Baby Boy Carries Fetus
Posted by Michelle Moquin on February 1st, 2012
Good morning!
‘Parasitic’ Twin With Eyes And Hair Found In Peruvian Boy, Three (Video)
Doctors in Peru have found a “parasitic twin” in the stomach of a three-year-old boy, and plan to surgically remove the tissue.
Dr Carlos Astocondor of the medical team at Las Mercedes Hospital in the northern port of Chiclayo said the condition occurs in about one of every 500,000 live births.
He said the partially formed foetus weighs a pound and a half and is nine inches long.
Dr Astocondor said the brain, heart, lungs and intestines never developed after the foetus was absorbed by the other foetus inside the mother’s womb.
He said it has some hair on the cranium, eyes and some bones.
The surgery is set to be carried out on Isbac Pacunda today.
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Readers: So…do you think Santorum would force the three year old to have it? Blog me.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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February 1st, 2012 at 9:29 am
THE DEADLY DANGERS OF OFF-LABEL DRUGS
Editor’s note: We all want to trust our doctors, but the reality is that to increase their profits, drug companies sometimes induce doctors to prescribe their drugs “off-label” — meaning that the FDA hasn’t approved that drug’s use for your particular condition.
Your doctor may have a good reason for prescribing it, but that’s not always the case. Since all drugs carry risks, it’s important to ask questions before blindly taking a pill
least 21% of prescriptions written by American doctors are written for medical conditions that the drugs have not been proven to treat.
The prescriptions are “off-label,” which means that the drugs are being used in ways that have not been formally tested or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as safe and effective.
A drug also is considered off-label if it’s used…
For a type of person that the drug has not been tested on (such as children or the elderly).
At a dosage not approved by the FDA.
By itself, when labeling specifies it should be used with other drugs.
With other drugs, when labeling specifies it should be used alone.
Key finding: A study in Archives of Internal Medicine showed that 73% of off-label prescriptions do not have good scientific evidence justifying their use.
OFF-LABEL, ON TRIAL
It is illegal for pharmaceutical companies to promote their drugs for off-label use, but billions of dollars in possible profits are a strong incentive to circumvent the law.
In a study published in April in PLoS Medicine, researchers from Harvard Medical School analyzed 18 cases where drug companies were prosecuted for off-label marketing that resulted in $7.9 billion in judgments against the companies.
The researchers found that the drug companies tried to expand the use of the drugs to unapproved diseases… to unapproved disease subtypes (such as prescribing an antidepressant for mild depression when it has been approved only for severe depression)… and to unapproved drug doses.
They also found that the drug companies used marketing schemes to influence doctors, including “direct financial incentives” (85% of the time)… “self-serving presentations” of the scientific literature about the drug (76%)… sponsorships of teaching (54%) and research (20%)… and free drug samples (20%).
In other words, doctors were essentially being bribed and duped by drug companies to prescribe drugs off-label.
My colleagues and I conducted research to identify the most problematic off-label drugs, publishing the results in Pharmacotherapy. Each of the riskiest drugs had one or more of the following problems…
1. It lacked scientific evidence for off-label use.
2. It raised safety concerns.
3. It was newer to the marketplace, meaning that rare or long-term adverse effects were less likely to be known.
4. It cost more than FDA-approved drugs for the same problem.
5. It was marketed heavily by drug companies.
Most of these drugs fall into three classes of medications…
ATYPICAL ANTIPSYCHOTICS
This new generation of medicines is now the top-selling class of drugs in the US, replacing cholesterol-lowering agents as number one.
They’re called “atypical” to distinguish them from older antipsychotics. The drugs are approved to treat the psychosis of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Main off-label uses: In 2008, there were nine million off-label prescriptions written for antipsychotic drugs in the US, more than double the amount in 1995.
They are used for a wide range of psychiatric conditions, including the behavioral problems of dementia, such as severe agitation (the most common use)… depression… long-term maintenance in bipolar disorder (the drugs are approved only for short-term use)… obsessive-compulsive disorder… and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Biggest risks: With long-term use, the drugs tend to cause weight gain and the subsequent development of type 2 diabetes.
