(Reuters) - Two other drugs made by the Massachusetts pharmacy at the center of a deadly meningitis outbreak may be linked to the disease, U.S. health regulators said on Monday, potentially widening the scope of the health crisis.
The Food and Drug Administration said it was looking into reports of a patient with possible meningitis who received an injection of a different steroid than the one found to have caused 15 deaths. It also said two transplant patients were infected with the rare fungus linked to the meningitis outbreak after receiving a heart drug also made by the New England Compounding Center (NECC) of Framingham, Massachusetts.
Nine more people have been diagnosed with fungal meningitis linked to possibly tainted vials of the injected steroid methylprednisolone, bringing the number of cases to 212, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A Tennessee woman among these cases filed a lawsuit on Monday against NECC seeking $15 million in damages.
Sounds like a science fiction horror story, but it is what is happening. Today, I heard about Zombie Bees being found now in Washington State, and a new swarm sighted in British Columbia. What?
It is thought these bees are infected with a parasitic fly causing them to erratically fly at night until death. An adult fly infects the bees by injecting eggs into the bee's body. The bee is eaten from the inside as the maggots hatch. Zombie bees have been confirmed in Oregon, Washington state, California, South Dakota, British Columbia, and were first discovered in 2008.1 There's even a website called Zombeewatch.org.
The 'colony collapse disorder' that is also killing bees might be related, but it is not known yet. Bees are vital for pollination, and sustainable agriculture. It is thought that pesticides might play a role in the declining bee population.2 According to Steve Sheppard, Washington State University chairman of the entomology department, his research has shown that chemical accumulation shortens the insect's lives. Pesticides once again may be creating more damage than intended.
NOTE: Jean-Pierre Berlan is an agronomist, an economist, and retired director of research at L'Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA), France.
He wrote to us about the controversy over Seralini's study - his comments are reproduced with his permission below.
We think his comments illuminate an issue that's been raised by honest scientists in the wake of the Seralini study. These scientists have taken in good faith the claims by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the German government, and other bodies and individuals, that the design of Seralini's study was flawed and so no conclusions can be drawn from it.
These scientists are working to come up with a study that will be acceptable to all - industry, regulators and consumers - and which will give reliable information about whether GMOs are safe. They are prepared to seek funding for such a study and ensure that it is carried out in a rigorous fashion.
Though we have the greatest respect for these scientists' motives, we would dissuade them from such an undertaking in the current climate, for the following reasons.
No internationally accepted protocols for testing GM foods for safety have ever been set, either by the European Food Safety Authority or by the international body Codex. These bodies have strenuously resisted attempts by scientists and civil society groups to institute such standard protocols.
The Tour de France organiser, Christian Prudhomme, has called forLance Armstrong's seven victories in the world's greatest cycle race to be erased from the record books following the release of a US Anti-Doping Agency report which said there had been systematic doping at the Texan's US Postal Service team between 1999 and 2005.
"What we would like is for there to be no winner in those years," Prudhomme said. Usada has called for Armstrong to be stripped of his titles and his third place in the 2009 Tour, but that has yet to be ratified. If Prudhomme has his way, that would mean the Tours from 1999 to 2005 being left without a winner.
Prudhomme, who has been in the Alps reconnoitring stage finishes for the 2013 Tour, said that he was shocked by the findings of Usada. "We cannot be indifferent to what Usada has uncovered. It is a dark and deeply disturbing picture. It has called into question a system and an entire era which remains stained for ever. It is a lost decade."
The TSA's security policies are getting more and more bizarre, from testing people's drinks for explosives to ordering all travelers to freeze on command, but could a frightening policy that was seriously explored by the DHS be resurrected - forcing people to wear shock bracelets that would deliver an electric shock if they got out of line?
The story sounds like it belongs in a South Park episode or on an urban myths website - but it was actually true.
In 2008, the Washington Times reported on how DHS official Paul S. Ruwaldt of the Science and Technology Directorate, office of Research and Development, wrote to Lamperd Less Lethal, Inc. indicating that the Department of Homeland Security was ready to purchase devices from the company that would be used to deliver incapacitating shock s to airline passengers, all of whom would be mandated to wear the shock bracelet once they checked in for their flight.
We the undersigned, as Freemen & Freewomen, do not recognize the authority of The World Health Organization (WHO) to mandate general forced vaccinations. Our bodies are sovereign territory and subject to our exclusive self-determination. Any attempted violation of this trust must be construed as a breach of said basic right.
