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1. Contention That Flu Shots Reduce Heart Attack Risk Load Of Old Pharma Bollox

A case-control study using records on tens of thousands of people in the United Kingdom suggests that influenza vaccination reduces the risk of heart attack in people older than 40, but other researchers who have studied the benefits of flu immunization have raised doubts about the findings. Two researchers who were asked to comment on the study said it is flawed, mainly because the authors did not conduct separate assessments of the effects of vaccination on heart attack risk during flu season and at other times of the year. They said such an assessment is a key test of whether apparent reductions in risk. Without such separate analyses, they said, the statistical adjustment approach the authors used to deal with differences in risk factors actually makes the conclusions less accurate. Lisa A. Jackson, MD, MPH, senior researcher with the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle, said the main finding of a link between flu vaccination and reduced AMI ri sk is questionable because the authors did not conduct separate assessments of the effect on AMI risk during flu season and non-flu season. If vaccination does lower the risk, "it should only happen when flu is around,"she said. Further, without those separate seasonal assessments, adjusting for the potential confounding variables actually can have the effect of making the answer "more wrong," Jackson said, adding, "You see this in all these kinds of studies."
Robert Roos, News Editor, Cidrap

2. New Canadian Research Shows Flu Vaccines Substantially Enhance Swine Flu Risk

Dr Meryl Nass, MD
Six studies from Canada consistently found that prior year vaccination in 2008/09 for seasonal influenza was associated with a 1.4- to 2.5-fold increased risk for hospitalization for H1N1 infection, said Naveed Z. Janjua, MD, from the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. "As for the mechanism behind those differences, studies in swine suggest that a vaccine that induces "nonneutralizing or subneutralizing concentrations of antibody can enhance the infection rather than protect from that infection," Dr. Janjua said. Dr. Skowronski suggested that the Canadian findings might be more rigorous than similar studies from the United States and Mexico that reached different conclusions on the effect of vaccination for seasonal influenza on H1N1 infection. Good immunization records and the use of a single brand of vaccine within a geographic region also are factors contributing to the rigor of the Canadian analysis, she pointed out. The studies were conducted with funding from various Canadian government agencies.
Dr Meryl Nass MD, reporting on Medscape & PLOS
Related Links:
* Data Shows Flu Shots Precipitate Swine Flu - Canada Cancels Programme
Phred Dvorak & Betsy McKay, Wall Street Journal (October 7, 2009)

3. Australia: Deadly Vaccines Surveillance Plan Required

Delays in official responses to an outbreak of convulsions among recently vaccinated infants have exposed differences between federal and state health authorities and prompted experts to call for a national surveillance scheme. In the face of criticism over the three months it took to clearly identify CSL's Fluvax vaccine as the likely culprit, the federal health department yesterday sought to put some blame on the West Australian health department. A spokeswoman for the federal department said WA health officials were aware of the side effects with the flu vaccine three weeks before they provided data to the Therapeutic Goods Administration about the reported febrile convulsions. ''This is the responsibility of the WA health department and is of great concern,'' the spokeswoman said. A report commissioned by the West Australian government found there was a ''slow response by this state and the Commonwealth to apparent emerging adverse even ts''. It also said it was ''disturbing'' that neither Western Australia nor the Commonwealth had implemented surveillance measures recommended by the World Health Organisation. Vaccination specialists said yesterday the Fluvax experience highlighted the need for a unified, active surveillance scheme.
Mark Metherell, Sydney Morning Herald
Related Links:
* UK Doctors Warned Of Flu Vaccine Convulsion Risk
Lilian Anekwe, PULSE
* Toddler Ashley Jade Epapara, 2, Dies After Flu Vaccine
Suellen Hinde, Courier Mail
* Australia Suspends Flu Vaccine After Children Fall Critically Ill
ABC News

4. Recent British Medical Association Chairman - A Caricature Of Arrogance

Dr James Johnson, allegedly outdated and dangerous
(Caption & Pic Courtesy Of One Click)
A top surgeon and former chairman of the British Medical Association left a surgical clip inside a patient, shouted at junior staff and behaved like a "caricature of surgical arrogance", watchdogs have heard. James Johnson railed against the "incompetence" of theatre staff and was acting so "furiously" during one operation that he accidentally stabbed a colleague in the forehead with a needle. In one operation he amputated another patient's leg above the knee. He is accused of failing to consider another procedure, involving the amputation of a toe, as an alternative. Mr Johnson is accused of misconduct and faces a series of disciplinary charges over alleged flaws in his performance - in pre and post operative work as well as surgery - relating to 14 patients between 2006 and 2008. The 64-year-old, a consultant surgeon at NHS hospitals in Cheshire, had held a number of senior posts representing the medical profession. Press Association

