H1N1 Shot Blamed For Rare Disorder
February 23, 2010
AOL News
A Calgary woman regrets getting the H1N1 shot after her doctor told her it likely caused a rare and painful disorder.
Norma Goldring said she felt compelled to get an H1N1 vaccine because she is diabetic and has had a heart attack, two factors that Alberta Health noted as putting people at higher risk for serious complications from swine flu.
But soon after getting the shot last winter, Goldring felt ill.
“My body was aching and I was throwing up. Then I developed a spot on my leg,” she said.
The rash spread quickly and Goldring ended up in hospital on Christmas Day. “By the time I got to emergency, it spread pretty bad and turned to blisters.”
Her kidneys were shutting down. Doctors eventually diagnosed it as vasculitis, an inflammation that destroys blood vessels.
Her doctor, who asked not to be named, concluded it was probably connected to the H1N1 shot. Goldring, according to her doctor, is one of only 31 people since 1974 to have had this type of reaction to a flu shot.
Won’t get shot again, says Goldring
Now, even using a walker to get from her living room to her kitchen causes her excruciating pain. She is on pain killers and steroids.
“It was like I was put through a fire. It was like someone lit me on fire,” she said.
Goldring said she won’t get a flu shot again. Desmond Fordyce, her partner, said he is worried the vaccine wasn’t tested properly before widespread public vaccinations began.
“I think they’re killing you more than giving you something for making you better,” he said.
Dr. Glen Armstrong, head of the microbiology and infectious diseases department at the University of Calgary, said the H1N1 vaccine is safe. “It’s very clear that the benefits of having people get vaccinated, far, far outweigh the risks of the very small number of adverse reactions to the vaccine.”
So far, 25 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed across Canada. Nearly 6,000 H1N1 shots resulted in an adverse reaction, of which more than 200 were considered serious. Health officials are investigating 13 post-shot deaths.
Alberta health officials told CBC News they have talked to Goldring’s doctor and will continue to investigate what happened in her case.
The province has seen 1,276 people hospitalized with H1N1 since April 2009 and 71 deaths have been connected to the virus.
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Deadly Hybrid Flu Possible
February 22, 2010
HealthDay News
Research in mice suggests the avian flu virus and the ordinary seasonal flu virus could combine to create a new deadly kind of flu, researchers say.
A single bit of genetic material from the seasonal virus converted the avian flu — officially known as H5N1 — into a very dangerous form, the scientists report in a study published in the Feb. 22-26 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Some hybrids between H5N1 virus and seasonal influenza viruses were more pathogenic than the original H5N1 viruses. That is worrisome,” study senior author Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in a news release.
Avian flu, also known as bird flu, has killed 262 people, according to the World Health Organization, but it hasn’t become very infectious between people.
The researchers warn that swine flu — H1N1 — could also play a role in viral combinations.
“With the new pandemic H1N1 virus, people sort of forgot about H5N1 avian influenza. But the reality is that H5N1 avian virus is still out there,” Kawaoka said. “Our data suggests that it is possible there may be reassortment between H5N1 and pandemic H1N1 that can create a more pathogenic H5N1 virus.”
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Psychiatrist Held in Stabbing of Woman
February 24, 2010
Cincinnati.com
By Brenna Kelly
A psychiatrist has been charged with stabbing a woman at his Covington office Sunday night.
Douglas Rank, 51, of Golf Manor, was being held Monday in the Kenton County jail where he is charged with first degree assault.
About 7:45 p.m. Sunday, Covington police responded to the third floor of 12 W. Pike St. for a report of an assault with injuries, said Covington Police spokesman Spike Jones.
When police arrived they found Misty Luke, 32, in the doorway with stab wounds to her chest, Jones said. She was taken to University Hospital with serious injuries, he said.
Rank was inside being held by witnesses, Jones said. He was taken into custody and police recovered a sword that they believe to be the weapon, Jones said.
Police were investigating the incident Monday and had not determined the relationship between Rank and Luke, Jones said. He did not know whether she was a patient.
Rank is being held in lieu of $50,000 cash bail. He is listed in jail records as living in Cincinnati, and Hamilton County Auditor records show he owns a home on Stover Avenue in Golf Manor.
According to the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, Rank’s license is active this week, but is it set to expire on Sunday.
He graduated from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in 1984, according to state records.
