Italian wheelchair hopes to bring users freedom

Yahoo – AFP, Céline CORNU, July 28, 2017

Mario Vigentini, left, drew inspiration from the Segway for his new wheelchair
(AFP Photo/MIGUEL MEDINA)

Bergamo (Italy) (AFP) - After nearly 20 years working with wheelchair-bound youngsters, Mario Vigentini wanted to revolutionise their quality of life, inventing a device that raises up users so they are face-to-face with those standing.

The Italian drew inspiration from the Segway -- the two-wheeled, self-balancing, electric vehicle that allows visitors to nip around cities without walking -- and came up with the "MarioWay", a hands-free, two-wheeled kneeling chair.

With its high seat, it allows users to do everything from ordering a coffee at a bar to plucking a book off a high shelf.

The Italian government was so impressed it proudly showed off the chair to the G7 transport ministers in June.

The aim was to create "a tool of social integration", Vigentini told AFP at his headquarters in Bergamo.

The 45-year-old found working with young people with mental and physical disabilities "an extraordinary adventure", but was disheartened by the prejudice they faced.

"At best, people approached them like a child," he said, as if because they were sitting closer to the ground they were somehow more infantile.

Racking his brains for a way to change the situation, he came up with the idea of "trying to put an ergonomic seat -- like those from the Nordic countries that were very fashionable in the 1990s -- on a Segway".

"Nine out of ten people I talked to about this idea looked at me as if I came from another planet," he said.

But he was persuaded to take the idea to a start-up competition in Naples in 2012 -- and made it to the final.

Curing wheelchair ills

Buoyed, he set up a team to study the ergonomics involved and brought in a dozen disabled people as collaborators.

Users of traditional wheelchairs are seated so that "the organs in the upper part of the trunk are compressed", while "almost the whole weight rests on the ischium" -- the lower and back part of the hip bone.

The chair can go up to 20 kilometres (12 miles) an hour (AFP Photo/

MIGUEL MEDINA)

This position "aggravates the pathologies of people with disabilities and results in other issues; digestive, respiratory, urinary or circulatory," he said, adding it also causes leg muscles to waste away.

But for users of Vigentini's invention, "the upper part of the trunk is straightened", strengthening muscles which go unused in traditional wheelchairs.

The chair can go up to 20 kilometres (12 miles) an hour on a battery life of 30 kilometres.

It is equipped with "sensors that read the position of the body", so that "if I move my upper body slightly forward, the MarioWay advances slightly," said Flaviano Tarducci, the company's business development manager.

"It's the same to move backwards, while to go from side to side you move your pelvis slightly left or right," he said.

Destigmatizing

The design means that tasks that have been very challenging for traditional wheelchair users -- such as opening doors or carrying a glass of water to a table -- can be carried out with relative ease.

Vigentini hopes to help destigmatize the wheelchair, which has remained unchanged for nigh on a century.

In the search for cool, his team has even swapped notes with a company that customises Harley Davidson motorbikes.

Its thermally-strengthened hubs and hand-stitched seats are not cheap. The MarioWay went on sale a few weeks ago at 19,300 euros ($22,500), while a standard electric wheelchair costs between 1,500 euros and 30,000 euros.

But Vigentini said he and his team are "doing everything we can" to lower the price to around 10,000 euros by signing a deal with an industrial production partner.

And one day he hopes able-bodied people will use MarioWay too as a means of getting about town -- much like a bicycle or Segway -- which could help make mobility differences, between those who are disabled and those who are not, a thing of the past.

Italian social educator Mario Vigentini invents 'MarioWay', a hands-free, two-wheeled kneeling chair to aid disabled https://t.co/4rn5l12Twb pic.twitter.com/K9YeXKlQNO

— AFP news agency (@AFP) July 28, 2017

Could a green sponge hold cancer-fighting secrets?

Yahoo – AFP, Jean-Louis SANTINI, July 27, 2017

A small green sponge, photographed by an ROV camera, seen in the waters
off the coast of Alaska (AFP Photo)

Washington (AFP) - A small green sponge discovered in dark, icy waters of the Pacific off Alaska could be the first effective weapon against pancreatic cancer, researchers said on Wednesday.

