Journal hands over missing Prozac papers

British Medical Journal hands over Prozac papers: "Confidential papers on anti-depressant drug Prozac that went missing during a murder case have been handed to the US drug regulator by a UK medical journal.

The documents, belonging to Eli Lilly, the makers of Prozac, included details of clinical trials of the drug, the British Medical Journal said.

The documents reportedly went missing after the relatives of the victims of Joseph Wesbecker started legal action.

Mr Wesbecker, who was on Prozac, shot eight people dead in 1989 in the US.

Another 12 people were injured during the shooting spree at a printing plant in Louisville, Kentucky."

Dr Richard Kalpit, the clinical reviewer at the US Food and Drug Administration, the US drugs regulator, who approved the drug, told the BMJ he was not given the data included in the documents.

"These data are very important. If this report was done by Lilly or for Lilly, it was their responsibility to report it to us and to publish it."

The FDA is now reviewing the papers, which were given to the BMJ by an anonymous source.

Cyber crime booms in 2004

Cyber crime booms in 2004

The last 12 months have seen a dramatic growth in almost every security threat that plague Windows PCs.

The count of known viruses broke the 100,000 barrier and the number of new viruses grew by more than 50%.

Similarly phishing attempts, in which conmen try to trick people into handing over confidential data, are recording growth rates of more than 30% and attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Earthquakes Moving North?

Earthquake hits Antarctic island southeast of Australia

SYDNEY, Australia - An earthquake strong enough to destroy a city rocked a remote stretch of ocean floor between Australia and the Antarctic early Friday, shaking buildings in the southern island state of Tasmania but causing no injuries, seismologists said.

The 8.1-magnitude quake hit 495 kilometers (305 miles) north of Macquarie Island just before 2 a.m. (1500 GMT), according to the U.S. Geological Survey's Web site.

This was followed 3 days later by the undersea earthquake which caused the catastrophic tsunami now affecting many of the countries on the Indian ocean.

The 9.0 magnitude earthquake happened just off the coast of the large Indonesian island of Sumatra early on Sunday, and set off huge waves that reached as far as Africa.

Aid is being rushed to the regions affected, with many countries donating.

However, the sudden tectonic shift on the antarctic plate clearly transferred massive stresses onto adjacent tectonic neighbours. These ripples are being felt as far north as Alaska and all around the Pacific basin, especially in Japan and also some recent seismic swarms along the San Andreas fault-line.

This seems to indicate a larger than normal shift in the pacific plate, probably as a result of the sudden violent movement of the antarctic tectonic plate, however, the real thrust of movement seems to have been north westwards.

At a magnitude 9.0, the undersea earthquake has transferred huge stresses north-eastwards and westwards. The energy involved is incomprehensible.

It's a sick, sick, world - mother murdered, baby cut from womb

Baby cut from womb 'found alive'

US police believe they have found alive a baby girl who was taken from her murdered mother's womb.

Eight-months pregnant Bobbi Jo Stinnett was found strangled in her Missouri home on Thursday. Her unborn child had been cut from her womb.

Yushchenko 'given Agent Orange ingredient'

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports |

A scientist analysing the compound used to poison Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko have determined that he was given TCDD, an ingredient of Agent Orange.

At the weekend, doctors at an Austrian clinic treating Mr Yushchenko confirmed that the dramatic transformation in his appearance - from healthy-faced to bloated and pockmarked - was due to dioxin poisoning.

Though doctors say they do not know who had poisoned Mr Yushchenko in September, they said the substance had probably been added to his food, and that just a bit more would have killed him.

TCDD is the acronym for tetrachlorodibenzoparadioxin - the most harmful known dioxin. As a component of the herbicide Agent Orange, which the US military used to clear jungle during the Vietnam war, it caused a wide variety of health problems for US veterans and Vietnamese villagers.

Tests on Mr Yushchenko's blood were conducted by Abraham Brouwer, professor of environmental toxicology at the Free University in Amsterdam. He confirmed that the politician's blood contained 100,000 units of dioxin, the second highest concentration ever recorded.

"It is a single chemical, not a mix," Mr Brouwer said. "This tells us ... there is no way it occurred naturally because it is so pure."

Mr Yushchenko, whose party managed to overturn the contested results of last month's presidential election in Ukraine, will stand again for president in a re-run of his contest with the country's Kremlin-backed prime minister, Viktor Yanukovich, on December 26.

He was taken ill following a dinner with the head of Ukraine's state security services.

Loss of smell offers clue to Alzheimer's

Smell test offers clue to Alzheimer's

Telegraph - A patient's inability to identify common smells such as lemon and soap can help doctors to diagnose early Alzheimer's disease in those who have developed mild mental problems, researchers said yesterday.

A five-year study by doctors from the New York State Psychiatric Institute found that patients with "minimal to mild cognitive impairment" who failed the "10 smell test" were much more likely to develop Alzheimer's compared with healthy elderly people.

Prof Devanand told the meeting that other studies of the brains of Alzheimer's patients had shown that the nerve pathways involved in perceiving and recognising odours were among some of the first functions to be affected.