We are thus holding our elected Governments accountable in this defense with an issuance of notice: a preemptive Class Action Lawsuit to be served in the event our inalienable rights to choose are forsaken.
To sign the petition, please click on link below. The goal is to get 1 million signatures.
Dr Eben Alexander, a Harvard-educated neurosurgeon, fell into a coma for seven days in 2008 after contracting meningitis.
During his illness Dr Alexander says that the part of his brain which controls human thought and emotion "shut down" and that he then experienced "something so profound that it gave me a scientific reason to believe in consciousness after death." In an essay for American magazine Newsweek, which he wrote to promote his book Proof of Heaven, Dr Alexander says he was met by a beautiful blue-eyed woman in a "place of clouds, big fluffy pink-white ones" and "shimmering beings".
He continues: "Birds? Angels? These words registered later, when I was writing down my recollections. But neither of these words do justice to the beings themselves, which were quite simply different from anything I have known on this planet. They were more advanced. Higher forms." The doctor adds that a "huge and booming like a glorious chant, came down from above, and I wondered if the winged beings were producing it. the sound was palpable and almost material, like a rain that you can feel on your skin but doesn't get you wet."
Why don't they want it? Because some of them know too much. Here's the whole tawdry tale.
This week we learned that hospital employees throughout Colorado will be fired unless they get a flu shot by the end of the year. New state health regulations require flu shots for health care workers to be phased in over the next several years, but nearly all hospitals in Colorado have made the vaccinations mandatory - immediately. Employees are exempt from the shot only for medical reasons; if they refuse, they will be suspended, and if they haven't gotten the shot by the end of the year, they will be fired.
Many healthcare workers don't want the injection. No surprise there. They know more about it, that it is not safe by any means. As we reported last month, the US flu shot still contains mercury, which among other things is associated with the development of Alzheimer's. And a recent study indicates that people who received a flu shot were more likely to become infected with the H1N1 flu virus than people who haven't received the shot!
(Reuters) - A rare U.S. outbreak of fungal meningitis linked to steroid injections has claimed four more lives with Florida the latest state to report at least one death linked to the illness in a widening health scare, authorities said on Tuesday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that two more people had died from meningitis in Tennessee, and one more in Michigan after receiving steroid injections.
Officials in Florida meanwhile said late Tuesday that a 70-year-old man died in July as a result of the same outbreak, the first in that state, bringing the number of deaths nationwide to 12.
Traditional medicine doesn't just fill up the health food aisle at the supermarket - it could help make everybody healthier. But how can we figure out which ancient herbal remedies actually work, and which ones are just hype? An estimated 10,000 to 53,000 plant species were traditionally used as medicines, and only some of those could have bioactive molecules with actual molecules. That's a lot of plants to sort through.
But now, a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that we can find out - by comparing the plants that multiple different cultures adopted as remedies.
For example, say a plant often used to cure headaches in an ancient Nepalese culture was closely related to a plant used for the same purpose in South Africa. The communication-crippling geographical distance between these two cultures indicates that they discovered their headache cures independently. So they probably began using these plants because the flora had real pain-killing abilities. This plant family may produce valuable bioactive compounds.
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.- For three days lavender aficionados are in Grand Junction for the Southwest Lavender Conference. The herb has existed for thousands of years, however, its presence is becoming more potent than ever.
Kathy Kimbrough, the President of the Lavender Association of Western Colorado, said, "It's coming back into fashion, and in the last 10 years or so it's become a very popular herb. A lot of people are now beginning to realize that it's more than just something in your yard."
Paola Legarre, the owner of Sage Creations Organic Farm, said, "At this conference there are people from all over the United States. We learn from each other and it's also a great way to showcase what we've been doing here in Colorado."
In an effort to boost its military, the United Kingdom, over the past five years, has spent more than two billion euros buying and developing unmanned drones; the U.K. has no intention of slowing down, as it is committed to spending another two billion euros on new unmanned aircraft.
In an effort to boost its military, the United Kingdom, over the past five years, has spent more than €2 billion buying and developing unmanned drones. The U.K. government has no intention of slowing down, as it is committe
The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal by Jonathan Corbett, who wanted to challenge the Transportation Security Administration's use of the scanners, which show a naked image of a passenger's body, and hands-on pat-downs at airport security lines.
