Health Supreme NewsGrabs - 4 December 2006
Health Supreme's News Grabs - selected health news and bits of related information ...
In this issue:
Gene ownership a health risk; how multinationals avoid paying taxes; stop use of depleted uranium weapons; anti-FCC free speech protest; Amero to replace US, Canadian currency; GM fed rats stunted, dead; chemo'therapy' destroys brain cells; Paxil birth defect warning; Pfizer cuts sales force - stops drug trial - looks at bleak future; hospital review boards' industry ties; FDA approves poison - sorry... fluoride - in bottled water; US federal government marketing psychiatry, New Zealand meningitis vaccine controversy, Aids re-thinkers want real prevention, not drugs, condoms.
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How Gene Patents Are Putting Your Health at Risk
“Major hepatitis C and HIV genes and various diabetes genes are all owned,” Crichton, an M.D., tells us. “Researchers working on those diseases must worry about getting permission and paying high fees.” During the SARS epidemic, he says, some researchers hesitated to study the virus because three groups claimed to own its genome.
How Multinational Corporations Avoid Paying Taxes
Drug companies and other multinational companies based in the U.S. systematically avoid paying tax in the U.S. on their profits. The companies elect to realize profits in low-tax countries and because of this the rest of us have to pay billions of unnecessary taxes to make up for the shortfall, writes Peter Rost, an ex-pharmaceutical executive.
Depleted Uranium Situation Worsens
Today, US, British, and now Israeli military personnel are using illegal uranium munitions—America and the United Kingdom's own "dirty bombs"—while US Army, US Department of Energy, US Department of Defense, and UK Ministry of Defence officials deny that there are any adverse health or environmental effects as a consequence of the manufacture, testing, or use of uranium munitions, so that they may avoid liability for the willful and illegal dispersal of a radioactive toxic material—depleted uranium. The use of uranium weapons is absolutely unacceptable and a crime against humanity. Consequently, the citizens of the world and all governments must force the cessation of uranium weapons use.
Free Speech: What I Hear, What I see, Leave It Up To Me - FCC FU Video
London stock trader urges move to 'amero'
Says many unaware of plan to replace dollar with N. American currency
Steve Previs, a vice president at Jefferies International Ltd., explained the Amero "is the proposed new currency for the North American Community which is being developed right now between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico."GM Soya Fed Rats: Stunted, Dead, or Sterile
Female rats fed genetically modified (GM) soya produced excessive numbers of severely stunted pups with over half of the litter dying within three weeks, and the surviving pups are sterile. These alarming findings came from the laboratory of senior scientist Dr. Irina Ermakova at the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.Thirty-six percent of the pups from rats fed GM soya were severely stunted, some 5 to 6 times the percentage in the controls. By three weeks, 55.6 percent of the pups from rats fed GM soya had died, the death rate was 6 to 8 times the controls. These results were statistically highly significant.
When the first generation (F1) pups from the feeding experiments were old enough to breed, they were mated with the intention of producing the next generation. But to Ermakova's surprise, the GM-fed F1 rats were completely sterile when mated with one another, whether they continued to be fed on GM soya or not.
Chemo drugs 'destroy brain cells'
The latest study found that dose levels typically used when treating patients killed 40% to 80% of cancer cells - but 70% to 100% of brain cells. Several types of healthy brain cell continued to die for at least six weeks after exposure.
Pregnant women warned to avoid antidepressant Paxil
Pregnant women and those who plan to become pregnant should avoid taking the antidepressant Paxil if possible because of the risk of birth defects, a group of obstetricians said Thursday. Two studies of pregnant women who were taking Paxil during their first trimester have shown that their babies have heart defects at a rate that is as much as twice the norm...
Pfizer to cut U.S. sales force 20%
Pfizer said it will cut its U.S. sales force by 20%, or 2,200 people, as part of a cost-cutting program to transform the company into a more nimble organization as it struggles with sluggish sales. The drug company has 11,000 sales representatives, and the cuts will be made by the end of the year, according to company spokesman Paul Fitzhenry.