And in the elderly with dementia, they are linked to an increased incidence of heart problems and a higher death rate.
The drugs: Quetiapine (Seroquel), risperidone (Risperdal), olanzapine (Zyprexa), aripiprazole (Abilify) and ziprasidone (Geodon).
Shocking new finding: Researchers in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania studied 2,597 people with Parkinson’s disease and psychosis (hallucinations and delusional thinking), a common symptom of the disease.
Fifty percent of the patients were prescribed antipsychotic drugs. Of those, most received off-label atypical antipsychotics — in spite of the fact that there are no scientific studies showing that the prescribed drugs work for psychosis in Parkinson’s…
that two of the drugs (Zyprexa and Risperdal) have been shown to worsen Parkinson’s symptoms… and that there is a “black box” warning on these antipsychotics alerting doctors that they increase the risk for death in those patients who have been studied.
Less than 2% of the patients received clozapine (Clozaril) — an older atypical antipsychotic that scientific studies show does improve psychosis in Parkinson’s. The study was reported in the July 2011 issue of Archives of Neurology.
ANTIDEPRESSANTS
This is another top-selling class of drugs, approved for major depression and a few other conditions.
Main off-label uses: In a study of Medicaid patients, 75% of prescriptions for antidepressants were off-label.
Off-label uses include treating mild depression (dysthymia)… bipolar disorder… insomnia… hot flashes… urinary incontinence and bladder infections… diabetic neuropathy… and chronic pain.
Biggest risks: Antidepressants don’t pose the same level of health risk as antipsychotics. But while they may have a low risk of harming you, there is little scientific evidence showing that their off-label use helps the conditions for which they are being prescribed.
Why spend money on a drug with potential side effects and no proven benefit?
The drugs: Escitalopram (Lexapro), bupropion (Wellbutrin), sertraline (Zoloft), venlafaxine (Effexor) and duloxetine (Cymbalta).
ANTISEIZURE DRUGS
These drugs are approved to treat epilepsy.
Main off-label uses: They’re commonly prescribed for chronic pain — in fact, they’re often used without making certain that other approaches have been tried.
Biggest risks: When an off-label drug replaces approved therapies for chronic pain and when there’s evidence that the pharmaceutical industry is promoting that particular use, then there’s a serious question as to whether that drug is the best treatment for chronic pain.
The drugs: Gabapentin (Neurontin) and pregabalin (Lyrica).
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR DOCTOR
If you or a family member is prescribed an antipsychotic, antidepressant or antiseizure drug, ask your doctor the following questions…
Could you give me more background on the evidence that this drug will work for the condition I have and be beneficial for me?
Best answer: The drug is FDA-approved for the condition and has been recommended by an expert group based on a review of the available scientific literature.
If that’s not the answer, consider other treatment options.
Also, many doctors tend to prescribe new, expensive, brand-name drugs over tried-and-true drugs. Example: The newer diabetes drug sitagliptin (Januvia) is often prescribed over the generic drug metformin — even though Januvia has not been proven to work better than metformin.
This practice is widespread for both off-label and FDA-approved drugs, so ask your doctor…
What’s the rationale for putting me on this expensive new drug?
Best answer: The newer drug was proven in clinical studies to work better than the older drug. (This is rarely the case.) If that’s not the answer, consider the older, safer, proven drug.
Source:
Randall S. Stafford, MD, PhD, director of the Program on Prevention Outcomes and Practices and associate professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center at Stanford University.
He is author or coauthor of more than 120 scientific papers — including several on studies of off-label drugs — that have appeared in Annals of Internal Medicine, The New England Journal of Medicine, The Journal of the American Medical Association and other leading medical journals.
February 1st, 2012 at 9:34 am
Mitt Romney’s significant victory Tuesday night in the key battleground state of Florida fortified his position as the front-runner for the Republican nomination and he wasted no time taking the fight directly to President Barack Obama.
“This campaign is about more than replacing a president, it’s about saving the soul of America,” Romney said. “Leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses. I stand ready to lead this party and this nation. My leadership will end the Obama era and begin a new era of American prosperity,” Romney said.
