Britain bans doctor who linked autism to vaccine

AP – FILE - In this photo taken on July 17, 2007 file photo, Dr Andrew Wakefield in London. The doctor who …

By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer – 1 hr 18 mins ago

LONDON – A doctor who persuaded millions of parents worldwide that a common vaccine could cause autism was barred from practicing medicine in his native Britain on Monday after the country's top medical group found he conducted his research unethically.

Dr. Andrew Wakefield was the first researcher to publish a peer-reviewed study suggesting a connection between autism and thevaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. That prompted legions of parents to abandon the vaccine in moves that epidemiologists feared could lead to outbreaks of the potentially deadly diseases.

Vaccination rates in Britain and other rich countries have not fully recovered since Wakefield and his colleagues' research was published in 1998 and there are measles outbreaks across Europe every year. There are also sporadic outbreaks of the disease in the U.S.

His study in the medical journal Lancet was widely discredited, however, after Britain's medical regulator found it did not meet ethical standards; other studies found no link; and a British journalist revealed Wakefield had been paid by lawyers of parents who suspected their children were harmed by the vaccine.

Wakefield, 53, moved to the U.S. in 2004 and set up an autism center in Texas, where he gained a wide following despite not being licenced as a doctor there, and faced similar skepticism from the medical community. He quit earlier this year.

Britain's General Medical Council was acting Monday on a January ruling that said Wakefield and two other doctors acted unethically and showed a "callous disregard" for the children in their study. The medical body said Wakefield took blood samples from children at his son's birthday party, paying them 5 pounds (today worth $7.20) each and later joked about the incident.

The council, which licenses and oversees doctors, found him guilty of serious professional misconduct and stripped him of his right to practice medicine in the U.K. Wakefield said he plans to appeal the ruling, which takes effect within 28 days. The investigation focused on how Wakefield and colleagues carried out their research, not on the science behind it.

Wakefield said in January that the medical council's investigation was an effort to "discredit and silence" him to "shield the government from exposure on the (measles) vaccine scandal."

Appearing from New York on NBC's "Today Show" on Monday, Wakefield described the British decision as "a little bump on the road." He claimed the U.S. government has been settling cases of vaccine-induced autismsince 1991.

Wakefield said the council's ruling against him had been "made from the outset" and vowed to continue his research into the link between vaccines and autism.

"These parents are not going away; the children are not going to go away and I most certainly am not going away," he said.

Numerous studies have been conducted since Wakefield's and none has found a connection between autism and any vaccine.

Two rulings by a special branch of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in March and last year found no link between vaccines and autism. But more than 5,500 claims have been filed by families seeking compensation for children believed to have been hurt by the measles vaccine.

Wakefield has garnered much support from parents suspicious of vaccines, including some Hollywood celebrities. In February, U.S. actress Jenny McCarthy, who has an autistic son, issued a statement with her former partner Jim Carrey.

"It is our most sincere belief that Dr. Wakefield and parents of children with autism around the world are being subjected to a remarkable media campaign engineered by vaccine manufacturers," McCarthy and Carrey said in February. "Dr. Wakefield is being vilified through a well-orchestrated smear campaign."

In Monday's ruling, the medical council said Wakefield abused his position as a doctor and "brought themedical profession into disrepute."

At the time, Wakefield was working as a gastroenterologist at London's Royal Free Hospital and did not have the ethical approval to conduct the study. The study suggested autistic children had a new bowel disease and raised the possibility of a link between autism and vaccines. He had also been paid to advise lawyers representing parents who believed their children had been hurt by the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

Ten of the study's authors later renounced its conclusions and it was retracted by the Lancet in February.

At least a dozen British medical associations including the Royal College of Physicians, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust have issued statements verifying the safety of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

This verdict is not about (the measles) vaccine," said Adam Finn, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Bristol Medical School. "We all now know that the vaccine is remarkably safe and enormously effective...we badly need to put this right for the sake of our own children and children worldwide."

