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Surgeon suspended for branding his initials on patient's liver

surgeon
A British surgeon has been suspended over allegations that he "branded" his initials onto a patient's liver, media reported on Tuesday.

Simon Bramhall faces an investigation after a colleague discovered the initials "SB" on the organ during a follow-up operation at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, central England, newspapers said.

The hospital's managing trust said in a statement: "Following an allegation of misconduct, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has suspended a surgeon while an internal investigation is completed."

The Daily Mail newspaper said Bramhall used non-toxic argon gas to sear his initials onto the liver.

Attention

Virtually all chicken breasts sold in U.S. contaminated: 'potentially harmful bacteria'

bacteria chicken
© AFP Photo / Miguel Medina
A new study by Consumer Reports has found that a disturbingly high percentage of raw chicken breasts sold in the United States contain potentially harmful bacteria.

According to the study, researchers discovered at least one of six different kinds of bacteria in 97 percent of all the chicken breasts it purchased across 26 states in the US.

To make matters worse, many of the bacteria is resistant "to three or more antibiotic classes, making them multiple-drug resistant," according to Urvashi Rangan, director of consumer safety and sustainability for Consumer Reports, who spoke with "CBS This Morning."

Not even chicken sold under organic labels could escape similar findings. Rangan didn't dismiss organic products as worthless, but stated that when it comes to potential contaminants, "the natural label actually means nothing"

These findings back up other studies revealing chicken as a leading cause of food-borne illnesses. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "more deaths were attributed to poultry than to any other commodity" between 1998 and 2008.

Heart

World's 1st self-regulating artificial heart transplanted in France

artificial heart
© AFP Photo / Kenzo TribouillardThe artificial heart produced by Biomedical firm Carmat.
Hundreds of thousands of people could soon get off the transplant waiting list as French doctors are celebrating the installation of a revolutionary artificial heart into a 75-year-old patient, paving the way for long-lasting robotic substitutes.

The heart, which spent 25 years in the making and was produced by the French company Carmat, is somewhat of a technological marvel. The key differences with any previous medical efforts are that it is completely artificial, self-regulating and mimics the human heart in ways other devices could only dream of.

The self-contained artificial unit weighs about 900 grams (three times the weight of the human heart) and is completely lithium-battery powered. It is made from soft "biomaterials" and functions with the aid of a multitude of sensors designed to mimic every little detail of a real beating heart, explain its chief engineers Alain Carpentier and Philippe Pouletty.

The size of the current trial model is fit for 75 percent of men and 25 percent of women, but the creators are already working on a more compact solution.

It's also a pricey device, but at about $200,000 it's equivalent to the price of a real heart transplanted from an accident victim.

Evil Rays

Danish Cancer Society plays games with brain cancer rates

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Just over a year ago, the Danish Cancer Society (DCS) issued a news advisory with some alarming news: The number of men diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most malignant type of brain cancer, had doubled over the last ten years. Hans Skovgaard Poulsen, the head of neuro-oncology at Copenhagen University Hospital was quoted in the release as saying that this was a "frightening development."

At the time, Christoffer Johansen, a senior researcher at the DCS told us: "I think the data is true and valid." And Joachim Schüz, a long time collaborator of Johansen's at the DCS who is now at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon told Microwave News that the news was "indeed a concern." He said that he could not explain it. (See our report here.)

After that, there was silence. No one talked about the spike in glioblastomas. Over the following year, we kept asking people whether there was any follow-up news. But there was nothing.

Then last week, Epidemiology, a leading journal, released an advance copy of a commentary on "Mobiles and Cancer," which will appear in its January 2014 issue. The lead author is Jonathan Samet of the University of Southern California, who was the chair of IARC's 2011 review of the cancer risks of exposure to RF radiation. That same year, President Obama appointed Samet to the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB). After a week of deliberations in Lyon, Samet's panel designated RF radiation as a possible human carcinogen. Samet's paper has three coauthors, including Schüz; all three are associated with IARC.

Comment: Not to mention the other hazards:


Syringe

Fired: Pregnant nurse studies flu vaccine fine print, decides it's too risky

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Dreonna Breton of Elizabethtown, a registered nurse, lost her job because she refused to receive an employer-mandated flu shot.
Dreonna Breton got fired because she refused a mandatory flu shot. A registered nurse, she'€™s pregnant and has a history of miscarriage.

Breton says she became alarmed by notifications such as this, contained in the packaging of a popular flu vaccine: "€œFluzone should be given to a pregnant woman only if clearly needed.€"

Similar statements accompany other brands. So do notifications that it's unknown whether flu vaccine can harm an unborn child. Breton says she'€™s had two miscarriages in four pregnancies and refuses to take the chance.

"It would be a false statement to say the flu vaccine is known to be safe during pregnancy,"€ says Breton, 29, of Elizabethtown. "€œI have lost my job, one that I love and am good at, because I chose to do what I believe is best for my baby."

But she faces a rising tide of mandatory flu vaccination policies at health care organizations including hospitals and nursing homes. The intent is to prevent health care workers from spreading the flu to the elderly and others with weakened immune systems who are at high risk of dying from the flu.

Comment: Yes, Orwellian medical policies based on ignorance and lies do have consequences:

4,250% increase in fetal deaths reported to VAERS after flu shot given to pregnant women
Flu Shot Coverage, Vaccine-Related Miscarriage Rates Rise Exponentially
Shocking Vaccine Miscarriage Horror Stories
Flu vaccination is most certainly not a 'no-brainer'
US: Outrage as Pregnant Women Who Lose Babies are Facing Murder Charges
Flu Vaccination: Docs Talk the Talk Without Walking the Walk
Flu Vaccine: No Good Evidence
Children Who Get Flu Vaccine Have Three Times Risk Of Hospitalization For Flu, Study Suggests
Flu vaccination may not help elderly, study says


Cell Phone

Cell phone use linked to lower grades, anxiety, and much worse...