Rank, who is also board certified in internal medicine, had his license to practice medicine restricted by the board in 2001 it found that after he prescribed “high doses of narcotic prescriptions” to one patient while practicing in Lexington.
The Board of Medical Licensure found that Rank given the patient 57 prescriptions over 14 months. Rank agreed to no longer treat the patient.
Rank also faced disciplinary action from the board in 2000 after he admitted he had sexual intercourse with another patient.
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Doctor Gets Court Order to Hold Pregnant Woman
February 24, 2010
Change.org
By Roxann MT Joy
With issues like the Stupak Amendment and Nevada’s Personhood Initiative in the national spotlight, I am aware that a woman’s right to choose whether or not to carry a fetus to full-term is under attack.
What I didn’t realize, perhaps naively, is that her right to choose how to carry a fetus is also under fire. Last March, Florida resident Samantha Burton was in week 25 of her pregnancy when she paid a visit to her doctor. Burton was showing signs of potential miscarriage, so her physician ordered bed rest. Burton explained that, as a working mother of two toddlers, bed rest simply wasn’t a viable option and then proceeded to ask for a second medical opinion. Seems reasonable, right?
Her doctor, however, was having none of that. Rather than refer Burton for the desired second opinion, he instead felt it necessary to contact state authorities, who then proceeded to force Burton to be admitted to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital against her will and undergo any procedure the doctor felt like prescribing. When Burton had the audacity to request a change in the hospital in which she was being treated, the court denied her request. Three days into her forced hospitalization, Burton miscarried.
Never mind that there is actually no scientific research to support the claim that bed rest helps prevent preterm birth and that even the American College of of Obstetricians and Gynecologists does not believe it should be routinely recommended. Never mind Burton’s very real concern for the care of her two small children. Never mind the psychological, physical, and financial toll this takes on her family. The only thing that mattered to the doctor and the government was that they got their (ultimately ineffectual) way.
Oh, and did I mention this case gets worse? Burton (with help from her pro bono lawyer and the ACLU) sued the State of Florida claiming it — duh — violated her constitutional rights. The court ruled against her, claiming that that State was merely maintaining “status quo” in the situation. Hmmm. I never knew forcing a woman to bed rest in a hospital was status quo. Perhaps I’ve been ill-informed.
It is scary to think that the government feels it can negate the bodily autonomy of pregnant women for any reason, let alone for something like this. Where does this stop? If a doctor lacking scientific support can force a woman into a hospital of his choosing for the tests of his choosing, what’s next? Certainly it seems as if the bar has been set pretty low in terms of the criteria needed to override a woman’s freedom to make informed decisions for herself.
Burton’ lawyers filed for appeal and the case is now being heard in Florida’s First District Court of Appeals. Hopefully, this time the court will acknowledge the bodily autonomy of pregnant women and reverse the lower court’s frightening and potentially dangerous ruling. I shudder to think of the consequences of the earlier decision being upheld.
Click here for the full report.
Influenza Vaccine Has No Effect
February 10th, 2010
The Local
There is no evidence to support the contention that the influenza vaccine administered to the over 65s is of any more use than opening the windows and washing hands, a new study from the Cochrane Collaboration claims, according to a report in the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.
•Sweden evaluates swine flu response (17 Jan 10)
•Swine flu named year’s top Swedish news story (30 Dec 09)
•Sweden’s swine flu response wins EU praise (4 Dec 09)
The Cochrane Collaboration, an international not-for-profit organization providing up-to-date information about the effects of health care, has compiled data from 40 flu seasons worldwide.
The institute has concluded from the studies that there is no clear evidence to suggest that the flu jab offers any more protection than cheaper, hygiene-based methods such as hand-washing.
“Our analysis is compiled using millions of data from 40 seasons worldwide. What we have seen is that the influenza vaccine can at best have a very small effect,” said Thomas Jefferson, one of the authors of the report, to the newspaper.
The Swedish Welfare Board (Socialstyrelsen) has for the past 40 years advised all those over 65-years-old to take an annual dose.
Most local health authorities in Sweden pay for the flu jab at a cost to the taxpayer of 25-30 million kronor ($3.5 million) per annum.
This is not the first time the Cochrane Collaboration has sounded the alarm over the paltry effects of the vaccine with a report published four years ago drawing the same conclusions, according to the newspaper.
