In 1969, Chicago police urinated on food and supplies intended for use in a free breakfast program spearheaded by the Black Panthers.

Explanation: Did Chicago Police Urinate on Food for a Black Panthers Free Breakfast Program in 1969?

On April 29 2019, a researcher shared the following tweet showing a screenshot of text reporting that in 1969, police in Chicago had urinated on food and supplies gathered by the Black Panthers for a free breakfast program:Holy shit – I’m researching the Black Panthers’ free breakfast program for a piece. Apparently, the night before the project kicked off in Chicago, cops broke into the church and peed on all the food that was supposed to be served to local kids. What absolute fucking assholes pic.twitter.com/8P9P6GNsFL— Natalie Shure (@nataliesurely) April 30, 2019In addition to spreading widely on Twitter, a Facebook screenshot of the tweet (archived here) shared by Revolution News one day later accrued thousands of shares of its own:Perhaps the largest spike of interest resulting from the tweet occurred on Reddit, where a user submitted a link to a different iteration of the claim to r/todayilearned on April 30 2019:TIL that Blackpanthers planned a free breakfast program for children but the Chicago cops broke into the church they were holding it in the night before and Urinated on all the food. Regardless of the delay the program continued and fed tens of thousands of hungry kids over the span of many years. from todayilearnedFrom there, the claim got tremendous amounts of Reddit engagement — until a moderator (who subsequently deleted their account) removed the popular thread. In a comment explanation, u/manbra claimed:Removed. This sub will not become a battle ground for your culture war. It’s for fun facts and Steve busciemi firefighter reposts. I will happily reapprove if someone posts corroborative evidence. IDisLikeYourMeta said it best:Edit: This thread is being brigaded by chapotraphouse. Since removing this post due to lack of evidence I’ve received many PMs and pings of harassment, one saying he wants to track me down and find me, and another straight up death threat.In shorter that title should be: Today I Learned Nothing and Assumed Facts Based on My Political Beliefs Rather Than Evidence.Looking this up online finds no evidence to support this claim. Not surprising, since it’s coming from the “Black Panthers”. Could it have happened? Sure. Not all cops are good, just like not all are bad. But come on. No cops are randomly going to be breaking into a CHURCH to PISS IN CHILDREN’S FOOD for NO REASON. Context and evidence are crucial and there’s none provided here, like anything to do with race or religion or sexuality or politics nowadays. Someone says something, the people that support it blindly agree because work is hard and nobody wants to be proven wrong.For one, the post calling this out is from a white woman on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nataliesurely/status/1123020732538212353  It’s supposedly from a book written ten fucking years ago about something that happened long before that, that I’m not going to waste my time looking into further than I already have: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00045600802683767Apparently everyone wants to be outraged about it right now, despite you know, not having ANY evidence to support it aside from the word of a hate group affiliate and it being A DECADE FUCKING OLD. Come the fuck on people.As u/manbra indicated, a popular thread on r/ChapoTrapHouse objected to the deletion of the original post:r/TIL Mod Removes Top Post About Black Panthers, Removes All Comments Exposing His Racist Post History from ChapoTrapHouseThe Black Panthers had a free breakfast program for struggling families. The night before the project kicked off in Chicago, cops broke into the church and peed on all the food. from ChapoTrapHouseBeneath the deletion comment on the original thread was a series of missing comments. An archived version of the comment thread showed that a moderator had manually removed whichever comments were missing. As of May 1 2019, archived posts linked to previous posts from u/manbra showed comments expressing a wish for “a white ethno-state,” while others included racial slurs.Multiple sources were cited in support of the claim about Chicago police and the Black Panthers’ free breakfast program in 1969. One was an August 2018 History.com article, “How the Black Panthers’ Breakfast Program Both Inspired and Threatened the Government.” That article contained a link to a 2016 Eater.com piece, “The Radical Origins of Free Breakfast for Children.”The claims about Chicago police urinating on food intended for disadvantaged children was not present in that article, but it did include details about the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s interest in purportedly disrupting the program for political reasons:Mary Bridges, an Oakland resident, grew up in St. Augustine’s church, where her father was at one point the congregation’s minister. She remembers St. Augustine’s becoming a highly surveilled, contentious space when Black Panthers started meeting there in the late 1960s. Church elders, particularly, “took a long time to come around to the fact that the Panthers were going to meet there and that they had a viable program,” she says.Meanwhile, visits from the police became more and more frequent as Party members started organizing out of the space and providing free breakfast to children, Bridges says. Her account is consistent with documentation from that era. A memo from J. Edgar Hoover to a San Francisco surveillance officer in 1969, republished in Bloom’s Black Against Empire, demonstrates that Hoover wanted to disrupt the Breakfast Program exactly because it was effective and popular with moderate community members.“One of our primary aims in counterintelligence as it concerns the [Black Panther Party] is to keep this group isolated from the moderate black and white community which may support it,” Hoover wrote on May 27, 1969. “This is most emphatically pointed out in their Breakfast for Children Program, where they are actively soliciting and receiving support from uninformed whites and moderate blacks.” By November, the Panthers reported that the program had spread to 23 cities. Between 1969 and 1970, the party claimed to have distributed free breakfast to 20,000 kids.In the post quoted by u/manbra, another commenter said that the claim was “supposedly from a book written ten fucking years ago about something that happened long before that.”In fact, the claim appeared in a May 2009 scholarly article published in Annals of the Association of American Geographers. That article, “Bending the Bars of Empire from Every Ghetto for Survival: The Black Panther Party’s Radical Antihunger Politics of Social Reproduction and Scale,” contained a passage collected by urban geography professor and author Nik Heynen. Heynan’s well-cited research tracked with the above-excerpted reporting involving J. Edgar Hoover’s desire to sabotage the Panthers’ outreach:The sweeping influence of the Breakfast Program, as a central achievement of the evolution of “pussy power” within the party, had led to increased strategic interference and infiltration by the FBI in an attempt to “disrupt, discredit, and destroy” the BPP through its COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) operation (see Churchill and Vander Wall 1990). It was a result of the growing popularity of the program that in 1968 J. Edgar Hoover vilified the BPP as “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country” (Churchill and Vander Wall 1990, 123). On 27 April 1969, Fred Hampton, who cofounded the Chicago chapter of the BPP, gave a fiery polemic that embodied “what the Black Panther Party is about.” [Chicago Black Panther Party leader Fred] Hampton’s speech began with a discussion of the BPP’s Breakfast Program and linked the starvation of children across American inner cities to the destructive contradictions inherent in capitalism and the uneven development it produces. He discussed the revolutionary steps the BPP was taking to ensure that poor children had enough food to meet their basic material requirements for survival. In so doing, Hampton articulated the ideological conflict that had materialized between the BPP and the U.S. government …… Shortly after Hampton’s speech, on 27 May 1969, a memo signed by J. Edgar Hoover, although actually written by Domestic Intelligence Chief William C. Sullivan, was sent to Charles Bates, the Special Agent in Charge of the San Francisco office of the FBI. The memo, emblematic of the degree to which the United States saw the BPP as a threat to its notion of empire, declared: You state that the bureau should not attack programs of community interest such as the BPP “Breakfast for Children Program.”… You have obviously missed the point. The BPP is not engaged in the program for humanitarian reasons. This program was formed by the BPP … to create an image of civility, assume community control of Negroes, and fill adolescent children with their insidious poison. (Churchill and Vander Wall 1990, 145)Heynen continued, drawing on interviews he did with individuals involved in the program:One female former Panther who worked in Chicago told me about how efforts to disrupt the Breakfast Program backfired, and only served to rally support and increase grassroots mobilization around the program. She told me:It was a lot of organizing because of course we had to go out and find people to give us food for the program and all that. … Anyways, the night before it [the first breakfast program in Chicago] was supposed to open, the Chicago police broke into the church where we had the food and mashed up all the food and urinated on it. So we had to delay the opening. But what that caused was just all kinds of attention, and people were just lining up to give us donations.Urinating on food designated for children is callous and speaks to how the ideological struggles around social reproduction were intensifying, but efforts to impede the success of the Breakfast Program, as well as their other self-help programs, took a dramatic turn on 4 December 1969 when Fred Hampton was assassinated by the Chicago Police in coordination with the FBI.In the removal post on Reddit, u/manbra quoted another user’s claim that “no cops are randomly going to be breaking into a CHURCH to PISS IN CHILDREN’S FOOD for NO REASON.” But other records indicate that Hoover sent a memo to dozens of FBI field offices in May 1969 with specific directives to harm the Black Panthers’ breakfast program:Hoover perpetuated that image when he declared all out war on the Black Panthers. In May of 1969 Hoover sent a memo to all FBI offices that read:“The BCP (Breakfast for Children Program) promotes at least tacit support for the Black Panther Party among naive individuals and, what is more distressing, it provides the BPP with a ready audience composed of highly impressionable youths. Consequently, the BCP represents the best and most influential activity going for the BPP and, as such, is potentially the greatest threat to efforts by authorities to neutralize the BPP and destroy what it stands for.”Although u/manbra quoted another Redditor’s claim that the story about sabotage of the Black Panthers’ free breakfast program came from “a book written ten fucking years ago,” the claim actually originated in a very well-supported journal article written by respected researcher Nik Heynen. Not only was Heynen’s research from which the claim was drawn credible, but the events in question (FBI and police opposition to and sabotage of the Black Panthers’ free breakfast outreach program) were substantiated by the historical record.Nevertheless, we contacted Heynen to request additional information on the claim and will update if we receive a response.


