December 12, 2003 - U.S. to Assist Emergency Workers Hurt by Smallpox Vaccine - Associated Press via www.immunizationinfo.org

December 8, 2003 - Injections Said to Hamper Bioterror Fight - AP via ABC News - "Coming up with medicines that can be given in a nasal spray or by slapping on a patch rather than injections would be a big help in developing and stockpiling vaccines against major bioterrorism threats, an official involved in the government's Project Bioshield said Sunday...Trying to prepare and administer injections to the entire populations of even just major urban areas would be unwieldy and impractical, Dr. Philip K. Russell said in a talk wrapping up a meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in Philadelphia."

December 21, 2003 - Canaries in the mine - Evidence of chemical effects on kids mounts - Scripps Howard News Service - The Gleaner via www.myinky.com - "At Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Dr. Martha Herbert is seeing younger and younger children who have been prescribed powerful drugs because their behavior is 'so extreme.'...One 4-year-old was treated with Risperdol, an antipsychotic drug usually prescribed to adult schizophrenics, because she tried to kill a sibling. 'I've had several cases like that,' said Herbert, a pediatric neurologist. 'It's scary because this kind of thing hardly ever used to happen.'...Across the nation, evidence of a growing number of children diagnosed with attention, learning, behavioral and emotional disorders have perplexed doctors and researchers and worried teachers and parents....The disturbing conclusion some experts are reaching is that a significant share of these conditions may be caused by environmental toxins that interfere with brain development in children beginning in the womb and which may be lowering the intelligence of the population at large."

December 21, 2003 - Wrongly accused -  Sunday Sun via icNewcastle, UK - "North parents of autism sufferers are being wrongly accused of harming their own children, experts claim...They believe families are being labelled potential abusers by social workers who are basing their decisions on the discredited theories of Roy Meadow...Now, however, experts in autism - a developmental disorder affecting the ability to communicate and socially interact with others - claim parents have been accused of Msbp when raising health fears about their kids."

December 18, 2003 - Parents, schools bear high cost of autism - The Sacramento Bee - "Jackson's tutoring sessions teach him communication and behavioral skills that are intuitive to non-autistic children -- sessions that put him and thousands of other autistic children at the center of a growing dilemma for California. Experts say these intensive treatments are the only technique proven effective in giving autistic children the skills they need to live independent lives...Yet with the state's autistic population doubling in the past four years, the success of these life lessons and their high costs -- as much as $60,000 a year per child -- threaten to overwhelm school districts already struggling to balance their budgets."

December 18, 2003 - Love and despair: Ohio families struggle to provide medical treatment for their children - Families of sickest kids crushed by soaring costs and state aid cuts - Lancaster Eagle-Gazette

December 19, 2003 - Governor decides not to slash aid to disabled - Plan was a mistake, Schwarzenegger says - The Mercury News - "A month ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, long an advocate of programs for the developmentally disabled, shocked backers of these services when he announced he was slashing millions in aid to those with autism, cerebral palsy and mental retardation...Thursday, Schwarzenegger, whose Kennedy family in-laws started the Special Olympics, confirmed he had made an about-face and decided not to trim the aid, saying it was all a mistake.

December 17, 2003 - The puzzle of autism - Congress will vote on a bill that could curtail the right to an education for disabled students; That is not the answer - The Mercury-News via www.bayarea.com

December 15, 2003 - The Nation's Top Scientists Speak Out on Mercury Pollution; New Research Suggests Delays May Be Harmful - Hubbard Brook Research Foundation via U.S. Newswire

December 17, 2003 - More parents reject MMR - www.femail.co.uk - "A record number of parents are shunning the MMR vaccine, heightening fears that children will be exposed to a major measles epidemic...In some areas, as many as four in ten children are not having the triple jab which is at the centre of concerns over a possible link to autism and bowel disease... Demand for single jabs is soaring as uptake of MMR has fallen to a new low of just 58 per cent in parts of London, Health Department figures reveal."

The latest Rapid responses to Hear the Silence - by Elliman and Bedford (BMJ)

The latest Rapid responses to Hear the Silence - by Fitzpatrick (BMJ)

December 20, 2003 - A Mercury Non-Policy - Washington Post editorial - "Or maybe both federal agencies should take a lesson from the District: Determine what is really hazardous, be clear about it, resist pressure to hush it up -- and then get the cleanup going."

Comment: Sounds like a plan.

December 18, 2003 - Ex-teacher arrested in mercury spill incident - AP via The Enquirer - "A former biology teacher at Sacred Heart Academy was arrested for allegedly trying to clean a small amount of mercury that spilled without alerting school officials...When mercury is spilled in a classroom, the students are supposed to be evacuated and the room sealed off, school and health officials said."

Comment:  But inject huge doses into tiny babies?  Not to worry.  It's the good kind of mercury, the kind that can't hurt you, that we've been injecting into them.

December 18, 2003 - Fears over fall in uptake of MMR jab - EveningNews24, UK - "THE number of parents opting to give their children the controversial MMR vaccine has dropped in Norwich and Norfolk...The five per cent drop in uptake of the vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, but has been linked with autism, reflects the national trend of more parents shunning the treatment."

December 16, 2003 - Plaudits and condemnation for MMR drama - icWales, UK

December 18, 2003 - Parents, schools bear high cost of autism - The Sacramento Bee - "Jackson's tutoring sessions teach him communication and behavioral skills that are intuitive to non-autistic children -- sessions that put him and thousands of other autistic children at the center of a growing dilemma for California. Experts say these intensive treatments are the only technique proven effective in giving autistic children the skills they need to live independent lives...Yet with the state's autistic population doubling in the past four years, the success of these life lessons and their high costs -- as much as $60,000 a year per child -- threaten to overwhelm school districts already struggling to balance their budgets."

December 18, 2003 - Love and despair: Ohio families struggle to provide medical treatment for their children - Families of sickest kids crushed by soaring costs and state aid cuts - Lancaster Eagle-Gazette

December 19, 2003 - Governor decides not to slash aid to disabled - Plan was a mistake, Schwarzenegger says - The Mercury News - "A month ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, long an advocate of programs for the developmentally disabled, shocked backers of these services when he announced he was slashing millions in aid to those with autism, cerebral palsy and mental retardation...Thursday, Schwarzenegger, whose Kennedy family in-laws started the Special Olympics, confirmed he had made an about-face and decided not to trim the aid, saying it was all a mistake.

Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism - Institute of Medicine - meeting alert - "The ninth meeting of the Immunization Safety Review Committee will be held on February 9, 2004, at the Keck Center of the National Academies, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001, Room 100. This meeting will be part of the information gathering process of the committee and is open to the public." 

December 16, 2003 - Stroke victims more likely to develop Alzheimer's - Milwaukee Journal  Sentinel via The Seattle Times

December 18, 2003 - Tracking Gulf War Veterans' Health - Ivanhoe Newswire via www.wave3.com - "A new study shows the health of Gulf war veterans has improved in recent years, but is still poorer than that of other military personnel. In another study, researchers found Gulf war veterans are not at an increased risk for cancer."

December 21, 2003 - Canaries in the mine - Evidence of chemical effects on kids mounts - Scripps Howard News Service - The Gleaner via www.myinky.com - "At Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Dr. Martha Herbert is seeing younger and younger children who have been prescribed powerful drugs because their behavior is 'so extreme.'...One 4-year-old was treated with Risperdol, an antipsychotic drug usually prescribed to adult schizophrenics, because she tried to kill a sibling. 'I've had several cases like that,' said Herbert, a pediatric neurologist. 'It's scary because this kind of thing hardly ever used to happen.'...Across the nation, evidence of a growing number of children diagnosed with attention, learning, behavioral and emotional disorders have perplexed doctors and researchers and worried teachers and parents....The disturbing conclusion some experts are reaching is that a significant share of these conditions may be caused by environmental toxins that interfere with brain development in children beginning in the womb and which may be lowering the intelligence of the population at large."

January 2004 -Developmental, behavioural and somatic factors in pervasive developmental disorders: preliminary analysis. - journal article (Child Care Health Dev) - "RESULTS: Preliminary results showed general agreement with the principle diagnostic differences between the PDD subgroups with patients diagnosed with AS showing an increased frequency of skills acquired before symptom onset (two- to three-word phrase speech, toileting skills) and a decreased frequency of regression in acquired skills when compared with other PDD subgroups. Developmental milestones such as the achievement of bowel and bladder continence were also more frequently reported for the AS group..."

December 16, 2003 - Poll finds 30 percent of families have children with learning disorders - Sripps Howard News Service via www.islandpacket.com - "One in every three American families has had to cope with a child with a learning disability or a mental illness and most people believe such problems are increasing, according to a poll by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University...In a national survey of 1,054 people, 65 percent said they believe learning disabilities are becoming more common and 72 percent said mental health problems are becoming more common...Thirty percent of poll respondents said they have had a child under age 18 in their family - a brother or sister, son or daughter, niece or nephew, grandchild or first cousin - diagnosed with a learning disability. Eight percent said they have had more than one child diagnosed with a learning disability."

Comment: But in the (special) interest of preserving the status quo, let's ignore one of the most likely probable causes, i.e., vaccines.

December 16, 2003 - Evidence of chemical effects on children mounts - Scripps Howard News Service via The Albuquerque Tribune - "Across the nation, evidence of a growing number of children diagnosed with attention, learning, behavioral and emotional disorders have perplexed doctors and researchers and worried teachers and parents...The disturbing conclusion some experts are reaching is that a significant share of these conditions may be caused by environmental toxins that interfere with brain development in children beginning in the womb and which may be lowering the intelligence of the population at large...Epidemiologists caution that personal observations or even documented trends in diagnosis are not proof that any of these disorders is increasing in children. Only a national study that investigates and tracks tens of thousands of children - something that has never been done in the United States - would be able to determine the true prevalence of these problems and whether they are actually increasing...Over the years, scientists have repeatedly lowered their estimates of how much mercury people can tolerate. The same is true for lead, which has been known for over a century to cause brain damage."

Comment: What, no mention of vaccines?

Comment:  And, pray tell, given the alarming rise in the number of children with developmental disabilities, why has "a national study that investigates and tracks tens of thousands of children...never been done in the United States"? 

December 16, 2003 - Pollution Linked To Heart Disease - "It certainly did surprise us when we first observed these results. We just anticipated that breathing particles into your lungs would most likely have a direct impact on your lungs.' - C. Arden Pope III, BYU. - AP via www.cbsnews.com

December 9, 2003 - Chickenpox: why children's lives are at risk - http://aca.ninemsn.com.au  - "Chickenpox is a common condition, particularly among children. It's an illness synonymous with red, itchy spots all over the body, even the mouth, but few are aware just how serious this disorder can be. Today, ACA explores the dangers and why children's lives are being put at risk...'He gave us antibiotics, told us to give him a good bath in some oats or Pinetarsol to keep the itching down, just keep the fluids up and lots of bed rest.'...'In the end he [Jesse] was pumped up with adult drugs and we were told about an hour beforehand he was going to die and there was nothing they could do about it,' says Renay."

Comment:  Why was a child who had chickenpox, a virus, given antibiotics, which are only effective against bacteria? What adult drugs?  What else did they do that might have led to this child's demise?

December 15, 2002 - Cod-liver Oil for Babies Can Ward Off Diabetes - Daily Mail via www.healthy.net

December 19, 2003 - Flu-vaccine sellers jab buyers with sharp increases in price - St. Louis Post-Dispatch via The Seattle Times - "Unprecedented demand for the flu vaccine has caused its price to skyrocket from $40 for a 10-dose vial two months ago to as high as $215 today, leading to charges that companies are price-gouging health agencies amid fears of an unusually harsh flu season...'It's pretty clear someone is being taken advantage of here," said Sue Denny with Missouri's state immunization program, "and it's easy to see who.'"

December 19, 2003 - US Checking to See if Flu Season Worse Than Usual - Reuters Health

December 20, 2003 - Health officials declare flu an epidemic - Newsday via The Seattle Times - "The nationwide sweep of influenza now has been classified by federal health officials as an epidemic in the wake of 42 youngsters' deaths and 36 states reporting widespread flu...The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is urging people not to overwhelm emergency rooms because most influenza infections can be treated successfully at home...The number of flu cases technically has not surpassed the threshold to declare an official epidemic in the United States...But CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding, who long had avoided using the "e" word, yesterday called the nationwide influenza outbreak a bona fide epidemic. 'From a practical perspective, given the number of people affected, it's fair to characterize it as an epidemic,' she said."

