Fired therapist: Stressed Marines got bad care
Camp Lejeune patients had to use trailers near live-fire training exercises
Jim R. Bounds / AP
Dr. Kernan Manion was fired after he complained about conditions for his patients at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C.
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updated 1:22 p.m. ET, Sat., Nov . 21, 2009
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Marines treated at Camp Lejeune for post-traumatic stress had to undergo therapy for months in temporary trailers where they could hear bomb blasts, machine-gun fire and war cries through the thin walls, according to servicemen and their former psychiatrist.
The eight trailers were used for nearly two years, until a permanent clinic was completed in September in another location on the base, said a Camp Lejeune medical spokesman, Navy Lt. Mark Jean-Pierre.
The noise from training exercises "shook me up real bad. I couldn't take it. I almost ran out of there a couple of times," said a Marine patient who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media. "My mind couldn't focus on the treatment. I couldn't tell the difference between the combat zone and the non-combat zone."
The allegations became public after the dismissal of Dr. Kernan Manion, a civilian psychiatrist who says he was fired for writing memos to his military superiors complaining of shoddy care of Marines returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, a condition that can make patients jumpy, fearful of loud noises and prone to flashbacks.
"These guys are saying, 'I'm fried and I can't get out,'" Manion said in an interview. Referring to the Fort Hood shooting rampage in which an Army psychiatrist who counseled PTSD victims allegedly killed 13 people earlier this month, he said: "Is there potential for another blowup? Yes, indeed."
In e-mails shown to The Associated Press, Manion complained, among other things, that the military was not dealing with PTSD properly and that the trailers were infested with bugs and noisy.
"Given that PTSD is the most frequent diagnostic group we see, one would question the sense of locating a clinic in such close proximity to the booming of bombs that shake the trailer, the ratta-tat-tat of machine gun fire and the almost daily occurrence of grunts yelling war cries," Manion wrote.
In an interview with AP, Manion said the military should have rented a building off base.
Manion was fired in September after working for eight months for a company that has a contract with the military to provide mental health care on the North Carolina base. He said that when he asked the contractor why he was being fired, he was told it was ordered by the Navy.
Tom Greene, a regional manager with the contractor, Spectrum Healthcare Resources, said in an e-mail statement to the doctor that Manion "did not meet the government's requirements in accordance with the contract." Greene offered no specifics and did not respond to e-mails seeking further comment.
Review said to be in works
The inspector general for the Navy's Bureau of Medicine is reviewing the allegations of inadequate care, a military official said Friday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about it.
Jean-Pierre said artillery fire can be heard nearly everywhere on the 240-square-mile (620-square-kilometer) base, which has 80 live-fire ranges.
In an e-mail, the spokesman said: "We are confident that our medical services are of the highest quality." He would not comment directly on why Manion was fired, but said that civilian doctors have to adapt to the "rapid evaluation and short-term treatment" that the military offers.
Three of Manion's patients told the AP that being so close to the sounds of gunfire made it hard to concentrate and made them jumpy and nervous. The patients, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to media, said they were making progress and were shocked when Manion was fired. All three patients said they trusted Manion after months of treatment and now found it hard to get help from other doctors.
Manion, 59, has 25 years of experience as a psychiatrist with a specialty in traumatic brain injury, or TBI.
He told the AP his Marine patients told him they were ostracized and sometimes punished by superiors for seeking treatment. He said one unit at the base made all of its soldiers suffering from PTSD sit in a room and read infantry manuals.
"How do we help a guy make sense of all that and heal from that when the Marine Corps is saying to get treatment means you're weak?" Manion said.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Wired to Connect
Wired to Connect
posted by Wendy Strgar Nov 20, 2009 1:06 pm
filed under: Love & Relationships, Making Love Sustainable, Relationships & Sexuality, Spirituality, communication, connection, love
Wired+to+Connect
Hello,
I saw this on Care2 and thought you'd like it as well.
Care2 is the largest and most trusted information and action site for people who care to make a difference in their lives and the world.
Care2.com send We hate spam. We do not sell or share the email addresses you provide.
5 comments
Sustainable love skills, the kind that we use as a compass to keep us connected to vital, healthy and happy relationships, are now being recognized as skills that might just save our species.
We finally have the scientific equipment to verify what we have always known: our drive to be social, to be connected to each other, is actually hardwired. Our need for connection and drive towards empathy is not a result of environmental influences but rather a function built into the brain itself. Daniel Goleman, PhD, a science writer for The New York Times and bestselling author of Emotional Intelligence, has taken his research to a whole new level with his book, Social Intelligence.
Advances in neuroscience now allow us to observe brain activity while we are in the act of feeling. We can now witness that we are continuously forming brain to brain bridges–a two-way brain traffic system. In the same way that we can “catch” a cold from someone, we can “catch” their bad mood–or good mood. The significance of the relationship indicates how deeply we are affected and will stimulate actual physical consequences: hormonal response that magnifies stress (cortisol) or induces happiness (oxytocin).
Positive interactions and being surrounded by loving people actually works like a vitamin for your entire being. Negative relationships and interactions don’t just make us angry; they make us ill. As in other brain functions, this one also reflects our amazing neuro-plasticity. This is to say that our brains are continually building new connections–and no matter how young or old, anyone’s personality can be affected by other people. We literally heal each other through our social connections.
This news couldn’t come at a better time, as we continue to replace real interaction with techno-driven reality. Is it really dating when it is virtual? Are we connected to others when we only share words on a screen? More than any new technology, what we truly need is to develop a lifestyle which encourages deeper human connection. Overwhelmed with digital connectivity, it is easy to become oblivious to the people surrounding us. How often have you witnessed someone at a check out stand absorbed in some deep conversation on a cell phone and entirely oblivious to the person in front of them.
Real intimate connections don’t happen on the phone, in a text message or on IM: they require a real-life presence where we pay full attention to the people we live with. Empathy grows in our brain through eye contact, voice recognition, and touch-all of the time-intensive ways of knowing another person well enough that we can’t objectify them. Empathetic connections are the prime inhibitors of human cruelty. Scientists agree that the survival of our species depend on our ability to grow and develop this innate ability and a culture which encourages deep and true human connections.
So next time you’re feeling blue about the state of the world, turn off your electronic gadgetry and go for a walk, preferably holding hands with someone who loves you. Sustaining your love is not only good for you, but you may also be saving an endangered species!
Wendy Strgar is a loveologist who writes and lectures on Making Love Sustainable, a green philosophy of relationships which teaches the importance of valuing the renewable resources of love and family. Wendy helps couples tackle the questions and concerns of intimacy and relationships, providing honest answers and innovative advice. As her online presence continues to grow, Wendy has become a trusted and respected source of information on lasting and healthy relationships. “I feel like I am inventing a language to give intimacy back to the people, take the fear away and open a space for physical love to serve as the glue that holds relationships together." Wendy lives in Eugene, Oregon with her husband, a psychiatrist, and their four children ages 11-20.
More on Love & Relationships (67 articles available)
More from Wendy Strgar (71 articles available)
Hello,
I saw this on Care2 and thought you'd like it as well.
Care2 is the largest and most trusted information and action site for people who care to make a difference in their lives and the world.
Care2.com send
Don’t Be Wired in the Bedroom
(7 comments)
Free Solar-Powered WiFi Coming to a Town Near You
(3 comments)
Sylvia Wulf says
Nov 21, 2009 5:48 AM
Surprise!?? I haven't had a cell phone in years, never owned one of those texting/internet/ multi-app gizmos and don't want one. I use the phone as seldom as possible, and only use email because it keeps me in daily contact with friends and family too far away to see daily. Autism, birth defects and all sorts of ill health issues have been connected to lack of vitamin D and inactivity, and too much cell phone might well be causing brain cancer. I'll pass - a walk or bike ride in the sun trumps a stupid video game any day!
Lyn Z. says
Nov 21, 2009 5:46 AM
I know that when I'm stressed & want to just "hide-out", the best thing that I do for myself is connect with my friends & family, and, of course take my walk on the beach = always brings my mind & body back to center & calms me.
Kristianna Loken says
Nov 21, 2009 2:39 AM
We all know these thinks but we don't admire that.This is really very true post.We must follow it...Thank you so much for such a great post here...
christmas shopping
Justin B. says
Nov 20, 2009 10:21 PM
haha. ya this society is getting more and more disconnected from real people. I wish more people walked and rode bikes, it allows for more opportunities to converse than if you were in a car.
posted by Wendy Strgar Nov 20, 2009 1:06 pm
filed under: Love & Relationships, Making Love Sustainable, Relationships & Sexuality, Spirituality, communication, connection, love
Wired+to+Connect
Hello,
I saw this on Care2 and thought you'd like it as well.
Care2 is the largest and most trusted information and action site for people who care to make a difference in their lives and the world.
Care2.com send We hate spam. We do not sell or share the email addresses you provide.
5 comments
Sustainable love skills, the kind that we use as a compass to keep us connected to vital, healthy and happy relationships, are now being recognized as skills that might just save our species.
We finally have the scientific equipment to verify what we have always known: our drive to be social, to be connected to each other, is actually hardwired. Our need for connection and drive towards empathy is not a result of environmental influences but rather a function built into the brain itself. Daniel Goleman, PhD, a science writer for The New York Times and bestselling author of Emotional Intelligence, has taken his research to a whole new level with his book, Social Intelligence.
Advances in neuroscience now allow us to observe brain activity while we are in the act of feeling. We can now witness that we are continuously forming brain to brain bridges–a two-way brain traffic system. In the same way that we can “catch” a cold from someone, we can “catch” their bad mood–or good mood. The significance of the relationship indicates how deeply we are affected and will stimulate actual physical consequences: hormonal response that magnifies stress (cortisol) or induces happiness (oxytocin).
Positive interactions and being surrounded by loving people actually works like a vitamin for your entire being. Negative relationships and interactions don’t just make us angry; they make us ill. As in other brain functions, this one also reflects our amazing neuro-plasticity. This is to say that our brains are continually building new connections–and no matter how young or old, anyone’s personality can be affected by other people. We literally heal each other through our social connections.
This news couldn’t come at a better time, as we continue to replace real interaction with techno-driven reality. Is it really dating when it is virtual? Are we connected to others when we only share words on a screen? More than any new technology, what we truly need is to develop a lifestyle which encourages deeper human connection. Overwhelmed with digital connectivity, it is easy to become oblivious to the people surrounding us. How often have you witnessed someone at a check out stand absorbed in some deep conversation on a cell phone and entirely oblivious to the person in front of them.
Real intimate connections don’t happen on the phone, in a text message or on IM: they require a real-life presence where we pay full attention to the people we live with. Empathy grows in our brain through eye contact, voice recognition, and touch-all of the time-intensive ways of knowing another person well enough that we can’t objectify them. Empathetic connections are the prime inhibitors of human cruelty. Scientists agree that the survival of our species depend on our ability to grow and develop this innate ability and a culture which encourages deep and true human connections.
So next time you’re feeling blue about the state of the world, turn off your electronic gadgetry and go for a walk, preferably holding hands with someone who loves you. Sustaining your love is not only good for you, but you may also be saving an endangered species!
Wendy Strgar is a loveologist who writes and lectures on Making Love Sustainable, a green philosophy of relationships which teaches the importance of valuing the renewable resources of love and family. Wendy helps couples tackle the questions and concerns of intimacy and relationships, providing honest answers and innovative advice. As her online presence continues to grow, Wendy has become a trusted and respected source of information on lasting and healthy relationships. “I feel like I am inventing a language to give intimacy back to the people, take the fear away and open a space for physical love to serve as the glue that holds relationships together." Wendy lives in Eugene, Oregon with her husband, a psychiatrist, and their four children ages 11-20.
More on Love & Relationships (67 articles available)
More from Wendy Strgar (71 articles available)
Hello,
I saw this on Care2 and thought you'd like it as well.
Care2 is the largest and most trusted information and action site for people who care to make a difference in their lives and the world.
Care2.com send
Don’t Be Wired in the Bedroom
(7 comments)
Free Solar-Powered WiFi Coming to a Town Near You
(3 comments)
Sylvia Wulf says
Nov 21, 2009 5:48 AM
Surprise!?? I haven't had a cell phone in years, never owned one of those texting/internet/ multi-app gizmos and don't want one. I use the phone as seldom as possible, and only use email because it keeps me in daily contact with friends and family too far away to see daily. Autism, birth defects and all sorts of ill health issues have been connected to lack of vitamin D and inactivity, and too much cell phone might well be causing brain cancer. I'll pass - a walk or bike ride in the sun trumps a stupid video game any day!
Lyn Z. says
Nov 21, 2009 5:46 AM
I know that when I'm stressed & want to just "hide-out", the best thing that I do for myself is connect with my friends & family, and, of course take my walk on the beach = always brings my mind & body back to center & calms me.
Kristianna Loken says
Nov 21, 2009 2:39 AM
We all know these thinks but we don't admire that.This is really very true post.We must follow it...Thank you so much for such a great post here...
christmas shopping
Justin B. says
Nov 20, 2009 10:21 PM
haha. ya this society is getting more and more disconnected from real people. I wish more people walked and rode bikes, it allows for more opportunities to converse than if you were in a car.
FDA says Prilosec can block benefits of Plavix
Federal health officials say a popular heartburn medication can block the blood thinning effect of Plavix, which is taken by millions of Americans to reduce risks of heart attack and stroke.
By: Associated Press, Grand Forks Herald
WASHINGTON — Federal health officials say a popular heartburn medication can block the blood thinning effect of Plavix, which is taken by millions of Americans to reduce risks of heart attack and stroke.
The Food and Drug Administration say the stomach-soothing drug Prilosec lowers the effectiveness of Plavix by half.
Because Plavix can upset the stomach, it is often prescribed with acid-blocking drugs.
The FDA says patients who need to reduce their stomach acid should take alternative drugs like Johnson & Johnson’s Mylanta or Boehringer Ingelheim’s Zantac.
By: Associated Press, Grand Forks Herald
WASHINGTON — Federal health officials say a popular heartburn medication can block the blood thinning effect of Plavix, which is taken by millions of Americans to reduce risks of heart attack and stroke.
The Food and Drug Administration say the stomach-soothing drug Prilosec lowers the effectiveness of Plavix by half.
Because Plavix can upset the stomach, it is often prescribed with acid-blocking drugs.
The FDA says patients who need to reduce their stomach acid should take alternative drugs like Johnson & Johnson’s Mylanta or Boehringer Ingelheim’s Zantac.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Health Topics:Pain Management:Rheumatoid Arthritis
Content provided by:
Can Glucosamine and Chondroitin Help Your Arthritis?
New research is changing minds.Find more
7 Steps to Easing Your Arthritis at Home
Safe Strategies for Using Over-the-Counter Arthritis Drugs
Tackling Everyday Life With Arthritis: Patient Struggles and Strategies
Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate are natural substances found in and around the cells of cartilage that may help alleviate arthritis symptoms. A popular combination supplement taken for joint pain in Europe, the glucosamine-chondroitin combo had been viewed skeptically by U.S. physicians until research began to show that it may be effective.
The role of this supplement in joint maintenance sounds logical. Glucosamine is an amino sugar that the body produces and distributes in cartilage and other connective tissue, and chondroitin sulfate is a complex carbohydrate that helps cartilage retain water and gives it elasticity.
Some promising new research
Logic is nice but doctors prefer proof, and results have been contradictory. Some of the smoke began to clear after a large, authoritative study was conducted by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. The study looked at knee pain caused by arthritis, and compared the glucosamine-chondroitin combo against a proved prescription painkiller or a placebo. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine in February 2006, the $12.5 million study showed that the supplement provided measurable relief for people suffering moderate to severe pain but did not help those in mild pain. The researchers concluded that these results were statistically significant, but that more research is needed.
Still, many doctors recommend the glucosamine-chondroitin combo for arthritis patients. "I think a lot of practitioners feel that they're very unlikely to do harm and some people may benefit, and so they're easy to recommend. They're very low-toxicity medications," says Sharon Kolasinksi, MD, interim director of the division of rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Personal experience matters—and differs
Some patients are persuaded by their own experiences. Debra Fisher, 52, who has arthritis in her hands, took the supplement and says, "It seemed to help, but not for long."
Charles, 66, of Grantham, N.H., who had one hip replaced, believes glucosamine and chondroitin slowed down the progression of degeneration on his other hip, allowing him to delay a replacement operation for several years.
James McKoy, MD, a Honolulu-based rheumatologist and the chief of the pain service division at Kaiser Permanente in Hawaii, also saw the supplement's potential role to slow disease progression after he tried it himself.
"I started taking it to try to slow down my arthritis when I noticed really significant changes on my X-ray," says Dr. McKoy. "I've not seen that much of a change since then." His mobility, meanwhile, stabilized.
