Posts Tagged ‘death’
Tests of Enfamil Newborn show no sign of bacteria
Daylife/AP Photo used by permission
Sad to see – the late Avery Cornett of Lebanon, MO
The manufacturer of the widely used baby formula Enfamil said Sunday that its testing shows the product is free of the bacteria blamed for the death of a Missouri infant.
Mead Johnson Nutrition said two tests of samples of its Enfamil Premium Newborn formula found no sign of the bacteria, known as Cronobacter sakazakii. The samples tested were taken from the same lot as the formula given to the baby boy who died…
The Missouri case prompted retail giant Walmart to pull all cans of the same size and lot number from its shelves last week. Another newborn baby was sickened in Illinois, but is recovering from the infection, according to the state health department.
“These new results reaffirm the testing conducted before the batch was made available to retailers and consumers,” the company said in a written statement on the results. “Based on both sets of tests, Mead Johnson can say with confidence that Enfamil Premium Newborn formula, like every infant formula the company produces, is safe.”
State authorities and the federal Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control have been testing similar samples for the bacteria, which the CDC says sickens four to six people a year…
The company said its findings match those of health agencies that have conducted their own tests. Early indications led authorities to suspect a link to powdered infant formula, but state and federal tests found no Cronobacter, the CDC’s Dr. Robert Tauxe said Friday.
“We really don’t have evidence that the two infections are related to each other,” Tauxe told CNN. “Those two cases that occurred this past month may just be a coincidence.
The next circle of testing – which will press the scientists at the CDC much further – will have to involve the range of products also aimed at newborns and often consumed in conjunction with Enfamil Newborn. A thinner more tenuous connection; but, one which must be examined.
U.S. fails to block accord against cluster bombs
The dangerous task of removing cluster bombs dropped by Israel on Lebanon
A U.S.-led push to regulate, rather than ban, cluster munitions failed Friday after 50 countries objected, following humanitarian campaigners’ claims that anything less than a outright ban would be an unprecedented reversal of human rights law.
While the United States, China and Russia want rules about the manufacture and use of cluster bombs, activists say such regulations would legitimize the munitions, backtracking from the Oslo Convention, an international treaty that seeks a worldwide ban.
“Against all odds it looks like we’re going to have success this evening,” Steve Goose, head of the arms division at Human Rights Watch, told a press conference in Geneva. “How often do you see the U.S., Russia, China, India, Israel and Belarus push for something, and they don’t get it? That has happened largely because of one powerful alliance driving the Oslo partnership.”
Cluster bombs, dropped by air or fired by artillery, scatter hundreds of bomblets across a wide area and can kill and maim civilians long after conflicts end…
Those lining up against the U.S. plan included the International Committee of the Red Cross and the top U.N. officials for human rights, emergency relief and development.
The U.N. agency chiefs said cluster bombs were a particular threat to children, who were attracted by their unusual, toy-like shapes and colors. They said they were extremely concerned at plans to do anything less than ban them…
Activists said the opposition to the U.S. proposal was led by Norway, Mexico and Austria, while 12 signatories to the 2008 Oslo Convention, including Japan, France and Germany, said they were in favor of regulation of cluster bombs under the CCW.
China and Russia, which like the United States are major producers of cluster munitions, were strongly supportive of the U.S. measure.
No surprises in any aspect of the politics on display here. Whether the question is one of allowing torture – or carrying on with the manufacture, deployment and distribution of anti-personnel weapons generally used by the most reactionary regimes on Earth – the United States has supported continuing use.
Questions of use and abuse of weapons using phosphorus, napalm – questions regarding carpet bombing, land mines and cluster bombs – and most recently the revival of torture as acceptable, the United States has lagged the rest of civilization. Whichever domestic decisions have been made by American voters, foreign policy enforced by military means and guided by allegiance to Pentagon protocols and Congressional fiat has relied on death and destruction applied with equal weight to military and civilian targets.
We accepted all the premises from the Axis we fought against in World War 2. And invented new rationales, more lies for the Cold War and beyond.
Armed forces minister apologizes for lies about depleted uranium
The armed forces minister has been forced to apologise over misleading statements he made regarding the legality and dangers of depleted uranium weapons…
Nick Harvey admitted that he had inadvertently misled MPs about a Ministry of Defence review that he said had concluded the weapons were permissible on humanitarian and environmental grounds under the Geneva conventions.