December 20, 2003 - Flu has killed 42 children, teens, CDC says - Washington Post via www.azcentral.com - "Because the federal government doesn't usually collect statistics on flu cases and deaths, Gerberding said it remains unclear whether more children are dying this year than in previous years. But the fact that the agency has taken the unusual step of collecting the data this year and for the first time released a tally is a sign of concern among federal health officials."

December 20, 2003 - Specter of Flu Outbreak Haunts Doctors - The Herald-Sun - "Some U.S. hospitals are already struggling to deal with the current flu outbreak. But that is nothing compared to what would happen if a powerful new flu strain exploded into a worldwide flu outbreak, known as a pandemic...Patients would overwhelm hospitals, and the overflow would have to be housed elsewhere, such as schools -- which would already be closed. Nurses, already in short supply, could not possibly get to everyone. And there would be even fewer doctors and nurses once they, too, started getting sick...There would not be enough antiviral drugs or ventilators to take care of the elderly, who are most at risk of dying from flu."

December 18, 2003 - Fighting flu not a priority - Knight Ridder via The Miami Herald - "The flu kills 36,000 Americans a year, but the federal government spends only about half as much money on research to fight it as it spends to attack the boll weevil, a pest that eats cotton."

December 19, 2003 - Wash Hands Often, Sanitize Surfaces To Prevent Flu - www.wave3.com

Comment:  Remind me, then, why just about everyone is supposed to get a flu shot?  Who, exactly, does this benefit, other than the vaccine manufacturers and those with financial ties to them?

December 20, 2003 - Fear of litigation hits supply of flu vaccine - Financial Times - "These factors represent a combination of American dilemmas. Tort liability limits the number of vaccine makers. The profit potential in the vaccine market is often too low to overcome concerns over liability for illnesses that could be traced back to vaccination. And disagreements exist over the appropriate level of government involvement...Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader from Tennessee, last week told a television audience that one cause for shortages was the 'high cost of litigation - the frivolous lawsuits that come from these little, tiny vaccines'."

Comment: "Little, tiny vaccines".  What harm could they possibly do?  Itsy-bitsy atoms.  What harm could they possibly do?  How reassuring.

December 20, 2003 - CDC Activates Center to Deal With Flu - AP via Newsweek

December 20, 2003 - Flu Experts: Worst Yet to Come - http://kfab-amhealth.ip2m.com

December 19, 2003 - Rough flu season highlights economic problems of vaccine industry  - AP via www.canada.com - "This year, the drugmaker again produced 43 million doses - 35 per cent more than were ordered - and it sold out. It isn't supposed to be this way. The flu vaccine business is supposed to be predictable: Customers place orders so manufacturers know how much to produce and they don't lose money throwing away unwanted product."

December 13, 2003 - Empire covers kids’ intranasal flu vaccine - Crain's New York Business - "Children aged 6 months to 9 years should receive two inoculations four weeks apart for full protection against the flu virus."

Comment:  This must be a mistake!  FluMist hasn't been approved for use by children aged 6 months to 5 years!

December 18, 2003 - Bayh Proposes Flu Protection Law - WTWO News - "It would require the Centers for Disease Control to do a better job of predicting the number of flu shots needed each year."

Comment: How on earth can you require the CDC to predict the future better?

December 18, 2003 - No autopsy sought for infant - The Cincinnati Enquirer - "Olivia had received half a dose of the flu vaccine this fall, the dosage recommended by her doctor, her parents said."

Comment:  Do vaccinated infants and children die because of the flu vaccine or in spite of it?  We'll never know the answer to this question until and unless properly designed population studies comparing the vaccinated to the never vaccinated are  conducted.

December 18, 2003 - Comments re: Flu outbreak worst in 30 years in the West, experts say - The Daily Herald

Influenza Virus Vaccine - Fluzone® 2003 -2004 Formula (pdf)

December 18, 2003 - Flu spreads across U.S. but no epidemic yet: CDC - Reuters - "Influenza is now widespread in 36 U.S. states and has been found in all 50, but the outbreak is not yet an epidemic, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday...People may be filling hospital emergency rooms thinking they have flu, but only about a third of suspect cases actually are influenza, the CDC said in its weekly report on death and disease."

December 18, 2003 - Why U.S. supply of flu vaccine fell short - Knight Ridder via The Seattle Times - "What went wrong?...U.S. health officials and drug companies say it was mostly bad luck, and the difficulties inherent in making vaccines...Critics say it was flawed decisions by both of the above. And they say officials should be more candid that this year's flu vaccine was formulated to protect against three older strains of the virus, but not against the new strain racing across the country."

December 19, 2003 - Vaccine shortage a question of timing - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - "If international health officials had discovered the Fujian strain of influenza a little earlier or if manufacturers had been able to speed up production, perhaps there would have been time enough to make a vaccine that was both the right type and the right quantity...That's not the case now."

December 18, 2003 - EBay pulls plug on sale of flu shots - The Boston Globe - "'Sure, this is unethical, but it's not a lot different from stuff we do in medicine every day,' Annas said."

Comment: Important article

December 17, 2003 - Two new drugs shorten flu, but rarely prescribed - Knight Ridder Newspaper via www.centredaily.com - "The drugs - marketed under the brand names Tamiflu and Relenza - can reduce the duration of the flu if taken early enough...But they've been slow to catch on among doctors and patients alike."

December 17, 2003 - Flu scientist calls for new technique - 'Reverse genetics' method still needs government approval - Rocky Mountain News - "An experimental method called reverse genetics could have been used to create a flu vaccine to protect against the Fujian strain, which sparked this fall's early and intense outbreak in Colorado and other Western states, said Dr. Linda Lambert of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases...'The technology was there to make a Fujian vaccine candidate you could have given to the manufacturers,' Lambert said...But the technique, which targets individual influenza genes, hasn't been approved by regulatory agencies. Patent issues and financial roadblocks could further slow the adoption of reverse genetics and other emerging vaccine technologies."

December 16, 2003 - Run on Flu Vaccine Highlights Vaccine Woes - Reuters, UK - "The current run on influenza vaccine in United States highlights the neglected status of vaccines in general, health experts said on Tuesday -- but efforts are under way to improve vaccine technology and supply...The group also advised stronger liability protections for manufacturers; a requirement that manufacturers give advance notice if they are leaving the marketplace; and a national campaign to emphasize the safety and benefits of vaccines...'We don't value prevention in this country," said Dr. Paul Offit of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a leading vaccine expert.'"