If you use glucosamine and chondroitin, stick with it
Dr. McKoy thinks that patients sometimes give up on glucosamine and chondroitin too quickly. "Many times patients take it for a week or so and if it's not working then they say that it is not helping." He recommends a month, at least, because the supplement is one of the safest treatments available to arthritis patients.
That said, Dr. McKoy cautions against expecting relief if there has been serious degeneration.
"Glucosamine is not going to replace the cartilage. Glucosamine is not going to be that panacea for pain relief," says Dr. McKoy. "But I think that if you have somebody with early to moderate degeneration changes, I think it's very helpful and very safe."
Dr. Kolasinski is less certain: "I feel that there is very little downside to taking glucosamine and chondroitin," she says. "But it is certainly not every patient who benefits from taking them."
Still, the supplement is gaining greater acceptance. When Charles's orthopedist suggested he take it, he was surprised.
"I smiled and looked at him and said I can remember when you guys didn't want any part of this!"
Can Glucosamine and Chondroitin Help Your Arthritis?
New research is changing minds.Find more
7 Steps to Easing Your Arthritis at Home
Safe Strategies for Using Over-the-Counter Arthritis Drugs
Tackling Everyday Life With Arthritis: Patient Struggles and Strategies
Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate are natural substances found in and around the cells of cartilage that may help alleviate arthritis symptoms. A popular combination supplement taken for joint pain in Europe, the glucosamine-chondroitin combo had been viewed skeptically by U.S. physicians until research began to show that it may be effective.
The role of this supplement in joint maintenance sounds logical. Glucosamine is an amino sugar that the body produces and distributes in cartilage and other connective tissue, and chondroitin sulfate is a complex carbohydrate that helps cartilage retain water and gives it elasticity.
Some promising new research
Logic is nice but doctors prefer proof, and results have been contradictory. Some of the smoke began to clear after a large, authoritative study was conducted by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. The study looked at knee pain caused by arthritis, and compared the glucosamine-chondroitin combo against a proved prescription painkiller or a placebo. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine in February 2006, the $12.5 million study showed that the supplement provided measurable relief for people suffering moderate to severe pain but did not help those in mild pain. The researchers concluded that these results were statistically significant, but that more research is needed.
Still, many doctors recommend the glucosamine-chondroitin combo for arthritis patients. "I think a lot of practitioners feel that they're very unlikely to do harm and some people may benefit, and so they're easy to recommend. They're very low-toxicity medications," says Sharon Kolasinksi, MD, interim director of the division of rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Personal experience matters—and differs
Some patients are persuaded by their own experiences. Debra Fisher, 52, who has arthritis in her hands, took the supplement and says, "It seemed to help, but not for long."
Charles, 66, of Grantham, N.H., who had one hip replaced, believes glucosamine and chondroitin slowed down the progression of degeneration on his other hip, allowing him to delay a replacement operation for several years.
James McKoy, MD, a Honolulu-based rheumatologist and the chief of the pain service division at Kaiser Permanente in Hawaii, also saw the supplement's potential role to slow disease progression after he tried it himself.
"I started taking it to try to slow down my arthritis when I noticed really significant changes on my X-ray," says Dr. McKoy. "I've not seen that much of a change since then." His mobility, meanwhile, stabilized.
If you use glucosamine and chondroitin, stick with it
Dr. McKoy thinks that patients sometimes give up on glucosamine and chondroitin too quickly. "Many times patients take it for a week or so and if it's not working then they say that it is not helping." He recommends a month, at least, because the supplement is one of the safest treatments available to arthritis patients.
That said, Dr. McKoy cautions against expecting relief if there has been serious degeneration.
"Glucosamine is not going to replace the cartilage. Glucosamine is not going to be that panacea for pain relief," says Dr. McKoy. "But I think that if you have somebody with early to moderate degeneration changes, I think it's very helpful and very safe."
Dr. Kolasinski is less certain: "I feel that there is very little downside to taking glucosamine and chondroitin," she says. "But it is certainly not every patient who benefits from taking them."
Still, the supplement is gaining greater acceptance. When Charles's orthopedist suggested he take it, he was surprised.
"I smiled and looked at him and said I can remember when you guys didn't want any part of this!"
Top Ten Things That Don’t Cause Arthritis
1 in 6 adults in the U.S. has some form of the condition, but it is widely misunderstood.
By Rob Shmerling, Harvard Health Publications
Are your joints acting up because of the weather? Or is your body seeking revenge for the times when you cracked your knuckles as a kid? As comfortable as you might find these explanations for arthritis, clinical experience and research studies have yet to prove that these two myths, and a host of others, are true.
Arthritis is common: One in six adults in the United States has some form of arthritis, and with the aging of our population, that fraction is going up. But the condition is also widely misunderstood. Unfortunately, just about every aspect of arthritis is clouded by uncertainty, misinformation and myth, including how to define it, what causes it, how to treat it and how to predict its course. And misunderstanding about the potential causes of arthritis can lead to bad decisions about treatment.
Read on to learn more about things that do not clearly cause arthritis, since this Top 10 List is not likely to appear on Letterman.
What Is Arthritis?
Strictly speaking, arthritis means inflammation of a joint, which often leads to some combination of pain, swelling, redness and limited motion. There are more than 100 types of arthritis. In some cases, the type of arthritis needs to be specifically defined, because successful treatment depends upon the correct diagnosis. Gout and rheumatoid arthritis are two such examples. Other types of arthritis can be grouped into categories because the prognoses and treatments are similar.
What Causes Arthritis?
While several types of arthritis have a known cause, the majority does not. Examples of common types of arthritis with no known cause include most cases of osteoarthritis and all cases of rheumatoid arthritis. Even when the cause is known (for example, uric-acid crystals cause gout when they deposit in the joint), it is generally not known why some people develop gout and others with the same risk factors do not. A joint infection may clearly be caused by a particular bacterium (as proven by detection of that bacterium in the joint fluid), but that doesn’t tell you why the bacterial infection developed in the first place. An injury such as a broken bone or torn cartilage may lead to arthritis years later, but not everyone with a similar injury will get arthritis. For most cases, then, arthritis develops for no known reason.
What Does Not Cause Arthritis?
When the cause of an arthritic condition has not yet been discovered, it may be difficult or even impossible to disprove a theory, even one that is improbable. Here are some of the most common, but as yet unproven, theories about the cause of arthritis:
1. Overuse
With usual use, joints hold up well most of the time. Some people who are on their feet all day assume that knee or hip arthritis must be related; yet it clearly doesn’t explain the same type of arthritis occurring in the hands. Conversely, if arthritis is caused by overuse, right-handed persons should have more arthritis in the right hand; yet, that is not the case. Another compelling example is that marathoners and other runners appear to have no increased risk of arthritis. There are exceptions, of course: Jack-hammer operators and athletes, for instance, may develop degenerative arthritis because of repeated joint injury.
2. The weather or a damp, cold breeze
This notion probably follows from the rather common experience of arthritis sufferers that the weather seems to affect their joint symptoms. Although my patients often describe the ability to predict weather (“better than a weatherman”), how reliably it occurs or why it happens is not certain. For example, even if a person’s joints ache more every time it is cold and damp, that does not mean the weather caused the arthritis in the first place. At the current time, there is no evidence that identifies any type of weather as a cause of any type of arthritis. Similarly, despite the testimonials of individual people, it is unlikely that sitting near an open window can cause arthritis, even if there is a cold draft.
3. Most medications
Although there are occasional exceptions, prescription, over-the-counter and complementary and alternative medications are not a recognized cause of arthritis. Again, there are rare exceptions: Corticosteroids, including ones available in pill form (such as prednisone) may cause interruption of the blood supply to the bones around the hip, causing death of the bone there (called avascular, or aseptic, necrosis). If the “ball” of the ball-and-socket joint loses its round shape due to avascular necrosis, arthritis may develop. Other drugs (such as alendronate or phenobarbital) may cause bone or joint pain but not arthritis. Similarly, diuretic drugs (“water pills”) may increase the risk of gout, but it isn’t the cause of the disease. Finally, a rare condition called “drug-induced lupus” can follow treatment with the certain medications including procainamide and hydralazine; arthritis may be a part of the reaction.
4. Infections and vaccinations
Most infections, whether due to a virus, bacterium or other organism, will not cause arthritis, and most cases of arthritis are not caused by infection (at least as far as we know). There are infectious causes of arthritis, but they represent a small fraction of all arthritis. Important examples include bacteria (such as Gonorrhea and Staphylococcus), Lyme disease, some viruses (including occasional cases of hepatitis B, hepatitis C or parvovirus). Similarly, vaccinations, including those for Lyme disease and rubella, have been linked in rare cases to the development of arthritis, but the connection to a vaccination has been unclear. Some rubella vaccines contained strains of the virus that seemed to cause arthritis more often; these vaccines were removed from the market and reports of vaccine-associated arthritis are less frequent now. The Lyme vaccine also has been withdrawn from the market, though due to poor sales, not because of side effects. Fortunately, the vast majority of people receiving the most common vaccinations never develop arthritis.
5. The wrong diet
Theories about which diet is best to prevent or treat arthritis have been around for centuries, but with rare exception and some common sense, diet does not seem to play a crucial role in arthritis. First, the exceptions: Some people find that particular foods (or alcoholic beverages) trigger attacks of gout. Secondly, there is an association between obesity and osteoarthritis, so a diet that promotes weight loss may be helpful. And in some cases, inadequate calcium or vitamin D may contribute to osteoporosis; if a fracture occurs as a result, arthritis may eventually follow. However, our current understanding of most types of arthritis comes with no strong recommendation about which foods to choose and which to avoid. It is worth emphasizing that vegetarian diets or those that avoid “nightshade” vegetables (including potatoes, tomatoes, green peppers and eggplant) are not only unproven as arthritis treatment, but there is also no compelling evidence supporting a particular food or food group as a cause of arthritis. Undoubtedly, future research will provide useful information regarding the importance of diet as a cause or treatment of arthritis.
6. Cracking knuckles
Although you can injure a joint by overenthusiastic knuckle cracking, there is rather convincing evidence that regular knuckle cracking has little effect on joint health.
7. Getting older
Although degenerative joint disease (also called osteoarthritis) becomes more common with age, arthritis is not inevitable. Therefore, age alone cannot be blamed as “the cause” of arthritis.
8. Mental or emotional stress
Although there are stories of people having severe emotional trauma and soon after developing an arthritic illness, there is no convincing evidence that psychological stress causes any recognized type of arthritis. On the other hand, stress can make any pain seem worse, and there is controversy regarding the relative importance of psychological stress on the development or perpetuation of joint pain without arthritis (as in fibromyalgia).
9. Poor posture
“Slouching” does not cause arthritis, although certain types of arthritis or bone diseases can affect posture. The idea that poor posture causes arthritis probably follows a misunderstanding of cause and effect: Osteoporosis may cause a stooped posture because vertebrae collapse (called compression fractures). Arthritis in the spine may follow, but the stooped posture is not the cause of the arthritis. Another example of arthritis affecting posture (rather than the other way around) is ankylosing spondylitis, a condition in which inflammation of joints in the lower spine leads to a rigid spine (ankylosis means fusion). However, “poor posture” itself does not lead to arthritis.
10. Inadequate calcium intake
Recommendations to take extra calcium follow the observation that without enough calcium, bones may become thin and so weak that fracture becomes more likely. That’s what osteoporosis is but osteoporosis is not arthritis, and calcium intake has rather little to do with the development of arthritis (unless, as described above, osteoporosis leads to fracture and fracture leads to arthritis).
The Bottom Line
With so many types of arthritis and so little understanding about their causes, it is understandable why many myths about arthritis circulate. In fact, it may be tempting to latch on to even a far-fetched theory about cause rather than accept the explanation that “nobody knows.” But if faulty assumptions about the cause of your arthritis lead you to adopt a difficult or unhealthy diet, or to move to a different climate, or to pursue another costly or risky treatment, you may be sorely disappointed and even less healthy than when you started.
Additional research may force me to remove one or more of the items on my Top 10 list. For now, however, the most direct and honest answer most health-care providers can offer is that we simply don’t know why most cases of arthritis develop. Until better answers are available, my advice for some of the most common types of arthritis is to dwell less on why it happens and to focus more on how to get better.
Find More on MSN Health & Fitness:
What's the Connection Between Food & Chronic Pain?
Can Glucosamine and Chondroitin Help Your Arthritis?
Yes, You Can Have an Active Sex Life with Arthritis
Bing Search: Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment
Comment
I broke my left ankle a couple years ago, and my doctor told me then that I had a much better chance of developing arthritis afterward. He was right, as I now have significant arthritis in my left foot. An x-ray confirmed the arthritis and it is significantly more affected than my right foot. It is not painful yet but both of my big toes have started growing weirdly toward the toe next to them. The doctor said something about the mechanical aspects of arthritis changing the growth patterns, etc. but all I know is its really weird. Also my instep on the left foot is considerably higher than on the right.
By Rob Shmerling, Harvard Health Publications
Are your joints acting up because of the weather? Or is your body seeking revenge for the times when you cracked your knuckles as a kid? As comfortable as you might find these explanations for arthritis, clinical experience and research studies have yet to prove that these two myths, and a host of others, are true.
Arthritis is common: One in six adults in the United States has some form of arthritis, and with the aging of our population, that fraction is going up. But the condition is also widely misunderstood. Unfortunately, just about every aspect of arthritis is clouded by uncertainty, misinformation and myth, including how to define it, what causes it, how to treat it and how to predict its course. And misunderstanding about the potential causes of arthritis can lead to bad decisions about treatment.
Read on to learn more about things that do not clearly cause arthritis, since this Top 10 List is not likely to appear on Letterman.
What Is Arthritis?
Strictly speaking, arthritis means inflammation of a joint, which often leads to some combination of pain, swelling, redness and limited motion. There are more than 100 types of arthritis. In some cases, the type of arthritis needs to be specifically defined, because successful treatment depends upon the correct diagnosis. Gout and rheumatoid arthritis are two such examples. Other types of arthritis can be grouped into categories because the prognoses and treatments are similar.
What Causes Arthritis?
While several types of arthritis have a known cause, the majority does not. Examples of common types of arthritis with no known cause include most cases of osteoarthritis and all cases of rheumatoid arthritis. Even when the cause is known (for example, uric-acid crystals cause gout when they deposit in the joint), it is generally not known why some people develop gout and others with the same risk factors do not. A joint infection may clearly be caused by a particular bacterium (as proven by detection of that bacterium in the joint fluid), but that doesn’t tell you why the bacterial infection developed in the first place. An injury such as a broken bone or torn cartilage may lead to arthritis years later, but not everyone with a similar injury will get arthritis. For most cases, then, arthritis develops for no known reason.
What Does Not Cause Arthritis?
When the cause of an arthritic condition has not yet been discovered, it may be difficult or even impossible to disprove a theory, even one that is improbable. Here are some of the most common, but as yet unproven, theories about the cause of arthritis:
1. Overuse
With usual use, joints hold up well most of the time. Some people who are on their feet all day assume that knee or hip arthritis must be related; yet it clearly doesn’t explain the same type of arthritis occurring in the hands. Conversely, if arthritis is caused by overuse, right-handed persons should have more arthritis in the right hand; yet, that is not the case. Another compelling example is that marathoners and other runners appear to have no increased risk of arthritis. There are exceptions, of course: Jack-hammer operators and athletes, for instance, may develop degenerative arthritis because of repeated joint injury.
2. The weather or a damp, cold breeze
This notion probably follows from the rather common experience of arthritis sufferers that the weather seems to affect their joint symptoms. Although my patients often describe the ability to predict weather (“better than a weatherman”), how reliably it occurs or why it happens is not certain. For example, even if a person’s joints ache more every time it is cold and damp, that does not mean the weather caused the arthritis in the first place. At the current time, there is no evidence that identifies any type of weather as a cause of any type of arthritis. Similarly, despite the testimonials of individual people, it is unlikely that sitting near an open window can cause arthritis, even if there is a cold draft.
3. Most medications
Although there are occasional exceptions, prescription, over-the-counter and complementary and alternative medications are not a recognized cause of arthritis. Again, there are rare exceptions: Corticosteroids, including ones available in pill form (such as prednisone) may cause interruption of the blood supply to the bones around the hip, causing death of the bone there (called avascular, or aseptic, necrosis). If the “ball” of the ball-and-socket joint loses its round shape due to avascular necrosis, arthritis may develop. Other drugs (such as alendronate or phenobarbital) may cause bone or joint pain but not arthritis. Similarly, diuretic drugs (“water pills”) may increase the risk of gout, but it isn’t the cause of the disease. Finally, a rare condition called “drug-induced lupus” can follow treatment with the certain medications including procainamide and hydralazine; arthritis may be a part of the reaction.