Pancreatic cancer, with particularly aggressive tumors, is notoriously difficult to treat.

"One would never have imagined looking at this sponge that it could be miraculous," Bob Stone, a researcher at the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, said in a briefing by phone.

Stone discovered the sponge, dull in color, called "Latrunculia austini" in 2005 while on a seabed exploration expedition in Alaska.

It lives on rocks in patches at depths of 230-720 feet (70-219m).

Lab testing has shown that several molecules in this sponge selectively destroy pancreatic cancer cells, said Mark Hamann, a University of South Carolina researcher working with Fred Valeriote of the Henry Ford Cancer Institute in Detroit.

"This is undoubtedly the most active molecule against pancreatic cancer that we see," said Hamann. "Although there is still much work to be done, it marks the first key step in the discovery and process of developing a treatment," he said.

Pancreatic cancer progresses slowly, a circumstance which leaves patients in a tough position as late diagnosis means little chance for successful treatment.

Patients' chances of survival at five years for this tumor are only 14%, according to the American Cancer Society.

"I've looked at 5,000 sponge extracts over the last two decades," Valeriote said. "In terms of this particular pattern of pancreatic and ovarian cancer selective activity, we’ve only seen one (other) sponge with such activity, and that was one collected many years ago in Indonesia."

In the United States, 53,670 new cases of pancreatic cancer will be diagnosed in 2017 and more than 43,000 people will die.

Cheap 3D printed prosthetics could be game changer for Nepal

Yahoo – AFP, July 21, 2017

Leprosy sufferer Ram uses his new 3D printed prosthetic hand

Ram's new hand was manufactured on a 3D printer in Nepal's capital for just $30, an innovation that could be a game changer for many in the impoverished Himalayan country.

Once a farmer, Ram lost his hands and toes within a few years of contracting leprosy, forcing the father-of-three to turn to begging in a desperate bid to feed his family.

That's where he was spotted by US-born Matthew Rockwell, the founder of Disaster Hack, a non-profit technology startup that is making functional prosthetic hands for those who couldn't otherwise afford them.

Disaster Hack makes its money doing tech consulting and teaching people to code, while running altruistic ventures on the side like teaching Nepalis IT skills and manufacturing low-cost, basic prosthetics.

Rockwell -- who flits between Nepal and the US, where he is part of the tech team behind the annual Burning Man festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert -- brought a 3D printer to Kathmandu after a powerful earthquake struck the country in 2015.

Soon, he began printing new hands for those in need: a girl who lost both limbs after being electrocuted by hanging power lines, a construction worker whose hand was crushed beyond repair.

Disaster Hack founder Matthew Rockwell (R) attaches a 3D printed prosthetic 

hand to leprosy sufferer Ram's arm in Kathmandu

"We've only distributed to five so far but we have a list that keeps on growing," said Rockwell, sitting in a cramped office in Kathmandu, the 3D printer whirling behind him.

Recycled materials

Rockwell only has the capacity to make hands at the moment -- a leg requires a more heavy-duty printer -- but he has identified more than 7,000 people in Nepal who could benefit from Disaster Hack's creations.

"A traditional prosthesis costs anywhere between $1000 to $3000 to $5000," Rockwell explained.

"Now we're able to produce prostheses for right around $30 so it (3D printing) lowers the cost dramatically for a functional prosthesis."

Rockwell hopes to bring down the cost even further by recycling plastic bottle tops to make the wire that feeds the printer.

Nepal's healthcare sector is chronically underfunded and ill-equipped but 3D printing can reduce both the cost and time it takes to bring medical equipment to those who need it most.

Nepal's healthcare sector is chronically underfunded and ill-equipped but 3D 

printing can reduce both the cost and time it takes to bring medical equipment

to those who need it most

The 3D printed hands being manufactured by Disaster Hack take nearly a full day to print, and are comprised of roughly 20 different parts.