5. Oink! Oink! British MPs Still Troughing It With Their Expenses

(Title & Pic Courtesy Of One Click)
Pressure grew on the House of Commons' authorities yesterday to scrap secret deals which are being offered to MPs who admit breaking expenses rules. The Daily Telegraph told yesterday how the deals, under which MPs have been able to quietly repay wrongful claims running into thousands of pounds, were continuing nine months after John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, promised to end them “within weeks”. Yesterday Mr Bercow failed to respond to calls from The Daily Telegraph to explain why the practice was still in place. Sir Christopher Kelly, the Standards Commissioner also criticised MPs for failing to tackle other "unfinished business" following the expenses scandal, including the appointment of members of the public to the committee overseeing the new system of Parliamentary allowances. The Telegraph told over the summer how the committee had yet to fulfil its statutory requirement to appoint lay members, meaning that MPs contin ue to retain the final say over their own expenses. One insider on the committee admitted that backbenchers were unlikely to act swiftly on a measure which would open them up to public scrutiny of their expenses.
Rosa Prince & Robert Winnett, Daily Telegraph
Related Links:
* Secret Deals Being Offered To Expenses Abuse MPs
Rosa Prince, Daily Telegraph
* Taxpayer Foots Bill As Former MPs In Expenses Scandal Appeal To Supreme Court
Jason Beattie, Daily Mirror
* Abusive UK MPs Brand Expenses Staff As Fucking Idiots & Monkeys
Macer Hall, Daily Express
* Expenses Scandal MPs Granted Legal Aid
Big Pond

6. Advice & Help For Claimants To Be Axed Entirely? All UK Politicians Combine To Hurt Disabled & Poor

We know that the most important issue for you at the moment is what’s going to happen to benefits as a result of the coalition cuts. But, as yet, there is nothing but conflicting announcements and speculation to go on: will there be an additional £4 billion in cuts on top of those already announced – or more, or less; are we going to have a single unified benefit; is DLA going to be means-tested? There’s no shortage of questions but, for the moment, no certain answers and we’ve decided not to make predictions until we get some hard facts - or at least indications from reliable sources - to work with. One such indication from a reliable source suggests that all legal aid for welfare benefits – plus employment and debt – may be axed as part of the coalition cuts. This would lead to the disappearance of many – perhaps the majority of - welfare rights workers from advice agencies. One thin g we can be certain of, however, is that the support offered to claimants by LibDems like Danny Alexander has now been entirely renounced by the party leadership, whatever ordinary members may vote for at conference. This means that all three main parties are now united in their determination to slash benefits, with Nick Clegg leading the assault with his assertion that – unlike wealthy bankers – the poor should not be compensated for their predicament.
Steve Donnison, Benefits & Work
Related Links:
* Chancellor's Secret Plan To Slash Welfare Bill By £2.5bn Devastates UK Sick & Disabled
Toby Helm, The Observer
* UK Charities Say Coalition Government Sickness Benefit Reforms Cruel & Unworkable
Information Release, Papworth Trust
* Truth About Benefits Bounty Hunters & Disablist UK Government
Steve Donnison, Benefits & Work
* Regressive UK Coalition Government Hits Poor & Disabled Hardest
BBC News
* Greedy Bankers And Corrupt MPs Squander Britain's Wealth
Michael Winner, Daily Mail

7. New Online Platform Will Allow Freelancers To Auction Exclusive Stories

A new online app has been launched for freelancers looking to sell exclusive stories and ideas to news editors. Qluso, which was developed by Northern Irish technology start-up NewsRupt and goes live in beta on 4 October, will allow news editors to browse through stories submitted by freelancers and place bids to become the first to publish the material. Freelancers using the service will set a reserve price and time limit before uploading their stories. The service says it will pay freelancers on the same day that stories are sold. The app will be free to use during the private beta period. From January, when it comes out of beta, editors will be able to sign up for free or premium accounts and Qluso will take a 15 per cent commission from every sale fee. According to NewsRupt, 100 journalists have already signed up as beta users of the service, while news editor sign-ups include staff from two national newspapers. The start-up is aiming for 5,000 freela nce users and 200 news editors within its first year.
Laura Oliver, Journalism UK

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http://www.theoneclickgroup.co.uk