showed.
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true
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Health News
|
A miner smokes a cigarette during a break at the Gongxigou coal mine on the outskirts of Baokang, Hubei province, December 4, 2007. REUTERS/Stringer Thirty percent of workers in mining, hotel/motel and food services smoke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which analyzed data from 2004-2010. The construction industry had the next highest smoking rate at 29.7 percent. “Since the first surgeon general’s report in 1964, we’ve almost cut the smoking prevalence in half overall,” said Ann Malarcher, senior scientific adviser at the CDC. “But then there are groups that are still at very high rates and are being left behind.” The management and education sectors had among the lowest percentage of smokers. Only 9.7 percent of educators smoke, according to the study. Low education levels are a factor in high smoking rates, along with poverty and gender, Malarcher said. “One of the things that has been studied is that persons with lower levels of education tend to have less access to health information,” she said. “They tend to be less knowledgeable about the dangers of tobacco use.” The CDC survey found the highest smoking rates among workers ages 18-24, males, those with high school or less education and those without health insurance. Midwestern workers had the overall highest rates. The CDC recommends that employers increase their anti-smoking efforts, including imposing smoke-free workplace policies and providing health insurance coverage for smoking cessation treatments. Adult smoking has decreased 42.4 percent since 1965, the CDC said. But the decline has slowed in the past five years, dropping to 19.3 percent of adults in 2010 from 20.9 percent in 2005. Smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States, killing an estimated 443,000 Americans each year. Smoking costs about $193 billion annually in direct health care expenses and lost productivity.
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3107
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Philippines declares new polio outbreak after 19 years.
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Philippine health officials declared a polio outbreak in the country on Thursday, nearly two decades after the World Health Organization declared it to be free of the highly contagious and potentially deadly disease.
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true
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AP Top News, Health, Philippines, Manila, Asia Pacific, General News
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Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said at a news conference that authorities have confirmed at least one case of polio in a 3-year-old girl in southern Lanao del Sur province and detected the polio virus in sewage in Manila and in waterways in the southern Davao region. Those findings are enough to declare an outbreak of the crippling disease in a previously polio-free country like the Philippines, he said. The World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund expressed deep concern over polio’s reemergence in the country and said they would support the government in immunizing children, who are the most susceptible, and strengthening surveillance. “As long as one single child remains infected, children across the country and even beyond are at risk of contracting polio,” UNICEF Philippines representative Oyun Dendevnorov said. WHO and UNICEF said in a joint statement the polio outbreak in the Philippines is concerning because it is caused by vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2. The weakened virus used in vaccines replicates for a short time in children’s intestines and is excreted in their feces. In rare instances, they said, the weakened virus can strengthen in areas with poor sanitation and hygiene. Children who have not been properly immunized can be susceptible. They said the last known case from a wild strain of the virus in the Philippines was in 1993. Wild poliovirus type 2 was declared globally eradicated in 2015. There is no known cure for polio, which can only be prevented with vaccines. Duque said his department will launch a mass vaccination campaign next month for children under age 5, starting in the Manila metropolis, Lanao del Sur and Davao, where the virus was detected. The government’s immunization programs were marred in 2017 by a dengue fever vaccine made by French drugmaker Sanofi Pasteur which some Philippine officials linked to the deaths of at least three children. Duque and other Philippine health officials say they have worked to restore public trust in vaccines since then. The government halted the dengue immunization drive after Sanofi said a study showed the vaccine may increase the risk of severe dengue infections. More than 830,000 children received the Dengvaxia vaccine under the campaign, which was launched in 2016 and halted in 2017. Sanofi officials said the Dengvaxia vaccine was safe and would reduce dengue infections if the vaccination drive continued. At least 95% of children under age 5 need to be vaccinated to halt the spread of polio in the Philippines, WHO and UNICEF said.
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29321
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A meme accurately lists Democrats who have been involved in assassinations, assassination attempts, or mass shootings.
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This viral list has been published by a wide range of outlets. However, none of those publications provided any documentation to prove that these individuals were all Democrats. Our investigation found that the majority of people on this list had no official connection to a political party, and that the majority of the incidents were not motivated by politics.
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false
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Politics
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A list purportedly naming dozens of Democrats throughout history who have shot and killed presidents, politicians, and civilians has been circulating online since at least 2012 along with the argument that it should be illegal for Democrats to own guns. Musician Ted Nugent posted one of the most popular iterations in September 2015: This list has evolved since it first started circulating in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. The earliest iteration of this list we could uncover only contained five items, but as it spread people added new names and dates and removed old ones that were either irrelevant or disproven. The earliest versions of this list reveal two things: It has always been rife with errors (Lincoln’s alleged death-by-Democrat was originally listed in 1863, not 1865), and has always circulated with an anti-Democrat, pro-NRA message. Here’s how an “Anonymous Coward” introduced this list on a “God Like Production” forum in January 2013: Why is it that those who steal guns and kill movie goers and children in school are always Democrats and not conservatives or NRA members? Another early version of this list ended — as Nugent’s did — with a “solution” to the gun problem in the United States: SOLUTION: It should simply be illegal for Democrats to own guns. Although the message of this meme hasn’t changed, this list has grown from five items in 2012, to 19 as of June 2017. Here is how it appeared on the ThoughtCrime Resistance Facebook page: Setting aside for a moment the accuracy (or lack thereof) of the items on the list, we find a logical flaw in using this meme to reach the conclusion that Democrats shouldn’t own guns — or that National Rifle Association members, tea party members, or Republicans are less likely to be involved in assassination attempts or mass shootings. This list is not comprehensive. It does not include all of the shootings that have occurred in the United States, nor the political affiliations of every shooter. It ignores shootings committed by Republicans, as well as those with no political party affiliation, and makes no attempt to show how political affiliation leads to violence. In other words, one could make a similar list naming nothing but Republican or politically unaffiliated shooters in order to make the opposing (and still flawed) argument that those groups should not own guns. In addition to the logical problems of this meme, much of the information is also inaccurate. We searched contemporary reports for each of the listed incidents in an attempt to uncover any mentions of political affiliations, motivations, or voting records. Many of these items can be traced back to poor reporting, articles that were later corrected, or fake news items. And although we encountered this meme (or a similar list) on a variety of web sites, none of these publications provided any documentation to back up these claims. Verifying this information through online state voting registrations proved problematic as deceased individuals are removed from these databases. We reached out to state historical societies for additional documentation, but several of the states we contacted told us that voter registration records weren’t archived. Even if they were, however, one’s official party registration can often contradict one’s political beliefs. Given the difficulty of finding the political affiliation of many of the individuals on this list, we are highly skeptical that this list is based on credible information. Here’s a look at what we found: In 1865, a Democrat shot and killed Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States. Shooter: John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth was a member of the Know-Nothing Party. However, some of his motivations for assassinating Lincoln (Booth was opposed to freeing the slaves) aligned with the Democratic Party at the time: Those ideological differences include increasing the power of the federal government and emancipating the slaves, both things Booth was vehemently against. He was angered that the government instituted an income tax and the military draft, and that the government occasionally suspended habeas corpus, a legal protection against unlawful imprisonment. All these things, Alford says, agitated Booth. “But Booth brought to that agitation an extremism, the passion almost of a fanatic,” Alford says. “And it was very dangerous, as we find out.” Although Booth’s motivations may have aligned with the Democratic party of 1865, they bear little resemblance to the party’s modern positions, which have changed dramatically over the past 152 years. In 1881, a left wing radical Democrat shot James Garfield, President of the United States – who later died from the wound. Shooter: Charles J. Guiteau Guiteau gave what The Atlantic calls an “incoherent speech to a small group of black voters in New York City” in support of presidential candidate James Garfield. Guiteau then claimed that the speech — which he had originally written in support of Ulysses S. Grant — was the reason for Garfield’s election victory. The new administration, from Guiteau’s perspective, owed him an ambassadorship. When he was denied his request, Guiteau set out for revenge: After the election, Guiteau moved to Washington to collect his imagined prize. These were the days when any ordinary citizen could pay visits to officials. Guiteau roamed the halls of the State Department and White House, imploring anyone who would listen that he deserved a diplomatic post. […] He didn’t get the diplomatic job. On one visit to the State Department, Secretary of State James Blaine barked at Guiteau, “Never bother me again about the Paris consulship as long as you live.” The words stung, and set Guiteau off on a bizarre chain of logic, which would result in his demise. Blaine was a menace to the Republican Party. To get rid of Blaine, he reasoned, he had to kill the president. After all, it was Garfield’s fault that such a man served in the State Department. Guiteau heard these instructions from God himself. It wouldn’t be an assassination, but a divinely ordained “removal.” The plan was essentially motiveless, as the the death of the president wouldn’t stand to benefit Guiteau or any Republican. “In the president’s madness, he has wrecked the once Grand Old Republican Party; and for this, he dies,” Guiteau wrote in a letter of admission. Guiteau was not a “left wing radical Democrat” — he was a supporter of the Republican Party. In 1963, a radical left wing socialist shot and killed John F. Kennedy, President of the United States. MOSTLY TRUE Shooter: Lee Harvey Oswald Oswald was a Marxist and supported Fidel Castro and Cuba. In 1959, Oswald travelled to Moscow in hopes of becoming a Soviet citizen. “I want citizenship because I am a communist and a worker,” he wrote in his request for citizenship. “I have lived in a decadent capitalist society where the workers are slaves.” However, Oswald’s inclusion on this list is odd in that there is no claim that he is a Democrat. In 1975, a left wing radical Democrat fired shots at Gerald Ford, President of the United States. UNPROVEN Shooters: Lynette Fromme and Sara Jane Moore Two women in one month attempted to shoot Gerald Ford in 1975: Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a member of the Manson family, and Sara Jane Moore, a member of radical leftist circles in California and an FBI informant. Both women appear to have had mental health issues. For her part, Fromme appears to have been trying to impress Charles Manson. Moore may have been caught between her loyalty to the FBI and to the leftist groups she was a part of, according to Atlas Obscura: One interpretation of Moore’s assassination attempt is that she had made a choice between the two sides—she had decided to throw her lot in with the leftists and wanted to demonstrate her allegiance. In the days before she shot at Ford, Moore called up the San Francisco Police Department and told the officers there she was considering a “test” of the president’s security system. They took away her gun; she bought another one, and with that gun in her car, sped through downtown in the hopes, she later said, of being apprehended. While she stood waiting to fire her shot, she was thinking about whether she’d be on time to pick up her son. Moore fired a shot, which a bystander deflected by grabbing her arm. Fromme was apprehended before she fired a shot. Although both women could rightly be described as radicals, we found no evidence to show that they were Democrats. It appears that Moore and Fromme earned their place on this list thanks to a March 2010 article published by the web site Red State which compiled a list in an attempt to show that “LEFTIST ARE THE HATERS AND ASSASSINS.” In 1983, a registered Democrat shot and wounded Ronald Reagan, President of the United States. UNPROVEN Shooter: John Hinckley Jr. Another claim that seems to be supported only by speculation. John Hinckley Jr.’s assassination attempt in 1981 (not 1983 as suggested by this meme) was motivated not by politics, but by his desire to woo actress Jodie Foster. In fact, officials believe that before he shot Reagan, Hinckley stalked Jimmy Carter towards the end of his presidency. Regardless, we contacted the History Colorado (Hinckley’s last place of residence was in the state), who told us: We wouldn’t have voting records in our collection at all. If their affiliation happened to be mentioned in a newspaper article, we might have that, but as the relevant years for Hinckley aren’t digitized (nor do we have digital access for current Denver Post content), it would be extremely difficult to find. We also contacted the Colorado State Archives, but they didn’t have a record of Hinckley’s purported political affiliation either. In 1984, James Hubert, a disgruntled Democrat, shot and killed 22 people in a McDonalds restaurant. UNPROVEN Shooter: James Huberty (not James Hubert) Again, we found no record that Huberty was a Democrat, either in terms of his official voter registration or his political leanings. The book Dying on the Job: Murder and Mayhem in the American Workplace describes Huberty as a survivalist who was paranoid about government overreach: As a self-proclaimed survivalist, Jmes Huberty saw signs of trouble in America, which was on the brink of ruin, in his view, because of government meddling and overregulation that ruined businesses, including his own. He also believed that the country was headed for disaster because a cabal of international bankers purposefully manipulated the federal reserve system, which bankrupted the nation. To prepare for the inevitable apocalyptic collapse, he also collected a half-dozen guns, including those he brought with him to the McDonald’s restaurant that afternoon. Huberty attempted to contact a mental health facility the day before he killed 22 people in a McDonald’s. In 1986, Patrick Sherrill, a disgruntled Democrat, shot and killed 15 people in an Oklahoma post office. UNPROVEN Reports about the 1986 shooting which left 15 people dead and led to the popularity of the phrase “going postal,” paint Sherrill as a “loner” whose eccentric behavior earned him the nickname “Crazy Pat.” He was a marine and a member of the National Guard. The meme itself offers no proof of Sherrill’s supposed political affiliation. His shooting spree, which came shortly after he was reprimanded by superiors, had little to do with politics, according to TIME: Patrick Henry Sherrill was a mediocre postman. After 16 months as a part-time letter carrier for the post office in Edmond, Okla. (pop. 47,000), Sherrill was still receiving complaints from his managers about misdirected mail and tardy performance. Last week, after two supervisors reprimanded him, Sherrill told a local steward for the American Postal Workers Union that he was being mistreated. “I gotta get out of here,” he said. Instead, the angry mailman returned the next morning with a vengeance. At about 7 a.m. he strode into the post office in his blue uniform, toting three pistols and ammunition in a mailbag slung over his shoulder. Without a word, he gunned down Richard Esser, one of the supervisors who had criticized him, and fellow Postman Mike Rockne, grandson of the famous Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne. Still, we contacted the Oklahoma Historical Society to see if they had any record of Sherrill’s voter registration. Director of Special Projects and Development Larry O’Dell for told us, “We wouldn’t have voter records for that time period.” In 1990, James Pough, a disgruntled Democrat, shot and killed 10 people at a GMAC office. UNPROVEN James Pough went into the office of the General Motors Acceptance Corporation, the car company’s financing arm, in Jacksonville, Florida, fatally shot 9 people and killed himself. We found no record of James Pough being registered with any political party. Although a motivation for Pough’s shooting spree