As of July 17, 2020, Nueces County in Texas had seen 85 positive COVID-19 tests among children aged under 1 year.

Explanation: What's true: Nueces County saw 52 positive COVID-19 tests among children aged under 1 year, and 33 positive tests among children aged between 1 and 2 years, making a total of 85 positive tests among children under 2 years old. What's false: The figure of 85 referred to the number of positive tests among all children aged under 2 years, not just those aged under 1 year. A misunderstanding led the Nueces County Public Health Director to inadvertently misrepresent the true figure, and the Nueces County Judge, and later CNN, repeated that error.

In July 2020, readers asked us to verify reports that a single county in Texas had seen 85 babies test positive for COVID-19 coronavirus disease. On July 18, CNN published an article with the headline “85 Infants Under Age 1 Have Tested Positive for Coronavirus in One Texas County Since March.” The article reported that: “Eighty-five babies under age 1 have tested positive for coronavirus in one Texas county since mid-March. And local officials are imploring residents to help stop its spread as the state becomes one of the newest hotspots […]. In Texas’ Nueces County, where Corpus Christi is located, the number of new coronavirus cases skyrocketed in July after a flattening trend. The virus has infected dozens of babies and local officials are urging people to wear masks and practice social distancing. “‘We currently have 85 babies under the age of one year in Nueces County that have all tested positive for Covid-19,” said Annette Rodriguez, director of public health for Corpus Christi Nueces County on Friday. ‘These babies have not even had their first birthday yet. Please help us stop the spread of this disease. '” Rodriguez made the remarks during a remote briefing as part of the county’s July 17 COVID-19 update and in the context of urging residents to resume and continue taking measures to prevent the spread of the virus. In the interest of thoroughness, the relevant remarks are quoted in full, and can be watched, below: “I’ve been reviewing our statistics. We currently have 85 babies, under the age of one, here in Nueces County, that have all tested positive for COVID-19. These babies have not even had their first birthday yet. Please help us to stop the spread of this disease. Stay social [sic] distanced from others. Stay protected — wear a mask when in public, and for everyone else, please do your best to stay home.” On July 18, Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales issued a statement in which she clarified that the figure presented by Rodriguez referred to all positive tests among children aged under 1 year since March, rather than the number of currently active cases among children of that age: “On Friday, July 17, during a press conference, a spokesperson mentioned that 85 infants under the age of one had tested positive for coronavirus. This number reflects the cumulative total of positive tests for infants under the age of 1 since the beginning of testing in mid-March, which has resulted in 8,171 positive test results. “For context, the spokesperson was using that statistic to illustrate that no one is naturally immune to this virus. While the elderly and those with existing medical conditions are at greater risk of illness and death, anyone can get the virus, from the elderly to infants, and without regard to race, gender, or economic status. The number was used to illustrate this point. However, without this context, stating this number during our press conference led many to believe that we had a sudden surge in infants under the age of one testing positive. We have NOT had a sudden surge of 85 infants testing positive.” That clarification provided the basis for CNN’s claim, in its headline, that “85 infants under age 1” had tested positive for COVID-19 in Nueces County. However, the clarifying statement itself contained an inaccurate presentation of the true figures. On July 18, Yahoo! News published an article with the headline “85 Children Under Age 2 Tested Positive for Coronavirus in 1 Texas County, as U.S. Sets New Record.” The article reported that: “Rodriguez initially said at a meeting Friday that a review of coronavirus statistics showed that 85 infants have tested positive. She clarified this on Saturday to say that total also includes children between the ages of 1 and 2 years old. The numbers are taken from testing that started on March 21, 2020.” According to Yahoo! News, that figure included 52 positive tests among children aged under 1 year.


COVID-19 started because we eat animals.

Explanation: The CDC and WHO say that emerging infectious diseases in humans frequently come from animals. Scientists think COVID-19 originated in bats and then jumped to another animal host, possibly pangolins, before spreading to humans. As of now, there is no evidence that eating meat is the source of the coronavirus outbreak.

Food, Food Safety, Facebook Fact-checks, Coronavirus, Instagram posts,

Vegan Instagram users are pinning the 2019 coronavirus outbreak on carnivores. In a post published March 15, the account for "Cowspiracy," a film about the environmental impact of meat production, claimed that COVID-19 started "because we eat animals." "COVID-19 would not exist if the world was vegan," reads the image. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook, which owns Instagram.) It had more than 27,000 likes as of March 18. (Screenshot from Instagram) Early on in the coronavirus pandemic, which had infected more than 179,000 people worldwide as of March 17, we saw a lot of baseless claims pinning the disease on the consumption of bats in China. Cowspiracy’s Instagram post piggybacks on that misinformation. As evidence, it refers to the Instagram account for Ed Winters, a vegan activist based in the United Kingdom. His March 14 post cites the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization to back up his claim about meat consumption causing the COVID-19 outbreak. On its website, the CDC says that "3 out of every 4 new or emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals." And the WHO has said that eating "raw or undercooked animal products, including milk and meat" carries a potential risk for infection from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), another human coronavirus. But neither statement supports the link that the activist draws between COVID-19 and meat-eating. Scientists are still trying to figure out the source of COVID-19, but there is no evidence that the outbreak began because of meat consumption. According to the CDC, COVID-19 is a betacoronavirus similar to MERS and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). All three originate in bats, and the recent COVID-19 outbreak suggests a "likely single, recent emergence of this virus from an animal reservoir." Early in the outbreak, many patients in the virus epicenter of Wuhan, China, had connections to a large seafood and live-animal market, which suggested animal-to-person spread. But later cases had no connection to the market, suggesting person-to-person spread. Scientists recently traced the first known case of COVID-19 to November 2019, in a patient with no connection to the market. However, those studies stipulate that "intermediate hosts" are needed between bats and humans for the disease to spread — and meat isn’t necessarily part of the equation. For example, scientists first thought the Ebola outbreak started with the consumption of bat meat in Guinea. But Time reported that patient zero was likely infected by bat droppings that contaminated something she put in her mouth. MERS was also primarily spread through contact with live camels as opposed to camel meat. One of the first studies published about COVID-19 by Chinese researchers found that the virus could come from the same bats that were the source of the 2003 SARS outbreak. But the researchers cautioned that it’s "likely there was intermediate host(s) in the transmission cascade from bats to humans." More recent studies of COVID-19 suggest that pangolins, scaly anteaters, could be that intermediate host. The animals are sought-after in China for their meat and scales, despite a worldwide ban. However, scientists have yet to find conclusive proof that pangolins are to blame for the coronavirus. And as of now, there is no evidence that eating meat is the source of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Instagram post contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression.


Coronavirus death toll jumps to 107 in Italy, all schools shut.

Explanation: Italy closed all schools and universities and took other emergency measures on Wednesday to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Europe’s worst-hit country as the death toll and number of cases jumped.

The total number of dead in Italy rose to 107 after 28 people died of the highly contagious virus over the past 24 hours, the Civil Protection Agency said. Education Minister Lucia Azzolina said schools and universities all over the country would be closed from Thursday until at least March 15. Only those in the northern regions most heavily affected by the epidemic have been closed so far. The number of cases since the outbreak surfaced 13 days ago rose to 3,089 from 2,502 on Tuesday. Of those who contracted the disease, about 3.5% had died, the head of the agency, Angelo Borrelli, said. The government adopted a decree to try to slow infections which have been rising by about 500 per day. “Our hospitals, despite their efficiency, risk being overwhelmed, we have a problem with intensive-care units,” Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said. The decree orders “the suspension of events of any nature ... that entail the concentration of people and do not allow for a safety distance of at least one metre (yard) to be respected.”  It calls for the closure of cinemas and theatres and tells Italians not to shake hands or hug each other, and to avoid “direct physical contact with all people.”  It also orders all major sporting events, including top flight Serie A soccer matches, to be played in empty stadiums. The school closures caused jubilation among some children and mixed reactions from parents. “I hoped for this decree because I feared an outbreak at school,” said Massimiliano Del Ninno, father of a Rome primary school student. “Even if we are dealing with an age group that doesn’t seem to be at risk, they could have been carriers.”   Clarissa Mazzei, a 30-year-old mother of three, called it “tragic ... for the students, and also for the parents.”  Deputy Economy Minister Laura Castelli said the government was aware of the problems it would cause families and was preparing a directive to allow a parent to stay home from work to look after children. The virus outbreak remains centred on the wealthy and populous region of Lombardy, around Milan, and the neighbouring regions of Veneto and Emilia Romagna, but cases are spreading around the whole of the Italian peninsula and Sicily. Rome’s Spallanzani infectious diseases hospital said it had 20 coronavirus patients, while others were being treated at home in and around Italy’s capital and largest city. Emilia Romagna’s regional government said on Wednesday two of its members had tested positive and Industry Minister Stefano Patuanelli is in self-imposed isolation after coming into contact with a patient, though he himself had tested negative. The outbreak has already heavily disrupted life in the north, with cinemas and museums closed in some regions and many events cancelled including fashion shows and trade fairs. On Wednesday, the government instructed public sector managers to reorganise offices to help staff work from home. Italy’s chronically weak economic growth looks sure to suffer, with the tourist sector taking a huge hit from a wave of cancellations. Industry lobby Confindustria said the country was in recession, forecasting a fall in gross domestic product in both the first and second quarters of this year. Confturismo, the tourist industry’s confederation, said the sector was “on its knees.”  It forecast a drop of some 32 million in the number of Italian and foreign tourists in March-to-May, with a loss to the industry of about 7.4 billion euros ($8.23 billion). Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri has promised tax breaks and other measures for the affected sectors worth 3.6 billion euros. A government source told Reuters on Wednesday this may be raised to 4.5 billion, or 0.25% of GDP.