Rockwell hopes the mostly volunteer-run project will sow the seeds for something bigger.

He has now trained 20 prosthetists at hospitals in Nepal in 3D printing, and signed a deal with Kathmandu's largest university to set up the country's first biomedical 3D printing lab.

Meanwhile for Ram, a new hand could mean a chance to give up begging.

"What should I say, I have nothing to eat. If I stay here I make 100 rupees ($0.97), 50 rupees," he said from his daily spot on the corner of a busy intersection.

He lifted the new prosthetic hand, and as he slowly contracted the plastic fingers to make a fist, a smile spread across his face.

Uruguay pharmacies start selling marijuana

Yahoo – AFP, Mauricio RABUFFETTI, July 19, 2017

A man shows two envelopes containing marijuana he just purchased at a
pharmacy in Montevideo, on July 19, 2017 (AFP Photo/MIGUEL ROJO)

Montevideo (AFP) - Pharmacies in Uruguay started selling marijuana Wednesday under a four-year-old law that has made the small South American country the first in the world to legalize pot from production to sale.

At a pharmacy in Montevideo's Old Town, five customers were waiting to buy when the store shutters went up at the start of the day, and lines grew longer as the day went on.

"I've been smoking since I was 14. Let's give it a try," said a 37-year-old man who would not give his name.

"It's funny," a pharmacy employee told AFP on grounds of anonymity. "In two hours we filled only three prescriptions, but 30 people came to buy marijuana."

Some pharmacies saw as many as 20 people lining up to make their first legal pot purchase.

"We did not expect this kind of movement," said Sebastian Scafo, 33, a pharmacy manager.

In all, 16 pharmacies have been authorized to sell marijuana under state controls, barely enough to cover a country of 3.5 million people.

No major pharmacy chain has agreed to sell the drug.

Many pharmacies have been unwilling to participate in the scheme because of concerns about security and doubts that the small market of registered users is worth the trouble.

Only about 5,000 people, most of them age 30 to 44, have signed up as prospective buyers since Uruguay's state registry opened in early May.

Walk-in sales are not allowed under the law, and only residents of Uruguay can register to buy pot -- thereby preventing marijuana tourism.

Graphic on estimated prevalance of cannabis use around the world (AFP 

Photo/John SAEKI, Laurence CHU, Adrian LEUNG)

Blow to drug-dealers?

Among those trying the new legal distribution system was Xavier Ferreyra, a 32-year-old city employee, who was making his first purchase at a pharmacy in Montevideo's Old Town.

He said he saw two main advantages to the new approach: "safety and the quality" of the drug, adding, "I no longer have to go buy it in some slum."

Pharmacy sales are the last of three phases set out under the 2013 law.

Under the early phases, nearly 7,000 people registered to grow weed at home, and more than 60 smokers' clubs were authorized.

Only two companies were authorized to produce marijuana for pharmacies -- under military protection, and with no public access.

The state Institute for the Regulation and Control of Cannabis (IRCC) has authorized the sale of two types of marijuana, to be sold in five-gram packets.

On Monday, the National Drugs Council tweeted an image of what the packages would look like: blue-and-white sealed sachets that look something like condom packets.

An "Alfa I" package contains "Alfa I variety cannabis hybrid with Indica predominant."

Another sort has "Beta I variety cannabis" with Sativa. The levels of THC -- the psychotropic constituent in cannabis -- are given on the outside, for consumer information.

The packets also bear a "Warnings" section about the risks of consuming marijuana and recommendations on how to do it more safely.

People line up in front of a pharmacy to buy marijuana in Montevideo, on 

July 19, 2017 (AFP Photo/MIGUEL ROJO)

'A marvelous plant'

The buyers who talked to AFP reporters all said they had bought 10 grams of pot, a packet of each variety on sale.

The packets are being retailed at $6.60 each, according to the IRCCA.

Customers are identified through a digital fingerprint reader, which allows them to buy without having to show other forms of identification in the store.

