Mandatory News

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

If a Pregnant Woman Gets Zika, What"s the Risk of Microcephaly for the Baby?

First Baby With Zika-Related Microcephaly Born in Continental U.S.

Zika is beyond a doubt scariest for pregnant women, or for women trying to get pregnant. For women living in areas where the mosquito-borne virus is spreading, who are trying to make the huge decision of whether, and when, to have a child, theres not a lot to go on. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that women whove gotten Zika should wait at least eight weeks to conceive, and that men whove gotten it should wait at least six months.

But the vast majority of people who are infected with Zika dont show any symptoms, and children can still be born with birth defects and mothers can still miscarry, even if they never had symptoms. So its possible that microcephalya birth defect caused by Zika that leads to smaller-than-average head size and other developmental problemscould sneak up on parents who never knew one of them had Zika in the first place.

Margaret Chan, the director of the World Health Organization, summed up the harsh reality of the situation in her recent address to the 69th World Health Assembly: To protect women of childbearing age, all we can offer is advice. Avoid mosquito bites. Delay pregnancy. Do not travel to areas with ongoing transmission.

If a woman is infected in her first trimester, there is between a 1 and 13 percent chance of her fetus developing microcephaly.

This is not the most reassuring advice. But a new paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine estimates how likely it is that the fetus of a woman infected with Zika would develop microcephaly, offering would-be parents at least some idea of the risk theyd be taking on.

Analyzing current outbreak data from the Brazilian state of Bahia, researchers from the CDC calculated that if a woman is infected in her first trimester, there is between a 1 and 13 percent chance of her fetus developing microcephaly.

7 Marketing Lessons from Theranos"s Struggle

CNBC - Bill George: Theranos under fire

It wasnt that long ago that Theranos was one of the hottest companies in the medical technology field and was gaining a lot of attention as a Silicon Valley startup to watch out for.

Then The Wall Street Journal came at them hard by questioning the science of the company and its claims to be able to run blood tests on mere drops of blood instead of vials.

Months later, the company is facing criminal investigations, and the FDA may ban founder Elizabeth Holmes from the industry. Its been a whirlwind of surprise and its also a stark reminder of the perils of investing in Silicon Valley.

There are also lessons that brands can take away from the struggles the company is having and how theyve responded to the media blowout.

1. Put the Right People Out in Front

Throughout the entire issue, Holmes has been front and center to tackle the inquiries and interviews and hasnt been afraid to be in the crosshairs. This might be considered a sign of strength where PR is concerned, but thats not always the right choice.

Holmes should have done more. And by that I dont mean she should have been more visible she should have been less so.

Instead of taking the hits and being out in front, she should have called on someone with the medical expertise to handle the PR inquiries and be the face of the crisis. Someone who could break it down clearly for the public. Thats because, in this case, the value of the company lies in the science behind what they do.

When that one thing the core concept of the company is attacked, then you have to protect it. Without the right person, such as a medical ally, that protection is left up to someone Holmes who lacks any kind of medical degree.

The company failed to defend the science. And thats a significant PR slip-up.

2. Make Stuff That Works

Its pretty clear that Theranos let the marketing get out way ahead of the product itself.

According to the WSJ article, Theranos wasnt necessarily using the product it touted and instead was allegedly using existing technology for tests.

It seems like the company didnt spend an adequate amount of time testing for product-market fit, along with making sure that the product was 100% viable, before pushing forward with marketing.

Before you start marketing anything be it a product or service make sure your stuff works.

3. Be Transparent

One of the biggest issues facing Theranos at this point is its lack of transparency. While the company continues to insist on the viability of its product citing its own studies it refuses to release any big data.

Researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have done their own tests, but Theranos is disputing the accuracy of those tests. At the same time, Theranos continues to refuse to provide its own data.

This is a prime example of why transparency is important. Your audience and customers expect it. If they ever feel like youre withholding information, then you lose trust and that is difficult to regain once its gone.

4. Keep Your Focus

Even in the middle of a crisis, you still have a business to run. At one point, Holmes was unable to be reached because she was in all-day meetings with the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows.

In addition to that, she has continually stood out at speaking events, television interviews, investigative interviews, and more.

You absolutely need to address tough questions from reporters, employees, customers, and even regulators. But at some point, once the troops have been rallied, you need to focus and get back to work.

Its extremely difficult to pivot in a crisis and take actionable steps to improve or change when the majority of your time is spent on publicity and PR. You have people (hopefully) to handle that for you. If not, hire the right person or agency that can let you get back to work.