is still unclear, reports at the time mentioned that his car had been repossessed. In 1991, George Hennard, a disgruntled Democrat, shot and killed 23 people in a Luby’s [C]afeteria in Killeen, TX. UNPROVEN Again, we found no evidence that Hennard was a registered Democrat. A motivation for Hennard’s violent and deadly act are still unclear (he took his own life before he was arrested), but reports at the time indicate that his shooting spree was motivated by his hatred of women: With cold-blooded efficiency, he stalked the restaurant and chose those who would die — most of whom were women. “All women of Killeen and Belton are vipers! See what you’ve done to me and my family!” Hennard yelled, calmly carrying out his executions, often at point-blank range with a single shot to the head. “Is it worth it? Tell me, is it worth it?” In 1995, James Daniel Simpson, a disgruntled Democrat, shot and killed 5 coworkers in a Texas laboratory. UNPROVEN Simpson, who killed five people at an oil refinery where he used to work, does not appear to have been motivated by politics. We also found no evidence that he was a Democrat. For this, and all other Texas shootings on the list, we contacted the Texas Historical Commission, who directed us to the Texas Secretary of State’s office, from whom we have not yet received a response. Again, we are skeptical that whoever put this shooting on the list found evidence that Simpson was a Democrat. In 1999, Larry Asbrook, a disgruntled Democrat, shot and killed 8 people at a church service. UNPROVEN We found no evidence that Asbrook was a Democrat. Although his motivation for opening fire at a church service is unclear, Asbrook was associated with hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Phineas Priests. During the shooting spree, Asbrook also called religion “bullshit“: The most intriguing new detail came from Houston writer and private investigator John Craig, who said he had interviewed Ashbrook in the presence of several Ku Klux Klan members in spring 1997. Co-writer of a book on white supremacists, Craig said that Ashbrook boasted of his membership in the Phineas Priests, a loose-knit, virulently racist movement that advocates the killing of minorities and Jews. Buford Furrow, who allegedly shot up a Jewish day-care center in Los Angeles in August, is also believed to be a Phineas Priest. In 2001, a left wing radical Democrat fired shots at the White House in a failed attempt to kill George W. Bush, President of the US. FALSE Shooter: Robert Pickett Robert Pickett, who struggled with mental health issues, was fired from his job at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in 1989. In 1994, he sued the government to get his job back, but the case was thrown out. According to CBS News: Pickett continued to harbor resentment against the IRS. Police sources tell CBS News he sent several letters to an Indiana congressman complaining about it, and that he seemed to be “paranoid.” Pickett fired multiple shots at the White House in 2001. However, he was never a registered Democrat, and does not appear to have ever voted: Doug Davidoff, spokesman for the Indiana Democratic Party, said public election records showed Pickett registered to vote in 1992 but did not cast a ballot and has not voted since. In Indiana, where Pickett registered to vote, the voter registration form does not offer the option to register as the member of a political party. Instead, for the purpose of political primaries, voters affiliate with a party based on their vote in the last election. Since Pickett never voted, he was never officially a member of any political party. In 2003, Douglas Williams, a disgruntled Democrat, shot and killed 7 people at a Lockheed Martin plant. UNPROVEN We found no evidence that Williams was a Democrat. Although many claimed that the shooting was racially motivated – according to one co-worker Williams once threatened to “kill me a bunch of n*ggers” – others simply said that he was “mad at the world”: Some of Doug Williams’ co-workers said they were not surprised to hear that he was the man who blasted away with a shotgun at a Lockheed Martin factory near Meridian, Miss., before shooting himself. “Mr. Williams was mad at the world,” co-worker Hubert Threat said. “This man had an issue with everybody.” Four of the five people he killed were black. Some co-workers said Williams, who was white, had made racist remarks. But authorities said it appeared Williams shot people at random. In 2007, a registered Democrat named Seung – Hui Cho, shot and killed 32 people in Virginia Tech. FALSE Seung-Hui Cho was not a registered Democrat. Cho was born in South Korea and was a legal resident alien of the United States, which makes it exceedingly unlikely that he was registered to vote in Virginia. Furthermore, Virginia does not have partisan voter registration, so even if Cho had been registered, he would not have been registered as a Democrat. In 2010, a mentally ill registered Democrat named Jared Lee Loughner, shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killed 6 others. FALSE Jared Lee Loughner was a registered as an Independent in 2006 and did not vote in 2010. In 2011, a registered Democrat named James Holmes, went into a movie theater and shot and killed 12 people. FALSE The claim that James Holmes was a registered Democrat stems from a Breitbart article that was based on the voter registration of a different man named James Holmes. The article was eventually updated to state that Holmes may not have been registered to vote at all: Newly-released information on the suspect’s birthdate (which, as indicated in our initial report, was a slight mismatch), combined with new details Breitbart News has obtained about the suspect’s likely addresses, together suggest that the suspect may, in fact, not have been registered to vote. ABC News made a similar mistake when they tied Holmes to the tea party. That report also resulted in a correction: An earlier ABC News broadcast report suggested that a Jim Holmes of a Colorado Tea Party organization might be the suspect, but that report was incorrect. Several other local residents with similar names were also contacted via social media by members of the public who mistook them for the suspect. We found no record of Holmes’s political affiliation, if he indeed had any. In 2012, Andrew Engeldinger, a disgruntled Democrat, shot and killed 7 people in Minneapolis. UNPROVEN We found no evidence that Engeldinger was a registered Democrat, and his shooting does not appear to have been politically motivated. The Minnesota Historical Society Library told us that they do not maintain records for individual voters. We did, however, once again find reports that the shooter was mentally unstable. Andrew J. Engeldinger’s descent into darkness began two years ago, but even as he retreated from family and bought handguns and ammunition, he kept coming to work at the Accent Signage Systems factory in Minneapolis. Engeldinger, 36, worked his shift Thursday and was told that after a dozen years, he no longer had a job. Then he pulled out a 9mm Glock handgun and committed the largest workplace massacre in recent Minnesota history. […] But in recent years, Engeldinger’s family began worrying about what appeared to be his paranoia and delusions. Two years ago, his parents attended a 12-week “Family to Family” class offered by the Minnesota National Alliance on Mental Illness. The class is taught by family members of mentally ill people. His family hadn’t had contact with him for about 21 months after he had shown signs of possible mental illness, said Sue Abderholden, executive director of the Minnesota National Alliance on Mental Illness. They were trying to get him to seek treatment; they did think something was wrong,” she said. But Engeldinger didn’t appear to be a threat to himself or others — criteria for petitioning for commitment to mental health care, she said. In 2013, a registered Democrat named Adam Lanza, shot and killed 26 people in a school in Newtown, CT. FALSE The assumption that Adam Lanza was a registered Democrat appears to be based on the fact that Connecticut is typically a Democratic state. However, this is not evidence that Lanza himself was registered as a Democrat. In fact, a report at the time noted that Lanza was not registered to vote: Adam — 5-feet-10 and thin, with blue eyes, according to his driver’s license — had become a vegan and insisted on eating organic food. Family friends said he was politically conservative, although he was the one member of his immediate family not registered to vote. Furthermore, Lanza’s inclusion on this list is problematic as police found an NRA shooting guide at his home and an NRA certificate in Lanza’s name. As recently as Sept 2013, an angry Democrat shot 12 at a Navy ship yard. UNPROVEN Shooter: Aaron Alexis The claim that Aaron Alexis was a Democrat can be traced back to an article published by The National Report, a fake news web site that has a long history of publishing misinformation: National Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways. All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental. We found no record of Aaron Alexis being registered as a Democrat. However, a co-worker of Alexis’ did say that the shooter was more of a “liberal-type” guy: “Aaron wasn’t conservative, like I am,” Ritrovato added. “He was more of a liberal type.” “He wasn’t happy with the former administration,” he continued. “He was more happy with this administration, as far as presidential administrations.” Politics, however, were not the motivation behind the attack: The government contractor who killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard last week was driven by delusions that he was being controlled by low-frequency radio waves and scratched the words “End the torment!” on the barrel of the shotgun he used, the FBI said Wednesday, offering new, chilling details of the attack. In conclusion
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2534
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"Let them eat cake later: Americans hosting ""fitness parties""."
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From spinning birthday celebrations to pole dancing bachelorette bashes, U.S. gyms are offering fitness parties as new way to mark life’s milestones - with a few friends and a good sweat.
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true
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Health News
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Gyms and fitness studios are often eager to host the festivities, which light up darkened rooms after hours and expose potential new members to their services. “We’ve created bachelorette parties, birthday parties, college reunions and divorce parties,” said Donna Cyrus, senior vice president of programming at Crunch, a national chain. Pole dancing parties are among the most-requested fitness parties, and the merrymakers are overwhelmingly young women in their 20s and 30s. “The class is a reason for friends to get together and shed inhibitions for an hour,” Cyrus explained, “as well as a great marketing tool and clever use of idle space for the gym.” Fitness and yoga instructor Magen Banwart has led workout get-togethers from South Carolina to the Hamptons in New York. She said it’s a way to distinguish herself from other teachers in a very competitive market. “For the right price you can get anyone to go anywhere and teach anything,” said New York-based Banwart, who has led classes in yoga, core, barre and walk workouts during gatherings and retreats. Having a fitness class instead of drinks is a growing trend for women in work-related situations, Banwart said. And at business conferences, historically driven by parties, dinners and cocktail hours, more time and money is being spent on healthy events. “They’re not only offering a class or two. Organizers are taking the time to create a whole mind/body commitment,” she said. “You’re seeing a strong trend for conferences to include stress management and people are identifying yoga and movement with stress management.” Community is the key for Jason Capili, who recently celebrated his 36th birthday at a Soul Cycle indoor cycling studio in New York City. “I had people block out a bunch of bikes,” said Capili, who works in human resources risk management. “We brought in cupcakes and sparkling wine and at the end, during the stretches, I made a wish.” Capili enjoys attending fitness celebrations for friends and friends of friends. “I think it’s a really supportive environment,” he said. “When you have people really supportive and committed there’s a sense of cooperative energy that you can’t replicate with a one-on-one trainer.” Crunch fitness instructor Courtney Alexander said her private pole dancing parties are much like her group fitness pole dancing classes, except with more giggling. While the pole dancing class is very athletic, private parties offer a bit more leeway. “I teach for the full hour, much as I would in class,” said Alexander. “But if it’s a private party I’m open to requests. Rather than going upside down we might do more forward dips or spins or a sexier flow.” Alexander said the classes are as intense as need, and mood, dictate. After the class it’s not unusual for revelers to continue the party elsewhere. “Usually right after the class they’ll change in the locker room, get dressed up and go out for drinks,” she said. “This is the party before the party gets started.”
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7556
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Vanderbilt University gets $20M grant for drug research .
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Vanderbilt University announced it received a $20 million gift to support the school’s research into treatments for brain disorders.
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true
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General News, Science
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The grant was given by the William K. Warren Foundation to the school’s Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, the university said Tuesday in a statement. “It is gratifying to support this research at Vanderbilt University, an institution that has made a significant impact on the lives of so many, including my family,” said John-Kelly Warren, CEO of the Warren Foundation. The center, which has about 100 scientists, focuses on transforming academic research into treatments for brain disorders including Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease. The university said one of its recent discoveries, a drug that could help slow memory loss, is undergoing clinical trials.
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3898
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Suspect in counselor’s death not involved in similar crime.
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Police say a man suspected of killing a Tennessee counselor is not believed to be involved in a similar stabbing at another mental health facility.
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true
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Mental health, Health, General News, Nashville, Crime, Tennessee
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Police in West Tennessee have been investigating whether 31-year-old Brian Dewayne Conley stabbed a woman outside a Millington facility in October, The Tennessean reports. He was arrested this month and charged in the death of Melissa Hamilton, 50, who was sexually assaulted and repeatedly stabbed at Crossroads Counseling in Nashville. Surveillance video shows him entering the business just as Hamilton was ending a group counseling session, police said. The two briefly interacted before the center’s lights went out and Conley was seen leaving through a rear exit, they said. She was found dead the next morning. In the October stabbing, the woman was just arriving to Professional Care Services when she was attacked. She survived and was able to provide enough details for a composite sketch, police said. Millington Police Chief Mark Dunbar said the circumstances of both attacks were similar. The fact that Conley has a violent criminal history and is from the Shelby County area also played a role in their department investigating a potential link, he said. “This was a brutal attack that the victim was fortunate to survive,” Dunbar said Wednesday. “The motive for the attack is unknown; however, our investigation at this point leads us to believe it may be a mental consumer.” Authorities are asking for help from the public in the earlier case, Dunbar said. Conley remained jailed in Nashville without bond on Wednesday.
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7211
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Detective who fought for 9/11 compensation funding dies.
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A former New York City police detective who was a leader in the fight for the Sept. 11 Victims Compensation Fund died Saturday at age 53.
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true
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AP Top News, New York City, Cancer, Health, New York, General News, U.S. News, Jon Stewart
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Detective Luis Alvarez’s death from cancer was announced by Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea, who tweeted that Alvarez was “an inspiration, a warrior, a friend.” Alvarez appeared with former “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart earlier this month to plead with Congress to extend the compensation fund. “This fund isn’t a ticket to paradise, it’s to provide our families with care,” a frail Alvarez told a House Judiciary subcommittee June 11. He added, “You all said you would never forget. Well, I’m here to make sure that you don’t.” Alvarez was admitted to a hospice in Rockville Centre on Long Island within a few days of his testimony. The bill to replenish the compensation fund that provides health benefits to police officers, firefighters and others who responded to the 2001 terrorist attacks passed the full committee unanimously. Alvarez’s survivors include his wife, his three sons, his parents and three siblings. The family said in a Facebook post that Alvarez touched many lives by sharing his battle with cancer. “Thank you for giving us this time we have had with him, it was a blessing,” the post said. Alvarez was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2016. He traced his illness to the three months he spent in the rubble of the World Trade Center’s twin towers after the 2001 terrorist attacks. About 1 in 22 men and 1 in 24 women will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer during their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society. It is expected to kill 51,000 people in the U.S. this year, making it the second most common type of fatal cancer.