4. Infections and vaccinations
Most infections, whether due to a virus, bacterium or other organism, will not cause arthritis, and most cases of arthritis are not caused by infection (at least as far as we know). There are infectious causes of arthritis, but they represent a small fraction of all arthritis. Important examples include bacteria (such as Gonorrhea and Staphylococcus), Lyme disease, some viruses (including occasional cases of hepatitis B, hepatitis C or parvovirus). Similarly, vaccinations, including those for Lyme disease and rubella, have been linked in rare cases to the development of arthritis, but the connection to a vaccination has been unclear. Some rubella vaccines contained strains of the virus that seemed to cause arthritis more often; these vaccines were removed from the market and reports of vaccine-associated arthritis are less frequent now. The Lyme vaccine also has been withdrawn from the market, though due to poor sales, not because of side effects. Fortunately, the vast majority of people receiving the most common vaccinations never develop arthritis.
5. The wrong diet
Theories about which diet is best to prevent or treat arthritis have been around for centuries, but with rare exception and some common sense, diet does not seem to play a crucial role in arthritis. First, the exceptions: Some people find that particular foods (or alcoholic beverages) trigger attacks of gout. Secondly, there is an association between obesity and osteoarthritis, so a diet that promotes weight loss may be helpful. And in some cases, inadequate calcium or vitamin D may contribute to osteoporosis; if a fracture occurs as a result, arthritis may eventually follow. However, our current understanding of most types of arthritis comes with no strong recommendation about which foods to choose and which to avoid. It is worth emphasizing that vegetarian diets or those that avoid “nightshade” vegetables (including potatoes, tomatoes, green peppers and eggplant) are not only unproven as arthritis treatment, but there is also no compelling evidence supporting a particular food or food group as a cause of arthritis. Undoubtedly, future research will provide useful information regarding the importance of diet as a cause or treatment of arthritis.
6. Cracking knuckles
Although you can injure a joint by overenthusiastic knuckle cracking, there is rather convincing evidence that regular knuckle cracking has little effect on joint health.
7. Getting older
Although degenerative joint disease (also called osteoarthritis) becomes more common with age, arthritis is not inevitable. Therefore, age alone cannot be blamed as “the cause” of arthritis.
8. Mental or emotional stress
Although there are stories of people having severe emotional trauma and soon after developing an arthritic illness, there is no convincing evidence that psychological stress causes any recognized type of arthritis. On the other hand, stress can make any pain seem worse, and there is controversy regarding the relative importance of psychological stress on the development or perpetuation of joint pain without arthritis (as in fibromyalgia).
9. Poor posture
“Slouching” does not cause arthritis, although certain types of arthritis or bone diseases can affect posture. The idea that poor posture causes arthritis probably follows a misunderstanding of cause and effect: Osteoporosis may cause a stooped posture because vertebrae collapse (called compression fractures). Arthritis in the spine may follow, but the stooped posture is not the cause of the arthritis. Another example of arthritis affecting posture (rather than the other way around) is ankylosing spondylitis, a condition in which inflammation of joints in the lower spine leads to a rigid spine (ankylosis means fusion). However, “poor posture” itself does not lead to arthritis.
10. Inadequate calcium intake
Recommendations to take extra calcium follow the observation that without enough calcium, bones may become thin and so weak that fracture becomes more likely. That’s what osteoporosis is but osteoporosis is not arthritis, and calcium intake has rather little to do with the development of arthritis (unless, as described above, osteoporosis leads to fracture and fracture leads to arthritis).
The Bottom Line
With so many types of arthritis and so little understanding about their causes, it is understandable why many myths about arthritis circulate. In fact, it may be tempting to latch on to even a far-fetched theory about cause rather than accept the explanation that “nobody knows.” But if faulty assumptions about the cause of your arthritis lead you to adopt a difficult or unhealthy diet, or to move to a different climate, or to pursue another costly or risky treatment, you may be sorely disappointed and even less healthy than when you started.
Additional research may force me to remove one or more of the items on my Top 10 list. For now, however, the most direct and honest answer most health-care providers can offer is that we simply don’t know why most cases of arthritis develop. Until better answers are available, my advice for some of the most common types of arthritis is to dwell less on why it happens and to focus more on how to get better.
Find More on MSN Health & Fitness:
What's the Connection Between Food & Chronic Pain?
Can Glucosamine and Chondroitin Help Your Arthritis?
Yes, You Can Have an Active Sex Life with Arthritis
Bing Search: Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment
Comment
I broke my left ankle a couple years ago, and my doctor told me then that I had a much better chance of developing arthritis afterward. He was right, as I now have significant arthritis in my left foot. An x-ray confirmed the arthritis and it is significantly more affected than my right foot. It is not painful yet but both of my big toes have started growing weirdly toward the toe next to them. The doctor said something about the mechanical aspects of arthritis changing the growth patterns, etc. but all I know is its really weird. Also my instep on the left foot is considerably higher than on the right.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Can Pot Save Denver's Papers?
Can Pot Save Denver's Papers?
Read More: Denver Post, Drugs, Legalize Marijuana, Marijuana, Medical Marijuana, Rocky Mountain News, War On Drugs, Westword, Westword-Marijuana-Critic, Denver News
Denver is a city in love with its newspapers. Even in 2009, many residents still cling to the scent and grime of fresh newspaper print. But as the recent loss of the city's beloved Rocky Mountain News still lingers, the focus now turns to saving the publications remaining. In an ironic twist of fate worthy of its own front page feature, essential revenue could come from the most unlikely of sources. Marijuana.
Denver's top alternative weekly, Westword, gets it. On both sides of its most recent edition's back cover, 32 medical marijuana dispensaries advertised their services. In addition, in the publication's "alternative healing" section, nearly nine additional pages were packed with similar plugs.
Patricia Calhoun, Westword's editor and public face, has no qualms about accepting dispensaries as advertising clients. "It's first come, first served. No moratorium here," she said, referencing current efforts by many Colorado cities, including Denver, to enact moratoriums on new dispensaries. Westword has become so popular for marijuana-related advertising that Calhoun says she has plans to release an inaugural guide focusing exclusively on medical marijuana as early as next month.
But Westword hasn't just stopped there. It has shrewdly utilized the broader issue of medical marijuana to make a notable splash nationally. As the New York Times recently detailed, "Westword, an alternative weekly newspaper in Denver, has the standard lineup of film, food and music critics. But in what may be a first for American journalism, the paper is shopping around for a medical marijuana critic." According to Calhoun, more than 250 people submitted formal applications for the post.
While medical marijuana may be the source of laughter to some, including late night comedian Conan O'Brien, who joked, "My one suggestion for the editors: Give the guy a deadline," Calhoun and her colleagues are smart, picking up on what can only be described as marijuana's gold rush.
But what does this mean for more mainstream publications, who appear conflicted about whether to accept such controversial advertising?
While the Denver Post has run a series of front page stories over the last month chronicling the brewing debate over how or whether to increase regulations on dispensaries, it has been slower getting into the advertising game, running quarter page ads from a handful of dispensaries, with plans to expand advertising access through a special section devoted to dispensaries and other alternative health outlets.
Marijuana-related advertisements remain completely absent from Denver's high-end lifestyle magazines, including 5280. Perhaps they haven't heard of the high end dispensaries popping up in tony Cherry Creek North or affluent Greenwood Village.
These are crazy times indeed. But publications shouldn't fear offending their more conventional subscribers. While marijuana prohibition was once a taboo issue generally relegated to conversations in dark garages outside the privy of bossy wives and nosy neighbors, this is no longer the case. In 2000, a strong majority of Colorado voters supported enshrining legalized access to medical marijuana into the state constitution. Just nine years later, national polls show that nearly 45 percent of adults support outright marijuana legalization.
If newspapers need extra incentive to get into the game, they should look to the example of savvy business leaders in other conventional industries.
Just ask Bernie Taillon, a Greenwood Village financial advisor who occupies a penthouse office with mountain views, and in his spare time, brews beer. Originally from the Midwest, he is happily married to his college sweetheart, with whom he just celebrated his 10th wedding anniversary. Prior to this year, his high-profile client list included news anchors, real estate developers, and wealthy attorneys. And then along came medical marijuana.
While 2009 has been catastrophic for many in his industry, Taillon is seeing his business boom. "Over the past two years, I have seen a dramatic decline in income for our small business owners, with exception of one industry -- the Medical Marijuana industry," he said. "Sales tax from this industry is being paid to the state of Colorado as well as the local municipalities, which is helping to keep money in the municipalities coffers at a time when it is much needed."
For those who question his involvement with the industry, Taillon had this to say. "I am very happy to see this industry evolve into a legitimate and productive member of society. They should be commended for their contribution to our state. Many of our [dispensary] clients have two to five employees who otherwise would be collecting unemployment from the state. These businesses have been paying rent, advertising, construction costs, employees, utilities, and many other types of expenses."
Joining Taillon as an unlikely spokesperson for the cause is Courtney Tanning. A New York University graduate, the striking young blonde shows up to work in nice suits after recently being hired as the executive director of the Colorado Wellness Association, a trade organization representing dispensaries (and for full disclosure, an organization with which my husband, Robert Corry, an attorney, is actively involved).
"Many conventional businesses are cutting expenses, laying off employees, and even shutting their doors for good, but the booming medical marijuana community is in a unique position where they can afford to actively promote their businesses and need to do so in order to stay above their blossoming competition," she said. "This competition supports the struggling print-news business by bringing in a surge of new customers that had not previously been a position to provide them business."
Opponents of medical marijuana rely heavily on two basic arguments. First, they say medical marijuana is just a deceitful way to push for legalization. Second, they hold fast to faulty arguments concerning marijuana's physical impacts.
Even if we assume that the first argument is even partially true, so what? As our prisons burst at the seams, it's simply irresponsible to waste billions of dollars to continue arresting 850,000 Americans annually for marijuana-related offenses. After seven decades of pot being illegal, one in three adult Americans will still admit to pollsters to having consumed marijuana. As we've now proven twice in this country, prohibition simply doesn't work.
The second argument, meanwhile, goes nowhere. Time and again, peer-reviewed scientific studies have proven that marijuana is safer than alcohol or pharmaceutical narcotics. Over-consumption of marijuana has never been tied to a single fatal overdose, unlike prescription drugs, which have now overtaken car accidents as leading source of accidental deaths in Colorado. And unlike alcohol, marijuana has the additional benefit of not leading to increased rates of violence.
Colorado's struggling newspapers and magazines should follow in the footsteps of Westword. While the funky alternative paper prides itself on being unconventional, its decision to embrace medical marijuana is, well, downright prudent.
In America, after all, capitalizing on a business opportunity that is business savvy, morally correct, and socially acceptable is downright patriotic. Let's just hope pot can keep those printing presses running.
Jessica Peck Corry (www.JessicaCorry.com) is a Denver attorney and a public policy analyst with the Independence Institute.
Read More: Denver Post, Drugs, Legalize Marijuana, Marijuana, Medical Marijuana, Rocky Mountain News, War On Drugs, Westword, Westword-Marijuana-Critic, Denver News
Denver is a city in love with its newspapers. Even in 2009, many residents still cling to the scent and grime of fresh newspaper print. But as the recent loss of the city's beloved Rocky Mountain News still lingers, the focus now turns to saving the publications remaining. In an ironic twist of fate worthy of its own front page feature, essential revenue could come from the most unlikely of sources. Marijuana.
Denver's top alternative weekly, Westword, gets it. On both sides of its most recent edition's back cover, 32 medical marijuana dispensaries advertised their services. In addition, in the publication's "alternative healing" section, nearly nine additional pages were packed with similar plugs.
Patricia Calhoun, Westword's editor and public face, has no qualms about accepting dispensaries as advertising clients. "It's first come, first served. No moratorium here," she said, referencing current efforts by many Colorado cities, including Denver, to enact moratoriums on new dispensaries. Westword has become so popular for marijuana-related advertising that Calhoun says she has plans to release an inaugural guide focusing exclusively on medical marijuana as early as next month.
But Westword hasn't just stopped there. It has shrewdly utilized the broader issue of medical marijuana to make a notable splash nationally. As the New York Times recently detailed, "Westword, an alternative weekly newspaper in Denver, has the standard lineup of film, food and music critics. But in what may be a first for American journalism, the paper is shopping around for a medical marijuana critic." According to Calhoun, more than 250 people submitted formal applications for the post.
While medical marijuana may be the source of laughter to some, including late night comedian Conan O'Brien, who joked, "My one suggestion for the editors: Give the guy a deadline," Calhoun and her colleagues are smart, picking up on what can only be described as marijuana's gold rush.
But what does this mean for more mainstream publications, who appear conflicted about whether to accept such controversial advertising?
While the Denver Post has run a series of front page stories over the last month chronicling the brewing debate over how or whether to increase regulations on dispensaries, it has been slower getting into the advertising game, running quarter page ads from a handful of dispensaries, with plans to expand advertising access through a special section devoted to dispensaries and other alternative health outlets.
Marijuana-related advertisements remain completely absent from Denver's high-end lifestyle magazines, including 5280. Perhaps they haven't heard of the high end dispensaries popping up in tony Cherry Creek North or affluent Greenwood Village.
These are crazy times indeed. But publications shouldn't fear offending their more conventional subscribers. While marijuana prohibition was once a taboo issue generally relegated to conversations in dark garages outside the privy of bossy wives and nosy neighbors, this is no longer the case. In 2000, a strong majority of Colorado voters supported enshrining legalized access to medical marijuana into the state constitution. Just nine years later, national polls show that nearly 45 percent of adults support outright marijuana legalization.
If newspapers need extra incentive to get into the game, they should look to the example of savvy business leaders in other conventional industries.
Just ask Bernie Taillon, a Greenwood Village financial advisor who occupies a penthouse office with mountain views, and in his spare time, brews beer. Originally from the Midwest, he is happily married to his college sweetheart, with whom he just celebrated his 10th wedding anniversary. Prior to this year, his high-profile client list included news anchors, real estate developers, and wealthy attorneys. And then along came medical marijuana.
While 2009 has been catastrophic for many in his industry, Taillon is seeing his business boom. "Over the past two years, I have seen a dramatic decline in income for our small business owners, with exception of one industry -- the Medical Marijuana industry," he said. "Sales tax from this industry is being paid to the state of Colorado as well as the local municipalities, which is helping to keep money in the municipalities coffers at a time when it is much needed."
For those who question his involvement with the industry, Taillon had this to say. "I am very happy to see this industry evolve into a legitimate and productive member of society. They should be commended for their contribution to our state. Many of our [dispensary] clients have two to five employees who otherwise would be collecting unemployment from the state. These businesses have been paying rent, advertising, construction costs, employees, utilities, and many other types of expenses."
Joining Taillon as an unlikely spokesperson for the cause is Courtney Tanning. A New York University graduate, the striking young blonde shows up to work in nice suits after recently being hired as the executive director of the Colorado Wellness Association, a trade organization representing dispensaries (and for full disclosure, an organization with which my husband, Robert Corry, an attorney, is actively involved).
"Many conventional businesses are cutting expenses, laying off employees, and even shutting their doors for good, but the booming medical marijuana community is in a unique position where they can afford to actively promote their businesses and need to do so in order to stay above their blossoming competition," she said. "This competition supports the struggling print-news business by bringing in a surge of new customers that had not previously been a position to provide them business."
Opponents of medical marijuana rely heavily on two basic arguments. First, they say medical marijuana is just a deceitful way to push for legalization. Second, they hold fast to faulty arguments concerning marijuana's physical impacts.
Even if we assume that the first argument is even partially true, so what? As our prisons burst at the seams, it's simply irresponsible to waste billions of dollars to continue arresting 850,000 Americans annually for marijuana-related offenses. After seven decades of pot being illegal, one in three adult Americans will still admit to pollsters to having consumed marijuana. As we've now proven twice in this country, prohibition simply doesn't work.
The second argument, meanwhile, goes nowhere. Time and again, peer-reviewed scientific studies have proven that marijuana is safer than alcohol or pharmaceutical narcotics. Over-consumption of marijuana has never been tied to a single fatal overdose, unlike prescription drugs, which have now overtaken car accidents as leading source of accidental deaths in Colorado. And unlike alcohol, marijuana has the additional benefit of not leading to increased rates of violence.
Colorado's struggling newspapers and magazines should follow in the footsteps of Westword. While the funky alternative paper prides itself on being unconventional, its decision to embrace medical marijuana is, well, downright prudent.
In America, after all, capitalizing on a business opportunity that is business savvy, morally correct, and socially acceptable is downright patriotic. Let's just hope pot can keep those printing presses running.
Jessica Peck Corry (www.JessicaCorry.com) is a Denver attorney and a public policy analyst with the Independence Institute.
Obama orders task force to fight financial crime
Executive order comes after Madoff scandal, rise in mortgage scams
Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, flanked by Attorney General Eric Holder, left, and Housing Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, speaks during a news conference on financial fraud efforts, Tuesday, at the Justice Department in Washington.
