If you’re having trouble sleeping, melatonin is a popular and easy remedy. It’s effective for many people, doesn’t have any serious safety issues, and is available as pills or gummies for pennies a dose. It’s also misunderstood, though: melatonin is not a traditional sleeping pill.
Cast iron skillets are great for just about everything , including smelly foods like fish or slow roasted cruciferous vegetables, but if the smell seems to stick to your pan after cooking, put the soap down. A quick trip through the oven will clear it up, and without damaging your season.
About once a week I come across an article that claims to give “car buying hacks,” or purports to tell “secrets the dealer doesn’t want you to know.” While some of this advice is helpful, other tips are just blanket statements that maybe won’t result in you getting the best deal.
Getting enough protein is important, regardless of whether you want healthy skin and nails, to lose weight, or get bulging biceps. But “enough” could be the difference between eating a few extra eggs and washing down your steak with protein shakes. Here’s how to find out.
VICTORVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Two California teens kidnapped following their high school prom managed to escape after one of them wrested a gun away from their attacker and then pistol-whipped him, authorities said.
Jared James was arrested Saturday when he went to a hospital for treatment of injuries he sustained in the fight with one of his victims, sheriff’s officials in San Bernardino County said. Investigators said the 22-year-old James, a Nevada resident, knows the girl, but didn’t specify what their relationship is.
James is accused of forcing a 17-year-old boy and the teen’s girlfriend into their car at a parking lot in Victorville and driving them to an isolated area. The boy fought with James in the car, managed to pry the gun away and then repeatedly hit his attacker with it before escaping. The gun fired twice, but nobody was struck by the bullets, according to a sheriff’s news release.
During the struggle, the girl ran away to find help. A truck driver drove the teens to a hospital.
The suspect, James, drove to a family member’s home who drove him to another hospital, where he was arrested.
Deputies went to the scene and recovered the handgun and the teens’ car.
James could face kidnapping and attempted murder charges. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.
Sheriff’s officials didn’t say whether James has a lawyer. A number for James in his hometown of Las Vegas could not be found.
The post Teens kidnapped after high school prom fight off attacker appeared first on WTOP.
WASHINGTON — There is no evidence that required tests of ventilation fans were actually completed in the year before a fire filled a Metro tunnel with deadly smoke, despite Metro records showing employees had signed off on the inspections multiple times.
National Transportation Safety Board investigators looking into the Jan. 12, 2015 electrical arcing and failed response to the smoke analyzed recordings of communications between maintenance workers and the troubled Rail Operations Control Center.
Investigator Ruben Payan said Metro found no evidence that controllers tested the remote operation of the fans near the fire site for at least a year before the smoke incident.
“In December (2014), there was a request to operate the fans remotely … operations control center responded ‘We’re busy right now, call us back later.’ But there was no follow up,” Payan said during Tuesday’s NTSB meeting held to finalize its investigation into the fatal smoke incident.
The day the smoke trapped riders and ultimately killed commuter Carol Glover, several of the fans failed to turn on as smoke filled the stranded Yellow Line train. In addition, the control center incorrectly used the fans that were working, drawing the smoke toward the train and into the nearby L’Enfant Plaza Station.
The NTSB finds that a lack of written procedures or training for the controllers staffing the operations control center was a major issue as well. And a broken smoke alarm next to the stopped train that could have indicated exactly where the smoke was coming from compounded the problems and missteps that day.
Metro still has no way to pinpoint where smoke is coming from within the transit system. And in many stretches, smoke detectors sit about 2,000 feet apart. The NTSB wants that to change.
NTSB investigators said that if Metro had activated the fans near the train to pull smoke away from the train while using the fans in the station to push fresh air into the tunnel toward the train, riders would have had a clear escape route.
Instead, both sets of fans were turned to exhaust mode.
Other concerns raised
The train’s own ventilation system had been sucking smoky air into the train for several minutes before the control center finally gave the train operator permission to turn off the railcars’ ventilation system.
The investigators said the switch only worked for a single car at the back of the train. Meanwhile, the other cars continued to fill with thick orange smoke as the operator tried in vain to take the train back to the station.
The fans in that section of the transit system don’t meet current fire codes because they were built before new standards were developed in the early 1980s. The existing ventilation shafts were designed mainly for temperature control and not to clear tunnels of smoke.
After national fire safety standards for ventilation systems were issued in 1983, Metro did several studies to look at changes to its ventilation system that might be needed. But no action was ever taken.
General Manager Paul Wiedefeld promises to review the ventilation fans again.
“We have to go back and look at what was recommended to try to improve that. And I’ve just got to look further into that to see what it would take to do that,” he said after the NTSB meeting Tuesday.
Suggestions have included adding more jet fans in the tunnels to help move any smoke.
The post Metro didn’t inspect ventilation fans in year before smoke killed rider appeared first on WTOP.
WASHINGTON — An employee of a Tysons Corner diner crashed his SUV into the restaurant Wednesday afternoon, starting a fire and sending several people to the hospital.
At about 12:40 p.m., a SUV crashed into Silver Diner, located at 8101 Fletcher St. in McLean, said Sgt. Roger Henriquez with Fairfax County police. The collision sparked a fire that engulfed the vehicle.
The driver was a Silver Diner cook who had worked at the restaurant for two years, said Silver Diner spokeswoman Matilde Ott. The cook, whose name has not yet been released, is in police custody and has been terminated from his position since the crash, Ott added.
The cook had been on bereavement leave from the diner since April 5, said Vicki Bendure, a corporate spokesperson.
It is not yet clear what led to the crash.
Four people, including the driver, were injured as a result of the crash. All of them are expected to survive, said a Fairfax County police spokesperson at the scene.
“Our main concern right now is with the families of our associates and of our customers that were at the Tysons location,” Ott said. “Our hearts go out to them and the people that were injured today.”
As of 4:30 p.m., Fairfax County police said charges have not been filed.
Ott said a counselor will be made available to employees and patrons affected by the crash. Those interested can call 703-239-3324.
Watch raw video from the scene, courtesy of WTOP’s broadcast news partner, NBC Washington:
Below is a map with the location of the incident:
WTOP’s Kristi King contributed to this report.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correctly identify the number of years the cook had worked at the diner.
The post Cook crashes vehicle into Tysons Corner diner, sparks fire appeared first on WTOP.
Takata’s massive airbag inflator recall could more than double this week, as U.S. safety regulators are reportedly poised to announced the addition of 35 million safety devices to the recall list that already includes 28 million shrapnel-shooting airbags.
The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, reports that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is poised to recall the additional airbags after deeming them a safety risk.
Sources say the regulator and Takata were still in discussions on the expanded recall on Tuesday, but that a decision and announcement could come before the end of the week.