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7627
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Vectura drops severe asthma treatment after poor trial results.
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Britain’s Vectura Group Plc will stop developing its treatment for severe uncontrolled asthma after a trial showed it failed to have a significant impact on the condition.
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true
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Health News
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The announcement is the latest setback for the loss-making drugmaker, which has faced a rocky two years since its $620 million acquisition of rival SkyePharma, which led to lower royalties and higher costs than expected. Vectura’s shares, down nearly 40 percent this year, fell more than 11 percent to 69.5 pence by 1100 GMT on Monday. The failure will widen Vectura’s loss before tax by 40 million pounds ($51.3 million) in the current financial year. Analysts were expecting a pretax loss of 69.8 million pounds, according to Refinitiv data. The company made a pretax loss of 102 million pounds last year. “This result is clearly disappointing for the group, but its not one which is completely surprising. I’ve described this study as one with a challenging endpoint,” Chief Executive Officer James Ward-Lilley told analysts on a call. Vectura’s VR475 treatment delivers asthma medication budesonide through its nebuliser inhaler. Study results showed the treatment failed to reduce the number of asthma attacks in patients to a level that was significantly different from those treated with a placebo. “We expect today’s news ... will inevitably lead to further questions regarding Vectura’s ability to deliver value and positive returns from its R&D investments, as well as the outlook for longer term growth”, analysts at Peel Hunt said. The company said signals it had seen in the trial gave it confidence that its other nebulised projects, including VR647 for pediatric asthma, were worth pursuing. The VR475 study included 713 patients from 7 European countries, Ukraine and the Philippines. In the European Union 45 percent of all asthmatic patients have severe uncontrolled asthma, with healthcare costs accounting for over 50 percent of overall asthma-related costs.
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24626
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"The health care reform bill ""would make it mandatory — absolutely require — that every five years people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner."
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McCaughey claims end-of-life counseling will be required for Medicare patients
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false
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National, Health Care, Betsy McCaughey,
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"Republicans have found many reasons to oppose the Democrats' health care proposal, but this is one of the oddest. Betsy McCaughey, chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths and former lieutenant governor of New York state, says the bill goes too far to encourage senior citizens to end their lives. On the radio show of former Sen. Fred Thompson on July 16, 2009, McCaughey said ""Congress would make it mandatory — absolutely require — that every five years people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner."" She said those sessions would help the elderly learn how to ""decline nutrition, how to decline being hydrated, how to go in to hospice care ... all to do what's in society's best interest or in your family's best interest and cut your life short."" Her point has caught on with conservative pundits. On his July 21 show, Rush Limbaugh said the following: ""Mandatory counseling for all seniors at a minimum of every five years, more often if the seasoned citizen is sick or in a nursing home. ... That's an invasion of the right to privacy. We can't have counseling for mothers who are thinking of terminating their pregnancy, but we can go in there and counsel people about to die."" McCaughey is no stranger to the health care debate. In 1994, she wrote a scathing review of the Clinton administration's health care plan in the New Republic, a left-leaning magazine, arguing that the proposal would lead to rationing of treatment and would prevent patients from choosing health insurance. Republicans seized on the key points of ""No Exit,"" forcing the Clintons to issue a response to the article. She jumped back into the fray earlier this year while Congress was debating a $787 billion stimulus package. In a Feb. 9 Bloomberg op-ed column, McCaughey criticized the bill for including a plan to monitor health treatments to see which are most cost effective. The elderly, she said, would be denied treatment as a result. Now the Democratic health care bill is in her sights. In her chat with Thompson, McCaughey said the language can be found on page 425 of the health care bill, so we started there. Indeed, Sec. 1233 of the bill, labeled ""Advance Care Planning Consultation"" details how the bill would, for the first time, require Medicare to cover the cost of end-of-life counseling sessions. According to the bill, ""such consultation shall include the following: An explanation by the practitioner of advance care planning, including key questions and considerations, important steps, and suggested people to talk to; an explanation by the practitioner of advance directives, including living wills and durable powers of attorney, and their uses; an explanation by the practitioner of the role and responsibilities of a health care proxy."" Medicare will cover one session every five years, the legislation states. If a patient becomes very ill in the interim, Medicare will cover additional sessions. Jon Keyserling, general counsel and vice president of public policy for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, which supports the provision, said the bill doesn't encourage seniors to end their lives, it just allows some important counseling for decisions that take time and consideration. ""These are very serious conversations,"" he said. ""It needs to be an informative conversation from the medical side and it needs to be thought about carefully by the patient and their families."" In no way would these sessions be designed to encourage patients to end their lives, said Jim Dau, national spokeman for AARP, a group that represents people over 50 that has lobbied in support of the advanced planning provision. McCaughey's comments are ""not just wrong, they are cruel,"" said Dau. ""We want to make sure people are making the right decision. If some one wants to take every life-saving measure, that's their call. Others will decide it's not worth going through this trauma just for themselves and their families, and that's their decision, too."" Both Keyserling and Dau were particularly troubled that McCaughey insisted — three times, to be exact — that the sessions would be mandatory, which they are not. For his part, Keyserling said he and outside counsel read the language carefully to make sure that was not the case. ""Neither of us can come to the conclusion that it's mandatory."" he said. ""This new consultation is just like all in Medicare: it's voluntary."" ""The only thing mandatory is that Medicare will have to pay for the counseling,"" said Dau. For our ruling on this one, there's really no gray area here. McCaughey incorrectly states that the bill would require Medicare patients to have these counseling sessions and she is suggesting that the government is somehow trying to interfere with a very personal decision. And her claim that the sessions would ""tell [seniors] how to end their life sooner"" is an outright distortion. Rather, the sessions are an option for elderly patients who want to learn more about living wills, health care proxies and other forms of end-of-life planning. McCaughey isn't just wrong, she's spreading a ridiculous falsehood. That's a ."
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7080
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Zika ‘syndrome’: Health problems mount as babies turn 1.
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Two weeks shy of his first birthday, doctors began feeding Jose Wesley Campos through a nose tube because swallowing problems had left him dangerously underweight.
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true
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Brazil, AP Top News, AP International News, Latin America, Zika virus, Health, AP Science, Recife
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Learning how to feed is the baby’s latest struggle as medical problems mount for him and many other infants born with small heads to mothers infected with the Zika virus in Brazil. “It hurts me to see him like this. I didn’t want this for him,” said Jose’s mother, Solange Ferreira, breaking into tears as she cradled her son. A year after a spike in the number of newborns with the defect known as microcephaly, doctors and researchers have seen many of the babies develop swallowing difficulties, epileptic seizures and vision and hearing problems. While more study is needed, Zika-caused microcephaly appears to be causing more severe problems in these infants than in patients born with small heads because of the other infections known to cause microcephaly, such as German measles and herpes. The problems are so particular that doctors are now calling the condition congenital Zika syndrome. “We are seeing a lot of seizures. And now they are having many problems eating, so a lot of these children start using feeding tubes,” said Dr. Vanessa Van der Linden, a pediatric neurologist in Recife who was one of the first doctors to suspect that Zika caused microcephaly. Zika, mainly transmitted by mosquito, was not known to cause birth defects until a large outbreak swept through northeastern states in Latin America’s largest nation, setting off alarm worldwide. Numerous studies confirmed the link. Seven percent of the babies with microcephaly that Van der Linden and her team have treated were also born with arm and leg deformities that had not previously been linked to other causes of microcephaly, she said. To complicate matters, there are babies whose heads were normal at birth but stopped growing proportionally months later. Other infants infected with the virus in the womb did not have microcephaly but developed different problems, such as a patient of Van der Linden’s who started having difficulties moving his left hand. “We may not even know about the ones with slight problems out there,” Van der Linden said. “We are writing the history of this disease.” On a recent day, Jose laid on a blue mat wearing just brown moccasins and a diaper, his bony chest pressed by a respiratory therapist helping him clear congested airways. Jose, who has been visited by The Associated Press three times in the last year, is like a newborn. He is slow to follow objects with his crossed eyes. His head is unsteady when he tries to hold it up, and he weighs less than 13 pounds, far below the 22 pounds that is average for a baby his age. Breathing problems make his cries sound like gargling, and his legs stiffen when he is picked up. To see, he must wear tiny blue-rimmed glasses, which makes him fussy. Arthur Conceicao, who recently turned 1, has seizures every day despite taking medication for epilepsy. He also started taking high-calorie formula through a tube after he appeared to choke during meals. “It’s every mom’s dream to see their child open his mouth and eat well,” said his mother, Rozilene Ferreira, adding that each day seems to bring new problems. Studies are underway to determine if the timing of the infection during pregnancy affects the severity of the abnormalities, said Ricardo Ximenes, a researcher at the Fiocruz Institute in Recife. Also, three groups of babies whose mothers were infected with Zika are being followed for a study funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The groups include infants born with microcephaly, some born with normal-sized heads found to have brain damage or other physical problems and babies who have not had any symptoms or developmental delays. At birth, Bernardo Oliveira’s head measured more than 13 inches, well within the average range. His mother, Barbara Ferreira, thought her child was spared from the virus that had infected her during pregnancy and stricken many newborns in maternity wards in her hometown of Caruaru, a small city 80 miles west of Recife. But Bernardo cried nonstop. The pediatrician told Ferreira that her baby was likely colicky and would get better by his third month. Instead, the crying got worse, so Ferreira took him to a government-funded event where neurologists were seeing patients with suspected brain damage. “At the end of the second month, beginning of the third, his head stopped growing,” Ferreira said. “Bernardo was afflicted by the Zika virus after all. I was in despair.” In Brazil, the government has reported 2,001 cases of microcephaly or other brain malformations in the last year. So far, only 343 have been confirmed by tests to have been caused by Zika, but the Health Ministry argues that the rest are most likely caused by the virus. Health Minister Ricardo Barros said there was a drop of 85 percent in microcephaly cases in August and September compared to those months last year, when the first births started worrying pediatricians. He credited growing awareness of the virus and government attempts to combat mosquitoes through spraying campaigns. Despite all the problems, some infants with the syndrome are showing signs of progress. On a recent evening, 11-month-old Joao Miguel Silva Nunes pulled himself up in his playpen and played peek-a-boo with his mother, Rosileide da Silva. “He is my source of pride,” Silva said. “He makes me feel that things are working out.” ___ Associated Press video journalist Renata Brito and AP photographer Felipe Dana contributed to this story.
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37895
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After Florida opened its beaches on April 17 2020, 1,400 people consequently contracted novel coronavirus and became ill with COVID-19.
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‘They Opened Up Florida Beaches and Now They Have 1400 New Cases Overnight!’ Facebook Meme
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mixture
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Fact Checks, Viral Content
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A controversial decision to open Florida’s beaches on April 17 2020 led to a rash of national criticism, and an April 18 2020 Facebook post warned that 1,400 Floridians became ill specifically because of the newly-opened beaches (archived here):The BackdropOn April 20 2020, we examined claims that photographs published nationally (and internationally) were taken before the COVID-19 pandemic:Did News Outlets Publish Old Photographs of Crowded Jacksonville, Florida Beaches in April 2020?The ClaimIn the Facebook post above, a user cautioned others on the purported consequences of Florida’s beach openings, writing:Y’all see they opened up Florida beaches and now they have 1400 new cases over night! Go outside if you want to!The claim appeared to be that because Florida beaches had opened, as many as 1,400 Florida beachgoers fell ill and were diagnosed with COVID-19.The ParametersAccording to the person who posted the claim, the following series of events had occurred:Case Counts in Florida Between April 17 and 18 2020Purely in terms of numbers, the post was not inaccurate.An April 17 2020 article (updated on April 18 2020) from Florida’s WTVT reported:TAMPA, Fla. – The Florida Department of Health says the number of known cases of COVID-19 in the state rose by 1,413 [on April 17 2020] as the virus spreads and as more people get tested across the state. The total number of cases in Florida is now 24,753. […]After several days of new cases in Florida trending downward, [April 16 2020]’s total was the highest number of new cases in 10 days. Friday’s total appeared to be the highest single-day increase yet.The Miami Herald reported the same number — 1,413 new diagnoses of COVID-19 as of April 17 2020:Florida had 1,413 new reported cases of COVID-19 [on April 17 2020], the highest number of new cases since the outbreak began more than a month ago, according to the state’s Department of Health. It also reported 58 new deaths since Thursday evening.It’s impossible to say for sure, but it seems the poster saw news of the beach re-openings across Florida, juxtaposed with several local news reports featuring the number highlighted in the post — 1,400, or 1,413 to be precise.Florida’s Department of Health issued daily COVID-19 numbers. On April 17 2020, the number of cases reported in that briefing was 24,753. On April 18 2020, the number was 25,269 — a day-over-day change of 569.On April 19 2020, the figure provided was 27,058, a day over day change of 1,789.Correlation, Causation, and COVID-19’s Incubation PeriodThe Facebook post was a snapshot in time, seemingly contrasting viral images of Jacksonville beachgoers with contemporaneous news of 1,400 (or 1,413) new cases of COVID-19 in Florida, then connecting the two.Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “Symptoms of Coronavirus” page does not include the words “incubation period,” it does make reference to the duration range between exposure to SARS-CoV-2 (novel coronavirus) and falling ill or beginning to show symptoms:Watch for symptoms People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness.These symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus[. ]Admittedly, the range between contracting COVID-19 and falling ill was extremely broad — two days to two weeks. Florida beaches opened at 5 PM on April 17 2020; the post appeared just under 20 hours later, at 12:43 PM Eastern time on April 18 2020.In short, if anyone contracted novel coronavirus after Florida beaches opened on April 17 2020, they did not fall ill with COVID-19 “overnight” as of noon the following day.A CDC FAQ indicated the broad range is due to the novel nature of COVID-19, but reiterates the range:The onset and duration of viral shedding and the period of infectiousness for COVID-19 are not yet known. It is possible that SARS-CoV-2 RNA may be detectable in the upper or lower respiratory tract for weeks after illness onset, similar to infections with MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV. However, detection of viral RNA does not necessarily mean that infectious virus is present. There are reports of asymptomatic infections (detection of virus with no development of symptoms) and pre-symptomatic infections (detection of virus prior to development of symptoms) with SARS-CoV-2, but their role in transmission is not yet known. Based on existing literature, the incubation period (the time from exposure to development of symptoms) of SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses (e.g. MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV) ranges from 2–14 days.ConclusionAlthough the Facebook status update claiming “they opened up Florida beaches and now they have 1400 new cases over night” contained some true information, its underlying claim was unstable. Yes, Florida beaches opened on April 17 2020, and much of the country (and world) recoiled in dismay seeing images of crowded shores. It was also true at least two news organizations in Florida (WTVT and the Miami Herald) reported 1,400 new cases — numbers not out of line with state Department of Health Figures, but somewhat out of step with them.However, the two conditions were unrelated due to the known incubation period of COVID-19. The earliest an infected person would become symptomatic was 48 hours after exposure; the latest was believed to be two weeks. No one who went to the beach (even if they became infected there) would be ill at the time the post was shared. Given the timeframe, the 1,413 cases mentioned in the media (1,400 in the post) were people who had contracted the virus while Florida beaches were still closed due to COVID-19.Comments
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28460
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The body of a notorious pedophile was found dumped on the doorstep of the British Parliament building.