Federal Fraud Task Force Launches
Nov. 17: Attorney General Eric Holder announces the formation of a new federal task force to fight financial fraud.
Dad accused of killing son over sex abuse claim
Pitt passes on millions to trick-or-treat
The clothes are clean ... but what's that smell?
AOL to lay off a third of staff
Cop suspended after Tasering 10-year-old girl
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updated 12:38 p.m. ET, Tues., Nov . 17, 2009
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration created a new task force on Tuesday vowing to crack down on financial fraud following a rise in mortgage scams and high-profile Wall Street trading scandals.
President Barack Obama signed an executive order directing the task force to investigate and prosecute financial crimes connected to the past year's financial crisis and to try to deter future fraud.
The stakes are high for the administration, particularly with a weak economy, anger about huge Wall Street bonuses and outrage that securities regulators missed one of the biggest frauds in U.S. history involving Bernard Madoff, who bilked investors of as much as $65 billion in a decades-long scheme.
"We will be relentless in our investigation of corporate and financial wrongdoing and we will not hesitate to bring charges, where appropriate, for criminal misconduct on the part of businesses and business executives," Attorney General Eric Holder told a news conference.
The administration has long pledged to be more aggressive in fighting financial crime, but has faced a few setbacks like Madoff and losing a high-profile case against two hedge fund managers accused of fraud in the early days of the crisis.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that in addition to prosecuting fraud, the financial system must also be overhauled to address the problems that created the crisis. Congress is now weighing a package of reforms.
Click for related content
Madoff's yacht on the auction block
Madoff's Mets baseball jacket sells for $14,500
Ex-Madoff computer programmers arrested
"We can't wait for problems to peak before we respond," Geithner said in a statement. "We're seeking a comprehensive financial reform to create a more stable, safe financial system and stepping up our enforcement strategy."
The task force will be chaired by Holder and will include the Justice, Treasury and Housing and Urban Development departments and the Securities and Exchange Commission, among other government agencies.
No big enforcement cases were unveiled as part of the task force announcement.
The task force comes a week after the Justice Department lost a pivotal criminal fraud case in New York against two managers from Bear Stearns whose hedge funds collapsed at the early stages of the financial crisis. Securities regulators still plan to pursue their own charges against the two men.
Comment
Long overdue. Lets see what they actually DO.
Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, flanked by Attorney General Eric Holder, left, and Housing Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, speaks during a news conference on financial fraud efforts, Tuesday, at the Justice Department in Washington.
Federal Fraud Task Force Launches
Nov. 17: Attorney General Eric Holder announces the formation of a new federal task force to fight financial fraud.
Dad accused of killing son over sex abuse claim
Pitt passes on millions to trick-or-treat
The clothes are clean ... but what's that smell?
AOL to lay off a third of staff
Cop suspended after Tasering 10-year-old girl
Most viewed on msnbc.com
Health reform's human stories
The clothes are clean ... but what's that smell?
Fabled Foreign Legion finds a new war to fight
Bankers' whining about pay hits a nerve
Slain N.C. girl’s aunt says mom was neglectful
Feed your libido! Get the better sex diet
Aerosmith members worry Tyler back on drugs
Most viewed on msnbc.com
updated 12:38 p.m. ET, Tues., Nov . 17, 2009
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration created a new task force on Tuesday vowing to crack down on financial fraud following a rise in mortgage scams and high-profile Wall Street trading scandals.
President Barack Obama signed an executive order directing the task force to investigate and prosecute financial crimes connected to the past year's financial crisis and to try to deter future fraud.
The stakes are high for the administration, particularly with a weak economy, anger about huge Wall Street bonuses and outrage that securities regulators missed one of the biggest frauds in U.S. history involving Bernard Madoff, who bilked investors of as much as $65 billion in a decades-long scheme.
"We will be relentless in our investigation of corporate and financial wrongdoing and we will not hesitate to bring charges, where appropriate, for criminal misconduct on the part of businesses and business executives," Attorney General Eric Holder told a news conference.
The administration has long pledged to be more aggressive in fighting financial crime, but has faced a few setbacks like Madoff and losing a high-profile case against two hedge fund managers accused of fraud in the early days of the crisis.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that in addition to prosecuting fraud, the financial system must also be overhauled to address the problems that created the crisis. Congress is now weighing a package of reforms.
Click for related content
Madoff's yacht on the auction block
Madoff's Mets baseball jacket sells for $14,500
Ex-Madoff computer programmers arrested
"We can't wait for problems to peak before we respond," Geithner said in a statement. "We're seeking a comprehensive financial reform to create a more stable, safe financial system and stepping up our enforcement strategy."
The task force will be chaired by Holder and will include the Justice, Treasury and Housing and Urban Development departments and the Securities and Exchange Commission, among other government agencies.
No big enforcement cases were unveiled as part of the task force announcement.
The task force comes a week after the Justice Department lost a pivotal criminal fraud case in New York against two managers from Bear Stearns whose hedge funds collapsed at the early stages of the financial crisis. Securities regulators still plan to pursue their own charges against the two men.
Comment
Long overdue. Lets see what they actually DO.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Integrative Mental Health: A New Model For Depression Relief
Founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine
Posted: November 18, 2009 08:32 AM BIO Become a Fan Get Email Alerts Bloggers' Index
Integrative Mental Health: A New Model For Depression Relief
Read More: Depression, Depression Treatment, Happiness, Health, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Treatment, Living News
World Health Organization has predicted that by 2030, more people will be affected by depression than any other health problem. Yet of all the dysfunctions of modern medicine, the way we treat depression may be the worst.
As I outlined in "Are You Depressed, Or Just Human?" normal changes in mood are often labeled as depression, leading to an overdiagnosis of the condition. But even if the patient is truly depressed, the prescribed treatment is almost always limited to a potent pharmaceutical. In other words, a complex, multifaceted problem is frequently treated with an oversimplified, expensive therapy that, sadly, is often ineffective.
The reason? Money. Our profit-driven medical system makes it difficult for doctors to spend enough time with patients to make a correct diagnosis and to craft truly individualized treatments. Also, patients themselves often demand the drugs they have seen advertised, and overworked, harried doctors frequently go along.
There is another reason for this regrettable situation. Many physicians are not trained in other treatment options for depression, though these can be safe, inexpensive and highly effective. So even if both physician and patient favor an alternative to drugs, they often lack the knowledge to employ it.
Whenever I write about mental health and integrative therapies, I am accused of being prejudiced against pharmaceuticals. So let me be clear - integrative medicine is the judicious application of both conventional and evidence-based natural therapies. For some mental health conditions, pharmaceuticals can literally be lifesavers, and they can be all or part of an integrative solution to mental health conditions. The point of integrative mental health is not to exclude pharmaceuticals but to make them one option out of many, so that each patient receives an individualized treatment plan that maximizes reward and minimizes risk. I believe that this commonsense approach will make integrative mental health treatment the preferred modality in the years to come.
At the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, the program I founded in 1994 at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, we're working hard to promote this. Here are a few of the therapeutic options for depression that we teach.
Nutritional approaches:
Omega-3 fatty acids: Studies suggest that omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil may be helpful in relieving mild to moderate depression. Fish oil is an excellent source of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an essential fatty acid found in nerve and brain tissue. I recommend doses of fish oil supplements in the range of 2,000- 3,000 mg per day of EPA+DHA.
Vitamin D: Deficiency has been associated with depression, as well as a host of other diseases. I now routinely recommend 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily, taken with the largest meal.
St. John's wort: This herbal remedy that has long been used in Europe as a treatment for mood disorders. Standardized extracts have shown an effectiveness greater than that of a placebo in the treatment of mild to moderate forms of depression. It should not be taken with anti-retroviral medications, birth control pills, or antidepressant medications, especially SSRIs such as Prozac or Celexa. Try 300 mg of an extract standardized to 0.3 percent hypericin, three times a day. Its full effect will be felt in about eight weeks.
SAMe: A synthetic version of a derivative of the amino acid L-methionine, S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAMe) was judged "superior to placebo and is as effective as tricyclic antidepressants in alleviating depression" in a November, 2002, article by Harvard researchers published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It has the advantage of working more quickly than St John's wort. Use only the butanedisulfonate form in enteric-coated tablets, or in capsules. Try 400 - 1,600 mg a day on an empty stomach.
B vitamins: The B vitamins, especially folic acid and vitamin B6, may be helpful in mild depression, and B vitamins can increase the efficacy of prescription antidepressants.
In addition, follow an anti-inflammatory diet and include an antioxidant multi-vitamin/mineral supplement to ensure you are meeting your nutritional needs for all the essential nutrients.
Somatic approaches:
Aerobic exercise: For more immediate, symptomatic depression treatment, there is no better method than regular aerobic exercise. Several studies have demonstrated the efficacy of a daily workout for improving emotional health and boosting self confidence. I recommend 30 minutes of continuous activity, at least five days a week for best results.
Phototherapy: Shorter daylight hours can affect sleep, productivity and state of mind. Light therapy, also known as phototherapy, may help. It uses light boxes emitting full-spectrum light to simulate sunlight. Phototherapy has been shown to have positive results for people with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), women with severe premenstrual syndrome, bulimics, and as a non-drug treatment for pregnant women and others suffering from depression. A meta-analysis has supported modest benefit when compared to placebo for non-seasonal depression.
Acupuncture: The World Health Organization has recognized acupuncture as effective in treating mild to moderate depression.
Massage: Massage therapy has been shown to relieve depression, especially in people who have chronic fatigue syndrome; other studies also suggest benefit for other populations.
Mind-body approaches:
Psychotherapy: Find a psychotherapist, mental health professional or grief counselor who can help you explore the factors that may be contributing to your depression, and who can suggest methods of understanding and changing habitual thought patterns to facilitate recovery. Cognitive behavioral therapy can be especially helpful.
Other mind-body therapies: Yoga, hypnosis, meditation, mindfulness training, "news fasts" and conscious efforts to socialize and bond with people and companion animals may all be of value, and are low-risk.
I don't want to trivialize these approaches by implying that they can be adequately conveyed in one blog post - the information listed above is by no means complete, it is meant only as an overview of some therapies for further exploration and inquiry. Also, keep in mind that while depression may be on the way to becoming the most often-diagnosed mental health problem worldwide, integrative specialists are also investigating the diagnosis and treatment of other mental health conditions including anxiety, psychosis, dementia, substance abuse and sleep disturbances.
So for those who seek in-depth knowledge in the broad, burgeoning field of integrative mental health, here are three resources I recommend highly:
Textbook of Integrative Mental Health Care by James Lake, M.D. The prime reference in this growing field. Dr. Lake's book brilliantly summarizes evidence-based integrative interventions that may be unknown to many physicians.
2010 Integrative Mental Health Conference, March 22-24, 2010, Phoenix, Arizona. This is the first conference of its kind to assemble leaders in integrative mental health, creating a new field and framework in which to promote mental wellness.
The "Depression," chapter in David Rakel, M.D.'s, excellent reference text Integrative Medicine.
Andrew Weil, M.D., is the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and the editorial director of www.DrWeil.com. Become a fan on Facebook and follow Dr. Weil on Twitter
Posted: November 18, 2009 08:32 AM BIO Become a Fan Get Email Alerts Bloggers' Index
Integrative Mental Health: A New Model For Depression Relief
Read More: Depression, Depression Treatment, Happiness, Health, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Treatment, Living News
World Health Organization has predicted that by 2030, more people will be affected by depression than any other health problem. Yet of all the dysfunctions of modern medicine, the way we treat depression may be the worst.
As I outlined in "Are You Depressed, Or Just Human?" normal changes in mood are often labeled as depression, leading to an overdiagnosis of the condition. But even if the patient is truly depressed, the prescribed treatment is almost always limited to a potent pharmaceutical. In other words, a complex, multifaceted problem is frequently treated with an oversimplified, expensive therapy that, sadly, is often ineffective.
The reason? Money. Our profit-driven medical system makes it difficult for doctors to spend enough time with patients to make a correct diagnosis and to craft truly individualized treatments. Also, patients themselves often demand the drugs they have seen advertised, and overworked, harried doctors frequently go along.
There is another reason for this regrettable situation. Many physicians are not trained in other treatment options for depression, though these can be safe, inexpensive and highly effective. So even if both physician and patient favor an alternative to drugs, they often lack the knowledge to employ it.
Whenever I write about mental health and integrative therapies, I am accused of being prejudiced against pharmaceuticals. So let me be clear - integrative medicine is the judicious application of both conventional and evidence-based natural therapies. For some mental health conditions, pharmaceuticals can literally be lifesavers, and they can be all or part of an integrative solution to mental health conditions. The point of integrative mental health is not to exclude pharmaceuticals but to make them one option out of many, so that each patient receives an individualized treatment plan that maximizes reward and minimizes risk. I believe that this commonsense approach will make integrative mental health treatment the preferred modality in the years to come.
At the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, the program I founded in 1994 at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, we're working hard to promote this. Here are a few of the therapeutic options for depression that we teach.
Nutritional approaches:
Omega-3 fatty acids: Studies suggest that omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil may be helpful in relieving mild to moderate depression. Fish oil is an excellent source of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an essential fatty acid found in nerve and brain tissue. I recommend doses of fish oil supplements in the range of 2,000- 3,000 mg per day of EPA+DHA.
Vitamin D: Deficiency has been associated with depression, as well as a host of other diseases. I now routinely recommend 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily, taken with the largest meal.
St. John's wort: This herbal remedy that has long been used in Europe as a treatment for mood disorders. Standardized extracts have shown an effectiveness greater than that of a placebo in the treatment of mild to moderate forms of depression. It should not be taken with anti-retroviral medications, birth control pills, or antidepressant medications, especially SSRIs such as Prozac or Celexa. Try 300 mg of an extract standardized to 0.3 percent hypericin, three times a day. Its full effect will be felt in about eight weeks.
SAMe: A synthetic version of a derivative of the amino acid L-methionine, S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAMe) was judged "superior to placebo and is as effective as tricyclic antidepressants in alleviating depression" in a November, 2002, article by Harvard researchers published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It has the advantage of working more quickly than St John's wort. Use only the butanedisulfonate form in enteric-coated tablets, or in capsules. Try 400 - 1,600 mg a day on an empty stomach.
B vitamins: The B vitamins, especially folic acid and vitamin B6, may be helpful in mild depression, and B vitamins can increase the efficacy of prescription antidepressants.
In addition, follow an anti-inflammatory diet and include an antioxidant multi-vitamin/mineral supplement to ensure you are meeting your nutritional needs for all the essential nutrients.
Somatic approaches:
Aerobic exercise: For more immediate, symptomatic depression treatment, there is no better method than regular aerobic exercise. Several studies have demonstrated the efficacy of a daily workout for improving emotional health and boosting self confidence. I recommend 30 minutes of continuous activity, at least five days a week for best results.
Phototherapy: Shorter daylight hours can affect sleep, productivity and state of mind. Light therapy, also known as phototherapy, may help. It uses light boxes emitting full-spectrum light to simulate sunlight. Phototherapy has been shown to have positive results for people with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), women with severe premenstrual syndrome, bulimics, and as a non-drug treatment for pregnant women and others suffering from depression. A meta-analysis has supported modest benefit when compared to placebo for non-seasonal depression.
Acupuncture: The World Health Organization has recognized acupuncture as effective in treating mild to moderate depression.
Massage: Massage therapy has been shown to relieve depression, especially in people who have chronic fatigue syndrome; other studies also suggest benefit for other populations.
Mind-body approaches:
Psychotherapy: Find a psychotherapist, mental health professional or grief counselor who can help you explore the factors that may be contributing to your depression, and who can suggest methods of understanding and changing habitual thought patterns to facilitate recovery. Cognitive behavioral therapy can be especially helpful.
Other mind-body therapies: Yoga, hypnosis, meditation, mindfulness training, "news fasts" and conscious efforts to socialize and bond with people and companion animals may all be of value, and are low-risk.
I don't want to trivialize these approaches by implying that they can be adequately conveyed in one blog post - the information listed above is by no means complete, it is meant only as an overview of some therapies for further exploration and inquiry. Also, keep in mind that while depression may be on the way to becoming the most often-diagnosed mental health problem worldwide, integrative specialists are also investigating the diagnosis and treatment of other mental health conditions including anxiety, psychosis, dementia, substance abuse and sleep disturbances.
So for those who seek in-depth knowledge in the broad, burgeoning field of integrative mental health, here are three resources I recommend highly:
Textbook of Integrative Mental Health Care by James Lake, M.D. The prime reference in this growing field. Dr. Lake's book brilliantly summarizes evidence-based integrative interventions that may be unknown to many physicians.
2010 Integrative Mental Health Conference, March 22-24, 2010, Phoenix, Arizona. This is the first conference of its kind to assemble leaders in integrative mental health, creating a new field and framework in which to promote mental wellness.
