----- Original Message -----
From: "malaika kambon" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2004 7:04 AM
Subject: [unioNews] Fwd: Patients May Have Gotten Wrong HIV Results & EPA
Studies Vapors From Microwave


***********
Patients May Have Gotten Wrong HIV Results

By ALEX DOMINGUEZ
Associated Press Writer

March 11, 2004, 2:13 PM EST


BALTIMORE -- More than 400 patients at Maryland General Hospital might have
received incorrect HIV and hepatitis test results during a 14-month period
ending in August 2003, state officials say.

Maryland's health secretary said Thursday that the patients are being
tracked down for retesting and that a hot line was being set up for people
to inquire about whether their tests may have been flawed.

Some patients might have been told they were HIV-negative when in fact they
were positive -- and vice versa -- and the hospital failed to notify the
patients of the problem, said Nelson J. Sabatini, secretary of the state
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

"I think this is unconscionable behavior: People not being told about the
status of their tests," Sabatini told The (Baltimore) Sun.

Officials believe staff at Maryland General Hospital apparently manipulated
the results of control tests that showed the tests might be inaccurate, then
mailed them to patients anyway, according to a report filed by state
inspectors.

"It wasn't that the malfunction was unknown. The problem was that nothing
was done about it; they overrode the malfunction," Sabatini said.

Inspectors found that over the 14-month period, 10 percent to 15 percent of
the HIV tests performed might have been inaccurate. The problems stopped
when the hospital decided to have the testing done elsewhere.

The state investigated after receiving a complaint, according to the report.

Testing problems can be deadly.

St. Agnes Medical Center in Philadelphia was fined $447,500 in 2001 for
testing errors blamed for the deaths of three patients who were given
overdoses of a blood thinner. In 1993, a review of 19,000 Pap smear tests
was ordered at a Rhode Island hospital after a woman who tested negative
four times died of cervical cancer.

Hepatitis C, for which some patients were tested, can cause a chronic liver
infection that could eventually lead to liver failure and cancer.


EPA Studies Vapors From Microwave Popcorn

By CONNIE FARROW
Associated Press Writer

March 11, 2004, 8:19 AM EST


The Environmental Protection Agency is studying the chemicals released into
the air when a bag of microwave popcorn is popped or opened.

Exposure to vapors from butter flavoring in microwave popcorn has been
linked to a rare lung disease contracted by factory workers in Missouri,
Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. The National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health has said it suspects the chemical diacetyl caused the illnesses.

However, health officials insist people who microwave popcorn and eat it at
home are not in danger.

In the first direct study of chemicals contained in one of the nation's most
popular snack foods, the EPA's Indoor Environment Management Branch at
Research Triangle Park, N.C., is examining the type and amount of chemicals
emitted from microwave popcorn bags.

Further research would be needed to determine any health effects of those
chemicals and whether consumers are at risk, said Jacky Rosati, an EPA
scientist involved in the study.

"Once we know what chemicals are and the amounts, somebody else can look at
the health effects," Rosati said Wednesday.

About 50 brands, batches and flavors of microwave popcorn -- from
super-buttery to sugary sweet "kettle corn" -- are being tested, she said.

"Obviously, we are looking at diacetyl because it is a known compound that
will come off this popcorn. But we're not looking at that alone," Rosati
said.

The EPA study began last fall and is expected to be completed this year. It
likely will be submitted for peer review before being made public, Thompson
said.

Rosati started the study after hearing a presentation on popcorn workers who
became sick at the Gilster-Mary Lee Corp. plant in Jasper, Mo.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has linked
diacetyl to the respiratory illnesses found in workers who mix the microwave
popcorn flavorings. Investigators believe the chemical becomes hazardous
when it is heated and there is repeated exposure to large quantities over a
long time.

Thirty former workers at the Jasper plant are suing two butter flavoring
manufacturers.

The Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association based in Washington, D.C.,
said the flavor ingredients in microwave popcorn pose no threat to
consumers.

The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates food additives, also
considers butter flavoring to be safe for consumer use.

"I haven't seen anything that would give us any reason to suspect this is
something we should make a high priority," said George Pauli, acting
director of the FDA's office of food additive safety.

United States consumers bought $1.33 billion worth of microwave popcorn in
2000, said Ann Wilkes, spokeswoman for the Snack Food Association.

A Good Leader

What is the meaning of self-determination?
That you allow someone else to make fundamental
decisions (vision, strategy, etc.) for you?
I don't think so.
There are folks in the village that have exceptional "vision",
but those must be examined by the individuals in the community
based on their shared world view.
Their consent (consensus) on the issue is the decision maker,
not some leader.
The outstanding factor of a good leader
is their ability to put words
to the feelings expressed by the people,
especially in representing the people
to other groups.

kamau mposi




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