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"What's true: A dead man whose remains were found near Parliament had reportedly been deported from the UK years earlier following a child abuse conviction. What's false: The man's remains had not been ""dumped"" anywhere, nor were they discovered on the ""doorstep of the British Parliament building."""
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mixture
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Junk News, neon nettle, parliament, pedophilia
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In February 2018, the body of a man later identified as Marcos Amaral Gourgel was found in the Westminster area of central London. News accounts subsequently reported that the dead man had apparently been twice deported from the UK, once following a conviction on child abuse charges, and again after re-entering the country without documentation: Portuguese government officials confirmed that the man, of Angolan origin, had been deported from the UK twice before in 2014 and 2016. Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha also claimed his first deportation happened after he served prison time for sexually abusing a child. The Ministry of Portuguese Communities Abroad told Portuguese daily Expresso: “In 2014 he was deported to Portugal by the British authorities and assisted on his return. “In 2016 we were made aware he had been deported again from the UK for being in the country illegally.” A few months later, the Neon Nettle web site reported, in their typical sensationalist style, that Gourgel was a “notorious pedophile” who was “killed after being previously banned from country twice,” and whose body had been “dumped on the doorstep of the British Parliament building”: The body of a notorious pedophile has been found dumped on the doorstep of the British Parliament building. The corpse of 35-year-old Marcos Amaral Gourgel was discovered outside the UK Government building in Westminister, London. The incident was reported to police by politicians making their way into the House of Commons from the nearby Westminister tube station. Although it initially appeared to be a tragic accident, it was only later realized that Gourgel was a serial child abuser who was known to the British authorities. Nearly all of this detail was fabricated embellishment on Neon Nettle’s part. Although Gourgel’s body was found near parliament, it had not been “dumped on the doorstep of the British Parliament building.” Gourgel was homeless at the time of his death, and he passed away in Westminster Tube station — his remains were not “dumped” anywhere, nor were they discovered on any “doorstep.” Moreover, authorities stated that his death was not considered a “suspicious” one: The former model from Portugal who was found in Westminster underground station has been confirmed as 35-year-old Marcos Amaral Gourgel. He was a regular at an emergency shelter run by central London homelessness charity The Connection. Pam Orchard, the charity’s chief executive, said: “These tragic deaths are not just statistics. Everyone who is homeless is someone’s son or brother or dad.” Scotland Yard said the death is being treated as unexplained, but not suspicious. Scotland Yard and the Home Office were unable to comment on the allegations of child sex offences. Neon Nettle is a fake news site with a particular focus on reporting made-up and exaggerated clickbait stories about pedophiles. This report about Marcos Gourgel was a near-duplicate of a previous article from the same site that similarly falsely claimed a dead “pedophile” had turned up on the doorstep of a building connected with legal authority.
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11350
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If at First You Don’t Succeed, Maybe It’s Time For a Different Type of Gastric Surgery
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This story discussed the increased use of gastric banding in individuals who had previously had gastric bypass surgery. While indicating that there was not a lot of data about the effectiveness or longevity of this approach for aiding in weight loss, the story missed the chance to include information about several aspects that should have been covered. By featuring anecdotal information about the short term weight loss of several individuals, it overshadowed the fact that there really is not much known about either the short term or long term risks or whether the improvement in appetite control and weight loss were observed long-term.
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false
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The story provided no information about the cost of gastric banding or how the increased time that may be needed for the procedure when conducted after gastric bypass affected the costs. The story indicated that gastric banding may re-impose limitations on caloric intake that had initially been established with gastric bypass. While it indicated that good long-term data about the utility of banding after bypass was not available, this was overshadowed by the examples of the weight loss seen in a few individuals it detailed. The story did mention the gastric banding following gastric bypass could be complicated by adhesion of organs to one another resulting from scarring from the first surgery. And while mentioning that this might result in a longer time needed for the surgery, there was no discussion about what ramifications there might be for the patient or how often this scenario was encountered. There was no discussion of other complication rates. The story mentioned that there were not concrete data on the percentage of individuals who were having a second bariatric procedure for maintaining their weight loss. But instead of following up on the theme of inadequate information on long term efficacy, the story went on to use anecdotes to detail weight loss that had been achieved without reiterating that not much was known about its permanence either. The story didn’t discuss the quality of the evidence or its limitations, of which there are many. The story did not engage in overt disease mongering. Several clinicians were quoted as part of this story indicating that they were seeing an increased number of individuals seeking to have a second weight loss procedure because they felt gastric bypass was not sufficient to enable them to maintain their weight loss. Beyond this, the story included no expert commenting with concrete information about the risks and benefits associated with this approach to weight control. The story failed to provide indications about other surgical and medical options available to assist individuals with weight loss and maintenance following gastric bypass. The story did not give any indication as to whether all bariatric surgeons perform gastric banding after gastric bypass surgery or if it was a select subset. The story indicated that the particular pattern of bariatric surgeries discussed was a relatively new phenomena and that information about long term weight control was not yet available. Does not appear to rely on a press release.
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2992
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Ex-pharma exec sentenced to nearly 3 years in bribery scheme.
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A former executive for a drug company was sentenced Monday to 33 months in federal prison in a bribery and kickbacks scheme that Massachusetts prosecutors say helped fuel the national opioid epidemic.
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true
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Opioids, Health, Boston, General News, Epidemics, Massachusetts, U.S. News
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Michael Gurry, a former vice president at Insys Therapeutics, was also sentenced to three months of probation and ordered to forfeit about $3.6 million and pay restitution, which will be determined later. The 56-year-old Scottsdale, Arizona, resident is the first of seven former leaders at the Arizona-based company being sentenced this month in Boston federal court. Prosecutors say Insys Therapeutics employees paid millions of dollars in bribes to doctors nationwide to overprescribe Subsys, a powerful, addictive fentanyl-based painkiller for cancer patients. Prosecutors had sought 11 years in prison for Gurry, arguing he was instrumental in the company’s scheme, even if he didn’t actively engage in bribery. They said Gurry, as head of the company’s reimbursement center, came up with strategies to mislead insurers so that they’d cover the costs of the medication that could approach $19,000 a month. Prosecutors said Gurry authorized workers to use a set of talking points meant to convince insurers that Subsys had been prescribed to the patient for cancer pain. Gurry’s lawyers had argued for less than a year in prison, noting he’d served with distinction in the military. In court, Gurry apologized to people who had become addicted to Subsys and suggested he wasn’t aware it was being overprescribed or abused. Three victims spoke in court Monday about how they’d been prescribed the drug even though they didn’t have cancer and detailed how their lives were ruined by addiction. Gurry’s lawyers said they’ll appeal the sentence.
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10457
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Oxytocin has social, emotional and behavioral benefits in young kids with autism
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This news release from the University of Sydney describes a published study on a group of 31 young children with autism (ages three to eight years old) who were treated twice a day with oxytocin nasal spray. The hormone oxytocin has been shown in previous studies to play an important role in bonding and establishing social relationships. The release omitted many of the details contained in the published study, including quantified benefits and a description of the evidence. With so many aspects of autism generating controversy — from its incidence to its causes and treatment options — it’s crucial to provide the public with solid data. This release doesn’t do that. The symptoms of autism spectrum disorder can vary widely in character and severity. To date, there is no medical cure for autism so it’s no wonder there is interest in finding a drug treatment to address its symptoms, especially one that is safe in children. A 2014 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 1 out of 68 children in the United States have been identified as having autism spectrum disorder and that about 1% of the global population suffers from autism spectrum disorder.
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mixture
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Academic medical center news release
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The release doesn’t mention the cost of the oxytocin nasal spray sold as a generic, or under the brand names Pitocin and Syntocinon. Medical-grade oxytocin shouldn’t be confused with the numerous brands of non-medical grade oxytocin sprays that are sold over-the-counter and online. The release headline says that oxytocin “has social, emotional and behavioral benefits in young kids with autism.” But our reviewers found that claim questionable. Of numerous ratings done, one caregiver-measure of social responsiveness came out as statistically positive, and a clinician-rated measure of Clinical Global Improvement came out positive. Our reviewers did not think it was accurate to report that emotional and behavioral symptoms were affected since none of the measures that specifically evaluated these symptoms came out as positive. The release also says that symptoms in children with autism were “significantly improved,” but it never quantifies the improvement. We are told only that children were said by their parents to be more socially responsive at home and that independent clinical ratings showed improvements in social responsiveness. What were the exact measurable benefits? According to the published study, 72% of the patients were rated by the clinical staff to have improved in terms of social interaction and responsiveness compared to 41% who showed such improvement when treated with a placebo. The patents were assessed at baseline and at the end of 5 weeks of treatment. The news release briefly describes the symptoms reported in the children taking part in the trial. The common side effects were thirst, urination and constipation. Our reviewers thought it should be pointed out that the risks and long-term effects of treating children with oxytocin are unknown. The release provides no evidence for the opening claim that oxytocin “significantly improved social, emotional and behavioral issues among children with autism.” Instead, the claims made provoke only questions. What kind of trial was it? Was it a placebo-controlled, randomized? What were the improvements? How much improvement? Which clinician ratings were used? Did all of the children receiving treatment improve? How long did the improvement last? The release doesn’t engage in disease-mongering. The funders of the study aren’t named in the release. In addition to Australian government and foundation grants, the project was supported by a private individual, and the lead investigator’s research work is currently supported by Servier Australia and Pfizer (manufacturer of Pitocin), according to the published study. The release correctly states that behavioral therapies, the standard treatment for autism, are time-intensive, costly and sometimes offer minimal benefits. The release doesn’t mention that synthetic oxtocin (in this trial Syntocinon was used) has been widely available for many years. It was first synthesized by American Nobel prize-winning biochemist Vincent du Vigneaud in 1955. It is most frequently used as an injectable to induce labor in pregnant women. The release asserts the trial’s novelty but the claims aren’t very strong. First, the release states the trial is “thought to be the first evidence of a medical treatment for social impairments in children with autism.” Second is the claim, “It is also the first clinical trial investigating the efficacy, tolerability and safety of intranasal-administered oxytocin in young children with autism.” There have been larger multi-center trials of oxytocin for children in recent years. For example, investigators in Chapel Hill, NC, undertook an 8-week, placebo-controlled trial of oxytocin in 24 children, ages 3-17. Those results don’t appear to have been reported yet, but a look at clinicaltrials.gov shows that this is an active area of investigation with many studies underway or recently completed. We’ll give the benefit of the doubt here but we wished for more context. Other than making claims without backing them up with evidence, we found no unjustifiable language.
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6737
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Maryland House Speaker Busch dies, a Chesapeake Bay defender.
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Michael Busch, a champion of the Chesapeake Bay and progressive causes during his record-tenure as Maryland’s Democratic House speaker, battled for the environment up until the end of his life. He died Sunday at age 72.
