It’s been more than three years now since America’s Roman Catholic bishops met in Dallas and issued their charter concerning the protection of young people from clergy sexual abuse. No one I know, least of all the victims, think that that meeting stopped the horrors and coverups of the crisis in the Catholic Church. However, at least it made everyone aware of the nature and scope of the crisis. That’s why I find it hard to fathom what the Catholic Church leaders in Ireland have been doing the last three years since Dallas. Most recently the Ferns inquiry report severely criticized the Irish Catholic Church for sex abuse scandal and its ensuing and ongoing coverup. The Irish government has finally stepped in and pledged to do what the Church is unwilling or incapable of doing in this mess. Just yesterday, Bishop Eamonn Walsh, Apostolic Administrator of the Ferns diocese confirmed that five priests with pending abuse allegations are still in active ministry! If the Catholic Church in Ireland does not move quickly and attempt to rectify the situation it will lose all of its already diminishing credibility and moral authority.
SNAP Asks Cardinal Rigali To Support Sex Abuse Law
The group Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) has asked Philadelphia Archbishop Justin Cardinal Rigali to support legal changes and punish church officials who had a role in the local church’s sexual misconduct and abuse of minors. The 4 page letter was delivered at a sidewalk protest outside the archdiocesan headquarters in Center City. The SNAP letter asked that Rigali “publicly endorse and lobby for” a legal window granting adult victims of clergy abuse a year to file civil suits, in spite of the expired statute of limitations. In response to the letter and protest, Archdiocesan officials issued a statement pledging to take any necessary steps to protect young people. It is still too early to tell if the church’s response is more of an empty public relations or a truly meaningful step toward reform and healing. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has been rocked by turmoil ever since a grand jury report was made public detailing the nature and scope of the clergy abuse scandal in Philadelphia.
New Study Reveals Financial Conflict of Interest in Drug Prescription Guidelines
According to an article published in the Wall St. Journal, researchers and physicians who write the rules on prescribing drugs have extensive financial interest in the pharmaceutical industry. The study undertaken by Nature revealed that more than 1/3 of the authors writing the prescription guidelines had substantial links to the relevant drug companies. In one case, every panel member charged with writing such guidelines had been paid by the company manufacturing the drug. Public health officials say the links with pharmaceutical links are more worrying than the financial conflicts known to plague clinical trials and reviews because the guidelines have such a direct effect on the drugs that doctors prescribe. This conflict of interest is a huge public health hazard and once again demonstrates the industry’s need to be monitored by an independent agency whose only compelling interest is the welfare of the public.
Influential Police Research Group Urges Limits on Taser Use
According to an article published on October 19, 2005 in The NY Times, the influential Police Executive Research Forum urged restrictions on taser use in the wake of 140 deaths of people being taken into custody. The group suggested that officers be allowed to use the stun guns only on people who are aggressively resisting arrest, not just refusing to follow orders. The group also recommened that officers pause and evaluate suspects after shocking them once, instead of repeatedly shocking someone without a break. Sales of the guns to police departments soared in 2003 and 2004, and more than 7,000 police departments now use them. But sales have plunged this year, as questions about the safety of the guns have increased. Taser shocks can cause a potentially dangerous condition called acidosis in which the blood becomes too acidic. Shares in Taser International, the company makes the weapons, have fallen 80% this year, and Taser is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission over claims it made about the safety of the guns, as well as the way it disclosed an order it received last year.
Taser International Changes Its Marketing Language in Wake of Criticisms and Probes
This story ran on September 28, 2005 in Forbes Magazine:
Taser International Inc. has voluntarily changed some of its broad safety claims and limited its use of the word “non-lethal” in an effort to appease Arizona officials concerned about possibly misleading marketing, officials said Wednesday.
The move by the nation’s largest maker of stun guns comes as the Securities and Exchange Commission investigates the company and as the Arizona Attorney General’s Office conducts its own inquiry into safety claims.
On Tuesday, Taser said the SEC had stepped up an informal inquiry and was conducting an expanded official investigation of claims Taser has made about safety studies; an end-of-year sale analysts have questioned because it appeared to inflate sales to meet annual projections; and the possibility that outsiders acquired internal company information to manipulate the stock price.
In January, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said his office was probing claims Taser has made about safety studies on its products.
Taser President Tom Smith said company officials met with the Attorney General’s Office several times since January and have made changes to the way they characterize the weapon’s safety to consumers.
