Monday, July 28, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Cancer scientist warns against cellphone use
PITTSBURGH - The head of a prominent cancer research institute issued an unprecedented warning to his faculty and staff Wednesday: Limit cellphone use because of the possible risk of cancer.
The warning from Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, is contrary to numerous studies that haven't linked cancer and cellphone use, and a public lack of worry by the Food and Drug Administration.
Herberman bases his alarm on early unpublished data. He says it takes too long to get answers from science and he believes people should take action now, especially regarding children.
"Really at the heart of my concern is that we shouldn't wait for a definitive study to come out, but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry later," he said.
No other major academic cancer research institutions have sounded such an alarm about cellphone use. But Herberman's advice is sure to raise concern among many cellphone users and especially parents.
In the memo he sent to 3,000 faculty and staff Wednesday, he says children should use cellphones only for emergencies because their brains are still developing.
Adults should keep the phone away from the head and use the speakerphone or a wireless headset, he says. He even warns against using cellphones in public places like a bus because it exposes others to the phone's electromagnetic fields.
The issue that concerns some scientists - though nowhere near a consensus - is electromagnetic radiation, especially its possible effects on children. It is not a major topic in conferences of brain specialists.
A 2008 University of Utah analysis looked at nine studies - including some Herberman cites - with thousands of brain tumor patients and concludes "we found no overall increased risk of brain tumors among cellular phone users. The potential elevated risk of brain tumors after long-term cellular phone use awaits confirmation by future studies."
Studies last year in France and Norway concluded the same thing.
"If there is a risk from these products - and at this point we do not know that there is - it is probably very small," the Food and Drug Administration says on an agency Web site.
Still, Herberman cites a "growing body of literature linking long-term cellphone use to possible adverse health effects including cancer."
Of concern are the still unknown effects of more than a decade of cellphone use, with some studies raising alarms, said Devra Lee Davis, the director of the university's center for environmental oncology and a former health adviser in the Clinton administration.
The largest published study, which appeared in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 2006, tracked 420,000 Danish cellphone users, including thousands who had used the phones for more than 10 years.
The warning from Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, is contrary to numerous studies that haven't linked cancer and cellphone use, and a public lack of worry by the Food and Drug Administration.
Herberman bases his alarm on early unpublished data. He says it takes too long to get answers from science and he believes people should take action now, especially regarding children.
"Really at the heart of my concern is that we shouldn't wait for a definitive study to come out, but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry later," he said.
No other major academic cancer research institutions have sounded such an alarm about cellphone use. But Herberman's advice is sure to raise concern among many cellphone users and especially parents.
In the memo he sent to 3,000 faculty and staff Wednesday, he says children should use cellphones only for emergencies because their brains are still developing.
Adults should keep the phone away from the head and use the speakerphone or a wireless headset, he says. He even warns against using cellphones in public places like a bus because it exposes others to the phone's electromagnetic fields.
The issue that concerns some scientists - though nowhere near a consensus - is electromagnetic radiation, especially its possible effects on children. It is not a major topic in conferences of brain specialists.
A 2008 University of Utah analysis looked at nine studies - including some Herberman cites - with thousands of brain tumor patients and concludes "we found no overall increased risk of brain tumors among cellular phone users. The potential elevated risk of brain tumors after long-term cellular phone use awaits confirmation by future studies."
Studies last year in France and Norway concluded the same thing.
"If there is a risk from these products - and at this point we do not know that there is - it is probably very small," the Food and Drug Administration says on an agency Web site.
Still, Herberman cites a "growing body of literature linking long-term cellphone use to possible adverse health effects including cancer."
Of concern are the still unknown effects of more than a decade of cellphone use, with some studies raising alarms, said Devra Lee Davis, the director of the university's center for environmental oncology and a former health adviser in the Clinton administration.
The largest published study, which appeared in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 2006, tracked 420,000 Danish cellphone users, including thousands who had used the phones for more than 10 years.
Man dies after cop hits him with Taser 9 times
WINNFIELD, Louisiana (CNN) -- A police officer shocked a handcuffed Baron "Scooter" Pikes nine times with a Taser after arresting him on a cocaine charge.
He stopped twitching after seven, according to a coroner's report. Soon afterward, Pikes was dead.
Now the officer, since fired, could end up facing criminal charges in Pikes' January death after medical examiners ruled it a homicide.
Dr. Randolph Williams, the Winn Parish coroner, told CNN the 21-year-old sawmill worker was jolted so many times by the 50,000-volt Taser that he might have been dead before the last two shocks were delivered.
Williams ruled Pikes' death a homicide in June after extensive study.
He stopped twitching after seven, according to a coroner's report. Soon afterward, Pikes was dead.
Now the officer, since fired, could end up facing criminal charges in Pikes' January death after medical examiners ruled it a homicide.
Dr. Randolph Williams, the Winn Parish coroner, told CNN the 21-year-old sawmill worker was jolted so many times by the 50,000-volt Taser that he might have been dead before the last two shocks were delivered.
Williams ruled Pikes' death a homicide in June after extensive study.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Food stamp use soars in Mass.
Fastest-growing program in nation
Massachusetts, which earlier this decade had the lowest percentage of eligible residents using food stamps, now has the fastest-growing food-stamp program in the country, a dramatic turnaround that state officials attribute to soaring food prices and a simplified application process.
As food and fuel costs continue to rise, the officials say, people who would not normally use food stamps are turning to the federal program to make ends meet.
"I think low-income families are faced and will be faced this winter with the difficult choice of eating or heating a home," said Patricia Baker, senior policy analyst for the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the poor. "We're seeing prices escalating, and anything that a family can access to help them buy basic food for their families is critical."
More than 500,000 people statewide received food stamps in April, a 67-percent increase from 2003 and 11 percent more than last year, according to state records.
Food-stamp participation increased across the country between 2003 and 2008, with the exception of Hawaii and Wyoming. In New England, New Hampshire saw the next-fastest growth, with a 41-percent rise from five years ago, and Rhode Island saw the smallest change, with a 13-percent increase over that period.
In Massachusetts, residents received about $48 million in food stamp benefits in April 2008, more than double the $22 million they received in April 2003. The figures reflect a drastic change for the state, which had the lowest food stamp participation in the country from 2000 to 2002.
"Certainly the economy, the lack of jobs - people not being able to buy food and needing help - that's a significantly contributing factor," Baker said. But changes in state application procedures, including a simplified online form, are also making the program more accessible, she said.
The online applications made available in November, combined with the state's eight new satellite offices, help working families and disabled people who might have difficulty going into state offices for interviews and paperwork, officials say. Four of the new centers - in Boston, Lynn, Chelsea, and Fall River - are dedicated solely to food stamps. The state is also waiving the need for face-to-face interviews more frequently for working families and the disabled.
In June, the state changed its asset requirements for recipients and no longer considers bank accounts, retirement accounts, or property ownership when determining eligibility.
Sam Longnecker, a 23-year-old man with a degenerative nerve disorder that requires him to use a wheelchair, is among those who have benefited from the new application process. He applied online in March with the help of a fellow volunteer at the Center for Law and Education in Boston and had the in-person interview waived.
Longnecker, who gets a stipend for the work he does at the center, said he would not have been able to afford food and rent for his handicap-accessible apartment in Boston without the food assistance.
"Even with the money I got from the job and the money I get through Social Security, I wouldn't have enough to live in Boston," he said in a phone interview. "It's made quite a difference for me."
Typically, a family of four that includes children under 19 must make less than $42,408 annually to qualify for food stamps. In April, Massachusetts households enrolled in the program receive an average of $181 a month, up from $158 in 2003.
Recipients get plastic cards that can be used at grocery stores like bankcards or credit cards. They are prohibited from using food stamps to buy alcohol, cigarettes, vitamins, medicines, pet foods, or cosmetics.
Local food banks have contributed to the increased enrollment by streamlining the application process for clients. The American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay hired some part-time workers four years ago and recruited more translators to help people at their food pantries apply for food stamps.
Food banks had hoped that making food stamps available to more people who qualify would make them less dependent on food pantries. But food has become so expensive that stamps alone are not enough, activists say. The Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit organization that monitors national food programs, says the maximum food stamp assistance for a family of four in May was $40 short of what the government estimates a family of four needs for a basic diet.
"The theory is that when people are using food stamps they have more sustenance coming in and the dependence on food banks is less," said Catherine D'Amato, president of the Greater Boston Food Bank, which is also guiding people through the application. "But the increased cost in food and the increased cost in fuel is such that some people still need the food banks."
Massachusetts, which earlier this decade had the lowest percentage of eligible residents using food stamps, now has the fastest-growing food-stamp program in the country, a dramatic turnaround that state officials attribute to soaring food prices and a simplified application process.
As food and fuel costs continue to rise, the officials say, people who would not normally use food stamps are turning to the federal program to make ends meet.
"I think low-income families are faced and will be faced this winter with the difficult choice of eating or heating a home," said Patricia Baker, senior policy analyst for the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the poor. "We're seeing prices escalating, and anything that a family can access to help them buy basic food for their families is critical."
More than 500,000 people statewide received food stamps in April, a 67-percent increase from 2003 and 11 percent more than last year, according to state records.
Food-stamp participation increased across the country between 2003 and 2008, with the exception of Hawaii and Wyoming. In New England, New Hampshire saw the next-fastest growth, with a 41-percent rise from five years ago, and Rhode Island saw the smallest change, with a 13-percent increase over that period.
In Massachusetts, residents received about $48 million in food stamp benefits in April 2008, more than double the $22 million they received in April 2003. The figures reflect a drastic change for the state, which had the lowest food stamp participation in the country from 2000 to 2002.
"Certainly the economy, the lack of jobs - people not being able to buy food and needing help - that's a significantly contributing factor," Baker said. But changes in state application procedures, including a simplified online form, are also making the program more accessible, she said.
The online applications made available in November, combined with the state's eight new satellite offices, help working families and disabled people who might have difficulty going into state offices for interviews and paperwork, officials say. Four of the new centers - in Boston, Lynn, Chelsea, and Fall River - are dedicated solely to food stamps. The state is also waiving the need for face-to-face interviews more frequently for working families and the disabled.
