The Decline Of Health Journalism: Repurposing Press Releases
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Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
NIH stem cell guidelines should be modified, UCSF team reports
From UCSF (my former employer):
A UCSF team, led by bioethicist Bernard Lo, MD, recommends that the National Institutes of Health ethics guidelines for embryonic stem cell research be modified to better protect the rights of individuals donating egg or sperm to patients undergoing in vitro fertilization.
The recommendation is reported in the February 19, 2010 issue of Science.
Third parties frequently donate sperm and egg, or "gametes," for patients attempting to create embryos in the in vitro fertilization clinic.
Under current practice in the United States, gamete donors sign a form giving the IVF patient unrestricted legal authority to determine how to dispose of any embryos that may be leftover following fertility treatments. Donor banks and IVF clinics are not required to brief gamete donors about the various options for disposition, which include donating the embryos for stem cell research, thereby enabling scientists to derive new human embryonic stem cell lines; discarding the embryos, or donating them to other IVF patients.
While many state, national, and international scientific committees and agencies have recommended that third-party gamete donors give formal "informed consent" for stem cell research with embryos remaining after infertility treatment, the NIH did not stipulate this requirement in its guidelines issued in March 2009. As these guidelines determine which human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines may be studied under NIH research grants – which are expected to play a growing role in funding stem cell research – the ethical implications are significant, says Lo, chair of the UCSF Gamete, Embryonic Stem Cell Research Committee, members of which published the Science paper.
"We urge the NIH to revise its guidelines to require that gamete donors be advised that embryos containing their sperm or egg could be used for embryonic stem cell research, before they grant dispositional authority over embryos to the IVF patient," he says. "Because some gamete donors may not approve of embryonic stem cell research, we consider this the ethically appropriate position."
In their paper, the team recommends a process that is less complex than the detailed "informed consent" process carried out when IVF patients donate embryos for research. They suggest the disclosure to gamete donors may be made through oral discussion or brochures before donors sign a form authorizing the IVF patient to determine the disposition of embryos.
Importantly, says Lo, the gamete donors' instructions would not disrupt the IVF process. IVF patients would learn of a gamete donor's restrictions in advance of selecting embryos for IVF treatment, and could select other gamete donors if not satisfied with the donors' disposition restrictions.
The recommendation is consistent with that of the National Academy of Sciences and the International Society for Stem Cell Research says Lo, a member of the ethics committee of the ISSCR, and the co-chair of the Standards Working Group of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
"It would be highly desirable to have consistency among standards and regulations," he says. "If such harmonization were achieved, many university Institutional Review Boards and other research oversight bodies would likely allow NIH-eligible human embryonic stem cell lines to be used for any otherwise acceptable hESC research."
"It's critical that we consider all parties involved in the creation of embryos and honor their wishes," says co-author Arnold Kriegstein, MD, PhD, director of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF.
"The field of human embryonic stem cell research offers enormous promise for patients suffering from devastating diseases. We want to build this field on an ethical foundation of which we can be proud."
Exceptions to the guideline could be justified for hESC lines already in existence if there were strong scientific reasons to use the cell lines and the third-party gamete donor had granted rights to the IVF patient to determine disposition of the embryos.
###
Other co-authors of the study were other members of the UCSF Gamete, Embryonic Stem Cell Research Committee: Lindsay Parham, an analyst in the Program in Bioethics; Marcelle Cedars, MD, professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive health and director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology; Susan Fisher PhD, professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences and director of the UCSF Human Embryonic Stem Cell Center; Elena Gates MD, professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, and director of the IVF Tissue Bank; Linda Giudice, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences; Dina Gould Halme, PhD, formerly of the UCSF School of Medicine Dean's Office; William Hershon JD, Disability Rights California; Radhika Rao JD, University of California, Hastings College of the Law; Clifford Roberts, DVM, interim associate vice-chancellor for research; and Richard Wagner MA, associate director, Human Research Protection Program.
UCSF is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care.
Related links:
Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF http://stemcell.ucsf.edu/
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Baptist Pastors to Pray for Barack Obama's Death on Presidents Day.
via newser.com
I had thought the extremists had already sunken to the lowest possible point, but apparently I am wrong. Praying for anyone's death is a sin, as far as I am concerned.
(Newser) – While a handful of Americans might have taken a few minutes to reflect favorably on George Washington and Abe Lincoln on Presidents Day, some evangelical leaders devoted their time to praying for Barack Obama's death. The "Imprecatory Prayer" is a favorite of Arizona’s Baptist preacher Steven L. Anderson and Orange County's Wiley Drake, who told supporters in an email over the weekend that the supplication is "now your DUTY."
