9/11 cancer study won't settle debate over risks

CHICAGO (AP) ? The most comprehensive study of potential World Trade Center-related cancers raises more questions than it answers and won't end a debate over whether the attacks were really a cause.

The study suggests possible links with prostate, thyroid and a type of blood cancer among rescue and recovery workers exposed to toxic debris from the terrorist attacks. But there were few total cancers and even the study leaders say the results "should be interpreted with caution."

The study involved nearly 56,000 people enrolled in a registry set up to monitor health effects from those exposed to the aftermath of the trade center attacks. Most participants volunteered for enrollment, which could skew the results if people who already had symptoms were more likely to enroll than healthier people.

Cancers diagnosed through 2008 were included in the study, but that's just seven years after the 2001 attacks, and cancer often takes longer to develop. People diagnosed with cancer before the attacks were excluded from the study.

Cancer rates were compared with those in the general New York state population. But the researchers had no data on whether people in the study had risk factors for getting cancer, including a strong family history, or if they had existing cancer that wasn't detected until after the disaster. Participants are being monitored for health issues and may have gotten more cancer screening than other people, which also could skew the results.

The increased risks were seen only in rescue and recovery workers, who likely had more direct, sustained contact with potential cancer-causing substances in the dust, smoke and debris from the attacks. But cancers weren't more common in workers who had the most exposure ? a finding that would seem to contradict the theory that contact was the cause.

The study comes just a few months after the federal government added dozens of types of cancer to a list of illnesses related to the trade center attacks that will be covered by a program to pay for health coverage.

The study results "won't settle the question because it's still too early," said Dr. Thomas Farley, New York City's health commissioner. "People are very, very interested in this topic and we thought it was important to get the data out that we have even though it is early."

Marijo Russell O'Grady, dean of students at Pace University's New York City campus, was at her office near the trade center during the attacks. She also lives nearby, and said she worries about how exposure to choking dust, ash and an "overwhelming burnt plastic smell" might affect her family, including her then 1 1/2 year-old son. They are all enrolled in the health registry.

Cancer is her greatest concern and it's "always present in the back of my mind," she said.

Researchers from the city's health department led the study, which was partly paid for by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. NIOSH spokesman Fred Blosser said the agency welcomes the results and that longer follow-up is needed to examine risks for cancers with that take a long time to develop.

The study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Earlier research from the same registry linked the attacks with respiratory problems including asthma and symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

The new study involved a broader array of people, including firefighters and other emergency workers, along with residents and employees of workplaces near ground zero, Farley said.

In the new study, possible links were mainly seen with cancers diagnosed in 2007 and 2008 in rescue and recovery workers. These included 67 cases of prostate cancer, 13 thyroid cancer cases, and seven cases of multiple myeloma ? all at rates higher than in the New York state population.

Donald Berry, a biostatistics professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, said the study has too many limitations to draw any definitive conclusions.

"There's no evidence that 9/11 caused any of these cancers," Berry said.

He pointed out that no increased risks were found for lung cancer ? a cancer that might seem plausible after breathing lots of toxic dust and smoke.

___

Online:

JAMA: http://www.jama.com

World Trade Center health effects: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/wtc/

___

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com.LindseyTanner

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/9-11-cancer-study-wont-settle-debate-over-221111205.html

emmys emmys torrey smith torrey smith oakland raiders Jessica Lange NFL scores week 3

Domino's founder sues government over contraception

Domino's founder Tom Monaghan sues government, saying contraception is 'gravely immoral.' Domino's founder offers employees health insurance excluding contraception and abortion.?

By Associated Press / December 16, 2012

Victor Gutierrez rushes out of Domino's Pizza in Turlock, Calif., to make a delivery in this February file photo. On Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, Domino's founder sued the federal government for forcing companies to offer health insurance that includes contraception coverage, a procedure he calls immoral.

Bart Ah You/The Modesto Bee/AP/File

Enlarge

The founder of?Domino's?Pizza is suing the federal government over mandatory contraception coverage in the health care law.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

Tom Monaghan, a devout Roman Catholic, says contraception isn't health care but a "gravely immoral" practice.

He filed a lawsuit Friday in federal court. It also lists as a plaintiff?Domino's?Farms, a Michigan office park complex that Monaghan owns.

Monaghan offers health insurance that excludes contraception and abortion for employees. The new federal law requires employers to offer insurance including contraception coverage or risk fines.

Monaghan says the law violates his rights, and is asking a judge to strike down the mandate. There are similar lawsuits pending nationwide.

A message left Saturday for Monaghan's attorney, Richard Thompson, was not immediately returned.

The government says the contraception mandate benefits women.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/B0B0pI0Hlz4/Domino-s-founder-sues-government-over-contraception

saints vs 49ers vanessa marcil 49 ers frank gore frank gore nfl games jesus montero

UK watchdog: Doctor dishonest in death of Iraqi

LONDON (AP) ? A medical watchdog ruled Sunday that a former British army doctor failed to protect detainees and acted dishonestly following the death of an Iraqi civilian beaten and killed in the custody of U.K. troops in 2003.