In June, the state changed its asset requirements for recipients and no longer considers bank accounts, retirement accounts, or property ownership when determining eligibility.
Sam Longnecker, a 23-year-old man with a degenerative nerve disorder that requires him to use a wheelchair, is among those who have benefited from the new application process. He applied online in March with the help of a fellow volunteer at the Center for Law and Education in Boston and had the in-person interview waived.
Longnecker, who gets a stipend for the work he does at the center, said he would not have been able to afford food and rent for his handicap-accessible apartment in Boston without the food assistance.
"Even with the money I got from the job and the money I get through Social Security, I wouldn't have enough to live in Boston," he said in a phone interview. "It's made quite a difference for me."
Typically, a family of four that includes children under 19 must make less than $42,408 annually to qualify for food stamps. In April, Massachusetts households enrolled in the program receive an average of $181 a month, up from $158 in 2003.
Recipients get plastic cards that can be used at grocery stores like bankcards or credit cards. They are prohibited from using food stamps to buy alcohol, cigarettes, vitamins, medicines, pet foods, or cosmetics.
Local food banks have contributed to the increased enrollment by streamlining the application process for clients. The American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay hired some part-time workers four years ago and recruited more translators to help people at their food pantries apply for food stamps.
Food banks had hoped that making food stamps available to more people who qualify would make them less dependent on food pantries. But food has become so expensive that stamps alone are not enough, activists say. The Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit organization that monitors national food programs, says the maximum food stamp assistance for a family of four in May was $40 short of what the government estimates a family of four needs for a basic diet.
"The theory is that when people are using food stamps they have more sustenance coming in and the dependence on food banks is less," said Catherine D'Amato, president of the Greater Boston Food Bank, which is also guiding people through the application. "But the increased cost in food and the increased cost in fuel is such that some people still need the food banks."
Merck's Vytorin produces deadly conditions, causes cancer
TRENTON, N.J. -- In the latest disappointment for cholesterol pill Vytorin, a major European study in patients with heart valve disease found the drug didn't prevent worsening of the disease or lower the need for valve surgery, sending its makers' stock plunging.
Results of a preliminary analysis of the just-completed study showed Vytorin, marketed jointly by Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp., was no better than placebo at lowering the risk of major cardiovascular events _ including heart attack, stroke, heart surgery and death _ in patients with aortic stenosis.
The sometimes deadly condition, which is becoming increasingly common in elderly people, involves partial blockage and stiffening of the aortic valve, which sends oxygen-rich blood through the aorta and throughout the body. More than 5 million Americans have the disease to some extent, and it's the No. 2 cause of heart surgery.
Researchers at 173 hospitals and other sites in Europe were hoping the study, called SEAS, would show that Vytorin offers a nonsurgical way to treat aortic stenosis by reducing bad cholesterol and plaque buildup.
That wasn't the case, although Vytorin did cut cholesterol levels about 60 percent.
But Vytorin, which combines Merck's Zocor _ now available as a cheap generic _ with Schering-Plough's Zetia, didn't do anything to protect patients' heart valves and raised fears, apparently unfounded, that it increased risk of cancer.
"You don't help that (valve) disease, but you do help the patients" by protecting other heart blood vessels and reducing heart attacks and the need for bypass surgery or artery-clearing angioplasty, Sir Richard Peto, an Oxford University statistician and cancer expert who analyzed the data, told The Associated Press in an interview.
The 1,873-patient study, just ended in March, did find that secondary benefit, but it's already well-documented that some cholesterol-lowering drugs reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.
The cholesterol-lowering and reduced heart complications are consistent with what's been shown with Zocor alone, said Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Dr. Steven Nissen, who recommends that Vytorin and Zetia not be used as first-line drugs.
"We are left with just as many questions about the efficacy of Vytorin (as before), and we have new questions about the safety," he said, referring to the excess cancer cases and deaths in Vytorin users.
When data analysis began, the researchers were startled to see about 50 percent more new cancer cases and cancer deaths in patients who received Vytorin, compared with those who took a placebo. Peto, who is co-director of Oxford's clinical trial service unit, then rushed to crunch data from the new study with patient data from two much-larger, ongoing Vytorin studies.
Peto and other researchers, speaking on a hastily organized, trans-Atlantic teleconference with reporters, said combining data from all three trials showed there was no elevated risk of cancer. In addition, they noted that if Vytorin were somehow triggering cancer, new cases would first become more common after several years and would be concentrated on one type of cancer, rather than many. Neither was the case.
"This absolutely excludes the idea of a 50-percent increase in risk," Peto said of the multi-study analysis.
Dr. Harlan Krumholz, a Yale University cardiologist, said he doubts Vytorin causes cancer.
"If I'm a patient considering taking it, it still bothers me," he said, adding that until the other Vytorin studies are finished in a few years, it will remain unclear whether and how the drug benefits patients beyond what Zocor and other statins do.
The drug's makers deemed the results important enough to take the highly unusual step of releasing their quarterly earnings reports Monday after the stock market closed, rather than first thing in the morning as scheduled. Wall Street worries about what the study might show sent shares of both companies down sharply.
Earlier this year, a long-delayed study called ENHANCE found pricey Vytorin was no better at reducing plaque buildup than generic Zocor, which has been on sale for two years.
Two congressional committees have been probing whether the companies deliberately delayed releasing that data to prop up sales of Vytorin, which the companies denied. But after more details from the ENHANCED study were released in March, prominent cardiologists urged doctors to go back to older, well-proven treatments for high cholesterol.
Many apparently did. Last week, Schering-Plough reported the number of U.S. prescriptions filled for Vytorin and Zetia had both fallen by just over 25 percent from January to June, when total cholesterol drug sales were down about 5 percent. Vytorin prescriptions alone dropped from 1.84 million in January to 1.33 million in June.
Results of a preliminary analysis of the just-completed study showed Vytorin, marketed jointly by Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp., was no better than placebo at lowering the risk of major cardiovascular events _ including heart attack, stroke, heart surgery and death _ in patients with aortic stenosis.
The sometimes deadly condition, which is becoming increasingly common in elderly people, involves partial blockage and stiffening of the aortic valve, which sends oxygen-rich blood through the aorta and throughout the body. More than 5 million Americans have the disease to some extent, and it's the No. 2 cause of heart surgery.
Researchers at 173 hospitals and other sites in Europe were hoping the study, called SEAS, would show that Vytorin offers a nonsurgical way to treat aortic stenosis by reducing bad cholesterol and plaque buildup.
That wasn't the case, although Vytorin did cut cholesterol levels about 60 percent.
But Vytorin, which combines Merck's Zocor _ now available as a cheap generic _ with Schering-Plough's Zetia, didn't do anything to protect patients' heart valves and raised fears, apparently unfounded, that it increased risk of cancer.
"You don't help that (valve) disease, but you do help the patients" by protecting other heart blood vessels and reducing heart attacks and the need for bypass surgery or artery-clearing angioplasty, Sir Richard Peto, an Oxford University statistician and cancer expert who analyzed the data, told The Associated Press in an interview.
The 1,873-patient study, just ended in March, did find that secondary benefit, but it's already well-documented that some cholesterol-lowering drugs reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.
The cholesterol-lowering and reduced heart complications are consistent with what's been shown with Zocor alone, said Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Dr. Steven Nissen, who recommends that Vytorin and Zetia not be used as first-line drugs.
"We are left with just as many questions about the efficacy of Vytorin (as before), and we have new questions about the safety," he said, referring to the excess cancer cases and deaths in Vytorin users.
When data analysis began, the researchers were startled to see about 50 percent more new cancer cases and cancer deaths in patients who received Vytorin, compared with those who took a placebo. Peto, who is co-director of Oxford's clinical trial service unit, then rushed to crunch data from the new study with patient data from two much-larger, ongoing Vytorin studies.
Peto and other researchers, speaking on a hastily organized, trans-Atlantic teleconference with reporters, said combining data from all three trials showed there was no elevated risk of cancer. In addition, they noted that if Vytorin were somehow triggering cancer, new cases would first become more common after several years and would be concentrated on one type of cancer, rather than many. Neither was the case.
"This absolutely excludes the idea of a 50-percent increase in risk," Peto said of the multi-study analysis.
Dr. Harlan Krumholz, a Yale University cardiologist, said he doubts Vytorin causes cancer.
"If I'm a patient considering taking it, it still bothers me," he said, adding that until the other Vytorin studies are finished in a few years, it will remain unclear whether and how the drug benefits patients beyond what Zocor and other statins do.
The drug's makers deemed the results important enough to take the highly unusual step of releasing their quarterly earnings reports Monday after the stock market closed, rather than first thing in the morning as scheduled. Wall Street worries about what the study might show sent shares of both companies down sharply.
Earlier this year, a long-delayed study called ENHANCE found pricey Vytorin was no better at reducing plaque buildup than generic Zocor, which has been on sale for two years.
Two congressional committees have been probing whether the companies deliberately delayed releasing that data to prop up sales of Vytorin, which the companies denied. But after more details from the ENHANCED study were released in March, prominent cardiologists urged doctors to go back to older, well-proven treatments for high cholesterol.
Many apparently did. Last week, Schering-Plough reported the number of U.S. prescriptions filled for Vytorin and Zetia had both fallen by just over 25 percent from January to June, when total cholesterol drug sales were down about 5 percent. Vytorin prescriptions alone dropped from 1.84 million in January to 1.33 million in June.
Friday, July 18, 2008
National Guard troops considered for Chicago's violence
Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis wants to be clear: Any talk by Gov. Rod Blagojevich that crime in the city is "out of control" is just plain wrong.
At a news conference Thursday, a day after Blagojevich raised the possibility of bringing in state troopers or even the state National Guard to Chicago to help fight violent crime, Weis politely but firmly called the governor on what he'd said.
"Quite frankly, we need to get back to the mission and important job of fighting crime instead of fighting misconceptions," he said.
Weis elaborated on what his spokeswoman said Wednesday in response to Blagojevich's comments, pointing out that while the murder rate is up 13 percent this year, statistics suggest that 2008 will likely end as one of Chicago's least deadly in four decades, with fewer than 500 homicides.
"Hopefully, today we will be able to get some of those facts out," he said.