It subsequently emerged that the review had never happened, and Harvey has apologised for the error, which he said had been made “in good faith”. He has ordered that a review into the weapons’ legality be carried out by civil servants. The department is facing calls for the weapons to be suspended until it is completed.
The revelations come as a cross-party campaign is launched to pile pressure on the MoD to phase out the use of depleted uranium (DU). The tank shells that depend on it have to be renewed in 2013.
DU is a chemically toxic and radioactive heavy metal produced as waste by the nuclear power industry that is included in weapons because it is an extremely hard material capable of piercing armour. Once the frontline has moved on, however, it can contaminate the environment, and has been linked to health problems in civilian populations.
Uranium is a pyrophoric metal – which simply means if sufficient heat is generated to provide ignition, it will burn to completion leaving nothing behind but radioactive dust. Blowing in the wind.
In 1998 the UK government ratified additional protocol 1 of the Geneva conventions. Article 36 of that requires that all weapons are subject to a legal review to assess whether they are “capable of being used discriminately”, or cause “widespread and severe damage to the natural environment”…
Labour MP Katy Clark accused the MoD of misleading the public, and demanded a public apology. “Compliance with the Geneva conventions has been used to reassure people on the legality of DU weapons, however no review has taken place to ensure that the munitions used by UK armed forces meet the conventions’ criteria,” she said. “I am pleased that the government has stated that a review will now take place and believe it should use this opportunity to carry out a detailed study into the long term impact of DU use.”
Clark is one of the sponsors of an early day motion in the House of Commons calling on ministers to stop using DU weapons before Charm3 expires in 2013. The motion is backed by other Labour, Liberal and nationalist MPs, as well as the Conservative MPs Peter Bottomley and Zac Goldsmith.
The military predictably will try to justify every weapon that ever existed in the demented mind of any general. They are the stock in trade of Death and Destruction and care for the environment or [perish the thought] combatants or civilians doesn’t really enter the equation. Politically, yes. In reality – hardly.
Steve Jobs has died
February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011
Take your dead buddy cruising for a farewell wake
Two men face charges in Denver for allegedly driving around with the body of a friend after discovering him dead. The pair bought drinks, dinner and took $400 from Jeffrey Jarrett’s bank, visiting a strip club before reporting his death, police said.
Robert Young, 43, and Mark Rubinson, 25, are charged with identity theft, criminal impersonation and abuse of a corpse…
The cause of death is not currently known, with police saying the results of toxicology tests may not be available for several weeks.
Mr Young discovered Jarrett’s body on 27 August 2011 when he arrived at his friend’s home after being offered the chance to stay there for a while, according to a statement of probable cause released by Denver police.
Instead of calling the police, though, he went to the restaurant where Mr Rubinson worked. The two men, both friends with Jarrett, put his body in the back seat of Mr Rubinson’s car and took it to Teddy T’s and Sam’s No 3 – both bars in Denver – before taking the body back to Jarrett’s home.
They continued to Viva Burrito, a Mexican restaurant, and Shotgun Willie’s, a strip club in nearby Glendale.
At Shotgun Willie’s they also withdrew $400 from Jarrett’s account…The two men stayed at Shotgun Willie’s until closing time, and reported Jarrett’s death to the police at around 04:00 in the morning.
Denver Police Department spokesman Sonny Jackson called the incident a “bizarre and unfortunate crime”.
He added: “This isn’t anything you want to have happen to a loved one. You want them treated with respect in death.”
Poisonally, I don’t see much wrong with friends toasting a peripatetic farewell – even with your own money. You haven’t much to do with it anymore.
Asian hornet invasion claims first victims in France
The death of a man stung by an Asian hornet has exacerbated fears over the invasive species that has taken France by storm and could reach Britain within three years.
Patrice Verry, 38, was stung by one of the predators on Saturday after trying to wave it away with a kitchen towel at a barbecue in Lherm, in the Haute-Garonne region of southwestern France.
He collapsed minutes later and never regained consciousness, police said. In June another man died in the Médoc region after receiving several stings.