___

Online:

General Medical Council's ruling on Wakefield: http://www.gmc-uk.org/Wakefield_SPM_and_SANCTION.pdf_32595267.pdf

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100524/ap_on_sc/eu_britain_autism_doctor

8 Phony 'Bargains' and Better Alternatives

by Caroline E. Mayer
Thursday, May 20, 2010

provided by

Big discounts! Big sales! Big freebies! Enticing deals abound, but you need to distinguish those from the raw deals masquerading as bargains. Many of them come with so many strings attached that they could cost you plenty. (Those frequent-flier rewards cards, for example? They often cost you a bundle -- and the airline miles are often more restrictive and harder to use than what you'd get from a cash-back credit card.)

More fromCBSMoneyWatch.com: • 9 Clever Ways to Cut Wedding Costs • Dumbest Things You Do With Your Money • Best New Credit Cards

For consumers, a little homework goes a long way. Here are eight would-be deals to steer clear of, as well as our suggestions for better options.

1. Unlimited Long Distance

Many telephone plans bundle "free" unlimited long-distance service with local calling service. If you don't make a lot of long-distance calls -- or if you make a lot of them from your cell phone -- these plans may not be cost effective. A bundled plan typically costs about $20 more than a local plan, but the average American consumer makes fewer than two hours of long-distance phone calls a month, according to the Federal Communications Commission. That's about 17 cents per minute.

Better Deal: Skip the extra fees, and buy your long-distance service from a reseller such as ECG or Pioneer Telephone. These companies buy their long-distance service wholesale from the larger telecommunications firms but offer the same general quality for far lower prices, billing by the minute or fraction thereof. (ECG charges 2.5 cents a minute for interstate phone calls; Pioneer's price is 2.7 cents.)

Alternately, sign up for a voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) plan from a carrier like Vonage, whose plans start at $15 a month (climbing to $26 after a six-month trial) for both local and long distance. Calls travel over the Internet, though, so you need a stable, active cable or DSL Internet connection for this to work.

Popular Stories on Yahoo!: • Inventor of ATM dies at age 84 • 7 Jobs Where Women Out-Earn Men • Stunning Art Theft in Paris More from Yahoo! Finance

2. Frequent-Flier Rewards Cards

Credit card rewards tied to airline miles or gift points were the earliest players in the sector, but it's time to dump them. For one thing, the benefits have shrunk, particularly on airlines: They've increased the number of miles needed for a free flight; reduced flight schedules, making free seats harder to find; and, in some cases, imposed a booking fee on rewards flights.

On certain rewards cards, annual fees may also outweigh the benefits. The perks-laden American Express Platinum, which costs $450 a year, offers a complimentary airline ticket for every first- or business-class fare purchased on select international flights, plus a business-class fare purchased on plus a concierge service, free access to airport lounges, and other bonuses. It all sounds great, especially if you are booking lots of international business-class travel. But if not, you just paid $450 to have someone else make your restaurant reservations.

Better Deal: Try cash-reward cards instead. Airline miles and gifts are fine, but if you have the cash in your wallet, you can make your own purchasing decisions. Peter Flur of Credit Card Goodies, a 10-year-old Web site that monitors rewards cards, recommends Blue Cash from American Express, which offers up to 5 percent cash back on purchases at gas, groceries, and drugstores, as well as 1.25 percent on all other purchases once a cardholder rings up $6,500 in purchases any given year.

3. Checking Accounts That Pay Interest

Interest-bearing checking accounts at traditional brick-and-mortar banks often pay only 0.13 percent interest but require high minimums to avoid a monthly maintenance fee. On, for instance, a deposit of $3,400 -- the average minimum required to avoid monthly fees, according to Bankrate.com data -- that amounts to just $4.42 in annual interest.

Better Deal: In this low-interest environment, forget about getting any interest from your checking account, advises Richard Barrington, an analyst with MoneyRates.com. Instead, look for a no-fee checking account -- and "be sure to check the minimum balance requirement," Barrington says. "These minimums have been rising, so make sure it's a minimum balance you can realistically maintain."

Meanwhile, if you have extra cash, shop around for banks and credit unions that offer good deals. Mike Moebs, an economist whose firm surveys bank fees says there are a few banks and credit unions that combine checking and money-market deposit accounts into one, offering a high rate on balances over $2,500.

4. Overdraft Protection

Many banks used to offer it automatically when you opened an account, making it sound like a valuable safeguard. After all, if you bounced a check or tried to withdraw more cash from the ATM than you had in your account, you wouldn't suffer any embarrassment when the bank refused to process a transaction.