If Weis was trying to clear up some misconceptions the governor has about crime in Chicago, the governor's office apparently didn't take it that way.
"We are so happy Superintendent Jody Weis recognized our offer of assistance and we look forward to working cooperatively with the Chicago Police Department," Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero said in a statement.
Weis also said the crime rate in Chicago is "consistent with national trends" and Chicago isn't any different than other big cities, none of which, he said, "are bringing in National Guard resources."
In fact, after Blagojevich raised the possibility of bringing in the National Guard, his office moved quickly to clarify that the governor was only talking about the possible use of tactical helicopters used to combat drugs and was not considering bringing in National Guard troops.
Like Mayor Richard Daley, Weis was caught by surprise by Blagojevich's comments. And on Thursday, he steered clear of the suggestion made in the press that the governor's comments had more to do with his fight with Daley over Blagojevich's plan for a casino in the city than crime in Chicago.
"I go out of my way not to get caught up in any political battle," Weis said. "That's kind of between the governor and the mayor."
Weis said he sees no way the city will return to the days, as recently as the 1990s, when there were more than 900 homicides a year.
He also said that while rates of certain crimes, including homicides, are up, that increase may not have anything to do with any police department.
"If you track back during different years, you will see often times when there's high unemployment, crime goes up," he said. "When you have low unemployment, a strong economy, crime goes down."
Weis did not close the door on help from the state police, explaining that his department already works with state law enforcement in a number of ways.
"We would always be willing to take more folks," he said.
He also made it clear his department knows how to fight the kind of violent gang-related crime that has made headlines in the city in recent months.
"The Chicago Police Department is a proven leader in combating gangs, guns and drugs," he said.
At a news conference Thursday, a day after Blagojevich raised the possibility of bringing in state troopers or even the state National Guard to Chicago to help fight violent crime, Weis politely but firmly called the governor on what he'd said.
"Quite frankly, we need to get back to the mission and important job of fighting crime instead of fighting misconceptions," he said.
Weis elaborated on what his spokeswoman said Wednesday in response to Blagojevich's comments, pointing out that while the murder rate is up 13 percent this year, statistics suggest that 2008 will likely end as one of Chicago's least deadly in four decades, with fewer than 500 homicides.
"Hopefully, today we will be able to get some of those facts out," he said.
If Weis was trying to clear up some misconceptions the governor has about crime in Chicago, the governor's office apparently didn't take it that way.
"We are so happy Superintendent Jody Weis recognized our offer of assistance and we look forward to working cooperatively with the Chicago Police Department," Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero said in a statement.
Weis also said the crime rate in Chicago is "consistent with national trends" and Chicago isn't any different than other big cities, none of which, he said, "are bringing in National Guard resources."
In fact, after Blagojevich raised the possibility of bringing in the National Guard, his office moved quickly to clarify that the governor was only talking about the possible use of tactical helicopters used to combat drugs and was not considering bringing in National Guard troops.
Like Mayor Richard Daley, Weis was caught by surprise by Blagojevich's comments. And on Thursday, he steered clear of the suggestion made in the press that the governor's comments had more to do with his fight with Daley over Blagojevich's plan for a casino in the city than crime in Chicago.
"I go out of my way not to get caught up in any political battle," Weis said. "That's kind of between the governor and the mayor."
Weis said he sees no way the city will return to the days, as recently as the 1990s, when there were more than 900 homicides a year.
He also said that while rates of certain crimes, including homicides, are up, that increase may not have anything to do with any police department.
"If you track back during different years, you will see often times when there's high unemployment, crime goes up," he said. "When you have low unemployment, a strong economy, crime goes down."
Weis did not close the door on help from the state police, explaining that his department already works with state law enforcement in a number of ways.
"We would always be willing to take more folks," he said.
He also made it clear his department knows how to fight the kind of violent gang-related crime that has made headlines in the city in recent months.
"The Chicago Police Department is a proven leader in combating gangs, guns and drugs," he said.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Injection Used To Subdue Citizens
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - While the Metro police had banned the use of Tasers for a time, they still used a controversial method to subdue unruly people, according to an I-Team report.
The city's policy to use the method, which calls for the injection of a drug into a person, came as a "total surprise" to people most would expect to know all about it.
For almost two years, Metro police have had the option of calling for a needle loaded with a strong sedative to control the most unruly people they encounter on the street.
One of the doctors who came up with the protocol said it's the safest option out there and that it is used all over the country.
But many people said that the injection was news to them, and a top medical ethicist said it's a troubling precedent.
The drug is called Midazolam, which is better known as Versed. People who have had a colonoscopy have probably had a shot of the drug for the procedure.
"The drug has an amnesia effect, and we use that therapeutically because one of the nice ways to take care of the discomfort is to make people forget that they've had it," said biomedical ethics and law enforcement expert Dr. Steven Miles.
But the shots have also been used on the streets on people police said were out of control.
One of the first to get the shot administered to them was Dameon Beasley.
"Well, that night, I hadn't been properly taking my meds, you know, like I'm supposed to. I got so depressed that when I was up on the bridge running into traffic back and forth, cars dodging me, swerving, I ended up with two sharp objects in my hands. By that time, the police had arrived. I was charging them with these sharp objects trying to make them shoot me, actually yelling at them to shoot me," he said.
When a Taser didn't work on Beasley, police turned to a brand new protocol -- an injection of Versed. Officers called emergency medical personnel for the injection.
"I remember they were holding me down. There was maybe four or five on each side, and I remember they were calling for something, you know. Some guy came up on the left side and hit me with it," he said.
"I do know that whatever it was works immediately. I mean, you ain't got a chance if you are 300 pounds. It's like a horse tranquilizer. I don't care. You're gone. It's a wrap," he said.
Beasley said he had no idea what happened after he was injected.
"I woke up -- I don't know how much time had passed -- with a sergeant standing over me telling me to sign here. I didn't know what I was signing Ms. (Channel 4 I-Team reporter Demetria) Kalodimos. I just signed a piece of paper and was immediately right back out," he said.
Kalodimos reported that Beasley ended up at Metro General Hospital and was then put in psychiatric care. He was not charged in the incident on the bridge.
But Beasley's lawyer, a public defender, had no idea that Versed had been used to subdue him until Kalodimos told him about it.
Very few people seem to know about the almost 2-year-old policy, Kalodimos said.
The state's largest mental health advocacy group, Nashville's mental health judge, the Nashville Rescue Mission, the American Civil Liberties Union all said they had no knowledge of the use of the drug by police.
"I've talked to my colleagues around the country, and none of the people from the south to the north to the east to the west have ever heard about this kind of program, this kind of use where they basically force an injection upon an individual knowing nothing about his or her medical condition," said ACLU Director Hedy Weinberg.
"I can't tell you why those individuals don't know about it," said Dr. Corey Slovis, Nashville?s emergency medical director.
Along with medical examiner Dr. Bruce Levy, Slovis customized a Versed policy for Nashville that is endorsed by a group of emergency medical experts called the Eagles.
"It's something that in the medical community and in the EMS medical community is very common. It's a given. When I surveyed the major metropolitan areas around the country, I think only two cities were not actively using it," Slovis said.
Some have asked the question about potential problems.
Miles said he also had never heard of Versed being used in this way.
"There is no research guideline. There is no validated protocol for this. There's not even a clear set of indications for when this is to be used except when people are agitated. By saying that it's done by the emergency medical personnel, they basically are trying to have it both ways. That is, they?re trying to use a medical protocol that is not validated, not for a police function, arrest and detention," Miles said.
"The decision to administer Versed is based purely on a paramedic decision, not a police decision," Slovis said.
It's up to the officer to call an ambulance and determine if a person is in a condition called excited delirium.
"I don't know if I would use the word diagnosing, but they are assessing the situation and saying, 'This person is not acting rationally. This is something I've been trained to recognize, this seems like excited delirium.' I don't view delirium in the field as a police function. It is a medical emergency. We're giving the drug Versed that's routinely used in thousands of health care settings across the country in the field by trained paramedics. I view what we're doing as the best possible medical practice to a medical emergency," Slovis said.
Metro Government would not release the names of the eight other people who got Versed injections after police calls. A representative from Metro said that the information was protected in the way a medical record would be.
The representative said that only one person out of the nine had shown no improvement after the injection.
Versed was most recently used on a female in early June.
Three women of child bearing age have apparently gotten shots without consent, even though the package insert for Versed suggests that, "the patient should be apprised of the potential hazard to the fetus."
"A single administration to calm a wildly delirious patient down even if she's pregnant is much safer to the woman and her unborn child than being allowed to be delirious, hypothermic, hyperventilating and perhaps hypoxic," Slovis said.
"I would think that with enough people being able to tackle the person to inject them, there should be another way to try to subdue someone without putting an injection in their vein," Weinberg said.
The biggest side effect that is seen in more than 80 percent of those who are injected with Versed is amnesia.
The side effect raises the question of a person being able to defend themselves in court if they can't remember what happened.
"If they would've said I'd done anything after that shot, hey, I couldn't have argued that fact. I don't remember," Beasley said.
Kalodimos reported that while doing research for this report, she found a post on a paramedics Internet chat site that said, "One good thing about Versed is that the patient won't remember how he got that footprint on his chest."
"We're very careful in Nashville," Slovis said. "Every instance of Versed use is reviewed by the both medical director, myself, our head of EMS quality assurance. We make sure that our paramedics treat patients right."
Miles said it would have been appropriate to put the idea of using Versed before what's called an Institutional Review Board for study to anticipate problems before they pop up.
"It may well be that a protocol could be designed to test the use of Versed in handling agitated persons at the time of detention. I'm not going to say that's not possible, but at any rate, you do it under a condition where you collect data rather than simply just going ahead and doing the drug and waiting to see if problems to develop," he said.
Miles added that, "Doing medicine by the seat of your pants is not the way to develop new therapies."
Slovis said the shots are given as a medical treatment, not a police function, even though ultimately they aid in an arrest.
The city's policy to use the method, which calls for the injection of a drug into a person, came as a "total surprise" to people most would expect to know all about it.
For almost two years, Metro police have had the option of calling for a needle loaded with a strong sedative to control the most unruly people they encounter on the street.