Fast-food restaurants target U.S. kids, study shows.

Explanation: Fast-food restaurants are stepping up efforts to market themselves and unhealthy food products to children and toddlers with television ads, websites and even their own menus, researchers said on Monday.

McDonald's product is pictured in a restaurant in Washington, July 23, 2010. REUTERS/Molly Riley They said efforts by the industry to regulate itself have failed and urged government officials at all levels to declare children a protected group and stop marketing efforts that are fueling child obesity, a serious U.S. health problem. “What we found in the marketing data is a staggering amount of fast-food advertising that starts when children are as young as 2 years old,” Jennifer Harris, of the Yale University Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity in Connecticut, told a telephone briefing. Harris and colleagues spent a year studying 12 big fast-food chains, analyzed the calories, fat, sugar and sodium in menu items and kids’ meal combinations, and studied what children and teens ordered. The report, available at http://www.fastfoodmarketing.org, finds the industry spent more than $4.2 billion in 2009 on marketing and advertising on television, the Internet, social media sites and mobile applications. “Despite pledges to improve their marketing practices, fast food companies seem to be stepping up their efforts to target kids,” Harris said. “Today, preschoolers see 21 percent more fast food ads on TV than they saw in 2003, and somewhat older children see 34 percent more.”   McDonald’s Corp has 13 websites, attracting 365,000 unique child visitors under 12 every month. One, ronald.com, specifically targets preschoolers. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says two-thirds of American adults and 15 percent of children are overweight or obese. In some states, the childhood obesity rate is above 30 percent. U.S. first lady Michelle Obama, spearheading an administration initiative on child obesity, has urged food manufacturers to re-package food so that it is healthier for kids. In 2007, McDonald’s and other large U.S. food and drink companies pledged to adopt stricter controls on advertising to children under 12. “Most restaurants will say that they have added healthier choices to their menus in recent years,” Yale’s Marlene Schwartz, who worked on the study, told the briefing. “In most cases you have to work very hard to get a healthy side or drink in a fast-food restaurant,” Schwartz said. “You have to know it exists and you have to ask for it.”   Burger King in a statement said it “has strengthened its commitment in this area since 2007 by enhancing its nutrition criteria for advertised Kids Meals,” including lowered sodium. McDonald’s said it had kept its promises. “We primarily advertise our popular 375 calorie four-piece Chicken McNugget Happy Meal which includes Apple Dippers, low-fat caramel dip, and a jug of 1 percent low-fat milk,” spokesman Neil Golden said in a statement. The researchers found that teenagers purchased 800 to 1,100 calories, or half a day’s worth, in an average visit. Yale’s Kelly Brownell said state and local governments can rein in the marketing behavior of the restaurants, pointing to San Francisco’s law passed last week that cracks down on giving away toys in children’s meals. Brownell hopes Monday’s report will do more. “There will be a level of anger, even rage perhaps, that will set the stage for legislation and even regulatory action,” he said.


Melania Trump was the first First Lady to visit troops in a war zone.

Explanation: Several different First Ladies have visited "war zones," "potential combat zones," and other dangerous areas.

Politics, hillary clinton, melania trump

On 26 December 2018, President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump made a surprise visit to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq for a Christmastime meeting with military members who were stationed in the war zone there. Shortly thereafter, a claim began circulating on social media that Melania Trump was the first First Lady to undertake such a trip:  The definition of what constitutes a ‘war zone’ or a ‘combat zone’ is somewhat subjective and therefore variable. Although these terms may invoke images of areas under immediate threat of military attack, we found no record of any first lady’s traveling to or remaining in an area where armed hostilities were actively taking place. These terms are often used to refer to the general areas in which a war is being fought and do not necessarily have strict or well-defined boundaries, as encapsulated in the IRS’ definition of such: The term “combat zone(s)” is a general term … and includes all of the following hostile areas where military may serve: actual combat areas, direct combat support areas, and qualified hazardous duty areas. With respect to deadline extensions, the term “combat zone(s)” includes contingency operations areas. That said, by the standards of contemporaneous reporting, Melania Trump was not the first First Lady to make such a trip. Although our list may not be comprehensive, we found that first ladies Eleanor Roosevelt, Pat Nixon, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, and Laura Bush were all reported during their tenures as having ventured into “war zones” and other potentially dangerous territories as they visited troops stationed overseas. Eleanor Roosevelt, for example, made several trips to war zones during World War II in the 1940s:  The First Lady was allowed to go to Guadalcanal where she visited many hospitals and again made offers to write to the families of wounded soldiers. During the course of her trip she had visited 17 islands and it was estimated that she saw over 400,000 soldiers. In the end Admiral Halsey said, “she had accomplished more good than any other person or any group of civilians that had passed through my area.” For Eleanor Roosevelt, the extensive travels to war zones made her even more determined to try to find a road to lasting world peace after this horrific war was over. She wrote in My Day “if the generation that fights today is to lay the foundations of which a peaceful world can be built, all of us who have seen the war close range must remember what we see and carry a crusading spirit into all of our work.”  First Lady Pat Nixon was also described as having taken part in a “dangerous visit” to “an active combat zone” in Vietnam in 1969:  While neither of Pat Nixon’s sons-in-law saw active duty in South Vietnam, the First Lady herself came close to witnessing it herself. Joining the President on a dangerous visit to the embattled nation, she was the first First Lady to enter an active combat zone since Eleanor Roosevelt. During her time there, Mrs. Nixon spent nearly all of it focused on the troops — both those on break from the field and those being cared for in medic hospital units. Since 1969, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, and Laura Bush have all traveled to military bases overseas to meet with U.S. troops. First Lady Barbara Bush visited Saudi Arabia over Thanksgiving in 1990, in the midst of Operation Desert Shield (the build-up of troops and the defenses of Saudi Arabia at the beginning of the Gulf War): President Bush didn’t come to Saudi Arabia with any guns or missiles, but he had a much more effective secret weapon — Barbara Bush. For homesick American troops celebrating Thanksgiving just 80 miles from the Kuwaiti border, she was everybody’s missing Mom whose smile sent spirits soaring … In a day that took the Bushes and their entourage from Jiddah on the Red Sea to Dhahran on the Persian Gulf, the First Couple ate two holiday turkey dinners and talked to hundreds of men and women in two encampments at secret locations in the desert and on a U.S. ship in the gulf. Mrs. Bush isn’t the only First Lady to visit American troops abroad. Eleanor Roosevelt went to the South Pacific in 1943, and Pat Nixon went with President Nixon to Vietnam in 1969. While Hillary Clinton was First Lady, she traveled to Bosnia in 1996. Although active hostilities in Bosnia had ended a few months prior to her visit, officials still considered the area a “potential” combat zone:  Protected by sharpshooters, Hillary Rodham Clinton swooped into a military zone by Black Hawk helicopter to deliver a personal “thank you, thank you, thank you” to U.S. troops. “They’re making a difference,” the first lady said of the 18,500 Americans working as peacekeepers in Bosnia. Mrs. Clinton became the first presidential spouse since Eleanor Roosevelt to make such an extensive trip into what can be considered a hostile area, although others have visited hot spots. [T]he highlight of her trip was the visits she made to two fortified posts outside the U.S. base in Tuzla. Even President Bill Clinton, restricted to the base by bad weather in January, did not see as much of this war-ravaged region as Mrs. Clinton did. Although Clinton’s trip to Bosnia may have scored her political points during her time as First Lady, that visit would later become a subject of controversy and criticism. During the 2008 presidential campaign Clinton was accused of exaggerating the dangers of her Bosnia visit for saying she had been “under sniper fire” when she landed at the Tuzla Air Base. (It should be noted that when Hillary Clinton’s trip to Bosnia in 1996 was touted as “the first time since Roosevelt that a first lady has voyaged to a potential combat zone,” that claim was similarly debunked.) Laura Bush also visited troops overseas during her time as first lady, paying a brief visit to Afghanistan in 2005:  Under heavy protection in this dusty, dangerous capital, Laura Bush talked with Afghan women freed from Taliban repression and urged greater rights. She expressed high hopes, envisioning a day when tourists would flock here for vacations. There were reminders of war at every turn of Bush’s visit. U.S. soldiers in camouflage fatigues manned M-60 machine guns at both ends of four transport helicopters that flew the first lady and her entourage to events around Kabul. Apache attack helicopters that shadowed the aircraft provided further security.


Iran says coronavirus death toll nearing 4,000.

Explanation: The total number of coronavirus cases in Iran has risen to more than 62,000 and the death toll is nearing 4,000, according to health ministry data announced on Tuesday, but a senior official suggested the true number of infections might be far higher.

Health Ministry spokesman Kianush Jahanpur told state television that a further 133 people had died from the virus overnight, bringing Iran’s death toll to 3,872. Nearly 4,000 infected people are in a critical condition, he added. The total number of coronavirus cases has reached 62,589, with 2,089 new infections, Jahanpur said. However, a member of Iran’s National Coronavirus Combat Taskforce, Hamid Souri has put the number of cases in the nation of 83 million at “around 500,000”, the state news agency IRNA reported. “Many people with milder symptoms have not been detected,” it quoted Souri as saying on Monday. The government in Iran, which is the Middle Eastern country worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic, has denied accusations of covering up the scale of the outbreak. Doctors and several lawmakers have previously said the number of coronavirus cases and fatalities are much higher than official figures suggest. Iran’s Health Minister Saeed Namaki told state TV on Tuesday that some 70 million Iranians had now been screened for the virus. This figure could not be independently confirmed. “We urge people to stay at home and follow the guidelines,” Namaki said. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday “low-risk” economic activities would resume from April 11, while calling on Iranians to respect social distancing advised by health authorities to contain the spread of the virus. Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday that the United States should stop preventing Iran from selling oil. “What we want is for (U.S. President Donald Trump) to STOP preventing Iran from selling oil & other products, buying its needs & making & receiving payments,” he wrote on Twitter. Iran wants to export a minimum of 700,000 barrels per day of its oil and ideally up to 1.5 million bpd if the West wants to negotiate with Tehran to save a 2015 nuclear deal, two Iranian officials and one diplomat told Reuters last year.