Federal courts in Florida refused to hear his lawsuit, saying it could only be filed with the federal appeals court in Washington. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal, and the Supreme Court refused to reopen the case.
The TSA started allowing the use of the advanced imaging technology in October 2010. The Electronic Privacy Information Center soon afterward called their use an "unreasonable search."
Washington - Vernon Hugh Bowman, a 74-year-old soybean farmer, will have his day in court against Monsanto in the US Supreme Court next year. Bowman was originally sued by Monsanto Co for alleged patent infringement for the use of a genetically modified soybean crop.
Under the company's licensing contract, farmers can only use the product to harvest one round of crops. However, Monsanto sued Bowman because they say he is at fault for planting a second harvest. However, this second harvest came from commercially-purchased "commodity seeds" from a grain elevator that contained, in part, the Roundup Ready GMO seeds.
Apparently you can sell "second-generation" seeds to grain elevators for use as "commodity seeds," and Monsanto doesn't require that there be any restriction on the sale.
However, Monsanto claimed this was infringement, even though the seeds were legally sold to the grain elevator and then from the elevator to Bowman without restrictions.
Skyrocketing gasoline prices caused some local service stations to shut off their pumps Thursday while others shocked customers with overnight price increases of 30 cents or more.
California's fuel industry isn't running out of gasoline - supplies are only 2.5% lower than this time last year - but recent refinery and pipeline mishaps sent wholesale prices to all-time highs this week. As a result, some station owners weren't buying fuel for fear they couldn't sell it. Those who did buy simply kicked prices higher and bet customers would understand.
"If this keeps up, I'll be looking at $5-a-gallon gas by next Thursday," said Ali Mazarei, who owns an Arco station in Riverside County. On Thursday, Mazarei was charging $4.52 for a gallon of regular gasoline, up from $4.27 on Wednesday and $4.21 on Tuesday.
ROME -- It's one of the highlights of any trip to Rome: Sitting on the Spanish Steps eating a real Italian gelato. But on Oct. 1, it became a potentially costly vacation memory.
The mayor of the "eternal city" has made it illegal to eat snacks and junk food on or around its monuments.
Tourists will still be allowed to eat while they walk, but stop with a bag of chips in your hands or sit down while chewing on your panino, and you are eligible for a fine of 25 to 500 euros ($32 to $650). An Italian daily newspaper dubbed it the "War on the Sandwich."
Dressed in their white and blue uniforms, local police officers Alessio Valentini and Magdi Adib were on patrol Thursday looking for anyone daring to flout the new law. Tourists will still be allowed to eat while they walk, but stop with a bag of chips in your hands or sit down while chewing on your panino, and you are eligible for a fine of 25 to 500 euros ($32 to $650). An Italian daily newspaper dubbed it the "War on the Sandwich."
(Reuters) - Ballot measures to legalize marijuana in Washington state and Colorado gained support this week from a pair of prominent Republicans - U.S. Senate candidate Michael Baumgartner and former Representative Tom Tancredo - who could help sway conservative voters.
No state has ever legalized marijuana for recreational use. The federal government considers it an illegal drug, but 17 states and the District of Columbia allow it as medicine.
Baumgartner, the Republican challenger to Washington state's Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell, said in a phone interview the state initiative, which would allow the sale of marijuana to people 21 and older at state-sanctioned stores, is a "thoughtful way forward."
(Reuters) - A steroid medication linked to the fungal meningitis deaths of at least five people may have been administered to patients in 23 states, the Centers for Disease Control said on Thursday.
The CDC said in a briefing that five people have died and 35 have been struck by fungal meningitis in six states. The outbreak first was reported in Tennessee, where two people died.
All the cases have so far been traced to three lots of Methylprednisolene Acetate from a pharmaceutical compounding plant in Massachusetts, according to the briefing.
When Multnomah County commissioners legalized gay marriage in 2004 after only token public involvement, citizen outrage helped power a ballot measure campaign that wound up overturning the decision.
Now anti-fluoride activists hope to tap similar anger at Portland City Council's rushed decision on Sept. 12 to fluoridate the city water supply.
Though they have just 30 days to circulate petitions, activists say they're on track to gather 40,000 signatures by the Oct. 12 deadline. That's twice the number needed to qualify for a May 2014 ballot referendum, with wiggle room for invalid signatures, and suspend any changes to the water supply until the public vote.
