Family Asks for Birthday Cards for Boy Who Survived Brain Cancer

… of a boy who survived brain cancer is hoping people around the …

What's Going Unsaid About The Healthcare Pitches From Our Presidential Candidates

What's Going Unsaid About The Healthcare Pitches From Our Presidential Candidates

Experts say research shows promise for a breast cancer vaccine

… the cancer.)
Another key difference: Cancer vaccines have to attack complex cancer cells … Drug Administration: one for advanced prostate cancer vaccine called Provenge. It hasn … used to treat ovarian cancer and small-cell lung cancer, he said.
Researchers …

Avoiding late-night snacks may reduce breast cancer recurrence

… 1 - Women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer may lower their risk of … 2,413 women with early-stage breast cancer - and without diabetes - between 1995 … tumours, and any deaths from breast cancer or other causes were tracked … higher risk of dying from breast cancer, but researchers determined the difference …

Myelodysplastic Syndrome from Benzene Exposure – Info from FELA Lawyer

… hazards associated with this exposure to asbestos … risk for inhaling these disease-causing vapors.
In addition to MDS, benzene exposure … diseases such as MDS, mesothelioma and other life-threatening diseases … an experienced railroad disease lawyer today to …

Histone deacetylase inhibitors enhance immunotherapy in lung cancer models, researchers say

… advanced stage lung cancer and melanoma; however, only 20 percent of lung cancer patients … in solid tumors, such as lung cancer, has not been as great … represents a promising strategy for lung cancer treatment," said Amer Beg … in stage IV non-small cell lung cancer has been initiated at Moffitt …

Scientists Confirm Zika Virus Causes Microcephaly

By Stephanie Nebehay and Julie Steenhuysen

GENEVA/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Researchers around the world are now convinced the Zika virus can cause the birth defect microcephaly as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can result in paralysis, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

The statement represented the U.N. health agency's strongest language to date on the connection between the mosquito-borne virus and the two maladies.

The WHO also reported the first sign of a possible rise in microcephaly cases outside Brazil, the hardest-hit country so far in an outbreak spreading rapidly in Latin America and the Caribbean. Neighboring Colombia is investigating 32 cases of babies born with microcephaly since January, and eight of them so far have tested positive for the Zika virus, the WHO said.

This number of microcephaly cases reported in Colombia so far represents an increase over the historical annual average of about 140 cases.

"Based on observational, cohort and case-control studies, there is a strong scientific consensus that Zika virus is a cause of GBS (Guillain-Barre syndrome), microcephaly and other neurological disorders," the WHO said on Thursday.

In its previous weekly report, the WHO had said Zika was "highly likely" to be a cause.

The WHO in February declared the Zika outbreak an international health emergency, citing a "strongly suspected" relationship between Zika infection in pregnancy and microcephaly.

Although Zika has not been proven conclusively to cause microcephaly in babies, evidence of a link was based on a major spike in Brazil in cases of microcephaly, defined by unusually small head size that can result in severe developmental problems.

Brazil's health department this week reported 944 confirmed cases of microcephaly, and most are believed to be related to Zika infections in the mother.

Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, was not surprised by the WHO's statement.

"The evidence is just so overwhelming," said Hotez. He said the link to Guillain-Barre has also been pretty clear.

"The only lack of clarity," Hotez said, "is the percentage of pregnant women infected with Zika who give birth to a baby with microcephaly," which appears to be much higher than what was seen in a previous outbreak in French Polynesia.

While Guillain-Barre is a concern, Hotez said, "the overwhelming emphasis needs to be on preventing microcephaly in babies."

In recent studies, researchers have seen evidence of the virus in brain cells of stillborn and aborted fetuses. They also have seen signs that the brain had been growing normally, but that growth was disrupted and the brain actually shrank.

Scientists have been closely monitoring for possible microcephaly cases outside Brazil to rule out environmental factors in Brazil as a cause. Colombia has been following the pregnancies of women infected with Zika after seeing widespread transmission of the virus since October.

The latest WHO report reflects an increase in microcephaly and other fetal abnormalities in Colombia, where 56,477 suspected cases of Zika infection have been reported, including 2,361 laboratory-confirmed cases.

The two most important factors that predict where we're going to be start seeing microcephaly cases are presence of the mosquito that carries Zika virus and poverty, Hotez said.

He is worried that Haiti will be hard hit. "The Gulf coast in the U.S. is similarly vulnerable."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will convene a conference in Atlanta on Friday to prepare for a coordinated U.S. response to Zika. Health officials are girding for an increase of Zika cases, especially in southern states, as the U.S. mosquito season starts.

