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Thursday, September 11, 2014
Benzodiazepine use and risk of Alzheimer’s disease: case-control study
Design Case-control study.
Setting The Quebec health insurance program database (RAMQ).
Participants 1796 people with a first diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and followed up for at least six years before were matched with 7184 controls on sex, age group, and duration of follow-up. Both groups were randomly sampled from older people (age >66) living in the community in 2000-09.
Main outcome measure The association between Alzheimer’s disease and benzodiazepine use started at least five years before diagnosis was assessed by using multivariable conditional logistic regression. Ever exposure to benzodiazepines was first considered and then categorised according to the cumulative dose expressed as prescribed daily doses (1-90, 91-180, >180) and the drug elimination half life.
Results Benzodiazepine ever use was associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (adjusted odds ratio 1.51, 95% confidence interval 1.36 to 1.69; further adjustment on anxiety, depression, and insomnia did not markedly alter this result: 1.43, 1.28 to 1.60). No association was found for a cumulative dose <91 prescribed daily doses. The strength of association increased with exposure density...
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Sunday, February 23, 2014
Detroit Files Financial Restructuring Plan
DETROIT—The city of Detroit submitted its financial restructuring plan to federal court Friday, a move likely to set off a new round of jockeying among creditors asked to take a haircut in the nation’s largest municipal bankruptcy.
The plan seeks to restructure an estimated $18 billion in long-term obligations by paying secured creditors in full, paying pension funds a reduced amount, and giving other unsecured creditors just a fraction—about 20 cents on the dollar—of the outstanding debt the city still owes.
“There is still much work in front of all of us to continue the recovery from a decadeslong downward spiral,” Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr said in a statement Friday. “We must move swiftly to emerge from bankruptcy so that the financial distress harming the City can end.”
As part of the plan, city officials said they would set aside $1.5 billion over 10 years for capital improvements, blight removal, and equipment and technology upgrades to make the city safer, cleaner and more efficient. Up to $500 million of that will be dedicated to blight removal over the next five years, officials said. Read the full WSJ story here.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, who steered the city into a bankruptcy filing in July, called on many city creditors who have been reluctant to settle to reconsider.
“Let’s use this plan as a call to action for a voluntary settlement as part of the mediation process to resolve the...
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Read more about "Bankruptcy and Workers' Compensation"
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Scientific improprieties in the asbestos industry funded research of McGill professor
Asbestos research, and its validity, is a much debated quesstion. Today's post is shared from Kathleen Ruff, RightOnCanada.ca
Here is a powerful, detailed and damning scientific analysis of improprieties in the research of Prof. J.C. McDonald on Quebec asbestos miners – The Past is Prologue, Universities in Service to Corporations: The McGill-QAMA Asbestos Example. This analysis was presented by Prof. David Egilman at the McGill asbestos conference on October 1, 2013. It is clearly presented and well worth reading. At the conference, no response was provided to the damning information that Prof. Egilman put forward. Prof. McDonald’s research was financed with one million dollars by the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association (QAMA). Prof. McDonald used his research to promote the use of chrysotile asbestos around the world. His research continues today to be used by the global asbestos industry to promote the sale and use of chrysotile asbestos. It was used, for example, by the global asbestos lobby at the May 2013 Rotterdam Convention conference to help defeat the listing of chrysotile asbestos as a hazardous substance. McGill continues to state that Prof. McDonald’s research was conducted “according to the rigorous scientific standards for which McGill is known”. McGill has not however addressed the detailed and damning evidence that Prof. Egilman has put forward. Prof. Egilman and other scientists have called on McGill to carry out an... |
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Thursday, August 15, 2013
Facebook Disclosure for 87 Class Action Plaintiffs? Federal Court Denies Discovery Request
In an order dated July 19, 2013 in the case of Jewell v. Aaron’s, Inc., Civil No. 1:12-CV-0563-AT (N.D.Ga. 2013), 87 opt-in plaintiffs are suing their employer for, among other claims, not allowing certain lunch breaks as required by law. The defendants sought, among their discovery requests:
“All documents, statements or any activity available that you posted on any internet Web site or Web page, including, but not limited to, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter, or a blog from 2009 to the present during your work hours at Aaron’s store.”