The former Massachusetts governor spoke to a crowded room of supporters less than an hour after the last polls closed in the state’s panhandle, and said his vision of America is to strengthen the economy and embolden the nation’s entrepreneurial spirit.
“The president’s view of a free economy is to send your money to his friends,” Romney said. “Under this president, more Americans have lost their jobs and more foreclosures have occurred than any other president in history.”
“The president actually said in his State of the Union speech, let’s remember how we got here. Don’t worry Mr. President, we remember exactly how we got here, you won the election,” Romney said.
“You were elected to lead, you chose to follow, and now Mr. President, it’s time for you to get out of the way,” Romney said.
With 98 percent of the polls reporting, Romney won the race with 46 percent, followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich with 32 percent, former Sen. Rick Santorum with 13 percent, and Rep. Ron Paul with seven percent.
“If enthusiasm wins elections, we would win hands down,” Paul told his supporters. “We’re in third place when it comes to delegates, that’s what really counts.”
Romney’s success in Florida plus his win in New Hampshire and second-place finishes in Iowa and South Carolina bring his total number of delegates to 87, followed by Gingrich with 26, 14 for Santorum and four for Paul. The Republican candidate will need 1,144 delegates to win the nomination.
To read more of the speeches and reactions, go to HumanEvents.com.
—Audrey Hudson
February 1st, 2012 at 10:12 am
There appears to be a problem developing in the Philippines. A downed three-occupant Alien Craft has been held for nine days by Philippine Rebels. The aliens aboard died in the crash. But the craft and their bodies has not been returned. It was confiscated by these rebels and is being held for ransom to the Philippine or U.S. governments.
If it is not returned, the group responsible for the craft will send a natural disaster towards the Philippines. The TAO has been approached to manufacture one that will seriously impact the Philippines without harming Guam.
These Rebels would be wise to return the craft and its occupants immediately to avoid another ‘Japan Incident.’
HOWIE
February 1st, 2012 at 10:14 am
What an article. How much more weird can the world get.
February 1st, 2012 at 10:16 am
Howie, what can be done if they won’t return the stuff? I live here in the Philippines. Why should I suffer for their mistakes.
February 1st, 2012 at 4:57 pm
It’s Black History/Herstory Month. Great article debunking the 10 biggest myths about black history:
http://www.thegrio.com/black-history/black-history-month-debunking-the-10-biggest-myths-about-black-history.php?page=1
/SB
February 1st, 2012 at 9:33 pm
Social Butterfly, I went to see the movie “Red Tails.” From the opening credits one can see why the white establishment will stop at nothing to prevent this movie from getting a wide view.
I say this as a white man who took his three young children to see it. I had to take them because it was rated PG-13. The only reason it was rated PG-13 was to keep young white kids from learning about the evil deeds of their forefathers.
I left proud of those black soldiers and ashamed of the lies we continue to perpetuate.
John
February 1st, 2012 at 9:39 pm
Will someone please explain to me why anyone with half a brain would support the republican party.
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Alabama state Sen. Shadrack McGill said that increasing teacher pay is against “a biblical principle” because it might attract people who otherwise wouldn’t do the job.
“Teachers need to make the money that they need to make,” McGill said, according to the Times-Journal. “If you double a teacher’s pay scale, you’ll attract people who aren’t called to teach … and these teachers that are called to teach, regardless of the pay scale, they would teach. It’s just in them to do. It’s the ability that God give ‘em.”
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This is so idiotic as to be confinable. But the question is who should be confined the state senator or the shit for brains constituents who vote for her?
Aba
February 1st, 2012 at 9:43 pm
What do you expect? The conservatives of the time crucified Jesus because he was a teacher (Rabbi) and didn’t teach the conservative ideology of the day. He was so liberal he was a radical.
It brings into focus Mark Twain’s comment, “Conservatism is the blind and fear-filled worship of dead radicals.”
Believe me, if Christ returned today, these current Bible-thumpers wouldn’t even recognize him.