Comment: By "prevention", of course, Dr. Offit means vaccination, not practicing good health practices like breastfeeding, washing your hands, eating properly, exercising, drinking quality water, getting enough sleep, etc.  And what this article fails to mention is that while some may consider Dr. Offit an "expert", others remain more circumspect about his credentials, given that he is paid by the vaccine manufacturers to teach doctors that vaccines are safe, as well as a vaccine developer.  (See FACA: Conflicts of Interest and Vaccine Development: Preserving the Integrity of the Process)

December 17, 2003 - Flu: What is all the hoopla? - by Randall Neustaedter, OMD - The Natural Health Newsletter - "'First SARS, then monkeypox, now the flu. How far can the media go in stirring up public hysteria and fear of diseases? Answer: as far as drug companies tell them. “Jump,” say the drug companies. “How high?” say their media cohorts. “High enough to sell all our new flu vaccine.'”

December 17, 2003 - Vaccinating against disaster - The Washington Times - "Parents are in a panic about getting their kids immunized as a flu epidemic spreads rapidly across America. But if Democrats (and some Republicans) get their way, the vaccine shortages will soon spread to medicines for other diseases...    That's because Democrats want to apply the policies that produced the shortages — federal bulk purchase and distribution of old vaccines at government-controlled prices, combined with a refusal to pay for new technology in the name of cost containment — to every drug used for every disease, no matter how fatal."

December 16, 2003 - Congress seeks $150 million to upgrade flu vaccine production - CNN

December 14, 2003 - Many People Resist Flu Shots - Miami Herald via www.immunizationinfo.org - "The CDC is concerned about the lack of interest in a flu vaccine and is looking for ways to understand patient apathy so that it might change the attitude in the future. Doctors note that many patients believe that the flu shot can make them ill, though the injected vaccine is not made with live virus and presents no risk of causing sickness. Other reasons cited for avoiding the flu vaccine include having gotten the shot in the past and feeling sick afterwards, general distrust of vaccines in general, and being healthy."

December 19, 2003 - A pair of discoveries helps unravel complex genetics of inflammatory bowel disease - Scientists find first gene involved in causing ulcerative colitis - Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions via www.eurekalert.org

December 17, 2003 - Rationing for Vaccine for Meningitis - The New York Times - "pot shortages of a vaccine to prevent meningitis in babies have led the American Academy of Pediatrics to notify its members that the vaccine is being rationed and that if a widespread shortage occurs the vaccination schedule will be changed...The vaccine is Prevnar, made by Wyeth. It is not the same as the meningitis vaccine recommended for young adults living in college dormitories or barracks."

December 19, 2003 - Use of rubella vaccine is growing worldwide, but more work remains -  Pan American Health Organization via www.eurekalert.org

Comment: For another perspective on the advisability of widespread use of rubella vaccine to prevent congenital rubella sydrome, go to Scandals: Is Rubella Vaccination Playing A Role In The Rise In Autism?

Comment:  Some people just live right.

December 22, 2003 - Drug giant linked to immunisation campaign - www.theage.com.au - "International drug company Wyeth is helping to fund a lobbying campaign by a supposedly independent health group to get the Federal Government to introduce universal immunisation against pneumococcal disease...Wyeth produces the only pneumococcal vaccine approved for use in young children in Australia."

December 16, 2003 - What's up Doc? Pneumonia is serious - Daily News Transcript

December 19, 2003 - Polio prevalence in West Africa is at crisis point - GNA via www.ghanaweb.com

November 28, 2003 - Global Progress Toward Certifying Polio Eradication and Laboratory Containment of Wild Polioviruses --- August 2002--August 2003 - CDC

Comment:  For another perspective on the what is happening with polio, go to Scandals: What Do We Really Know About Polio and the Polio Vaccine?

December 19, 2003 - Rabies victim bit nurses in despair - The Scotsman

December 20, 2003 - Taiwan to Release 12 From SARS Quarantine - The Herald-Sun - "Taiwan's health authorities said Saturday they would release 12 more people from home quarantine, saying they have shown no symptoms of SARS since coming in contact with a medical researcher infected with the potentially deadly virus...Meanwhile, doctors said the researcher, identified only as Lt. Col. Chan, was in stable condition Saturday."

December 19, 2003 - SARS may be mammal-bird merger - Genetic shuffle might have allowed human infection. - Nature

December 21, 2003 - Wrongly accused -  Sunday Sun via icNewcastle, UK - "North parents of autism sufferers are being wrongly accused of harming their own children, experts claim...They believe families are being labelled potential abusers by social workers who are basing their decisions on the discredited theories of Roy Meadow...Now, however, experts in autism - a developmental disorder affecting the ability to communicate and socially interact with others - claim parents have been accused of Msbp when raising health fears about their kids."

December 18, 2003 - Cot death expert to face inquiry - The cot death expert at the centre of a series of high profile cases against women accused of killing their babies is to face a professional conduct committee. - BBC

December 18, 2003 - UK Cot Death Expert May Face Misconduct Charge - Reuters via Yahoo! - "A British pediatrician whose testimony on cot death helped jail mothers accused of murdering their babies could face charges, which, if proved, could amount to serious professional misconduct, a disciplinary body said on Thursday...The General Medical Council, the statutory body that regulates the medical profession, said its preliminary proceedings committee had 'considered allegations' against Professor Sir Roy Meadow...'The committee determined that the allegations, if proved, would raise a question of serious professional misconduct, which could affect his fitness to practice,' it said in a statement."

Comment:  How many lives are ruined because of blind faith in "experts"?

December 17, 2003 - Bad Heir Days in USA Despite Munchausen Proxy and Meadow Meltdown in UK - NewsReleaseWire.com via www.expertclick.com - "The bottom line is that unless and until American media investigate the obvious--and any are invited to ask for names of the stalwarts who reported for years to their peril, now reading young writers penning "surprise" at the exposure of once-revered Roy Meadow and his fanciful baseless theory--innocent mothers and parents, never abused but chronically or temporarily confusingly ill children will not spend holidays or perhaps any time ever with each other."