One of the doctors who came up with the protocol said it's the safest option out there and that it is used all over the country.
But many people said that the injection was news to them, and a top medical ethicist said it's a troubling precedent.
The drug is called Midazolam, which is better known as Versed. People who have had a colonoscopy have probably had a shot of the drug for the procedure.
"The drug has an amnesia effect, and we use that therapeutically because one of the nice ways to take care of the discomfort is to make people forget that they've had it," said biomedical ethics and law enforcement expert Dr. Steven Miles.
But the shots have also been used on the streets on people police said were out of control.
One of the first to get the shot administered to them was Dameon Beasley.
"Well, that night, I hadn't been properly taking my meds, you know, like I'm supposed to. I got so depressed that when I was up on the bridge running into traffic back and forth, cars dodging me, swerving, I ended up with two sharp objects in my hands. By that time, the police had arrived. I was charging them with these sharp objects trying to make them shoot me, actually yelling at them to shoot me," he said.
When a Taser didn't work on Beasley, police turned to a brand new protocol -- an injection of Versed. Officers called emergency medical personnel for the injection.
"I remember they were holding me down. There was maybe four or five on each side, and I remember they were calling for something, you know. Some guy came up on the left side and hit me with it," he said.
"I do know that whatever it was works immediately. I mean, you ain't got a chance if you are 300 pounds. It's like a horse tranquilizer. I don't care. You're gone. It's a wrap," he said.
Beasley said he had no idea what happened after he was injected.
"I woke up -- I don't know how much time had passed -- with a sergeant standing over me telling me to sign here. I didn't know what I was signing Ms. (Channel 4 I-Team reporter Demetria) Kalodimos. I just signed a piece of paper and was immediately right back out," he said.
Kalodimos reported that Beasley ended up at Metro General Hospital and was then put in psychiatric care. He was not charged in the incident on the bridge.
But Beasley's lawyer, a public defender, had no idea that Versed had been used to subdue him until Kalodimos told him about it.
Very few people seem to know about the almost 2-year-old policy, Kalodimos said.
The state's largest mental health advocacy group, Nashville's mental health judge, the Nashville Rescue Mission, the American Civil Liberties Union all said they had no knowledge of the use of the drug by police.
"I've talked to my colleagues around the country, and none of the people from the south to the north to the east to the west have ever heard about this kind of program, this kind of use where they basically force an injection upon an individual knowing nothing about his or her medical condition," said ACLU Director Hedy Weinberg.
"I can't tell you why those individuals don't know about it," said Dr. Corey Slovis, Nashville?s emergency medical director.
Along with medical examiner Dr. Bruce Levy, Slovis customized a Versed policy for Nashville that is endorsed by a group of emergency medical experts called the Eagles.
"It's something that in the medical community and in the EMS medical community is very common. It's a given. When I surveyed the major metropolitan areas around the country, I think only two cities were not actively using it," Slovis said.
Some have asked the question about potential problems.
Miles said he also had never heard of Versed being used in this way.
"There is no research guideline. There is no validated protocol for this. There's not even a clear set of indications for when this is to be used except when people are agitated. By saying that it's done by the emergency medical personnel, they basically are trying to have it both ways. That is, they?re trying to use a medical protocol that is not validated, not for a police function, arrest and detention," Miles said.
"The decision to administer Versed is based purely on a paramedic decision, not a police decision," Slovis said.
It's up to the officer to call an ambulance and determine if a person is in a condition called excited delirium.
"I don't know if I would use the word diagnosing, but they are assessing the situation and saying, 'This person is not acting rationally. This is something I've been trained to recognize, this seems like excited delirium.' I don't view delirium in the field as a police function. It is a medical emergency. We're giving the drug Versed that's routinely used in thousands of health care settings across the country in the field by trained paramedics. I view what we're doing as the best possible medical practice to a medical emergency," Slovis said.
Metro Government would not release the names of the eight other people who got Versed injections after police calls. A representative from Metro said that the information was protected in the way a medical record would be.
The representative said that only one person out of the nine had shown no improvement after the injection.
Versed was most recently used on a female in early June.
Three women of child bearing age have apparently gotten shots without consent, even though the package insert for Versed suggests that, "the patient should be apprised of the potential hazard to the fetus."
"A single administration to calm a wildly delirious patient down even if she's pregnant is much safer to the woman and her unborn child than being allowed to be delirious, hypothermic, hyperventilating and perhaps hypoxic," Slovis said.
"I would think that with enough people being able to tackle the person to inject them, there should be another way to try to subdue someone without putting an injection in their vein," Weinberg said.
The biggest side effect that is seen in more than 80 percent of those who are injected with Versed is amnesia.
The side effect raises the question of a person being able to defend themselves in court if they can't remember what happened.
"If they would've said I'd done anything after that shot, hey, I couldn't have argued that fact. I don't remember," Beasley said.
Kalodimos reported that while doing research for this report, she found a post on a paramedics Internet chat site that said, "One good thing about Versed is that the patient won't remember how he got that footprint on his chest."
"We're very careful in Nashville," Slovis said. "Every instance of Versed use is reviewed by the both medical director, myself, our head of EMS quality assurance. We make sure that our paramedics treat patients right."
Miles said it would have been appropriate to put the idea of using Versed before what's called an Institutional Review Board for study to anticipate problems before they pop up.
"It may well be that a protocol could be designed to test the use of Versed in handling agitated persons at the time of detention. I'm not going to say that's not possible, but at any rate, you do it under a condition where you collect data rather than simply just going ahead and doing the drug and waiting to see if problems to develop," he said.
Miles added that, "Doing medicine by the seat of your pants is not the way to develop new therapies."
Slovis said the shots are given as a medical treatment, not a police function, even though ultimately they aid in an arrest.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Bohemian Club convenes this weekend
Some of the nation's most powerful men are gathering for the annual two-week encampment at the Bohemian Grove, which opens tonight.
The super-secret Bohemian Club and its all-male entourage meets each summer in the 2,700-acre Monte Rio grove for what they describe as fellowship and good-natured high jinks -- a break from the grueling grind of leadership.
Critics, who in years past have mounted protests outside the club's gates, say the gatherings serve as strategy sessions for barons of business and politics operating outside democratic institutions.
The Bohemian Club did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Founded in 1872 by five San Francisco men seeking to connect "gentlemen" with art, literature, music and drama, the club's invitation list has included a variety of political, financial, military and industrial leaders.
Among them: Presidents Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon and both Bushes; former Cabinet members Colin Powell, George Schultz and Henry Kissinger; and industrialists Stephen David Bechtel, Leonard Firestone and David Rockefeller.
Most critics object to the notion of national policy with global implications being discussed behind the gates of an exclusive, closed-door gathering of largely conservative, wealthy white men.
This year's encampment runs through July 27. The traditional Cremation of Care ritual, in which a human effigy representing "dull care" is burned beneath a massive form said to represent the club's owl mascot, will be Saturday night.
Private jet traffic already has picked up at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, said Glenn Barrett, general manager of KaiserAir Santa Rosa Jet Center.
Barrett, who is new to the center, said, "My understanding is that basically these three weeks are pretty much the busiest three weeks of the year."
The super-secret Bohemian Club and its all-male entourage meets each summer in the 2,700-acre Monte Rio grove for what they describe as fellowship and good-natured high jinks -- a break from the grueling grind of leadership.
Critics, who in years past have mounted protests outside the club's gates, say the gatherings serve as strategy sessions for barons of business and politics operating outside democratic institutions.
The Bohemian Club did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Founded in 1872 by five San Francisco men seeking to connect "gentlemen" with art, literature, music and drama, the club's invitation list has included a variety of political, financial, military and industrial leaders.
Among them: Presidents Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon and both Bushes; former Cabinet members Colin Powell, George Schultz and Henry Kissinger; and industrialists Stephen David Bechtel, Leonard Firestone and David Rockefeller.
Most critics object to the notion of national policy with global implications being discussed behind the gates of an exclusive, closed-door gathering of largely conservative, wealthy white men.
This year's encampment runs through July 27. The traditional Cremation of Care ritual, in which a human effigy representing "dull care" is burned beneath a massive form said to represent the club's owl mascot, will be Saturday night.
Private jet traffic already has picked up at the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, said Glenn Barrett, general manager of KaiserAir Santa Rosa Jet Center.
Barrett, who is new to the center, said, "My understanding is that basically these three weeks are pretty much the busiest three weeks of the year."
California Bank seized by federal regulators
The federal government took control of Pasadena-based IndyMac Bank on Friday in what regulators called the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.
Citing a massive run on deposits, regulators shut its main branch three hours early, leaving customers stunned and upset. One woman leaned on the locked doors, pleading with an employee inside: "Please, please, I want to take out a portion." All she could do was read a two-page notice taped to the door.
The bank's 33 branches will be closed over the weekend, but the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will reopen the bank on Monday as IndyMac Federal Bank, said the Office of Thrift Supervision in Washington. Customers will not be able to bank by phone or Internet over the weekend, regulators said, but can continue to use ATMs, debit cards and checks. Normal branch hours, online banking and phone banking services are to resume Monday.
Federal authorities estimated that the takeover of IndyMac, which had $32 billion in assets, would cost the FDIC $4 billion to $8 billion. Regulators said deposits of up to $100,000 were safe and insured by the FDIC. The agency's insurance fund has assets of about $52 billion.
IndyMac's failure had been widely expected in recent days. As the bank was shuttering offices and laying off employees to cope with huge losses from defaulted mortgages made at the height of the housing boom, nervous depositors were pulling out $100 million a day. The bank's stock price had plummeted to less than $1 as analysts predicted the company's imminent demise.
The takeover of IndyMac came amid rampant speculation that the federal government would also have to take over lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together stand behind almost half of the nation's mortgage debt.
Citing a massive run on deposits, regulators shut its main branch three hours early, leaving customers stunned and upset. One woman leaned on the locked doors, pleading with an employee inside: "Please, please, I want to take out a portion." All she could do was read a two-page notice taped to the door.
The bank's 33 branches will be closed over the weekend, but the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. will reopen the bank on Monday as IndyMac Federal Bank, said the Office of Thrift Supervision in Washington. Customers will not be able to bank by phone or Internet over the weekend, regulators said, but can continue to use ATMs, debit cards and checks. Normal branch hours, online banking and phone banking services are to resume Monday.