The airbag inflators are built with the chemical propellant ammonium nitrate, which can become volatile if exposed to water or humid conditions. If this occurs, the safety devices have been found to explode with enough force to send shrapnel from the inflator canister shooting at drivers and passengers. So far, the devices have been linked to nine deaths in the U.S., 10 worldwide, and hundreds of injuries.
It’s unclear how many vehicles will be affected by the expanded recall, as some cars have more than one inflator, and not all inflators are made by the same manufacturer.
The decision to add more airbag inflators to the robust recall list comes, the WSJ reports, after regulators studied three separate investigations by Takata, a group of 10 automakers, and Honda — the company most affected by the airbag issues.
Regulators are “reviewing the findings of three separate investigations into the Takata air-bag ruptures,” a NHTSA spokesman tells the WSJ. “The recall of Takata airbag inflators covered by the NHTSA Consent Order continues and the agency will take all appropriate actions to make sure air bags in Americans’ vehicles are safe.”
A rep for Takata says the parts maker is working with regulators and customers to develop “long-term, orderly solutions to these important safety issues.”
While the increased recall would bring the total number of affected inflators to close to 100 million devices, sources say that figure doesn’t include all Takata airbags that employ ammonium nitrate currently on U.S. roads, a move that lawmakers and safety groups have pushed for.
Ammonium nitrate was previously determined to be one of three root causes for the violent ruptures. The other two factors include exposure to moisture and construction issues.
The company contends that many of its newer inflators include a drying agent that can prevent the rupture issue. However, NHTSA has given Takata until the end of 2019 to prove that inflators with the dessicant — a drying agent — are safe.
Takata Set to Recall 35 Million More Air-Bag Inflaters [The Wall Street Journal]
From “McPick 2 for $2” to “McPick 2 for $5,” McDonald’s quest to replace the Dollar Menu has already taken on two different variations. Now, it looks like the fast food giant is taking a page from someone else’s playbook by creating the “McPick 2 for $4,” this time focusing on breakfast items.
McDonald’s began airing commercials and posting signage for the latest meal deal recently, mashing up the popularity of its new all-day breakfast menu with customers’ desire for a good deal.
We first spotted the change on Tuesday after hearing an early morning commercial that promoted the deal including Egg McMuffin, Sausage McMuffin with Egg, Hot Cakes, and Cinnamon Melts.
A trip to a local Des Moines McDonald’s found the deal advertised only at the drive-thru. We reached out to McDonald’s for comment on the change and will update this post when we hear back.
For now, it appears that only some McDonald’s restaurants are offering the deal. Posts on Twitter show several locations were still serving the 2 for $5 meal option as recently as Monday.
Can't decide? Try both! Get 1 Egg McMuffin and 1 Sausage McMuffin with Egg on our #McPick2 for $4 menu! pic.twitter.com/33LzAPvfTm
— McDonald's KYANA (@McDKentuckiana) May 3, 2016
You like McNuggets with a Big Mac? Filet-O-Fish with a Quarter Pounder w/ Cheese? #McPick2 #ImLovinIt pic.twitter.com/PcVBDJNItI
— McDonald's MidSouth (@MCD_MidSouth) May 2, 2016
Variations to the McPick meal deal aren’t new or entirely unexpected. When McDonald’s announced the McPick 2 micro-menu last year it made it clear that it might change the details of the menu after the pilot, but that it planned to stick with the “McPick” concept and name.
The first version of the deal — 2 for $2 — included just four options: a McDouble, a McChicken, small fries and the company’s new mozzarella sticks.
Three months later, the company changed the offering to the more expensive 2 for $5 offer that included the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Filet-O-Fish, chicken nuggets, and fries.
The change to the more costly deal may have alienated some customers looking for a quick, inexpensive fast food fix, some who noted they’d go to competitors for a less expensive, more robust meal.
McDonald's went from 2 for $2 to 2 for $5. Joke. I'll go to Wendy's where I can get 4 for $4. 🖕🏼😂
— Miriam Watson (@Miramax7) February 21, 2016
Mcpick 2 for 2 is poppin
Mpick 2 for 5 is bootleg #facts— Charlie (@parlie_charsons) May 1, 2016
I see @McDonalds stopped "2 for $2" while drive-thru signs were still up. Now it's 2 for 5. @BurgerKing 5 for 4 beats that
— G. Mantarro (@gmantarro) February 9, 2016
The company’s latest option may be an attempt to reclaim some of those customers. However, the ability to only order breakfast might not go over well with those who prefer to leave morning meals in the, well, morning. Or those who simply aren’t interested in trying to keep track of all the company’s changes.
McDonald's has gone from McPick: 2 for 2, 2 for 5, 2 for 3, 2 for 2.50
— Brandon Sans (@bsans10) May 2, 2016
Of course, we shouldn’t be surprised by all the menu changing at the Golden Arches; the company continually revamps its menu in hopes of attracting and keeping customers.
Back in 2012, the company tried the “Extra Value Menu” that offered items for a range of prices. When that didn’t catch on, it tried the “Dollar Menu & More” option in 2013.
Still, the back and forth with meal deal menus can be confusing for customers who could get a similar — and consistent — deal at other fast food restaurants.
Additionally, the new 2 for $4 promo puts McDonald’s in line with other fast food meal deals: Pizza Hut will sell you items from a set menu for $5 each as long as you buy at least two; Wendy’s is offering a $4 meal where you get a Junior Bacon Cheeseburger, chicken nuggets, fries, and a drink; Burger King’s 5 for $4 menu includes bacon cheeseburger, small fries, chicken nuggets, beverage, and a chocolate chip cookie; and Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. have a $4 meal with a double cheeseburger, chicken sandwich, fries, and drink.
However, it is similar to Taco Bell’s new “Morning Value Menu.” Included on the menu are 10 breakfast items, some of which are new, for $1 each.
If you exhaust all the money on a prepaid debit card and have no intention of refilling it, your tendency is probably to simply discard the piece of plastic and move on with your life. But you may want to hold on to that card for a while, lest you have to jump through hoops if you return the purchase.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Money Matters column has the cautionary tale of a Best Buy shopper who received a rebate in the form of two $20 prepaid Visa cards, which she then used to pay for most of a $42.68 purchase at the electronics retailer.
Since the cards no longer had any value to her, the shopper got rid of them rather than continue to carry around seemingly worthless plastic.
The customer subsequently returned the purchase to Best Buy, but didn’t realize until later that her credit card had only been refunded the $2.68 she’d gone out-of-pocket for the transaction. The remaining $40 had been credited to the account numbers of the two prepaid cards she’d use to make the purchase.
Best Buy confirmed to Money Matters that the store’s policy is to refund purchases in whichever form they were originally made. The cashier should have instructed the customer to hold on to the cards in case she needed to return the item, but the retailer claims it’s likely the cashier in this case didn’t even notice the customer had used prepaid debit cards since the customer used a PIN pad rather than having the employee swipe the cards.