Six countries where Zika is not known to be spreading by mosquitoes have reported locally acquired infections, probably through sexual transmission, the WHO said, naming Argentina, Chile, France, Italy, New Zealand and the United States.

To date, 13 countries or territories have reported increased incidence of Guillain-Barre or laboratory confirmation of a Zika virus infection in people with the rare autoimmune disease, it added.

 

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, Julie Steenhuysen and Bill Berkrot; Editing by Will Dunham and Grant McCool)

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Two-fold higher risk of concussions for NFL players during colder game-days, study finds

NFL players had a two-fold greater risk of concussions and 1.5 times higher risk for ankle injuries when games were played at colder temperatures, a new study has found.

FDA Sued Over Approval Of Genetically Engineered Salmon

• Plaintiffs argue the federal agency overstepped its authority in approving the genetically modified fish.
• Produced by AquaBounty Technologies, the salmon are engineered to grow twice as fast as wild species.
• Critics worry engineered salmon could prove disastrous for wild salmon populations.

Nearly a dozen fishing and environmental groups have filed suit against the Food and Drug Administration in an effort to block its recent approval of genetically modified salmon.

The plaintiffs, represented by the Center for Food Safety and Earthjustice, argue that by green-lighting the first-ever genetically altered animal slated for human consumption, the FDA violated the law and ignored potential risks to wild salmon populations, the environment and fishing communities.

"That's one of the major risks here, is the escape of these fish into the wild," George Kimbrell, senior attorney for Center for Food Safety, told The Huffington Post. "It could be a final blow to our already imperiled salmon stocks."

Produced by Massachusetts-based company AquaBounty Technologies, the AquAdvantage Salmon is an Atlantic salmon engineered with genes from a Pacific Chinook salmon and a deep water ocean eelpout to grow twice as fast as its conventional counterpart.

The 64-page lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, challenges whether the FDA has authority to regulate genetically modified animals as "animal drugs" under the 1938 Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. It also argues the agency failed to protect the environment and consult wildlife agencies in its review process, as required by federal law, CFS said in a release. 

"I think it's important to note that FDA has gone ahead with this approval over the objections of over 2 million Americans in the comment period," Kimbrell told HuffPost.

In its approval announcement in November, the FDA said it determined "food from AquAdvantage Salmon is as safe to eat and as nutritious as food from other non-GE Atlantic salmon and that there are no biologically relevant differences in the nutritional profile of AquAdvantage Salmon compared to that of other farm-raised Atlantic salmon."

FDA spokeswoman Juli Putnamn told HuffPost in an email that as a matter of policy, the federal agency does not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit is the latest development in an ongoing and heated debate over genetically modified organisms, their safety and whether genetically engineered foods should be labeled. While proponents say the technology allows agricultural farmers to be more efficient, opponents argue they result in heavy pesticide use and transgenic contamination.

In the case of its GE salmon, AquaBounty says the fish grows to market size using 25 percent less feed than any Atlantic salmon on the market today.

But if the engineered fish were to be released into the wild -- a risk AquaBounty says is eliminated by raising them on land and away from the ocean -- critics worry they might outcompete endangered wild salmon for food and introduce new diseases.

“Once they escape, you can't put these transgenic fish back in the bag," Dune Lankard, a salmon fisherman and the Center for Biological Diversity's Alaska representative, said in a release. "They're manufactured to outgrow wild salmon, and if they cross-breed, it could have irreversible impacts on the natural world. This kind of dangerous tinkering could easily morph into a disaster for wild salmon that will be impossible to undo."

Plaintiffs in the case include Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, Institute for Fisheries Resources, Golden Gate Salmon Association, Friends of Merrymeeting Bay and others.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Family Asks for Birthday Cards for Boy Who Survived Brain Cancer

… of a boy who survived brain cancer is hoping people around the …

What's Going Unsaid About The Healthcare Pitches From Our Presidential Candidates

What's Going Unsaid About The Healthcare Pitches From Our Presidential Candidates

Experts say research shows promise for a breast cancer vaccine

… the cancer.)
Another key difference: Cancer vaccines have to attack complex cancer cells … Drug Administration: one for advanced prostate cancer vaccine called Provenge. It hasn … used to treat ovarian cancer and small-cell lung cancer, he said.
Researchers …

Avoiding late-night snacks may reduce breast cancer recurrence

… 1 - Women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer may lower their risk of … 2,413 women with early-stage breast cancer - and without diabetes - between 1995 … tumours, and any deaths from breast cancer or other causes were tracked … higher risk of dying from breast cancer, but researchers determined the difference …

Myelodysplastic Syndrome from Benzene Exposure – Info from FELA Lawyer

… hazards associated with this exposure to asbestos … risk for inhaling these disease-causing vapors.
In addition to MDS, benzene exposure … diseases such as MDS, mesothelioma and other life-threatening diseases … an experienced railroad disease lawyer today to …