Pfizer drops trials on heart drug
Pfizer announced Saturday night that it had discontinued research on its most important experimental drug, a treatment for heart disease. The decision is a stunning development that will seriously damage the prospects of the world's biggest drug company through the next decades.The decision was based on interim results from a 15,000-patient clinical trial that found that patients taking torcetrapib in combination with Lipitor were more likely to die or have heart problems than those taking Lipitor alone.
It sure would be interesting to know how many died on Lipitor compared to those taking no drugs at all!
Hospital boards too closely tied to industry
A survey of hospital review boards that watchdog experiments on patients shows that one in three members takes money from companies that make drugs and medical devices that come under study. What's more, many of those with conflicts rarely or never disclose their financial ties, researchers found. The study of 100 university medical centers is said to be the first to look at financial conflicts of interest on hospitals' institutional review boards. IRBs are little-known committees responsible for protecting patients in research experiments.
FDA Approves Fluoride in Bottled Water; Fluoridated Water Reduce the Risk of Tooth Decay
Bottled water containing between 0.6 and 1.0 mg/L total fluoride will be eligible to bear the following claim: "Drinking fluoridated water may reduce the risk of [dental caries or tooth decay]." The claim is not allowed with water intended for infants, FDA said. The American Dental Association immediately praised the agency's decision. "Whether you drink fluoridated water from the tap or buy it in a bottle, you're doing the right thing for your oral health," said ADA executive director James Bramson. "Thanks to the FDA's decision, bottlers can now claim what dentists have long known--that optimally fluoridated water helps prevent tooth decay."
More FDA insanity - pushing poisonous fluoride. And the ADA is cheering from the sidelins. Uggh
Federal government launches marketing campaign for psychiatric industry
Under the guise of combating the stigma of mental illness, the U.S. government will soon begin a massive campaign of psychiatric indoctrination, designed to increase the acceptance of psychiatric chemical imbalance theories and labeling, and to pave the way for national psychiatric screening, driving more Americans into seeking psychiatric drug treatment.
New Zealand: Novartis Vaccines Enters The MeNZB Debate
Novartis Vaccines, successor to Chiron Corp., which recycled a failed Norwegian meningitis vaccine in New Zealand, has now stated that it will drop the MeNZB vaccine in New Zealand, to replace it with a new version. Novartis has challenged researchers Ron Law and Barbara Sumner Burstyn who investigated the promotion and roll-out of the vaccine in New Zealand. The researchers respond to Novartis. Earlier articles giving the background of the New Zealand vaccine scandal are also available on the Scoop.co.nz site.
Rethinking AIDS - Doubters abandon traditional HIV/AIDS theories and treatment
At first glance, "AIDS rethinkers" like Martin seem to be buying into an elaborate conspiracy theory. Most rethinkers contend that the man who discovered HIV stole it from the French, many gay men get AIDS because of poppers and other recreational drug use, and most notably, there's no AIDS epidemic. Their argument is based on one disputable fact: No scientific study has been done that proves that HIV causes AIDS.Rethinkers also claim that the standard HIV test is woefully unreliable, claiming that as many as 70 factors can cause a false-positive. "HIV has never been isolated in its pure form," Bauer says, "which means that these tests have never been validated." This claim by rethinkers is based in fact. The majority of HIV tests aren't designed to identify HIV. They actually find HIV antibodies, or proteins the body creates to defend itself against HIV.
The big unanswered question here is this: The presence of antibodies in every infective illness signifies that the body's immune system has succeeded in overcoming the virus. Antibodies are seen as a sign and measure of success for a vaccine. Why then, in the case of Aids, are antibodies interpreted as a sign of danger? Why do we need to give toxic medication when the body has already made its antibodies?
A friend in Canada just said in an email: Soil remineralization stands between humanity and total chaos. HIV/AIDS is only one of numerous pandemics that are being driven by nutrient deficient soils and resulting mineral depleted foods.
In this context, look at http://www.seercentre.org.uk/
The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales says money used to send condoms to Africa should be spent on drugs for Aids treatment
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor said it would be "much better" if the cash was spent on antiretroviral drugs.
Here we go - condoms or Aids drugs, which one is better - a misleading question, because real prevention involves economy, nutrition and strengthening the immune system.
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Monday December 4 2006
updated on Wednesday May 2 2007URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2006/12/04/health_supreme_newsgrabs_4_december_2006.htm