If "you have an evil leader above you, you pray that Satan will stand by his side and you ask God to make his children fatherless and his wife a widow and that his time in office be short," Drake told Daily Beast columnist John Avlon. Anderson has said he hopes Obama dies of brain cancer "today." To those offended by the sentiments, Wiley responds: "I’m praying the word of God. I didn’t write it. Don’t get mad at me.”
Reporter At 'The New York Times' Plagiarized From Competitors - The Two-Way - Breaking News, Analysis Blog : NPR
By David Gura
Editors at The New York Times have acknowledged that one of the newspaper's business reporters, Zachery Kouwe, plagiarized material from The Wall Street Journal, Reuters and other news sources, "without attribution or acknowledgment."
Yesterday, The Times ran an editor's note:
In a number of business articles in The Times over the past year, and in posts on the DealBook blog on NYTimes.com, a Times reporter appears to have improperly appropriated wording and passages published by other news organizations.The Times has not made a formal announcement about what will happen to Kouwe, if anything. But the tone and content of the editor's note indicates the newspaper isn't taking the ethical transgression lightly:
Copying language directly from other news organizations without providing attribution -- even if the facts are independently verified -- is a serious violation of Times policy and basic journalistic standards. It should not have occurred. The matter remains under investigation by The Times, which will take appropriate action consistent with our standards to protect the integrity of our journalism.
via npr.org
I just don't understand how someone who purports to be a journalist can even think about doing something as stupid as this. Another sad day for journalism. Another black eye for mainstream media.
SF Chronicle reports star chef exits Napa's innovative Ubuntu
Chef Jeremy Fox earned considerable fame in the culinary world over the past three years or so, as Ubuntu, in downtown Napa, emerged as one of the truly innovative restaurants in the nation. Although only vegetarian, this was no crunchy, earthy place. Each dish was an intricate combination of flavors fresh from the garden. In many cases, menu items had unusual mixes or included ingredients rarely served. On a recent visit, my guest and I had a salad that was seasoned with a tangy red powder. When we asked about it, we learned it was sundried beet pulp that had been taken from the juicer. None of nature's bounty went to waste in Ubuntu's kitchen. I am glad that I was able to experience Ubuntu, and I will wait anxiously for news of Fox's next venture -- and for what happens to Ubuntu in his absence. More from the Chronicle below. Tuesday, February 16, 2010 (SF Chronicle)
The Inside Scoop/Chef departure roils Ubuntu
Inside Scoop alert: Sources tell The Inside Scoop that as of 3 a.m. chef
Jeremy Fox and most of the staff came to the agonizing decision to leave
Ubuntu, Napa's acclaimed vegetarian restaurant (1140 Main Street).
Apparently, pastry chef Deanie Fox left last month. It's unclear what has
prompted the exodus.
Jeremy Fox has been lauded by The Chronicle, the New York Times and others
for his innovative and sophisticated approach to vegetarian cooking.
Although the restaurant, with its quirky yoga studio, had become a media
darling, the concept didn't seem to catch on with the general dining
public, as evidenced by an often empty dining room.
Fox declined to comment, and owner Sandy Lawrence could not be reached. We
suspect that in the next day or so Scoop will get the full story, so tune
in tomorrow. -- Stacy Finz ( sfinz@sfchronicle.com) and Amanda Gold (agold@sfchronicle.com)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2010 SF Chronicle
Inside Scoop alert: Sources tell The Inside Scoop that as of 3 a.m. chef
Jeremy Fox and most of the staff came to the agonizing decision to leave
Ubuntu, Napa's acclaimed vegetarian restaurant (1140 Main Street).
Apparently, pastry chef Deanie Fox left last month. It's unclear what has
prompted the exodus.
Jeremy Fox has been lauded by The Chronicle, the New York Times and others
for his innovative and sophisticated approach to vegetarian cooking.
Although the restaurant, with its quirky yoga studio, had become a media
darling, the concept didn't seem to catch on with the general dining
public, as evidenced by an often empty dining room.
Fox declined to comment, and owner Sandy Lawrence could not be reached. We
suspect that in the next day or so Scoop will get the full story, so tune
in tomorrow. -- Stacy Finz ( sfinz@sfchronicle.com) and Amanda Gold (agold@sfchronicle.com)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2010 SF Chronicle
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Texas Nurse to Stand Trial for Reporting Doctor
KERMIT, Tex. — It occurred to Anne Mitchell as she was writing the letter that she might lose her job, which is why she chose not to sign it. But it was beyond her conception that she would be indicted and threatened with 10 years in prison for doing what she knew a nurse must: inform state regulators that a doctor at her rural hospital was practicing bad medicine.