We question that logic, as the cashier should probably have noticed that the customer swiped three different cards at the PIN pad. Regardless…
After the customer noticed that the $40 had been refunded to cards she no longer had in her possession, Best Buy decided to provide her with a gift card for that amount. Of course, unlike prepaid debit cards she can only use that money at Best Buy.
Just let this be a lesson that even after you’ve exhausted a prepaid debit card, you’ll probably want to hold on to it — at least until the return window on all your purchases has closed.
Police in Michigan and the FBI say they’ve got a man in custody who admitted to spraying a mixture of mouse poison, hand cleaner, and water on produce and other unpackaged food at several grocery stores.
Earlier this week, officials said they were looking for a man caught on camera sprinkling a mysterious liquid on hot and cold food salad bars at an Ann Arbor, MI Whole Foods. Police have a man in custody now who they say admitted to contaminating food at that store — along with several other Whole Foods, Walmart, Meijer, Kroger, and Plum Market shops over the last few weeks, CBS Detroit reports.
The FBI said in a news release (via CBS News) that an investigation is ongoing to determine if other stores the suspect visited were affected.
All stores potentially involved have been informed of what went down, and law enforcement took additional samples from various locations for further testing.
No injuries or illnesses have been reported in connection with the incident, and state health officials said they’re not anticipating adverse health effects for anyone who consumed the mixture. Just in case, however, customers should exercise caution.
“[We] encourage consumers to dispose of any foods purchased from salad bars, olive bars and ready-to-eat hot and cold food areas from these stores between mid-March and the end of April,” said a spokesperson for the Michigan departments of Agriculture and Rural Development and Health and Human Services.
Here’s a list of all the stores that the FBI thinks may potentially have been targeted, based on the agency’s investigation:
Busch’s
2240 S Main Street
Ann Arbor, MI
Cupcake Station
116 E Liberty
Ann Arbor, MI
Family Fare
2026 North Saginaw
Midland, MI
Kroger
3838 Richfield Road
Flint, MI
Meijer, #108
7300 Eastman Ave
Midland, MI
Meijer, #64
3145 Ann Arbor-Saline
Ann Arbor, MI
Meijer, #213
9515 Birch Run Rd
Birch Run, MI
Millers Mini Mart
3001 Bay City Rd
Midland, MI
Plum Market
375 North Maple
Ann Arbor, MI
Target
2000 Waters Road
Ann Arbor, MI
Tsai Grocery
3115 Oak Valley Drive
Ann Arbor, MI
Walmart
910 Joe Mann Blvd
Midland, MI
Walmart
7000 E Michigan Ave
Saline, MI
Whole Foods
990 W Eisenhower Pkwy
Ann Arbor, MI
Whole Foods
3135 Washtenaw Ave
Ann Arbor, MI
Mobile phones are our constant companions, yet it’s easy to forget that they’re electronic devices packed full of delicate components and tiny but powerful rechargeable batteries. The Cherry Hill, NJ fire department says that this resident’s iPhone 6 overheated and burned through 12 pages of a notebook.
We normally connect incidents like this with faulty chargers or other flaws, but the high school student who owns the phone told the fire department that it wasn’t in use or charging at the time: just sitting on top of an apparently flammable notebook.
Just a few months ago, an iPhone 6 caught fire on an Alaska Airlines flight, but that device was in heavy use watching a movie, and was possibly plugged in at the time. Authorities didn’t know what made that phone suddenly burn up, though.
The fire department notes that you should contact your local firefighters, even if the fire or overheating is under control, so you have an official report to send to the device manufacturer and to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
**Picture of the Day** [Facebook] (Via CBS Philadelphia)
Grocery shoppers in the heartland will have one fewer store to choose from starting next week: The Fresh Market will close all of its stores in Texas, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas.
The grocer, which operates 175 stores in 23 states, announced Tuesday that it would close 13 stores on May 18, the Houston Chronicle reports.
The closures, which come just days after Apollo Global Management completed its $1.36 billion acquisition of the grocery chain, were initiated after an analysis of the company’s growth strategies and long-term finances.
CEO Rick Anicetti said in a statement that it was “a difficult but necessary step with the end goal of producing a strong, more agile company.”
Employees will be offered separation packages or the chance to work at other stores, The Fresh Market said.
“This shift also allows us to focus our energy and resources on the growth of our remaining stores, as well as new stores we have planned in the future,” Anicetti said. “We continue to pursue our strategy of offering exceptional products, engaging shopping experiences, and great customer service across all our stores.”
Analysts tell the Houston Chronicle that the chain likely found that it couldn’t compete with larger stores like H-E-B, Kroger, Whole Foods, Walmart and others.
“I think they were probably counting on the ’boutique’ aspect of popping in and getting a few things, being able to appeal to those as opposed to the once- or twice-weekly load-up-the cart shoppers,” Eric Lestin, senior vice president of retail real estate brokerage firm CBRE, said. “My sense is there just weren’t enough of those.”
In all, the closures affect 13 stores: two of which are in Iowa, two in Kansas, eight in Texas, and one in Missouri.
| State | City | Address | Zip Code |
| IA | West Des Moines | 5901 Mills Civic Parkway, Suite 4300 | 50266 |
| IA | Cedar Rapids | 180 Collins Road NE | 52402 |
| KS | Overland Park | 6261 West 135th Street | 66223 |
| KS | Wichita | 1800 N. Rock Road | 67206 |
| MO | St. Louis | 11557 Olive Boulevard | 63141 |
| TX | Dallas | 3888 Oak Lawn Avenue | 75219 |
| TX | Dallas | 7331 Gaston Avenue | 75214 |
| TX | Fort Worth | 1751 River Run | 76107 |
| TX | Houston | 2617 West Holcombe Boulevard | 77025 |
| TX | Houston | 12516 Memorial Drive | 77024 |
| TX | Houston | 5016 San Felipe Street | 77056 |
| TX | Southlake | 1001 E. Southlake Boulevard | 76092 |
| TX | Webster | 1519 West Bay Area Boulevard | 77598 |
Fresh Market to close all Texas stores, including 4 in Houston area [The Houston Chronicle]
Spoofing phone numbers — the practice of making it appear to the caller ID system that you’re calling from a different number — is not illegal, so long as the spoofing is not done to commit fraud or otherwise perpetrate a crime. But even when the intent of the spoofing crosses the legal line, does the company providing the spoofing service bear any culpability?
That’s the question underlying a lawsuit originally filed in 2013 against TelTech, the makers of SpoofCard, a service that lets users pay to disguise their phone number and even modify their voice to “protect yourself or pull a prank.”
