Hospital fined after patient wakes during organ harvesting operation

An apparently brain-damaged 41-year-old American woman awoke during an operation to harvest her organs. According to the Syracuse Post-Standard, the horrifying error happened in a hospital in Syracuse, New York, in 2009, but was never reported in the media. Staff at St Joseph's Hospital Health Centre missed obvious indications that Colleen S. Burns did not have irreversible brain damage, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report in which the hospital was reprimanded for a series of errors. In October 2009 Burns overdosed on a cocktail of drugs. She was taken to the emergency ward where she suffered seizures. Subsequent EEGs indicated a "poor prognosis" and doctors suggested the family withdraw life support. The family agreed to the harvesting. Burns awoke just as the operation was beginning. Drug overdoses can often mimic brain damage. But the hospital care seemed to be quite deficient. The HHS criticised a nurse for ignoring the reactions of Burns to a reflex test – Burns’s toes curled after her toes were scraped. The report also stated that staff failed to test whether all the drugs had passed from her system before the harvesting operation. It said that more brain scans were needed. St Joseph's was fined US$6,000 for the errors, ordered to review its quality assurance program, and was told to hire a consulting neurologist to teach staff how to diagnose brain death. Why didn’t the story emerge earlier? Burns was too depressed to worry about the mistake, her family said. She committed suicide two years later in 2011. Neither she nor her relatives bothered to sue the hospital. Source: Bioedge

Read More........ → October 17, 2013

Japan's largest warship sparks concern

Japan Tuesday unveiled the biggest warship since World War II, sparking grave concerns about the country's military buildup as observers said the vessel is actually an aircraft carrier. Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's helicopter destroyer DDH183 Izumo, the largest surface combatants of the Japanese navy, is seen during its launching ceremony in Yokohama, south of Tokyo August 6, 2013. [Photo/CFP]

The Japanese military held a ceremony in the port city of Yokohama to show off its new helicopter carrier 22DDH, which is expected to be a centerpiece of its naval power under the Self-Defense Forces, which are banned from aggressive action. The warship is 248 meters in length and 38 meters in width, and is expected to deploy the military ship in March 2015 for the Maritime Self-Defense Forces (MSDF). Tokyo's move coincided with Manila's latest efforts to upgrade its military, as the Philippine navy received a second former US coast guard ship. Manila received the first ship in 2011. Analysts believed that the upgraded warships in Japan and the Philippines are efforts to gain an upper hand in maritime disputes with China, as well as a catalyst igniting an arms race that would escalate regional tensions. China's Ministry of National Defense expressed concern on Tuesday about Japan's "continuous military buildup" and urged it to adhere to peaceful self-defense. "Japan should reflect on its history, adhere to self-defense and the promise of following the path of peaceful development," the ministry's bureau for media affairs told China Daily. The ministry also called for Japan's neighbors and the international community to be "highly alert". The Japanese-built carrier has a displacement of around 20,000 tons. It can accommodate 14 helicopters and will play a major role in disaster and rescue missions, as well as defend sea passages and Japanese territory, according to Japan's defense ministry. But it is much larger than many countries' aircraft carriers in terms of displacement and deck length, and it can be easily and swiftly refitted to support F35-B fighters, which have strong combat capabilities, said Zhang Junshe, a senior researcher at the People's Liberation Army Naval Military Studies Research Institute. "It is an aircraft carrier, and Japan just called it 'a helicopter destroyer' to downplay its aggressive nature," Zhang said. Japan, defeated in World War II, is creating regional tensions by breaking the postwar order, he added. The vessel was named Izumo, the same name as the flagship of the Japanese fleet that invaded China in the 1930s. Although the vessel is not 100 percent an aircraft carrier at the moment, it can be a platform for Japanese forces to train under circumstances similar to that of an aircraft carrier, said Jin Canrong, an international affairs professor at Renmin University of China. Besides, Tokyo likely intentionally chose the date of the vessel's debut — the 68th anniversary of the US dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima — to woo public support for the government's military ambitions by taking advantage of sentiments about the attack, Jin said. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been considering developing a regular army, which would require changing the Constitution imposed on Japan by the United States and its allies after World War II. But a possible overhaul of the Constitution has stirred strong reactions among Japan's neighbors, which have long maintained that Tokyo has never come to terms with its militaristic past. "Washington, which currently is facing defense budget cuts, needs Tokyo's assistance to guarantee the US focus on Asia. ... This also encourages Abe to beef up Japan's military," Jin added. China has always maintained that cooperation among countries should be conducive to regional peace and stability, according to the Ministry of National Defense's response to US-Philippine military cooperation. Manila said last week that Washington had stepped up its military assistance package in the next fiscal year to about $50 million from $30 million, the highest level since US troops returned to the Philippines in 2000. MILITARY SPENDING: Japan 2012 Japanese Cabinet meeting passed a $200 million budget for Japan Coast Guard, which is expected to buy 4,000-ton-class patrol boats, three 30-meter patrol boats and three helicopters. June 29 Japanese defense ministry declared a $128 million contract with the US, purchasing four F-35 joint strike fighters. Japan plans to buy a total of 42 such fighters. 2013 Japanese Cabinet passed the fiscal year 2013 budget. The national defense budget increased by $406.4 million compared with last year, which is also the first growth in 11 years. Japan built a 5000 ton destroyer, DD115 19DD Akizuki, at the cost of $720 million. Philippines May 2011 The Philippines navy bought its first Hamilton-class cutter from the United States in May and renamed it as BRP Gregorio del Pilar May 2012 The Philippines’ defense minister announced military modernization with 138 projects and a $1.67 billion defense budget. Jan 30, 2013 The Philippines announced a purchase of 12 FA-50 fighters from the Republic of Korea. July The Philippines announced a $1.8 billion budget for military equipment procurement. July 31 The Philippines said the US had increased its annual military aid from $30 million to $50 million. August 3 The Philippines said it would buy the 26-year-old La Tapageuse from French Navy. The vessel is to be handed over to Philippines in 2015. Source: China.org.cn

