Fix the BP Oil Spill Idea-of-the-Day (#5)

June 8th, 2010. By AbiK

This idea to fix the BP Oil Spill is from Simon K. Clearly Simon’s been following the updates from the Gulf on the efficacy (or lack thereof) of the containment efforts. He also appears to have a direct line to President Obama, though, he is still awaiting a response from the President. Here’s Simon’s idea:

Idea-of-the-Day to Fix the BP Oil Spill (#5)

“BP should seal the well permanently by lowering down the pipe a large concrete plug to stop the flow of oil. The concrete plug has a loop on the top to lower it by a line into the well to block the flow of oil and gas. BP has taken the wrong path by trying to take the leaking oil by piping it to the service with improvised caps which have failed. The present cap is only recovering 10% of the oil and the remaining oil is still leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. The have posponed plugging the well with failed improvised techniques like plumping mud and using a cover over the top of the leak in order to find some technique in the future to recover the leaking oil. I have written to President Obama to request that their oil recovery attempts cease and to once and for all place a circular and long concrete plug weighing over a ton down into the well hole to seal the hole permanently. I have written to President Obama with more detailed instructions on how the plug will seal the well hole. I am waiting to receive a reply to my letter to President Obama with instructions how to lower the plug into the hole to stop the leak. I do not know if President Obama has read my letter. I do not know if the President is able to communicate with BP that the well leak must be sealed and not to be used as a resource. I want to sue BP because they have not made an attempt to seal the well.”

Got an idea you’d like to share? Let us know. Or email our editor at .

Thanks Simon!                       

Prescription Drugs as Birth Control

June 8th, 2010. By Hunter West

Can a medication designed to minimize epileptic seizures, serve as birth control? 

Can an antidepressant, also serve as birth control? 

Indirectly, yes—if women who depend on various drugs to stabilize their lives opt to shun having children rather than risk the possibility of birth defects. 

It’s an interesting conundrum—that a society that depends more and more on various drugs to treat our diseases and keep us living longer, might suffer a detrimental effect on birth rates and experience a shrinkage of the population. 

But while the long-term effect may be less dramatic, the short-term debate is no less real. 

There are various drugs that are designed to treat specific conditions, such as valproate for the treatment of bipolar disorder, or migraine headaches. While the drug, marketed as Depakote, is without doubt effective for the treatment for that for which it was intended, it can also have a devastating effect on a fetus if taken by an expectant mother. 

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) noted in December of last year, “Valproate use during early pregnancy increases the risk of major malformations in the baby,” the FDA said. “The rates for neural tube defects in babies exposed to valproate during the first trimester are 30 to 80 times higher than the rate for neural tube defects in the general US population. In pregnant women with epilepsy, valproate monotherapy is associated with a four-fold higher rate of major malformations than other antiepileptic drug monotherapies. 

“Healthcare professionals should counsel women of childbearing potential taking valproate about the increased risk of major malformations…” 

A far more common drug is the SSRI antidepressant. Critics of antidepressants and the doctors who prescribe them, say that antidepressants are over-prescribed. While there is little doubt many individuals would not be able to get through the day without potentially doing harm to Read the rest of this entry »

Twenty and Still Not Potty Trained? It’s Tortelicious

June 8th, 2010. By AbiK

Welcome to Totally Tortelicious—a review of some of the more bizarre legal stories making news—and there’s certainly no shortage of them.

[Note: Lucy’s on vacation this week, so I’m taking a swing at Tortelicious today…]

Diaper Genie He’s Not. What’s a guy with an apparent diaper fetish to do when the Depends at the local drugstore just don’t seem to be cutting it? Dillon Makuski of Amherst, WI seems to have a thing for wearing diapers. But not just any ol’ diapers. He likes ’em dirty. (You know I’ll never get to write that line here again—ever.) And that means he has to get his kicks by keeping tabs on who has the dirty diapers.

And that’s just what he did.

But it would be a bit strange (really?) to just go ring the doorbell of some home where a baby lives and ask for some used diapers. Better to try and steal them! And, again, that’s just what he did.

The plan, however, did not go as well as plotted. The homeowner with the soggy diaper stash happened to catch Makuski in the act. And then the cops came. Makuski was caught yellow?-handed with six soiled diapers in his pockets. Hope they were cargo pants. He also had “burglary tools”, whatever that means.