The race to create a new class of ovarian cancer drugs heats up

Explanation: Boeing Co’s Starliner astronaut spacecraft landed in the New Mexico desert on Sunday, the company said, after faulty software forced officials to cut short an unmanned mission aimed at taking it to the International Space Station.

The 7:58 a.m. ET (1258 GMT) landing in New Mexico’s White Sands desert capped a turbulent 48 hours for Boeing’s botched milestone test of an astronaut capsule that is designed to help NASA regain its human spaceflight capabilities. The landing will yield the mission’s most valuable test data after failing to meet its core objective of docking to the space station. Starliner’s three main parachutes deployed just over one mile (1,600 meters) from the Earth’s surface after enduring intense heat from the violent reentry through the atmosphere, plummeting at 25 times the speed of sound.


Merck Says Thousands File for Vioxx Payments.

Explanation: Merck & Co (MRK.N) on Monday said it has moved closer to resolving thousands of claims arising from its 2004 withdrawal of arthritis pill Vioxx, with 93 percent of people alleging the drug caused a heart attack or stroke submitting documents in a $4.85 billion settlement.

Of some 47,000 people who registered eligible injuries, about 44,000 submitted some or all of the documents that could qualify them for an interim payment in the program to resolve state and federal heart attack and stroke claims filed in the United States, Merck said. Merck withdrew arthritis pill Vioxx from the market in September 2004 after research found it doubled heart attack and stroke risk in patients who took it for at least 18 months. More than 20 million people in the United States had used the drug, and the company was hit with tens of thousands of personal-injury lawsuits. A November settlement agreement with people alleging injury from the drug calls for the company to meet an 85 percent threshold for receiving enrollment documents in various claims categories. Meeting the threshold obligates Merck to pay $4.85 billion in installments into a resolution fund. About 5,500 eligible heart attack and stroke claimants alleging death have initiated enrollment, and more than 26,500 eligible heart attack and stroke claimants alleging more than 12 months of use have initiated enrollment, Merck said. In addition, the eligibility of another 5,000 claimants who have sought to enroll has to be determined. The company said it expects to meet all enrollment thresholds. Merck recorded a fourth-quarter 2007 pretax charge of $4.85 billion to cover the cost of the agreement. Shares of Merck were off 7 cents at $44.23 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.


Residents: Tests find toxic chemicals after Texas plant fire.

Explanation: Tests detected toxic substances in soil, water and ash samples taken miles from a chemical plant that flooded during Hurricane Harvey, caught fire and partially exploded, nearly 20 Houston-area residents said Monday.

Houston, Hurricane Harvey, Floods, Regulatory agencies, North America, Environment, Fires, Hurricanes, U.S. News, Texas

The findings were disclosed in a letter the residents’ lawyers mailed to the chief executive of the plant’s owner, France-based Arkema Inc., and several regulatory agencies, giving notice that they planned to sue. The letter accused Arkema of violating multiple environmental protection laws because of unauthorized chemical spills and releases that happened when the company failed to properly store and contain its organic peroxides before and after six feet of water overwhelmed the facility. Arkema representatives could not immediately be reached Monday evening. The company has refused to say which chemicals were released during the fire and has repeatedly declined to discuss how large its inventory quantities were prior to the incident. It provided only the names of its chemicals on its website last month after days of public pressure. Arkema’s legal troubles have widened in the last week — as the civil attorney and criminal district attorney for Harris County, home to Houston, announced a pending lawsuit and investigation, respectively. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and U.S. Chemical Safety Board announced last month they were investigating. And, a group of about two dozen homeowners and first responders are part of a state lawsuit that seeks more than $1 million. They also blame Arkema for sickening them and failing to fully warn them about the hazards of breathing the contaminated air. Arkema executives have insisted they planned for flooding conditions, bringing in backup generators and moving containers with the chemicals to higher ground. Accident plans the company had filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in recent years noted hurricanes, flooding and power loss were potential hazards. But despite a National Hurricane Center warning on Aug. 27 that areas around Houston could get 50 inches of rain, company officials said they couldn’t have predicted such an unprecedented amount. As Harvey dumped the rain, Arkema’s power and generators at its Crosby facility failed, leading refrigeration systems to eventually shut down. That caused its organic peroxides, used in a range of products from plastics and paints, to destabilize. Arkema abandoned the site in Crosby, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Houston, on Aug. 29. A mandatory 1.5-mile evacuation zone was created in anticipation of a fire and explosion, displacing hundreds of residents for about a week. After one container storing hazardous materials caught fire Aug. 31 and exploded, an Arkema executive initially claimed that smoke from that was a “non-toxic irritant.” Fifteen responders were treated for exposure at local hospitals. On Sept. 4, after a second container caught fire and then the remaining others were burned under supervision, an executive said Arkema’s air-quality testing within the evacuation zone had shown “no evidence of any issues.” But the lawyers’ letter Monday said the residents had found “a strange ash material and a mysterious black residue on the ground” after each Arkema explosion sent black plumes of smoke in the air. Scientific testing of samples — some collected several miles outside the 1.5-mile evacuation zone — found materials from multiple families of toxic chemicals, according to the letter signed by lawyer Mark F. Underwood. The toxins identified include volatile organic compounds, which can be possible causes of cancer, and harmful polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons formed during the incomplete burning of organic substances. The letters said tests also detected some amount of dioxins and furans, which the EPA has said may change hormone levels in those exposed. “Given the toxicity of the substances released,” according to the letter, “the 1.5 mile perimeter was not far enough to adequately protect either first responders or those living beyond the perimeter who were not evacuated.” The letter by the residents’ lawyer said some of them have had negative health effects persisting after the exposure ended, though no specifics were provided. The exposure came through air and surface water, which, unbeknownst to them, had been contaminated by spills. “Exposure to this toxic mixture in the environment through human pathways caused bodily injury,” the letter said, “and has created a need for a community-wide remediation effort, changes in Arkema’s operation and a medical monitoring program to protect the public from risk.” In 2016, an analysis led by Texas A&M University researchers identified Arkema’s facility as one of biggest risks in a corridor with the country’s greatest concentration of petrochemical plants.


Rural Wisconsin schools getting mental health help by video.

Explanation: Students at a rural Wisconsin school district are getting access to mental health services with a new video-conferencing system to address a shortage of options nearby.

Wisconsin, Mental health, Health, General News, Eau Claire

The closest mental health clinic available to students at the Lake Holcombe School District is about a 20-minute drive away, Wisconsin Public Radio reported. The district is about 40 miles northeast of Eau Claire. “We found that it was a barrier to care for patients who were seeking services but didn’t have a means of transportation to receive the service, and also wasted patient time to try to have the counselor commute to the more rural schools,” said Nicole Califf, a behavioral care clinic manager for Prevea Health counselors, the organization that will be connecting with students through video conferencing. Officials hope to have the program available in October. Students who seek treatment will enter a private room where they will connect with a therapist on a television screen. The services will be covered by the students’ parents’ insurance or Medicaid. The school district has about 300 students. School guidance counselor Barb VanDoorn estimates that the percentage of students who struggle with mental health issues is either the same or greater than the Wisconsin state average of 20% of students. “We are excited about our opportunities with telehealth counseling services as we can reach more students who are in need,” Califf said. Jeni Gronemus, a Prevea licensed professional counselor, said earlier intervention often means students who need help are better at building skills to manage their symptoms. VanDoorn said some of the more prevalent mental health issues students suffer from are anxiety and depression, which is more common among teenagers. Lake Holcombe’s program will be funded over two years with $60,000. The money comes from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, which awarded $6.5 million in grants to 120 school districts to address mental health. ___ Information from: Wisconsin Public Radio, http://www.wpr.org


President Trump intends to nominate Dr. Oz to the Presidential Council on Sport, Fitness and Nutrition.

Explanation: Many claims made by Dr. Oz and his guests have failed to hold up to any scrutiny, but one claim he made on 4 May 2018 does — he has indeed been tapped for nomination to the Presidential Council on Health, Nutrition, and Fitness.