Read More........ → August 14, 2013

Monopoly's Mobile Buyout & Google Plugs Bluebox's Hole

Hasbro, the company known for G.I. Joe and Battleship, will be taking their brand digital with a new acquisition announced late last night. In a deal worth $112 million, Hasbro bought a 70% stake in Colorado based Backflip Studios, the mobile game maker behind popular games such as Dragonville, NinJump and Paper Toss. Mobile gaming companies like King may find similar valuations as they launch their own IPOs, in the near future. A large restructuring is being blamed for a number of layoffs at San Francisco's digital outsourcing market "TaskRabbit". To account for that shift, earlier this year the company launched their TaskRabbit for Business service, and even tested the service by staffing this year's South-by-SouthWest. It's believed that the recent layoffs may just be a cost of the businesses shift in focus. Beats Electronics, maker of the popular "Beats By Dr. Dre" line of headphones , hopes to enlist the marketing muscle of AT&T to aid in the launch of their planned streaming music service. The goal, according to company CEO Jimmy Iovine, is to bundle the upcoming Beats service, called Daisy, with AT&T's data plan as a way to gather the biggest audience as quickly as possible. Make magazine, the company behind Maker Faire, may have a solution that could help both educate and entertain children staying at home this summer. Maker Camp is a thirty day long "do-it-yourself" event that runs using the Google-Plus platform, and connects followers to a
number of  activities and challenges throughout the Summer. Anyone in the world can participate, and best of all, the whole service is free. Podio, Citrix's online collaboration platform, just rolled out a new video conferencing tool that has the potential to blow away the competition. The addition of a video chat to the platform enables users to speak with colleagues to solve issues in real time, and a new built-in file-sharing feature will help collaborators distribute work without having to rely on email. Justin Carter, aged nineteen, is being held under suicide watch in a Comal County Jail, just outside of San Antonio, Texas, for words he said during an argument on Facebook, over a disagreement with players from the online game League of Legends. After one participant called him crazy, Justin replied, among other inflammatory language, "I think I'll shoot up a kindergarten and watch the blood of the innocent rain down and eat the beating heart of one of them." After posting his comments, an anonymous caller tipped-off the police, who then arrested the teen for making terroristic threats. Mr. Carter, who was eighteen at the time of the arrest, spent the last four months in jail, and isn't likely to get out anytime soon. Bluebox security claimed to have discovered a vulnerability in Android's security that could allow hackers to convert nearly every application into Trojan malware. Now, Google is reporting that the hole has been patched, and the fix has been passed onto all original equipment manufacturers. Warning about the seriousness of the issue, Bluebox Security CTO Jeff Forristal said this vulnerability has been "around at least since the release of Android one-point-six, and could affect any Android phone released in the last four years — or nearly nine-hundred million devices." Now, it's simply a matter of time until Android users receive the update from their hardware vendors, at which point the security issue should finally come to an end. Image: Screen Shot On Video

Read More........ → July 12, 2013