Skip to next paragraph
Michael Stravato for The New York TimesAnne Mitchell, left, and Vickilyn Galle, right, wrote the letter to regulators that drew felony charges.
Michael Stravato for The New York TimesSheriff Robert L. Roberts Jr., who investigated the case against the nurses, voiced confidence in it.
When she was fingerprinted and photographed at the jail here last June, it felt as if she had entered a parallel universe, albeit one situated in this barren scrap of West Texas oil patch.
“It was surreal,” said Mrs. Mitchell, 52, the wife of an oil field mechanic and mother of a teenage son. “I said how can this be? You can’t go to prison for doing the right thing.”
But in what may be an unprecedented prosecution, Mrs. Mitchell is scheduled to stand trial in state court on Monday for “misuse of official information,” a third-degree felony in Texas.
The prosecutor said he would show that Mrs. Mitchell had a history of making “inflammatory” statements about Dr. Rolando G. Arafiles Jr. and intended to damage his reputation when she reported him last April to the Texas Medical Board, which licenses and disciplines doctors.
Mrs. Mitchell counters that as an administrative nurse, she had a professional obligation to protect patients from what she saw as a pattern of improper prescribing and surgical procedures — including a failed skin graft that Dr. Arafiles performed in the emergency room, without surgical privileges. He also sutured a rubber tip to a patient’s crushed finger for protection, an unconventional remedy that was later flagged as inappropriate by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Charges against a second nurse, Vickilyn Galle, who helped Mrs. Mitchell write the letter, were dismissed at the prosecutor’s discretion last week.
The case has been infused with the small-town politics of this wind-whipped city of 5,200 in the heart of the Permian Basin, 10 miles from the New Mexico border. The seeming conflicts of interest are as abundant as the cattle grazing among the pump jacks and mesquite.
When the medical board notified Dr. Arafiles of the anonymous complaint, he protested to his friend, the Winkler County sheriff, that he was being harassed. The sheriff, an admiring patient who credits the doctor with saving him after a heart attack, obtained a search warrant to seize the two nurses’ work computers and found the letter.
Both sides acknowledge that the case has polarized the community, and the judge has moved the trial to a neighboring county.
The state and national nurses associations have called the prosecution an outrage and raised $40,000 for the defense. Legal experts argue that in a civil context, Mrs. Mitchell would seem to be protected by Texas whistle-blower laws.
“To me, this is completely over the top,” said Louis A. Clark, president of the Government Accountability Project, a group that promotes the defense of whistle-blowers. “It seems really, really unique.”
Until they were fired without explanation on June 1, Mrs. Mitchell and Mrs. Galle had worked a combined 47 years at Winkler County Memorial Hospital here, most recently as its compliance and quality improvement officers.
The nurses, who are highly regarded even by the administrator who dismissed them, said the case had stained their reputations and drained their savings. With felony charges pending, neither has been able to find work. They said they could feel heads turn when they walked into local lunch spots like El Joey’s Mexican restaurant.
“It has derailed our careers, and we’re probably not going to be able to get them back on track again,” said Mrs. Galle, 54, a grandmother who is depicted around town as the soft-spoken Thelma to Mrs. Mitchell’s straight-shooting Louise. “We’re just in disbelief that you could be arrested for doing something you had been told your whole career was an obligation.”
It was not long after the public hospital hired Dr. Arafiles in 2008 that the nurses said they began to worry. They sounded internal alarms but felt they were not being heeded by administrators.
Frustrated and fearing for patients, they directed the medical board to six cases “of concern” that were identified by file numbers but not by patient names. The letter also mentioned that Dr. Arafiles was sending e-mail messages to patients about an herbal supplement he sold on the side.
Mrs. Mitchell typed the letter and mailed it with a separate complaint signed by a third nurse, who wrote that she had resigned because of similar concerns about Dr. Arafiles. That nurse was not charged.
To convict Mrs. Mitchell, the prosecution must prove that she used her position to disseminate confidential information for a “nongovernmental purpose” with intent to harm Dr. Arafiles.
Mari E. Robinson, executive director of the Texas Medical Board, has warned in a blistering letter to prosecutors that the case will have “a significant chilling effect” on the reporting of malpractice.