But consumer advocates long argued that overdraft protection was just a way for banks to earn money at your expense, charging $20 to $35 per overdraft -- a substantial penalty, considering the typical transaction prompting the overdraft fee is $20. That's why the government has ordered new rules to take effect this summer that will require banks to get your approval before enrolling you in overdraft protection.

Better Deal: If you want back-up protection without the overdraft fees, consider setting up a savings account linked to your checking account so funds can be transferred in case of an overdraft. There may still be a fee to transfer funds between accounts, but it's typically lower -- only $10.

Meanwhile, keep a careful tab on your bank account balance: If you opt out of overdraft protection and then make an ATM or debit-card transaction that exceeds your balance, your transaction could be denied.

5. Extended-Warranty Protection

Don't buy additional warranty coverage for electronics and major appliances. For one thing, some repairs are already covered by the standard manufacturer warranty. AndConsumer Reports' researchers have found that products seldom break within the extended-warranty window -- and that when electronics and appliances do break, average repair costs are about as much as an extended warranty.

Better Deal: Check the fine print on your existing Visa, MasterCard or American Express. Many of these cards, particularly if they are platinum or gold, will extend the warranty for a year. "It's one of the greatest freebies from credit card companies ever," says Edgar Dworsky, a consumer lawyer and founder of the Consumer World Web site. The warranty protection varies, so review the policies on your existing cards before you make a purchase -- then use the one offering the best warranty protection.

6. Going-Out-of-Business Sales

They don't offer the bargains you'd expect -- at least at the outset, when the promoted discounts are usually off the full retail price. That "30 percent off" sale may not be any better than the deals you could get before the liquidation process started. In some cases, you may actually be better off buying from a rival store that is trying to compete with the bankrupt retailer -- and will be around to take care of any problems after the liquidating store is out of business.

Better Deal: Shopping robots, such as PriceGrabber.com and Shopping.com, are good places to comparison shop and may be particularly useful before visiting any liquidation sale, says Dworsky. One of his favorite sites, PriceSpider.com, posts historical prices; the range of prices should help you determine whether the price is likely to hold or continue to drop.

7. Paying for a Credit Report

Despite its name, FreeCreditReport.com is not gratis. Here's what the fine print really says: Order your free report and you get a seven-day free trial membership in a credit-monitoring service. If you don't cancel within seven days, you'll be billed $14.95 a month until you bail out. Be wary of other sites making similar come-ons.

Better Deal:Visit AnnualCreditReport.com instead -- the government-approved Web site where you can get a free credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus once a year. It won't give you your actual credit score, but most people don't need it. (The exception: If you're actively shopping for a loan right now, go to myFICO.com to get your current score -- and a report from Equifax or TransUnion -- for $16.)

If you're merely curious about how lenders perceive your credit record, you can get a good estimate of your credit score for free at CreditKarma.com. You can also try thecredit score estimator at Credit.com; you will probably need your actual credit report to answer some of the site's key questions, such as the age of your oldest credit account and the number of outstanding loans and credit cards.

8. Fraud Alerts

Don't pay for identity-theft-protection services that automatically put fraud alerts on your credit report. You can do that yourself; it's easy -- and free. But be careful: Don't put a fraud alert on your credit report as a general matter, because that means you can't easily open new accounts. You should use fraud alerts only if you've had your wallet stolen or something else has happened to put you at real risk.

Better Deal: Review your monthly credit card and bank statements regularly to make sure there are no unauthorized charges. Also, don't forget to obtain a copy of your free credit report annually from each of the three major credit bureaus -- using AnnualCreditReport.com, of course.

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/109616/8-phony-bargains-and-better-alternatives?mod=bb-budgeting

Korsel dan Korut Kian Memanas

Senin, 24/05/2010 14:09 WIB
Korsel dan Korut Kian Memanas
Rita Uli Hutapea - detikNews

kapal Cheonan (AFP)

Seoul - Hubungan Korea Selatan (Korsel) dan Korea Utara (Korut) kian memanas. Pemerintah Korut bahkan mengancam akan menyerang Korsel.