Baha Mousa died while in custody at a British base after being detained in a raid in Basra, Iraq, in September 2003. He had sustained 93 injuries, including fractured ribs and a broken nose. Britain's defense authorities later apologized for the mistreatment of Mousa and nine other Iraqis and paid a 3 million pound ($4.9 million) settlement. Six soldiers were cleared of wrongdoing at a court martial, while another pleaded guilty and served a year in jail.

Derek Keilloh, the senior medic on duty who treated Mousa, had denied knowledge of Mousa's injuries, claiming that he had only spotted dried blood around Mousa's nose after he was arrested and beaten.

But Britain's Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service ruled Sunday that Keilloh knew of the injuries and failed to adequately examine Mousa's body. It said he then failed to assess other detainees or protect them from further mistreatment and inform senior officers of what was going on. The tribunal will now decide if Keilloh's behavior amounts to misconduct and if so, what penalty he will face. The watchdog has the power to suspend or strip doctors of their medical licenses.

The tribunal also ruled that Keilloh engaged in "misleading and dishonest conduct" by maintaining under oath that he had seen no injuries to Mousa's body.

While the injuries to Mousa and others were the responsibility of British soldiers, there were "clearly failings by others with responsibility toward the detainees to have safeguarded their welfare," it said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-12-16-Britain-Iraq/id-98f7c706306c46fa9483360417804e65

greystone sidney crosby at the drive in alternative minimum tax modeselektor gran torino gloria steinem

Karzai says he'll meet with Obama in Washington

KABUL (AP) ? President Hamid Karzai said Thursday he will meet President Barack Obama in Washington next month to discuss a postwar U.S. role in his country, whose fragile security was highlighted hours earlier by a suicide bombing that killed one U.S. troop and two Afghan civilians.

At a news conference with visiting Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Karzai said he and Obama will discuss how many U.S. troops will remain after the Western combat mission ends in December 2014. He said he understands that immunity from Afghan laws for those remaining Americans is of "immense importance" to Washington, but he added that he has his own priorities in negotiating a postwar U.S. role.

"Give us a good army, a good air force and a capability to project Afghan interests in the region," Karzai said, and he would be ready to argue "with ease and with reason" that his country should grant immunity to U.S. troops.

Obama has said the U.S. will not abandon Afghanistan and risk that it might revert to the al-Qaida haven it became in the 1990s after the Taliban came to power. Nor has he indicated what size and scope of post-2104 military mission he thinks is necessary and affordable.

The Taliban are a small but resilient force, even after 11 years of fighting a vastly larger U.S.-led international force. They managed to send a dramatic reminder Thursday, claiming credit for the suicide bombing that killed three and wounded 17 near an entrance to Kandahar Air Field, the largest Western base in southern Afghanistan. Panetta and his traveling party had left the air field about two hours before the attack.

The U.S. military did not identify the American who was killed. It said an investigation was under way.

Panetta was at the air field for about three hours, receiving a briefing from U.S. commanders. Panetta also spoke to about 350 U.S. troops and took questions from them before flying back to Kabul, where he met with Karzai at the presidential palace.

Panetta described the Kandahar attack as further evidence of insurgent brutality.

"This is what they resort to in order to try to continue to stimulate chaos in this country," he said. "They will not be successful."

The Karzai-Obama meeting, which Panetta said would occur during the week of Jan. 7, with no specific date set, also is intended to discuss prospects for establishing a process for pursuing peace with the Taliban.

The main message of Panetta's two-day visit to Afghanistan was one of reassurance to Afghans that they will not be abandoned after 2014. And he made a pitch for patience among Americans tired of war.

"For the first time since 9/11 we have a chance to achieve the mission that we are embarked upon," Panetta said. "To achieve that mission will require a continued commitment, continued perseverance, continued partnership and continued sacrifice on the part of our nations."

He told Karzai that his country should not doubt U.S. resolve to prevent the Taliban from regaining power and potentially facilitating al-Qaida's return.

"America will not turn away from Afghanistan," he said.

The Pentagon chief, who is expected to step down early in 2013 and return to private life, also made a plea for Pakistan to do more to clear al-Qaida, the Taliban and other extremist groups from havens on its side of the border with Afghanistan.

He said Pakistani leaders have often promised to take action, "but have not followed through." Without such action, peace and security in Afghanistan will remain elusive, Panetta said.

Another major issue facing Panetta in the closing weeks of his tenure is how many U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2013 and 2014. There currently are 66,000 in the country, down from a peak of about 100,000 in 2011.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of international forces in four southern provinces, including the key province of Kandahar, told reporters Thursday that he foresees further troop cuts in coming months, but he did not specify whether he was talking only about U.S. troops.

"I fully expect by next summer we will have less ISAF forces here because we'll need less ISAF forces," Abrams said, using the acronym for the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force. He said believes fewer will be needed because Afghan forces will be more capable by then.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/karzai-says-hell-meet-obama-washington-190735849--politics.html

words with friends phlebotomy dog show

Wall Street critic Warren to join U.S. Senate Banking Committee

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Wall Street critic and Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren will join the Senate Banking Committee next year where she is likely to be a loud voice in favor of tight financial regulation.