Histone deacetylase inhibitors enhance immunotherapy in lung cancer models, researchers say

… advanced stage lung cancer and melanoma; however, only 20 percent of lung cancer patients … in solid tumors, such as lung cancer, has not been as great … represents a promising strategy for lung cancer treatment," said Amer Beg … in stage IV non-small cell lung cancer has been initiated at Moffitt …

Scientists Confirm Zika Virus Causes Microcephaly

By Stephanie Nebehay and Julie Steenhuysen

GENEVA/CHICAGO (Reuters) - Researchers around the world are now convinced the Zika virus can cause the birth defect microcephaly as well as Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that can result in paralysis, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

The statement represented the U.N. health agency's strongest language to date on the connection between the mosquito-borne virus and the two maladies.

The WHO also reported the first sign of a possible rise in microcephaly cases outside Brazil, the hardest-hit country so far in an outbreak spreading rapidly in Latin America and the Caribbean. Neighboring Colombia is investigating 32 cases of babies born with microcephaly since January, and eight of them so far have tested positive for the Zika virus, the WHO said.

This number of microcephaly cases reported in Colombia so far represents an increase over the historical annual average of about 140 cases.

"Based on observational, cohort and case-control studies, there is a strong scientific consensus that Zika virus is a cause of GBS (Guillain-Barre syndrome), microcephaly and other neurological disorders," the WHO said on Thursday.

In its previous weekly report, the WHO had said Zika was "highly likely" to be a cause.

The WHO in February declared the Zika outbreak an international health emergency, citing a "strongly suspected" relationship between Zika infection in pregnancy and microcephaly.

Although Zika has not been proven conclusively to cause microcephaly in babies, evidence of a link was based on a major spike in Brazil in cases of microcephaly, defined by unusually small head size that can result in severe developmental problems.

Brazil's health department this week reported 944 confirmed cases of microcephaly, and most are believed to be related to Zika infections in the mother.

Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, was not surprised by the WHO's statement.

"The evidence is just so overwhelming," said Hotez. He said the link to Guillain-Barre has also been pretty clear.

"The only lack of clarity," Hotez said, "is the percentage of pregnant women infected with Zika who give birth to a baby with microcephaly," which appears to be much higher than what was seen in a previous outbreak in French Polynesia.

While Guillain-Barre is a concern, Hotez said, "the overwhelming emphasis needs to be on preventing microcephaly in babies."

In recent studies, researchers have seen evidence of the virus in brain cells of stillborn and aborted fetuses. They also have seen signs that the brain had been growing normally, but that growth was disrupted and the brain actually shrank.

Scientists have been closely monitoring for possible microcephaly cases outside Brazil to rule out environmental factors in Brazil as a cause. Colombia has been following the pregnancies of women infected with Zika after seeing widespread transmission of the virus since October.

The latest WHO report reflects an increase in microcephaly and other fetal abnormalities in Colombia, where 56,477 suspected cases of Zika infection have been reported, including 2,361 laboratory-confirmed cases.

The two most important factors that predict where we're going to be start seeing microcephaly cases are presence of the mosquito that carries Zika virus and poverty, Hotez said.

He is worried that Haiti will be hard hit. "The Gulf coast in the U.S. is similarly vulnerable."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will convene a conference in Atlanta on Friday to prepare for a coordinated U.S. response to Zika. Health officials are girding for an increase of Zika cases, especially in southern states, as the U.S. mosquito season starts.

Six countries where Zika is not known to be spreading by mosquitoes have reported locally acquired infections, probably through sexual transmission, the WHO said, naming Argentina, Chile, France, Italy, New Zealand and the United States.

To date, 13 countries or territories have reported increased incidence of Guillain-Barre or laboratory confirmation of a Zika virus infection in people with the rare autoimmune disease, it added.

 

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, Julie Steenhuysen and Bill Berkrot; Editing by Will Dunham and Grant McCool)

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Two-fold higher risk of concussions for NFL players during colder game-days, study finds

NFL players had a two-fold greater risk of concussions and 1.5 times higher risk for ankle injuries when games were played at colder temperatures, a new study has found.

FDA Sued Over Approval Of Genetically Engineered Salmon

• Plaintiffs argue the federal agency overstepped its authority in approving the genetically modified fish.
• Produced by AquaBounty Technologies, the salmon are engineered to grow twice as fast as wild species.
• Critics worry engineered salmon could prove disastrous for wild salmon populations.

Nearly a dozen fishing and environmental groups have filed suit against the Food and Drug Administration in an effort to block its recent approval of genetically modified salmon.