The institute has now selected the best 75 of the available studies for this latest review of the evidence. While conceding that the studies are not of the best research quality, it concludes there is little evidence to suggest that the flu vaccine has any real effect.
The institute thus recommends a larger international, state-financed study to examine the vaccine and existing healthcare recommendations.
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Fluoride In Water Making Kangaroos Sick
February 24, 2010
ABC.net
By Candice Wyatt
The EPA’s Bruce Dawson says the fluoride is being absorbed by the nearby vegetation which is then being eaten by the kangaroos.
He says the fluoride poisons the kangaroos and makes lesions grow on their bones, which renders them lame.
“Once kangaroos have restricted movement [it] has a significant impact on their welfare. So this is something that needs to be managed and avoided.”
He says there is not a lot of information around about the impact of fluoride on kangaroos.
The problem is more common in cattle.
“There was a lot of research done in the 60s and 70s in the United States but this really has just started to emerge in terms of the impacts on kangaroos.”
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How did the WTC Towers fall on 9/11? (VIDEO)
February 24, 2010
Russia Today
On 9/11, the world watched as two airplanes crashed into the twin towers of the world trade center, both of which collapsed shortly after. This much we know for sure, but for some, the cause of the collapse is still not so clear. Michael T Donly is a part of a group that says the two planes that hit the WTC twin towers could not have destroyed them.
Children to be Given Identity Numbers
February 24th, 2010
smh.com.au
By Phillip Coorey
A program in which every school child in Australia would be given an identity number so their academic progress could be tracked through their school life is expected to be announced by the federal government as early as today.
The Herald understands the number, to be known as a ”unique student identifier”, will be annexed to the My School program, which publishes the performance of individual schools on the internet.
The number would allow the performance of individual students in each of the core subjects to be monitored for the duration of their school life so their progress could be measured.
The Education Minister, Julia Gillard, is expected to announce the proposal in a speech today at the National Press Club where she will also canvass a draft of the new national curriculum to be released next Monday.
The curriculum, a plank in the government’s so-called ”education revolution”, will apply to maths, English, history and the sciences and be taught at all schools, starting next year.
The ”unique student identifier” is expected to cause controversy and raise privacy concerns.
A senior source said strict privacy provisions would restrict its use to those who needed the information, such as parents. Protections would be built in to stop third parties being able to identify students.
The My School website is updated once a year and grades each school on its NAPLAN performance in reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy for years three, five, seven and nine. Parents are sent the NAPLAN test results for their child each year.
The new identity number would allow parents and other concerned parties to access a database documenting the child’s performance throughout their time at school, regardless of how many schools they attended and whether they shifted interstate.
A student’s strengths and weaknesses could be monitored and addressed as their education progressed.
It is understood Ms Gillard will promote the measure as another way of ensuring maximum school performance. She may also signal the extension of the My School program to year 12.
A source said the identity number would be introduced after the next round of NAPLAN tests in May, possibly before the federal election.
Its implementation will be overseen by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority.
Teacher unions, which oppose My School, are threatening to boycott the tests this year.
Click here for the full report
Police Push For Warrantless Searches of Cell Phones
February 18th, 2010
CNET
By Declan McCallugh
When Christian Taylor stopped by the Sprint store in Daly City, Calif., last November, he was planning to buy around 30 BlackBerry handhelds.
But a Sprint employee on the lookout for fraud grew suspicious about the address and other details relating to Taylor’s company, “Hype Univercity,” and called the police. Taylor was arrested on charges of felony identity fraud , his car was impounded, and his iPhone was confiscated and searched by police without a warrant.
A San Mateo County judge is scheduled to hear testimony on Thursday morning in this case, which could set new ground rules for when police can conduct warrantless searches of iPhones, laptops, and similarly capacious electronic gadgets.
This is an important legal question that remains unresolved: as our gadgets store more and more information about us, including our appointments, correspondence, and personal photos and videos, what rules should police investigators be required to follow? The Obama administration and many local prosecutors’ answer is that warrantless searches are perfectly constitutional during arrests.
“There are very, very few cases involving smartphones,” Chris Feasel, deputy district attorney for San Mateo County, said in an interview on Wednesday. “The law has not necessarily caught up to the technology.”
Feasel said the county’s position is that a search of a handheld device that takes place soon after an arrest is lawful. “It’s an interesting issue that may decide the future of how courts handle these kinds of cases, especially smartphones and iPhones,” he said.