December 10, 2003 - VCH Study Finds Deadly Pertussis Making a Comeback; new study begun - Vanderbilt Children's Hospital - "Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital researchers are alarmed by the deaths of four infants at Vanderbilt Children’s over the last year from pertussis, or whooping cough. Dr. Natasha Halasa, Clinical fellow, Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Dr. Kathryn Edwards, Vice chair of Clinical Research and Professor of Pediatrics have published an editorial in November’s The Journal of Pediatrics encouraging a change in the immunization schedule to better protect very young babies from the bacterial infection...Halasa’s study in December’s Pediatrics found even more disturbing information, that even the most advanced treatments for respiratory illness don’t appear to work effectively for infants with pertussis...The answer, Halasa says, is clearly prevention with a new immunization schedule...The main purpose of this study is to determine if it is safe to administer an additional dose of the pertussis vaccine in the first days of life and also to see if babies can mount an adequate immune response. If it is successful, Halasa hopes an eventual change in the immunization schedule might save babies’ lives."

1997 - Are serological responses to acellular pertussis antigens sufficient criteria to ensure that new combination vaccines are effective for prevention of disease? - journal article - (Dev Biol Stand) - "Unfortunately, the antibody titres induced by acellular pertussis vaccines do not correlate with vaccine efficacy. Thus, although diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine has been considered a prime building block in the development of new combination vaccines, modifying DTaP by the addition of new vaccine components may decrease the ability of the vaccine to protect against pertussis without a change in serum antibody response. For this reason, immunogenicity is not an adequate or safe basis for licensing combination vaccines containing acellular pertussis."

December 17, 2003 - Public Health: Cases of whooping cough top 400 - The Pioneer Press  - "Wisconsin has had about 430 confirmed or probable cases of whooping cough so far this year, more than the total for both of the two previous years combined, the director of the state Immunization Program says."

December 16, 2003 - Frist Hails Recommendations Of National Vaccine Advisory Committee - www.chattanoogan.com - "U.S. Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) today hailed recommendations to strengthen the nation’s supply of childhood vaccines made by the National Vaccine Advisory Commission (NVAC)."

December 17, 2003 - Strengthening the Supply of Routinely Recommended Vaccines in the United States - Recommendations From the National Vaccine Advisory Committee - journal article (JAMA)

December 16, 2003 - Run on Flu Vaccine Highlights Vaccine Woes - Reuters, UK - "The current run on influenza vaccine in United States highlights the neglected status of vaccines in general, health experts said on Tuesday -- but efforts are under way to improve vaccine technology and supply...The group also advised stronger liability protections for manufacturers; a requirement that manufacturers give advance notice if they are leaving the marketplace; and a national campaign to emphasize the safety and benefits of vaccines...'We don't value prevention in this country," said Dr. Paul Offit of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a leading vaccine expert.'"

Comment: By "prevention", of course, Dr. Offit means vaccination, not practicing good health practices like breastfeeding, washing your hands, eating properly, exercising, drinking quality water, getting enough sleep, etc.  And what this article fails to mention is that while some may consider Dr. Offit an "expert", others remain more circumspect about his credentials, given that he is paid by the vaccine manufacturers to teach doctors that vaccines are safe, as well as a vaccine developer.  (See FACA: Conflicts of Interest and Vaccine Development: Preserving the Integrity of the Process)

December 17, 2003 - Rationing for Vaccine for Meningitis - The New York Times - "pot shortages of a vaccine to prevent meningitis in babies have led the American Academy of Pediatrics to notify its members that the vaccine is being rationed and that if a widespread shortage occurs the vaccination schedule will be changed...The vaccine is Prevnar, made by Wyeth. It is not the same as the meningitis vaccine recommended for young adults living in college dormitories or barracks."

December 20, 2003 - The great vaccination debate - With polio vanquished and other deadly diseases in decline, many parents are saying no to the needle. But as more children go unprotected, could some lethal illnesses be poised for a comeback? - Globe and Mail - "Vaccines have become modern-day suits of armour, protecting humanity from deadly pathogens that used to cut us down in great numbers. But with many common illnesses now apparently vanquished, some parents question the need for vaccinating their children, fearing the potential side effects of the shots more than the diseases themselves...In part, the anti-vaccination movement has been fuelled by a growing tendency to question traditional medicine and embrace alternative therapies."

December 17, 2003 - Center Aims to Demystify Vaccines - HealthDayNews via ABC News - "Those little vials containing vaccines can frighten parents — enough, in some cases, that they don't get their children immunized...Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, hopes to demystify the vials and the vaccines...'If you look at that little vial, it's mysterious — people don't know what's in there' he says. 'We're trying to make it less frightening.'...The center Offit leads started in 2000 to give parents and physicians accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date information about vaccines."

Comment: Accurate according to whom?  The Committee on Government Reform considered Offit's various conflicts of interest to be important enough to include him in their investigation:  “FACA: Conflicts of Interest and Vaccine Development: Preserving the Integrity of the Process”, Thursday, June 15, 2000)

December 19, 2003 - Ahhhh! Better Than Red Wine Or Green Tea, Cocoa Froths With Cancer-preventing Compounds, Cornell Food Scientists Say - Cornell University via ScienceDaily

December 20, 2003 - Providing the world with clean water - Remains a complex problem, but time is running out - journal article (BMJ)

December 19, 2003 - Wash Hands Often, Sanitize Surfaces To Prevent Flu - www.wave3.com

December 16, 2003 - Poor fitness increases risk of heart disease: study - AFP via Yahoo!

December 17, 2003 - More fruit, veggies key to cancer fight: survey - www.ctv.ca

December 11, 2003 - A holistic approach to flu treatment - Fresh fruit juices and herbal supplements can keep your immunity strong - www.wndu.com/news

December 15, 2003 - Homeopathy: Fighting flu before it gets a grip - Provided by Newsquest (Brighton & Hove) Ltd via www.healthy.net

December 20, 2003 - Agencies Lack Tools to Track Nurses - The Herald-Sun - "A nurse suspected of killing patients in two states was able to keep his license, even after he was fired from several jobs, because hospitals, prosecutors and state regulators didn't share information."

