New England Sun-Times

Ian Paterson alleged to have carried out a series of procedures for "obscure motives" which may have included a desire to earn extra money BY ALEXANDER BRITTON A surgeon accused of wounding his patients with unnecessary  operations  joked "I have to pay for my holidays somehow" during a private consultation, a court heard. Ian Paterson, who is alleged to have carried out a series of procedures for "obscure motives" which may have included a desire to earn extra money, is said to have told patient Patricia Welch and her husband that appointments were "a good earner". ent under the knife of Ian Paterson in 2001, three years after she found a lump in her left breast. Nottingham Crown Court  heard Paterson said she was a "ticking bomb" and suggested she undergo a mastectomy - something she delayed telling her children about so as not to spoil her daughter's 18th birthday. At the time of the operation in 2001, Mrs Wel...

NEVER EVER submit to an agreement of visitation on the Custodial parent's terms. Those terms are almost always lined up with the Court's understanding of what parenthood looks like when parents split. They assume the non-custodial parent doesn't care, so they're used to the "Every other Saturday from 12pm-6pm." However, if you're sitting at the table across from your ex and the mediator, you don't have to "agree" to ANYTHING. And you don't  have to wait for the judge to make the decision. Instead, introduce a Parenting Plan . The more complex, the better. You want to make sure every single base is covered, and the Custodial parent can't create a loophole in time and space to mess up your memories with your children. For instance, exactly WHEN is "every OTHER Saturday?" Who can keep track of that? Instead, in your Parenting Plan, you have to include exact times and dates: "Every First and Third weekend of every mo...

Reversing its stance of more than a century, the Boy Scouts of America said on Monday that the group would begin accepting members based on the gender listed on their application, paving the way for transgender boys to join the organization. “For more than 100 years, the Boy Scouts of America, along with schools, youth sports and other youth organizations, have ultimately deferred to the information on an individual’s birth certificate to determine eligibility for our single-gender programs,” the group said in a statement on its website. “However, that approach is no longer sufficient as communities and state laws are interpreting gender identity differently, and these laws vary widely from state to state.”   The announcement, reported on Monday night by The Associated Press, reverses a policy that drew controversy late last year when a transgender boy in New Jersey was kicked out of the organization about a month after joining. “After weeks of significant conversations ...

(CNN) Former  President Barack Obama criticized President Donald Trump's executive order  curbing immigration in a statement on Monday, backing protesters who have taken to the nation's airports to express their displeasure with Trump's action on Friday. "The President fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion," said Kevin Lewis, spokesman for the former president, in a statement. Lewis added Obama feels the individuals protesting are "exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake." 'I do feel safer': A look at Trump's travel ban supporters This is first time Obama, who ceded power to Trump 10 days ago, has criticized the current president, breaking with an unwritten rule that former presidents refrain from criticizing the current White House occupant. It is also the former president's first statement since leaving the White House...

(CNN) The process governing clinical drug trials should be strengthened to make them safer and much more effective,   researchers argue, but they worry that the Trump administration will be going in a different direction. The commentary from  bioethicist Jonathan Kimmelman of McGill University in Montreal and co-author Carole Federico, a McGill Ph.D. student, is published in the latest edition of the journal Nature. In January 2016, an early-stage  clinical trial of a painkiller   in France went horribly wrong , leaving one previously healthy volunteer dead and sending five other volunteers to the hospital. An investigation  found that the conditions in which the trial was authorized by French authorities were within regulations, but drugmaker   Bial and Biotrial, the company that ran the testing, were found to be at fault "on several counts," including how much of the drug they gave volunteers. Communications failures were also found. Outsid...

The nightclub isn't packed. The promoter isn't sure if the artist he's bringing will pack it. He also doesn't have the rest of the money he promised the artists who will be performing, because the ticket sales are low. A quick fix is to call you up and tell you that you will be on stage performing with Lil Wayne, Fetty Wap or some other major artist. He gasses you up, telling you that you will have a packed house and "some people from  Wayne's camp are gonna be in the audience. This is your chance to be discovered." Now that he has your attention, and you know this is what you've been wanting all your life, you bring him the "performance fee" and you're ready to be a part of the show. You beg at least 200 of your friends to show up and support you, but only 3 show. Your mother, Grandmother and stepdad. You've shelled out $300 to be on stage with Lil Wayne. This is your chance and your family is there to witness it all. At 7pm...

Mallinckrodt Will Pay $100 Million to Settle FTC, State Charges It Illegally Maintained its Monopoly of Specialty Drug Used to Treat Infants Settlement requires the company to license rights to develop a synthetic alternative to Acthar Mallinckrodt ARD Inc., formerly known as  Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and its parent company, Mallinckrodt plc, have agreed to pay $100 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges  that they violated the antitrust laws when Questcor acquired the rights to a drug that threatened its monopoly in the U.S. market for adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) drugs. Acthar is a specialty drug used as a treatment for infantile spasms, a rare seizure disorder afflicting infants, as well a drug of last resort used to treat other serious medical conditions. The  FTC’s complaint  alleges that, while benefitting from an existing monopoly over the only U.S. ACTH drug, Acthar, Questcor illegally acquired the U.S. rights to deve...