In the original complaint [PDF] filed in a U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, the plaintiff alleged that SpoofCard’s technology was being abused “to commit acts of domestic violence, falsely accuse others of crimes, fake kidnappings, interfere with personal relationships, avoid lawful commitments (including jury duty), make false police reports, make false emergency calls, obtain evidence for court cases in a fraudulent and illegal manner, and otherwise defame, harass, annoy and invade the privacy of others.”
More precisely with regard to this lawsuit, the plaintiff said she received numerous harassing phone calls from someone using SpoofCard to pretend to be her neighbor. The calls were graphic in nature, with the caller exhorting the woman to meet him in the laundry room of her building for anal intercourse.
Police subsequently investigated the harassment and arrested the neighbor on the belief that he was making the calls. After his release on bail, the plaintiff continued to receive threatening calls. Once again, having good reason to believe they were coming from her neighbor, additional charges of felony witness intimidation were brought against him.
It wasn’t until ten months later that police learned that it was not the neighbor who had been making these offending calls, but a husband and wife who had been using SpoofCard to hide their phone numbers and disguise their voices.
The couple was arrested and charged with criminal harassment, making threats to commit a crime, intimidation of a witness, and misleading a police officer, while charges against the neighbor were all dropped.
Meanwhile, the plaintiff had to move from her home out of fear about her living situation, changed her job out of concern about traveling alone at night, while also suffering through “sleeplessness and severe and debilitating emotional distress.”
The lawsuit alleged that TelTech had known for years that its SpoofCard technology was being used for illegal purposes, pointing not only to law enforcement statements about the service, but the company’s own marketing, which included “testimonials” of users who had spoofed their numbers to illicit ends.
For example, one charming anecdote explains how a SpoofCard user deceived a pal into thinking he’d won a lottery:
TelTech was accused of violating state law by “engaging in immoral, unethical, oppressive, or unscrupulous behavior and business practices” and by “aiding and abetting and directly profiting from the criminal activity” of the actual callers who had harassed her and misled the police into charging the wrong person.
However, in July 2015, the court granted summary judgment in favor of TelTech [PDF], saying that even if the plaintiff could show that TelTech promoted SpoofCard as a tool for illegal activities, that she could not establish a link between that marketing and its specific use against her.
The judge pointed out that the couple who harassed the plaintiff had heard about SpoofCard from friends at a party, and that there was no evidence demonstrating that these friends had seen or were aware of SpoofCard’s marketing.
Even though the couple had to visit the SpoofCard website to pay for the service, the judge says there is no way to show that they visited the sections of the SpoofCard site highlighting the testimonials. As such, the judge felt that “no reasonable jury could conclude that defendant’s conduct caused plaintiff’s injuries.”
The woman nonetheless appealed her case to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which this week once again sided with TelTech.
In its ruling [PDF], the appeals panel takes issue with the plaintiff’s argument that SpoofCard can only be used for illegal purposes, noting that, for example, spoofing is used to protect the privacy of domestic violence victims who want to disguise their whereabouts.
Additionally, the court points out that while SpoofCard’s marketing may have played up the illegal aspects of the technology, its actual terms of service prohibit users from breaking the law or making “harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, sexually explicit… or otherwise objectionable” calls.
The appeals court acknowledges that the plaintiff was the “victim of something far worse than a prank, and she was victimized by use of a service that facilitated such awful conduct. But the District Court properly ruled that, on this record, the provider of that service was entitled to summary judgment on her state law claim.”
NEW YORK (AP) — Too many preschoolers with ADHD still are being put on drugs right away, before behavior therapy is tried, health officials say.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday that three in four young kids diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are put on medicines. New CDC data shows that’s continued, even after research found behavior therapy is as effective and doesn’t give children stomach aches, sleep problems or other drug side effects.
Why? Health insurance coverage for behavior therapy may vary from state to state and company to company. And in some areas, therapists are in short supply, some experts said.
On Tuesday, CDC officials doubled down on its previous recommendations, calling on doctors and families to try behavior therapy first.
ADHD makes it hard for kids to pay attention and control impulsive behavior. More than 6 million U.S. children have been diagnosed with it.
“By the time a parent comes to meet with me, they are tired and worried,” Dr. Georgina Peacock, a CDC developmental pediatrician who works with ADHD families. “They are concerned their child might jump down a flight of stairs, that the child could get lost in a grocery store, or that the child could be kicked out of preschool.”
There’s no blood test for ADHD. Diagnosis is a matter of expert opinion.
Studies have shown medications like ritalin help older children with ADHD. That success has fed a trend to treat younger kids the same way, but there’s been less study of how effective and safe the drugs are for preschoolers.
In behavior therapy, a therapist trains parents — commonly over eight or more sessions — how to guide a child’s behavior through praise, communication, routine and consistent discipline. However, it can take longer and demand more of parents.
In its new analysis, the CDC looked at insurance claims data for children ages 2 to 5. About a third of ADHD diagnoses in children are made by age 6, and many of those children have more pronounced symptoms.
The CDC found 75 percent of the children were on medicine. That was true both of Medicaid-covered children in low-income families, and kids covered by private insurance.
In contrast, only around half of children had received psychological services that might include behavior therapy training, the CDC found.
___
Online:
CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns
The post CDC: Preschoolers with ADHD often given drugs before therapy appeared first on WTOP.
TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) — The bodies of two men have been found on the campgrounds of Talladega Superspeedway.
Talladega County Coroner Shaddix Murphy tells local news outlets that the bodies of 19-year-old Joshua Doiun and 48-year-old James Cook were found Sunday in a camper.
He says both bodies have been sent to the state forensics lab to determine the cause of death. Foul play is not suspected.
Murphy says investigators haven’t determined how Doiun and Cook knew each other.
The post Coroner: 2 found dead at Talladega Superspeedway appeared first on WTOP.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Latest on chimps being moved from Louisiana lab to sanctuary (all times local):
2 p.m.
An animal rights activist says it’s “high time” that a Louisiana university retired 220 chimpanzees in a research lab and moved them to a sanctuary. And Michael Budkie of the group Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! says the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is taking a positive step by paying at least part of their cost at the new sanctuary in north Georgia.
But he says 5,000 monkeys still at the university’s New Iberia Research Center also should be removed from research.
University spokesman Charlie Bier did not respond directly, saying the university’s comments all are in a news release and frequently asked questions webpage.
The university says it’s been planning retirement and sanctuary for its chimpanzees for more than two years, and “the vast majority” were never part of any research. It says all were retired last year, and all have daily access to outdoor play areas and natural sunlight.
___
12:30 p.m.
A Louisiana university says all 220 chimpanzees at its research lab in New Iberia will be moving to a new sanctuary in north Georgia, in what appears to be a first for a non-federal lab.