Ketegangan itu disebabkan laporan tim investigasi internasional yang menuding Korut telah melancarkan serangan torpedo ke kapal perang Korsel, Cheonan pada Maret lalu. Serangan itu menewaskan 46 pelaut Korsel.

Buntut laporan itu, Presiden Korsel Lee Myung-bak mendesak Korut untuk minta maaf. Lee juga akan mengadukan masalah ini ke Dewan Keamanan PBB. Pemerintahan Lee juga melarang semua perdagangan, investasi dan kunjungan dengan Korut.

Pemerintahan Lee bahkan mengancam akan memasang slogan-slogan propaganda dan pengeras suara guna menyiarkan propaganda anti-Korut di perbatasan kedua negara.

"Tujuan Korut adalah menimbulkan perpecahan dan konflik," cetus Lee. "Inilah saatnya bagi rezim Korut untuk berubah," imbuhnya seperti dilansir kantor berita Reuters, Senin (24/5/2010).

Hal ini pun menimbulkan kemarahan Korut. Korut membantah terlibat dalam peristiwa tenggelamnya kapal perang Korsel, Cheonan.

Korut pun mengancam akan menyerang peralatan propaganda Korut tersebut. Korut bahkan siap mengambil langkah yang lebih keras jika ketegangan dengan Korsel meningkat.

Korsel dan Korut enam tahun silam sepakat untuk menghentikan propaganda resmi lintas perbatasan.

(ita/gah)

http://www.detiknews.com/read/2010/05/24/140951/1362993/10/korsel-dan-korut-kian-memanas

Konflik Korsel-Korut

Senin, 24/05/2010 14:35 WIB
Konflik Korsel-Korut
Obama Perintahkan Militer AS Bantu Korsel
Rita Uli Hutapea - detikNews

Reuters

Washington - Ketegangan antara Korea Selatan (Korsel) dan Korea Utara (Korut) kian meningkat. Presiden AS Barack Obama pun memerintahkan militer AS untuk bekerja sama dengan Korsel guna memastikan kesiapan untuk menghadapi agresi Korut.

"Dukungan AS atas pertahanan Korsel adalah tegas, dan presiden telah memerintahkan komandan-komandan militernya untuk berkoordinasi dengan erat dengan mitra-mitra mereka di Korsel guna memastikan kesiapan dan untuk menangkal agresi mendatang," kata juru bicara Gedung Putih Robert Gibbs dalam statemennya.

Gedung Putih seperti dilansir Reuters, Senin (24/5/2010) menyatakan, pemerintah Korsel bisa terus bergantung pada dukungan penuh AS.

Gedung Putih juga mendukung desakan Presiden Korsel Lee Myung Bak agar Korut segera meminta maaf atas penyerangan kapal perang Korsel, Cheonan pada Maret lalu.

Dalam pidatonya hari ini, Presiden Lee bertekad akan memutus semua perdagangan dengan Korut serta mengadukan Korut ke Dewan Keamanan PBB guna mendapatkan sanksi atas tenggelamnya kapal perang Cheonan milik Korsel.

Ketegangan Korut-Korsel disebabkan laporan tim investigasi internasional yang menyebutkan Korut telah menyerang kapal perang Cheonan pada Maret lalu. Serangan torpedo Korut itu menyebabkan kapal Cheonan terbelah dan tenggelam hingga menewaskan 46 pelaut Korsel. Peristiwa itu merupakan musibah militer terburuk sepanjang sejarah Korsel sejak Perang Korea.

Namun pemerintah Korut membantah telah melakukan penyerangan kapal Cheonan. Korut bahkan mengancam akan menyerang Korsel jika negeri Ginseng itu mengambil langkah-langkah terhadap Korut.

(ita/nrl)

http://www.detiknews.com/read/2010/05/24/143521/1363028/10/obama-perintahkan-militer-as-bantu-korsel?991102605

No Escape From Europe's Rubble by Aaron Task

No Escape From Europe's Rubble

by Aaron Task
Friday, May 21, 2010

If the market hates uncertainty, as the saying goes, just about the only good news this week was that "uncertainty" over regulatory reform was removed.

But the reforms aren't necessarily positive, and major uncertainty remains about the euro and the outlook for the global economy -- among other small matters.