Mounting research raises tremendously important questions about the long-term safety of saturating ourselves in electromagnetic frequencies. As a result, at least a dozen countries around the world have begun to adopt a precautionary approach toward cell phone use and other wireless technologies.

For example, two years ago, a Council of Europe committee concluded that "immediate action was required to protect children" after examining the evidence.1 Russian officials have issued the recommendation that all children under the age of 18 should avoid using cell phones entirely. And the UK, Israel, Germany, India and Finland also urge citizens to err on the side of caution with respect to their children's use of cell phones.

cell phone
© Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni
Most recently, Belgium adopted new cell phone regulations2 prohibiting the sale of mobile phones designed for, and marketed to children under the age of seven.3 The regulations take effect in March 2014. Retailers and internet marketers will also be required to disclose the specific absorption rate (SAR) of the phones they sell, and must display posters with recommendations for safer cell phone use.

Qualifying the new regulations, officials said, "But it is not the intention to use it for hours at a time: the way in which you use your mobile phone also determines your exposure."

Roses

Charlotte's Web: Marijuana stops child's severe seizures

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© CNNBy the time she was 3, Charlotte was having up to 300 grand mal seizures every week. Eventually she lost the ability to walk, talk and eat.
By most standards Matt and Paige Figi were living the American dream. They met at Colorado State University, where they shared a love of the outdoors. After getting married, the couple bought a house and planned to travel the world.

They did travel, but their plans changed when their first child was born in 2004.

Max was 2 when they decided to have another child. The couple got the surprise of their lives when an ultrasound revealed not one but two babies. Charlotte and Chase were born October 18, 2006.

"They were born at 40 weeks. ... Charlotte weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces," Paige said. "They were healthy. Everything was normal."

Comment: There is a growing body of evidence that shows marijuana to be beneficial for all sorts of health conditions:

Oregon family uses medical marijuana to manage son's autistic rage
New Study Shows Medical Value of Marijuana
Marijuana Chemical May Fight Brain Cancer
Puff-a-Day Marijuana Dose Helped Older Rats Remember
The Medical Miracle You'll Get Arrested for Using
Marijuana ingredient helps fight brain tumors
Marijuana Has Anti-Inflammatory That Won't Get You High
Marijuana Compound May Fight Lung Cancer
Marijuana Oil Helps 3-Year-Old Son Beat brain Cancer, Dad Says
Juicing rare and unavailable strains of cannabis shown to benefit health
Marijuana Ingredient May Prevent Mad Cow Disease
Pot Shrinks Tumors; Government Knew in '74
Cannabis and the Brain: A User's Guide


Attention

California high school to be tested for tuberculosis

All 1,800 students and staff at a southern California high school will be screened for tuberculosis Friday after 45 students tested positive for possible exposure, authorities said.

The Riverside County Department of Public Health and state officials have determined there is a possibility of exposure to other Indio High School students, though "the risk of transmission appears to be moderately low," according to a letter to parents on the school's website

Officials said there is one active case of tuberculosis and they do not fear an outbreak.

"The entire school is being tested out of an abundance of caution," Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser


Cow Skull

Meat and milk from offspring of cloned animals should be sold WITHOUT labels, say EU officials

  • European Commission proposals would ban sale of food from clones
  • But there would be no controls on food from their sons and daughters
  • Proposals would keep families in the dark about what they are eating
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The European consumer body, BEUC, condemned any proposal that does not require the labeling of food from clone offspring.
Meat and milk from the offspring of clone farm animals should be allowed on to supermarket shelves without labels, according to EU officials.

The proposals, which would keep families in the dark about what they are eating, were outlined today in a move that was condemned by consumer groups.

The idea of cloning animals for food may seem bizarre and akin to science fiction, however it is possible that beef and milk from the offspring of clones is already being imported here from the USA and other countries.

Separately, the Daily Mail has revealed attempts to rear clone animal offspring in the UK to produce milk for breakfast tables dating back to 2008.

It emerged three years ago that a Scottish farmer had purchased two bulls, which were the sons of a clone, and then bred 92 Holstein milking cows from them.

Initially, he planned to sell the milk in the UK, however following a consumer backlash, he decided to destroy more than 40 of the cows and exported around 30 to Portugal.

Smoking

Passive smoking - another of the Nanny State's big lies

smoking cig
Passive smoking doesn't give you lung cancer. So says a new report publicised by the American Cancer Institute which will come as no surprise whatsoever to anyone with a shred of integrity who has looked into the origins of the great "environmental tobacco smoke" meme.

It was, after all, a decade ago that the British Medical Journal, published the results of a massive, long-term survey into the effects of second-hand tobacco smoke. Between 1959 and 1989 two American researchers named James Enstrom and Geoffrey Kabat surveyed no few than 118,094 Californians. Fierce anti-smoking campaigners themselves, they began the research because they wanted to prove once and for all what a pernicious, socially damaging habit smoking was. Their research was initiated by the American Cancer Society and supported by the anti-smoking Tobacco Related Disease Research Program.

At least it was at first. But then something rather embarrassing happened. Much to their surprise, Kabat and Enstrom discovered that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ie passive smoking), no matter how intense or prolonged, creates no significantly increased risk of heart disease or lung cancer.

Comment: See also : The devious plan of anti-smoking campaigns to control people and stop them from using their brain