The nurses’ lawyers, John H. Cook IV and Brian Carney, have filed a civil lawsuit in federal court charging the county, hospital, sheriff, doctor and prosecutor with vindictive prosecution and denial of the nurses’ First Amendment rights.
Nonetheless, the sheriff, Robert L. Roberts Jr., and the prosecutor, Scott M. Tidwell, express confidence in their case.
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A picture caption with an earlier version of this article reversed the identification of Vickilyn Galle and Anne Mitchell.
Recommend More Articles in US » A version of this article appeared in print on February 7, 2010, on page A18 of the New York edition.
via nytimes.com
When I reported for USA Today, I wrote about health care workers prosecuted for providing pain medication to dying patients, questionable civil suits between physicians fighting over hospital privileges, and laws, policies or regulations that thwarted reporting of patient safety risks.
Never would I have imagined that a prosecution like this would happen. Read the story and let me know what you think -- and what you think we can do about it. Patient safety is possible only when health care workers of all levels and in all professions are able to make good-faith reports about potential problems without fear of losing their jobs -- or going to jail.
Your thoughts?
Friday, February 5, 2010
Politics of hate alive and well: How can anyone on either side -- tolerate this? #teaparty #tcot #obama
From CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser
Tom Tancredo opened what's being billed as the first Tea Party Convention with a bang.Nashville, Tennessee (CNN) – Tom Tancredo opened what's being billed as the first Tea Party Convention with a bang.
The former congressman from Colorado and 2008 Republican presidential candidate blasted President Obama, saying "people who could not even spell the word 'vote', or say it in English, put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House. His name is Barack Hussein Obama."
Tancredo made his comments as he gave the kickoff speech for the convention, which is being held at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville.
Tancredo's speech received polite applause among the 600 attendees at the convention.
"So the race for America is on right now. The president and his left-wing allies in Congress are going to look at every opportunity to destroy the Constitution before we have a chance to save it. So put your running shoes on. Because I'll tell you, I've heard we need a revolution. My friends, we already had it. We lost. I mean, what happened to us in that last election was a revolution," said Tancredo, discussing the 2008 presidential contest.
Tancredo also slammed that election's Republican presidential nominee, saying "thank God John McCain lost the election."
The former congressman known for his strong opposition to illegal immigration also attacked "the cult of multiculturalism, aided by leftists, liberals all over who don't have the same idea about America as we do."
A spokesman for the Tea Party Nation, the group that organized the convention, said Tancredo's speech may provide some red meat but termed it problematic.
"It doesn't further the dialogue," said Mark Skoda, a businessman and founder of the Memphis Tea Party, who is also serving as spokesman for the convention.
Tancredo ended his speech telling the crowd that "this is our country" and urged them "to take it back."
– CNN Correspondent Mary Snow contributed to this reportFiled under: Tea party
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Why is Sarah Palin keynoting the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers convention? - By Mike Steinberger - Slate Magazine
When I received an official-looking e-mail last week announcing that Sarah Palin would be the keynote speaker at the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America's convention in Las Vegas in April, I assumed it was a spoof—a lame attempt at humor by some underemployed, bien-pensant wine geek. Among oenophiles, there is surely no organization more reviled than the WSWA, which for years has fought efforts to liberalize interstate wine shipping laws. What are the chances that the belle of the Republican base would agree to be the feature attraction at a booze convention at Caesars Palace? But it turned out the e-mail was no joke. Palin will indeed be speaking to the WSWA, to which I can only say, acronym to acronym, WTF?
To begin with, there appears to be no evidence that Palin's an oenophile and it's unclear if she even drinks. For many years, Palin attended a Pentecostal church, a denomination that generally forbids drinking. In his recent tell-all in Vanity Fair, her former future son-in-law Levi Johnston said that Palin "doesn't drink or cuss much" and frowned on her husband's fondness for beer (Johnston claimed that Todd Palin got around the problem by hiding his six-packs). It may just be a reflection of my own narrow-minded cosmopolitanism, but if she does imbibe, I strongly doubt that she is a fellow member of the tribe (of wine lovers, that is). She seems more like a shot-and-a-beer type, an assumption supported by the few insights that she has offered into her gastronomic worldview; in her book, Going Rogue, she writes, "I always remind people from outside our state that there is plenty of room for all Alaska's animals—right next to the mashed potatoes."