First, the grim tally: Thursday's washout left all major U.S. averages at least 10% below their 2010 highs. That the decline occurred less than a month after most averages hit those highs is at least as disturbing as the fact that the Dow and S&P entered official "correction" territory. (On Friday, the Dow dipped below 10,000 early on before rebounding to close higher.)

More from Yahoo! Finance: • Even $1 Trillion Can't Save the Euro • The End of a Global Free Market? • Homeowners, Economists "Overconfident" About Recovery

So there's a good reason why a lot of investors are feeling whipsawed --and maybe a little nauseous -- right now. The VIX, a.k.a. "the fear index," has jumped about 175% in the past month, while Treasuries, the dollar and gold have benefited from the "risk aversion" trade.

Inevitable Object Meets Irresistible Force

"The Euro-zone crisis has reminded the global financial community that despite all of the government liquidity and credit … the process of needed private and public sector deleveraging is going to be painful and -- to no small extent -- has been delayed/stunted by the government stimulus itself," says Daniel Alpert, managing partner at Westwood Capital. "It is, nevertheless, inevitable."

While many Americans rightly worry about the day of reckoning for our massive debts, the "inevitable" has already arrived in Europe.

As a result, expect the euro to remain the linchpin around which the global financial markets swing in the coming days and weeks. Reports of central bank interventions Thursday and Germany's vote to fund its portion of the $1 trillion rescue package Friday helped give the currency a boost heading into the weekend.

But the outlook for the euro remains in doubt.

Why the Euro Matters So Much

The euro's fall vs. the dollar raises concerns about the profit outlook for U.S. multinationals, which have benefited greatly from a weak dollar in recent years. Suddenly, the optimistic earning forecasts for S&P 500 stocks are being called into question. That's a big reason why mega-caps like GE (NYSE: GE - News), IBM (NYSE: IBM - News),Boeing (NYSE: BA - News) and Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT - News) have been so battered in recent weeks.

Beyond the stock market, a weak(er) euro has major ramifications for the global economy because it will make European exports more competitive against rivals from the U.S., Japan and China, most notably. (For more on this dynamic, see: Outlook for Global Economy Is "Bleak," Former IMF Chief Economist Says.)

Concern about the economic impact of the currency crisis is a big reason commodity prices have tumbled recently, most notably oil. Historically, currency crises lead to trade barriers and protectionism, which typically bring slower economic growth, if not deflation and depression.

The euro will be a major issue when U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan meet next week for a strategic and economic dialogue.

Ahead of the gathering, Chinese officials said the euro's weakness means they are less likely to let their currency, the renminbi, rise in value, something U.S. policymakers have long agitated for. In sum, Europe's mess is further complicating an already highly sensitive sore spot between the world's largest and world's fastest-growing economies.

Meanwhile, in a world "intertwined by $500 trillion of derivatives," as Minyanville's Todd Harrison likes to say, Europe's crisis has also revived fears of "systemic risk" and financial contagion.

Fighting the Last War

The regulatory reform bill passed by the Senate on Thursday was designed expressly to address such an event, fear of which had diminished heading into the weekend. But whether the Dodd bill could prevent another "contagion" remains very much in doubt.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, key elements of the Senate bill include:

• Establish a new council of "systemic risk" regulators to monitor "too big to fail" firms and prevent bubbles from forming.

• Create a new consumer protection division within the Federal Reserve.

• Empower the Federal Reserve to supervise the largest, most complex financial companies.

• Resolution authority for the government to seize and liquidate failing financial firms without a taxpayer-funded bailouts.

• Give regulators new powers to oversee derivatives.

• Force banks to stop "proprietary trading," or making market bets with their own capital, and put limits on firms' ability to grow beyond a certain size of liabilities.

The WSJ labeled the Senate bill (which must be reconciled with a House version) "harder than expected" and said Wall Street is "bracing for seismic changes."

Considering prop trading and derivatives have become huge sources of income for Wall Street firms, maybe "certainty" over reg reform isn't such good news, after all.

No tears are being shed for the "fat cats," but if the reforms result in a contraction of credit, as opponents contend, the U.S. economy and our 401(k)s will feel the impact.

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/109622/no-escape-from-europes-rubble