A joint announcement Tuesday by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Project Chimps says the great apes will be moved to the sanctuary in Blue Ridge, Georgia, in social groups, starting in June and continuing over several years.
Project Chimps co-founder Sarah Baeckler (BEK-ler) Davis says it’s the first time a non-federal research program has arranged to release all of its research chimps. Project Chimps is a nonprofit created to house the New Iberia chimps.
The Humane Society of the United States confirms that this is the first large-scale relocation from a non-federal lab.
The post The Latest: Animal advocate: ‘High time’ chimps were moved appeared first on WTOP.
HONOLULU (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a Hawaii mother to a month in jail and three months under home confinement for assaulting her 15-month-old daughter on a flight from Alaska.
Samantha Leialoha Watanabe declined to speak at her sentencing hearing.
A jury convicted her of assault after last year’s trial where prosecutors alleged she cursed at her daughter, smacked her in the head, hit her in the face with a stuffed doll and yanked out tufts of her hair during the May 2015 Alaska Airlines flight.
Defense attorneys argued the allegations were fabricated by judgmental passengers who didn’t like how Watanabe looked and dressed her child. Watanabe didn’t do anything beyond permissible parental discipline during a long flight with a fussy toddler, her attorneys said. Prosecutors alleged she was unreasonably rough with the generally well-behaved girl.
In arguing for no jail time, public defender Alexander Silvert told the judge Watanabe is breastfeeding a baby she gave birth to prematurely last month. It’s her seventh child. She agreed to let the boy’s father have custody, but she sees the infant frequently enough for nursing, Silvert explained.
She doesn’t have custody of her six other children, including the girl she was traveling with when she was arrested.
Watanabe has led a hard life of drugs and homelessness, Silvert said. But since her arrest, she has made improvements to her life — from anger management to mental health and drug treatment, he said. Silvert asked the judge not to condemn her for that life.
“It was poor parenting skills that got us where we are today,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Wallenstein said in requesting the judge sentence her within a guideline range of four to 10 months. “No one in any socio-economic class is allowed to assault a 15-month-old child.”
In finding her guilty, jurors had to determine that an act of striking, occurred, but it’s not known which one they agreed upon. It could have been a pinch, or a slap or something else, Silvert said: “We have no idea what the jury convicted her of.”
Since her arrest, “you’ve done much better” in a clean and sober house, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Chang told Watanabe. He noted that her drug tests — and tests on the baby at birth — have been negative.
“I cannot say you’ve completely turned your life around,” Chang told her, but he said she has made significant progress.
A sentence that doesn’t include incarceration would minimize the seriousness of the crime, Chang said. The judge advised her to use the 30 days at the Honolulu Federal Detention Center for reflection.
She has until May 10 to surrender to authorities to begin her sentence.
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Follow Jennifer Sinco Kelleher at http://www.twitter.com/JenHapa. Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/jennifer-sinco-kelleher.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — New York’s iconic Stonewall Inn, where the modern gay rights movement took root, will become the first national monument honoring the history of gays and lesbians in the U.S. under a proposal President Barack Obama is preparing to approve.
Designating the small swath of land will mark a major act of national recognition for gay rights advocates and their struggles over the last half-century. Since the 1969 uprising in Greenwich Village, the U.S. has enacted anti-discrimination protections, allowed gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military and legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.
Though land must still be transferred to the federal government and other details worked out, the president is expected to move quickly to greenlight the monument following a public meeting Monday in Manhattan, according to two individuals familiar with the administration’s plans. The individuals weren’t authorized to discuss the plans publicly and requested anonymity.
Next month marks Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month in the U.S.
The gritty tavern, known colloquially as the Stonewall, became a catalyst for the gay rights movement after police raided it on June 28, 1969. Bar-goers fought back, and many more joined in street protests over the following days in an uprising widely credited as the start of large-scale gay activism in New York and around the word. Annual pride parades in hundreds of cities commemorate the rebellion.
The White House declined to comment. Yet Obama has paid tribute to the site before, most notably in his second inaugural address in 2013. In what’s believed to be the first reference to gay rights in an inaugural address, Obama said the principle of equality still guides the U.S. “just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall.”
New York lawmakers have long advocated for a national designation for the Stonewall. Last year, New York City made it a city landmark — the first named primarily because of significance to LGBT history. In Congress, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Jerrold Nadler — both Democrats — are pushing legislation to make the Stonewall a national park while urging Obama to commemorate the site through executive authority.
Nadler said the site would serve as “an important reminder of the struggle for equality in our country,” including the ongoing fight for rights for transgender people.
Proposals the Obama administration is considering include Christopher Park, a small public area on the street where the Stonewall is located, as well as the surrounding vicinity. At 51 Christopher St., where two adjoining buildings once housed the gay bar, the building where the current Stonewall Inn operates is still a popular gay gathering place. Originally built as stables in the 1840s, the structures still have the brick-and-stucco facade that greeted bar-goers in 1969.
A number of procedural steps stand between the Stonewall and formal designation by the president. The first step comes Monday evening at a public school in Manhattan, first reported by The Washington Post. The Interior Department said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis will attend an open meeting about proposals to “protect Christopher Park for future generations.”
Obama has made wide use of his power to designate monuments, not only to protect millions of acres of wilderness and ocean but also to honor groups whose struggles for equal treatment have become milestones in U.S. history. Last month, Obama named an historic Washington home as the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument.
The Human Rights Campaign and other gay rights groups cheered the forthcoming announcement. Corey Johnson, an openly gay New York City councilman who represents the area, said it was “incredibly important” for the federal government to recognize the site.
“What happened at Stonewall and at Christopher Park is a key chapter in American history,” Johnson said.
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Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo in New York contributed to this report.
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Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter at http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan man suspected of spraying a contaminant on unpackaged food at grocery stores faces four charges of poisoning food.
Kyle Bessemer appeared in an Ann Arbor court Thursday, two days after his arrest.
The FBI says Bessemer admitted to spraying a mixture of hand sanitizer, water and mouse poison on produce and food bars at three Ann Arbor stores: Whole Foods, Meijer and Plum Market. The charges cover two stores.
In court, investigators told a judge that the 29-year-old Bessemer believed someone was trying to poison him.
Bond was set at $250,000. An attorney for Bessemer will be assigned.
Shoppers have been encouraged to throw away uneaten food purchased from salad bars and ready-to-eat food areas between mid-March and the end of April.
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WASHINGTON — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said behavioral therapy should be the first line of treatment for children under 6 with ADHD. But far too many little kids with attention deficit hyperactive disorder who need therapy, don’t get it.
“There is just not enough resources for these kids,” said Dr. Bhavin Dave, a psychiatrist with the Children’s National Health System and associate director of their Infant and Toddler Mental Health Program.