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true
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Chesapeake Bay, Michael Busch, Health, Annapolis, Politics, North America, Larry Hogan, Maryland, U.S. News
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His environmental policies were especially high-profile in his final days as he sponsored a bill to permanently protect five oyster sanctuaries under Maryland law. The measure drew a veto from Gov. Larry Hogan, but the House overrode the veto Friday, and the Senate was expected to vote on an override Monday — the last day of the legislative session. Bush died after developing pneumonia arising from a follow-up procedure to a 2017 liver transplant after being diagnosed with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a liver disease. He also had heart bypass surgery in September, after experiencing shortness of breath. Chief of staff Alexandra Hughes said Busch died surrounded by loved ones. Alison Prost, the Maryland executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, praised Busch’s legacy of defending the waterway’s fragile ecosystem. “The Chesapeake Bay lost a champion today,” Prost said. “While there were many issues that were near and dear to Speaker Busch, he elevated saving the Bay to a priority for the General Assembly, and legislators followed his lead.” Busch also fought for expanded health care, educational improvements and other issues as Maryland’s longest-serving House speaker. He was elected to the speakership in 2003. “Nobody has done more to expand health care access and improve public health in Maryland than Speaker Mike Busch,” said Vincent DeMarco, president of Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative. A progressive Democrat, Busch as speaker oversaw Maryland’s approval of same-sex marriage and the repeal of the death penalty. Legislation raising the state’s minimum wage was passed twice under his House leadership. Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller called Busch a model delegate who cared for every corner of the state. “My heart is broken for Mike Busch’s family, the State of Maryland, and the Speaker’s extended family — elected officials and staff that he has been a mentor and coach to over his time in public service,” said Miller, a Democrat who has been battling prostate cancer. “Mike has been a friend for years, and has led the state to new heights of environmentalism and education.” Hogan, a Republican, ordered flags flown at half-staff for Busch, calling him “a giant in our government.” “Speaker Busch and I came from different sides of the aisle, but we often came together in the best interests of the people of Maryland,” Hogan said. “He served with the decency and good nature of a teacher, a coach, and a family man. I was honored to ... work closely with him.” It’s unclear when the House will choose Busch’s successor. The speaker is elected by the 141 House members. Since Busch’s absence last month, Del. Adrienne Jones has presided as speaker pro tem. Busch was first elected to the House in 1986. His district included the state capital of Annapolis, making him a frequent presence in the State House — even when the General Assembly wasn’t in session. He was known as a consensus builder and good listener, qualities that helped him manage the diverse chamber. Busch had a strong commitment to equal rights that resulted from growing up in the 1960s during the height of the civil rights movement against racial segregation. “That was ingrained in me from my grandparents to my parents and through the ’60s,” he told The Associated Press in 2002. At the time, he recalled two pictures on his grandparents’ mantel — Jesus and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Both sets of grandparents “believed that Roosevelt gave average people a piece of the American dream,” he said. “I really believe government is there to give people opportunity.” Busch, a Catholic, was born in Baltimore, and lived in Anne Arundel County from age 10 until he left for college. He was a record-setting running back at Temple University in 1969, peaking in his junior year when he ran for 185 yards in a game. But for a leg injury, he might have pursued a pro career. The Dallas Cowboys sent him a letter telling him “you are being considered by our ball club as one of our top draft choices,” but the team didn’t know his career was already over. After getting a degree in education, he returned home and taught in public and parochial schools. He was a football and basketball coach at St. Mary’s High School in Annapolis before quitting teaching in 1979. His interest in politics was whetted in 1982 when he was a driver for Robert Pascal, an unsuccessful Republican candidate for governor. Busch finished fifth among 12 Democrats running for three House seats that year, then won in 1986. Funeral arrangements weren’t immediately disclosed.
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4611
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University autism study pairs theater with peer mentoring.
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Researchers at the University of Alabama are preparing for a four-year study that pairs theater and peer mentoring to help improve social skills of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.
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true
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Theater, Health, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
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“It is really good and healthy experience for the non-autistic peers to be a part of that,” said Susan White, principal investigator for the project at UA. “It is good on that side. It is really good for those kids who have autism to be part of something that is not just therapy.” The heart of the theater exercise is helping adolescents with autism disorders pay attention and understand facial expressions and other nonverbal cues. UA’s Center for the Prevention of Youth Behavior Problems is enrolling Tuscaloosa-area adolescents with autism spectrum disorder between the ages of 10 and 16 and their typically-performing peers for a multi-site trial of the SENSE (Social Emotional NeuroScience Endocrinology) Theatre intervention, which is funded with a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. White, who is now at Virginia Tech, will begin her appointment in August as director of UA’s Center for the Prevention of Youth Behavior Problems. The other sites include UA, Stony Brook University and Vanderbilt, where the program was developed by associate psychiatry professor Blythe Corbett. The program has shown positive results, but researchers want to see if the results can be duplicated at different sites, White said. The study will involve 240 children between the three sites. “You need to show any an intervention like this can be done by a different team,” White said. The participants will be randomly assigned to either the SENSE program or a well-established development program, Tackling Teenage Training, as a control. UA is working with the theater program at Tuscaloosa Academy for the local trial. Work with the control group will begin in May, said Nicole Powell, a research psychologist and associate director of the UA center. Work with the theater group will begin this fall. The theater intervention is a 10-week program, with weekly practice sessions and a final performance. Practices and the final theatrical performance will be at Tuscaloosa Academy. The UA trial will include 80 children with autism disorders. The UA researchers plan to have 20 students during the first year, 40 participants in the second year and 20 in the final year, White said. The fourth year will be follow-ups and data analysis, White said. The researchers will study neural activity among participants using an electroencephalogram while also observing behavior recognition with unfamiliar faces. The team will also collect data from self-surveys filled out by parents and participants. The trial will use theatre scripts developed for SENSE, theatre games, rehearsal of lines and songs, and peer modeling to help the students with autism improve their social competence. “You have one-on-one peer mentoring throughout the program so they learn in a very didactic way,” White said. “Kids learn better when the model looks a lot like them.” The peers participating in the programing are trained on how to serve as models, she said. Most teenagers don’t like going to therapy, White noted. The theater program doesn’t feel like a trip to the therapist’s office. “What is really nice is this has been going on for years in Nashville,” she said. “Kids like to come back for multiple sessions. It doesn’t feel like therapy at least. They come in, and it is a lot of fun to hang out.” Sara-Margaret Cates, theatre educator at Tuscaloosa Academy and theater director for the program, was attracted to the research project because of her belief that theatre is for everyone. At the heart of theatre is a human connection, she said. Theatre potentially can help, she said, because it the human experience concentrated for the stage. Students will learn communication skills but also empathy and understanding for each other, she said. “That is so important in today’s society,” Cates said. For more information, contact Nicole Powell at 205-348-6551 or npowell@ua.edu. ___ Information from: The Tuscaloosa News, http://www.tuscaloosanews.com
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6557
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Residents near Harvey-damaged chemical plant wary of water.
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The skeleton crew at Arkema’s chemical plant knew it was time to go by the morning of Aug. 29.
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true
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AP Top News, Hurricane Harvey, Fires, North America, Health, Business, Science, Hurricanes, U.S. News, Texas
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Flooding from Hurricane Harvey had knocked out power. Thousands of gallons of chemical-laden water had spilled into the floodwaters. Soon, the company’s stores of volatile organic peroxides would overheat and produce fires noxious enough to make first responders vomit. The last workers evacuated by floating over a 6-foot chain-link fence in a small boat. A half-mile away, Diane and Nolan Glover knew none of this, until the National Guard ordered them to evacuate. The retired couple in their 60s were busy trying to protect their belongings from three feet of floodwater and didn’t think to turn on the radio. Many of their neighbors also were unaware of the danger. Interviews with about 10 residents show they didn’t receive the emergency robocalls from Arkema ordered by a Harris County judge after a sulfuric acid release more than 20 years ago. Today, they are still angry about all they did not know until the National Guard came knocking on doors that day. They say they still know very little about any potential health effects from the flood and fires. They don’t know what chemicals they’ve been exposed to — or about any threat from air they breathe or water they drink. They say the company failed them before the accident, and the state and federal government afterward. “I have a bitter taste in my mouth about Arkema,” Diane Glover said. “I feel like they should have reached out to everyone.” The activity of the company and government regulators surrounding the Arkema disaster falls into the pattern that has emerged more than a half-year after the storm, a Houston Chronicle/Associated Press review of public records shows. The extent of the environmental assault is starting to emerge, and Gov. Greg Abbott’s emergency declaration suspending state environmental rules remains in effect, making it more difficult for local authorities to press their case against companies that lost control of their petroleum and chemical products. Environmental Protection Agency officials, along with Arkema, repeatedly assured residents that their air and water were not dangerous. Company contractors and federal regulators conducted some sampling of air and water as well as solid ash produced by the fires, but critics say it was done in a haphazard, patchwork way that was inadequate to establish whether there is a threat to public health. Arkema, for example, tested the wells of 37 homes; there are roughly 350 homes within 1.5 miles of the plant, though it’s unclear how many get their water from private wells. “I don’t think they did enough analyses,” said Hussain Abdulla, an assistant professor of chemistry at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, who examined the test results at the request of the news organizations. EPA test results show peroxide in the air near Arkema. And testing of some private wells at the homes nearby found acetone, a chemical used by Arkema that can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness and confusion. Federal officials have declined to answer reporters’ questions, directing them to the EPA website. State environmental authorities did not test sediment, groundwater or air around the plant during or after the storm, records show. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality declined to be interviewed, citing its pending investigation. The EPA and the District Attorney’s office for Harris County, home to Houston, are also investigating. Harris and neighboring Liberty County are suing the company. Arkema spokeswoman Janet Smith said company officials have taken steps to help those who live near the plant. “We’re extremely sorry that our incident caused an evacuation at a time when our neighbors were already reeling from a historic storm,” Smith said. The company is the North American branch of the Colombes, France-based chemicals manufacturer. It has two dozen U.S. facilities; the one in Crosby has a history of regulatory problems related to the improper handling and storage of hazardous materials. “What we found so far was just a lack of preparation for this kind of event,” said Rock Owens, Harris County’s environmental attorney. ___ NO WARNING Two years after a 5-year-old girl was severely burned during a 1994 sulfuric acid release at the plant, a county judge ordered the company to alert residents within a mile of its property whenever potential dangers arise. Residents estimate those emergency calls came more than 10 times during the past 10 years. But the Glovers, along with their neighbors Margaret and Tom Lewis, say that call never came when Harvey bore down. Owens said the company appears to have failed to activate the call system. Smith, the company’s spokeswoman, said Arkema communicated with local residents through media statements and social media posts, put updates on its website, created a 24/7 phone hotline and placed messages on an industry-run cell phone application for informing the public about potentially hazardous incidents. Before its first update on Aug. 29, the plant had lost all electrical power, forcing the skeleton crew to move highly volatile organic peroxides into refrigeration trailers so they would not explode. “Arkema does not believe the situation presents a risk to the community or the ride-out crew, due to the distance between the refrigerated cars and any people,” the update said. Six hours later, the company warned the situation had become “serious,” but did not inform residents of a wastewater spill earlier that day. State records show that Arkema reported the accidental release of up to 18,000 gallons of stormwater laced with mineral oil and residual organics. That spill, which mingled with floodwaters in the plant and ran downstream toward Cedar Bayou, also caused a release of chemicals into the air including ethylbenzene, which is linked to cancer but can also cause inner ear and kidney damage, as well as vertigo; trimethylbenzene, which can cause chemical pneumonia and chronic bronchitis; and tert-butyl alcohol, which can affect the kidneys and thyroid. “We reported this inundation of our wastewater system to TCEQ, which is a public agency,” Smith said. “We broadly notified the community about issues that we believed presented a potential threat.” The Glovers did not see any of the company’s updates. The couple does not use social media. Neither do the Lewises. On Aug. 30, Arkema’s website said the organic peroxide in the refrigerated containers likely would catch fire. The first trailer caught fire Thursday, Aug. 31, and Arkema later reported it had released chemicals including acetone, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide, according to the county lawsuit. After two more trailers burned, the remaining ones were destroyed in a controlled burn on Sept. 3. Volatile organic compounds were detected in the air 2.5 to 3 miles northwest of the plant, accompanied by a laundry detergent-like odor, smoke and falling ash, according to the suit. ___ NO STATE TESTING Bret Simmons cried in pain as he pushed his motorcycle through floodwaters near Arkema on Aug. 29, he recounted in a lawsuit. Once he and his wife, Phyllis, made it safely to higher ground, they found his legs covered in blisters, lesions and burns. He sought medical treatment. Arkema had told state officials the same day that chemicals were spilled into the floodwaters around the plant On Sept. 1, the EPA collected six surface water runoff samples from four locations outside the evacuation zone near residential homes. Levels were lower than what would warrant an investigation, a news release said, The next day, emails show agency officials discussing a yellow “discharge” oozing from some of Arkema’s trailers full of chemicals. Multiple aerial photos taken by federal officials show the substance spreading. Contractors hired by Arkema did not test stormwater until Sept. 6, taking samples from 41 drainage and containment ditches in and around the facility, according to a state environmental report. They did not test stormwater near homes surrounding the plant. The results of 13 samples showed elevated levels of acetone and methane. Benzene, a known carcinogen, also was detected in one area tested, according to results published on the state environmental agency’s website. A&M Corpus Christi’s Hussain Abdulla said he was concerned about the “approaches and analysis” of the testing. For example, he noted the apparent lack of testing for dioxins, which could have been released when the refrigerated trailers full of organic peroxides burned. ___ DRINKING THE WATER The Glovers treated their water well with bleach to cleanse their drinking water, but they lacked the funds to have it tested. Lab-certified well water testing can cost $25 to $400. The Glovers did not know they could ask Arkema to test their water, as the company did for some residents. Arkema’s contractor tested 37 drinking water wells around the plant, Smith said, and “none of the wells we tested showed levels of our chemicals that exceeded residential limits established by the State of Texas.” Kevin Thompson, a West Virginia-based attorney representing Bret and Phyllis Simmons and about 660 other Crosby residents, said initial results of tests conducted on behalf of his firm show that water in and around the plant is toxic. Smith said Arkema does not plan on testing any more wells, adding, “we don’t believe additional well-water testing is warranted because none of our testing has shown levels of our chemicals that exceed residential limits.” ___ Houston Chronicle reporter Lise Olsen contributed to this report.
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7017
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Selena Gomez opens up on ‘life or death’ kidney donation.
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Selena Gomez says her friend Francia Raisa saved her life by donating a kidney to the singer earlier this year.
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true
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Health, Entertainment, Selena Gomez
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Gomez and Raisa sat down for an interview with NBC News that is set to air next week. In a preview clip , Gomez says she didn’t want to ask anyone to be a donor, but Raisa “volunteered and did it.” Gomez announced the procedure last month, saying she needed a new kidney due to her struggle with lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease where the body mistakenly attacks its own tissues, sometimes including the kidneys. She tells NBC her condition “was really kind of life or death.” The 29-year-old Raisa is an actress best known for her role on the ABC Family series “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.”
