Cooncerns about medical treatment at HMP

There’s a disturbing story posted on the CBC-NL website. It concerns a young man jailed in HMP in St. John’s. His father alleges that when Jason Earle was trasnsferred into HMP, the psychiatrist-in-charge stopped Jason’s anti-psychotic medication.

This disturbing part is that this is not the first time such allegations have been made regarding the procedures used by Dr. David Craig, whom the story describes as the “only psychiatrist working at the penitentiary”.

One has to wonder how any physician can arbitrarily stop medication prescribed by another physician. It becomes especially worrisome when the medication is being used in a mental health context. Usually, decisions to medicate come after a careful review of the patient’s history and diagnosis. One can only hope the psychiatrist-in-charge at HMP did a thorough review of the patient history before deciding to suspend medication.

Similar accusations were made several months ago and that time, a review into the practices used by the psychiatrist(s) at HMP was promised. Perhaps it’s time that the complete results of the review, if conducted, are made public; if the review has not been completed, then a competent psychiatrist from outside the province with absolutely no connection to Dr. Craig should be brought in to review the current situation and the complete results made public. I’m sure Dr. Craig would have no objections to a competent peer review of his procedures and it would give the medical students with whom he works some reassurance that proper procedures are being followed if indeed that is the finding of such a review.

Members of the public have a right to know that incarceration in Newfoundland does not mean diminished medical care.

World's Largest Bra Unveiled in London

The world's largest bra (Size 1222B) was unveiled in London on Oct. 28. Credit: Guinness World Records

If there are more car accidents than usual along London's Thames River this month, motorists have a good excuse for being distracted: The world's largest bra hangs from a nearby skyscraper.

Guinness World Records has officially recognized the bright pink bra, which hangs from the ITV Southbank building and was unveiled on Oct. 28, as the world's largest.

The bra took four weeks to stitch up, and is made from about four football fields worth of lightweight spinnaker nylon. The fabric weighs about 165 pounds (75 kg), and with the metal fasteners it comes to 198 pounds (90 kg).

And, because you're surely wondering, it measures 27 meters (88.5 feet) under the bust and 31 meters (101.7 feet) around the bust. Technically, it's a 1222B, but if reduced to human proportions, it would be a size 34B.

The bra was part of Britain's Breast Cancer Campaign's annual "Wear It Pink" fundraiser day. Last year's event raised about $4 million to help fund cutting-edge breast cancer research.

522 million people could have diabetes by 2030

By Associated Press
Sunday, November 13

GENEVA — The International Diabetes Federation predicts that one in 10 adults could have diabetes by 2030, according to their latest statistics.

In a report issued on Monday, the advocacy group estimated that 522 million people would have diabetes in the next two decades, based on things like aging and demographic changes.

The figure includes both types of diabetes. The group expects the number of cases to jump by 90 percent even in Africa, where infectious diseases have previously been the top killer. Without including the impact of increasing obesity, the International Diabetes Federation said its figures were conservative.

According to the World Health Organization, there are about 346 million people worldwide with diabetes, with more than 80 percent of deaths occurring in developing countries. The agency projects diabetes deaths will double by 2030 and said the International Diabetes Federation’s prediction was possible.

“It’s a credible figure,” said Gojka Roglic, head of WHO’s diabetes unit. “But whether or not it’s correct, we can’t say.”
Roglic said the projected future rise in diabetes cases was because of aging rather than the obesity epidemic. Most cases of diabetes are Type 2, the kind that mainly hits people in middle age, and is linked to weight gain and a sedentary lifestyle.

Roglic said a substantial number of future diabetes cases were preventable. “It’s worrying because these people will have an illness which is serious, debilitating, and shortens their lives,” she said. “But it doesn’t have to happen if we take the right interventions.”

Hypocrisy of CBC stunning

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a video story from Ezra Levant, a reporter for the SUN Media organization showing a visit he had made to the CBC headquarters in Toronto and the CBC’s over-reaction to that visit. Now, according to Levant, he has received copies of e-mails circulated among some of the top executives in the CBC on how to deal with his visit and what those officials obviously perceived as a threat. The fact remains that while the CBC and its staff made fun of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford for not playing along with cast members from the 22-Minutes show, they weren’t prepared to do the same thing on their own turf. Talk about hypocrisy of the highest order. Here’s Levant follow-up report from November 10th

Tommy Emmanuel talks about his new Christmas album

Tommy Emmanuel-Guitar Boogie

Fall back

Get set for 'fall back' as clocks rewind one hour Sunday. Also, check the batteries in your smoke detectors. Better than waking up dead AND late! :-)

The Banker