He said there are only two or three psychiatrists in private practice in D.C. who work with preschoolers, along with those seeing kids through the city’s Department of Behavioral Health.
“Finding therapy resources is even more difficult,” Dave said, adding that he often has to scramble to try to find referrals for children who show up in his clinic.
It appears here, as in most other places around the country, trained therapists who can coach parents through the process of working with their ADHD children are in short supply. As a result, many of these kids are diagnosed or treated by family physicians or pediatricians who opt for drugs because other options are not readily available.
The CDC said three out of four kids with ADHD are still put on medications, despite lingering concerns about side effects. Studies have shown behavioral therapy to be just as effective and potentially much safer.
Dave said the advantage of medications is that they are available — all you need is a prescription and a pharmacist — and finding a therapist who deals with small children is difficult at best.
The CDC’s message to parents is “keep trying.” Also, there is a not-so subtle message to the health insurance industry, that it might be missing out on a more effective form of treatment.
“Finding a therapist is one obstacle and then once you find a therapist, finding one that is covered by insurance, that is the second big obstacle,” Dave said.
Coverage is actually better for kids on Medicaid than those covered by private insurance, he added. The CDC said 54 percent of preschoolers with ADHD on Medicaid got psychological services annually, compared to 45 percent of those with employer-sponsored insurance.
During behavior therapy, a therapist trains parents how to guide their child’s behavior using praise, communication and discipline.
“It really is those skills that every child needs to learn, it is just that it is a little bit harder for kids that have ADHD because their attention span is short and they have less impulse control,” Dave said.
ADHD makes it hard for kids to pay attention and control that impulsive behavior. More than 6 million American kids have it, and about one-third are diagnosed before the age of 6.
Local resources for kids with ADHD — in addition to programs at Children’s National — include the D.C. government’s Strong Start Program and Mary’s Center, which operates clinics in D.C. and Silver Spring.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — A fire that caused a Washington subway train to fill with smoke inside a downtown tunnel last year, killing one passenger and sickening dozens, can be traced to poor maintenance and ineffective inspection practices by the city’s beleaguered transit authority, federal investigators said Tuesday.
The National Transportation Safety Board issued its final report on the January 2015 fire at a meeting on Tuesday, placing the blame on the Metro transit authority for failing to properly install and maintain third-rail power cables, causing them to become damaged by water and other contaminants.
The NTSB also faulted Metro for a lack of smoke detectors in its tunnels, for ventilation fans that didn’t work properly and for not training its employees on how to use the fans. It also blamed the District of Columbia’s fire department and its 911 call center for delays in responding to the fire. Passengers waited on the smoke-filled train for more than 30 minutes before the first emergency responders arrived.
NTSB Chairman Christopher Hart said Metro did not make meaningful safety improvements between a deadly collision in 2009 and the 2015 fire, and investigators said some of the system’s safety problems date back to its first fatal accident in 1982.
The 2009 crash between two trains was the worst in Metro’s history, killing nine people. The board made several recommendations to Metro after that crash, but Hart said its warnings were not heeded.
“Little or no progress has been made toward building a meaningful safety culture,” Hart said, later adding: “When the NTSB finds itself issuing a continuous stream of accident reports to address the basic safety management of a single transit rail system, something is fundamentally flawed. Here, that something is safety oversight.”
Most of the facts surrounding the 2015 accident had already been made public by the NTSB. One disturbing detail that emerged at Tuesday’s meeting, however, was that Metro lacked any way to pinpoint the location of smoke or fire in the system’s tunnels and that trains full of passengers were routinely sent into tunnels to figure out where smoke was coming from. That practice has been discontinued and trains are now offloaded before operators move them into tunnels with possible smoke or fire, Metro general manager Paul Wiedefeld said Tuesday.
“This just seems reprehensible,” said Bella Dinh-Zarr, the board’s vice chairman. “The use of inadequately trained (Metro) employees and passengers as essentially canaries in the tunnel, that seems a very dangerous and risky practice.”
Joe Gordon, the lead NTSB investigator for the L’Enfant Plaza incident, says it appears Metro changed the practice sometime last year since it was handled correctly during a smoke incident near Friendship Heights on the Red Line in the months following the smoke near L’Enfant Plaza.
“So there’s a success story there that the did change the procedure and get the passengers out of the train,” Gordon said.
After the meeting, Hart said there was no evidence that the train in the 2015 accident was sent to investigate the source of smoke. Instead, he said, the operator continued into the tunnel despite the presence of smoke. Hart called that a “very bad idea” following the meeting.
“Our point is to use a train with appropriately staffed people who can identify what the problem is and do the proper response,” Hart said.
Metro’s standard operating procedures call for all trains to be stopped after a report of smoke, investigators said. But that wasn’t done, and the train was unable to back up into the L’Enfant Plaza station in part because another train was sitting on the platform behind it.
Carol Glover, 61, a federal employee from Alexandria, Virginia, who was on her way home from work, died after being stranded on the smoke-filled train. Her sons have filed a lawsuit against Metro.
In March, a similar fire that broke out before the system began carrying passengers for the day prompted Wiedefeld to shut down the entire system for more than 24 hours to conduct emergency inspections. Surveillance videos of that fire, in which large flashes could be seen inside a tunnel at the McPherson Square station near the White House, were made public during Tuesday’s meeting.
Since the 2015 fire, the U.S. Department of Transportation has temporarily granted safety oversight of Metro to the Federal Transit Administration. Hart and other NTSB members criticized that move, saying that Metro should be overseen by the Federal Railroad Administration, which has stronger enforcement powers, including the ability to punish rail networks for violations. Placing Metro under the railroad agency’s oversight would require action by Congress.
In a letter to Hart on Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx argued that the transit agency was providing robust oversight and said it would not “advance the cause” to ask Congress to transfer that authority to the railroad agency.
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Follow Ben Nuckols on Twitter at https://twitter.com/APBenNuckols . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/ben-nuckols.
WTOP’s Max Smith contributed to this report.
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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled that a person doesn’t need to pay alimony to a former spouse if the payee is in a new relationship with a member of the same sex.
The decision clarifies a section of Virginia’s divorce law which states that alimony payments can be cut off if the payee remarries or has been cohabiting with another person for at least a year.
The case stemmed from the 2008 divorce of Michael Luttrell and Samantha Cucco. Luttrell had agreed to pay alimony to Cucco for eight years, but sought to end payments in 2014 because Cucco was engaged to a new partner.
Cucco had argued the situation didn’t qualify as cohabitation because she was in a relationship with someone of the same sex.
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Imagine getting to the airport only to find that your driver’s license is not in your wallet. Maybe you left it at home or dropped it along the way, but looking for the misplaced license will cause you to miss your flight. Not to worry. While it might take a little longer, the Transportation Security Administration does provide a handful of options to get you through security without government issued ID.