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36202
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The detective who led investigations into Jeffrey Epstein died mysteriously at the age of 50 in September 2019.
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Did the Detective Who Led Jeffrey Epstein Investigation Die after a ‘Brief Illness’ At 50 in September 2019?
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false
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Disinformation, Fact Checks
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In early September 2019, a large number of Facebook users shared an article (archived here), compellingly titled “Detective Who Led Epstein Investigation Died After ‘Brief Illness’ At 50.”Based on the visible shares to Facebook alone, readers found the title and excerpt so convincing they may not have opened the page at all. When it was shared on Facebook, users saw (and subsequently shared) the following:Readers who did click through would also see a date on the article through all the ads: September 3 2019.Even the first paragraph perpetuated the inaccurate notion the claim was a) new and b) being deliberately suppressed by the “mainstream” media. One blink-and-you’d-miss-it passage hinted at the nature of the story, but it was easy to overlook — particularly for those sharing based on headline and date alone:Again, another story that didn’t quite make it into the mainstream news’ narrative involving Jeffrey Epstein. In June of last year, decorated former Palm Beach detective Joseph Recarey died after a “brief illness” at the age of 50, and that’s basically all we know, but do a search for him and you’ll barely see anything in the mainstream media, or even alternative media about his death. […]Regardless, all we know is he had a sudden, brief illness and died as a result at the young age of 50.That first excerpt concluded with a claim that readers attempting to double-check the story would “barely see anything in the mainstream media, or even alternative media” about the death of detective Joseph Recarey. Which was to be expected, as a careful reading would impart the knowledge that Recarey died in May (not June) 2018. Other bottom-feeder sites aggregated the September 2019 “news,” framing it as a “media blackout.”TheWashingtonStandard.com (as with the far-right disinformation site from which this conspiracy theory was lifted, “Sons of Liberty Media“) then linked to and quoted a June 1 2018 Palm Beach Daily News obituary, “Decorated former Palm Beach detective who led Epstein investigation dies at 50.” Although no specific cause of death was disclosed by family members at the time of Recarey’s death, the paper reported:Joseph Recarey, a former Palm Beach detective who had a knack for making others smile, who tackled the island’s largest and most important investigations, and who cared deeply for his family and friends, died Friday, May 25, 2018, after a brief illness. He was 50. […]Recarey was one of the most decorated police officers in the history of the department with more than 150 commendations, 11 officer-of-the-month awards and a 2013 Palm Beach Police Foundation Officer of the Year award, Reiter said. He worked in several units, including the Organized Crime Vice and Narcotics Unit and the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit. He was a lead detective in many major investigations, including the high-profile solicitation-of-minors case against billionaire Jeffrey Epstein.The final sentence of the excerpt contained a non-functional link, but a copy of the page was available via the Internet Archive. It simply linked to all articles related to the Epstein case published by Palm Beach Daily News. It did not appear that any articles had been deleted or moved from the original link.Following Epstein’s August 2019 jailhouse suicide, news of the death of a detective associated with an investigation into his activities certainly looks suspicious — at least, if social media shares are anything to go by. But again, Joseph Recarey’s sudden passing at the relatively young age of 50 was in May 2018.A massive piece of context this disinformation site left out concerned the trajectory of Epstein’s relationship with law enforcement and various brushes with prosecution. Palm Beach news organizations reported the death of a local law enforcement figure, citing his prior involvement with Epstein’s prosecution.News in 2019 about Epstein percolated, appearing here and there in various mentions and in numerous places. But a key element of the context left out of this article involved the events leading up to Epstein’s jailhouse death in August 2019.A summary of the timeline involving Epstein’s arrests was included in Vox.com coverage published after news of his suicide broke:Jeffrey Epstein was found dead on August 10 [2019] in a Manhattan jail where he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. New York City’s medical examiner has ruled his death a suicide.The money manager was accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls, bringing them to his home for massages during which he masturbated or had intercourse with them. [Epstein] was indicted in 2007, but as Julie K. Brown reported at the Miami Herald, he ultimately got just 13 months in a county jail, thanks to a deal signed by US attorney Alexander Acosta, who would later become secretary of labor under President Trump.In July [2019], however, Epstein was arrested in New Jersey and charged with sex trafficking, in connection with allegations that he recruited young girls for abuse at his homes in New York and Palm Beach. If convicted, he could have faced 45 years in prison.In February 2019 (several months after Joseph Recarey’s death), news broke that the Justice Department was opening an investigation into a plea deal brokered for Epstein in 2008, when he had most recently faced charges. (On a side note, we applaud the Guardian‘s responsible labeling of older articles; their February 2019 coverage of that news is clearly marked, “This article is more than 6 months old.”) That indictment included allegations beginning around 2002, hardly news to law enforcement in 2018 or 2019.A Miami Herald piece published in November 2018 revisited the original accusations against Epstein — but once again, it appeared nearly six months after Recarey’s demise. Following that, media interest in Epstein’s original sentence continued with a December 2018 article published by the same newspaper and syndicated. To reiterate, Epstein’s arrest did not occur until July 2019 — more than a year after Recarey died — and interest in the case only started picking up again in late 2018.As of September 2019, it was no secret that conspiracies around the death of Jeffrey Epstein equaled clicks and traffic to anyone willing to stretch the truth around them in the pursuit of a phony scoop. It is unfortunate that Joseph Recarey died unexpectedly at a relatively young age, and doubly so that his family was subject to conspiracy theorists’ harassment rubbing salt in the wounds left by his death. Recarey died well before the Justice Department opened an investigation into “light charges” in a case that was already ten years old when Recarey passed away, and he had been dead for more than a year by the time Epstein was arrested. Revisitation and reframing of the circumstances of the detective’s death are simply a cynical ploy by disinformation sites to cash in on the widespread interest in Epstein’s case, and these articles are in no way rooted in legitimately newsworthy developments in the investigation.
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6162
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Iowa egg farm sues over damage from bird flu disinfection.
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An Iowa egg farm that killed millions of chickens because of a 2015 bird flu outbreak is suing companies hired by the federal government to disinfect barns.
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true
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Des Moines, Health, Flu, Bird flu, Iowa
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Sunrise Farms says the chlorine dioxide gas and heat treatments used to kill the virus destroyed barn equipment, electrical wiring, production equipment and water lines. The company also says the structural integrity of its barns was diminished. Max Barnett, the CEO of Sunrise Farms’ parent company, South Dakota-based Sonstegard Foods, said he couldn’t comment on a pending court case. The farm is near the northwest Iowa town of Harris, about 225 miles northwest of Des Moines. It includes a feed mill, 25 layer barns, two manure barns and a processing plant. The barns housed 4 million egg-laying hens, and two other buildings had 500,000 young hens being raised to become layers. The farm confirmed on April 19, 2015, that its birds had the deadly strain of H5N2 bird flu. Officials from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service division arrived within days and took over the cleanup and disinfection process, hiring several companies to complete euthanizing birds and disinfecting barns to prevent the spread of the virus. In the 2015 U.S. bird flu outbreak, more than 50 million chickens and turkeys died or were destroyed. That comprises about 12 percent of hens that produce eggs people eat and 8 percent of the inventory of turkeys grown for meat, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. About 87 percent of bird losses occurred in Iowa, the nation’s leading egg producer, and Minnesota, the top turkey grower. Other cases were reported in Nebraska, Wisconsin and South Dakota. The heat treatment used at some of Sunrise Farms barns was designed to raise the temperature to 120 degrees (49 degrees Celsius) for a period of seven days. In other barns the government officials ordered the use of chlorine dioxide, a chemical known to kill the flu virus. The barns were declared free of virus and eligible for restocking on Sept. 16, 2015, but court documents say the treatments destroyed equipment, electrical wiring and water lines, and left the barns’ structural integrity diminished. Sunrise Farms claims its property damage required extensive repairs. The company filed the lawsuit in March 2018 in federal court in Iowa, seeking to be repaid for the cost of repairs, interest, late charges and the cost of the lawsuit. It claims negligence for causing significant property damage and breach of contract, saying the contracted companies “failed to adequately perform the contract obligations.” The lawsuit names Clean Harbors Environmental Services of Norwell, Massachusetts, and other companies based in Georgia and New York. In court documents, Clean Harbors, which applied the chlorine dioxide gas treatment, denied responsibility for the damage and asked that the lawsuit be dismissed. The company said Sunrise Farms “failed to adequately and properly mitigate its damages.” Clean Harbors is suing six other companies that were contracted to assist in the operation. One of those companies is suing seven other companies with which it had contracted. A lawyer representing Clean Harbors didn’t respond to a message. The lawsuit is set for trial on Jan. 27, 2020, in Sioux City. Another major egg producer with barns in Iowa and other states also used the heat treatment for disinfection after the bird flu and said he saw some damage but determined the equipment was older and needed to be replaced anyway. Marcus Rust, CEO of Rose Acre Farms, the nation’s second-largest egg producer, said his company was satisfied with its outcome. Rust said he’d heard about the problems at Sunrise Farms and was uneasy but determined that the effectiveness of the gas treatment was better than any other alternative. “Did we have zero problems? No. But has it been acceptable? Yes. We were apprehensive and maybe we watched it a lot closer because of all the warnings,” he said. ___ Follow David Pitt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/davepitt
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2568
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Fish sold in New York is routinely mislabeled: study.
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Nearly three in five New York City grocery stores and restaurants that sell seafood have mislabeled part of their stock, substituting varieties that could cause health problems, according to a new study.
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true
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Health News
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Some 39 percent of the fish obtained for the study by the ocean conservation group Oceana was inaccurately identified, Oceana said. Sometimes cheap fish is substituted for more expensive varieties or plentiful species for scarce ones. Forensic DNA analysis revealed 58 percent of 81 New York retailers and eateries sampled incorrectly labeled the seafood they sold, according to the study released Tuesday. “It’s unacceptable that New York seafood lovers are being duped more than one-third of the time when purchasing certain types of fish,” Kimberly Warner, a senior scientist at Oceana and an author of the study, said in a news release. In some instances, consumers unknowingly purchased fish that could pose health risks. Blueline tilefish masqueraded as halibut and red snapper. The FDA urges pregnant women, nursing mothers and small children to avoid tilefish given its high mercury content. All but one of the 17 white tuna samples obtained from sushi restaurants turned out to be escolar, a fish whose diarrhea-inducing properties earned it the nickname the “ex-lax fish.” Mislabeled seafood can present a public health concern because many hazards are species specific, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) spokeswoman said in an email. Allergic reactions and food-borne illnesses are some of the possible health hazards, the spokeswoman said. New York’s rate of seafood mislabeling was higher than Miami’s (31 percent) but lower than that of Boston (48 percent) and Los Angeles (55 percent), according to recent Oceana investigations. What distinguishes New York’s seafood marketplace from those of the other American cities Oceana tested is the presence of smaller, independent food stores, 40 percent of which sold mislabeled fish, Warner said in an interview. In contrast, only 12 percent of seafood bought at national chain grocery stores in New York were labeled incorrectly. The problem is not new. A study appearing in a 1992 issue of Consumer Reports found about a third of the seafood sampled in New York, Chicago, and San Jose was incorrectly labeled. Nor is seafood mislabeling an issue that has gone unreported. The discovery in August 2011 that Zabar’s, a gourmet food store on Manhattan, had been passing off crawfish as lobster in its lobster salad for at least 15 years was the subject of multiple, high-profile media stories.
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40285
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An email petition nominating Officer Danita Marsh of Nashville for an ABC Extreme Makeover Home Edition. The email says that Officer Marsh was ambushed, critically wounded and left paralyzed from the waist down while responding to a domestic violence call.
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Officer Danita Marsh Petition for an Extreme Make Over Home Edition but a Grass Roots Movement!
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true
|
Crime / Police, Pleas
|
According to a Nashville Government Web Site, police officer Danita Marsh was “ambushed and severely wounded in a callous and cowardly attack on October 27, continues to slowly recover at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.” The attack occurred in 2006 while she was responding to a domestic violence call. The Metropolitan Police of Nashville issued a media release on January 19, 2008 naming officer Marsh Metropolitan Police Department’s Patrol Officer of the Year for 2006. According to the release, “As Officer Marsh continues to recover from her gunshot wounds, the 100 Club of Nashville has committed to help her regain some of life’s basic choices by financing the purchase of accessible housing and a specially equipped vehicle.” Click for release. The City of Nashville Hundred Club, a non-profit charitable organization founded in 1979, has distributed over $400,000 to families of fallen police officers and firefighters to retire their debts. Another release dated August 16, 2007, said the Hundred Club presented Officer Marsh a brand new modified 2007 Buick Terraza, equipped with a wheelchair lift, customized restraint system, and special controls. Click for release. The email campaign petition for the Extreme Makeover Home Edition nomination was not started by the Metropolitan Police Department but is speculated to have been started by a concerned citizen. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police told Truthorfiction.com that this petition campaign would not apply in the case of Officer Marsh because she is not a home owner. The Nashville 100 club organization is making an effort to provide special housing for Officer Marsh and information for making tax deductible contributions to assist Officer Marsh can be found on the releases. The ABC Extreme Make Over Home Edition web site has an application process with links to forms and a mailing address to send suggestions, photos and videos of deserving families in desperate need of a home makeover. updated 11/18/08 Comments
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28138
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A jewelry company is making jewelry out of unwanted human embryos.
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What's true: An Australian jeweler offers parents jewelry embedded with ashes of unused embryos left over from in-vitro fertilization. What's false: A gruesome image showing a woman with an earring made from an intact fetus is fake.