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Rail Company Involved in Quebec Explosion Files for Bankruptcy
Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from www.nytimes.com
BANGOR, Me. — The railroad company whose runaway oil train caused a fire and explosion that killed 47 people in a small town in Canada filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday.
The company — Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in United States and Canadian courts, citing debts to more than 200 creditors after the July disaster in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec.
The company chairman, Ed Burkhardt, said previously that a bankruptcy filing was likely after service disruptions because its rail line remained closed in Lac-Mégantic. The company, based in Hermon, Me., also faces lawsuits and enormous cleanup costs related to the disaster.
The parked train, with 72 tankers full of crude oil, was unattended when it began rolling toward town, eventually derailing downtown. Several tankers exploded, destroying 40 buildings in the lakeside town of 6,000 residents.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Canada Concedes Asbestos is Dangerous-Now It Needs to Ban Asbestos Entirely
Asbestos is a known carcinogen and causally related to mesothelioma and lung cancer. For decades asbestos was mined and exported from the Province of Quebec.
Click here to read Ottawa does U-turn on asbestos mining (Globe & Mail)
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Asbestos Ban In Canada Gets Boast - Parti Quebecois Wins Election!
Click here to read:
Quebec separatists win election, say TV networks
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Monday, September 5, 2011
Asbestos: ADAO to Livestream the film -- Breathtaking
Kathleen Mullen’s Documentary Gives Comprehensive Insight into the Tragedy Associated with Commercial Mining
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO,) which combines education, advocacy, and community to provide a unified voice for asbestos victims, today announced that it will be livestreaming Breathtaking on September 26th. The documentary, directed by Ontario filmmaker Kathleen Mullen, is “a personal investigation into the continued use of asbestos” and details her father’s tragic death due to exposure to asbestos from Canadian mining.
Breathtaking addresses the asbestos industry through a moving and personal investigation into the death of Mullen’s father, and the baffling present-day use, pubic mining, and incessant export of asbestos in spite of decades of scientific evidence that asbestos kills people. Commercially mined since the Industrial Revolution, asbestos was nicknamed the ‘magic mineral’ for its fabric-like, and fire retardant properties and has been used in everything from brake pads to oven mitts. Although it has been discovered to be carcinogenic, and asbestos use has been banned in many countries and limited in others. However, Canada, Russia and several other countries, still mine asbestos and export it for use in developing nations.
Mullen uses heartbreaking clips of her dying father’s legal testimony, together with family photos, and home movies to take the audience on an investigative journey. From her family home in British Columbia to Quebec, India and Detroit, Mullen paints a global, yet still personal picture of the many lives affected by the continued use of asbestos.
“As I began Breathtaking, everyone to whom I mentioned I was making the film responded with a personal story of their own,” Mullen says. “I soon realized that this story was a lot bigger than just my own family’s grief.”
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) recognizes the global and negative impact of the Canadian asbestos industry and has partnered with Mullen to hold a first-ever, international livestreaming of Breathtaking on September 26th, 2011 at 6:30 pm EST from the ADAO website.
The 45 minute screening will begin with a short introduction from Mullen and conclude with a thirty minute question and answer session via Twitter with the filmmaker and ADAO President and Co-Founder, Linda Reinstein.
“ADAO is thrilled to be able to bring this critical issue to the forefront through the incredible film,Breathtaking. It is through the new avenues of digital technology and social media that we are seeing awareness about asbestos hazards expand rapidly around the globe,” said Reinstein about the livestreaming event.
