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Comment I would love this to be true. (Score 2, Insightful) 986

Two reasons really. First because the thought of a group of sceptical experts scratching their heads in disbelief is too delicious to resist, but mainly because it would mean that the undesirable element who spend so much time stealing copper wire to sell on the black market would be stymied by the drop in the value of copper. I guess they would resort to stealing nickel.

Submission + - Secondary Thyroid Cancer Kills More Than Primary, Study Says (gizmocrazed.com)

Submitted by Diggester
Diggester writes: If you thought primary thyroid cancer was deadlier than secondary thyroid cancer, think again. It might sound like it, but the latest study shows that the latter can prove much more lethal especially in case of adolescents. Published in a journal by the name CANCER, the study reports that adolescents and young adults with secondary thyroid cancer have 6 times more chances of death than those who suffer from primary thyroid cancer. What makes this even remotely possible and what measures must be taken to avoid such occurrences?

Submission + - Doctors Say New Pain Pill is 'Genuinely Frightening'

Submitted by Hugh Pickens DOT Com
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes: Stephanie Smith reports at CNN that a coalition of more than 40 health care, consumer and addiction treatment groups is urging the Food and Drug Administration to revoke approval of the new prescription pain drug Zohydro, a hydrocodone-based drug set to become available to patients in March. "You're talking about a drug that's somewhere in the neighborhood of five times more potent than what we're dealing with now," says Dr. Stephen Anderson, a Washington emergency room physician who is not part of the most recent petition to the FDA about the drug. "I'm five times more concerned, solely based on potency." The concerns echoed by all groups are broadly about the drug's potency and abuse potential. They say they fear that Zohydro — especially at higher doses — will amplify already-rising overdose numbers. "In the midst of a severe drug epidemic fueled by overprescribing of opioids, the very last thing the country needs is a new, dangerous, high-dose opioid (PDF)," the coalition wrote in a letter to FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg. But Zohydro's maker, Zogenix, and the FDA say the drug's benefits outweigh its risks and in their petition to the FDA for approval, Zogenix representatives say the drug fills a critical need for people suffering from chronic pain who are at risk for liver toxicity and cited examples of patients who might benefit from Zohydro: a 46-year-old male with chronic back and leg pain who had two failed back surgeries; a 52-year-old female with metastatic breast cancer experiencing diffuse pain; a 32-year-old woman with multiple orthopedic fractures. "There's a lot of misinformation being put out there by people who don't have all the facts," says Dr. Brad Galer, executive vice president and chief medical officer at Zogenix. "We're talking about patients that are in bed, depressed, can't sleep, can't work, can't interact with their loved ones — it's a very significant medical health problem that is being ignored."

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