5. Bad Hacks Will Catch Up with You

Im not claiming to be an expert on Theranos or even that specific industry.

With that said, it stands to reason that if youre running tests on machines that arent the proprietary machines youve been claiming to use, then youre running a bad hack.

Growth hacking is one thing, but bad hacks in business (no matter how effective at the time) catch up with you. Youre just cutting corners.

Im sure there are parts of older social platforms like Facebook that still have poorly-cobbled PHP from 2008. The same could be said for a big platform like SalesForce. Not updating those bad hacks, or corner cutting, has them leaning on bad practices.

Whether its your product, your process, or your marketing deployment, those hacks are going to catch up with you. If you cant operate without them, youre in trouble.

6. Dont Overhype and Oversell

You could point back to the old adage of If its too good to be true with Theranos. The company spent a great deal of time on hype that caught the attention of a lot of people, but it failed to back up its marketing and actually deliver.

In fact, a number of doctors who reviewed the data for Forbes unanimously said that the world isnt ready for this kind of change until Theranos makes more of its own data public.

Id be very reluctant to use Theranos based on this study, said Edward R. Ashwood, Professor and Vice Chair for Clinical Pathology at the University of Colorado in Denver.

When youre creating a marketing strategy, dont stretch the truth. Focus on help over hype. Focus on the real value, and the real benefits. Anything beyond that will cost you dearly if youre unable to back it up.

7. Have a Social Strategy for Managing a Crisis

As the issue unfolds, Theranoss Facebook page remains devoid of engagement. The company continues to post content, mainly centered on testimonials from customers and employees.

What its not doing is responding to the barrage of comments and questions from visitors.

Complete and utter silence disengages you from your audience. It erodes trust and makes people feel like youre hiding something. Take the time, before a crisis occurs, to create a social media strategy that clearly defines how these types of incidents are handled, and who will be responsible for owning them.

Has your company learned any valuable lessons as a result of the PR fallout around Theranos? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: http://tech.co/marketing-lessons-theranos-2016-05

Baby with Zika-related microcephaly born in NJ

Doctors Name MONSANTO Larvicide As Cause of Brazilian Microcephaly Outbreak

(CNN) - A baby with Zika virus-related microcephaly was born in New Jersey on Tuesday, hospital officials said.

The baby and mother are stable and doing well following the cesarean delivery, said Dr. Abdulla Al-Kahan, director of maternal and fetal medicine at Hackensack University Medical Center.

"The mother is stable, obviously sad, which is the normal emotional reaction given the situation," he said.

The mother is visiting the United States from Honduras and does not want to be identified.

Doctors first examined her when she came to the medical center Friday. Ultrasound screening revealed the baby had "significant microcephaly," including calcification and dilated ventricles of the brain, according to Al-Kahan.

Tests were done to rule out other causes of these abnormalities.

"When I saw her today, I was pretty much convinced this was a Zika-affected baby," he said.

The mother traveled to the United States from Honduras in hopes of receiving better medical care because she knew her baby may have Zika-related problems, according to Al-Kahan.

Doctors believe she was infected during the second trimester of her pregnancy. She experienced a fever and rash, both symptoms of the mosquito-borne disease, which is known to cause the devastating birth defect microcephaly and other neurological disorders.

"When she developed the symptoms, she was seen by an OBGYN who suspected the baby was growth restricted," he said.

Doctors there coordinated with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to test the woman for the Zika virus.

The samples were sent to the CDC and results confirming the diagnosis of the virus came back Tuesday, according to Al-Kahan. However, he said, that was not a factor in her having the C-section.

The mother was close to full-term in her pregnancy.

"There were a few reasons the baby needed to be delivered today, including low amniotic fluid," he said.

Al-Kahan said such babies have "tremendous neurological problems," and most don"t do well.

In January, health officials confirmed that a baby with severe microcephaly was born in Hawaii to a woman who had become infected with the Zika virus while living in Brazil.

Earlier this month, Puerto Rico health officials confirmed their first case of a fetus with severe microcephaly linked to local transmission of the virus.

Al-Kahan said this is believed to be the third case of a baby born with Zika-related microcephaly in the United States, but the first in the northeast. He said there was also a baby born in the south but he did not know details about the case.

There are more than 300 pregnant women with the virus in the United States and its territories who are being followed as part of a national registry.