The "Depression," chapter in David Rakel, M.D.'s, excellent reference text Integrative Medicine.
Andrew Weil, M.D., is the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and the editorial director of www.DrWeil.com. Become a fan on Facebook and follow Dr. Weil on Twitter
The Motley Fool - Mankind
Can This Stock Go Higher?
By Tim Beyers
November 18, 2009 | Comments (0)
ShareThis MNKD - MannKind Corp
Rate MNKD CAPS Rating 2/5 Stars
$7.28 $0.41 (5.97%)
More about MNKD
Fearful Stocks for Greedy Investors
5 Superball Stocks
BROWSE ALL MNKD ARTICLES
Disney Buys Marvel!David Gardner called it. He’s up 1,334%! See what David’s recommending that you buy NEXT.
Is MannKind (Nasdaq: MNKD) headed higher, or lower?
That's the question we ask when we evaluate insider buying and selling. We ask because how executives spend their paychecks is often a reflection of what they think of their companies' prospects.
Here's how MannKind founder Alfred Mann and his team have spent their money over the past year:
Insider Rating
Moderately bullish
Net buying derived entirely from one huge purchase. Only one sale at prices lower than current.
Business Description
Developer of a unique inhaled insulin treatment that's yet to be approved by The Food and Drug Administration.
Recent Price
$6.87
CAPS Stars (Out of 5)
**
Percentage of Shares Owned by Insiders
43.49%
Net Buying (Selling)*
$8.07 million
Last Buyer (% Increase)
Alfred Mann, Founder, Chairman, and CEO
1,000,000 shares at $8.11 apiece on Aug. 10
(Purchase bolstered direct holdings by 2%.)
Last Seller (% Decrease)
Diane Palumbo, VP, Human Resources
5,000 shares at $5.70 apiece on Nov. 6
(Sale represented 4% of direct holdings.)
Competitors
Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)
Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY)
Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO)
Recent Foolish Coverage of MNKD
5 Stocks in a Tailspin
3 Stocks Hitting High Notes
MannKind Needs More Leaps
What we're tracking here, and why
Insider buying data can be confusing. Here, I'm concentrating only on buying and selling conducted in the open market. With most of these transactions, insiders control the timing. Other times they're buying or selling under the purview of a 10b5-1 plan. Either way, personal holdings are being bought and sold.
Those personal holdings matter the most -- they're the shares executives hold for investment, rather than compensation. Employee stock options are different; they're compensatory in the purest sense. I've stripped out options-related buying and selling from the calculations you see above.
The Foolish view: Moderately bullish
MannKind is one of a kind among story stocks.
Founder Al Mann, now 83, is a highly successful entrepreneur that Forbes ranks 522nd on its list of the world's richest, with a $1.4 billion fortune. He'll move higher if MannKind pays off; Mann owns more than 40% of the business as of this writing.
Yet success is anything but assured. MannKind is the last company standing in what was once an emerging market for inhaled insulin products used to treat diabetes. What went wrong? In a word: Exubera. This onetime competitor to MannKind's Afresa was permanently tainted when a safety analysis showed a higher incidence of lung cancer in Exubera-treated patients.
Today, Afresa is still at least several months away from FDA approval, and MannKind is without a marketing partner. The good news: The company's third-quarter loss was smaller than analysts expected, thanks in part to careful expense management.
And insiders? How are they spending? Al Mann bet big in August, at $8.11 a share. I like that buy, but I'm also mindful that MannKind is an all-in bet for him. He'll be first in line to supply capital if the company needs it.
Meanwhile, the selling pattern here is ... confusing. Sure, VP of Human Resources Diane Palumbo sold a portion of her holdings at lower prices than MannKind trades for today. That's not necessarily a bearish indicator; she still owns more than 130,000 shares.
What's more, Chief Scientific Officer Peter Richardson in August sold only a sliver of what he holds, and at $7.79 apiece -- a 13% premium to yesterday's close. I'd expect more lowball selling if insiders genuinely feared that this stock story would end badly.
But that's also just my take. Do you agree? Disagree? Log into Motley Fool CAPS today and tell us how you would rate MannKind.
And if you want me to take a Foolish peek at the insider action of your favorite stock, email me here or use the comments box below. I'll write this column as often as you, our readers, demand.
Comment
00buckshot (68.30) Submitted: 11/12/2009 10:07:10 AM : Start Price: $6.54 MNKD Score: +4.38 The MNKD pipeline includes a market disrupting insulin product called Afresa that has been proven, in 40 clinical trials, in thousands of patients, over multiple years, to address diabetes in a way that reduces or eliminates the life and health threatening glucose swings (including hypoglycemia), safely and effectively. Afresa changes the rules of diabetic treatment by allowing diabetics to maintain normal blood glucose levels simply, discreetly and without needles.
Diabetes affects approximately 170M humans worldwide and is increasing, with the WHO predicting 300 million diabetics by 2025. Global sales of diabetes drugs totaled US$27.3 billion last year, making diabetes the No. 4 drug class, according to IMS Health. Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical issues, surveyed U.S. and European endocrinologists and found that Afresa (a non-injectable, short-acting insulin with significantly improved efficacy over Novo Nordisk's NovoRapid/NovoLog) would earn a 50 percent patient share in type 1 diabetes alone in the United States and a 58 percent patient share in Europe. I peg current realistic value at closer to $20.
PDUFA date for Afresa is January 16th, and a partnership with a major pharmaceutical company appears inevitable at that time, with sales to begin by mid-year. This assessment totally ignores the value of the cancer vaccine pipeline and drug delivery platform licensing.
zzlangerhans (99.50) Submitted: 5/6/2009 10:45:38 PM : Start Price: $5.10 MNKD Score: +11.43 I haven't had much luck lately taking on top-rated players on biotech stocks, as Demon took me to the cleaners on Dendreon and GMX spanked me on Arena and Repros. Since I refuse to learn a lesson about anything, ever, I'm going to now fly against Aracer on Mannkind. Aracer obviously knows much more about this company than I do, but according to my philosophy that's not necessarily a good thing for investment purposes. After all, John Connolly knew a heck of a lot about the Charlestown mob and look where that got him. Sometimes getting too close to a company can impinge on that all important quality of objectivity. I pride myself on having red thumbed and green thumbed most of my score leader stocks at different times. I don't believe in anyone or anything. I'm all about the game.
What troubles me the most about Mannkind is their insanely high burn rate. Any professional biotech analyst will tell you that the critical factors to watch in a baby biotech are cash, burn, and the timing of catalysts. As of the end of Q1 the company has 30M in cash and is about to plunge headlong into debt or dilution, with 260M available under a current credit arrangement. They've reduced their quarterly burn from the 80M range to the 50M range, which gives them a little more than a year if they can control their burn. How they spend even 50M a quarter is beyond me, unless they're making their insulin inhalers out of platinum.
The problem for Mannkind is that their PDUFA will be in November at the earliest, and possibly as late as March 2010. Their current financing will take them through that PDUFA, but if they don't get full approval at that point they're going to be in deep manure. Does Afresa work? Very likely. Is it safe? Probably. Will the FDA approve it on first pass after getting faced on Exubera? Don't bet on it. The stock made a big jump yesterday on no news, which could mean a leak of FDA acceptance of the NDA with priority review. But I see it as a good time to reverse the flow and pick up some points as enthusiasm ebbs through the beginning of next week. I'll probably move to the sidelines if I can pick up 10, then decide how to get back in after the PDUFA is released. Obviously I'm looking for leadership here, which either entails being extremely lucky or taking some serious risks. And I've never been a lucky player.
Report this Post 3 Comments
aracer (99.62) Submitted: 5/7/2009 3:15:32 PM Recs: 2 Rec This
Heh heh. Great post. I agree that being deep in the trees can make it difficult to see the forest. Your ability to maintain objectivity and to ride macro trends by applying your Baby Bio Rules hold you in good stead predicting forest trends. As much as I could be wrong, and often am, in this case I hope my deeper read leaves me more like Whitey than John.I get the burn rate concern on both a general principle level, and in this case specifically. Management thinks they have until next Q2 to close a marketing agreement with a big boy that will include a fat upfront and other favorable terms as well. Considering CEO Al Mann's track record of astounding successes (Forbes billionaire list via 6 for 6 homeruns in the Medical Device field and 10 for 10 including earlier Aerospace businesses), in conjunction with Big Pharma's blockbuster devoid pipeline, the likelihood of MNKD closing such a deal appears large, especially in light of the Phase III data confirming superiority and the abdication of competitors in the space (due to lack of superiority not found in Afresa).The burn rate is very high in comparison to non-platinum inhaler makers. Its not that high for a company actively pursuing vaccines (ala DNDN) for solid malignancies and melanoma. To me, maintenance of a burn rate that high means they are confident that a partnership is imminent, or they'd shelve the cancer research for a while. Public utterances confirm that confidence as well with statements about multiple "emerging term sheet discussions."Good luck pulling down the top spot on this one. Here's some help. Around May 18th a green thumb would be wise. If FDA grants priority, there are about 8M short share that will be scrambling. Same in September when management expects to ink a marketing partnership. Wouldn't want you getting Departed.
Report this Post quinpeung (39.56) Submitted: 5/7/2009 4:32:56 PM Recs: 0 Rec This
Very interesting. Looks like the smart short money started to withdraw today.
Report this Post Chanbhan (< 20) Submitted: 11/18/2009 4:31:20 PM Recs: 0 Rec This
They have money to burn until 2011. If they get FDA approval in January or before, partnership will follow - there is no question about it. There are now indications that Dreamboat device will be approved along with the NDA on the pdufa date...
Investment opportunity that doesn't come very often in opinion
Comment
My buddys wife is diabetic and he has invested in this company because he knows from her, how valuable it would be to have inhalable insulin. Also, the potential for cancer vaccines cannot be ignored. The owner does have a great track record.
By Tim Beyers
November 18, 2009 | Comments (0)
ShareThis MNKD - MannKind Corp
Rate MNKD CAPS Rating 2/5 Stars
$7.28 $0.41 (5.97%)
More about MNKD
Fearful Stocks for Greedy Investors
5 Superball Stocks
BROWSE ALL MNKD ARTICLES
Disney Buys Marvel!David Gardner called it. He’s up 1,334%! See what David’s recommending that you buy NEXT.
Is MannKind (Nasdaq: MNKD) headed higher, or lower?
That's the question we ask when we evaluate insider buying and selling. We ask because how executives spend their paychecks is often a reflection of what they think of their companies' prospects.
Here's how MannKind founder Alfred Mann and his team have spent their money over the past year:
Insider Rating
Moderately bullish
Net buying derived entirely from one huge purchase. Only one sale at prices lower than current.
Business Description
Developer of a unique inhaled insulin treatment that's yet to be approved by The Food and Drug Administration.
Recent Price
$6.87
CAPS Stars (Out of 5)
**
Percentage of Shares Owned by Insiders
43.49%
Net Buying (Selling)*
$8.07 million
Last Buyer (% Increase)
Alfred Mann, Founder, Chairman, and CEO
1,000,000 shares at $8.11 apiece on Aug. 10
(Purchase bolstered direct holdings by 2%.)
Last Seller (% Decrease)
Diane Palumbo, VP, Human Resources
5,000 shares at $5.70 apiece on Nov. 6
(Sale represented 4% of direct holdings.)
Competitors
Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)
Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY)
Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO)
Recent Foolish Coverage of MNKD
5 Stocks in a Tailspin
3 Stocks Hitting High Notes
MannKind Needs More Leaps
What we're tracking here, and why
Insider buying data can be confusing. Here, I'm concentrating only on buying and selling conducted in the open market. With most of these transactions, insiders control the timing. Other times they're buying or selling under the purview of a 10b5-1 plan. Either way, personal holdings are being bought and sold.
Those personal holdings matter the most -- they're the shares executives hold for investment, rather than compensation. Employee stock options are different; they're compensatory in the purest sense. I've stripped out options-related buying and selling from the calculations you see above.
The Foolish view: Moderately bullish
MannKind is one of a kind among story stocks.
Founder Al Mann, now 83, is a highly successful entrepreneur that Forbes ranks 522nd on its list of the world's richest, with a $1.4 billion fortune. He'll move higher if MannKind pays off; Mann owns more than 40% of the business as of this writing.
Yet success is anything but assured. MannKind is the last company standing in what was once an emerging market for inhaled insulin products used to treat diabetes. What went wrong? In a word: Exubera. This onetime competitor to MannKind's Afresa was permanently tainted when a safety analysis showed a higher incidence of lung cancer in Exubera-treated patients.
Today, Afresa is still at least several months away from FDA approval, and MannKind is without a marketing partner. The good news: The company's third-quarter loss was smaller than analysts expected, thanks in part to careful expense management.
And insiders? How are they spending? Al Mann bet big in August, at $8.11 a share. I like that buy, but I'm also mindful that MannKind is an all-in bet for him. He'll be first in line to supply capital if the company needs it.
Meanwhile, the selling pattern here is ... confusing. Sure, VP of Human Resources Diane Palumbo sold a portion of her holdings at lower prices than MannKind trades for today. That's not necessarily a bearish indicator; she still owns more than 130,000 shares.
What's more, Chief Scientific Officer Peter Richardson in August sold only a sliver of what he holds, and at $7.79 apiece -- a 13% premium to yesterday's close. I'd expect more lowball selling if insiders genuinely feared that this stock story would end badly.
But that's also just my take. Do you agree? Disagree? Log into Motley Fool CAPS today and tell us how you would rate MannKind.
And if you want me to take a Foolish peek at the insider action of your favorite stock, email me here or use the comments box below. I'll write this column as often as you, our readers, demand.
Comment
00buckshot (68.30) Submitted: 11/12/2009 10:07:10 AM : Start Price: $6.54 MNKD Score: +4.38 The MNKD pipeline includes a market disrupting insulin product called Afresa that has been proven, in 40 clinical trials, in thousands of patients, over multiple years, to address diabetes in a way that reduces or eliminates the life and health threatening glucose swings (including hypoglycemia), safely and effectively. Afresa changes the rules of diabetic treatment by allowing diabetics to maintain normal blood glucose levels simply, discreetly and without needles.
Diabetes affects approximately 170M humans worldwide and is increasing, with the WHO predicting 300 million diabetics by 2025. Global sales of diabetes drugs totaled US$27.3 billion last year, making diabetes the No. 4 drug class, according to IMS Health. Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical issues, surveyed U.S. and European endocrinologists and found that Afresa (a non-injectable, short-acting insulin with significantly improved efficacy over Novo Nordisk's NovoRapid/NovoLog) would earn a 50 percent patient share in type 1 diabetes alone in the United States and a 58 percent patient share in Europe. I peg current realistic value at closer to $20.
PDUFA date for Afresa is January 16th, and a partnership with a major pharmaceutical company appears inevitable at that time, with sales to begin by mid-year. This assessment totally ignores the value of the cancer vaccine pipeline and drug delivery platform licensing.
zzlangerhans (99.50) Submitted: 5/6/2009 10:45:38 PM : Start Price: $5.10 MNKD Score: +11.43 I haven't had much luck lately taking on top-rated players on biotech stocks, as Demon took me to the cleaners on Dendreon and GMX spanked me on Arena and Repros. Since I refuse to learn a lesson about anything, ever, I'm going to now fly against Aracer on Mannkind. Aracer obviously knows much more about this company than I do, but according to my philosophy that's not necessarily a good thing for investment purposes. After all, John Connolly knew a heck of a lot about the Charlestown mob and look where that got him. Sometimes getting too close to a company can impinge on that all important quality of objectivity. I pride myself on having red thumbed and green thumbed most of my score leader stocks at different times. I don't believe in anyone or anything. I'm all about the game.
What troubles me the most about Mannkind is their insanely high burn rate. Any professional biotech analyst will tell you that the critical factors to watch in a baby biotech are cash, burn, and the timing of catalysts. As of the end of Q1 the company has 30M in cash and is about to plunge headlong into debt or dilution, with 260M available under a current credit arrangement. They've reduced their quarterly burn from the 80M range to the 50M range, which gives them a little more than a year if they can control their burn. How they spend even 50M a quarter is beyond me, unless they're making their insulin inhalers out of platinum.
The problem for Mannkind is that their PDUFA will be in November at the earliest, and possibly as late as March 2010. Their current financing will take them through that PDUFA, but if they don't get full approval at that point they're going to be in deep manure. Does Afresa work? Very likely. Is it safe? Probably. Will the FDA approve it on first pass after getting faced on Exubera? Don't bet on it. The stock made a big jump yesterday on no news, which could mean a leak of FDA acceptance of the NDA with priority review. But I see it as a good time to reverse the flow and pick up some points as enthusiasm ebbs through the beginning of next week. I'll probably move to the sidelines if I can pick up 10, then decide how to get back in after the PDUFA is released. Obviously I'm looking for leadership here, which either entails being extremely lucky or taking some serious risks. And I've never been a lucky player.