The plaintiffs, represented by the Center for Food Safety and Earthjustice, argue that by green-lighting the first-ever genetically altered animal slated for human consumption, the FDA violated the law and ignored potential risks to wild salmon populations, the environment and fishing communities.

"That's one of the major risks here, is the escape of these fish into the wild," George Kimbrell, senior attorney for Center for Food Safety, told The Huffington Post. "It could be a final blow to our already imperiled salmon stocks."

Produced by Massachusetts-based company AquaBounty Technologies, the AquAdvantage Salmon is an Atlantic salmon engineered with genes from a Pacific Chinook salmon and a deep water ocean eelpout to grow twice as fast as its conventional counterpart.

The 64-page lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, challenges whether the FDA has authority to regulate genetically modified animals as "animal drugs" under the 1938 Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. It also argues the agency failed to protect the environment and consult wildlife agencies in its review process, as required by federal law, CFS said in a release. 

"I think it's important to note that FDA has gone ahead with this approval over the objections of over 2 million Americans in the comment period," Kimbrell told HuffPost.

In its approval announcement in November, the FDA said it determined "food from AquAdvantage Salmon is as safe to eat and as nutritious as food from other non-GE Atlantic salmon and that there are no biologically relevant differences in the nutritional profile of AquAdvantage Salmon compared to that of other farm-raised Atlantic salmon."

FDA spokeswoman Juli Putnamn told HuffPost in an email that as a matter of policy, the federal agency does not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit is the latest development in an ongoing and heated debate over genetically modified organisms, their safety and whether genetically engineered foods should be labeled. While proponents say the technology allows agricultural farmers to be more efficient, opponents argue they result in heavy pesticide use and transgenic contamination.

In the case of its GE salmon, AquaBounty says the fish grows to market size using 25 percent less feed than any Atlantic salmon on the market today.

But if the engineered fish were to be released into the wild -- a risk AquaBounty says is eliminated by raising them on land and away from the ocean -- critics worry they might outcompete endangered wild salmon for food and introduce new diseases.

“Once they escape, you can't put these transgenic fish back in the bag," Dune Lankard, a salmon fisherman and the Center for Biological Diversity's Alaska representative, said in a release. "They're manufactured to outgrow wild salmon, and if they cross-breed, it could have irreversible impacts on the natural world. This kind of dangerous tinkering could easily morph into a disaster for wild salmon that will be impossible to undo."

Plaintiffs in the case include Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, Institute for Fisheries Resources, Golden Gate Salmon Association, Friends of Merrymeeting Bay and others.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Donald Trump Said Women Should Be Punished For Getting Abortions. They Already Are.

Anti-abortion groups tried to distance themselves from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday after he said in an interview with MSNBC's Chris Matthews that abortion should be banned and that there should be "some form of punishment" for patients who receive the procedure.

Trump's comments were out of step with what other Republicans have said about abortion -- namely, that the doctors who perform the procedure are the ones who should be punished, rather than the patients who undergo it. Anti-abortion groups often argue that patients who get the procedure do so out of desperation and regret it later. It's uncommon to hear them say that patients themselves ought to be charged or otherwise penalized.

Trump, for his part, walked back his comments in a public statement later that day (while also denying that he was walking anything back). But the punitive spirit of his initial remarks is wholly of a piece with the types of abortion restrictions that Republicans have already backed in Congress and in state legislatures. Dictionary definitions of "punishment" include “severe, rough, or disastrous treatment” and “suffering, pain, or loss that serves as retribution,” all of which seem like fair ways to characterize many of the rules that already exist. Republicans know they can't flat-out prevent patients from obtaining abortions -- at least not with the current president and Supreme Court -- so they've made it as onerous as possible for the one-third of women who will have an abortion at some point in their lives.

Here are some of the ways women who seek abortions already get punished: 

1) Waiting periods

The Supreme Court upheld a 24-hour waiting period in 1992's Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision, with the rationale that it's OK for the government to try to persuade women to forego abortion to protect potential life. Since then, states have gone beyond that requirement and passed 48-hour and 72-hour waiting periods, forcing patients to make multiple trips to clinics and incur the extra costs associated with child care, hotels and gas or bus tickets.

2) Mandatory ultrasounds and biased counseling

A number of states require providers to tell women there are links between abortion and breast cancer or abortion and depression, even though medical authorities say there are no such links. The same goes for requiring providers to perform abortions where they describe features of the fetus to the patient with an ultrasound before the procedure can take place.

3) Restrictions on insurance coverage for abortion

The Hyde Amendment, which prevents Medicaid from covering most abortions, essentially punishes low-income women for being poor -- and that's exactly what former Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) had in mind in the late 1970s when he advocated for the proposal. More women are punished when states prohibit private insurance plans from covering the procedure.