Which tends to point towards a mechanism involving the olfactory bulb as at least involved in causing the disease, perhaps through infection within the sinus to which the olfactory bulb connects; the only part of the brain in direct contact with the external environment.

Breaking News -- Ukraine candidate 'was poisoned'

Ukraine candidate 'was poisoned'

Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko's mystery illness was caused by poisoning, his Vienna doctors say.

The doctors said extensive tests showed a form of dioxin had been used, leaving Mr Yushchenko's face disfigured.

Wanted! (and caught) by Saint Paul Police

WANTED! For prostitution

Warrants have been issued for the following persons in connection with their arrests for engaging in prostitution. These warrants for arrest are active as of February 4, 2003, and were issued for failure to appear in court.

You can also check out this week's photo's and if you aren't satisfied with those, last week's bevy of beauties and some of their handsome hunk 'boyfriends' can also be admired.

Ukrainian opposition leader Yushchenko poisoned with unknown toxin

Ukrainian opposition leader Yushchenko poisoned with unknown toxin

The poison deteriorated the liver, the pancreas and the intestines



Pravda - Viktor Yushchenko, the opposition's candidate of the notorious presidential election in Ukraine, has suffered an assassination attempt. The opposition leader was poisoned prior to the election, Dr. Nikolai Korpan from the Vienna-based Rudolfinerhaus hospital said.

According to the Ukrainian newspaper Facts, the story started on September 5th, when Viktor Yushchenko had dinner with the security service director Igor Smeshko and his deputy Vladimir Satsyuk. Yushchenko asked them to "stop interfering in the political struggle." The opposition leader became sick several hours later, when the dinner was over.

Viktor Yushchenko's wife, Ekaterina Yushchenko, narrated the continuation of the story to the Zerkalo Nedeli newspaper: "Viktor came home at night of September 6th very late. I kissed him as usual and tasted something medical on my lips. I even asked my husband, if he had taken a medication. Viktor just answered that he had not; he said he was tired," Ekaterina Yushchenko told the newspaper.

The opposition leader was hospitalized to the Rudolfinerhaus hospital with a strong stomachache, nausea and skin disturbances on his body and face. Doctors diagnosed disorders in Yushchenko's liver, pancreas and the intestines; the digestive system was covered with ulcers. Medics evaluated the possible death rate on the level of 15 percent. However, they could not find the reason of the disease, and the restless Ukrainian politician returned to Ukraine a week later. Yushchenko had to return to the hospital in two weeks and complained of loin pains. He came back to Ukraine to continue the political battle again, although a half of his face was paralyzed. In addition, doctors inserted a catheter in his spine for analgesic injections.

The doctors could not prove the fact of possible poisoning. British, American and French medics united in an attempt to find out the reason of Viktor Yushchenko's ailment. The doctors thoroughly examined the politician, took his blood samples, analyzed previous medical certificates and concluded that Viktor Yushchenko suffered from a rare type of poison. "We will expose the results in the near future and announce the reason of the mysterious disease," doctors said.

British toxicologist John Henry supposed that Viktor Yushchenko had been poisoned with dioxine. Rudolfinerhaus specialists did not even check the substance's presence in Yushchenko's body, because the alterations on his face were not as visible as they became later. In addition, the opposition leader declined biopsy, because he did not want Ukrainians see him with stitches on his face.

If Viktor Yushchenko had come to the hospital again, the doctors would have given the final diagnosis in two or three days. They are certain that the patient will recover completely, if he returns to the hospital for a special treatment. Viktor Yushchenko, however, does not plan a trip to Vienna yet.

Beauty Parlour Stroke Syndrome

Warning over 'hair salon stroke'

A widower has urged women to be careful when visiting the hair salon after his wife died from a stroke.

Malcolm Crabb believes his wife Pamela, 51, suffered so-called Beauty Parlour Stroke Syndrome after her head was bent back while being washed at a salon.

Experts believe that when the head is pushed backwards onto a sink it can lead to overextension in the neck.

A consultant neurologist at Cumberland Infirmary, David Bateman, said: "If your neck is stretched and it kinks for a long time - as happens during hairwashing - you stretch the arteries and if you are unlucky you can tear them."

Bleeding between layers of tissue can cause blood clots to build up, leading to a stroke, he told the Times.

Triumph for People Power After Ukraine Vote Annulled

Triumph for People Power After Ukraine Vote Annulled

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko declared victory in an "orange revolution" on Friday after the ex-Soviet state's top judges annulled a rigged election and ordered a new vote on Dec. 26.

The Supreme Court ruling is a slap in the face for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who only on Thursday met outgoing Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and said he was right to oppose a re-run of the poll's final round last month.

A triumphant Yushchenko addressed tens of thousands of supporters in the center of the capital Kiev, telling them to stay in the streets until Kuchma sacked the government and the election commission that held the tainted vote.


Picture 1: 2004

Picture 2: 2004


These shocking pictures are of the same man; Victor Yushchenko, the opposition leader in the Ukraine and the man who most say should have been voted into office had the elections not been rigged.

Too much vodka or something more sinister?
What makes these pictures so appalling is that those in the know say he was poisoned in order to disfigure him on Russian government orders to try to put the voters off!