FDA Issues Warning to L'Oreal over Misleading Ads : Consumer News : Medical Daily

http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/12056/20120912/fda-issues-warning-loreal-over-misleading-ads.htm 


The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning to L'Oreal accusing it of advertising certain products in a way that misleads the consumers.

In the letter, the FDA said that Lancome USA, a part of L'Oreal SA, was using certain terms to advertise its products that made them sound like they were drugs and not cosmetics.
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Some of the language the FDA has a problem with can be found on Lancome USA's website and includes phrases such as, "Boosts the activity of genes and stimulates the production of youth proteins" and "Boosts the activity of genes."
The FDA said that the company's claims about the products indicated that they "were intended to affect the structure or any function of the human body, rendering them drugs under the Act (Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act)."
Genifique Repair cream, a product named in the warning list, costs $98 for a 1.7-ounce container, Reuters UK reports.
"We request that you take prompt action to correct all violations associated with your products, including the violations identified in this letter. Failure to do so may result in enforcement action without further notice," the FDA said in the letter. "The Act (Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act) authorizes injunctions against manufacturers and distributors of illegal products and seizure of such products."
"We are sensitive to FDA's notice to be able to Lancome and will respond to their particular regulatory fears regularly," said a L'Oreal spokeswoman. Lancome has 15 working days to respond to the warning letter issued by FDA. The company will have to explain what steps it will be adopting to correct the violations.
In February, Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) UK had slammed L'Oreal for using a misleading magazine advertisement to promote an anti-wrinkle cream which featured a black and white picture of actress Rachel Weisz.

Football | FIFA World Cup™ | Cech given a medical warning | ESPNSTAR.com

http://www.espnstar.com/football/world-cup/news/detail/item853914/Cech-given-a-medical-warning/ 

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech is suffering from an elbow injury that will require surgery next summer, according to the Czech Republic's team doctor.

European champions Chelsea are hoping to manage Cech through the season and they have asked the Czech Republic to rest him from friendly internationals.

Czech national coach Michal Bilek has agreed to Chelsea's request.

"An investigation showed a bit of ossification in his elbow, so they (Chelsea) are planning a surgery in England after the season," Krejci told the Czech news agency CTK.

"They have asked us if we could rest him in friendly fixtures. We have come to an agreement with coach Michal Bilek and decided to be on good terms with Chelsea.

"We are going to grant their wish and rest him.

"Petr cannot stretch the arm properly. If he has to stretch the elbow, it hurts him sometimes.

"There is nothing to be worried about, though. There is basically nothing that could make this problem worse.

"The only thing that could force an immediate surgery is if the intensity of pain would get much higher or if the elbow was blocked in some way."

Cech captained the Czech Republic in Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Denmark in Copenhagen, which ended in a 0-0 draw, but he will sit out Tuesday's friendly against Finland.

Ting Huan Tai, Charged With $30 Million In Medicare, Medicaid Fraud, Had Lamborghini, Other Gains

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/30/ting-huan-tai-medicare-medicaid-fraud_n_1844759.html 


BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- A New York man charged with running a health care fraud scam from his upscale Manhattan apartment was released on a $2 million bond Thursday, days after a seizure warrant was issued for his blue Lamborghini and millions of dollars in bank assets.

Federal prosecutors accuse Ting Huan Tai, 34, of stealing the identity of a doctor he once worked with and using it to bill Medicare and Medicaid for more than $30 million in radiological services that were never performed.

"The defendant sought to enrich himself and fund his lifestyle first by stealing a doctor's identity and then using that stolen identity to steal Medicare and Medicaid funds," said Loretta E. Lynch, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

In May 2010, Tai allegedly took over United Medical Diagnosis, P.C., in Queens, N.Y., when the radiologist running the practice left. Tai and others he employed then allegedly used the doctor's name to commit fraud from Tai's apartment for two years.

A law enforcement source, speaking anonymously because the information had not been released to the public, told The Huffington Post that Tai lives at 8 Spruce St., the tallest residential apartment building in the Americas, designed by Frank Gehry, where rent for one-bedroom apartments can surpass $6,000 a month. HuffPost was not able to independently confirm Tai's address.