Information on the outcomes or stages of these pregnancies has not been released. In February, the CDC released a report detailing the first nine pregnancies among Zika-infected women in the United States.

CNN

Source: http://www.news4jax.com/health/baby-with-zikarelated-microcephaly-born-in-nj

Stephen Hawking: Donald Trump Is a "Demagogue" Who Appeals to the "Lowest Common Denominator"

Demagoguery in Our Times
Stephen Hawking and Donald Trump Credit: Mike Marsland/WireImage.com; D Dipasupil/FilmMagic

Even a theoretical physicist cant explain it! Stephen Hawking said in a new interview that Donald Trumps growing popularity is beyond his understanding.

PHOTOS: Celebrities" Political Affiliations

The 74-year-old cosmologist sat down with ITVs Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, May 31, where he was asked to explain the appeal of the Republican presidential nominee, 69.

I cant, Hawking replied, adding, He is a demagogue, who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

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The Brief History of Time author, who was diagnosed with a motor neurone disease in 1963, is one of the worlds most renowned scientists. He was recently portrayed by Eddie Redmayne in the 2014 Academy Awardwinning film The Theory of Everything.

When asked if the handsome actor, 34, helped boost his female fan base, Hawking told Good Morning Britain, I had many fans before Eddie Redmayne played me.

PHOTOS: Hillary Clintons A-List Supporters

Last week, Trump reached the number of delegates required to clinch the GOP presidential nomination. He has been the Republican front-runner for months, while Hillary Clinton is close to officially clinching her number of delegates to defeat Bernie Sanders in the Democratic race.

Can"t get enough of Us? Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter packed with the latest celeb news, hot pics and more!

Source: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/stephen-hawking-donald-trump-is-a-demagogue-w208265

Ascolta Drug Dealers Anonymous, la nuova traccia di Pusha T e Jay Z

Pusha T, Jay Z Release New Song: "Drug Dealers Anonymous"

Pusha T e Jay Z si sono uniti per una cupa e meditativa nuova traccia, Drug Dealers Anonymous, pubblicata via Tidal.

Il pezzo in particolare contiene un sample della critica conservatrice Tomi Lahren che menziona Jay Z durante uninvettiva contro Beyonc: Your husband was a drug dealer, dice. For 14 years he sold crack cocaine. Jay, comunque, ha lultima parola grazie a un verso irregolare che si chiude con una frase carica di ironia: Life made me ambidextrous / Countin with my right, whipping white with my left wrist / d**n Daniel / FBI keep bringing them all white vans through.

Nelle parti di Pusha, invece, si riflette sui lussi della vita e sui metodi spesso terribili che si usano per conquistarli. LMC espande con intelligenza questo classico conflitto, considerandolo un vero problema sociale, dicendo, Who the f**k aint mastered this / Americas nightmares in Flint / Children of a lesser G*d when your melanins got a tint.

Drug Dealers Anonymous la prima nuova traccia dopo il suo secondo album solista, King Push Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude, uscito lo scorso dicembre.

Source: http://www.rollingstone.it/musica/news-musica/ascolta-drug-dealers-anonymous-la-nuova-traccia-di-pusha-t-e-jay-z/2016-06-01/

Pusha T invite Jay Z sur Drug Dealers Anonymous

Pusha T, Jay Z Release New Song: "Drug Dealers Anonymous"

Quelques mois aprs avoir sorti King Push Darkest Before Dawn : The Prelude Studio, voil quil revient en compagnie de Jay Z sur Drug Dealers Anonymous.

Il lchait son second album King Push Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude studio, en dcembre dernier et il faut croire que Pusha T dborde dides puisquil dvoile le premier single de son prochain LP, intitul King Push. Si on retrouvait Kanye West, The Dream, A$AP Rocky ou encore la talentueuse Jill Scott sur son prcdent opus, Terrence Thornton de son vrai nom, a lart de choisir ses partenaires puisque cette fois-ci il a pu compter sur Jay Z qui est venu poser sur son nouveau morceau qui fait office de premier single, Drug Daelers Anonymous. Alors que lanne dernire Pusha T citait Jay Z comme lune de ses influences, le natif du Bronx peut dsormais se sentir satisfait de partager un son avec celui quil considre comme un super-hros.

Bon alors, effectivement, le morceau est disponible uniquement sur Tidal mais vous pouvez tout de mme en couter quelques secondes histoire de vous donner un bref aperu. Cest galement le temps ncessaire pour sentir que la prod est sombre avec quelques notes qui scintillent sur des paroles de Jay Z o tout le monde sest empress de faire la liaison avec le All Night de Beyonc, qui laccusait de le tromper.