Federal authorities estimated that the takeover of IndyMac, which had $32 billion in assets, would cost the FDIC $4 billion to $8 billion. Regulators said deposits of up to $100,000 were safe and insured by the FDIC. The agency's insurance fund has assets of about $52 billion.
IndyMac's failure had been widely expected in recent days. As the bank was shuttering offices and laying off employees to cope with huge losses from defaulted mortgages made at the height of the housing boom, nervous depositors were pulling out $100 million a day. The bank's stock price had plummeted to less than $1 as analysts predicted the company's imminent demise.
The takeover of IndyMac came amid rampant speculation that the federal government would also have to take over lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together stand behind almost half of the nation's mortgage debt.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Police Brutality at Reagan National Airport in Washington
Don't have an attitude at the airport, or you'll get pummeled!
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A woman who claims she was harassed during a security check at Reagan National Airport filed a $10 million lawsuit on Wednesday.
The lawsuit was filed by Robin Kassner against the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police, News4's Miguel Almaguer reported. The entire incident was caught on two surveillance cameras.
"Every time I see the video I cringe," Kassner said.
Kassner said that on Feb. 25, 2007, she was heading home to New York from Reagan National when she was pulled aside for extra screening. Kassner claims she was cooperating with Transportation Security Administration agents when an airport police officer approached her from behind. Seconds later, Kassner said, she was on the ground.
"I didn't really understand why this was happening to me," Kassner said.
The surveillance video showed that Kassner was scooped from the floor. Next, the video showed Kassner pinned on a table while being restrained.
"He gave me a concussion," Kassner said. "As soon as he slammed my head down into the table, it sounded like a ton of bricks hit the table, but it was really my head. And then I black out for a moment and I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm gonna die.'"
According to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Kassner was not cooperating with screening procedures and interfered with the screening process. She was charged with obstruction of justice.
According to TSA, Kassner complained that her clothes were going to get wrinkled during a search of her carry-on bag. She was disruptive and raised her voice. When police responded, she became physical and resistant to them, according to TSA.
Kassner said she was going public with her story to warn passengers about her security experience at Reagan National Airport.
"It's just very frightening to me that a police officer could do something like this," she said.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A woman who claims she was harassed during a security check at Reagan National Airport filed a $10 million lawsuit on Wednesday.
The lawsuit was filed by Robin Kassner against the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police, News4's Miguel Almaguer reported. The entire incident was caught on two surveillance cameras.
"Every time I see the video I cringe," Kassner said.
Kassner said that on Feb. 25, 2007, she was heading home to New York from Reagan National when she was pulled aside for extra screening. Kassner claims she was cooperating with Transportation Security Administration agents when an airport police officer approached her from behind. Seconds later, Kassner said, she was on the ground.
"I didn't really understand why this was happening to me," Kassner said.
The surveillance video showed that Kassner was scooped from the floor. Next, the video showed Kassner pinned on a table while being restrained.
"He gave me a concussion," Kassner said. "As soon as he slammed my head down into the table, it sounded like a ton of bricks hit the table, but it was really my head. And then I black out for a moment and I thought, 'Oh my God, I'm gonna die.'"
According to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Kassner was not cooperating with screening procedures and interfered with the screening process. She was charged with obstruction of justice.
According to TSA, Kassner complained that her clothes were going to get wrinkled during a search of her carry-on bag. She was disruptive and raised her voice. When police responded, she became physical and resistant to them, according to TSA.
Kassner said she was going public with her story to warn passengers about her security experience at Reagan National Airport.
"It's just very frightening to me that a police officer could do something like this," she said.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
New vaccination requierments in Pittsburgh schools
ZWIRE Comments: Hepatitis B, and Chickenpox shots should not be mandated. What are the long-term side effects for these vaccinations? Hepatitis B virus is transmitted via unprotected sex, and drug users. How many K-12 children fit into this category??
The Allegheny County Health Department will hold a free immunization clinic from 1 to 7 p.m. tomorrow so students in kindergarten through 12Th grade can receive vaccinations needed for the coming school year.
The clinic at the Health Department office at 3441 Forbes Ave., Oakland, will offer all required vaccines, including those for the 2008-09 school year.
New rules require meningitis and tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis vaccinations in grades seven through 12 and an extra dose of mumps and chickenpox vaccines in kindergarten through 12.
Under Allegheny County's new school immunization requirements, all public, private, parochial, cyber and home-schooled students must have the following vaccinations:
• K-12 -- four doses of tetanus/diphtheria (one after the 4th birthday) or three doses when the series is started after the age of 7; three doses of polio and hepatitis B; two doses of measles and mumps; two doses of chickenpox or a history of the disease; and one dose of rubella.
• Grades 7-12 -- one dose of tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis administered in a single shot and one dose of the meningitis vaccine.
No appointment is necessary at the clinic, but children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, who should bring immunization records to the clinic. Free parking will be available from 5 to 7 p.m. in the parking lot behind the Health Department's office at 3333 Forbes Ave.
As an incentive, the department is offering students who receive immunizations at the clinic a "buy one, get one free" pass, while supplies last, for county swimming pools at Boyce Park, South Park, North Park and Settler's Cabin Park.
The Allegheny County Health Department will hold a free immunization clinic from 1 to 7 p.m. tomorrow so students in kindergarten through 12Th grade can receive vaccinations needed for the coming school year.
The clinic at the Health Department office at 3441 Forbes Ave., Oakland, will offer all required vaccines, including those for the 2008-09 school year.
New rules require meningitis and tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis vaccinations in grades seven through 12 and an extra dose of mumps and chickenpox vaccines in kindergarten through 12.
Under Allegheny County's new school immunization requirements, all public, private, parochial, cyber and home-schooled students must have the following vaccinations:
• K-12 -- four doses of tetanus/diphtheria (one after the 4th birthday) or three doses when the series is started after the age of 7; three doses of polio and hepatitis B; two doses of measles and mumps; two doses of chickenpox or a history of the disease; and one dose of rubella.
• Grades 7-12 -- one dose of tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis administered in a single shot and one dose of the meningitis vaccine.
No appointment is necessary at the clinic, but children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, who should bring immunization records to the clinic. Free parking will be available from 5 to 7 p.m. in the parking lot behind the Health Department's office at 3333 Forbes Ave.
As an incentive, the department is offering students who receive immunizations at the clinic a "buy one, get one free" pass, while supplies last, for county swimming pools at Boyce Park, South Park, North Park and Settler's Cabin Park.
Nausea to paralysis -- even death from new vaccine
(CNN) -- A vaccine designed to prevent cervical cancer is coming under fresh scrutiny amid thousands of complaints linking it to a range of health problems.
Gardasil has been the subject of 7,802 "adverse event" reports from the time the Food and Drug Administration approved its use two years ago, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Girls and women have blamed the vaccine for causing ailments from nausea to paralysis -- even death. Fifteen deaths were reported to the FDA, and 10 were confirmed, but the CDC says none of the 10 were linked to the vaccine. The CDC says it continues to study the reports of illness.
Gardasil prevents the spread of human papillomavirus, known as HPV -- a sexually transmitted virus that can cause cervical cancer in a relatively small number of girls and women.
The vaccine's manufacturer, Merck & Co. Inc., says it has distributed more than 26 million Gardasil vaccines worldwide, including nearly 16 million in the United States. It estimates that 8 million girls and women have received the vaccine in the United States since June 2006.
Two girls allege in court that the vaccine made them sick.
One -- Jesalee Parsons of Broken Bow, Oklahoma -- got the shot at age 13.
Jesalee's lawyer, Michael McLaren, said she got the shot on February 27, 2007 and soon developed a fever and felt pain. The next day, he said, Jesalee felt pain in her chest and abdomen.
Her mother, Laura Parsons, said Jesalee spent weeks in the hospital and underwent two surgeries after developing pancreatitis. She says the federal government should have studied the drug more before approving its use.
"I just feel let down by the government," Parsons said.
Merck says it could be a coincidence that the girls got sick after receiving the vaccine.
The company said in a statement that an adverse event report "does not mean that a causal relationship between an event and vaccination has been established -- just that the event occurred after vaccination."
Merck said it would continue to evaluate reports of adverse reactions. It said it "updates product labels with new safety information as appropriate."
Merck to Stop Pushing to Require Shots
Wednesday, February 21, 2007; B10
Merck and Co., a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical maker, announced yesterday that it would stop its nationwide lobbying for states to require that young girls be immunized against a virus that causes cervical cancer.
Merck officials said the decision comes after public accusations that the company's profit motive, rather than public health, is guiding the debate over whether to require rising sixth-grade girls to receive Gardasil. The new vaccine protects against several strains of human papillomavirus that cause nearly 7,000 cases of cervical cancer annually.
"Our goal is preventing women from getting HPV and cervical cancer," said Richard M. Haupt, executive director of medical affairs for Merck's vaccines division. "What's unfortunate is that our role appears to be a distraction to that goal."
Merck, the drug giant best known for making Singulair for asthma and Zocor for lowering cholesterol, received federal approval for Gardasil in June. Since then, it has lobbied lawmakers in many states, including Virginia and Maryland, for requirement of the vaccine. The District also is considering a requirement.
This month, Texas became the first state, among about 20 considering legislation, to require girls to be vaccinated.
Because Gardasil is intended to halt the spread of a sexually transmitted disease, concerns have been raised among politicians and parents that a mandate might encourage promiscuity. And requiring the vaccine, which costs $360 for a series of three shots, would make Merck hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
The retreat's effect is unknown in Virginia, where lawmakers in both houses of the General Assembly have approved Gardasil mandates. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) has yet to sign on, and spokesman Kevin Hall declined to comment on the governor's position.
State Sen. Janet D. Howell (D-Fairfax), who pushed for the bill, said she is comfortable with the public health benefits of mandating Gardasil. But she agreed that Merck's lobbying role complicated efforts to make that case.
In Maryland, a proposed mandate was withdrawn after objections. New legislation is pending that would set up a task force to study the matter for two years.