Report this Post 3 Comments
aracer (99.62) Submitted: 5/7/2009 3:15:32 PM Recs: 2 Rec This
Heh heh. Great post. I agree that being deep in the trees can make it difficult to see the forest. Your ability to maintain objectivity and to ride macro trends by applying your Baby Bio Rules hold you in good stead predicting forest trends. As much as I could be wrong, and often am, in this case I hope my deeper read leaves me more like Whitey than John.I get the burn rate concern on both a general principle level, and in this case specifically. Management thinks they have until next Q2 to close a marketing agreement with a big boy that will include a fat upfront and other favorable terms as well. Considering CEO Al Mann's track record of astounding successes (Forbes billionaire list via 6 for 6 homeruns in the Medical Device field and 10 for 10 including earlier Aerospace businesses), in conjunction with Big Pharma's blockbuster devoid pipeline, the likelihood of MNKD closing such a deal appears large, especially in light of the Phase III data confirming superiority and the abdication of competitors in the space (due to lack of superiority not found in Afresa).The burn rate is very high in comparison to non-platinum inhaler makers. Its not that high for a company actively pursuing vaccines (ala DNDN) for solid malignancies and melanoma. To me, maintenance of a burn rate that high means they are confident that a partnership is imminent, or they'd shelve the cancer research for a while. Public utterances confirm that confidence as well with statements about multiple "emerging term sheet discussions."Good luck pulling down the top spot on this one. Here's some help. Around May 18th a green thumb would be wise. If FDA grants priority, there are about 8M short share that will be scrambling. Same in September when management expects to ink a marketing partnership. Wouldn't want you getting Departed.
Report this Post quinpeung (39.56) Submitted: 5/7/2009 4:32:56 PM Recs: 0 Rec This
Very interesting. Looks like the smart short money started to withdraw today.
Report this Post Chanbhan (< 20) Submitted: 11/18/2009 4:31:20 PM Recs: 0 Rec This
They have money to burn until 2011. If they get FDA approval in January or before, partnership will follow - there is no question about it. There are now indications that Dreamboat device will be approved along with the NDA on the pdufa date...
Investment opportunity that doesn't come very often in opinion
Comment
My buddys wife is diabetic and he has invested in this company because he knows from her, how valuable it would be to have inhalable insulin. Also, the potential for cancer vaccines cannot be ignored. The owner does have a great track record.
Medicare paid $47 billion in suspect claims
‘Aggressive actions’ aimed at cutting improper payments have little impact
Senate awaits cost of health bill
Nov. 18: Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H, joins the Morning Meeting panel to debate whether or not the cost of a government public option would be less expensive than other insurance plans.
updated 8:04 a.m. ET, Sun., Nov . 15, 2009
WASHINGTON - The government paid more than $47 billion in questionable Medicare claims including medical treatment showing little relation to a patient's condition, wasting taxpayer dollars at a rate nearly three times the previous year.
Excerpts of a new federal report, obtained by The Associated Press, show a dramatic increase in improper payments in the $440 billion Medicare program that has been cited by government auditors as a high risk for fraud and waste for 20 years.
It's not clear whether Medicare fraud is actually worsening. Much of the increase in the last year is attributed to a change in the Health and Human Services Department's methodology that imposes stricter documentation requirements and includes more improper payments — part of a data-collection effort being ordered government-wide by President Barack Obama this coming week to promote "honest budgeting" and accurate statistics.
Still, the fiscal 2009 financial report — covering the first few months of the Obama administration — highlights the challenges ahead for a government that is seeking in part to pay for its proposed health care overhaul by cracking down on Medicare fraud. While noting that several new anti-fraud efforts were beginning, the government report makes clear that "aggressive actions" to date aimed at reducing improper payments had yielded little improvement.
Dead doctors
In recent years, the suspect claims have included Medicare prescriptions from doctors who were dead, and requests for payment for medical supplies such as blood glucose strips for sexual impotence and diabetic shoes for leg amputees. Patients, many of them new citizens who barely speak English, are sometimes recruited by brokers who go door-to-door offering hundreds of dollars for use of their Medicare numbers.
Obama is expected to announce new initiatives this coming week to help crack down on Medicare fraud, including a government-wide Web site aimed at providing a fuller account of health care spending and improper payments made by various agencies. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also will launch a Web interactive next month that will allow users to track Medicare payment information by categories such as state, diagnosis and hospital.
According to the report, the Bush administration from 2005-2008 reported improper payments of roughly 4 percent in the fee for service program, or about $17 billion total in 2008. Government officials at the time, however, typically did not consider a Medicare payment improper if the medical documentation was incomplete or a doctor's signature was illegible. Since these were flaws that ordinarily bar payment, that methodology drew complaints from government auditors that the figures were understated.
For fiscal year 2009, the Obama administration began counting those claims as improper, but was unable to complete an official tally based on the new methodology. As a result, it officially reported improper payments for its fee for service program at 7.8 percent, representing a partial tally under the new formula. But it considers the unofficial tally of 12.4 percent to be more representative.
Click for related content
Report: Health bill would reduce senior care
Newsweek opinion: Why health care bill isn't reform
Beginning next year, the 12.4 percent figure — or a total of $47 billion in improper payments when counting both Medicare fee for service and managed care — will be used as the baseline estimate. The federal report sets a target of reducing improper payments in the fee for service program to 9.5 percent by next year, which would represent a savings of roughly $9.7 billion.
The findings come as the Obama administration is making Medicare anti-fraud efforts an important priority. In recent months, HHS has said it was multiplying by 10 the number of agents and prosecutors targeting fraud in Miami, Los Angeles and other strategic cities where tens of billions of dollars are believed to be lost each year. The new partnership seeks to have better sharing of real-time intelligence data on health care fraud patterns.
Officials say they also want to increase training and outreach among Medicare providers to reduce documentation errors, while proposed health overhaul legislation would increase background checks on Medicare claimants and impose stiffer penalties for false claims.
Other findings:
In the Medicaid program for the poor, roughly $18.1 billion, or 9.6 percent of claims, are believed to be improper payments.
Using a baseline of 12.4 percent in improper payments in the Medicare fee for service program, HHS is setting targets of reducing fraud and waste to 9.5 percent, 8.5 percent, and 8.0 percent, respectively, for fiscal years 2010 through 2012.
Records released in the past week showed that CMS for three years ignored internal watchdog warnings about swindlers stealing millions of dollars by scamming several Medicare programs. The agency received roughly 30 warnings from inspectors but didn't respond to half of them, even after repeated letters.
Comment
I wish Obama had gone after the Medicare schemers for a year or two, and then used the money saved to finance his programs. Knowing that people are scamming our tax dollars right out the door, and doing NOTHING about it, is unacceptable. If somebody was warned 30 times over three years that tax dollars was being stolen, and those warnings were ignored, somebody should be fired at the very least, if not prosecuted.
We need a crackdown badly, as it also provides jobs for investigators, lawyers, and judges. The public option is apparently a government run health plan that would be available to people if the insurance companies wouldn't insure them. If a public option IS available then there will be competition, and the rates for the insurers will come down. If there IS no public option our rates will stay artificially high.
Senate awaits cost of health bill
Nov. 18: Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H, joins the Morning Meeting panel to debate whether or not the cost of a government public option would be less expensive than other insurance plans.
updated 8:04 a.m. ET, Sun., Nov . 15, 2009
WASHINGTON - The government paid more than $47 billion in questionable Medicare claims including medical treatment showing little relation to a patient's condition, wasting taxpayer dollars at a rate nearly three times the previous year.
Excerpts of a new federal report, obtained by The Associated Press, show a dramatic increase in improper payments in the $440 billion Medicare program that has been cited by government auditors as a high risk for fraud and waste for 20 years.
It's not clear whether Medicare fraud is actually worsening. Much of the increase in the last year is attributed to a change in the Health and Human Services Department's methodology that imposes stricter documentation requirements and includes more improper payments — part of a data-collection effort being ordered government-wide by President Barack Obama this coming week to promote "honest budgeting" and accurate statistics.
Still, the fiscal 2009 financial report — covering the first few months of the Obama administration — highlights the challenges ahead for a government that is seeking in part to pay for its proposed health care overhaul by cracking down on Medicare fraud. While noting that several new anti-fraud efforts were beginning, the government report makes clear that "aggressive actions" to date aimed at reducing improper payments had yielded little improvement.
Dead doctors
In recent years, the suspect claims have included Medicare prescriptions from doctors who were dead, and requests for payment for medical supplies such as blood glucose strips for sexual impotence and diabetic shoes for leg amputees. Patients, many of them new citizens who barely speak English, are sometimes recruited by brokers who go door-to-door offering hundreds of dollars for use of their Medicare numbers.
Obama is expected to announce new initiatives this coming week to help crack down on Medicare fraud, including a government-wide Web site aimed at providing a fuller account of health care spending and improper payments made by various agencies. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also will launch a Web interactive next month that will allow users to track Medicare payment information by categories such as state, diagnosis and hospital.
According to the report, the Bush administration from 2005-2008 reported improper payments of roughly 4 percent in the fee for service program, or about $17 billion total in 2008. Government officials at the time, however, typically did not consider a Medicare payment improper if the medical documentation was incomplete or a doctor's signature was illegible. Since these were flaws that ordinarily bar payment, that methodology drew complaints from government auditors that the figures were understated.
For fiscal year 2009, the Obama administration began counting those claims as improper, but was unable to complete an official tally based on the new methodology. As a result, it officially reported improper payments for its fee for service program at 7.8 percent, representing a partial tally under the new formula. But it considers the unofficial tally of 12.4 percent to be more representative.
Click for related content
Report: Health bill would reduce senior care
Newsweek opinion: Why health care bill isn't reform
Beginning next year, the 12.4 percent figure — or a total of $47 billion in improper payments when counting both Medicare fee for service and managed care — will be used as the baseline estimate. The federal report sets a target of reducing improper payments in the fee for service program to 9.5 percent by next year, which would represent a savings of roughly $9.7 billion.
The findings come as the Obama administration is making Medicare anti-fraud efforts an important priority. In recent months, HHS has said it was multiplying by 10 the number of agents and prosecutors targeting fraud in Miami, Los Angeles and other strategic cities where tens of billions of dollars are believed to be lost each year. The new partnership seeks to have better sharing of real-time intelligence data on health care fraud patterns.
Officials say they also want to increase training and outreach among Medicare providers to reduce documentation errors, while proposed health overhaul legislation would increase background checks on Medicare claimants and impose stiffer penalties for false claims.
Other findings:
In the Medicaid program for the poor, roughly $18.1 billion, or 9.6 percent of claims, are believed to be improper payments.
Using a baseline of 12.4 percent in improper payments in the Medicare fee for service program, HHS is setting targets of reducing fraud and waste to 9.5 percent, 8.5 percent, and 8.0 percent, respectively, for fiscal years 2010 through 2012.
Records released in the past week showed that CMS for three years ignored internal watchdog warnings about swindlers stealing millions of dollars by scamming several Medicare programs. The agency received roughly 30 warnings from inspectors but didn't respond to half of them, even after repeated letters.
Comment
I wish Obama had gone after the Medicare schemers for a year or two, and then used the money saved to finance his programs. Knowing that people are scamming our tax dollars right out the door, and doing NOTHING about it, is unacceptable. If somebody was warned 30 times over three years that tax dollars was being stolen, and those warnings were ignored, somebody should be fired at the very least, if not prosecuted.
We need a crackdown badly, as it also provides jobs for investigators, lawyers, and judges. The public option is apparently a government run health plan that would be available to people if the insurance companies wouldn't insure them. If a public option IS available then there will be competition, and the rates for the insurers will come down. If there IS no public option our rates will stay artificially high.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
US Postal Service lost 3.8 billion last year
BusinessU.S. business
updated 4:40 p.m. ET, Mon., Nov . 16, 2009
WASHINGTON - The Postal Service reported a loss of $3.8 billion last year, despite a reduction of 40,000 full-time positions and other cost-cutting measures.
The loss was $1 billion more than the year before despite job cuts and other efforts designed to save billions of dollars, postal officials said Monday.
"Our 2009 fiscal year proved to be one of the most challenging in the history of the Postal Service," Chief Financial Officer Joseph Corbett said.
"The deep economic recession, and to a lesser extent the ongoing migration of mail to electronic alternatives, significantly affected all mail products, creating a large imbalance between revenues and costs," he said.
The post office has been struggling to cope with a decline in mail volume caused by the shift to the Internet as well as the recession that resulted in a drop in advertising and other mail. Total mail volume was 177.1 billion pieces, compared to 202.7 billion pieces in 2008, a decline of almost 13 percent.
For the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 the agency had income of $68.1 billion, $6.8 billion less than in 2008. Expenditures were down $5.9 billion to $71.8 billion.
Postmaster General John Potter is seeking permission from Congress to reduce mail delivery from six days a week to five, a move that could save the agency $3.5 billion annually.
Potter has said the post office does not plan to raise rates next year on the items most commonly used by the public such as first-class mail.
"We realize our customers are facing the same economic challenges," said Potter.
In addition the agency is consolidating mail facilities, looking to close some offices and looking for new sources of income.
The post office is required to make an annual contribution of about $5 billion to pay in advance for medical benefits for future retirees. Congress reduced that by $4 billion for 2009, but that change was for one year only.
The agency's independent auditor, Ernst & Young, questioned whether the post office would have enough money to make the next payment on Sept. 30, 2010, when $5.5 billion will be due.
For the current fiscal year, the post office estimated it will have a further decline in income of $2.2 billion and a net loss of $7.8 billion even with expected cost reductions of more than $3.5 billion. It expects a reduction in mail volume of another 11 billion pieces.
While there are signs of economic recovery, Corbett said the post office tends to lag two quarters behind the economy. In addition, he said, economists say the recovery is likely to be slow to add jobs and mail volume generally rises when more people are working.
Comment
So lets get this straight: Its the economy's fault they are losing so much, and NOT the $75,000 a year workers, right? Wonder what the average pay is? Add in the benefits... When they go to five days a week will there be any reductions in their pay? I dont deny anybody a right to earn a living but mail delivery is not exactly brain surgery.
updated 4:40 p.m. ET, Mon., Nov . 16, 2009
WASHINGTON - The Postal Service reported a loss of $3.8 billion last year, despite a reduction of 40,000 full-time positions and other cost-cutting measures.
The loss was $1 billion more than the year before despite job cuts and other efforts designed to save billions of dollars, postal officials said Monday.
"Our 2009 fiscal year proved to be one of the most challenging in the history of the Postal Service," Chief Financial Officer Joseph Corbett said.
"The deep economic recession, and to a lesser extent the ongoing migration of mail to electronic alternatives, significantly affected all mail products, creating a large imbalance between revenues and costs," he said.
The post office has been struggling to cope with a decline in mail volume caused by the shift to the Internet as well as the recession that resulted in a drop in advertising and other mail. Total mail volume was 177.1 billion pieces, compared to 202.7 billion pieces in 2008, a decline of almost 13 percent.
For the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 the agency had income of $68.1 billion, $6.8 billion less than in 2008. Expenditures were down $5.9 billion to $71.8 billion.
Postmaster General John Potter is seeking permission from Congress to reduce mail delivery from six days a week to five, a move that could save the agency $3.5 billion annually.
Potter has said the post office does not plan to raise rates next year on the items most commonly used by the public such as first-class mail.
"We realize our customers are facing the same economic challenges," said Potter.
In addition the agency is consolidating mail facilities, looking to close some offices and looking for new sources of income.
The post office is required to make an annual contribution of about $5 billion to pay in advance for medical benefits for future retirees. Congress reduced that by $4 billion for 2009, but that change was for one year only.
The agency's independent auditor, Ernst & Young, questioned whether the post office would have enough money to make the next payment on Sept. 30, 2010, when $5.5 billion will be due.
For the current fiscal year, the post office estimated it will have a further decline in income of $2.2 billion and a net loss of $7.8 billion even with expected cost reductions of more than $3.5 billion. It expects a reduction in mail volume of another 11 billion pieces.
While there are signs of economic recovery, Corbett said the post office tends to lag two quarters behind the economy. In addition, he said, economists say the recovery is likely to be slow to add jobs and mail volume generally rises when more people are working.
Comment
So lets get this straight: Its the economy's fault they are losing so much, and NOT the $75,000 a year workers, right? Wonder what the average pay is? Add in the benefits... When they go to five days a week will there be any reductions in their pay? I dont deny anybody a right to earn a living but mail delivery is not exactly brain surgery.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Medpedia to best the more democratic Wikipedia?
November 13, 2009 6:43 PM PST
by Elizabeth Armstrong Moore
Medpedia, a collaborative project for medical information launched in February, is getting beyond the medical-data basics as it adds answers, alerts, and analysis.
The nearly year-old Medpedia grows up with the addition of three key features.