Uruguay's goal in legalizing the sale of marijuana for recreational use is to cut down on illegal smuggling.

Camila Berro, a 24-year-old business student, walked out of a pharmacy smiling, two packets of pot in hand.

"I feel very lucky to be able to get it legally," she said. "I have friends in other countries who were imprisoned for smoking a joint."

To Ferreyra, the municipal worker, "Uruguay has taken a very big step... I hope one day they can legalize a lot more drugs."

And former President Jose Mujica, who enacted the marijuana reforms while in office from 2010 to 2015, said that while "no addiction is good," it was "horrible to condemn a marvelous plant."

Uruguay, he added, is "trying a new path."

US health care reform collapses as two more Republicans say no

Yahoo – AFP, Michael Mathes, July 18, 2017

President Donald Trump's health care reform, the subject of frequent protests, is
 one of the pending issues forcing the US Senate to delay its summer break (AFP
Photo/SAUL LOEB)

Washington (AFP) - Two more US Republican senators announced their opposition Monday to their party's efforts to revamp Obamacare, derailing the controversial legislation in its current form and potentially dealing a monumental setback to President Donald Trump.

Republican leaders are desperate for a major legislative victory this year -- and keen to fulfill Trump's campaign pledge to dismantle the 2010 health care reforms of his predecessor Barack Obama, formally called the Affordable Care Act.

But they had no votes to spare.

Republicans control 52 of the chamber's 100 seats. Democrats are united against the controversial legislation, while Republicans Susan Collins and Rand Paul declared their opposition last week.

So when Senate conservatives Mike Lee and Jerry Moran announced late Monday they could not support the bill, the news sent shockwaves across Washington.

"We should not put our stamp of approval on bad policy," Moran -- who faced considerable opposition at home in Kansas to the measure -- said in a statement, adding that the new bill "fails to repeal the Affordable Care Act or address health care's rising costs."

For Lee, "in addition to not repealing all of the Obamacare taxes, it doesn't go far enough in lowering premiums for middle class families; nor does it create enough free space from the most costly Obamacare regulations."

Their defections mean that the bill has no chance of even getting a vote on the Senate floor unless Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell decides to make significant changes to woo skeptics back into the fold.

"Republicans should just REPEAL failing ObamaCare now & work on a new Healthcare Plan that will start from a clean slate. Dems will join in!" Trump tweeted after Lee and Moran made their opposition known.

In a statement McConnell acknowledged "regretfully" that his effort had failed. But he wasn't giving up.

"So, in the coming days, the Senate will vote to take up ... a repeal of Obamacare with a two-year delay to provide for a stable transition period," he said, without setting a date.

"Inaction is not an option," added a White House spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We look forward to Congress continuing to work toward a bill the president can sign to end the Obamacare nightmare."

US Senator John McCain, shown here in Kabul in early July, is recovering from 

surgery, but the defection of two more Republican senators means his vote on 

health care is moot (AFP Photo/SHAH MARAI)

'Unworkable'

Over the weekend, McConnell delayed a vote to proceed on the bill, after Senator John McCain, 80, underwent surgery to remove a blood clot above his eye and said he would recuperate at home in Arizona for at least a week.

But McCain's absence is now a moot point.

Several Republicans had already expressed concern that the new bill could slash funding for Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor and the disabled.

The new bill would gradually roll back the program, a move that some Republicans warn could lead to millions losing coverage.

The latest defections also show that conservatives are frustrated that the new bill does not repeal the Obamacare taxes.

Democratic reaction was swift.

This failure is proof "that the core of this bill is unworkable," said top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer.

Republicans should instead "start from scratch and work with Democrats on a bill that lowers premiums, provides long-term stability to the markets and improves our health care system."

'Wheels off the bus'

Republican leaders are eager to notch a major victory for Trump in Congress as he nears the six-month mark of his presidency.

Congress could also address tax reform and infrastructure - but the Senate must first deal with a logjam of urgent business, including whether to raise the federal borrowing limit.

Some fear that repealing Obamacare could adversely impact millions of Americans on Medicaid, or make health costs soar for people with pre-existing health conditions.