4) Banning the most commonly used method for second-trimester abortions

Kansas and Oklahoma have tried to ban dilation and evacuation, a method used in the vast majority of second-trimester abortions and one that providers say is the safest.

5) Parental notification laws

Republicans advocate abstinence-based education in schools, and then punish the teens who inevitably get pregnant by requiring them to get permission from their parents to have abortions. Some states, like Texas, make the process of getting a “judicial bypass” to have an abortion without the permission of a parent especially difficult.

6) Laws requiring abortion clinics to look like mini-hospitals

Legislators have passed laws requiring abortion clinics to be constructed as “ambulatory surgical centers” out of a purported concern for women's health. In reality, this is done because it means clinics are later forced to close when they can't afford the prohibitive cost of the upgrades.

7) Laws requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at local hospitals

Clinics close when hospitals won't grant admitting privileges to abortion providers out of a fear of harassment and violence from anti-abortion activists.

8) Telemedicine bans

Republicans in a number of states have blocked patients from accessing medication abortion via telemedicine when they live in rural areas without a clinic they can easily travel to.

9) Requiring an outdated regimen for administering medication abortion

Many abortion providers, until Wednesday, had been using an off-label protocol for providing medication abortions to patients, because the Food and Drug Administration's directions were medically outdated and dictated that the medication be provided at too high a dose. States with Republican-controlled legislatures took advantage of this disconnect between what abortion providers do and what the FDA said they should do to pass laws preventing providers from going off-label, which meant more side effects for patients.

10) Pre-viability abortion bans

Severe fetal abnormalities are usually only detectable after the 20th week of pregnancy, but Republicans in Congress and at the state level have passed laws banning abortions after this point, based on the medically unproven claim that fetuses can feel pain. 

11) Congress telling D.C. what to do

In 2011, while trying to avoid a government shutdown, President Barack Obama famously told then-House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), “John, I'll give you D.C. abortion” -- thus trading away the city's right to fund abortions for low­-income women using its own locally raised revenue. Now, Republicans punish abortion patients for wanting abortions, and punish D.C. for not being a state, by preventing the district from funding abortions for low-income people through Medicaid.

12) Telling patients to go to another state if they want to have an abortion

In its fight over ambulatory surgical center and admitting privileges requirements that's being considered by the Supreme Court, Texas has argued that patients in the western part of the state could simply travel over the border to New Mexico to have an abortion if clinics in that region are forced to close.

13) Actually jailing women for miscarriages or self-inducing

This is something that is already happening.

In an attempt to clarify his comments, Trump said on Wednesday that he thinks states to be able to decide if and how to punish patients who seek abortions. As Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted last year, if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, low-income patients would be punished for seeking abortions even more than they are now, because they'd face more difficulties traveling to states where abortion would remain accessible.

Said Ginsburg:

There's a sorry situation in the United States, which is essentially that poor women don't have choice. Women of means do. They will, always. Let's assume Roe v. Wade were overruled and we were going back to each state for itself, well, any woman who could travel from her home state to a state that provides access to abortion, and those states never go back to old ways... So if you can afford a plane ticket, a train ticket or even a bus ticket you can control your own destiny but if you're locked into your native state then maybe you can't. That we have one law for women of means and another for poor women is not a satisfactory situation.

Editor's note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims - 1.6 billion members of an entire religion - from entering the U.S.

 

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

AstraZeneca secures Japanese approval for Tagrisso lung cancer treatment

… inoperable or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that is resistant to … EU approvals.
"As first-in-class lung cancer treatment directed at the T790M … proportion of Japanese patients with lung cancer have the EGFR mutation and …

Number of estimated cancer cases drop slightly

… is breast cancer and the most common cancer among males is prostate cancer. Both of those are followed by colorectal cancer … 't the most deadly cancers in Iowa.”Breast, prostate, and colorectal are …

Hazards inside Central School to be...

… inspection, documenting asbestos, lead based paint and other regulated hazardous materials, and … of around $200,000 for asbestos abatement, but Sharon Hanson, Pipestone … seeks bids for removal of hazardous materials from the building, something …

NSW award for breast cancer research

… recognises her scientific research in breast cancer detection.
An inspiring scientist from … type of breast cancer screening technology that could revolutionise early breast cancer detection.
The … to commercialise a universal ground-breaking breast cancer screening test in collaboration with …

Man Buys $1,000 Bottle Of Ranch Dressing, And Here's Why That's Not Absurd

One man's outrageous purchase from a restaurant's auction came with a pizza generosity.