(Credit: Medpedia) Founded on the noble and semipractical system of providing free online medical information generated for and by physicians, journals, schools, patients, and more, Medpedia's three stated goals are to be collaborative, interdisciplinary, and transparent. The idea is to maximize knowledge and minimize the kind of screwing around that continually threatens the efficacy of other wiki-based projects. Of course, the extent to which this is successful hinges on the quality, integrity, and transparency of the editors.
While Medpedia uses the open-source software Mediawiki (also used by Wikipedia), it is less collaborative than the vast encyclopedia site, allowing only physicians and Ph.D.s approved by an editor to contribute to and edit articles. (The less medicine-literate masses are allowed to create accounts and suggest changes, but not actually make them.)
The jury's still out on whether Medpedia will be big enough to be a successful repository of up-to-date information and tame enough to be useful, but three new features, announced this week, might at least help push it out of beta incubation:
Medpedia Answers is a Q&A feature, collecting questions and answers about health, medicine, the body, etc., tagged for search optimization, and pushed to relevant articles and patient communities. Anyone who takes the time to create a profile can contribute to this section, with a top-contributors list cluing in users to which answers are written by the most informed (and involved) users.
Medpedia Alerts aggregates health and medical-news alerts. Anyone with an account can submit here as well, but this section appears intended to work something like Google Reader, with all sorts of feeds plugging into the platform.
And finally, Medpedia News & Analysis lets a wide range of sources accepted by the Medpedia community self-organize by category, and tag and cross-link to articles. This section is not, strictly speaking, licensed by Medpedia, so copyright is held by the authors themselves, which could prove tricky, as Medpedia hosts content that may or may not be allowed to be there.
Since Medpedia went live earlier this year, it has drawn thousands of members, including physicians, researchers, organizations, and experts contributing to its growing knowledge base. Plus, it has the likes of Harvard, Stanford, the National Health Services, and American Heart Association participating. Will Medpedia's less democratic editing system prove more bulletproof than Wikipedia's? So far, so good.
Elizabeth Armstrong Moore is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Ore. She has contributed to Wired magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, and public radio. Her semi-obscure hobbies include unicycling, slacklining, hula-hooping, scuba diving, billiards, Sudoku, Magic the Gathering, and classical piano. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET
by Elizabeth Armstrong Moore
Medpedia, a collaborative project for medical information launched in February, is getting beyond the medical-data basics as it adds answers, alerts, and analysis.
The nearly year-old Medpedia grows up with the addition of three key features.
(Credit: Medpedia) Founded on the noble and semipractical system of providing free online medical information generated for and by physicians, journals, schools, patients, and more, Medpedia's three stated goals are to be collaborative, interdisciplinary, and transparent. The idea is to maximize knowledge and minimize the kind of screwing around that continually threatens the efficacy of other wiki-based projects. Of course, the extent to which this is successful hinges on the quality, integrity, and transparency of the editors.
While Medpedia uses the open-source software Mediawiki (also used by Wikipedia), it is less collaborative than the vast encyclopedia site, allowing only physicians and Ph.D.s approved by an editor to contribute to and edit articles. (The less medicine-literate masses are allowed to create accounts and suggest changes, but not actually make them.)
The jury's still out on whether Medpedia will be big enough to be a successful repository of up-to-date information and tame enough to be useful, but three new features, announced this week, might at least help push it out of beta incubation:
Medpedia Answers is a Q&A feature, collecting questions and answers about health, medicine, the body, etc., tagged for search optimization, and pushed to relevant articles and patient communities. Anyone who takes the time to create a profile can contribute to this section, with a top-contributors list cluing in users to which answers are written by the most informed (and involved) users.
Medpedia Alerts aggregates health and medical-news alerts. Anyone with an account can submit here as well, but this section appears intended to work something like Google Reader, with all sorts of feeds plugging into the platform.
And finally, Medpedia News & Analysis lets a wide range of sources accepted by the Medpedia community self-organize by category, and tag and cross-link to articles. This section is not, strictly speaking, licensed by Medpedia, so copyright is held by the authors themselves, which could prove tricky, as Medpedia hosts content that may or may not be allowed to be there.
Since Medpedia went live earlier this year, it has drawn thousands of members, including physicians, researchers, organizations, and experts contributing to its growing knowledge base. Plus, it has the likes of Harvard, Stanford, the National Health Services, and American Heart Association participating. Will Medpedia's less democratic editing system prove more bulletproof than Wikipedia's? So far, so good.
Elizabeth Armstrong Moore is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Ore. She has contributed to Wired magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, and public radio. Her semi-obscure hobbies include unicycling, slacklining, hula-hooping, scuba diving, billiards, Sudoku, Magic the Gathering, and classical piano. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET
Hunger in U.S. at a 14-year high
The New York Times
NYT: 1 in 7 households struggles to put enough food on table
Paul J. Richards / AFP - Getty Images file
During his campaign, President Obama promised to eliminate hunger among American children by 2015. The administration has yet to offer a detailed plan to do so, and the report on Monday underscored the daunting dimensions of the challenge.
More Americans facing hunger
Nov. 16: The government says more than 14 percent of American households have trouble putting enough food on the table. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
Nightly News
More from NYTimes.com
In Reversal, Panel Urges Mammograms at 50, Not 40
G.M., Citing Progress, Reports Loss of $1.15 Billion
Nuclear Report on Iran Arouses New Suspicions
U.S. Door Stays Open in Face of Swirl of Corruption
The TV Watch: Palin Onstage, Still Moving Off Message
External links
By Brian Knowlton
updated 6:19 p.m. ET, Mon., Nov . 16, 2009
WASHINGTON - The number of Americans who lacked reliable access to sufficient food shot up last year to its highest point since the government began surveying in 1995, the Agriculture Department reported on Monday.
In its annual report on hunger, the department said that 17 million American households, or 14.6 percent of the total, “had difficulty putting enough food on the table at times during the year.” That was an increase from 13 million households, or 11.1 percent, the previous year.
The results provided a more human sense of the costs of a recession that has officially ended but continues to take a daily toll on households; it describes the plight not of a faceless General Motors or A.I.G. but of families with too little food on their children’s plates.
Indeed, while children are usually shielded from the worst effects of deprivation, many more were affected last year than the year before. The number of households in which both adults and children experienced “very low food security” rose by more than half, to 506,000 in 2008 from 323,000 in 2007, according to the report.
Overall, one-third of all the families that are affected by hunger, or 6.7 million households, were classified as having very low food security, meaning that members of the household had too little to eat or saw their eating habits disrupted during 2008. That was 2 million households more than in 2007.
In a statement, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack emphasized the administration’s efforts to combat hunger by creating jobs, providing job training, extending unemployment benefits and taking other measures. He called hunger “a problem that the American sense of fairness should not tolerate and American ingenuity can overcome.”
During his campaign, President Obama promised to eliminate hunger among American children by 2015. The administration has yet to offer a detailed plan to do so, and the report on Monday underscored the daunting dimensions of the challenge.
Problem understated?
Vicki Escarra, president of Feeding America, a nonprofit organization with a national network of more than 200 food banks, said that the Agriculture Department probably understated the problem. With unemployment and other economic indicators continuing to worsen in 2009, she said, “there are likely many more people struggling with hunger than this report states.”
In September, the group found a sharp increase in requests for emergency food assistance; the food banks in its network reported an average increase in need of nearly 30 percent this year over 2008.
“National socioeconomic indicators, including the escalating unemployment rate and the number of working poor, lead us to believe that the number of people facing hunger will continue to rise significantly over the coming year,” added Ms. Escarra.
Click for related content
U.N.: ‘Unprecedented’ 1 billion hungry
The Agriculture Department report was issued as a World Summit on Food Security was opening in Rome.
Jacques Diouf, director general of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, has urged governments to invest $44 billion a year to end chronic hunger afflicting an estimated 1 billion people.
But as Bloomberg News reported, a draft of the session’s final declaration includes promises of reinforced government efforts to sharply reduce world hunger but makes no mention of new financial commitments.
This story, "Hunger in U.S. at a 14-Year High," originally appeared in The New York Times.
Comment
This is why I believe that charity starts at home and I support groups like The Second Harvest that go after the initial crop pickers are done, to harvest a LOT of edible food, which they donate to food banks. They are a faith-based group that is providing a much needed service to our country.
NYT: 1 in 7 households struggles to put enough food on table
Paul J. Richards / AFP - Getty Images file
During his campaign, President Obama promised to eliminate hunger among American children by 2015. The administration has yet to offer a detailed plan to do so, and the report on Monday underscored the daunting dimensions of the challenge.
More Americans facing hunger
Nov. 16: The government says more than 14 percent of American households have trouble putting enough food on the table. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
Nightly News
More from NYTimes.com
In Reversal, Panel Urges Mammograms at 50, Not 40
G.M., Citing Progress, Reports Loss of $1.15 Billion
Nuclear Report on Iran Arouses New Suspicions
U.S. Door Stays Open in Face of Swirl of Corruption
The TV Watch: Palin Onstage, Still Moving Off Message
External links
By Brian Knowlton
updated 6:19 p.m. ET, Mon., Nov . 16, 2009
WASHINGTON - The number of Americans who lacked reliable access to sufficient food shot up last year to its highest point since the government began surveying in 1995, the Agriculture Department reported on Monday.
In its annual report on hunger, the department said that 17 million American households, or 14.6 percent of the total, “had difficulty putting enough food on the table at times during the year.” That was an increase from 13 million households, or 11.1 percent, the previous year.
The results provided a more human sense of the costs of a recession that has officially ended but continues to take a daily toll on households; it describes the plight not of a faceless General Motors or A.I.G. but of families with too little food on their children’s plates.
Indeed, while children are usually shielded from the worst effects of deprivation, many more were affected last year than the year before. The number of households in which both adults and children experienced “very low food security” rose by more than half, to 506,000 in 2008 from 323,000 in 2007, according to the report.
Overall, one-third of all the families that are affected by hunger, or 6.7 million households, were classified as having very low food security, meaning that members of the household had too little to eat or saw their eating habits disrupted during 2008. That was 2 million households more than in 2007.
In a statement, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack emphasized the administration’s efforts to combat hunger by creating jobs, providing job training, extending unemployment benefits and taking other measures. He called hunger “a problem that the American sense of fairness should not tolerate and American ingenuity can overcome.”
During his campaign, President Obama promised to eliminate hunger among American children by 2015. The administration has yet to offer a detailed plan to do so, and the report on Monday underscored the daunting dimensions of the challenge.
Problem understated?
Vicki Escarra, president of Feeding America, a nonprofit organization with a national network of more than 200 food banks, said that the Agriculture Department probably understated the problem. With unemployment and other economic indicators continuing to worsen in 2009, she said, “there are likely many more people struggling with hunger than this report states.”
In September, the group found a sharp increase in requests for emergency food assistance; the food banks in its network reported an average increase in need of nearly 30 percent this year over 2008.
“National socioeconomic indicators, including the escalating unemployment rate and the number of working poor, lead us to believe that the number of people facing hunger will continue to rise significantly over the coming year,” added Ms. Escarra.
Click for related content
U.N.: ‘Unprecedented’ 1 billion hungry
The Agriculture Department report was issued as a World Summit on Food Security was opening in Rome.
Jacques Diouf, director general of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, has urged governments to invest $44 billion a year to end chronic hunger afflicting an estimated 1 billion people.
But as Bloomberg News reported, a draft of the session’s final declaration includes promises of reinforced government efforts to sharply reduce world hunger but makes no mention of new financial commitments.
This story, "Hunger in U.S. at a 14-Year High," originally appeared in The New York Times.
Comment
This is why I believe that charity starts at home and I support groups like The Second Harvest that go after the initial crop pickers are done, to harvest a LOT of edible food, which they donate to food banks. They are a faith-based group that is providing a much needed service to our country.
Council meeting
The Council meeting tonight was about parking, initially, and then expanded into a discussion of the implications of parking on downtown development. The businesses want the city to give them something, apparently, before they will make any effort to upgrade themelves, seemingly as a demonstration good faith on the city's part. The voice of reason, believe it or not, was Billy when he said that it is a 2-way street where the businesses have to meet the city at least half way, do their part. Lob concurred with that concept. A local businessman volunteered to renew and reinvigorate the Chamber of Commerce to act as a liason with the city. There are several concepts that are low cost and low tech, like paint and signage, that could be intitiated by the businesses and the city respectively, as a show of good faith and a willingness to work together. Baby steps perhaps, but important baby steps that could lead to further cooperation between the two entities, and progress for our businesses. As taxpayers we have bailed out a lot of businesses lately, and we dont need to bail out local businesses too. However, we CAN help them to help themselves by facilitating the permitting process and making our administrative processes more business friendly. We are still in a difficult economy and its not clear that tax credits will help our revenue shortfall at all. Grants are one possibility, and the Mom and Pop grants will be coming up again this January, according to Ms Ator. Perhaps if we could put together a sum of money we could LOAN the businesses at a friendly rate to renovate their properties would be one possibility. That would create a new level of costs to administer those loans, etc. tho. Do we really want to consider eliminating our parking codes to encourage businesses? What are the other possible alternatives? Parking is surely an important part of any downtown enhancement process, but is only one piece of the puzzle.
The Worst is yet to Come: Unemployed Americans Should Hunker Down for More Job Losses
Technorati Nouriel Roubini | Nov 15, 2009
From the Daily News:
Think the worst is over? Wrong. Conditions in the U.S. labor markets are awful and worsening. While the official unemployment rate is already 10.2% and another 200,000 jobs were lost in October, when you include discouraged workers and partially employed workers the figure is a whopping 17.5%.
While losing 200,000 jobs per month is better than the 700,000 jobs lost in January, current job losses still average more than the per month rate of 150,000 during the last recession.
Also, remember: The last recession ended in November 2001, but job losses continued for more than a year and half until June of 2003; ditto for the 1990-91 recession.
So we can expect that job losses will continue until the end of 2010 at the earliest. In other words, if you are unemployed and looking for work and just waiting for the economy to turn the corner, you had better hunker down. All the economic numbers suggest this will take a while. The jobs just are not coming back.
There's really just one hope for our leaders to turn things around: a bold prescription that increases the fiscal stimulus with another round of labor-intensive, shovel-ready infrastructure projects, helps fiscally strapped state and local governments and provides a temporary tax credit to the private sector to hire more workers. Helping the unemployed just by extending unemployment benefits is necessary not sufficient; it leads to persistent unemployment rather than job creation.
The long-term picture for workers and families is even worse than current job loss numbers alone would suggest. Now as a way of sharing the pain, many firms are telling their workers to cut hours, take furloughs and accept lower wages. Specifically, that fall in hours worked is equivalent to another 3 million full time jobs lost on top of the 7.5 million jobs formally lost.
This is very bad news but we must face facts. Many of the lost jobs are gone forever, including construction jobs, finance jobs and manufacturing jobs. Recent studies suggest that a quarter of U.S. jobs are fully out-sourceable over time to other countries.
Other measures tell the same ugly story: The average length of unemployment is at an all time high; the ratio of job applicants to vacancies is 6 to 1; initial claims are down but continued claims are very high and now millions of unemployed are resorting to the exceptional extended unemployment benefits programs and are staying in them longer.
Based on my best judgment, it is most likely that the unemployment rate will peak close to 11% and will remain at a very high level for two years or more.
The weakness in labor markets and the sharp fall in labor income ensure a weak recovery of private consumption and an anemic recovery of the economy, and increases the risk of a double dip recession.
As a result of these terribly weak labor markets, we can expect weak recovery of consumption and economic growth; larger budget deficits; greater delinquencies in residential and commercial real estate and greater fall in home and commercial real estate prices; greater losses for banks and financial institutions on residential and commercial real estate mortgages, and in credit cards, auto loans and student loans and thus a greater rate of failures of banks; and greater protectionist pressures.
The damage will be extensive and severe unless bold policy action is undertaken now.
Roubini is professor of Economics at the Stern School of Business at New York University and Chairman of Roubini Global Economics
From the Daily News:
Think the worst is over? Wrong. Conditions in the U.S. labor markets are awful and worsening. While the official unemployment rate is already 10.2% and another 200,000 jobs were lost in October, when you include discouraged workers and partially employed workers the figure is a whopping 17.5%.
While losing 200,000 jobs per month is better than the 700,000 jobs lost in January, current job losses still average more than the per month rate of 150,000 during the last recession.
Also, remember: The last recession ended in November 2001, but job losses continued for more than a year and half until June of 2003; ditto for the 1990-91 recession.
So we can expect that job losses will continue until the end of 2010 at the earliest. In other words, if you are unemployed and looking for work and just waiting for the economy to turn the corner, you had better hunker down. All the economic numbers suggest this will take a while. The jobs just are not coming back.