December 20, 2003 - Audit of soap usage by a primary care team - "Much discussion has taken place in the medical press recently about the role of handwashing in preventing the transmission of infection in hospital settings. Transmission of infection is also recognised in the primary care setting.¹ Semmelweis showed 150 years ago that if doctors performing necropsies washed their hands before delivering babies a reduction in mortality (from 22% to 3%) due to streptococcal puerperal sepsis could be achieved.² Many studies since have confirmed that doctors washing their hands between patients can reduce the rates of healthcare acquired infection.³ It has become widely accepted that nurses perform better than doctors at this simple measure to prevent cross infection.⁴ I was unable to find references to any attempt to quantify this and decided to perform an audit of the consumption of handwash soap from soap dispensers that were situated next to the sinks of members of the primary care team.^"  - journal article (BMJ)

December 14, 2003 - States Accept Suspect M.D.s - www.ctnow.com - "The lawsuit against St. Mary's, which outlined a number of possible scenarios for the incident, raised a key question: Was Paul equipped to handle the critical task required of him that day?...His educational resume, in fact, included a worrisome entry: He attended Spartan Health Sciences University, a Caribbean medical school that has sparked such serious concerns about educational standards that its graduates are banned from practicing on its home island and in six states...But not New York."

DAN! Mini Conference - sponsored by The Autism Research Institute - conference alert - January 17-18 in New Orleans, Louisiana

DAN! Spring Conference - presented by The Autism Research Institute - conference alert - April 16-18, 2004 in Washington, DC

Autism One 2004 Conference - Congressman Dave Weldon MD to deliver keynote address - conference alert - May 27-30, 2004 in Chicago, Illinois

Immunization Safety Review: Vaccines and Autism - Institute of Medicine - meeting alert - "The ninth meeting of the Immunization Safety Review Committee will be held on February 9, 2004, at the Keck Center of the National Academies, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001, Room 100. This meeting will be part of the information gathering process of the committee and is open to the public." 

December 22, 2003 - Drug giant linked to immunisation campaign - www.theage.com.au - "International drug company Wyeth is helping to fund a lobbying campaign by a supposedly independent health group to get the Federal Government to introduce universal immunisation against pneumococcal disease...Wyeth produces the only pneumococcal vaccine approved for use in young children in Australia."

December 2001 - Pharma Buys a Conscience - Provincial Health Ethics Network - "Why pharmaceutical companies want the goodwill of doctors is no great mystery. The surprise is why they want the goodwill of someone like me. I am a philosophy professor, and I work at a bioethics center...The issue of corporate money has become something of an embarrassment within the bioethics community. Bioethicists have written for years about conflicts of interest in scientific research or patient care yet have paid little attention to the ones that might compromise bioethics itself."

December 17, 2003 - Center Aims to Demystify Vaccines - HealthDayNews via ABC News - "Those little vials containing vaccines can frighten parents — enough, in some cases, that they don't get their children immunized...Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, hopes to demystify the vials and the vaccines...'If you look at that little vial, it's mysterious — people don't know what's in there' he says. 'We're trying to make it less frightening.'...The center Offit leads started in 2000 to give parents and physicians accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date information about vaccines."

Comment: Accurate according to whom?  The Committee on Government Reform considered Offit's various conflicts of interest to be important enough to include him in their investigation:  “FACA: Conflicts of Interest and Vaccine Development: Preserving the Integrity of the Process”, Thursday, June 15, 2000)

December 18, 2003 - Fighting Childhood Cancer - HealthDayNews via Yahoo! - "Survival rates for children's cancer in the Nordic countries of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland are the best in Europe, says a new report."

Deember 20, 2003 - Accusations of bias prompt NIH review of ethical guidelines - (registration required) - Nature Drug Discovery

December 20, 2003 - U.S. orders probe into Pap smears - State will check Magee-Womens - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - "The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has asked the state health department to investigate charges by a former pathologist at Magee-Womens Hospital that the hospital falsified "hundreds of thousands" of Pap smear reports and destroyed medical records."

December 18, 2003 - EBay pulls plug on sale of flu shots - The Boston Globe - "'Sure, this is unethical, but it's not a lot different from stuff we do in medicine every day,' Annas said."

December 18, 2003 - Ex - Doctor Claims Pap Tests Were Falsified - AP via The New York Times - "The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center certified thousands of Pap tests when they were never reviewed by physicians, putting an unknown number of women at risk of diseases that may have gone undetected, two lawsuits allege."

December 2001 - Pharma Buys a Conscience - Provincial Health Ethics Network - "Why pharmaceutical companies want the goodwill of doctors is no great mystery. The surprise is why they want the goodwill of someone like me. I am a philosophy professor, and I work at a bioethics center...The issue of corporate money has become something of an embarrassment within the bioethics community. Bioethicists have written for years about conflicts of interest in scientific research or patient care yet have paid little attention to the ones that might compromise bioethics itself."

December 15, 2003 - A penny a month could bolster kids' immunization practices - Health Behavior News Service via www.eurekalert.org - "Researchers from the University of California at San Diego, writing in the January issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, calculate that $0.013 per child per month is needed to make recommended innovations such as patient education and feedback to doctors a regular part of immunization practice."

December 18, 2003 - Parents, schools bear high cost of autism - The Sacramento Bee - "Jackson's tutoring sessions teach him communication and behavioral skills that are intuitive to non-autistic children -- sessions that put him and thousands of other autistic children at the center of a growing dilemma for California. Experts say these intensive treatments are the only technique proven effective in giving autistic children the skills they need to live independent lives...Yet with the state's autistic population doubling in the past four years, the success of these life lessons and their high costs -- as much as $60,000 a year per child -- threaten to overwhelm school districts already struggling to balance their budgets."

December 18, 2003 - Love and despair: Ohio families struggle to provide medical treatment for their children - Families of sickest kids crushed by soaring costs and state aid cuts - Lancaster Eagle-Gazette

December 19, 2003 - Governor decides not to slash aid to disabled - Plan was a mistake, Schwarzenegger says - The Mercury News - "A month ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, long an advocate of programs for the developmentally disabled, shocked backers of these services when he announced he was slashing millions in aid to those with autism, cerebral palsy and mental retardation...Thursday, Schwarzenegger, whose Kennedy family in-laws started the Special Olympics, confirmed he had made an about-face and decided not to trim the aid, saying it was all a mistake.

December 16, 2003 - British Ignite Debate in U.S. on Drugs and Suicide (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times

December 15, 2003 - The Nation's Top Scientists Speak Out on Mercury Pollution; New Research Suggests Delays May Be Harmful - Hubbard Brook Research Foundation via U.S. Newswire

Deember 20, 2003 - Accusations of bias prompt NIH review of ethical guidelines - (registration required) - Nature Drug Discovery

December 20, 2003 - U.S. orders probe into Pap smears - State will check Magee-Womens - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - "The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has asked the state health department to investigate charges by a former pathologist at Magee-Womens Hospital that the hospital falsified "hundreds of thousands" of Pap smear reports and destroyed medical records."