A Dallas location of the pizza chain Cane Rosso recently held an auction to benefit the Humane Society of Southeast Texas, whose shelter caught fire earlier this month.

The restaurant -- which has a no-ranch sauce rule -- keeps a bottle of Hidden Valley in a glass case, jokingly offering a side of it for $1,000. During the auction, Josh Tipton, a patron, took the plunge and bought the bottle so he could support a good cause. Including the sale of the bottle of ranch, the restaurant raised about $20,000 for the humane society that day, Jeff Amador, marketing and branding manager of Cane Rosso, told The Huffington Post in an email.  

"I told my waitress and she looked at me and didn't believe. She sent the general manager over and he asked if I was serious," Tipton told ABC News of the moment he decided to buy the infamous bottle of dressing.  "I said that as long as the proceeds go to help the animal shelter, that I was absolutely serious."

According to ABC News about 70 dogs died as a result of the fire at the shelter. When Cane Rosso owner, Jay Jerrier, heard about the fire, he told HuffPost that as an animal lover and owner of six dogs of his own, "it just made sense to do something."

Jerrier explained that the ranch dressing bottle has been on display in the glass case for over four years and was an iconic part of the restaurant. So when the restaurant offered it up as part of the auction, the staff didn't expect anyone to buy it. 

Nevertheless, the restaurant was pleased the sale actually went to a cause they can get behind. 

"No one was expecting us to really ever sell the bottle of ranch, so we stopped the music and made an announcement throughout the restaurant, to cheers and applause," Amador told HuffPost. "People know us, and people know the saga of the ranch dressing."

For Tipton, the charity event was the perfect opportunity to shell out the money for the dressing. 

"I've always kind of wanted to be the guy to buy the bottle of ranch, but since it was going to such a great cause it seemed like the right time to do it," he said.

Jerrier told HuffPost that the restaurant mailed the check to the Humane Society the very next day to help the organization rebuild. Though the initial bottle of dressing is now Tipton's, diners won't have to worry about missing the restaurant's special condiment. 

"We are replacing the bottle though, so if there's any ballers out there that want their very own side of delicious ranch dressing, we'll have it available!" Amador told HuffPost. "I can't promise that you'll get the kind of attention that Josh has been getting this week, though."

And to be clear, Jerrier says his restaurant is totally cool with the condiment itself. But there are just some foods on which it doesn't belong. 

"We personally all enjoy a good jalapeño ranch -- just not on pizza."

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Pregnant mom delays brain cancer treatment until birth of baby

… rare and aggressive form of brain cancer.
The Vaillancourt's nightmare began … 4 glioblastoma, a fast-growing, deadly brain cancer.
With treatment, the life expectancy …

'Concern' over GPs prescribing 'unnecessary' antibiotics for toothache

Over half of all patients who visited their GP with a dental problem in the last 10 years were not offered a long-term treatment for their pain and were instead prescribed antibiotics, often unnecessarily, new research has found.

Healthcare: Supply Chain Management Innovations Now Benefitting Patients

Healthcare: Supply Chain Management Innovations Now Benefitting Patients

Donald Trump Said Women Should Be Punished For Getting Abortions. They Already Are.

Anti-abortion groups tried to distance themselves from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Wednesday after he said in an interview with MSNBC's Chris Matthews that abortion should be banned and that there should be "some form of punishment" for patients who receive the procedure.

Trump's comments were out of step with what other Republicans have said about abortion -- namely, that the doctors who perform the procedure are the ones who should be punished, rather than the patients who undergo it. Anti-abortion groups often argue that patients who get the procedure do so out of desperation and regret it later. It's uncommon to hear them say that patients themselves ought to be charged or otherwise penalized.

Trump, for his part, walked back his comments in a public statement later that day (while also denying that he was walking anything back). But the punitive spirit of his initial remarks is wholly of a piece with the types of abortion restrictions that Republicans have already backed in Congress and in state legislatures. Dictionary definitions of "punishment" include “severe, rough, or disastrous treatment” and “suffering, pain, or loss that serves as retribution,” all of which seem like fair ways to characterize many of the rules that already exist. Republicans know they can't flat-out prevent patients from obtaining abortions -- at least not with the current president and Supreme Court -- so they've made it as onerous as possible for the one-third of women who will have an abortion at some point in their lives.

Here are some of the ways women who seek abortions already get punished: 

1) Waiting periods

The Supreme Court upheld a 24-hour waiting period in 1992's Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision, with the rationale that it's OK for the government to try to persuade women to forego abortion to protect potential life. Since then, states have gone beyond that requirement and passed 48-hour and 72-hour waiting periods, forcing patients to make multiple trips to clinics and incur the extra costs associated with child care, hotels and gas or bus tickets.