Click Here To View Trailer: http://tinyurl.com/4yznj99
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Monday, July 11, 2011
Better Control Over Asbestos Contaminated Sites Required
Senator Max Baucus (MT) |
The recent discovery of the spread of asbestos contamination in Libby MT, which had been declared a Public Health Emergency, is shocking. Asbestos, a known carcinogen, associated with mesothelioma, is reportedly still lingering throughout the community.
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Friday, June 24, 2011
The Ugly Canadians
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- Chrysotile Asbestos: Harper Government Defends Carcinogen Despite Rotterdam Pressure (huffingtonpost.ca)
Canada Called A Pariah State
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Sunday, May 8, 2011
Largest Verdict in US Asbestos History $322 Million Awarded by a Jury
For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered asbestos related disease.
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Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Fallen Asbestos Workers Honored at a Memorial Mass
Fred Dumont, Business Manager of the union said, "The harmful effects of asbestos insulation were hidden by manufacturers and distributors, because they were making such enormous profits...."
Asbestos exposure is causally related to asbestosis, as well as lung cancer, and a rare but fatal carcinoma, mesothelioma.
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Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Distinguished Author About Asbestos Dangers Seeks to Save His Archives
For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered asbestos exposures.
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Saturday, April 16, 2011
Asbestos Contaminates 772 New York City Schools
WNYC, Public Radio in NY reported that, Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm told a City Council committee said, "Asbestos comes with its own special rules and containment procedures," She said it can only be removed on weekends and holidays, not evenings "because we have to actually contain the area, and make sure that we're removing it properly and disposing of it properly." It is anticipated that it will take 10 years to remove the asbestos from the schools.
Asbestos, for decades, has been linked to asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. Mesothelioma remains an incurable and fatal disease. Asbestos is one of the modern world’s most historic occupational medical disasters. Not only is it well documented, it continues not to be banned in the US.
For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered work related accidents and injuries.
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Thursday, April 14, 2011
Quebec Does the Dirty Deed - Funds Asbestos Production
For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered asbestos related disease.
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Saturday, August 28, 2010
There is No Good Asbestos -- It Is All a Killer
Chrysotile Asbestos and Mesothelioma
Assuming an average latency of 42 years, the authors predict that incidence rates will peak in 2009 and that diagnoses will peak in 2014. However, they caution that ongoing use of chrysotile asbestos (which has been implicated but not conclusively established as a cause of mesothelioma) and the release of asbestos fibers from older buildings during demolition or renovation may slow the projected decline.
Epidemiological evidence has increasingly shown an association of all forms of asbestos (chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, tremolite, actinolite, and anthophyllite) with an increased risk of lung cancer and mesothelioma. Although the potency differences with respect to lung cancer or mesothelioma for fibres of various types and dimensions are debated, the fundamental conclusion is that all forms of asbestos are “carcinogenic to humans” (Group 1).
Although the mesothelioma incidence is anticipated to decline in the coming decades, it may not decrease to background risk levels given that chrysotile consumption has not been banned under the current legislation and that secondary asbestos exposure from the environment will likely continue. Nevertheless, the hypotheses generated from this ecologic study need further confirmation by subsequent analytic studies. The present study provides supportive evidence for an immediate and global ban on asbestos use.
References Top
- IARC 1977. Asbestos. IARC Monogr Eval Carcinog Risk Hum 14: 1–106. FIND THIS ARTICLE ONLINE
- Straif K, Benbrahim-Tallaa L, Baan R, Grosse Y, Secretan B, El Ghissassi F, et al. 2009. A review of human carcinogens—part C: metals, arsenic, dusts, and fibres. Lancet Oncol 10: 453. –454. FIND THIS ARTICLE ONLINE
- Tse LA, Yu IT, Goggins W, Clements M, Wang XR, Au JS, et al. 2010. Are current or future mesothelioma epidemics in Hong Kong the tragic legacy of uncontrolled use of asbestos in the past? Environ Health Perspect 118: 382–386. FIND THIS ARTICLE ONLINE
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