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true
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Uncategorized, anonews.co, anti-abortion, bunker buster news
|
On 9 June 2017, click bait web sites posted stories reporting that an Australian company called Baby Bee Hummingbirds has been selling jewelry made from human fetuses, outraging the anti-abortion community. The story is accompanied by a gory photograph of a model wearing a large earring in the shape of a fetus: Human embryos “left over” from IVF fertilization are now being used to create jewelry, shocking and angering many. The Australian company, Baby Bee Hummingbirds, is known for creating keepsakes out of things such as umbilical cords and breast-milk. The company’s founder, Amy McGlade said: “I don’t believe there is any other business in the world that creates jewelry from human embryos, and I firmly believe that we are pioneering the way in this sacred art, and opening the possibilities to families around the world.” The story is factual, but the photograph is very misleading. An Australian business named Baby Bee Hummingbirds has indeed created a line of jewelry in which parents treated with in vitro fertilization procedures can have unused embryos cremated and incorporated in jewelry like bracelets, earrings and pendants. But the display image of a woman wearing a large fetus as an earring is altered (very obviously, and rather sloppily). Baby Bee Hummingbirds doesn’t make any such item. The original image can be found on various online shopping outlets, and was used to sell the gold-colored choker necklace worn by the model. The fetus earring was superimposed on the original. The pieces sold by Baby Bee Hummingbird are far more subdued, generally including a crystal or opal-like stone in which cremated “loved one’s ashes” can be incorporated, company founder Amy McGlade confirmed in an e-mail to us: We do offer to craft our line of keepsake jewelry with the ashes from unused Embryos. It’s a very special & unique service which offers a lot of comfort to many families. In a longer Facebook post published in April 2017 to the company’s official page, a representative wrote: Please only read with love & respect. The families we craft for are truly aware of the various world wide options for Embryos in storage. They are informed, educated & loving people who have made an educated decision. We are absolute experts & true original leaders in Embryo Ashes • DNA Jewellery. This is an exclusive concept unique Baby Bee Hummingbirds. We are working with a number of local & international fertility clinics to raise awareness of this option for families. The next step in to create educational tools & information packs suitable reflective of this exclusive art. We are therefore offering 15% off all Embryo Ashes Jewellery. We hope this will make the process more affordable & easier on families. It is our wish that we can have these pieces professionally photographed & used for our resources. The jewelry first came to the public’s attention via a 3 May 2017 story published by the Australian parenting blog KidSpot, which interviewed McGlade and a family that purchased her jewelry after struggling over the decision about what to do with their unused IVF embryos. As the company’s web site notes, jewelry can also be made from other organic materials like breast milk, placentas, umbilical cord stumps and first teeth. The KidSpot story did touch off a round of outrage, and was aggregated by a large number of anti-abortion web sites. Although the sensational and doctored image shared by Bunker Buster News is fake and the story itself seems outlandish, it is indeed true that the company is incorporating cremated embryo ashes in jewelry.
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33952
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In September 2018, Taya Kyle posted a Facebook message that strongly criticized the tone and slogan of Nike's recently-unveiled campaign with Colin Kaepernick.
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Taya Kyle has also criticized the national anthem protests, characterizing them as divisive and angry.
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true
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Politics, anthem protests, chris kyle, colin kaepernick
|
In September 2018, Nike’s announcement of an endorsement deal with free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick prompted a wave of controversy and debate. Kaepernick had become a central figure in ongoing National Football league protests again racial injustice after he first “took a knee” during the playing of the national anthem before games in the 2016 season. The deal was met with calls for a boycott of Nike products as well as criticism of the tenor and theme of the advertising campaign that accompanied it. One promotional image shows a close-up of Kaepernick’s face with the message “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything”: Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything. #JustDoIt pic.twitter.com/SRWkMIDdaO — Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) September 3, 2018 This could be interpreted as an allusion to Kaepernick’s own football career. Since 2017, when Kaepernick opted out of the final year of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers, no NFL team has signed him for two consecutive seasons, despite his reputation as a talented quarterback. Kaepernick is suing NFL owners for allegedly colluding and conspiring not to hire him after he rose to prominence for leading the national anthem protests. In the days after Nike’s announcement, several mostly conservative websites reported that Taya Kyle, wife of U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, whose life was depicted in the film American Sniper, had spoken out against the slogan of Nike’s new ad campaign. The Daily Caller, for example, reported: Kyle took to Facebook to level a brutal critique of Nike and their decision to promote a player who has regularly disrespected the American flag. “Sacrificing what exactly? A career?” Kyle asks in her viral post, “At best, that is all Colin sacrificed … some money, and it’s debatable if he really lost his career over it.” “How about other warriors? Warriors who will not be on magazine covers, who will not get lucrative contracts and millions of followers from their actions and who have truly sacrificed everything,” Kyle asked. “They did it because they believed in something. Take it from me, when I say they sacrificed everything, they also sacrificed the lives of their loved ones who will never be the same. THAT is sacrificing everything for something they believe in.” Similar articles appeared on PatrioticExpress.com, UpdateAmerica.com and FaithWire.com, prompting inquiries from readers about the authenticity of Kyle’s remarks. Taya Kyle did indeed post a scathing criticism of the slogan in Nike’s campaign with Kaepernick, saying it was “insulting to those who really have sacrificed everything.” (Eddie Ray Routh, a veteran with a history of mental health problems, shot dead Kyle’s husband Chris, along with another man, while on a gun range near Dallas in February 2013.) On 4 September, Taya Kyle wrote on Facebook: Nike, I love your gear, but you exhaust my spirit on this one. Your new ad with Colin Kapernick, I get the message, but that sacrificing everything thing…. It just doesn’t play out here. Sacrificing what exactly? A career? I’ve done that both times I chose to stay home and be with my kids instead of continuing my business climb… and it wasn’t sacrificing everything. It was sacrificing one career and some money and it was because of what I believe in and more importantly, who I believe in. At best, that is all Colin sacrificed … some money and it’s debatable if he really lost his career over it. Maybe he sacrificed the respect of some people while he gained the respect of others. Or maybe he used one career to springboard himself into a different career when the first was waning. I don’t know. What I do know is, he gained popularity and magazine covers he likely wouldn’t have gotten without getting on his knees or as you say, “believing in something.” I’m also thinking the irony is that while I am not privy to the numbers, it’s likely he gained a lucrative Nike contract. So yeah… that whole “sacrificing everything” is insulting to those who really have sacrificed everything. You want to talk about someone in the NFL sacrificing everything? Pat Tillman. NFL STARTING, not benched, player who left to join the Army and died for it. THAT is sacrificing everything for something you believe in. How about other warriors? Warriors who will not be on magazine covers, who will not get lucrative contracts and millions of followers from their actions and who have truly sacrificed everything. They did it because they believed in something. Take it from me, when I say they sacrificed everything, they also sacrificed the lives of their loved ones who will never be the same. THAT is sacrificing everything for something they believe in. Did you get us talking? Yeah, you did. But, your brand recognition was strong enough. Did you teach the next generation of consumers about true grit? Not that I can see. Taking a stand, or rather a knee, against the flag which has covered the caskets of so many who actually did sacrifice everything for something they believe in, that we all believe in? Well, the irony of your ad..it almost leaves me speechless. Were you trying to be insulting? Maybe you are banking on the fact we won’t take the time to see your lack of judgement in using words that just don’t fit. Maybe you are also banking on us not seeing Nike as kneeling before the flag. Or maybe you want us to see you exactly that way. I don’t know. All I know is, I was actually in the market for some new kicks and at least for now, I’ve never been more grateful for Under Armour.
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32254
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A woman had a dead kitten surgically removed from her vagina after inserting it to simulate the feeling of being pregnant.
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Previous Now8News hoax articles (often replicated by other “viral news” sites) include similar claims a man had sexual relations with a pig in a Walmart bathroom, aborted fetuses were discovered in McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets, Walmart bananas were contaminated with a deadly parasitic worm, a woman engaged in a sex act with a sausage at a Walmart, a separate woman was arrested for sampling feminine hygiene items in an aisle at a Walmart, a man fed his unfaithful fiancee’s remains to her unsuspecting parents, and a woman gave birth to twins in a casket after being buried alive by her husband.
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false
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Junk News, now8news
|
On 20 March 2016, the Now8News web site published an article reporting that a woman claiming to be pregnant and in distress had a dead kitten removed from her vaginal canal in the emergency room: Police were called out to a Las Vegas hospital today after a woman entered the emergency room screaming, “Help my baby.” The 38-year-old woman, Janice Warmington, entered the East Las Vegas hospital complaining of pains in her stomach, telling the nurses she was in her first trimester of pregnancy. They immediately placed her in one of the emergency room beds and performed an ultrasound examination. What doctors found, was absolutely repulsive and shocking. “We began with an ultrasound examination so we could see the condition of the baby,” said attending physician Robert Steinberg. “However, what we saw on the screen had us confused so we proceeded with a vaginal examination. What we pulled out of her … I’ve never experienced in my 32 years in the medical field.” Steinberg said they retrieved a kitten from Warmington’s vaginal cavity. And when they pulled it out, the woman went even more insane. Warmington reportedly told the nurses that she is unable to have children and just wanted to “Feel what it was like to have a living being… life, moving around inside of her.” The report was reproduced by dozens of fly-by-night “viral news sites” after its initial appearance: The article (like all of Now8News’ content) was entirely fabricated. Now8News is a clickbait fake news site that masquerades as a local television news outlet’s web presence. The photograph purportedly depicting the dead kitten in a surgical environment was in fact a stock image of surgeons’ tools, blurred to suggest the original photo contained something graphic (it did not):
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26408
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Even with no shutdown, Sweden has a lower COVID-19 infection rate than UK, Italy and Spain.
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Graham, who wants to see America reopen quickly, claims the COVID-19 infection rate in Sweden, which has no forced shutdown, is lower than in Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Sweden’s known infection rate is lower. But the epidemiologist credited with developing Sweden’s COVID-19 strategy said infection rate is not a reliable indicator of how a country is doing.
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mixture
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Corrections and Updates, Public Health, Coronavirus, Franklin Graham,
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"While cheering President Donald Trump’s ideas for ""opening up America"" amid COVID-19, the Rev. Franklin Graham suggested on Facebook that Trump’s ""enemies and the liberal media"" want a prolonged national shutdown in order to prevent Trump from being re-elected. The Christian minister and son of Billy Graham, the late evangelist, also made a claim about Sweden and its contrarian approach to combating the coronavirus. ""I read yesterday that Sweden had not shut down, but their people were following social distancing and other protocols with the government stressing personal responsibility, and their infection rate still remains lower than the UK’s, Italy’s and Spain’s,"" Graham wrote in an April 17 post on Facebook. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) After PolitiFact published a rating on this statement April 24, Graham edited his original Facebook post to remove reference to the infection rate. Data support Graham’s claim about infection rates. But the epidemiologist credited with developing Sweden’s COVID-19 strategy said infection rate is not a reliable indicator of how a country is doing. Sweden has a population of 10 million people, nearly nine out of 10 of whom live in urban areas; about 20% of residents were born abroad. In contrast to most of the United States, Sweden has imposed no lockdown and no quarantines, although groups of larger than 50 people are banned. With elementary schools, bars, restaurants and businesses still open, though with social distancing and other safety measures encouraged, what’s happening in Sweden seems like something closer to life as most Americans remember it. The idea in Sweden is to essentially pursue herd immunity — let the virus spread as slowly as possible while sheltering the elderly and the vulnerable until much of the population becomes naturally immune or a vaccine becomes available. We didn’t get replies when we asked for information from two North Carolina-based organizations led by Graham, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the international relief organization Samaritan's Purse. We found infection-rate figures from Our World in Data. That research organization is funded by philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates and is led by Max Roser, who is director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Global Development at the University of Oxford. Here are the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases per 1 million people as of April 17, the day of Graham’s post: Spain: 3,910.1 Italy: 2,794.18 United States: 2,028.17 United Kingdom: 1,518.62 Sweden: 1,241.67 So, Sweden’s known rate of infections is lower than the other countries Graham mentioned (and lower than the U.S. rate, as well). We’ll note that Our World in Data figures for April 17 show that the death rate — the ratio of confirmed deaths to confirmed cases — in Sweden was slightly higher than Spain’s, though lower than the other countries Graham cites. United Kingdom: 13.32% Italy: 13.12% Sweden: 10.63% Spain: 10.46% United States: 4.96% Sweden’s death rate was much higher, however, than the three countries that border it: Denmark: 4.67%; Finland: 2.23%; Norway: 2%. Experts urge caution on reading too much into the infection-rate figures that Graham alludes to. Testing has been focused on health care workers and people whose cases who are serious enough to end up in the hospital, so we don’t know the number of people infected who suffer mild or no symptoms, wrote Paul Franks, a genetic epidemiology professor at Lund University in Sweden and an adjunct professor at Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health. ""The existing data suggest that the infection rates are probably much higher in Stockholm than in London and a little higher across Sweden than across the UK,"" he told PolitiFact. Indeed, Anders Tegnell, the epidemiologist who is credited with developing Sweden’s COVID-19 strategy, says infection rate is not a good measure of how a country is doing. ""The recorded infection rate depends hugely on the number of tests performed and what indications for testing that are used,"" Tegnell, the director of the Swedish Public Health Agency, told PolitiFact. ""In other words, an unreliable measure."" Asked if Sweden’s strategy has been effective, Tegnell told us: ""Partly, to the extent that the health system managed the challenge and that there are always free beds. Not so well in protecting the elderly."" As we were preparing this fact-check, there were reports that confirmed infections in Sweden were rising sharply. For example, according to The Guardian, Sweden reported 812 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on April 24, the highest number of new cases in the country yet reported. At the same time, if Swedish studies are accurate, infections and deaths in Stockholm, where more than half of the country’s COVID-19 deaths have occurred, should ""drop substantially in the coming weeks,"" Franks wrote on April 23. Urging that the reopening of the United States not be delayed, Graham said the COVID-19 infection rate in Sweden, which has no forced lockdown, is lower than in Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Infection rates are lower, but that’s not necessarily a telling metric. Experts, including the epidemiologist credited with devising Sweden’s no-lockdown strategy, said there are other reasons, including a lack of testing, not to read too much into infection rates as a measure of how well a country is responding to the virus. Sweden’s death rates, for example, are higher than some of its peers. For a statement that is partially accurate but leaves out important information, our rating is . UPDATE, April 27, 2020: This story has been updated to reflect that Graham edited his original April 17 Facebook post to remove reference to Sweden's COVID-19 infection rate following the April 24 publication of this fact-check."