2) Mandatory ultrasounds and biased counseling

A number of states require providers to tell women there are links between abortion and breast cancer or abortion and depression, even though medical authorities say there are no such links. The same goes for requiring providers to perform abortions where they describe features of the fetus to the patient with an ultrasound before the procedure can take place.

3) Restrictions on insurance coverage for abortion

The Hyde Amendment, which prevents Medicaid from covering most abortions, essentially punishes low-income women for being poor -- and that's exactly what former Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) had in mind in the late 1970s when he advocated for the proposal. More women are punished when states prohibit private insurance plans from covering the procedure.

4) Banning the most commonly used method for second-trimester abortions

Kansas and Oklahoma have tried to ban dilation and evacuation, a method used in the vast majority of second-trimester abortions and one that providers say is the safest.

5) Parental notification laws

Republicans advocate abstinence-based education in schools, and then punish the teens who inevitably get pregnant by requiring them to get permission from their parents to have abortions. Some states, like Texas, make the process of getting a “judicial bypass” to have an abortion without the permission of a parent especially difficult.

6) Laws requiring abortion clinics to look like mini-hospitals

Legislators have passed laws requiring abortion clinics to be constructed as “ambulatory surgical centers” out of a purported concern for women's health. In reality, this is done because it means clinics are later forced to close when they can't afford the prohibitive cost of the upgrades.

7) Laws requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at local hospitals

Clinics close when hospitals won't grant admitting privileges to abortion providers out of a fear of harassment and violence from anti-abortion activists.

8) Telemedicine bans

Republicans in a number of states have blocked patients from accessing medication abortion via telemedicine when they live in rural areas without a clinic they can easily travel to.

9) Requiring an outdated regimen for administering medication abortion

Many abortion providers, until Wednesday, had been using an off-label protocol for providing medication abortions to patients, because the Food and Drug Administration's directions were medically outdated and dictated that the medication be provided at too high a dose. States with Republican-controlled legislatures took advantage of this disconnect between what abortion providers do and what the FDA said they should do to pass laws preventing providers from going off-label, which meant more side effects for patients.

10) Pre-viability abortion bans

Severe fetal abnormalities are usually only detectable after the 20th week of pregnancy, but Republicans in Congress and at the state level have passed laws banning abortions after this point, based on the medically unproven claim that fetuses can feel pain. 

11) Congress telling D.C. what to do

In 2011, while trying to avoid a government shutdown, President Barack Obama famously told then-House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), “John, I'll give you D.C. abortion” -- thus trading away the city's right to fund abortions for low­-income women using its own locally raised revenue. Now, Republicans punish abortion patients for wanting abortions, and punish D.C. for not being a state, by preventing the district from funding abortions for low-income people through Medicaid.

12) Telling patients to go to another state if they want to have an abortion

In its fight over ambulatory surgical center and admitting privileges requirements that's being considered by the Supreme Court, Texas has argued that patients in the western part of the state could simply travel over the border to New Mexico to have an abortion if clinics in that region are forced to close.

13) Actually jailing women for miscarriages or self-inducing

This is something that is already happening.

In an attempt to clarify his comments, Trump said on Wednesday that he thinks states to be able to decide if and how to punish patients who seek abortions. As Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted last year, if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned, low-income patients would be punished for seeking abortions even more than they are now, because they'd face more difficulties traveling to states where abortion would remain accessible.

Said Ginsburg:

There's a sorry situation in the United States, which is essentially that poor women don't have choice. Women of means do. They will, always. Let's assume Roe v. Wade were overruled and we were going back to each state for itself, well, any woman who could travel from her home state to a state that provides access to abortion, and those states never go back to old ways... So if you can afford a plane ticket, a train ticket or even a bus ticket you can control your own destiny but if you're locked into your native state then maybe you can't. That we have one law for women of means and another for poor women is not a satisfactory situation.

Editor's note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims - 1.6 billion members of an entire religion - from entering the U.S.

 

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Man Buys $1,000 Bottle Of Ranch Dressing, And Here's Why That's Not Absurd

One man's outrageous purchase from a restaurant's auction came with a pizza generosity.

A Dallas location of the pizza chain Cane Rosso recently held an auction to benefit the Humane Society of Southeast Texas, whose shelter caught fire earlier this month.

The restaurant -- which has a no-ranch sauce rule -- keeps a bottle of Hidden Valley in a glass case, jokingly offering a side of it for $1,000. During the auction, Josh Tipton, a patron, took the plunge and bought the bottle so he could support a good cause. Including the sale of the bottle of ranch, the restaurant raised about $20,000 for the humane society that day, Jeff Amador, marketing and branding manager of Cane Rosso, told The Huffington Post in an email.  