December 19, 2003 - Eli Lilly Prozac UK Fact Sheet: "Not Recommended" for Children - PMDD Withdrawn in UK - AHRP - "The Alliance for Human Research Protection has obtained copies of two Eli Lilly documents that were sent to all physicians in the UK yesterday...A letter informs doctors in the UK that Prozac is no longer authorized for use in (so-called) premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). And Eli Lilly's new Prozac Fact Sheet sent to UK physicians--but not to US physicians--states that Prozac is NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN for any indication."

December 17, 2003 - Bill would allow right to free single jabs for MMR - The Herald, UK - "PLANS to give parents the right to free single vaccinations for MMR were presented yesterday by the Scottish Socialists...Carolyn Leckie, SSP list MSP for Central Scotland, who is also a midwife, unveiled a proposed back-bench bill to go before the Scottish Parliament encouraging worried parents to choose single vaccinations instead of the all-in-one MMR jab, which has been suspected by some health experts of being the cause of the rising incidence of autism...Although Ms Leckie's move is unlikely to become law because of executive insistence that there is no scientifically proved case against the single vaccination, it is certain to provoke heated debate at Holyrood."

December 17, 2003 - MSP bid for single MMR - The Scotsman

Comment: Why can't they just let people have what they want?  They only have themselves to blame for the decline in coverage.

December 15, 2003 - Health Canada to review use of psychiatric drugs on kids - CBC News - "Health Canada is reviewing whether a class of drugs - known as SSRIs - is safe for the treatment of depression in children and adolescents. The review is looking at data on many of the top-selling psychiatric drugs, including Paxil, Prozac and Celexa. None of the drugs is licensed for use in children, but doctors often do still prescribe them."

December 16, 2003 - Why Tonsils Can Be a Pain in the Neck - Newsday - "Once upon a time, getting your tonsils out was almost a rite of passage in childhood...Today, however, opinions about these two little clumps of tissue are changing. Doctors aren't so quick to remove them. And researchers are discovering that the tonsils are actually front-line guards in the defense against bacteria, viruses and other pathogens making their way into the body."

Comment:  How many of our children's immune systems were unnecessarily permanently impaired by the well-meaning, but misinformed removal of tonsils?  How many of our children's immune systems are being unnecessarily permanently impaired by current often well-meaning, but arguably equally misinformed, one-size fits all, "mandatory" vaccination policies?

December 21, 2003 - Making Malpractice Harder to Prove (requires registration or subscription) - The New York Times - "Slowly and quietly, the rules regarding expert witness testimony in medical malpractice cases have been changing: a handful of states have passed legislation in the last two years that generally requires physician experts to work in the same field as a defendant doctor, while professional doctors' groups are setting up committees to review the testimony of their members."

December 21, 2003 - Wrongly accused -  Sunday Sun via icNewcastle, UK - "North parents of autism sufferers are being wrongly accused of harming their own children, experts claim...They believe families are being labelled potential abusers by social workers who are basing their decisions on the discredited theories of Roy Meadow...Now, however, experts in autism - a developmental disorder affecting the ability to communicate and socially interact with others - claim parents have been accused of Msbp when raising health fears about their kids."

December 18, 2003 - Cot death expert to face inquiry - The cot death expert at the centre of a series of high profile cases against women accused of killing their babies is to face a professional conduct committee. - BBC

December 18, 2003 - UK Cot Death Expert May Face Misconduct Charge - Reuters via Yahoo! - "A British pediatrician whose testimony on cot death helped jail mothers accused of murdering their babies could face charges, which, if proved, could amount to serious professional misconduct, a disciplinary body said on Thursday...The General Medical Council, the statutory body that regulates the medical profession, said its preliminary proceedings committee had 'considered allegations' against Professor Sir Roy Meadow...'The committee determined that the allegations, if proved, would raise a question of serious professional misconduct, which could affect his fitness to practice,' it said in a statement."

Comment:  How many lives are ruined because of blind faith in "experts"?

December 17, 2003 - Bad Heir Days in USA Despite Munchausen Proxy and Meadow Meltdown in UK - NewsReleaseWire.com via www.expertclick.com - "The bottom line is that unless and until American media investigate the obvious--and any are invited to ask for names of the stalwarts who reported for years to their peril, now reading young writers penning "surprise" at the exposure of once-revered Roy Meadow and his fanciful baseless theory--innocent mothers and parents, never abused but chronically or temporarily confusingly ill children will not spend holidays or perhaps any time ever with each other."

December 12, 2003 - The cost of the legal system - www.townhall.com - "In its Dec. 15 issue, Newsweek details some of the ways in which lawsuits for personal injuries, medical malpractice and other things have reduced the quality of life in America...Of course, legitimate personal injuries deserve compensation. But, less and less of each dollar awarded in tort suits actually compensates for injury. According to the Tillighast study, only 22 cents on the dollar compensate for actual economic loss. The rest went to lawyers or involved punitive damages or those for "pain and suffering" that went far beyond compensating actual loss...Because juries are now willing to award absurd sums, the court system has become like a lottery, encouraging sleazy lawyers and greedy plaintiffs to take advantage of it."

Nutrition - NEW!

December 19, 2003 - New Study Suggests Higher Magnesium Intake May Reduce Risk Of Developing Type 2 Diabetes - PRNewswire via Boerse Pressemitteilung, Germany

December 19, 2003 - Ahhhh! Better Than Red Wine Or Green Tea, Cocoa Froths With Cancer-preventing Compounds, Cornell Food Scientists Say - Cornell University via ScienceDaily

December 18, 2003 - Violative Advertising and Promotional Labeling Letter -Haemophilus b Conjugate (Meningococcal Protein Conjugate) and Hepatitis B (Recombinant) Vaccine, Comvax (Merck & Co, Inc) - FDA/CBER

December 2001 - Pharma Buys a Conscience - Provincial Health Ethics Network - "Why pharmaceutical companies want the goodwill of doctors is no great mystery. The surprise is why they want the goodwill of someone like me. I am a philosophy professor, and I work at a bioethics center...The issue of corporate money has become something of an embarrassment within the bioethics community. Bioethicists have written for years about conflicts of interest in scientific research or patient care yet have paid little attention to the ones that might compromise bioethics itself."