In general, the TSA requires a federal- or state-issued photo ID to get through the checkpoint, but at the same time the agency realizes that — given the sheer number of people flying every day — there need to be work-arounds.
According to the TSA’s website, a federal- or state-issued photo identification is required to fly. However, the Administration understands this isn’t always possible.
“In the event you arrive at the airport without proper ID, because it is lost or at home, you may still be allowed to fly,” the TSA says on its website. “By providing additional information, TSA has other ways to confirm your identity, like using publicly available databases, so you can reach your flight.”
In some cases the TSA agent will ask a passenger to fill out a form, present another form of identification, and go through additional security screening.
The TSA’s website includes a list of alternative forms of identification, many that are to be expected — military IDs and permanent residence cards — but others are a bit more out-of-the-box, though they will all likely involve you having to spend extra time at the security checkpoint providing additional information.
It’s important to note that the alternative forms of ID mentioned here only apply to domestic travel. International trips still require a passport or passport-like document.
1.) Credit Cards — If you’ve got a credit card with your photo on it, that’s a solid alternative for getting through security. Even if you don’t have a photo on the card, the Points Guy explains that TSA may still use the cards as a way to verify your identity, either by asking you additional questions or by calling the credit card company.
2.) Costco Card — Back in 2013, we reported that TSA agents suggested to a California news station that a Costco card would be a viable substitute for a forgotten government-issued ID.
Since a Costco card includes a photo, it helps to demonstrate you are who you claim to be. However, the agents caution that using this form of identification would still likely lead to additional screening: answering questions or submitting baggage to a secondary check.
3.) School ID or Library Card — While travelers under the age of 18 aren’t required to provide valid identification at TSA checkpoints, a school ID can be a suitable alternative for adult passengers.
These cards generally come with a students’ photo, and in some cases their date of birth or address. Additionally, a library card can serve the same purpose. Again, expect to be asked some additional questions before being allowed to pass through the checkpoint.
4.) Checkbooks — While most people don’t tote around their checkbooks like they used to, the rectangular piece of paper can serve as another way to confirm a passenger’s identity.
A New York Times columnist recalled the time she used the bank notes to get though security on a previous trip. The agent examined the checkbook, which included her and her husband’s name and address.
“Then, he called someone else on his phone, and asked me some questions — things like my previous addresses and my date of birth,” the writer notes, saying the process was similar to opening a bank account or obtaining a credit report.
5.) Photos of your IDs — Sure, having the hard copy in your hand is the best option, but taking the time to photograph your IDs and storing them on your phone can be a handy alternative in the case your wallet is stolen or lost during your trip.
The Points Guy notes that using such a process could also help you prove your identity at hotels or other places in which you have a reservation.
While these five ID substitutes may come in handy they aren’t foolproof, passage through security — and the additional screening — can vary from airport to airport.
And, of course, there isn’t anything stopping a TSA agent from denying you access to your gate even if you have a valid ID.
In 2014, a reporter encountered a TSA agent that was unaware that the man’s Washington D.C. license was a valid form of ID. The passenger explained that the District of Columbia, while not a state, is a part of the U.S. and he was granted passage through security.
A crying child on a flight can be a difficult endeavor for passengers and parents alike. In an attempt to create goodwill between fussy babies and exasperated passengers, JetBlue provided travelers with an unusual incentive on a recent flight: endure the cries and get a free flight.
In honor of Mother’s Day (which is Sunday, don’t forget), JetBlue — which has been giving away free flights liberally recently — released a YouTube video aimed at honoring and encouraging flying mothers.
The video, which documents a recent flight from New York to Long Beach, CA, follows several mothers and their young children preparing and eventually traveling with the airline.
The women express their concerns about flying alone with their babies, noting that the process is more stressful than flying alone, and that they “don’t want to be that lady with the baby who is screaming for four hours.”
Shortly after boarding, a JetBlue flight attendant announces that this trip is going to be a bit different.
Each time a baby cries, passengers will receive 25% off a round-trip ticket with the airline.
This appears to change the attitude of some passengers, who swapped scowls for smiles.
In the end, four babies cried at some point during the trip. Those cries weren’t greeted with sighs, eye rolls, or head shaking. Instead, passengers applauded.
“Next time, smile at a baby for crying out loud,” JetBlue says in the video.
Erin Fritch, one of the mothers who participated in the video, tells Consumerist that other passengers’ attitudes can certainly have an effect on children during a flight.
In New York City, construction companies can get temporary “No Parking” orders to make it easier to move their equipment and materials in and around a job site. And while drivers who ignore these signs can have their vehicles ticketed and towed, the construction workers do not have the authority to relocate those cars with a forklift.
CBS New York has reported on multiple stories of people in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg section having their cars illegally moved onto sidewalks with the aid of a forklift.
First came the family who managed to get video evidence of their SUV being moved by construction workers.
At first, the family wondered how their new Infiniti SUV had gotten one corner several feet up onto the sidewalk, resting up against a tree. There was also visible damage to the rear bumper:
Additionally, the SUV now has issues with steering and braking.
Then a neighbor showed them video footage of their car being picked up and moved by a forklift from the neighboring construction site, where a large apartment building is in the works.
Others in the area say these forklift relocations happen “every day” near the job site.
And that claim seems to be bolstered by the latest report from CBS New York, involving a local man whose Lexus was picked up by a forklift and moved completely off the road and onto the sidewalk, resulting in thousands of dollars in damage.
Two other residents in the neighborhood tell the station that they too have had their cars pushed around by the over-eager forklift.
The “No Parking” signs used by the construction workers appeared to be unofficial, nothing that anyone with a printer and photocopier couldn’t make in a few seconds, but CBS confirms that the developer did indeed get the proper approvals to have empty streets during construction.
Regardless of whether or not any of these drivers were parked illegally, there are non-forklift avenues available for clearing in-the-way cars.
Two Trees Management, the developer of the new building, tells CBS that it has reprimanded the subcontractor for its “unacceptable behavior,” and that this subcontractor will fully pay for any damages.
Is a selfie stick convenient? Sure, it works great for snapping self-portraits and means you don’t have to ask strangers to take your picture. But it sure as heck isn’t a good thing to use on a roller coaster while it’s in motion. Yeah, we’re looking at you, person who whipped out one of the gadgets on a ride at Disneyland.
The rider’s ill-fated photo opportunity happened around 5:30 on Monday afternoon on the California Screamin’ Roller coaster at Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, CA, KTLA.com reports.
A Disney spokeswoman said the rider was spotted using the selfie stick, forcing park officials to shut down the ride and remove all the passengers. FOX-LA reports that the riders were stranded for the hour that the ride was down, but it’s unclear how quick the evacuation process was.