"I told my waitress and she looked at me and didn't believe. She sent the general manager over and he asked if I was serious," Tipton told ABC News of the moment he decided to buy the infamous bottle of dressing.  "I said that as long as the proceeds go to help the animal shelter, that I was absolutely serious."

According to ABC News about 70 dogs died as a result of the fire at the shelter. When Cane Rosso owner, Jay Jerrier, heard about the fire, he told HuffPost that as an animal lover and owner of six dogs of his own, "it just made sense to do something."

Jerrier explained that the ranch dressing bottle has been on display in the glass case for over four years and was an iconic part of the restaurant. So when the restaurant offered it up as part of the auction, the staff didn't expect anyone to buy it. 

Nevertheless, the restaurant was pleased the sale actually went to a cause they can get behind. 

"No one was expecting us to really ever sell the bottle of ranch, so we stopped the music and made an announcement throughout the restaurant, to cheers and applause," Amador told HuffPost. "People know us, and people know the saga of the ranch dressing."

For Tipton, the charity event was the perfect opportunity to shell out the money for the dressing. 

"I've always kind of wanted to be the guy to buy the bottle of ranch, but since it was going to such a great cause it seemed like the right time to do it," he said.

Jerrier told HuffPost that the restaurant mailed the check to the Humane Society the very next day to help the organization rebuild. Though the initial bottle of dressing is now Tipton's, diners won't have to worry about missing the restaurant's special condiment. 

"We are replacing the bottle though, so if there's any ballers out there that want their very own side of delicious ranch dressing, we'll have it available!" Amador told HuffPost. "I can't promise that you'll get the kind of attention that Josh has been getting this week, though."

And to be clear, Jerrier says his restaurant is totally cool with the condiment itself. But there are just some foods on which it doesn't belong. 

"We personally all enjoy a good jalapeño ranch -- just not on pizza."

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Measles Reported In One Of California's Most Unvaccinated Counties

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  Measles results in 146,000 deaths worldwide every year. 

  
  


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  The school is closed because of the diagnosis.

  
  


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  The county has one of the state's lowest vaccination rates.

  
  

An unvaccinated child has been diagnosed with measles in a California county with one of the state's lowest rates for kindergarten immunization, the state's department of public health announced Tuesday. 

The department is investigating the child, who attends Yuba River Charter School in Nevada County and showed symptoms of measles after returning home from from a trip overseas. He has recovered but was infectious at school on March 17.

The school is closed to all students until Wednesday and will remain closed to students without a measles vaccine until April 8 if no new cases are documented, the Nevada County Department of Public Health said in a letter sent to school parents. 

YRCS has a very low kindergarten immunization rate, according to the CDPH's annual report on kindergarten vaccination rates. Only 43 percent of the school's kindergarteners are up to date on their required immunizations for the 2015-2016 school year. Only 77.1 percent of kindergarteners in the county meet the requirement -- giving it the second lowest immunization rate in the state, just behind Trinity County, with 77 percent. 

"As the state's public health officer, it's concerning to receive a report of a child with measles because it's a disease that can easily be prevented," the CDPH's Dr. Karen Smith said in the department's announcement. "Immunization is the best way to protect against measles. Two doses of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine are approximately 97 percent effective at preventing disease in exposed persons."

Measles is a highly contagious, viral respiratory disease that results in 146,000 deaths worldwide each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can be prevented with the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine, which nearly all California students will be required to receive for the 2016-2017 school year under a strict vaccine law passed in the state legislature last year. 

Under the law effective July 1, parents citing religious or personal reasons will no longer be exempt from immunizing their children enrolled in California's public and private schools. Parents may opt their child out of immunizations like the MMR vaccine only for medical reasons, or they may homeschool them. 

YRCS did not immediately return HuffPost's request for comment, but school director Ron Charles posted a letter to parents on the school's website encouraging parents to follow the health department's instructions and describing "choice" as a pillar of YRCS.

"In a time such as this, it is of paramount importance that our diverse community stands together in unity and support of one another," he wrote. "We are a school of choice and a community of choice."

It is unclear what choice Charles is referring to, but the language harks back to the slogans and messaging California's anti-vaccine crusaders made the backbone of their campaign against the state's new vaccine law. Parents who oppose vaccines -- largely because of disproven claims that they're linked to autism and other averse effects -- rallied around phrases such as "My child, my choice" and "Parents pay so parents choose."

The law was introduced after a major measles outbreak in the state that started at Anaheim's Disneyland in December and swelled to at least 131 cases. Last week, a review funded by the National Institutes of Health found that anti-vaxxers are officially to blame for the rise in both measles and whooping cough.

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