Politics, Council on Sport Fitness and Nutrition, Dr. Oz, health

In a 4 May 2018 White House press release titled “President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate and Appoint Personnel to Key Administration Posts,” the President announced, among other things, that he is planning on nominating Dr. Mehmet Oz to a two-year term on the President’s Council on Sport, Fitness, and Nutrition, or PCSFN: President Donald J. Trump today announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to be Members of the President’s Council on Sport, Fitness, and Nutrition for a term of two years: […] Mehmet Oz of New Jersey First established in 1956, the Council “engages, educates, and empowers all Americans to adopt a healthy lifestyle that includes regular physical activity and good nutrition” through the promotion of various programs and initiatives that “motivate people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to be active and eat healthy.” Mehmet Oz — known popularly as Dr. Oz — is, like so many other nominees offered by Trump, a television personality. Launched into stardom after appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show as a health expert in the early 2000s, his medical background is as a cardiothoracic surgeon. He is perhaps known to most, however, for his work promoting alternative cures and dubious pseudoscience through his eponymous Dr. Oz Show. He is best known to Trump, most likely, through his September 2016 appearance on that show where Oz declared that notes allegedly produced by Harold Bornstein (the personal doctor who now claims a clean bill of health issued in his name in 2016 was dictated by Trump himself) were “comprehensive”: If a patient of mine had these records,” Oz said, “I’d be very happy, and I’d send them on their way.” Oz has been criticized by the FTC for promoting dubious products or supplements on his show and was called by Senator Claire McCaskill to testify before the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection in 2014 over his promotion of weight loss cures: “I don’t get why you say this stuff because you know it’s not true,” McCaskill said [to Oz] during Tuesday’s hearing before the Senate subcommittee on consumer protection, which she chairs. “So why, when you have this amazing megaphone and this amazing ability to communicate, why would you cheapen your show by saying things like that?” […] “The scientific community is almost monolithic against you in terms of the efficacy of the three products you call miracles,” McCaskill told Oz. “You may think magic is make-believe, but this little bean has scientists saying they’ve found the magic weight-loss cure for every body type,” he said on his show in 2012 of green coffee extract. The only research supporting that claim at the time was a study, since retracted, that had been funded by the product’s manufacturer. A 2018 analysis of the Dr. Oz Show performed by Health News Reviews concluded that “about 78% of statements made on the Dr. Oz show did not align with evidence-based medical guidelines, society recommendations, or authority statements.” They also documented that much of the show’s content is directly related to the products being advertised during the show’s broadcast: More than half of all recorded shows had content linked directly to advertisements: In the Dr. Oz show: 13 out of 19 (68.4%) shows had ads related to general show content, 11 /19 (57.9%) had specific products mentioned by the host using their commercial name, and 4/11 (36.3%) shows mentioning products by name named more than one product. Dr. Oz has also used his show to give a platform to people widely seen as being part of a pseudoscientific fringe, including people like Dr. Joseph Mercola, the proprietor of a large alternative health web store who has been fined by the FTC for claiming that his tanning beds prevent cancer.


4th Massachusetts resident dies of vaping-related illness.

Explanation: A fourth Massachusetts resident has died from a vaping-related lung illness, state public health officials announced Wednesday.

General News, Marijuana, Massachusetts, Vaping, Public health, Tobacco industry regulation

The patient, a man in his 70s from Middlesex County, reported vaping products containing THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, according to a statement from the state Public Health Department. “Today’s news is a tragic reminder that we must remain vigilant about the dangers of vaping,” said Public Health Commissioner Dr. Monica Bharel. Massachusetts has now reported 36 confirmed cases and 73 probable cases of vaping-associated lung illnesses to the federal Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention. Of those 109 cases, 55 are men and 54 are women. A little more than half are under age 30. The agency said 35% vaped only nicotine, 40% vaped only THC, and 27% reported vaping both. Massachusetts in November became the first state in the country to ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, e-cigarettes and e-liquids. Marijuana dealers are allowed to sell unflavored marijuana products only after they have passed tests for the presence of impermissible levels of toxins or contaminants, including vitamin E acetate and heavy metals. The CDC has identified vitamin E as a culprit in vaping-associated lung injuries. The announcement came a day after a Massachusetts judge granted a motion from the state attorney general’s office to bar five online e-cigarette retailers from selling their products to state residents while a lawsuit against the companies is pending. Attorney General Maura Healey last month sued eight online retailers of e-cigarettes she alleges violated the state’s ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products and failed to protect against delivery of the products to minors. Healey’s office is still in the process of serving the other three companies.


Iowa public health officials tackle vaping health concerns.

Explanation: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says she will not sign an executive order that would ban the sale of flavored vaping products but that several state agencies are developing plans to deal with the health risks tied to using electronic cigarettes.

Iowa, Health, General News, Kim Reynolds, Vaping, Public health, Tobacco industry regulation

Reynolds says she met Friday with state public health officials to discuss the illnesses reported in Iowa from vaping and how to address the problem. Reynolds said Monday that efforts by governors in other states to block sales have been halted by the courts after lawsuits so she’s holding off on that approach. Reynolds says the officials in public health, education and human services agencies are working on a plan to educate the public, especially students, about vaping risks. More than 40 teenagers and young adults in Iowa have experienced severe respiratory illness from vaping. Most have used the electronic devices with THC, the active compound in marijuana that creates a high. Nationally, more than 1,600 people have been sickened since March. At least 34 have died.


John McCain accused Barack Obama "of letting infants die.

Explanation: Obama ad wrong about McCain abortion charge

Barack Obama recently released an attack ad on John McCain after Obama's abortion votes in the Illinois state legislature came under attack. The ad says that McCain accused Obama of "letting infants die." But we do not find that to be the case. Our story begins with an ad from an independent advocacy group, BornAliveTruth.org, that exists to criticize Obama's votes on abortion when he was a state senator in Illinois. The group's ad shows a young woman, Gianna Jessen, looking directly at the camera and saying the following: "Can you imagine not giving babies their basic human rights, no matter how they entered our world? My name's Gianna Jessen, born 31 years ago after a failed abortion. But if Barack Obama had his way, I wouldn't be here. Four times Barack Obama voted to oppose a law to protect babies left to die after failed abortions. Senator Obama, please support born alive infant protections. I'm living proof these babies have a right to live." View the ad here  . The ad refers to Illinois legislation put forward in 2001, 2002 and 2003 by opponents of abortion. The intent was to require doctors to provide immediate life-saving care to any infant that survived an intended abortion. The legislation, which included multiple bills, specified that an infant surviving a planned abortion is "born alive" and "shall be fully recognized as a human person and accorded immediate protection under the law." The bills' supporters said it gave added emphasis to laws already on the books, deterring the death of abortion survivors from neglect. One of the bills' strongest supporters was a nurse, Jill Stanek, who said she had witnessed infants left to die in dirty utility rooms. Abortion-rights proponents, on the other hand, said the legislation was a back-door attempt to stop legal abortions. Obama voted against the legislation several times. For more on the complicated history of this legislation  read our story here. The Obama campaign has been trying to make inroads with voters who oppose abortion. Though Obama supports the right to abortion, he said he believes the number of abortions performed can and should be reduced. So the campaign released a vigorous response ad to the BornAliveTruth.org ad. But instead of targeting BornAliveTruth.org or Gianna Jessen,  the ad attacks McCain  . "John McCain's attacks, the sleaziest ads ever. Truly vile. Now, votes taken out of context accusing Obama of letting infants die. It's a despicable lie. Even the bill's Republican sponsor said that it's untrue. Obama's always supported medical care to protect infants. McCain. He's running on a platform to ban abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. Sleazy ads. Anti-choice. That's John McCain." There are a few problems here. Obama's ad shows footage of the BornAliveTruth.org ad, which the McCain campaign did not produce. So the Obama ad is blaming McCain for an attack he didn't make. The first ad clearly states that BornAliveTruth.org created it, as is required by law. Also, though the Republican Party platform does call for a ban on abortion, McCain himself favors exceptions for rape and incest. (His running mate Sarah Palin has said she opposes those exceptions, but the ad doesn't mention her.) We looked for examples, but could find no cases of McCain accusing Obama of "letting infants die." Certainly some antiabortion activists who support McCain have made the charge, but that's quite different from the McCain campaign saying it. McCain's abortion-related attacks usually center on Obama's refusal to confirm conservative judges. We find the claim that McCain made the accusation to be .


From 1947 to 1979, family incomes for rich, middle-income and poor Americans grew about the same rate. But since 1979, incomes for rich families have grown much faster.

Explanation: GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s two-drug HIV regimen Dovato was successful in suppressing the AIDS-causing virus in patients over 48 weeks at the same level of a previous three-drug treatment in a late-stage trial, the drugmaker said on Wednesday.

National, Families, Income, Labor, Workers, United for a Fair Economy,

Dovato, a combination of dolutegravir and lamivudine, was approved in the United States in April for newly-diagnosed patients, boosting the British drugmaker’s prospects against Gilead Sciences Inc, which currently leads the HIV treatment market. Liberium analyst Graham Doyle said the study results will add to the data package supporting Dovato as GSK aims to convince doctors that two drug therapies are just as effective as triple therapies. GSK is betting that a shift to using two drugs rather than three will boost its sales by offering patients a therapy with fewer potentially toxic side effects. The study evaluated the effectiveness of Dovato, a combination of dolutegravir and lamivudine, in adults with the HIV-1 virus who switched to the regimen from at least a triple combination containing Gilead Sciences’ Descovy, the British company’s HIV drugs division ViiV said. ViiV also said adults who used Dovato did not develop any resistance to the treatment. GSK already has a two-drug regimen Juluca on the market, but only for HIV patients that have received prior treatment. Pfizer Inc and Shionogi & Co Ltd also have small stakes in ViiV, which accounted for about 39% of GSK’s group operating profit last year, according to UBS analysts. The HIV-1 category has the most widespread strains of the virus, which severely affects the body’s immune system.