A number of prominent public health organizations, including the American Cancer Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have recommended that girls receive the vaccine.
But these groups stopped short of pressing for the mandate that Merck wants. Some say they are not ready to endorse a mandate so soon after the vaccine gained Food and Drug Administration approval.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022001335.html
Gardasil has been the subject of 7,802 "adverse event" reports from the time the Food and Drug Administration approved its use two years ago, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Girls and women have blamed the vaccine for causing ailments from nausea to paralysis -- even death. Fifteen deaths were reported to the FDA, and 10 were confirmed, but the CDC says none of the 10 were linked to the vaccine. The CDC says it continues to study the reports of illness.
Gardasil prevents the spread of human papillomavirus, known as HPV -- a sexually transmitted virus that can cause cervical cancer in a relatively small number of girls and women.
The vaccine's manufacturer, Merck & Co. Inc., says it has distributed more than 26 million Gardasil vaccines worldwide, including nearly 16 million in the United States. It estimates that 8 million girls and women have received the vaccine in the United States since June 2006.
Two girls allege in court that the vaccine made them sick.
One -- Jesalee Parsons of Broken Bow, Oklahoma -- got the shot at age 13.
Jesalee's lawyer, Michael McLaren, said she got the shot on February 27, 2007 and soon developed a fever and felt pain. The next day, he said, Jesalee felt pain in her chest and abdomen.
Her mother, Laura Parsons, said Jesalee spent weeks in the hospital and underwent two surgeries after developing pancreatitis. She says the federal government should have studied the drug more before approving its use.
"I just feel let down by the government," Parsons said.
Merck says it could be a coincidence that the girls got sick after receiving the vaccine.
The company said in a statement that an adverse event report "does not mean that a causal relationship between an event and vaccination has been established -- just that the event occurred after vaccination."
Merck said it would continue to evaluate reports of adverse reactions. It said it "updates product labels with new safety information as appropriate."
Merck to Stop Pushing to Require Shots
Wednesday, February 21, 2007; B10
Merck and Co., a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical maker, announced yesterday that it would stop its nationwide lobbying for states to require that young girls be immunized against a virus that causes cervical cancer.
Merck officials said the decision comes after public accusations that the company's profit motive, rather than public health, is guiding the debate over whether to require rising sixth-grade girls to receive Gardasil. The new vaccine protects against several strains of human papillomavirus that cause nearly 7,000 cases of cervical cancer annually.
"Our goal is preventing women from getting HPV and cervical cancer," said Richard M. Haupt, executive director of medical affairs for Merck's vaccines division. "What's unfortunate is that our role appears to be a distraction to that goal."
Merck, the drug giant best known for making Singulair for asthma and Zocor for lowering cholesterol, received federal approval for Gardasil in June. Since then, it has lobbied lawmakers in many states, including Virginia and Maryland, for requirement of the vaccine. The District also is considering a requirement.
This month, Texas became the first state, among about 20 considering legislation, to require girls to be vaccinated.
Because Gardasil is intended to halt the spread of a sexually transmitted disease, concerns have been raised among politicians and parents that a mandate might encourage promiscuity. And requiring the vaccine, which costs $360 for a series of three shots, would make Merck hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
The retreat's effect is unknown in Virginia, where lawmakers in both houses of the General Assembly have approved Gardasil mandates. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) has yet to sign on, and spokesman Kevin Hall declined to comment on the governor's position.
State Sen. Janet D. Howell (D-Fairfax), who pushed for the bill, said she is comfortable with the public health benefits of mandating Gardasil. But she agreed that Merck's lobbying role complicated efforts to make that case.
In Maryland, a proposed mandate was withdrawn after objections. New legislation is pending that would set up a task force to study the matter for two years.
A number of prominent public health organizations, including the American Cancer Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have recommended that girls receive the vaccine.
But these groups stopped short of pressing for the mandate that Merck wants. Some say they are not ready to endorse a mandate so soon after the vaccine gained Food and Drug Administration approval.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022001335.html
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Blood Sucking Texas Police
North Texas law enforcement agencies will be cracking down on drunk driving over the July 4th weekend - including taking blood samples of suspected drunk drivers. But one man says how those samples are collected is sometimes illegal.
Defense attorney Avery McDaniel said, “If an officer believes you are intoxicated they will get a search warrant and they will physically hold you down and take your blood.”
McDaniel claims that unqualified police officers forcibly took blood from his client. McDaniel said, “It should be noted that they had to physically restrain her to get the blood and the next day thereafter she had bruises up her arm from them withdrawing this blood.”
This video is from CBS 11 Dallas, broadcast July 2, 2008.
http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=1411
Defense attorney Avery McDaniel said, “If an officer believes you are intoxicated they will get a search warrant and they will physically hold you down and take your blood.”
McDaniel claims that unqualified police officers forcibly took blood from his client. McDaniel said, “It should be noted that they had to physically restrain her to get the blood and the next day thereafter she had bruises up her arm from them withdrawing this blood.”
This video is from CBS 11 Dallas, broadcast July 2, 2008.
http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=1411
The People vs. the Profiteers
Americans working in Iraq for Halliburton spin-off KBR have been outraged by the massive fraud they saw there. Dozens are suing the giant military contractor, on the taxpayers' behalf. Whose side is the Justice Department on?
On first meeting him, one might not suspect Alan Grayson of being a crusader against government-contractor fraud. Six feet four in his socks, he likes to dress flamboyantly, on the theory that items such as pink cowboy boots help retain a jury's attention. He and his Filipino wife, Lolita, chose their palm-fringed mansion in Orlando, Florida, partly because the climate alleviates his chronic asthma, and partly because they wanted their five children to have unlimited access to the area's many theme parks.
Grayson likes theme parks, too. Toward the end of two long days of interviews, he insists we break to visit Universal Studios, because it wouldn't be right for me to leave his adopted city without having sampled the rides. Later he sends me an e-mail earnestly inquiring which one I liked best.
He can be forgiven a little frivolity. In his functional home-office in Orlando, and at the Beltway headquarters of his law firm, Grayson & Kubli, Grayson spends most of his days and many of his evenings on a lonely legal campaign to redress colossal frauds against American taxpayers by private contractors operating in Iraq. He calls it "the crime of the century."
His obvious adversaries are the contracting corporations themselves—especially Halliburton, the giant oil-services conglomerate where Vice President Dick Cheney spent the latter half of the 1990s as C.E.O., and its former subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root, now known simply as KBR. But he says his efforts to take on those organizations have earned him another enemy: the United States Department of Justice.
Over the past 16 years, Grayson has litigated dozens of cases of contractor fraud. In many of these, he has found the Justice Department to be an ally in exposing wrongdoing. But in cases that involve the Iraq war, the D.O.J. has taken extraordinary steps to stand in his way. Behind its machinations, he believes, is a scandal of epic proportions—one that may come to haunt the legacy of the Bush administration long after it is gone.
On first meeting him, one might not suspect Alan Grayson of being a crusader against government-contractor fraud. Six feet four in his socks, he likes to dress flamboyantly, on the theory that items such as pink cowboy boots help retain a jury's attention. He and his Filipino wife, Lolita, chose their palm-fringed mansion in Orlando, Florida, partly because the climate alleviates his chronic asthma, and partly because they wanted their five children to have unlimited access to the area's many theme parks.
Grayson likes theme parks, too. Toward the end of two long days of interviews, he insists we break to visit Universal Studios, because it wouldn't be right for me to leave his adopted city without having sampled the rides. Later he sends me an e-mail earnestly inquiring which one I liked best.
He can be forgiven a little frivolity. In his functional home-office in Orlando, and at the Beltway headquarters of his law firm, Grayson & Kubli, Grayson spends most of his days and many of his evenings on a lonely legal campaign to redress colossal frauds against American taxpayers by private contractors operating in Iraq. He calls it "the crime of the century."
His obvious adversaries are the contracting corporations themselves—especially Halliburton, the giant oil-services conglomerate where Vice President Dick Cheney spent the latter half of the 1990s as C.E.O., and its former subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root, now known simply as KBR. But he says his efforts to take on those organizations have earned him another enemy: the United States Department of Justice.
Over the past 16 years, Grayson has litigated dozens of cases of contractor fraud. In many of these, he has found the Justice Department to be an ally in exposing wrongdoing. But in cases that involve the Iraq war, the D.O.J. has taken extraordinary steps to stand in his way. Behind its machinations, he believes, is a scandal of epic proportions—one that may come to haunt the legacy of the Bush administration long after it is gone.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Family, friends remember motorist shot to death by cop
Hundreds of mourners gathered at a Randolph funeral home today to pay final respects to Ruben Walter Martinez, the 21-year-old motorist shot to death by Denville police during a traffic stop last week.
There was utter silence in the hallway of the Tuttle Funeral Home shortly before 2 p.m., when the viewing room was to be opened. Soon, the room was filled with sobbing mourners, both young and old, who made a procession by the open casket adorned in red and white carnations.
By the casket stood Martinez mother, Maureen Miles, and his two brothers, Mark and Alex. The mother and sons embraced each mourner as they left the casket after paying their respects.
The crowd was a mixture of young people who knew Martinez from his days at Morris Knolls High School and older people who knew the family. A young boy with a platinum Mohawk haircut stood next to an old man with a walker who hobbled his way to the casket.
The Reverend John DeMattia led a brief prayer service at the beginning of the wake, reminding the mourners that justice could be found ultimately in God.
“For those who believe in his love, death is not the end,” DeMattia told the crowd.
In the parking lot of the funeral home, mourners gathered to share their remembrances of a young man who liked fast cars — and was shot five times for still-unspecified actions as he allegedly tried to elude police after being ordered to pull over on Franklin Road and Route 46 in Denville early on Thursday, June 26.
“What we want is peace and justice for the family,” said Mike Arlen, 20, of Rockaway. “Ruben was the sweetest, most hard-working person I’ve ever met.”
Beside him stood Rockaway's Kim Junkermeier, 19, who wiped a tear from her eye. Asked what justice would mean in this case, she paused. “The police officer who did this gets to go on and live his life,” she said. “Ruben doesn’t have that privilege.”