There is little institutional support for the bill, and even less for an amendment introduced by Senator Ted Cruz that would allow insurers to offer bare-bones plans that do not comply with Obamacare's coverage requirements.

The chief executives of America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association called it "simply unworkable in any form."

A Post poll released Sunday showed Americans preferred Obamacare to the Republican plan by 50 percent to 24 percent.

Despite the Republican setback, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy said his Republican colleagues will not easily give up.

"There's a couple wheels off the bus right now," Murphy told MSNBC after the announcement from Lee and Moran.

But "they are not going to give up on it," he added.

1 in 10 infants received no vaccinations last year: UN

Yahoo – AFP, July 17, 2017

A full 12.9 million infants received no vaccinations last year, WHO found in a joint
report with the UN's children's agency, UNICEF (AFP Photo/WAKIL KOHSAR)

Geneva (AFP) - Nearly one in 10 infants received no vaccinations in 2016, meaning that they missed the first innoculation against three lethal diseases, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday.

A full 12.9 million infants received no vaccinations last year, WHO found in a joint report with the UN's children's agency, UNICEF.

As a result, they missed the first dose of a triple vaccination against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough, also called pertussis.

Another 6.6 million who received the first dose of the so-called DTP vaccination did not complete the immunisation course last year.

Since 1980, the UN's health agency has tracked the percentage of infants given the DTP vaccination.

"Since 2010, the percentage of children who received their full course of routine immunisations has stalled at 86 percent," WHO said in a statement.

The figure fell short of the agency's 90 percent coverage target.

"These children most likely have also not received any of the other basic health services," WHO's immunisation, Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele, said in a statement.

"If we are to raise the bar on global immunisation coverage, health services must reach the unreached."

Only 130 of WHO's 194 member-states have hit the 90 percent target, with the worst coverage recorded in countries gripped by conflict.

Eight countries in 2016 had a sub-50 percent coverage rate for all three DTP shots, including Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Syrian and Ukraine.

Of that list, only the small west African nation of Equatorial Guinea is not seen as suffering from an active conflict, although its government has been fiercely condemned by rights groups over widespread abuses.

WHO estimates that vaccinations prevent between two and three million deaths each year.

Related Articles:

“To vaccinate or not to vaccinate, that is the question”

Kryon Q&A

Question (2003): Dear Kryon, I have a new grandson. He's going for his first vaccination in the next few weeks. If we're beginning to transmute toxins with reconnections to our endocrine system through our DNA, then what happens to our babies, who by law have to be vaccinated? What are your thoughts on this subject?

Answer: First, know that vaccinations are a God-given science that humanity earned. They're a tried and proven homeopathic method that have been with you for years. You were probably vaccinated yourself, and it worked.

We have three answers: (1) God is not in a vacuum. Even the vaccinated Human Being who's older can modify and rework their DNA. So there's no time limit, and there are no rules that say "Once vaccinated, you're ruined." (2) The Human who is of the age of awareness can say, even as they are vaccinated, "Let nothing inappropriate enter my chemistry." This is a conscious instruction given to your "intelligent cellular structure" (the same one responsible for kinesiology and homeopathic results). This will result in your cells only using what they need and casting away everything else. (3) Finally, about babies: There has been a push by your science lately to vaccinate against many things at the same time. You'd be advised to seek out a doctor who will only vaccinate your child for only the basic diseases that have been known in the last 40 years. Eliminate the vaccinations for the new ones. This leaves you with approximately seven or eight - the very ones that have been used for years. What your science is not appreciating yet is the results of combining all the vaccination substances together. There's a problem that will show itself in time. Stick with the basic ones.

Police smash Europe-wide horsemeat racket

Yahoo – AFP, July 16, 2017

Spain's Guardia Civil police force began their investigation in 2016 after detecting
"unusual behaviour" in horsemeat markets (AFP Photo/THOMAS SAMSON)

Madrid (AFP) - A Spanish-led European police investigation has broken up an organised crime group that allegedly sold horsemeat across Europe that was "not suitable" for human consumption, officials said Sunday.