Common antibiotic may help to prevent or treat PTSD

Explanation: This University College London news release describes a complex piece of research that combines cell cultures, human volunteers, a theory that enzymatic proteins called matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitors are involved in forming threat memories inherent in PTSD, and that a common antibiotic may prevent their formation by blocking the enzymes. The fact that the research was a theoretical proof-of concept is buried deep in the release so readers might think, based on the headline and earlier paragraphs alone, that the evidence is stronger than it is. The published research article describes some of the uncertainties involved in biopsychological investigations in animal models and people, but the release doesn’t mention any of them, nor does it include any meaningful numbers to describe the benefits. It does raise the issue of the practicality of using drugs to prevent PTSD since no one can predict when a traumatic event will occur. The search for the neurochemical and biological roots of PTSD and other kinds of crippling anxieties is a scientific challenge for good reason. The human “mind” is difficult to access; animal models are notoriously unreliable; and experiments on people designed to induce, evoke, or otherwise probe such trauma may be unethical. The work described here may indeed be an important early step in understanding the role of signaling pathways outside of nerve cells in creating PTSD, and of novel strategies using an already widely available set of drugs to sabotage that role. But a lot more research will be needed to affirm the idea and a release on the research should make that point very clear and very high up in the text. When and if the blocking of a conditioned fear response by a drug is proven, who would want to take a long term drug in case a terrible event befalls them in the future? That would be taking “preventive medicine” to a whole new level.

The release makes no mention of costs. It could have addressed cost through information about the relatively inexpensive antibiotic used in the study or by mentioning the social and economic costs of those afflicted with PTSD. Even though the research is called a “proof of concept,” we think if it’s not too soon to issue a news release it shouldn’t be too early to include cost implications. It’s not clear from the release how statistically strong the results are. The release notes that volunteers taking the antibiotic had a 60% lower fear response in the first session compared to those who took the placebo, “suggesting that the fear memory was significantly suppressed by the drug.” But that number is an average response rate in the treated group and we’d like to see some actual numbers — the number of responses and the range of responses — to assess how many people were helped and to what degree. The article published in Molecular Psychiatry also reports only the approximate percentage of study volunteers who experienced a reduced reaction to the fear marker, so there are no absolute numbers that could be taken from the study and used in the news release. However, communications staff and journalists are the eyes and ears for readers and it behooves them to seek clarity from the authors of research. One of the investigators is quoted acknowledging the challenges inherent in using drugs like doxycycline to prevent PTSD, but there is no mention in the release about the many serious adverse side effects and drug interactions that come with the use of tetracycline antibiotics. Doxycycline has been tried long-term for aortic aneurysms (as a matrix metalloproteinase or MMP inhibitor, the same reason it was tried here) and as an antibiotic for acne, recurrent urinary infections and other conditions. Although generally considered safe to use, over a long term it can cause allergic rashes, antibiotic resistance, changes in friendly gut bacteria, possible weight gain and other problems. While the release explains that the subjects were all healthy volunteers and that the study was a randomized,  placebo-controlled, double-blind trial involving computer simulation, it doesn’t give us much information about the strengths and weaknesses of the research. The primary outcome the researchers sought to measure — startle response — was never really described. The release doesn’t engage in disease mongering. It provides some context about what PTSD is and what causes it. Some context about the rate of PTSD in certain populations (e.g. combat veterans, terrorist attack survivors, children of war) and methods currently used to prevent or treat the condition might also have been helpful to include. The release notes the funding sources and the study stated that there were no conflicts of interest. The release doesn’t mention any of the other treatment strategies for PTSD or show how this drug might compare with them. One other drug that’s been studied for its use in the blocking of learning conditioned fear is the beta blocking blood pressure drug propanolol. The release notes that “more realistic models” of clinical PTSD are needed and any testing of doxycycline in those models is years away. The release claims novelty through this statement by the study author: “We have demonstrated a proof-of-principle for an entirely new treatment strategy for PTSD,” explains Professor Bach. “The theory is based on the recent discovery that our brains need proteins outside nerve cells, called matrix enzymes, to form memories.” However, the current study is not the first to identify a drug that may block fear learning, as noted above under the “alternatives” criteria. The release doesn’t include any sensational, unjustifiable language.


Proton therapy controls common pediatric brain tumor with fewer long-term side effects

Explanation: This news release summarizes findings from an observational study that looks at the long-term side effects of treating childhood brain tumors with proton radiotherapy compared with the more standard photon therapy. The premise of the study and its follow-up release is that proton beam therapy, by damaging less normal brain tissue, leaves a young patent with fewer long-term future complications from side effects. The study, published in Lancet Oncology, reports on the follow-up of 59 children treated at one institution with proton beam therapy between 2003 and 2009. The release imparts a lot of information about the complicated study in a brief, readable way, but we have several concerns with missing information and implied results. All of the patients in the study had additional treatments including surgery and chemotherapy, so the benefits and harms cannot be fully attributed to the proton beam therapy. The release also does not address costs (which are significantly higher than standard therapy) or a very important limitation explained in the study which is that, for ethical reasons, there is no randomized control group treated in a similar way except for receiving conventional radiation therapy. Treating cancer at any age is a challenging task for doctors, but when it involves children the stakes can’t be higher. This is particularly the case when the cancer is in a sensitive location, in this case the child’s brain, and when it can be life threatening, such as medulloblastoma. The treatments need to be strong enough to provide long-term management and at the same time spare normal surrounding tissue. When that surrounding tissue is the brain of a young child, damage can lead to life-long, serious complications. Studies that purport to offer improved outcomes need attention and scrutiny.

Academic medical center news release,Cancer

The release does not address the costs of the therapy. This is especially important to include in any discussion of proton therapy because its costs are astronomically high — often twice as much as standard therapy. We’ve previously described some of the issues with costs in other reviews and blog posts focusing on proton therapy. You can search the HealthNewsReview.org site for many others. The news release quantifies some outcomes, as in this statement: “Of 59 patients who enrolled, 12 died from their tumor during the study period and one from a traumatic brain injury. Significant hearing loss was seen in 12 percent of patients three years after treatment and in 16 percent at five years, which compares with around 25 percent reported in studies using photon radiotherapy.” The release later indicates that key outcomes are comparable to photon therapy: “Survival rates and the incidence and type of tumor recurrence all were similar to what has been reported for photon radiotherapy.” We’ll call this good enough for a Satisfactory rating, although the release certainly could have provided more detail on what previous studies have found with respect to photon therapy. The release addresses some of the harms associated with the therapy and provides specific numbers that are easy for readers to understand. It says, for example, “Of 59 patients who enrolled, 12 died from their tumor during the study period and one from a traumatic brain injury. Significant hearing loss was seen in 12 percent of patients three years after treatment and in 16 percent at five years, which compares with around 25 percent reported in studies using photon radiotherapy.” The release didn’t point out that all of the patients had additional treatments — including surgery and chemotherapy — so it’s not possible to pinpoint years later where to place the blame for any hearing loss or cognitive deficits. We think some of the harms from the therapy were given short shrift, but we address this in the “Quality of Evidence” measure. We have two main complaints about this release. 1. It does not make clear that the study did not directly compare therapies side-by-side in a randomized, controlled trial. It studied one therapy and then made comparisons to other published studies. There’s one allusion to that in the release, but the nuance would be missed by most readers. And the release should have explicitly acknowledged that this was a limitation of the study design. 2. It does not delve deeply enough into the evidence actually presented in the study to make the case that risks associated with the therapy are low. The actual study clearly states, “Full Scale Intelligence Quotient decreased by 1·5 points (95% CI 0·9–2·1) per year after median follow-up up of 5·2 years (IQR 2·6–6·4), driven by decrements in processing speed and verbal comprehension index.” Losing intelligence over the course of five years, especially in young children, is a critical side effect to be measured and managed. We don’t think it’s adequate to say, “The cognitive effects of proton therapy – primarily affecting verbal comprehension and processing speed – were also less serious than what has been reported with photon radiotherapy, and those effects were primarily seen in children who were under the age of 8 when treated.” There is no disease mongering in the release. The funding sources and conflicts are clearly explained. The release does make multiple comparisons to studies of other therapies. We do not feel that this was framed properly in the release, but we address this in the quality of evidence section. The release makes it clear that the therapy is not widely available and not often used. The first quote says, “Proton radiotherapy is still not widely available in the U.S. or around the world, but it is increasingly recognized for its potential to reduce the side effects of treatment, particularly in the pediatric population.” Both the release and the study make a claim of novelty, meaning that this type of analysis had not been done before. The study establishes that this type of research is new based on its literature review and extensive citations of previous studies. It says, “To the best of our knowledge, no other data for the late effects or disease control of proton therapy for patients with medulloblastoma are as complete and mature as ours.” The release adequately summarizes the state of current evidence by saying, “While proton therapy may appear to be ideal for reducing these adverse effects, no previous study had prospectively examined the long-term results of children treated for medulloblastoma with proton therapy.” This is a tough call, but we believe the release uses unjustifiable language with this quote from one of the researchers: “While we are currently investigating quality of life differences between proton and photon treatment, I truly believe that – particularly for the youngest children – the ability to offer them proton therapy can make a big difference in their lives.” This statement plays to emotions, and the researcher essentially acknowledges that the statement isn’t justified since the appropriate comparative research hasn’t been done. The families of pediatric cancer patients want to believe, but scientists need to base their statements, not on beliefs, but on data from the highest quality comparative studies we can ethically perform.


Russian border becomes China's frontline in fight against second virus wave.

Explanation: China’s northeastern border with Russia has become a frontline in the fight against a resurgence of the coronavirus epidemic as  new daily cases rose to the highest in nearly six weeks - with more than 90% involving people coming from abroad.