The local mayor said the number of hornet nests had “exploded” in the area. “Our villages are powerless,” said Jean Aycaguer…
The bee-eating invaders, unmistakable due to their dark hue and yellow feet, first settled in the forests of Aquitaine, but quickly spread to surrounding areas along waterways, thriving due to a total lack of indigenous predators.
There are now thought to be 2,000 nests and the voracious insects’ battlefront has reached the shores of northern Brittany. Two nests were recently found in Spain…
“We have modelled its potential spread by cross-checking data from France and Asia, and concluded it is capable of living anywhere in Europe and certainly in Britain,” said Mr Muller.
Its widespread presence means it is now impossible to eradicate. “This species is now part of French fauna. We’ll just have to get used to living with it,” said Claire Villemant of the Museum of National History.
I know you can’t get it right every time; but, don’t the French inspect shipping containers for non-native flora and fauna? Back in the day I recall being notified by the Department of Agriculture that a non-native species of termite was discovered in wooden packing crates from Japan. We were required to provide several samples of crates from our warehouses for testing by the USDA – and then destroy all the crates by burning them.
That happened more than once. Incoming traffic might not be caught on the spot; but, within a reasonable period of time, everything was checked.
For all I know, we may not be doing that anymore in the US either.
Five Indian coppers die during job fitness competition
Five Indian police constables died of heart attacks during a ten kilometre run as part of a selection test for promotion. A further 100 officers fainted during the trial in which they had to run 10 kilometres in less than ninety minutes in high monsoon temperatures.
Some of those who collapsed said senior officers had shown no sympathy and had shouted abuse at them as they laid on the ground.
Police recruitment managers said the deaths and the high number of men who collapsed highlighted poor fitness levels in the force. The image of the pot-bellied khaki policeman is a well-known and much-derided stereotype in India.
Most of those competing in the race were in their mid-40s and were described as “middle aged and unfit”. They died last week in three separate races in Kanpur, Meerut and Azamgarh, in Uttar Pradesh.
Vikram Chandra Goel, chairman of the state’s Police Recruitment and Promotion Board said the constables who died had been suffering from heart complaints and high blood pressure but either “did not inform the department of their ailments or they were not themselves aware of the disease”…
Promotion aspirants will now have to undergo medical tests before taking place in promotion marathon races.
What a sum of collaborative stupidity. So, no one thought to have a general physical exam for a group of mostly 40′s employees scheduled to set off on a 10K run in monsoon season. That’s DUMB 101.
It’s easy to malign the coppers who were out of shape; but, still joined the competition. They were running to make a little more income. The constabulary in India ain’t exactly the most overpaid in the world.
Woman dies after extreme spa detox treatment
The association representing the spas in Quebec is calling on people to be cautious when choosing a spa after a woman died following a detoxification treatment at a facility near Drummondville. Chantal Lavigne, 35, died in hospital Friday.
Police said Lavigne had undergone treatment at the Reine de Paix farmhouse in the town of Durham, about 100 kilometres southeast of Montreal. She was one of about 10 people taking part in a lengthy detoxification session.
“The treatments consisted of a process of sweating by being all wrapped in plastic with mud, and also with blankets,” said Sgt. Éloise Cossette. Lavigne died Friday afternoon, while another woman was in stable condition Saturday. Both women were also encased in cardboard boxes.
Police were trying to determine if negligence or criminal conduct was involved. Or just plain stupidity?
Spas in Quebec are not regulated, said Lucie Brosseau with Alliance Spas Relais Santé, which represents some Quebec spas. Brosseau said the association has developed standards for spas to follow, but they are not mandatory…
Police say at least 10 people were undergoing the same detox treatment, which lasted for several hours, and did not include drinking water…
Neighbours have previously complained to police about the farmhouse after hearing loud screaming on the property…
The spa specializes in Reiki therapy, and offers energy therapy, massage and natural products, according to an online listing.
Maybe one of their specialties is primal scream therapy. Another winner – for neurotics.
I would hope that anyone considering any wingy-dingy extreme therapy for anything would take the time to consult a physician about the procedures. Dying is as extreme as it gets.
Rejecting vaccines is as dangerous as it is dumb!
Given the success of vaccines in preventing a long list of diseases, why is opposition to vaccination gaining hold? Decision-making expert Valerie Reyna contends that it’s because anti-vaccination messages tell a compelling story compared to official sources, and they meet people’s need to understand rare adverse outcomes.