There's really just one hope for our leaders to turn things around: a bold prescription that increases the fiscal stimulus with another round of labor-intensive, shovel-ready infrastructure projects, helps fiscally strapped state and local governments and provides a temporary tax credit to the private sector to hire more workers. Helping the unemployed just by extending unemployment benefits is necessary not sufficient; it leads to persistent unemployment rather than job creation.
The long-term picture for workers and families is even worse than current job loss numbers alone would suggest. Now as a way of sharing the pain, many firms are telling their workers to cut hours, take furloughs and accept lower wages. Specifically, that fall in hours worked is equivalent to another 3 million full time jobs lost on top of the 7.5 million jobs formally lost.
This is very bad news but we must face facts. Many of the lost jobs are gone forever, including construction jobs, finance jobs and manufacturing jobs. Recent studies suggest that a quarter of U.S. jobs are fully out-sourceable over time to other countries.
Other measures tell the same ugly story: The average length of unemployment is at an all time high; the ratio of job applicants to vacancies is 6 to 1; initial claims are down but continued claims are very high and now millions of unemployed are resorting to the exceptional extended unemployment benefits programs and are staying in them longer.
Based on my best judgment, it is most likely that the unemployment rate will peak close to 11% and will remain at a very high level for two years or more.
The weakness in labor markets and the sharp fall in labor income ensure a weak recovery of private consumption and an anemic recovery of the economy, and increases the risk of a double dip recession.
As a result of these terribly weak labor markets, we can expect weak recovery of consumption and economic growth; larger budget deficits; greater delinquencies in residential and commercial real estate and greater fall in home and commercial real estate prices; greater losses for banks and financial institutions on residential and commercial real estate mortgages, and in credit cards, auto loans and student loans and thus a greater rate of failures of banks; and greater protectionist pressures.
The damage will be extensive and severe unless bold policy action is undertaken now.
Roubini is professor of Economics at the Stern School of Business at New York University and Chairman of Roubini Global Economics
Seat Belt Use Rises to Record Levels
Record level of 84 percent is up one percent from 2008.
By Consumer Reports of Consumer Reports
Woman driving with a young passenger in the rear seat.
It seems the message to "Buckle Up" is working. New data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that seat belt use has risen to a record level of 84 percent, up one percent from 2008. Each percent increase translates to an estimated 280 additional lives that will be saved. In 2008, an estimated 13,250 lives were saved by the use of safety belts.
Seat belt use has been increasing steadily since 1994 while fatalities of unrestrained passengers have steadily decreased. Studies show that states where there is a primary law enforcing seat belt use (one in which you can be pulled over solely for that offense) the rate is higher — 88 percent compared with 77 percent in states with other laws.
There are also differences in seat belt use by region and vehicle type. Though unchanged for this year, the West continues to have the highest rate of use at 93 percent. However, other areas saw an increase. The Northeast rose 3 percentage points to 82 percent, 2 points in the Midwest to 82 percent, and 1 point to 82 percent in the South.
Occupants of minivans and SUVs have an 87 percent rate of use and passenger cars 86 percent compared with just 74 percent of pickup truck drivers and passengers. A possible reason for the difference may be that minivans and SUVs tend to be owned by families concerned about child safety.
The seat belt is considered the most important vehicle safety invention and we recently noted the 50th anniversary of the three-point safety belt design this summer. We've come a long way in getting the message out to motorists, but there is still that 16 percent that needs to jump on the bandwagon and click it
Comment
I buckle up regularly now if for no other reason than to avoid the annoying beeping sound that follows when I dont. Its not a bad thing. I like NOT hearing that sound, and if I am more safer by doing it, so much the better.
By Consumer Reports of Consumer Reports
Woman driving with a young passenger in the rear seat.
It seems the message to "Buckle Up" is working. New data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that seat belt use has risen to a record level of 84 percent, up one percent from 2008. Each percent increase translates to an estimated 280 additional lives that will be saved. In 2008, an estimated 13,250 lives were saved by the use of safety belts.
Seat belt use has been increasing steadily since 1994 while fatalities of unrestrained passengers have steadily decreased. Studies show that states where there is a primary law enforcing seat belt use (one in which you can be pulled over solely for that offense) the rate is higher — 88 percent compared with 77 percent in states with other laws.
There are also differences in seat belt use by region and vehicle type. Though unchanged for this year, the West continues to have the highest rate of use at 93 percent. However, other areas saw an increase. The Northeast rose 3 percentage points to 82 percent, 2 points in the Midwest to 82 percent, and 1 point to 82 percent in the South.
Occupants of minivans and SUVs have an 87 percent rate of use and passenger cars 86 percent compared with just 74 percent of pickup truck drivers and passengers. A possible reason for the difference may be that minivans and SUVs tend to be owned by families concerned about child safety.
The seat belt is considered the most important vehicle safety invention and we recently noted the 50th anniversary of the three-point safety belt design this summer. We've come a long way in getting the message out to motorists, but there is still that 16 percent that needs to jump on the bandwagon and click it
Comment
I buckle up regularly now if for no other reason than to avoid the annoying beeping sound that follows when I dont. Its not a bad thing. I like NOT hearing that sound, and if I am more safer by doing it, so much the better.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Bailout helps fuel new era of Wall Street wealth
The New York Times
Compare Prices - Bailout helps fuel new era of Wall Street wealth
Efforts to save financial system helped titans make fortunes in fresh ways
Stocks drop over BofA, GE earnings
Oct. 16: After two massive taxpayer bailouts, BofA is still losing money; GE's profit dropped 44 percent. NBC's David Gregory reports.
Nightly News
Obama administration faults Senate bank bill
The Obama administration on Friday pushed back against a proposal in the U.S. Senate to create a single bank super-regulator and strip the Federal Reserve of its supervisory powers.
Warren Buffett: Financial panic is over
Pay czar concerned firms could lose talent
U.S. banks to prepay $45 billion to FDIC
Geithner encouraged by policies in Asia
By Graham Bowley
updated 11:27 a.m. ET, Sat., Oct . 17, 2009
Even as the economy continues to struggle, much of Wall Street is minting money — and looking forward again to hefty bonuses.
Many Americans wonder how this can possibly be. How can some banks be prospering so soon after a financial collapse, even as legions of people worry about losing their jobs and their homes?
It may come as a surprise that one of the most powerful forces driving the resurgence on Wall Street is not the banks but Washington. Many of the steps that policy makers took last year to stabilize the financial system — reducing interest rates to near zero, bolstering big banks with taxpayer money, guaranteeing billions of dollars of financial institutions’ debts — helped set the stage for this new era of Wall Street wealth.
Titans like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are making fortunes in hot areas like trading stocks and bonds, rather than in the ho-hum business of lending people money. They also are profiting by taking risks that weaker rivals are unable or unwilling to shoulder — a benefit of less competition after the failure of some investment firms last year.
So even as big banks fight efforts in Congress to subject their industry to greater regulation — and to impose some restrictions on executive pay — Wall Street has Washington to thank in part for its latest bonanza.
“All of this is facilitated by the Federal Reserve and the government, who really want financial institutions to get back to lending,” said Gary Richardson, a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. “But we have just shown them that they can have the most frightening things happen to them, and we will throw trillions of dollars to protect them. I have big concerns about that.”
Not all banks are doing so well. Giants like Citigroup and Bank of America, whose fortunes are tied to the ups-and-downs of ordinary consumers, are struggling to turn themselves around, as are many regional banks.
Financial power consolidated
But the decline of certain institutions, along with the outright collapse of once-vigorous competitors like Lehman Brothers, has consolidated the nation’s financial power in fewer hands. The strong are now able to wring more profits from the financial markets and charge higher fees for a wide range of banking services.
“They are able to charge more for all kinds of services because companies need banks and investment banks more now, and there are fewer strong ones to help them,” said Douglas J. Elliott of the Brookings Institution.
A year after the crisis struck, many of the industry’s behemoths — those institutions deemed too big to fail — are, in fact, getting bigger, not smaller. For many of them, it is business as usual. Over the last decade the financial sector was the fastest-growing part of the economy, with two-thirds of growth in gross domestic product attributable to incomes of workers in finance.
Now, the industry has new tools at its disposal, courtesy of the government.
With interest rates so low, banks can borrow money cheaply and put those funds to work in lucrative ways, whether using the money to make loans to companies at higher rates, or to speculate in the markets. Fixed-income trading — an area that includes bonds and currencies — has been particularly profitable.
“Robust trading results led the way,” said Howard Chen, a banking analyst at Credit Suisse, describing the latest profits.
To prevent a catastrophic financial collapse that would have sent shock waves through the economy, the government injected billions of dollars into banks. Some large institutions, like Goldman and Morgan, have since repaid their bailout money. But most of the industry still enjoys other forms of government support, which is helping to stoke profits.
Goldman Sachs and its perennial rival Morgan Stanley were allowed to transform themselves into old-fashioned bank holding companies. That switch gave them access to cheap funding from the Federal Reserve, which had been unavailable to them.
Those two banks and others like JPMorgan were also allowed to issue tens of billions of dollars of bonds that are guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insures bank deposits. With the F.D.I.C. standing behind them, the banks could borrow the money on highly advantageous terms. While some have since issued bonds on their own, they nonetheless enjoy the benefits of their cheap financing.
Granted, banks are also benefiting from a stabilizing economy. The fear that gripped the markets earlier this year, when doomsayers predicted a second Great Depression, has largely dissipated. Stocks, corporate bonds, even risky corporate i.o.u.’s — have all rallied from their bear market lows, some spectacularly so. The Dow Jones industrial average has soared 50 percent this year, and touched 10,000 this week for the first time since the crisis.
‘Confidence has returned’
Banks that had marked down the value of the assets on their books during the dark days of the crisis are now enjoying a rebound in the value of many of those assets.
“Confidence has returned,” said Shubh Saumya, a financial services specialist at the Boston Consulting Group. “Some of the assets that bankers wrote down last year in the midst of the crisis, now they have got some of that back.”
As the number of banks has dwindled, the survivors are moving into the void left by rivals that are either dead or limping and unwilling to take risks.
A big reason for Goldman Sachs’s blowout profits this year has been the willingness of its traders to take big risks — they have put more money on the line while other banks that suffered last year have reined in such moves. Executives say there are big strategic gaps opening up between banks on Wall Street that are taking on more risks, and those that are treading a safer path.
Click for related content
Bank of America posts $2.24 billion loss
Bank of America, GE results push stocks lower
Recession ends in 79 metro areas
Banks that have waded back into the markets have been able to exploit large gaps in the prices of various investments, a feature of the postcrisis financial markets. The so-called bid-ask spreads — the difference between the price at which banks are willing to buy things like bonds, and the price at which they are willing to sell — are roughly twice what they were two years ago.
Still, the newfound success is largely limited to the big securities houses on Wall Street. This week, Citigroup and Bank of America reported losses from credit card delinquencies and mortgage defaults — a sign of the lingering pain on Main Street.
This article, "Bailout Helps Fuel a New Era of Wall Street Wealth," first appeared in The New York Times.
Comment
The rich get richer, on the backs of the little guy.
Compare Prices - Bailout helps fuel new era of Wall Street wealth
Efforts to save financial system helped titans make fortunes in fresh ways
Stocks drop over BofA, GE earnings
Oct. 16: After two massive taxpayer bailouts, BofA is still losing money; GE's profit dropped 44 percent. NBC's David Gregory reports.
Nightly News
Obama administration faults Senate bank bill
The Obama administration on Friday pushed back against a proposal in the U.S. Senate to create a single bank super-regulator and strip the Federal Reserve of its supervisory powers.
Warren Buffett: Financial panic is over
Pay czar concerned firms could lose talent
U.S. banks to prepay $45 billion to FDIC
Geithner encouraged by policies in Asia
By Graham Bowley
updated 11:27 a.m. ET, Sat., Oct . 17, 2009
Even as the economy continues to struggle, much of Wall Street is minting money — and looking forward again to hefty bonuses.
Many Americans wonder how this can possibly be. How can some banks be prospering so soon after a financial collapse, even as legions of people worry about losing their jobs and their homes?
It may come as a surprise that one of the most powerful forces driving the resurgence on Wall Street is not the banks but Washington. Many of the steps that policy makers took last year to stabilize the financial system — reducing interest rates to near zero, bolstering big banks with taxpayer money, guaranteeing billions of dollars of financial institutions’ debts — helped set the stage for this new era of Wall Street wealth.
Titans like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are making fortunes in hot areas like trading stocks and bonds, rather than in the ho-hum business of lending people money. They also are profiting by taking risks that weaker rivals are unable or unwilling to shoulder — a benefit of less competition after the failure of some investment firms last year.
So even as big banks fight efforts in Congress to subject their industry to greater regulation — and to impose some restrictions on executive pay — Wall Street has Washington to thank in part for its latest bonanza.
“All of this is facilitated by the Federal Reserve and the government, who really want financial institutions to get back to lending,” said Gary Richardson, a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research. “But we have just shown them that they can have the most frightening things happen to them, and we will throw trillions of dollars to protect them. I have big concerns about that.”
Not all banks are doing so well. Giants like Citigroup and Bank of America, whose fortunes are tied to the ups-and-downs of ordinary consumers, are struggling to turn themselves around, as are many regional banks.
Financial power consolidated
But the decline of certain institutions, along with the outright collapse of once-vigorous competitors like Lehman Brothers, has consolidated the nation’s financial power in fewer hands. The strong are now able to wring more profits from the financial markets and charge higher fees for a wide range of banking services.
“They are able to charge more for all kinds of services because companies need banks and investment banks more now, and there are fewer strong ones to help them,” said Douglas J. Elliott of the Brookings Institution.
A year after the crisis struck, many of the industry’s behemoths — those institutions deemed too big to fail — are, in fact, getting bigger, not smaller. For many of them, it is business as usual. Over the last decade the financial sector was the fastest-growing part of the economy, with two-thirds of growth in gross domestic product attributable to incomes of workers in finance.
Now, the industry has new tools at its disposal, courtesy of the government.
With interest rates so low, banks can borrow money cheaply and put those funds to work in lucrative ways, whether using the money to make loans to companies at higher rates, or to speculate in the markets. Fixed-income trading — an area that includes bonds and currencies — has been particularly profitable.
“Robust trading results led the way,” said Howard Chen, a banking analyst at Credit Suisse, describing the latest profits.
To prevent a catastrophic financial collapse that would have sent shock waves through the economy, the government injected billions of dollars into banks. Some large institutions, like Goldman and Morgan, have since repaid their bailout money. But most of the industry still enjoys other forms of government support, which is helping to stoke profits.
Goldman Sachs and its perennial rival Morgan Stanley were allowed to transform themselves into old-fashioned bank holding companies. That switch gave them access to cheap funding from the Federal Reserve, which had been unavailable to them.
Those two banks and others like JPMorgan were also allowed to issue tens of billions of dollars of bonds that are guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which insures bank deposits. With the F.D.I.C. standing behind them, the banks could borrow the money on highly advantageous terms. While some have since issued bonds on their own, they nonetheless enjoy the benefits of their cheap financing.
Granted, banks are also benefiting from a stabilizing economy. The fear that gripped the markets earlier this year, when doomsayers predicted a second Great Depression, has largely dissipated. Stocks, corporate bonds, even risky corporate i.o.u.’s — have all rallied from their bear market lows, some spectacularly so. The Dow Jones industrial average has soared 50 percent this year, and touched 10,000 this week for the first time since the crisis.
‘Confidence has returned’
Banks that had marked down the value of the assets on their books during the dark days of the crisis are now enjoying a rebound in the value of many of those assets.
“Confidence has returned,” said Shubh Saumya, a financial services specialist at the Boston Consulting Group. “Some of the assets that bankers wrote down last year in the midst of the crisis, now they have got some of that back.”
As the number of banks has dwindled, the survivors are moving into the void left by rivals that are either dead or limping and unwilling to take risks.
A big reason for Goldman Sachs’s blowout profits this year has been the willingness of its traders to take big risks — they have put more money on the line while other banks that suffered last year have reined in such moves. Executives say there are big strategic gaps opening up between banks on Wall Street that are taking on more risks, and those that are treading a safer path.
Click for related content
Bank of America posts $2.24 billion loss
Bank of America, GE results push stocks lower
Recession ends in 79 metro areas
Banks that have waded back into the markets have been able to exploit large gaps in the prices of various investments, a feature of the postcrisis financial markets. The so-called bid-ask spreads — the difference between the price at which banks are willing to buy things like bonds, and the price at which they are willing to sell — are roughly twice what they were two years ago.
Still, the newfound success is largely limited to the big securities houses on Wall Street. This week, Citigroup and Bank of America reported losses from credit card delinquencies and mortgage defaults — a sign of the lingering pain on Main Street.
This article, "Bailout Helps Fuel a New Era of Wall Street Wealth," first appeared in The New York Times.
Comment
The rich get richer, on the backs of the little guy.
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