Police in Spain arrested 65 people suspected of crimes including animal abuse, document forgery, public health violations, money laundering and being part of a criminal organisation, Europe's policing agency Europol said in a statement.

The suspected leader of the group, a Dutch national, was arrested in Belgium, it added.

Spain's Guardia Civil police force began their investigation in 2016 after detecting "unusual behaviour" in horsemeat markets.

"They detected a scam whereby horses in bad shape, too old or simply labelled as 'not suitable for consumption' were being slaughtered in two different slaughterhouses," Europol said.

The horses came from Portugal and northern Spain and their meat was processed at an unspecified location from where it was sent to Belgium, one of the biggest horsemeat exporters in the European Union.

The group is suspected of having modified the horse's microchips and documentation to pass off the meat as edible.

The meat was sold across Europe and may have earned the group over 20 million euros ($23 million) per year, Spanish police said in a separate statement.

The Guardia Civil worked in cooperation with police in Belgium, Britain, France, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland and the Netherlands, the statement added.

Spanish police seized five luxury cars as part of the investigation and blocked several bank accounts.

The investigation stems from a British horsemeat scandal in 2013 when frozen burgers supplied to several supermarkets were found to contain horse DNA.

Related Articles:

Dutchman at centre of new European horse meat scandal

Horsemeat scandal: Dutch meat trader could be central figure

French company Spanghero received meat from the Dutch trader seemingly
at the centre of investigations. Photograph: Imago / Barcroft Media

Medics in pink: Dubai launches women-only ambulances

Yahoo – AFP, Natacha Yazbeck, July 13, 2017

A pink ambulance of the Women Responders team is seen in Dubai on July 13,
2017 (AFP Photo/GIUSEPPE CACACE)

Dubai (AFP) - Four women in pink remain on standby 12 hours a day, seven days a week, to come to the aid of their "sisters" in the Gulf emirate of Dubai.

The four -- two medics and two drivers -- are leading a pilot project for a women-only pink ambulance service that aims to expedite medical care by helping patients feel more at ease.

"In our society, Arab Muslim society, when patients call for help, they want privacy and they want to feel comfortable," said Bashayer al-Rimm, an emergency medical technician (EMT).

"A male first responder can and of course does respond to all patients," she told AFP.

"But the logic behind this was, 'How can we make women feel more comfortable?', to speed up giving them medical care."

The government-run Women Responders unit operating in the district of Deira has had 25 callouts since it launched three weeks ago, none of them major emergencies.

Staff specialise in obstetrics and gynaecology and pediatrics, and they refer to each other -- and their patients -- "sisters".

Ten years ago, Dubai launched "Ladies and Families Taxis," a pink fleet of cabs driven by women and serving women and their children.

Maria Lagbes, a Philippines doctor with the Women Responders team, leaves 

the ambulance service headquarters after receiving an emergency call, on 

July 13, 2017, in Dubai (AFP Photo/GIUSEPPE CACACE)

The service is still available, and popular, across Dubai, a member of the United Arab Emirates.

Maria Lagbes, a longtime medic who was tapped to join the Women Responders team, said the ambulance service has already helped improve patient care.

"Female patients, especially in this country, are more hesitant when there are male medics around," said Lagbes, who is originally from the Philippines.

"I can tell the difference, having worked before with a male partner and now with a female partner," she said. "I think an all-female team can provide more efficient medical service here."

For now, the pilot project targets Deira, a bustling, old district of a city state known globally for its modern opulence.

The next step is to expand to Bur Dubai, another of Dubai's older quarters that lies across the Dubai Creek, a water canal historically used by fishermen and pearl divers.

"We've had so much positive feedback," said Rimm. "People have been saying this is really helpful".

But despite temperatures soaring above 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit), the next batch of EMTs is trained and eager to join the pink fleet.

"We're all used to it. Not just as first responders -- as Emiratis," Rimm chuckled. "Keep hydrated."