So Makuski’s now got 30 months probation and 200 hours of community service to do. Oh, and as if you couldn’t see this one coming, he also has to undergo a psychiatric examination.

Absolut Moron. Well, I could be a little kinder there—but why? If the shoe fits… So John Dematteo was set to appear in court in South Brunswick, NJ on a DWI summons. Ok, so it wasn’t his first flirtation with driving while intoxicated–he also had a DWI arrest in 2006.

So maybe he was a bit nervous about showing up in court again. I can understand that. But rather than heading out for a massage, or I don’t know, maybe a Reiki session, he opted for an old standby: booze. Absolut Vodka. Raspberry flavor Read the rest of this entry »

Stevens Johnson Syndrome Increasing?

June 8th, 2010. By janem

Many health practitioners still believe that Stevens Johnson Syndrome is a “rare skin disorder” but with the increase in adverse drug reactions (Health Canada reports adverse drug reactions are up 35 percent), this life-threatening disease is not as rare as we have been led to believe.

The Stevens Johnson Syndrome Foundation says it hears of 15 new cases a week and that is likely the tip of the iceberg—not everyone diagnosed with SJS has internet access or is aware of the foundation. As well, drug companies are required to tell the FDA (and other health agencies, such as Health Canada) about any reports of serious adverse reactions they receive, but not every doctor or patient takes the time to report side effects. This means that adverse reactions to certain drugs can go unnoticed for a long time.

And to this day, some doctors don’t know what SJS is, even when it’s staring them in the face. When their patient is covered in the most horrific sores and blisters, they might even prescribe the same medication to treat the disease that caused SJS in the first place!

According to Public Citizen, about 1.5 million hospitalizations a year were caused by adverse drug reactions—that’s more than 4,000 patients per day. It gets worse: 57 percent of these adverse drug reactions were not recognized by the attending physician at the time of admission. Many of these admissions should have been prevented. And many patients develop adverse drug reactions while they are in hospital.

“770,000 additional patients a year—more than 2,000 patients a day—suffer an adverse event caused by drugs once they are admitted,” said the not-for-profit agency.  In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that more than 40 percent of Americans were taking at least one prescription drug. People develop SJS from commonly prescribed drugs, including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, and non-steroidal inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), including over-the-counter drugs such as Ibuprofen and Motrin.  Age is no barrier: Numerous children’s medications have caused SJS.

But countless medical facilities and doctors don’t recognize SJS in the early stages because they aren’t familiar with the symptoms. Until SJS turns into TEN and usually by that time, it’s too late. It boggles the mind: why aren’t all health practitioners given mandatory training to recognize this life-threatening disease? Don’t they read drug labels or their Blue Book before prescribing drugs? It’s like a toss of the dice. When a drug such as Bextra has been known –since 2002—to cause SJS, perhaps the doctor believes the good outweighs the risk.

Just last August Tibotec Therapeutics reported postmarketing cases of SJS with its Intelence drug and the FDA’s MedWatch said “Intelence therapy should be immediately discontinued when signs and symptoms of severe skin or hypersensitivity reactions develop.” How about adding, “get thee to a burn unit, fast.”  And bring along a list of drugs that may have caused the reaction.

Fix the BP Oil Spill Idea-of-the-Day (#4)

June 7th, 2010. By AbiK

This idea to fix the BP Oil Spill is from Nate G, who emailed our editor. Sounds like a lot of work, but hey, we’re almost at day 50 here post-spill with the Coast Guard now saying, “It may take years to clean up” (was anyone thinking otherwise?).

Idea-of-the-Day to Fix the BP Oil Spill (#4)

“Hey Nancy, I’m a commercial contractor in Utah and this would be the simplest way I can think of to contain the spill.  BP could purchase an old ship, strip it down to just the hull.  Weld the devices valves and ports for hose linkage to the bottom of the hull.  Tow the enormous cap out to the site.  Submerse it over the cap and invert it over the leak.  It could be tamped down to seal to the ocean floor.  This allows for a number of attachments and the water could be filtered out on the surface or on land by BP’s facilities. -Nate”

Got an idea you’d like to share? Let us know. Or email our editor at .

Thanks Nate!