Having largely stamped out domestic transmission of the disease, China has been slowly easing curbs on movement as it tries to get its economy back on track, but there are fears that a rise in imported cases could spark a second wave of COVID-19. A total of 108 new coronavirus cases were reported in mainland China on Sunday, up from 99 a day earlier, marking the highest daily tally since March 5. Imported cases accounted for a record 98. Half involved Chinese nationals returning from Russia’s Far Eastern Federal District, home to the city of Vladivostok, who re-entered China through border crossings in Heilongjiang province. “Our little town here, we thought it was the safest place,” said a resident of the border city of Suifenhe, who only gave his surname as Zhu. “Some Chinese citizens - they want to come back, but it’s not very sensible, what are you doing coming here for?”  The border is closed, except to Chinese nationals, and the land route through the city had become one of few options available for people trying to return home after Russia stopped flights to China except for those evacuating people. Streets in Suifenhe were virtually empty on Sunday evening due to restrictions on movement and gatherings announced last week, when authorities took preventative measures similar to those imposed in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the pandemic ripping round the world first emerged late last year. The total number of confirmed cases in mainland China stood at 82,160 as of Sunday. At the peak of the first wave of the epidemic on Feb 12 there were over 15,000 new cases, though that was a one-off spike following the deployment of new testing methods. Though the number of daily infections across China has dropped sharply from that peak, China has seen the daily toll creep higher after hitting a trough on March 12 because of the rise in imported cases. Chinese cities near the Russian frontier are tightening border controls and imposing stricter quarantines in response. Suifenhe and Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang, are now mandating 28 days of quarantine as well as nucleic acid and antibody tests for all arrivals from abroad. In Shanghai, authorities found that 60 people who arrived on Aeroflot flight SU208 from Moscow on April 10 have the coronavirus, Zheng Jin, a spokeswoman for the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, told a press conference on Monday. Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the  Center for Diseases Prevention and Control in Beijing, said the trend for local transmission of the disease in the capital was low. “Imported cases are still the highest risk in Beijing in the second half of April,” Pang said, adding that nearly 8% of the 40,000 nucleic acid tests carried out in the city since April 1 had been conducted on people who had come from abroad. China has cut the number of people crossing its borders by 90% and has tried to stop all non-essential journeys, said Liu Haitao, an immigration official, at a separate briefing. “Our border is long, and apart from the border crossings and passages, there are a large number of mountain passes, paths, ferry crossings and small roads, and the situation is very complicated,” he said. Residents in Suifenhe said a lot of people had left the city  fearing contagion, but others put their trust in authorities’ containment measures. “I don’t need to worry,” Zhao Wei, another Suifenhe resident, told Reuters. “If there’s a local transmission, I would, but there’s not a single one. They’re all from the border, but they’ve all been sent to quarantine.”


With U.S. hit by virus, China courts Latin America with medical diplomacy.

Explanation: As Argentina was scrambling to introduce emergency measures to insulate its ailing economy from the coronavirus last week, the Chinese ambassador paid a visit to the home of President Alberto Fernandez to discuss an offer.

At the meeting in the wealthy Olivos suburb of Buenos Aires, ambassador Zou Xiaoli laid out how the Asian giant was ready to help Argentina face the pandemic: donating masks, gloves, thermometers and protective suits. The donations, welcomed by Fernandez’s government, show how China is leveraging its production of medical equipment and expertise in halting the coronavirus as a soft-power tool in regions like South America, where it is jostling for influence against the United States. From Argentina to Mexico, Brazil to Peru, Latin American nations have accepted offers of support from China as the number of coronavirus cases across the region has climbed, amid growing fears about the preparedness of their healthcare systems. There have been nearly 500,000 confirmed cases worldwide of the virus, which causes the respiratory disease COVID-19, and over 20,000 deaths. Although South America has so far not been as hard hit as other parts of the world, experts fear that may change as winter arrives in the southern hemisphere. “Some countries in the region have reached out to China asking for help,” a Chinese official in Buenos Aires, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. “We will share with them our experience in combating COVID-19 and offer sanitary materials within our capacity.”  As trade tensions between Washington and Beijing have simmered in recent years, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has warned Latin American nations that they should be wary of becoming too economically reliant on China - to little avail. In Argentina, the region’s third-largest economy, China has made steady in-roads, from solar power investments to the construction of a new space monitoring station. It has supplied over $17 billion of financing since 2007, Inter-American Dialogue data shows. China has also become the top consumer of Argentine soybeans and beef. As the coronavirus spread in China, Argentina’s new left-leaning leader Fernandez - who took office in December - exchanged correspondence with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. In letters seen by Reuters, Fernandez offered solidarity to China in February as the virus raged from the outbreak center of Wuhan. In March, Xi replied that the situation in China was improving and he called for a deepening of ties between the two nations. Days later, the Chinese embassy announced its donations, posting pictures on Twitter of large trucks carrying a mobile hospital that was set up within a military base near the Argentine capital. “China will continue to help in all possible channels. Long live friendship!” the embassy said on Twitter. The help came at a difficult time for Argentina, which is grappling with a severe economic crisis and re-negotiating $110 billion in foreign debt with creditors, including the International Monetary Fund. “This is part of the link we have with China, which is a solid relationship of mutual respect and ties that go beyond strong trade,” a spokesman for Argentina’s foreign ministry told Reuters, when asked about the donations. China’s aid to Latin America reflects a broader global trend, as Beijing looks to steer the narrative away from it being the country where the coronavirus started and was initially downplayed. Instead, China wants to be seen as spearheading the global fight against the pandemic, experts say. Luo Zhaohui, a vice minister at China’s foreign ministry, said at a news conference in Beijing on Thursday that the country would “ride out the storm with people from other countries, strengthen cooperation and strive to win the last victory in the fight against the virus.”  While Trump has been criticized by opponents for branding the pandemic ‘the Chinese virus,’ China has won praise among Latin American governments that have accepted its help. The Chinese government said it has supplied test kits, protective suits and other forms of medical aid to more than 80 countries and international organizations. “It’s remarkable and a credit, in a way, to China’s own commanding control of information that it’s been able to re-envision itself as a leader in the fight against coronavirus globally,” said Margaret Myers, director of the China and Latin American program at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue. Myers said the recent re-start of Chinese industry, as cases have subsided, has enabled the country to be a provider of key products as the rest of the world’s production slows. “This will create opportunities for China in the coming years,” she said. The United States, meanwhile, is struggling with its own battle to contain the virus, with the World Health Organization warning on Tuesday that the country could become a new epicenter of the crisis. Before the epidemic hit hardest, Washington in February pledged $100 million towards international efforts in combating COVID-19, including for developing nations. A regional breakdown of that funding was not immediately available. In Latin America, China’s hands-on approach has been well received. Chile, which has among the highest numbers of coronavirus cases in the region, has sought advice from Chinese health officials to guide its response and is sending an air force plane to China to pick up donated supplies, including tests and respiratory equipment, Chile’s health minister said. In Mexico, officials have said they are awaiting 300 ventilators from China, crucial yet scarce equipment in treating patients, while in Panama, government health officials heralded a video conference with Chinese experts to work on strategy, something China has done with more than 100 countries. In Venezuela, the government of President Nicolas Maduro said China would send protective gear for health professionals and coronavirus test kits. The country has also opened talks with China over possible financial support. “Thank you China for cooperation and solidarity with Ecuador!” the country’s Vice President Otto Sonnenholzner wrote on Twitter, itemizing help from China that he said included 40,000 surgical masks, infrared thermometers, and protective suits. In Brazil, right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro has moved quickly to heal a diplomatic rift with China and Chinese officials have said Beijing would assist with medical supplies and technical assistance. Chinese firms, including Alibaba (BABA.N), Huawei, COFCO, China Communications Construction and the Bank of China have pledged donations around the region. Back in Argentina, Washington is keen to show that it also wants to help. “We plan this week to make funds available to Argentine authorities to combat coronavirus,” an official at the U.S. embassy in Buenos Aires told Reuters, adding the country was “looking at the possibility of additional donations.”


A female physician from Munich described in an email the challenge of providing medical care to refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern countries who have come to Germany.

Explanation: Female Physician in Munich Pens Email About Refugee Crisis

We can’t confirm the authenticity of an email that was supposedly written by a female physician in Munich because the name of the author hasn’t been disclosed. The email supposedly written by a female physician from Munich went viral after a Czech newscaster read it on the air during a broadcast that has gone viral. In the email, the female doctor from Munich describes unsafe conditions for physicians and nurses in German hospitals because of demanding, angry and volatile refugees from Syria and other countries seeking care there: In a hospital near the Rhine, migrants attacked the staff with knives after they had handed over an 8-month-old on the brink of death, which they had dragged across half of Europe for three months. The child died in two days, despite having received top care at one of the best pediatric clinics in Germany. The physician had to undergo surgery and two nurses are laid up in the ICU. Nobody has been punished. The local press is forbidden to write about it, so we know about it through email. What would have happened to a German if he had stabbed a doctor and nurses with a knife? Or if he had flung his own syphilis-infected urine into a nurse’s face and so threatened her with infection? At a minimum he’d go straight to jail and later to court. With these people – so far, nothing has happened. There haven’t been any local press reports about attacks on doctors or hospital staffs by refugees — but, then again, the email claims that local media has been “forbidden” to write about it. But that claim doesn’t check out. Some German media outlets have openly criticized Chancellor Merkel for supposedly contributing to the large inflow of refugees, so reports of a media blackout don’t check out, according to a Deutsche Wells press review. Also, the idea that refugees are flooding hospitals and demanding medical care don’t mesh with German laws on providing healthcare for refugees. Asylum seekers in the country are granted limited access to medical care, EurActive Germany reports: In most of the German Länder, asylum seekers are not allowed to go directly to doctors when they are in pain or call an ambulance after an accident. Instead, they are required to get a permit first from the appropriate authorities or the refugee centre. This procedure is regulated by the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act of 1993. The goal of the law is to keep health-related spending low and limit incentives for asylum seekers in Germany. Those who seek asylum in Germany are only given full coverage under statutory health insurance after spending 15 months in the county. Before that they can only receive acute care and have to receive special permission to visit hospitals. UPDATE: A reader brought a newer version of this email to our attention. In that version, Dr. Barbara Sziraki is named as the German physician who wrote the viral email. After investigating, we’ve determined that Dr. Barbara Sziraki a psychiatrist who practices in Los Angeles. Her name and email appears to have been mistakenly attached to the email after she sent or received it. Comments