“In the era of Web 2.0, the contagion of ideas, transmitted rapidly through social media, is as concerning as the contagion of diseases because of their power to reduce vaccination rates, leaving populations vulnerable to preventable death and disability,” said Reyna…
This spring, the Centers for Disease Control reported that the United States is experiencing the highest number of measles cases in more than a decade. According to the alert, measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 due to a high vaccination rate. This could change should vaccination rates decline…
Since most people don’t understand how vaccines work, the Internet, which facilitates users across the globe to sharing personal experiences and ideas about health care, fills the vacuum.
According to Reyna, anti-vaccination messages are expected when people don’t understand how vaccination works and when adverse events that are difficult to explain appear to be connected. Autism, for example, is diagnosed in children during the same time period that children receive a battery of vaccinations. Despite research to the contrary, anti-vaccination messages have claimed vaccines are to blame. Official sites, on the other hand, tend not to provide a convincing narrative story line that helps people connect the dots.
Under these circumstances, how do people approach the decision to vaccinate? In Reyna’s model, the decision to get a flu shot, for example, could be a seen as a decision between feeling OK (by not getting the vaccine) or taking a chance on not feeling OK (due to a vaccine side effect). Without better information, most people would choose not to get a vaccine.
In a culture as anarchistic as ours here in the United States, the misreading can be deliberate. There is a pundit I know who considers rejecting flu vaccination a point of libertarian ethics – and he stores/replenishes his supply of anti-virals at a cost of hundreds of dollars every flu season as appropriate “protection”. I guess if you can afford such lengths to satisfy rejecting one of medical history’s best solutions to recurrent illness – rock on!.
Rejecting a solution, a methodology – on the basis of the statistically-tiny number of long-term reversals or, worse, products demeaned by sleazy profiteers on occasion [as are all products], is illogical. I don’t mean to sound too much like Mr. Spock; but, the Age of Reason took our species past this sort of rationale a century-and-a-half ago.
I know my choice of words may offend good people; but, I grew up before most childhood vaccines were commonplace. My neighborhood in that New England factory town extended to 3 or 4 elementary schools, public and Catholic. When we finished winter and schoolkids gathered together again for the new season of sandlot baseball, one of the first things we sorted out was who died over the winter. Who had scarlet fever, who had diphtheria, who had whooping cough or mumps, who had measles, who died from the flu – la grippe. The only exception was the summer special, polio.
I know what it feels like to count up who was missing from a smallish community on just one side of a small city. Who died before we had access to vaccines. Those numbers were a hell of a lot more than the fears and trembling of people who don’t really look at statistics. Or have my memories.
Peter Falk — “Columbo” — dies at 83
Peter Falk with Grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi
Peter Falk died at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif., Thursday night. He was 83.
The “Columbo” star won four Emmy Awards for his portrayal of the cigar-chomping detective who always looked as if he’d just rolled out of bed. Falk played Columbo on television regularly from 1971 to 1978 and then sporadically from 1989 until 2003…
In a court document filed in December 2008, Falk’s daughter Catherine Falk said her father was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
“Columbo” began its history in 1971 as part of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie series…
Columbo — he never had a first name — presented a contrast to other TV detectives. “He looks like a flood victim,” Falk once said. “You feel sorry for him. He appears to be seeing nothing, but he’s seeing everything. Underneath his dishevelment, a good mind is at work.”…
Columbo’s trademark was an ancient raincoat Falk had once bought for himself…
Peter Michael Falk was born Sept. 16, 1927…. At 3 he had one eye removed because of cancer. “When something like that happens early,” he said in a 1963 Associated Press interview, “you learn to live with it. It became the joke of the neighborhood. If the umpire ruled me out on a bad call, I’d take the fake eye out and hand it to him.”…
When not working, Falk spent time in the garage of his Beverly Hills home. He had converted it into a studio where he created charcoal drawings. He took up art in New York when he was in the Simon play and one day happened into the Art Students League.
He recalled: “I opened a door and there she was, a nude model, shoulders back, a light from above, buck-ass naked. The female body is awesome. Believe me, I signed up right away.”
Falk is survived by his wife Shera and his two daughters.