The Democratic Steering Committee on Wednesday approved committee assignments for Warren and other Senate Democrats, installing Senator Patty Murray of Washington state as chairwoman of the Senate Budget Committee.

Warren, a Harvard Law School professor who won a hard-fought election in Massachusetts, will now have a powerful platform from which to oversee banking regulation.

The pick is a controversial one for the financial services sector, where many bankers have criticized her as an overzealous regulator bent on punishing Wall Street and who does not fully understand the financial system.

She has called for the breakup of largest banks and is expected to fight fiercely against Republican efforts to dilute reforms contained in the post-financial crisis Dodd-Frank Wall Street law.

Warren would also be able to forcefully push for financial regulators to use all the powers available to them to write strict interpretations of rules.

That could mean stronger curbs on Wall Street trading, higher capital buffers and rules that would compel mega-banks to shrink.

Warren is the architect of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency created by Dodd-Frank in 2010. Although she helped set up the new government watchdog, President Barack Obama refrained from nominating her as its first director, because of fierce opposition in the Senate.

"These committee assignments will allow all members of our caucus to bring their unique talents and expertise to bear as we work together to advance the interests of the middle class," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a statement.

Warren was a leading speaker at the Democratic National Convention in September and gave a rousing speech attacking Republican Mitt Romney as an out of touch elitist

She also won a seat on Wednesday on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee.

Two other newly elected Democratic senators, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana, will join the Senate Agriculture Committee. Heitkamp also was assigned to the Banking Committee, while Donnelly also will join the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Murray replaces the retiring Kent Conrad as head of the Budget Committee, while Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon will become chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, replacing the retiring Jeff Bingaman.

The assignments are still subject to approval by the Democratic caucus and the Democratic-majority full Senate, but these approvals are viewed as largely pro forma following the steering committee vote.

(Editing by Alistair Bell and Cynthia Osterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/warren-assigned-u-senate-banking-committee-211022525--business.html

willis mcgahee willis mcgahee ship aground off italy nfl playoff schedule 2012 nfl live saints vs 49ers vanessa marcil

Government outlines TV tax relief ? ?

Dramas, comedies and documentaries with a budget of more than a million pounds an hour will be eligible to receive UK tax breaks under new laws laid out by the government.

The Treasury unveiled draft legislation for the Finance Bill 2013, explaining the kind of productions that will be eligible for tax relief and how the relief will work.

It believes that 50 independent production companies and up to 100 animation producers will benefit from the scheme, which will be modelled on the successful film tax relief scheme, and be applicable from April 2013 to shows produced in the UK.

The tax relief will be worth up to 25% of a budget.

The high-end television tax relief will be targeted at drama, comedy and documentaries with a budget of ?1m or more per hour. It will exclude specific genres, including discussion shows, news or current affairs, quiz and panel shows.

It will be applicable to shows with a slot time ? instead of a running time ? of one hour, excluding shows with a running time below 30 minutes.

The government said that it had included high-end documentaries in the list of genres ?on the basis of views and evidence received.? However, it?s unlikely that many documentary makers will take advantage of the relief as very few ?1m TV docs are produced in the UK.

The ?1m threshold will be limited to costs incurred directly on production. The Government will, however, consider how to legislate to allow a production fee of no more than 10 per cent of the pre-production budget to count towards the threshold. It will also allow ?early stage costs? that are integral to the production process to be eligible for relief.

Additionally, all co-productions made under an internationally agreed co-production treaty will be eligible for relief.

The Treasury estimates that the cost to the Exchequer of the high-end television tax relief will be ?5m in 2013/14, rising to ?70m by 2017/18.

The draft legislation has been welcomed by the industry, with Pact?s Chief Executive John McVay, saying: ?This is fantastic news for independent TV producers in the UK.? It?s very encouraging that government has recognised the contribution that this creative sector brings to the UK economy.

?Productions will be persuaded back to the UK and they may be retained here ? it?s good for growth, jobs and the exchequer.

?This legislation covers mixed content productions within the scope of the animation tax relief ? it means well known programmes such as Waybuloo, where acting and animation are combined, would benefit.

?The White Paper explicitly includes the internet within the definition of made-for-television.? This could also be a major boost for business from the growing number web-based commissioners.?

Consultation on draft legislation for Finance Bill 2013: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/finance_bill_2013_consultation.htm

Source: http://www.lizardfish.co.uk/government-outlines-tv-tax-relief/

the descendants the descendants homeland homeland packers giants game golden globe winners 2012 ricky gervais golden globes

Sprint Reportedly In Talks To Acquire Remaining 49 Percent Of Clearwire, Along With Spectrum Rights

Sprint is said to be in talks to gobble up the remaining 49 percent of Clearwire it doesn't already own, according to new reports from CNBC and the Wall Street Journal. The deal is meant to sort out issues that Sprint has had in steering the decision-making process of Clearwire's business, sources told the WSJ, and it would help Sprint acquire the spectrum rights currently owned by Clearwire. Sprint is currently a wholesale customer of Clearwire's network.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/N4RarOHiW4U/

Snooki Baby terrell owens terrell owens neil armstrong little league world series us open tennis us open tennis