Related on the WebBecome a fan of Slate on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.Then there is the issue of whether it's even possible to buy alcohol in Wasilla, Alaska, where the Palins reside. Dozens of Alaskan communities are dry (a draconian remedy to an inevitable by-product of life on the last frontier: The harsh winters and the isolation tend to promote excessive drinking). But it turns out Wasilla is not one of them; in fact, it is home to a new wine bar called The Grape Tap. I spoke this week with co-owner Kelci Hatcher, who told me that Wasilla has quite a few wine enthusiasts and that business is good. "We came in, we served Veuve [Clicquot], Silver Oak, and Duckhorn by the glass, and it's been well-received," she said. Before I could even get the words out, Hatcher answered the inevitable question: "No, we haven't seen Sarah yet." And what wine would she suggest if Palin were to stop by and request a glass? "I'd ask her what she enjoys and we'd take it from there."
But even if Palin is a closet Merlot fan, there are political grounds for wondering about her WSWA gig. Since stepping down as Alaska's governor last summer to spend less time with her family and more time on Fox, Palin has positioned herself as a staunch libertarian. She is slated to be a headliner at next month's first-ever National Tea Party convention, which promises an orgy of anti-government histrionics. WSWA president and CEO Craig Wolf, in his press release last week, hailed Palin as "a great supporter of America's free enterprise system." If that is true, she certainly shouldn't address the liquor wholesalers, who have consistently impeded efforts to allow wine to flow more freely across state lines.
After devoting a column two years ago to the issue of interstate wine shipping, I vowed never to touch this migraine-inducing subject again. However, Palin has now obliged me to revisit it. To more effectively regulate liquor sales after Prohibition was repealed in 1933, most states put in place laws requiring an intermediary, the wholesaler, between the producer of an alcoholic beverage and the retailer. These regulations were enacted at a time when the U.S. wine industry was moribund and few Americans had an interest in wine. It is a very different story now: The country has several thousand wineries and millions of wine enthusiasts, and with the advent of online shopping and the ease and affordability of long-distance shipping, the three-tier distribution system has become an absurdly outdated barrier to free trade and consumer choice. Most states now permit some form of direct-to-consumer shipping from wineries, but the wholesalers are a well-financed interest group and have used their political muscle to limit the scope of many direct-shipping bills and to keep the existing regulatory framework intact. And direct-to-consumer shipping from wineries is just one part of this battle; at present, there are only a dozen states that allow people to have wine shipped to them from out-of-state retailers.
So why would Palin, champion of the free market and former governor of a state with some of the most progressive alcohol shipping policies in the country (despite all those dry towns and villages), cozy up to the WSWA? It can reasonably be assumed that she is heading to Las Vegas for the same reason most people go there: money. According to documents recently obtained by Politico, Palin's standard speaking fee is $100,000, though she charges only $75,000 for West Coast events. (A WSWA spokesperson refused to say what they will be paying her.) As for what the organization hopes to get in return, Wolf said that "we expect she will share with the convention attendees her analysis of the current political environment and her vision for America's future." Palin's presence will surely bring more attention to the WSWA meeting than it would otherwise attract. If the group had an explicit political motive for reaching out to her, perhaps it was to court social conservatives, who are among Palin's biggest supporters and presumably favor keeping interstate shipping laws as restrictive as possible (though it is worth noting that another darling of the religious right, Ken Starr, has been a key figure in efforts to overhaul those laws).
If Palin's libertarian rhetoric is sincere and she truly believes that excessive regulation is a problem, she should have no trouble recognizing that the wholesalers are on the wrong side of the shipping debate. But will she have the audacity to go rogue in Las Vegas and tell them that? My guess is that she will not dare slap the hand that signed the check. If, however, she takes the podium at Caesars Palace and calls on the wholesalers to end their obstructionism, I am prepared to borrow a page (literally) from my colleague Dan Gross: I will eat not my words but hers by consuming the first chapter of Going Rogue, which I will chase down with a bottle of wine shipped to me from another state.
Going Rosé: Why is Sarah Palin keynoting the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers convention?
- you might also like:
- The Going Rogue Index: Sarah Palin didn't put an index in her book. So we made one for her. (from Slate)
- Bring It On. And On. And On.: How a sleeper hit about cheerleading became a direct-to-DVD franchise. Plus: which sequel is best. (from Slate)
- Still Palin Time (from Slate)
- Sarah's Book Club: Sarah Palin talks about Going Rogue with Oprah. (from Slate)
- Selected for you by our sponsor:
- How to Save on Dining Out (from Real Simple)
via slate.com
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I would send your article to Palin & her handlers!