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13044
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It is more difficult to obtain a Costco membership than it is to get a NYC Municipal ID
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"Castorina, the assemblyman from Staten Island, claimed in a press release that ""it is more difficult to obtain a Costco membership than it is to get a NYC Municipal ID."" Getting a membership at Costco requires an application and a photo ID on your first visit to the store. A municipal ID in New York City requires more documentation and takes longer to process. The only obstacle to getting a Costco membership that might make it more difficult for some people is the cost. The New York City ID card is free. A Costco membership starts at $55 annually."
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false
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Immigration, Terrorism, New York, Ron Castorina, Jr.,
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"It takes a membership card to shop at a Costco warehouse store. There are 87.3 million Costco cardholders around the world - some of whom shop at the company’s New York City locations. Municipal identification cards are also common in the wallets of New York City residents. The New York City identification card gives them access to city programs and services and helps when it comes to renting an apartment, opening a bank account or complying with a police officer who asks for identification. So which card is harder to get? State Assemblyman Ron Castorina Jr., R-Staten Island, called the vetting process for a New York City ID card weak with ""little to no integrity."" ""It is more difficult to obtain a Costco membership than it is to get a NYC Municipal ID,"" Castorina said in a press release. Castorina is one of two state lawmakers who filed a lawsuit to preserve supporting documents submitted to get New York City IDs. When New York City lawmakers created the municipal ID program last year, the statute allowed the city to destroy documents that could identify applicants. The aim was to protect undocumented immigrants from federal immigration authorities. Until now, the city has stored the information. But city officials say starting next year, ahead of the inauguration of President-elect Donald J. Trump, they will no longer hold on to documents submitted by applicants. Castorina and Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, also a Republican from Staten Island, want the city to hold onto the documents because they may help law enforcement agencies in any investigations. So is Castorina right? Is it easier to get a Costco membership? To find out, we went through the application process. Signing up for Costco You can apply for membership online or in any of the company’s 723 warehouse stores around the world. We chose to apply online. The application requires your name, address, date of birth, email address and phone number. Members can share their membership with others in their households, but have to provide their name, dates of birth, and contact information as well. The online form takes less than five minutes to complete. After completing the form, applicants enter their credit card information to purchase the membership online. Membership options range from $55 to $110. Members pay to renew the membership each year. Once the payment is accepted, Costco sends an email with a membership number. This can take from 10 minutes to 24 hours, a company customer service representative said. After receiving the email, the customer copies the membership number down and brings it along on the first visit to the Costco store. Customers must bring a photo ID on their initial visit. Otherwise, the store will not hand over the membership card. Customers who opt for the business membership also have to bring either a business license or three pieces of business ID, which can include anything from a business card to an electric bill. Customers do not have to provide a proof of residency. The store’s customer service line says customers can complete the entire process in less than one day. Signing up for a New York City ID For a New York City ID, residents can either print out an application or fill one out at an enrollment center. Every borough has at least one center, and some have more. The one-page application asks for the resident’s name, address, date of birth, gender, eye color, height, and contact information. There’s also an option to register as an organ donor, select a preferred language, and designate an emergency contact. The form takes less than 10 minutes to complete. Applicants then must schedule an appointment at one of the enrollment centers. Most centers are not open every day, and at least one has appointments booked through the end of January according to the scheduling website. Residents can also call the city’s government 311 helpline to schedule an appointment. Residents have to submit up to four identifying documents with their application. One of the documents has to have a photo, one has to show the applicant’s date of birth, and one has to show the applicant lives in New York City. A representative from the city’s 311 helpline said a few forms of ID, like one from the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, are enough to prove residency and identity. Homeless people or survivors of domestic violence who do not have a permanent address have to bring a letter from either the shelter where they are staying or from a city agency, nonprofit organization, religious institution, hospital, or health clinic. If the application is approved at the center, the staff will take the resident’s photo for the ID. If they have an address, they will get it in the mail less than two weeks later. If they don’t have an address, the ID will be sent to the enrollment center where they applied. Our ruling Castorina, the assemblyman from Staten Island, claimed in a press release that ""it is more difficult to obtain a Costco membership than it is to get a NYC Municipal ID."" Getting a membership at Costco requires an application and a photo ID on your first visit to the store. A municipal ID in New York City requires more documentation and takes longer to process. The only obstacle to getting a Costco membership that might make it more difficult for some people is the cost. The New York City ID card is free. A Costco membership starts at $55 annually."
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6951
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Matt Every suspended 3 months for drug of abuse.
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Matt Every was suspended for 12 weeks Friday for what the PGA Tour said was a violation of its conduct policy on drugs of abuse. Every said it was legal prescription for cannabis to treat mental health.
|
true
|
Matt Every, Health, General News, Marijuana, Sports, Golf
|
“To be clear, I tested positive for cannabis, a drug I do not abuse and a drug that I have a legal prescription for in the state of Florida,” Every said in a statement. Every will be eligible to return Jan. 7 and will miss only three tournaments for which he would have been eligible — the Bermuda Championship, the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico and the RSM Classic at Sea Island. Every said he knew cannabis was on the tour’s list of banned substances and accepts the penalties. But he offered no apologies for the violation. Every, a two-time winner at Bay Hill, did not disclose the nature of the mental health condition. He says cannabis, which is legal in Florida only for medicinal purposes, was prescribed by his doctor who has managed his health for 30 years. He said it was determined that he is neither an acceptable candidate to use prescription “Z″ class drugs nor benzodiazepines, drugs he said could be highly addictive and harmful to the body and mind. “For me, cannabis has proven to be, by far, the safest and most effective treatment,” Every said. “With that being said, I have no choice but to accept this suspension and move on. I knew what WADA’s policy was and I violated it. I don’t agree with it for many reasons, mainly for my overall well-being, but I’m excited for what lies ahead in my life and career.” The PGA Tour does not comment beyond standard reporting of violations detected through its anti-doping policy, which began in 2008. Every is the seventh player to be suspended under the policy, not including Vijay Singh, whose suspension was withdrawn. Singh later sued the tour and it was settled before going to trial. Before his back-to-back victories at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Every was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of drug possession after agents were called to a casino hotel because of a strong odor of marijuana coming from the room he was in. Every said he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, though confirmed the tour suspended him for three months.
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9114
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World-first ketamine trial shows promise for geriatric depression
|
This news release does a marginal job of describing what appears to be the first randomized, placebo controlled trial of the anesthetic agent ketamine for hard-to-treat depression in older adults. It offers a baffling, apparently incorrect account of the study findings and skimps on explaining what the alternatives are for treating depression in older adults. It could also have been greatly strengthened by noting the limitations of the study. Only 16 volunteers were enrolled and the study had only a 5-week controlled treatment period with a 6-month uncontrolled follow-up. The release earns praise for its explanation of the complex protocol of the research, the limitations of previous studies in determining the value of ketamine and noting that there is still much to learn about the drug and its long-term effects and risks. In the end, though, this release doesn’t leave us any more clued in about how ready for prime time clinical use ketamine is — or is not. And its headline is a good reminder of why “promising” is one of the 7 words you shouldn’t use in medical news. Ketamine is an old, relatively inexpensive, fast acting anesthetic drug when used in common doses, inducing a trance-like state, sedation, and temporary “amnesia.” It’s in the same class of drugs as nitrous oxide and propofol, the latter often used at the start of surgical anesthesia. If a safe, effective way can be developed to extend the drug’s use to help treatment-resistant older people with serious depression, that would be a significant advance in improving the quality of life for millions.
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false
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depression,ketamine,University of New South Wales
|
The release didn’t mention the cost of ketamine infusion therapy. Another way to address costs in the release would have been to include a discussion of the medical and social costs of depression. The release’s presentation of study outcomes is baffling. The published paper describes a 5-week randomized controlled trial followed by a longer 6-month follow-up phase that was open label (meaning patients and doctors knew who was getting ketamine). The RCT period provides the strongest evidence, but the news release seems to offer only the 6-month open label results when it says, “By the six-month follow up, 43 percent of participants (7 of 14) who completed the RCT had remitted, with five remitting at amounts below the commonly-used dose of 0.5 mg/kg. Repeated treatments also resulted in a higher likelihood of remission or a longer time to relapse, with an overall response and remission rate of 68.8 percent for the patients receiving ketamine treatment.” First of all, according to the published paper, the outcomes described in the news release — “7 out of 14” remitters and “68.8% overall response and remission rate” — are from the initial 5-week RCT. The news release, however, describes them as being from the 6-month open label follow-up. That’s simply incorrect. Second, 7 out of 14 is exactly 50 percent but is described as being “43 percent” in the news release. This 43 percent figure does not not seem to appear anywhere in the published study and we’re not sure what it represents. Lastly, the release lacks specifics that would help readers understand the magnitude of benefit. What is an “overall response and remission rate”? How much better does one have to be to be considered a “responder” or “in remission.” Although the release doesn’t say how widespread side effects were in the study population, it does mention some of the side effects and it’s clear to readers that ketamine is not a trouble-free drug. Although the release could have used more details about the patient population, including the diagnostic criteria used to assess their depression status and previous therapies, it does a good job of explaining the results of a complicated “cross over” study design and underscoring the importance of the tailored dosing used on the patients. However, the limitations of the research needed to be spelled out but weren’t. It enrolled only 16 volunteers and lasted one 5 weeks — hardly long enough to generate recommendations for the broader population of elderly individuals with depression. No mongering here. Funding sources and presence or absence of conflicts of interest are not mentioned. This is the one area where more information was greatly needed. The release notes that ketamine therapy is intended for treatment-resistant patients, but we learn nothing about about the effectiveness of other therapies, like anti-depressants, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), cognitive behavioral therapy, etc. The release doesn’t address the availability of ketamine for depression head-on. We’re not sure what regulatory issues may apply in Australia, where the release was issued from, but since the information is being distributed to a worldwide audience via a news wire, some comment on this issue would have been appropriate and helpful. The implication is that ketamine is not yet in general clinical use for treatment geriatric depression. But in the U.S., at least, clinics are starting to pop up around the country that offer this therapy. Are these treatment centers reputable? Readers aren’t given any guidance. The release does a good job of explaining what is new about the study and the research team’s particular way of carefully tailoring ketamine doses to each patient. The release doesn’t employ unjustifiable language.
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32006
|
"Delayed military absentee ballots would have ""swung"" the presidential election for Hillary Clinton if they had been counted on time."
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Prior instances in which Duffel Blog articles were misidentified as genuine news included claims West Point posthumously revoked diplomas of confederate soldiers, the Army adopted a “mandatory divorce” policy to “improve readiness,” Ariana Grande joined ISIS, the USS Gabrielle Giffords would be the Navy’s first “gun-free” warship, the Pentagon allocated large amounts of money for Powerball tickets to fund the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, and Medal of Honor recipient Kyle Carpenter was stripped of his award after failing to complete a minor course while actively serving.
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false
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Junk News, absentee ballots, duffel blog, hillary clinton
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On 9 November 2016, the Duffel Blog web site published an article reporting that delayed absentee ballots submitted by active duty servicemen and women “would have swung” the election in Hillary Clinton’s favor if they had been delivered in time to be counted: Sources confirmed today that hundreds of thousands of military absentee ballots were delivered hours after the deadline for them to be counted, with preliminary counts showing that they would have overturned the vote in several states and brought a victory for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Officials say the ballots were delivered late due to problems within the military mail system. Tracking invoices show the ballots sat in a warehouse for a month before they were accidentally labeled as ammunition and shipped to Afghanistan. At Camp Dwyer, Marine Sgt. John Davis signed for them and was surprised at the contents. “I told Gunny we got a bunch of ballots instead of ammo,” Davis told investigators earlier today. “He told me to file a report of improper delivery and that the chain of command would take care of it. We didn’t hear anything for three weeks … While we were waiting, we came under fire so we dumped a bunch of them in the Hesco barriers. We didn’t dig those ones back out.” After military officials realized the initial error, the ballots were then sent back to the U.S. but suffered a series of setbacks. “It’s a shame,” Rear Adm. John Dawes said, when asked for comment. “I expected a delay so I ordered that everyone cast their votes eight months ago. It’s really unfortunate that our mail system failed us and directly affected the course of history.” Upon hearing the news, angry Democrats have demanded a recount, but most military absentee voters have shrugged off the news, with many wondering whether the care packages their families sent six months ago were ever going to show up. Duffel Blog is a military satire web site, and their “About” page demonstrates a humor-based style suggesting the above-referenced article was a spoof of slow military mail delivery service and not a genuine report of ballot submission delays. Unlike most “satire” sites, Duffel Blog seeks to amuse (not confuse) a specific and small audience: military personnel: Since 1797, Duffel Blog has been serving the men and women of the American military with insightful commentary and hard-hitting journalism. While other agencies have sometimes run from possibly scandalous stories, Duffel Blog has been known to be edgy and ahead of its time, almost as if they could see into the future. After reporting on President John Adams’ $200 per week cocaine habit in March 1799, Duffel Blog was named The American Military’s Most-Trusted News Source by the Columbia Journalism Review and the nickname stuck. Duffel Blog is sometimes referred to as “The military version of The Onion,” but this is a popular misconception. The misnomer was cleared up in May 2012 when DB staff successfully conducted an airborne assault on the offices of The Onion News Network so that others would know “The Onion was actually the civilian version of Duffel Blog.” Although readers familiar with Duffel Blog would immediately catch its satirical intent, the brand of humor it employs is very specific and often lost on civilians, and (due to the site’s smaller scope) the occasional Duffel Blog article has caused social media confusion among those outside the military.
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