Martinez was a 2005 graduate of Morris Knolls High School who moved to Laredo, Texas, and was working as an auto mechanic. He had come back to town to attend his brother Mark’s graduation from Morris Knolls on June 26.
But after a night of partying and visiting friends, Martinez, in a black Mustang Bullet with Texas plates, was stopped by Denville Police officer Richard Byrne at 2:14 a.m. Police say Martinez tried to elude the stop, and a brief chase involving Byrne and another Denville officer, Danny Fernandez, ensued.
At some point during the incident, Byrne fired five shots, each of which hit Martinez, authorities said. Martinez’s car crashed through a white picket fence and went over a retaining wall before slamming into an above-ground swimming pool. He was pronounced dead at St. Clare’s Hospital in Denville shortly before 3 a.m., just hours before his brother Mark was to graduate.
Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi has declined to comment on the circumstances and motivation for the shooting and is heading an investigation by more than two dozen detectives and lawyers. Authorities have removed a videotape from Byrne's patrol car and interviewed the officer on Wednesday.
Many of the mourners were still in shock over the sudden violent event that has shaken usually quiet Denville, a suburban community straddling Route 80 north of Morristown.
"Being a mother, my heart is ripped apart," said Sherry Sala of Rockaway. "I feel for the family. I feel for the officer."
Her husband, Bill, added: "Shot five times is what I'm having a difficult time with. But we really don't know what happened."
There was utter silence in the hallway of the Tuttle Funeral Home shortly before 2 p.m., when the viewing room was to be opened. Soon, the room was filled with sobbing mourners, both young and old, who made a procession by the open casket adorned in red and white carnations.
By the casket stood Martinez mother, Maureen Miles, and his two brothers, Mark and Alex. The mother and sons embraced each mourner as they left the casket after paying their respects.
The crowd was a mixture of young people who knew Martinez from his days at Morris Knolls High School and older people who knew the family. A young boy with a platinum Mohawk haircut stood next to an old man with a walker who hobbled his way to the casket.
The Reverend John DeMattia led a brief prayer service at the beginning of the wake, reminding the mourners that justice could be found ultimately in God.
“For those who believe in his love, death is not the end,” DeMattia told the crowd.
In the parking lot of the funeral home, mourners gathered to share their remembrances of a young man who liked fast cars — and was shot five times for still-unspecified actions as he allegedly tried to elude police after being ordered to pull over on Franklin Road and Route 46 in Denville early on Thursday, June 26.
“What we want is peace and justice for the family,” said Mike Arlen, 20, of Rockaway. “Ruben was the sweetest, most hard-working person I’ve ever met.”
Beside him stood Rockaway's Kim Junkermeier, 19, who wiped a tear from her eye. Asked what justice would mean in this case, she paused. “The police officer who did this gets to go on and live his life,” she said. “Ruben doesn’t have that privilege.”
Martinez was a 2005 graduate of Morris Knolls High School who moved to Laredo, Texas, and was working as an auto mechanic. He had come back to town to attend his brother Mark’s graduation from Morris Knolls on June 26.
But after a night of partying and visiting friends, Martinez, in a black Mustang Bullet with Texas plates, was stopped by Denville Police officer Richard Byrne at 2:14 a.m. Police say Martinez tried to elude the stop, and a brief chase involving Byrne and another Denville officer, Danny Fernandez, ensued.
At some point during the incident, Byrne fired five shots, each of which hit Martinez, authorities said. Martinez’s car crashed through a white picket fence and went over a retaining wall before slamming into an above-ground swimming pool. He was pronounced dead at St. Clare’s Hospital in Denville shortly before 3 a.m., just hours before his brother Mark was to graduate.
Morris County Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi has declined to comment on the circumstances and motivation for the shooting and is heading an investigation by more than two dozen detectives and lawyers. Authorities have removed a videotape from Byrne's patrol car and interviewed the officer on Wednesday.
Many of the mourners were still in shock over the sudden violent event that has shaken usually quiet Denville, a suburban community straddling Route 80 north of Morristown.
"Being a mother, my heart is ripped apart," said Sherry Sala of Rockaway. "I feel for the family. I feel for the officer."
Her husband, Bill, added: "Shot five times is what I'm having a difficult time with. But we really don't know what happened."
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Crude Oil Advances in New York as Investors Avoid Stocks
Has Wall Street moved away from the Sub-Prime Mortgage mess to oil, thus raising the price?
July 3 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil advanced in New York as investors sought an alternative to tumbling stock markets.
Oil has advanced more than 50 percent this year, while equity indexes and the U.S. currency have declined. Crude pared gains today after the European Central Bank raised interest rates, in line with expectations. Summer maintenance at North Sea oil fields is limiting European crude supplies, further supporting prices.
``The weaker dollar theme is likely to persist and influence most markets today,'' London-based Sucden (U.K.) Ltd. analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov said. ``In the longer run, crude prices are still well supported by geopolitical concerns, persistent supply disruptions and fears over tight supplies.
July 3 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil advanced in New York as investors sought an alternative to tumbling stock markets.
Oil has advanced more than 50 percent this year, while equity indexes and the U.S. currency have declined. Crude pared gains today after the European Central Bank raised interest rates, in line with expectations. Summer maintenance at North Sea oil fields is limiting European crude supplies, further supporting prices.
``The weaker dollar theme is likely to persist and influence most markets today,'' London-based Sucden (U.K.) Ltd. analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov said. ``In the longer run, crude prices are still well supported by geopolitical concerns, persistent supply disruptions and fears over tight supplies.
Meet the Constitution
THE YARD SIGNS outside Andrew Gause's Hawthorne office advertised Ron Paul's presidential campaign and a few of its principles, including "OUT OF IRAQ," "ABOLISH FED. RESERVE" and "EMBRACE CONSTITUTION."
The last was apparently lost on local officials. At least as far as the First Amendment goes, the only embrace they aimed to apply was a sort of chokehold.
Although Hawthorne is in fact in the United States, its officials had inexplicably adopted an ordinance banning political signs on private property for most of the year. Rather than recognize their mistake, they compounded it with a relatively zealous enforcement effort aimed at Gause and his signs. The result is a richly deserved lawsuit, filed in federal court last week by the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
If this case turns out as it should, Hawthorne will be at least the third town in the region (after Franklin Lakes and Paterson) forced to rid its books of an unconstitutional attempt to restrict political signs. The ACLU is also urging the Monmouth County borough of Shrewsbury to repeal a similar ordinance after officials tried to force a resident to take down a Barack Obama sign.
The ordinances in question all attempt to restrict the display of political signs to a period before and immediately after an election – in Hawthorne's case, from 32 days before until seven days after. Perhaps this and other sign ordinances started as well-intended efforts to discourage the unsightly clutter that campaigns often leave along streets and sidewalks. But the result, as the ACLU suit against Hawthorne notes, is a measure that "effectively bans all signs bearing political messages on private property for at least nine months of the year."
Gause, a Midland Park resident who keeps an office and a rental apartment in Hawthorne, posted two Paul signs there in December. While the Republican congressman's campaign continued well after New Jersey's February presidential primary, Gause's right to express his support for it in Hawthorne did not, local officials reckoned.
Shortly after the primary, Mayor Patrick Botbyl told the borough police to have Gause remove the signs, according to the lawsuit. Gause told the Herald News that he got a personal visit on the matter from the police chief and two other officers. He eventually removed the signs after he was cited and threatened with daily fines.
At one point, a borough lawyer responding to Gause's objections said he had researched the issue and could find no conflict between Hawthorne's ordinance and state or federal law. Gause said he sought the ACLU's assistance only after the borough repeatedly rebuffed his protests.
Hawthorne has now suspended enforcement of the ordinance and plans to amend it, the borough administrator said this week. If that's the case, perhaps this lawsuit can be speedily resolved at minimal expense.
While this case is not quite The New York Times v. Sullivan, ordinances such as Hawthorne's constitute a remarkably frontal assault on free speech. And it's exactly the kind of speech the First Amendment was designed to protect – the unfettered political expression that's crucial to a democratic society.
The mere existence of this ordinance and others like it does not speak well of local officials' grasp of our country's founding ideas. Before they can share an embrace with the Constitution, they might require an introduction.
The last was apparently lost on local officials. At least as far as the First Amendment goes, the only embrace they aimed to apply was a sort of chokehold.
Although Hawthorne is in fact in the United States, its officials had inexplicably adopted an ordinance banning political signs on private property for most of the year. Rather than recognize their mistake, they compounded it with a relatively zealous enforcement effort aimed at Gause and his signs. The result is a richly deserved lawsuit, filed in federal court last week by the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
If this case turns out as it should, Hawthorne will be at least the third town in the region (after Franklin Lakes and Paterson) forced to rid its books of an unconstitutional attempt to restrict political signs. The ACLU is also urging the Monmouth County borough of Shrewsbury to repeal a similar ordinance after officials tried to force a resident to take down a Barack Obama sign.
The ordinances in question all attempt to restrict the display of political signs to a period before and immediately after an election – in Hawthorne's case, from 32 days before until seven days after. Perhaps this and other sign ordinances started as well-intended efforts to discourage the unsightly clutter that campaigns often leave along streets and sidewalks. But the result, as the ACLU suit against Hawthorne notes, is a measure that "effectively bans all signs bearing political messages on private property for at least nine months of the year."
Gause, a Midland Park resident who keeps an office and a rental apartment in Hawthorne, posted two Paul signs there in December. While the Republican congressman's campaign continued well after New Jersey's February presidential primary, Gause's right to express his support for it in Hawthorne did not, local officials reckoned.
Shortly after the primary, Mayor Patrick Botbyl told the borough police to have Gause remove the signs, according to the lawsuit. Gause told the Herald News that he got a personal visit on the matter from the police chief and two other officers. He eventually removed the signs after he was cited and threatened with daily fines.
At one point, a borough lawyer responding to Gause's objections said he had researched the issue and could find no conflict between Hawthorne's ordinance and state or federal law. Gause said he sought the ACLU's assistance only after the borough repeatedly rebuffed his protests.
Hawthorne has now suspended enforcement of the ordinance and plans to amend it, the borough administrator said this week. If that's the case, perhaps this lawsuit can be speedily resolved at minimal expense.