Evidence a high-fat diet works to treat epilepsy

Explanation: This story reports on a randomized trial examining whether a ketogenic diet can effectively aid in the management of epilepsy in children who have not had an adequate response to antiseizure medications. Because of its length, the story left out important details about the study. The story did not provide adequate detail about the source of the information it reported on. The researchers themselves defined a significant number of caveats that are important to an understanding of the study results  but these caveats are not included in the news story. It may not have given a complete picture of the costs of this approach. It gave an incomplete picture of what can go wrong. The story did not mention any harms associated with the diet. In the particular study reported on, the side effects in the children studied included constipation, vomiting, lack of energy, and hunger. In addition, there have been reports of more serious side effects occurring after longer term use of the diet. The story was about 500 words in length; affording it another 100-150 words could have resulted in a very good piece rather than one which was just okay.

The story was not explicit about the costs of the diet. The ketogenic diet may involve inpatient initiation of treatment, lots of lab work and a good deal of involvement from the neurologist and dietician. The price of all of this may be offset by reduced drug costs. The listing of the components of the diet gives the impression of a low cost of care which may not be valid. The story accurately reported on the level of benefit observed in the study it reported on. However, the story should have mentioned that the timeframe of the study reported on was 90 days. This is of concern to readers who might be evaluating the benefits to be obtained through adherence to the diet. The story did not mention any harms associated with the diet. In the particular study reported on, the side effects in the children studied included constipation, vomiting, lack of energy, and hunger. In addition, there have been reports of more serious side effects occurring after longer term use of the diet. The story referred to results in a scientific paper that will be published in June. The details reported on may have come from the abstract of the paper which can be found online or from a press release from the hospital at which the study was conducted http://www.ich.ucl.ac.uk/pressoffice/pressrelease_00622 The story should have acknowledged the source of its information. This story did not engage in overt disease mongering. Apparently a not-yet-published journal article was one source. Another was an interview with the principal investigator of the study reported on. In addition, there was an interview with a clinician with expertise in the area but who was not directly associated with the story reported on. Although the story reported that the children in the particular study reported on had failed to respond to at least two antiseizure medications, the story did not provide information about treatment options for children with epilepsy or whether the diet would typically be used instead of or in addition to other treatments for epilepsy. The story stated that this dietary approach to managing epilepsy is a standard treatment at hospitals and epilepsy centers in the United States and abroad. So we get somewhat of a sense of its availability. But the story doesn’t make clear just how many hospitals and epilepsy centers use this approach, or how many have the necessary cross-discipline resources to manage the approach. The story mentioned the long history of using a ketogenic diet to aid in the management of epilepsy. We can’t be sure if the story relied solely or largely on a news release. As noted before,  a news story that covers a not-yet published journal article should be more explicit about its sources of information.


Georgia could be first state to test Trump health proposals.

Explanation: Georgia could be the first state to test multiple proposals from President Donald Trump that would dramatically change the market for insurance under the health care overhaul passed by his predecessor.

Georgia, Health care reform, General News, Medicaid, Donald Trump, Barack Obama

Supporters say the proposed changes to former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act would give individuals and families less expensive coverage options, a particular benefit for those who don’t qualify for federal subsidies to cover premiums. Critics say it would drive up insurance costs for older and sicker people. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp issued his plan, dubbed “Georgia Access,” in October. It includes three approaches promoted by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, in November 2018. State officials planned to submit a formal proposal to the Trump administration on Friday and expected to hear by August 2020 whether the state has permission to implement it. Passed in 2010, the Affordable Care Act — Obama’s signature health care law — extended insurance coverage to millions of Americans by expanding Medicaid and subsidizing premiums for individuals and families who make up to four times the federal poverty level. The law — also known as “Obamacare” — allows states to seek waivers from the federal government to change certain provisions, but only if they adhere to strict rules. The Trump administration has loosened those rules at the same time that they’re part of a legal battle to entirely overturn the ACA. The Trump administration has sided with mostly GOP-led states, including Georgia, that are arguing the whole health care law is unconstitutional, but it has also left the door open for judges to keep parts of it. Under “Georgia Access,” the state would take charge of federal subsidies for “Obamacare” and make them available to people who buy health plans that don’t provide the full array of benefits that the ACA requires. Health policy experts say that change would drive up ACA premiums by drawing healthier people to less expensive, skimpier insurance plans. That would leave the ACA with a sicker patient pool. “Essentially, Georgia is saying if you’re a healthier person who doesn’t need maternity care or mental health care, you get to win with these cheaper products, but if you’re a sicker person who needs comprehensive benefits you could face much higher premiums,” said Sabrina Corlette, co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. Corlette said Georgia is the first state to attempt to implement many of the Trump administration’s 2018 proposals. At a recent public hearing, Carey Mackesey worried about what effect “Georgia Access” would have on her daughter, who has cystic fibrosis. The University of Georgia junior needs constant medical treatment that requires the family to have a robust health insurance plan with a premium that has already climbed to $2,000 a month, Mackesey said. She spoke on behalf of the Georgia chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. She said subsidizing plans that don’t comply with the ACA’s requirement to provide full benefits could raise insurance costs for people with cystic fibrosis even higher. “Each year, it has become more and more difficult to secure the services that my daughter needs to live,” Mackesey said. The governor’s office estimates that the availability of subsidies for pared-down health plans would only increase “Obamacare” premiums by a little more than 1 percent. State officials say that amount would be more than offset by its intention to pay a portion of insurance companies’ costs to treat their sickest patients, a relatively small group that incurs the biggest bills. The so-called reinsurance program would allow the companies to lower monthly premiums for all customers. Twelve other states have received approval for reinsurance programs, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Under “Georgia Access,” residents would also be required to bypass the federal HealthCare.gov website to sign up for insurance. Instead, they would buy insurance directly from brokers or insurers on sites where they would be able to compare ACA plans side-by-side with plans that don’t meet ACA requirements. All plans would have to continue covering preexisting conditions. “Georgia Access” would “draw people into the market” by freeing them “from being forced to buy the kind of insurance that someone else a thousand miles away decided they needed,” said Kyle Wingfield, CEO of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank. State officials would also set an overall cap on subsidies. There is no cap under the ACA. “That doesn’t seem fair,” Georgia resident Susan Marling told state officials at the public hearing. Marling, 55, suggested that Kemp look for ways to improve the ACA without “blowing up the system.” The governor’s office says it has put enough money in its subsidy account to cover both the residents currently receiving federal aid and the additional 30,000 people expected to sign up for insurance. Georgia officials say their proposals are responding to a bleak health care environment. Average premiums for some ACA health plans in the state have increased by more than 40 percent over the past two years, to nearly $7,500 a year, according to the governor’s office. Enrollment in ACA plans in Georgia has declined by 22 percent since 2016 and now stands at nearly 460,000 people. Kemp said in a recent op-ed that “Georgia Access” would give families “more choices to ensure optimal coverage at the right price.”


Police opened fire on a store mannequin after it failed to follow their orders.

Explanation: Previous articles from Real News Right Now include reports that President Obama was stripping Texas of statehood (and banning possession of Confederate flags), Pope Francis was planning to change the Ten Commandments, the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was found in a warehouse owned by CNN, and that the Obama administration allocated Navajo land for hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Junk News, police shootings, real news right now

On 15 August 2016, the web site Real News Right Now published an article reporting that police in Scranton, Pennsylvania opened fire on a department store mannequin because the object failed to “comply” with orders:  Officers arrived on the scene to find what they believed was a muscular African-American man standing idly behind a dumpster. “The individual in question was dressed in a tan hoodie-style sweatshirt and appeared to be naked from the waist down,” Major Howard Colvin told the Scranton Times. A Macy’s employee who agreed to speak to FOX 25 News on condition of anonymity confirmed that the dark grey semi-flexible mannequin had been thrown out Saturday night due to a faulty display stand. “Our officers attempted to communicate with the suspect in an effort to resolve the matter peacefully … When the suspect failed to comply with the officers demands, they responded with appropriate force given the perceived nature of the threat,” Colvin told reporters. It wasn’t until after Scranton police had fired over sixty-five rounds into the mannequin’s back, legs, and upper torso, that they discovered their suspect was made of wire and fiberglass rather than flesh and bone. The article’s closing line hinted at its satirical take on the issue of police shootings: In an effort to prevent future mishaps, Scranton authorities are asking local businesses to take extra care to properly disassemble mannequins and other human-like statues prior to disposal. The article (like all other content hosted on the site) is not representative of real events, but Real News Right Now does not include a disclaimer identifying it as a fake news web site. Its “About” page claims author R. Hobbus J.D. has received awards such as the “Oscar Mayer Award for Journalistic Excellence” and the “Stephen Glass Distinction in Journalistic Integrity.”