Disney banned selfie sticks in all its Disneyland and Disney World theme parks last June — a policy that went into place a week after another visitor pulled out a selfie-stick mid-ride on the very same roller coaster.
“We strive to provide a great experience for the entire family, and unfortunately selfie-sticks have become a growing safety concern for both our guests and cast,” a Disney World spokeswoman said at the time.
Other places selfie sticks are not allowed: Smithsonian Museums, as well as a bunch of other cultural institutions like the Museum of Modern Art and The Guggenheim.
It’s also not a great idea to get so distracted by your selfie stick that you get too close to a bison or a bear in the wild.
While the beef, pork, and poultry industries have been heavily criticized for using the large majority of antibiotics sold in the U.S. to fatten up their animals, that doesn’t mean that American physicians are being terribly judicious about the antimicrobials they prescribe. A new report shines a light on just how many antibiotic prescriptions are unnecessary, increasing the risk of developing drug-resistant superbugs.
The report [PDF] from the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveys the use of antibiotics in outpatient medicine and turns up some troubling numbers.
For example, the analysis found that 30% of all antibiotic prescriptions written following outpatient office visits were unnecessary. That equates to nearly 50 million unwarranted prescriptions a year in the U.S. alone.
Prescriptions are frequently written for acute respiratory conditions like bronchitis, pharyngitis, asthma, allergies, and influenza. Many of these conditions will not respond to antibiotics, meaning the drugs are just going to waste. Click the chart at left to see the report’s breakdown on which conditions are receiving the most inappropriate prescriptions.
This data backs up a recent study which found 71% of doctors are still writing unhelpful prescriptions for acute bronchitis, even though healthcare industry guidelines have long stated that antibiotics should not be prescribed to patients whose only ailment is acute bronchitis.
When looking at the age breakdown for antibiotics prescriptions, kids under the age of ten are being prescribed these drugs at the highest rates. In fact, children ages 2 and under are averaging more than one antibiotic prescription per child per year. That declines by nearly half for children ages 3 through 9, with nearly 7-in-10 children being prescribed an antibiotic each year.
While the Pew report accounts for millions of prescriptions written during outpatient visits to doctors’ offices, it does not include data for increasingly popular settings like retail clinics, urgent care facilities, and telemedicine. It also does not include data from dentists, who represent around 9% of all outpatient antibiotics prescriptions. Nor is the report able to factor in the prescribing done by physician assistants and nurse practitioners.
As such, the report’s authors note that the recommendations made regarding specific reductions of antibiotics use should be treated as a minimum if the U.S. is going to reach its goal of cutting overuse in half by 2020.
“The more antibiotics are used, the less effective they become. Reducing the needless use of antibiotics will slow the emergence of antibiotic-resistant microbes, so-called superbugs, which are among the most urgent public health threats of our time,” said Kathy Talkington, director of Pew’s antibiotic resistance project. “Patients and health care providers must work together to understand when antibiotics will help and when they won’t, and help preserve these lifesaving drugs for patients who really need them.”
Antibiotics overuse isn’t just a case of wasted pills and money; overprescribed antibiotics can do more harm than good. In addition to concerns about encouraging the development of drug-resistant bacteria, antibiotics overuse can also lead to a colon infection from Clostridium difficile bacteria, resulting in potentially lethal diarrhea.
According to the report, half a million people a year fall ill with this infection, with 15,000 of them dying. In all, it’s estimated that more than 140,000 Americans head to the emergency room each year because of adverse events related to antibiotics.
“Prescribing unnecessary antibiotics is just one element of inappropriate use of antibiotics,” said Lauri Hicks, D.O., director of the CDC’s Office of Antibiotic Stewardship in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. “Healthcare providers can also prescribe antibiotics at the wrong dose or for the wrong duration, amplifying the extent of inappropriate use. Setting a national target to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use is the first step, and we must work together across the health care continuum to reach this goal.”
In recent months, we’ve seen a scam aiming to social engineer payroll information out of employees hit well-known companies like Snapchat and Seagate. The fraudsters’ goal is to get employees’ personal information and salary data, and file tax returns to collect refunds under their names. Now the tax scammers have found the ultimate source of payroll data: they’re able to access some companies’ accounts with payroll processing company ADP.
You may not recognize the name ADP, but most adults have probably held at least one job where the company printed their paychecks. Around the world, the company has 610,000 clients. That’s companies, not individuals.
For example, they handle payroll for U.S. Bancorp, and Krebs on Security shared a letter that a reader received when they were the victim of one of these breaches. Employees received a notice that fraudsters had established fake accounts under real employees’ names, harvesting their payroll information. Presumably, this data would later be used for tax refund scamming.
Bancorp has around 64,000 employees, and not all of them were victims of this scam. To establish a fake account on the ADP portal, the scammers needed to know that the person works for U.S. Bancorp, and pieces of personal data that are common targets for identity thieves, like the person’s name, date of birth, and Social Security number. Victims needed to already be victims of identity theft.
Another key part of the breach is that the employer needed to make the company-specific URL and a company code public. Simply having employee handbooks or information on how to find one’s W-2 available on a public Internet page instead of a building-exclusive intranet would be enough to put the not-so-secret URL and code in the fraudsters’ hands.
U.S. Bancorp became aware of the breach on April 19, after the tax deadline, but tax returns for 2015 may have already been filed for employees.
Fraudsters Steal Tax, Salary Data From ADP [Krebs on Security]
Last week, we learned that vegetables produced by CRF Frozen foods and sold under national and store brands had been recalled due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, a dangerous foodborne pathogen. The company expanded the recall to include all frozen fruits and vegetables processed at its plant in Pasco, WA since May of 2014. That includes 358 different varieties of frozen fruits and veggies sold under 42 brand names sold in all 50 states. It’s a lot of food.
Frozen vegetables, after all, have a very long shelf life, and can lurk in customers’ home freezers for years after they were sold. Glance over the list of brand names in this post: if anything sounds familiar, check it against the original and expanded recall lists for the specific fruit or vegetable, brand, size, and finally production code of the product that you have.
If you have any questions about a product that you’ve purchased or about the recall in general, call CRF Frozen Foods at 844-483-3866. You can also e-mail CRF8364@stericycle.com.
Here are the brands that you should look for in your freezer:
What fruits and vegetables should you be looking for? The company provided a partial list in its recall notice, which includes organic and non-organic broccoli, butternut squash, carrots, cauliflower, corn, edamame, green beans, Italian beans, kale, leeks, lima beans, onions, peas, pepper strips, potatoes, potato medley, root medley, spinach, sweet potatoes, various vegetable medleys, blends, and stir fry packages, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, peaches, raspberries, and strawberries.
CRF Frozen Foods Recalls Frozen Vegetables Due to Possible Health Risk [Original Press Release]