While this case is not quite The New York Times v. Sullivan, ordinances such as Hawthorne's constitute a remarkably frontal assault on free speech. And it's exactly the kind of speech the First Amendment was designed to protect – the unfettered political expression that's crucial to a democratic society.
The mere existence of this ordinance and others like it does not speak well of local officials' grasp of our country's founding ideas. Before they can share an embrace with the Constitution, they might require an introduction.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Economy in Worst Slump Since World War II
July 1 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire investor Eli Broad said the U.S. economy is in the worst recession since World War II and a recovery in the housing market is ``several years'' away.
``This is worse than any recession we've had since World War II,'' Broad, 75, said in an interview yesterday. Broad, the founder of homebuilder KB Home, said the U.S. should avoid a depression on the scale of the 1930s because the country now has sufficient ``safety nets.''
With home sales and prices declining and consumer confidence at a 28-year low, ``I don't see it turning around very quickly,'' Broad said. The economy expanded at an annual rate of 1 percent in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said last week. That caps the weakest six months of growth in five years.
``This is the worst period of my adult lifetime,'' Broad said, speaking about the U.S. economy. ``I do not think things are going to get any better'' before the next president takes office in January. Selling off vacant, unsold homes could take ``several years,'' he said.
The U.S. will avoid a collapse as severe as the 1930s thanks in part to Federal Reserve oversight of the banking system and other safeguards that didn't exist then, he said.
New Capital
Still, U.S. banks may have to raise as much as $65 billion as losses and writedowns extend into the first quarter of 2009, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts said last month.
The world's biggest financial firms have posted about $400 billion in writedowns and credit losses tied to the U.S. housing slump, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The U.S. lost 49,000 jobs in May, when the unemployment rate rose to 5.5 percent, the fifth straight month with a drop in payrolls and the biggest jump in the jobless rate in more than two decades. Financial companies have announced plans to eliminate more than 83,000 jobs since last July.
Broad said his concerns for the U.S. center around energy, healthcare and public education.
``I don't see national leadership that is going to have the ability to really ride over the deep rooted vested interests,'' he said.
``The problem is, people don't believe prices have bottomed out,'' he said. ``You've got to induce people to buy houses'' with federal policies including tax incentives.
``This is worse than any recession we've had since World War II,'' Broad, 75, said in an interview yesterday. Broad, the founder of homebuilder KB Home, said the U.S. should avoid a depression on the scale of the 1930s because the country now has sufficient ``safety nets.''
With home sales and prices declining and consumer confidence at a 28-year low, ``I don't see it turning around very quickly,'' Broad said. The economy expanded at an annual rate of 1 percent in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said last week. That caps the weakest six months of growth in five years.
``This is the worst period of my adult lifetime,'' Broad said, speaking about the U.S. economy. ``I do not think things are going to get any better'' before the next president takes office in January. Selling off vacant, unsold homes could take ``several years,'' he said.
The U.S. will avoid a collapse as severe as the 1930s thanks in part to Federal Reserve oversight of the banking system and other safeguards that didn't exist then, he said.
New Capital
Still, U.S. banks may have to raise as much as $65 billion as losses and writedowns extend into the first quarter of 2009, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts said last month.
The world's biggest financial firms have posted about $400 billion in writedowns and credit losses tied to the U.S. housing slump, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The U.S. lost 49,000 jobs in May, when the unemployment rate rose to 5.5 percent, the fifth straight month with a drop in payrolls and the biggest jump in the jobless rate in more than two decades. Financial companies have announced plans to eliminate more than 83,000 jobs since last July.
Broad said his concerns for the U.S. center around energy, healthcare and public education.
``I don't see national leadership that is going to have the ability to really ride over the deep rooted vested interests,'' he said.
``The problem is, people don't believe prices have bottomed out,'' he said. ``You've got to induce people to buy houses'' with federal policies including tax incentives.
Massive investigation into 21-year-old's Death
A massive investigation into the fatal shooting of a motorist by a Denville policeman includes dozens of investigators and attorneys.
But Morris County authorities who detailed their efforts Monday again declined to release any preliminary findings other than that 21-year-old Ruben Martinez’s Mustang had been stopped for speeding and reckless driving. And the Martinez family attorney counseled patience in allowing the police work to continue, and the family to grieve.
Speaking on behalf of county Prosecutor Robert Bianchi, Capt. Jeffrey Paul said at a press conference in Morristown that investigators had reviewed or were in the process of reviewing several records, files and video from the patrol car involved.
“Prosecutor Bianchi will only issue conclusions when all the facts are secured and only after all the witnesses have been interviewed,” Paul said. “This ensures the integrity of the investigation by ensuring the witnesses are not tainted by reports leaked to the public and allows the Martinez family the opportunity to ask questions [and] concerns before the matter becomes public.”
The investigation includes about 20 detectives and about six attorneys from the prosecutors’ office with assistance from sheriff’s staff and Denville police.
Police Officer Richard Byrne killed Martinez, of Laredo, Texas, and formerly of Rockaway Township, with five shots during the incident early Thursday morning.
Paul said the Martinez’s attorney, Darryl Saunders of East Brunswick, had a “extensive meeting” with Bianchi on Monday and was aware of the details and nature of the investigation.
In an e-mail Monday, Saunders said Bianchi has been in daily contact with the family and thanked his office for a professional and competent investigation.
Saunders also said, “We should allow the Prosecutor’s Office the time to conduct its investigation and the family some space to deal with this tragedy.”
A woman who answered the phone at the Rockaway Township home of Martinez’s mother, Maureen Miles, declined comment Monday evening. On Friday and Sunday, family members told Record reporters that they had not been told what led to the incident. One relative said the family intends to bury Martinez this week.
Byrne’s status remained unclear Monday. Paul referred questions about the officer to Denville Police Chief Christopher Wagner, who could not be reached for comment.
Martinez’s brother, Mark, told a Record reporter Friday that his brother, home for Mark’s graduation from Morris Knolls High School later that day, had gone out to get a pack of cigarettes.
Authorities have said Martinez, driving his Mustang GT, was stopped by Byrne around 2:14 a.m. at the parking lot of a Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse on Route 46 East near Franklin Road. At Monday’s press conference, Paul said the stop was related to speeding and reckless driving.
Martinez then tried to leave the scene, according to police. A brief chase ensued, ending with Martinez crashing his car through a concrete retaining wall and into the side of an above-ground pool near Franklin Road and Geraldine Court.
At some point Byrne fired five shots, all of which struck Martinez.
Martinez was taken to St. Clare’s Hospital in Denville, where he was pronounced dead at 2:55 a.m. Byrne also was brought there for treatment of an injured shoulder and was later released.
Paul said the team of investigators are focusing on five areas: the facts of the shooting, evaluation of the crime scene, state law and guidelines from the state Attorney General’s Office on the use of force by a police officer, records from the Denville Police Department and forensic evaluation by experts.
Once final reports are complete, they will be sent to the state Attorney General’s Office, Paul said.
He said releasing information about the case prematurely would be a “disservice to the Martinez family as well as Officer Byrne, both of whom are entitlted to an investigation that is untainted accurate and fair.”
But Morris County authorities who detailed their efforts Monday again declined to release any preliminary findings other than that 21-year-old Ruben Martinez’s Mustang had been stopped for speeding and reckless driving. And the Martinez family attorney counseled patience in allowing the police work to continue, and the family to grieve.
Speaking on behalf of county Prosecutor Robert Bianchi, Capt. Jeffrey Paul said at a press conference in Morristown that investigators had reviewed or were in the process of reviewing several records, files and video from the patrol car involved.
“Prosecutor Bianchi will only issue conclusions when all the facts are secured and only after all the witnesses have been interviewed,” Paul said. “This ensures the integrity of the investigation by ensuring the witnesses are not tainted by reports leaked to the public and allows the Martinez family the opportunity to ask questions [and] concerns before the matter becomes public.”
The investigation includes about 20 detectives and about six attorneys from the prosecutors’ office with assistance from sheriff’s staff and Denville police.
Police Officer Richard Byrne killed Martinez, of Laredo, Texas, and formerly of Rockaway Township, with five shots during the incident early Thursday morning.
Paul said the Martinez’s attorney, Darryl Saunders of East Brunswick, had a “extensive meeting” with Bianchi on Monday and was aware of the details and nature of the investigation.
In an e-mail Monday, Saunders said Bianchi has been in daily contact with the family and thanked his office for a professional and competent investigation.
Saunders also said, “We should allow the Prosecutor’s Office the time to conduct its investigation and the family some space to deal with this tragedy.”
A woman who answered the phone at the Rockaway Township home of Martinez’s mother, Maureen Miles, declined comment Monday evening. On Friday and Sunday, family members told Record reporters that they had not been told what led to the incident. One relative said the family intends to bury Martinez this week.
Byrne’s status remained unclear Monday. Paul referred questions about the officer to Denville Police Chief Christopher Wagner, who could not be reached for comment.
Martinez’s brother, Mark, told a Record reporter Friday that his brother, home for Mark’s graduation from Morris Knolls High School later that day, had gone out to get a pack of cigarettes.
Authorities have said Martinez, driving his Mustang GT, was stopped by Byrne around 2:14 a.m. at the parking lot of a Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse on Route 46 East near Franklin Road. At Monday’s press conference, Paul said the stop was related to speeding and reckless driving.
Martinez then tried to leave the scene, according to police. A brief chase ensued, ending with Martinez crashing his car through a concrete retaining wall and into the side of an above-ground pool near Franklin Road and Geraldine Court.
At some point Byrne fired five shots, all of which struck Martinez.
Martinez was taken to St. Clare’s Hospital in Denville, where he was pronounced dead at 2:55 a.m. Byrne also was brought there for treatment of an injured shoulder and was later released.
Paul said the team of investigators are focusing on five areas: the facts of the shooting, evaluation of the crime scene, state law and guidelines from the state Attorney General’s Office on the use of force by a police officer, records from the Denville Police Department and forensic evaluation by experts.
Once final reports are complete, they will be sent to the state Attorney General’s Office, Paul said.
He said releasing information about the case prematurely would be a “disservice to the Martinez family as well as Officer Byrne, both of whom are entitlted to an investigation that is untainted accurate and fair.”
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