February 1st, 2012 at 9:44 pm
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is introducing the “Pay A Fair Share Act” today in the Senate. This bill would make it so millionaires and billionaires paying lower tax rates than the middle class would have to pay a 30 percent effective tax rate.1
President Obama asked for the “Buffett Rule” in his State of the Union speech, calling it “common sense”. Sen. Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, answered the call. But we need your help to make it happen.
Under the current laws, loopholes and special provisions allow some of the wealthiest Americans to pay lower effective tax rates than middle class families. For example Mitt Romney paid only 13.9% on his millions in income in 2010. That’s just not fair. It’s time that the 1% paid the same tax rates as the 99%.
February 1st, 2012 at 9:46 pm
One of the building blocks of the Republican party is keeping the average person stupid and you do that by not teaching them to think or not to incestigate the 30 secound spots they here on the radio.
The dumber the teachers the dumber the students its a natural progresion. There for the wilder the stories the poiticians can tell and not bw questioned. Which results in acceptance of lower quality of life and and salery.
Becuse you do not know any better and you never question the bullshit that you are being told. The few students who do graduate high school after 16 or more years are preapared to accept the most meneal of jobs at the bottom of the economic ladder there for the owners make more money and like Romeny get to keep off shore bank accounts!
February 1st, 2012 at 9:48 pm
Gotta love those Republicans, they care so much for the American people, it is just heart warming,
I agree that the Republican Party is doomed! What I do not agree with is the why! The Republicans have lied and cheated their way to the top over the last 60 years.
The GOP has claimed to be religious, but they are anything but religious!
They do not follow the bible, only the parts of the bible they want to follow.
The GOP are the greediest SOB’s in the entire US! They are not even trying to help the working people of America they are only for the rich that can hand them campaign cash.
And yet, so many voters still don’t get it, Believe what you see, and vote them out of office so we can get our country back on track, cuz they sure are not going to do it.
February 1st, 2012 at 9:49 pm
I guess this state senator forgot the part about women not being able to teach…the following quote being directly from the buy-bull. Should we only have male teachers?
1 Timothy 2:12 “But I suffer not a woman to teach…”
“Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.”
Seneca the Younger
February 1st, 2012 at 11:09 pm
Thanks SB for the black myth link.
February 1st, 2012 at 11:24 pm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/baraa-melhem-palestine-woman-locked-bathroom_n_1224194.html
Men are so sick.
February 2nd, 2012 at 7:20 am
Social Butterfly, that’s a great link, thanks for sharing.
A favorite female cousin of mine married a southern Baptist minister, he started it and then she convinced herself that women didn’t make very good teachers…uh-huh…bc it was written in the ‘good’ book (good for who? ‘men’ – clearly), the passages are cited above.
I’m sorry, no time to look again but whoever wrote buy-bull – hmmm, wish I’d have coined that term, nice one ; )
OK, I’m outta here!
Luv, Zen Lill
February 2nd, 2012 at 8:39 am
HG, I too love that term, buy-bull. Bravo!
John, I haven’t seen Red Tails yet – I’ve heard mixed reviews from friends about the film, but after reading the below, I’m going to make sure that I GO to the movie theater to see it.
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In the face of media criticism of the portrayals of the Tuskegee Airmen in Red Tails, a number of activists had taken to social media to protest against what was thought to be a racially-tinged effort to denigrate the contribution of the wartime fighting unit. Beginning with statements to support the film made by surviving Tuskegee Airmen who had seen the film in previews, and spurred by the comments made by Lucas in a candid interview on The Daily Show where the producer openly discussed the difficulties of trying to get Red Tails made over the past 23 years, a Facebook campaign was started.
In the Oakland, California premiere, two sold-out screenings were a testament to the success of the campaign. Effie Tesfahun, one of the organizers, explained, “When [Lucas] said Hollywood does not want to touch black films, it really hit me … I thought we should get together and all go and support [this film]. Regardless of what Hollywood thinks, we all want to see positive messages of black people in the movies … We need to speak, and speak loud, and speak with our dollars, because that’s where people pay attention, when you start talking with your money,” Tesfahun said. “We are sending a message that this is what we want.”
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Have a lovely day all.
/SB