Attorneys for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the San Francisco civil liberties group that’s representing Taylor, have asked the court to suppress any evidence obtained from the search of his iPhone. They say the search was “unconstitutional” because it was done without a warrant–and they say it also may have violated a 1986 federal law designed to protect the privacy of e-mail messages.
Privacy advocates say that long-standing legal rules allowing police to search suspects during an arrest–including looking through their wallets and pockets–should not apply to smartphones because the amount of material they store is so much greater and the risks of intrusive searches are so much higher. A 32GB iPhone 3GS, for instance, can hold approximately 220,000 copies of the unabridged text of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
“Neither the search of (Taylor’s) vehicle nor the search of his iPhone was justified by any exception to the warrant requirement,” the EFF and its co-counsel, San Francisco attorney Randall Garteiser wrote in a brief filed earlier this month.
Sex photos drew federal lawsuit
Concerns about privacy are not merely hypothetical. In March 2008, Nathan Newhard was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in Culpeper, Va., and his cell phone was seized. In the pictures folder of the cell phone were multiple pictures of Newhard and his then-girlfriend, Jessie Casella, nude in sexually compromising positions.
Newhard and Casella–at that point no longer a couple–filed separate civil rights lawsuits against Sgt. Matt Borders, who they said alerted the rest of the police department on the radio “that the private pictures were available for their viewing and enjoyment.” Newhard claimed that, as a result of the incident, he was nonrecommended for continued employment with the Culpeper school system, where he had worked before the arrest.
A federal judge in Virginia last year agreed that the police conduct was “irresponsible, unprofessional, and reprehensible” but said that Culpeper police officers could not be held legally responsible because they did not violate any clearly established constitutional rights. In addition, the court pointed out, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that “officers may retrieve text messages and other information from cell phones and pagers seized incident to an arrest” to preserve evidence.
The problem for EFF and its co-counsel in the San Mateo County case is that, while the U.S. Supreme Court has not taken up the issue, a number of other courts have reached similar conclusions. In 2007, the Fifth Circuit concluded that police were permitted to conduct a warrantless search for call records and text messages during an arrest. So did the Seventh Circuit in a 1996 case dealing with information from numeric pagers (“It is imperative that law enforcement officers have the authority to immediately ‘search’ or retrieve, incident to a valid arrest, information from a pager in order to prevent its destruction as evidence.”)
Click here for the full report
Australia to Use Face-Scanning and Fingerprints to Combat Terrorism
February 23th, 2010
telegraph.co.uk
Unveiling the government’s long-awaited white paper on counter-extremism, Kevin Rudd, the prime minister, said Australia was also concerned about the rising threat from home-grown militancy, just one week after five Sydney men received long jail terms for planning a violent jihad attack.
“Terrorism continues to pose a serious threat and a serious challenge to Australia’s security interests. That threat is not diminishing,” Mr Rudd said.
“In fact, the government security intelligence agencies assess that terrorism has become a persistent and permanent feature of Australia’s security environment. These agencies warn that an attack could occur at any time.
“Prior to the rise of jihadist terrorism, Australia was not a specific target, now Australia is.”
Under the plans, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship would begin collecting the fingerprints and facial images this year, and cross-check them with immigration and law enforcement databases in Australia and overseas.
Stephen Smith, the foreign minister, said Australia would delay naming the countries where visa applicants will need to submit to fingerprints and face-scans before they will be issued with a visa for entry into Australia, admitting that a “diplomatic effort” would have to be made with their governments.
But Mr Rudd said Somalia and Yemen had been identified as two countries where the threat of Islamic extremism was growing.
He added that Australia would spend $69 million dollars on the new biometric facilities and would set up a new national control centre to coordinate efforts to fight extremism.
The government also planned to work with communities to stamp out radicalism by helping all ethnic groups integrate better with mainstream society.
“The threat of terrorism is no longer just something that travels to Australia from overseas,” Mr Rudd said.
“The threat of home-grown terrorism is now increasing. This white paper is clear, some of the threat we now face comes from the Australian born, Australian educated and Australian residents.”
Last week five Australian citizens of Lebanese, Libyan and Bangladeshi origin were jailed for up to 28 years for gathering weapons in preparation for an attack on an unknown target.
More than 100 Australians have been killed in terrorist attacks since 2001.
Click here for the full report