Im a course of miracles with this s**t. Nothing real can be threatened, nothing unreal exists.

Il semble que Jay Z continue de faire le buzz, car plus rcemment il reprenait le morceau de Fat Joe et Remy Fa All The Way Up, sur lequel il en a profit pour rpondre au dernier album de sa femme, Lemonade. Des paroles qui nont pas manqu dagiter les fans du couple Carter/Knowles.

Pusha T feat. Jay Z Drug Dealers Anonymous

Source: http://www.hypesoul.com/music/audio-music/pusha-t-invite-jay-z-sur-drug-dealers-anonymous/

Class Action Suits Add to Theranos"s Woes

Theranos" Fall: The"Disruption" Deception

By John T. Aquino

May 31 Theranos, Inc., defrauded patients when it claimed that its blood tests were accurate when they clearly weren"t, according to three proposed class action suits filed in late May in federal district court in California ( R.G. v. Theranos, Inc., N.D. Cal., No. 5:16-cv-02891, filed 5/30/16 ; Jones v. Theranos, Inc., N.D. Cal., No. 3:16-cv-02835, filed 5/26/16 ; M.P.B. v. Theranos, Inc., N.D. Cal., No. 3:16-cv-02810, filed 5/25/16 ).

The filings in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which ask for actual and punitive damages, come as Theranos waits for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to decide whether to implement sanctions it threatened against the company on April 14.

The sanctions could include suspending Medicare payments, shutting down Theranos"s California laboratory and barring its chief executive from owning or operating a laboratory for two years (10 LSLR 09, 4/29/16).

The class action suits are really not surprising and often happen when there"s been a regulatory action such as the one by the CMS, which the litigations cite, said Mark Mansour of Mayer Brown, Washington. They represent the individuals who claim to have been affected, and they are one more thing in the mix.

He added, The next big event, the next shoe to drop, will be what the CMS does.

Allege Tests Inaccurate

The proposed class action suits were filed by three Arizona residents who said they had purchased Theranos blood tests from Walgreens through the pharmacy chain"s joint venture with Theranos, which is based in Palo Alto, Calif.

One plaintiff is identified only by the initials R.G.; another as M.P.B., and the third as Casey Jones. The litigations were instituted on behalf of the named plaintiffs and all similarly situated individuals.

The complaints by R.G. and M.P.B. were filed on May 30 and May 25, respectively, by McCune Wright LLP, Redlands, Calif., and Berwyn, Pa., and are identical. Jones"s complaint was filed May 26 by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, Berkeley, Calif., Seattle and Phoenix.

R.G., M.P.B. and Jones alleged that Theranos advertised that through its testing procedure, a hand-held device would be used that takes just a few drops of blood from a patient, and from that sample Theranos"s proprietary Edison machine could conduct hundreds of blood tests.

But the Edison machines didn"t work and Theranos"s tests weren"t accurate, M.P.B. and R.G. wrote. Theranos conceded the inaccuracy of the results, the two plaintiffs contended, by informing regulators it was voiding all of the companies" test results, both those run on the Edison machines and those run on traditional machines that Theranos employed when it stopped using the Edisons.

Jones said that when he went to the Walgreens, rather than having just a few drops of his blood withdrawn by a hand-held device as Theranos had advertised, he was subjected to having large vials of blood drawn in the traditional manner.

Punitive Damages, Disgorgement

M.P.B. and R.G. asserted causes of action of fraud; negligent misrepresentation; violation of California Civil Code 1710 (Deceit) and 1750 (Consumer Legal Remedies Act); violation of the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act, A.R.S. 44-1521; and violation of California Business & Professions Code Sections 17200 (Unfair Business Practices Act) and 17500 (false advertising laws).

Jones asserted causes of action of breach of contract; unjust enrichment; Arizona consumer fraud; violation of California Business & Professions Code Sections 17200 and 17500; and violation of California Civil Code Section 1750.

The three asked the court for certification of the class action; disgorgement of all profits obtained as a result of violations of laws, statutes and regulations; damages; punitive damages; interest; and attorneys" fees and costs.

To contact the reporter on this story: John T. Aquino in Washington at jaquino@bna.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Randy Kubetin at rkubetin@bna.com

Source: http://www.bna.com/class-action-suits-n57982073369/