Related Article:

"Listening to the Voice of Spirit" (2) - Feb 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (DNA Efficiency is on average at 35 percent now)

“… With free choice, the percentage of DNA efficiently started to go down as humanity grew. As soon as the DNA started to lose percentage, the gender balance was dysfunctional. If you want to have a test of any society, anywhere on the planet, and you want to know the DNA percentage number [consciousness quota] as a society, there's an easy test: How do they perceive and treat their women? The higher the DNA functionality, the more the feminine divine is honored. This is the test! Different cultures create different DNA consciousness, even at the same time on the planet. So you can have a culture on Earth at 25 percent and one at 37 - and if you did, they would indeed clash. …”

“… You're at 35. There's an equality here, you're starting to see the dark and light, and it's changing everything. You take a look at history and you've come a long way, but it took a long time to get here. Dear ones, we've seen this process before and the snowball is rolling. There isn't anything in the way that's going to stop it. In the path of this snowball of higher consciousness are all kinds of things that will be run over and perish. Part of this is what you call "the establishment". Watch for some very big established things to fall over! The snowball will simply knock them down. …”

US charges 412 people for health fraud, opioid scams

Yahoo – AFP, July 13, 2017

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced what he called the largest ever
 health care fraud enforcement action, with 120 of the 412 defendants charged with
 opioid-related crimes (AFP Photo/ALEX WONG)

Washington (AFP) - US authorities announced charges Thursday against more than 400 people, many of them doctors and nurses, over health care scams worth $1.3 billion including the wrongful prescription and distribution of opioids.

The Justice Department called it the largest ever enforcement action of its kind and said 120 of the 412 defendants had been charged with opioid-related crimes.

Providing details on some of the scams, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said a rehab clinic in Palm Beach, Florida, for instance, allegedly recruited opioid addicts with gift cards, visits to strip clubs and even drugs. This allowed the clinic to bill for more than $58 million in false treatment and tests, said Sessions.

And a clinic in Houston allegedly sold prescriptions for opioids in exchange for cash, with one doctor there giving out prescriptions for more than two million doses, Sessions said.

"While today is a historic day, the department's work is certainly not finished. In fact, it is just beginning," Sessions said.

The barely controlled pumping of hundreds of millions of doses of opioids into US communities during the past decade is blamed for a sharp surge in addiction and overdose deaths which totaled an estimated 60,000 last year.

Amsterdam sweetens the pill with new building offer for European Medicines Agency

DutchNews, July 12, 2017

Amsterdam has made its official pitch to persuade the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to relocate from London to Amsterdam. Among the sweeteners was the promise of a new purpose-built office building in the city’s Zuidas business district, the Volkskrant reported on Wednesday. 

The competition to land the EMA has been compared to the Eurovision Song Contest, in that 18 cities are vying for a prize that will be announced in November. Amsterdam’s presentation in Brussels was headed by caretaker health minister Edith Schippers along with Amsterdam deputy mayor Kajsa Ollongren and ‘special ambassador’ Wouter Bos. 

Bos, a former finance minister, is now chairman of the VU University Medical Centre, and is known for saying: ‘May the best candidate win, and I am convinced that it is Amsterdam.’ 

The Dutch government said it would finance a €250m to €300m building for the EMA, which would then pay the market rate for the space. 

Ollongren said no special deals – low or no rent – would be on offer. She added these deals were unnecessary in Amsterdam, citing the Zuidas’s fast links to Schiphol airport, the availability of hotel rooms, expat help for EMA staffers and their partners and plans to increase the number of places in nearby international schools. 

For his part, Bos will visit the necessary European capitals to convince officials there that Amsterdam is the best location for the EMA. 

The EMA is a decentralised agency of the EU, which began operations in 1995. It is responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety monitoring of medicines developed by pharmaceutical companies for use in the EU. The agency has a workforce of some 900 people, mainly highly skilled, from all over Europe. 

Lille, Brussels, Copenhagen Stockholm, Dublin, Barcelona and Milan are among the other cities hoping to attract the EMA.