According to Taser and the Attorney General’s Office, the stun gun maker submitted a list of language changes the company has already made, including an 18-point “product warning.”
Among the changes, Taser explains that it uses the term non-lethal as defined by the Department of Defense – which doesn’t mean the weapon can’t cause death, but that it’s not intended to be fatal.
Other changes include substituting the phrase “leave no lasting after effects” to “are more effective and safer than other use-of-force options.”
Taser began marketing police stun guns in 1998 as a way to subdue combative people in high-risk situations. Now, more than 8,000 law enforcement agencies and military installations use them worldwide.
But critics say the stun guns have been used too liberally by police and have contributed to scores of deaths. Amnesty International has compiled a list of more than 100 people the group says have died after being shocked in scuffles with lawmen.
Taser maintains that no deaths have been directly caused by the weapon alone.
Torture by Taser
This week a committee of Florida legislators is discussing police use of Taser guns manufactured by Taser International. The weapon has been marketed by its manufacturer as a non-lethal way to subdue people. However, there is mounting evidence to the contrary. We represent a young victim of the lethal weapon and plan to file suit on behalf of his family this week. Please read the following article published in the Fort Worth Weekly:
by Peter Gorman, Fort Worth Weekly
June 24th, 2005
Robert Guerrero may have died because he wouldn’t come out of a closet.
Guidant Reports Six More Defibrillator Failures
Guidant Corp. told U.S. regulators that it learned of six additional failures of implantable heart defibrillators since issuing a July notice about the devices used to regulate cardiac rhythms.
The failures occurred in the Contak Renewal and Renewal 2 brand of devices, the Food and Drug Administration said. The two devices were among models included in warnings Guidant sent to doctors in June.
The new reports of failures since a previous FDA notice July 14 bring the total worldwide to 21, including three cases in which patients died, the FDA said.
Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Priest Personnel Files Reveal Cover Up and More Scandal
Now I know why Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles refused to disclose his priests’ personnel files. They’re full of stories of sexual abuse cover ups and re-shuffling pedophile and ephebophile clergy. The NY Times got an advance copy of the personnel files of 126 Roman Catholic clergymen that “provides a numbing chronicle of 75 years of the church’s shame,” according to the Times. I think that’s an understatement on the Times’ part. The clergy abuse scandal which doesn’t seem to go away in spite of the bishops’ best efforts is about an egregious abuse of authority and power. The victimization of young people, especially innocent children cries out for justice and reparation.
According to those who have viewed the files, the personnel records have been cleansed so that many of the damaging details have been removed from public viewing. This appears to be another public relations move on the part of the Church rather than an attempt at resolution and healing.
Spinal Cord Injuries and How to Prevent Them
Between 250,000 and 400,000 Americans suffer from some type of spinal cord injury. Every year, there are approximately 11,000 new spinal cord injuries. That’s 30 new injuries daily. Most spinal cord injuries occur as a result of an auto accident or a sports related injury. There is no cure for spinal cord injury. Once it has been damaged there is no cure. That’s why prevention is so important. Here are 8 steps the National Spinal Cord Injury Association recommends to avoid this type of injury:
1. Always follow safe practices at work and at play.
2. Follow correct safety procedures and use recommended safety equipment at work
3. Regular exercise, good posture, and proper lifting techniques help prevent injuury
4. Before exercise, make sure you warm up properly and thoroughly
5. When swimming, check the depth of the water before attempting to dive
6. When on the roads, practice defensive driving and never drink alcohol or use drugs
7. Wear an approved helmet when biking, skateboarding, or roller blading
8. Don’t take unnecessary risks
Judge in Vioxx Trial Says She Was Mislead By Merck
New Jersey Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee ordered the testimony of Briggs Morrison, a Vice President for Merck Research Labs to be stricken from the record and ignored by the jury. “Quite frankly, I felt sick yesterday afternoon,” she said. “I realized how I have got sucked into this. I feel that I was misled during the testimony.” The comments came on the heels of Merck testimony about a series of animal tests and their implications for the safety of Vioxx, but the judge said he was not an expert on the topic. The judge ordered that the entire testimony be ignored by the jury and that if Merck wished to use him as a witness any further, the company’s defense lawyers would have to rely on testimony given during an earlier videotaped deposition. Merck attorney Diane Sullivan protested the judge’s ruling but was repeatedly told by the judge to sit down and stop speaking. The judge at one point threatened to remove Sullivan from the courtroom after the lawyer continued to argue against the judge’s decision.