December 12, 2003 - Big Pharma's influence on the rise - www.malaysiakini.com/

December 13, 2003 - The drugs don't work - journal article (BMJ)

December 20, 2003 - A Mercury Non-Policy - Washington Post editorial - "Or maybe both federal agencies should take a lesson from the District: Determine what is really hazardous, be clear about it, resist pressure to hush it up -- and then get the cleanup going."

Comment: Sounds like a plan.

December 17, 2003 - Bill would allow right to free single jabs for MMR - The Herald, UK - "PLANS to give parents the right to free single vaccinations for MMR were presented yesterday by the Scottish Socialists...Carolyn Leckie, SSP list MSP for Central Scotland, who is also a midwife, unveiled a proposed back-bench bill to go before the Scottish Parliament encouraging worried parents to choose single vaccinations instead of the all-in-one MMR jab, which has been suspected by some health experts of being the cause of the rising incidence of autism...Although Ms Leckie's move is unlikely to become law because of executive insistence that there is no scientifically proved case against the single vaccination, it is certain to provoke heated debate at Holyrood."

December 17, 2003 - MSP bid for single MMR - The Scotsman

December 11, 2003 - Senator wants more done about flu - South Dakota's Johnson: Response plan needed for nation - American News via Sun Herald - "Many states, including South Dakota, have influenza plans. Now, the nation needs such a blueprint."

December 18, 2003 - Proper Pregnancy Weight Gain Benefits Mom, Baby - Reuters via Yahoo!

December 19, 2003 - Study: 1 in 100 long-haul fliers may get blood clots - Reuters via CNN - "Up to one in 100 long-haul fliers could develop blood clots, and wearing compression stockings, taking aspirin and travelling business class may not help, a study showed on Friday."

December 20, 2003 - Audit of soap usage by a primary care team - "Much discussion has taken place in the medical press recently about the role of handwashing in preventing the transmission of infection in hospital settings. Transmission of infection is also recognised in the primary care setting.¹ Semmelweis showed 150 years ago that if doctors performing necropsies washed their hands before delivering babies a reduction in mortality (from 22% to 3%) due to streptococcal puerperal sepsis could be achieved.² Many studies since have confirmed that doctors washing their hands between patients can reduce the rates of healthcare acquired infection.³ It has become widely accepted that nurses perform better than doctors at this simple measure to prevent cross infection.⁴ I was unable to find references to any attempt to quantify this and decided to perform an audit of the consumption of handwash soap from soap dispensers that were situated next to the sinks of members of the primary care team.^"  - journal article (BMJ)

December 20, 2003 - Possible interaction between warfarin and cranberry juice  - journal article (BMJ)

December 20, 2003 - The power of stories over statistics - journal article (BMJ)

December 20, 2003 - The midwife, the coincidence, and the hypothesis - journal article (BMJ)

December 10, 2003 - VCH Study Finds Deadly Pertussis Making a Comeback; new study begun - Vanderbilt Children's Hospital - "Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital researchers are alarmed by the deaths of four infants at Vanderbilt Children’s over the last year from pertussis, or whooping cough. Dr. Natasha Halasa, Clinical fellow, Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Dr. Kathryn Edwards, Vice chair of Clinical Research and Professor of Pediatrics have published an editorial in November’s The Journal of Pediatrics encouraging a change in the immunization schedule to better protect very young babies from the bacterial infection...Halasa’s study in December’s Pediatrics found even more disturbing information, that even the most advanced treatments for respiratory illness don’t appear to work effectively for infants with pertussis...The answer, Halasa says, is clearly prevention with a new immunization schedule...The main purpose of this study is to determine if it is safe to administer an additional dose of the pertussis vaccine in the first days of life and also to see if babies can mount an adequate immune response. If it is successful, Halasa hopes an eventual change in the immunization schedule might save babies’ lives."

December 17, 2003 - Medical check-ups for children to be scrapped - The Scotsman - "Check-ups designed to detect conditions ranging from autism to co-ordination problems in children are to be scrapped under Scottish Executive proposals...The Executive aims to end formal check-ups at eight, 24 and 39 months for the majority of infants, because it believes they are not effective at identifying developmental problems...Instead, most parents will have to rely on the appointments when their children receive immunisation against diphtheria, polio and mumps, measles and rubella, to get health advice. These take place at three, four and 12-15 months and parents will also be offered appointments at 24 months if they have particular concerns they want to raise."
 

December 19, 2003 - Eli Lilly Prozac UK Fact Sheet: "Not Recommended" for Children - PMDD Withdrawn in UK - AHRP - "The Alliance for Human Research Protection has obtained copies of two Eli Lilly documents that were sent to all physicians in the UK yesterday...A letter informs doctors in the UK that Prozac is no longer authorized for use in (so-called) premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). And Eli Lilly's new Prozac Fact Sheet sent to UK physicians--but not to US physicians--states that Prozac is NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN for any indication."

December 20, 2003 - Agencies Lack Tools to Track Nurses - The Herald-Sun - "A nurse suspected of killing patients in two states was able to keep his license, even after he was fired from several jobs, because hospitals, prosecutors and state regulators didn't share information."

December 16, 2003 - Poll finds 30 percent of families have children with learning disorders - Sripps Howard News Service via www.islandpacket.com - "One in every three American families has had to cope with a child with a learning disability or a mental illness and most people believe such problems are increasing, according to a poll by Scripps Howard News Service and Ohio University...In a national survey of 1,054 people, 65 percent said they believe learning disabilities are becoming more common and 72 percent said mental health problems are becoming more common...Thirty percent of poll respondents said they have had a child under age 18 in their family - a brother or sister, son or daughter, niece or nephew, grandchild or first cousin - diagnosed with a learning disability. Eight percent said they have had more than one child diagnosed with a learning disability."

December 14, 2003 - States Accept Suspect M.D.s - www.ctnow.com - "The lawsuit against St. Mary's, which outlined a number of possible scenarios for the incident, raised a key question: Was Paul equipped to handle the critical task required of him that day?...His educational resume, in fact, included a worrisome entry: He attended Spartan Health Sciences University, a Caribbean medical school that has sparked such serious concerns about educational standards that its graduates are banned from practicing on its home island and in six states...But not New York."

December 22/29, 2003 - Obesity: Not just a phase kids outgrow - Addressing weight issues with children and adolescents requires a multifaceted approach from physicians that often involves the entire family. - www.ama-assn.org