Investigators searched Tai's apartment Thursday morning before he appeared in federal court in Brooklyn that afternoon.

Tai, wearing glasses and a light blue polo shirt, appeared relatively calm as his father, mother and brother signed the $2 million bond allowing him to go home.


Tai's parents offered their home in Great Neck, N.Y., along with two business addresses, as collateral for the bond. It was in front of his parents' house that Tai's Lamborghini was last parked, according to the seizure warrant, though it was unclear if investigators had yet seized the luxury car.

When asked to comment on the charges against him, Tai said simply, "No response."

Judge Ramon Reyes Jr. announced in court that a grand jury indictment would be delayed until October while the defendant and prosecutors explored a possible plea agreement.

If convicted, Tai faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

The doctor is ... fake? Georgia man accused of fraud in treating 500 patients | Fox News

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/31/doctor-is-fake-georgia-man-accused-fraud-in-treating-500-patients/ 


COLUMBIA, S.C. –  A man stole a physician's identity and pretended to be a doctor for a year in South Carolina, and now investigators are combing through medical records to see whether he harmed any of the hundreds of patients he treated, authorities said.
Ernest Addo of Austell, Ga., is charged with unlawful practice of medicine and obtaining goods under false pretense, authorities said.
Addo doesn't have a medical license in the U.S. But he assumed a doctor friend's identity, getting a driver's license and presenting the massive amount of paperwork needed to prove he was a doctor. The documents were given to him by the friend in hopes they could open a medical clinic together when the real doctor returned from a yearlong trip to Ghana, Lexington County Sheriff James Metts said.
The real doctor, Arthur Kennedy, said he is embarrassed and devastated by what his friend did.
Addo did have some medical training, and acted enough like a doctor not to raise any serious suspicion beyond one nurse -- interviewed after Addo's Aug. 24, arrest -- who wondered why he consulted ask.com when she questioned his treatment plan, Metts said.
The motive appears to be greed, the sheriff said. Court documents show Addo has a history of financial trouble.
Records obtained by The Associated Press show in the past 20 years, at least two dozen liens have been filed against Addo for around $200,000, including unpaid rent, credit card bills, student loans and taxes. Addo has declared bankruptcy twice.
After Addo's arrest last week at his Georgia home, officers found fake IDs and other documents, and Metts said it appears Addo might have tried to fake his way through other lucrative careers, too. The sheriff wouldn't specify which ones.
"He seems to be a professional con guy," Metts said.
Authorities have said Addo received more than $10,000 for his services but declined to elaborate. One of the jobs also gave him the use of a Mercedes.
Addo, 48, has been jailed in Cobb County, Ga., since his arrest, and neither the sheriff nor jail officials knew if he had an attorney. Addo is refusing to talk to authorities, and both his home phone and cellphone have been disconnected.
Addo faces more than a decade in prison for his current charges, but he could end up in even more trouble. Metts said his investigators are reviewing the medical records of more than 500 patients Addo saw while at four Columbia-area senior centers and a rehabilitation center owned by Agape Senior Primary Care.
Metts said some of those patients died. He said more charges could follow if any of those deaths were linked to Addo's actions.
Addo was hired as a general practitioner and provided the kind of exams patients would receive during a visit to the family doctor. Authorities said he also wrote prescriptions, including some for himself.
Officials at Agape are doing their own review of the care patients received from Addo. They said he never had sole clinical oversight of any patient.
"We have found no inappropriate diagnosis or plan of treatment. We are convinced that all of our patients are safe and receiving proper care," Agape CEO Scott Middleton said in a statement.
Addo also worked as a contract doctor for the South Carolina Department of Mental Health, filling in for a doctor on medical leave. Officials there said they also are reviewing Addo's care and have not found any serious issues.
Patients treated by Addo could not be located by The Associated Press for comment.
Authorities started investigating Addo after he made a small mistake on a death certificate. South Carolina health officials trying to fix the error contacted the doctor Addo was impersonating. He told them he hadn't practiced medicine for a year in the state because he was teaching at a medical school in Ghana.
Officials have refused to release that doctor's name, but Kennedy confirmed his identity was stolen.
Kennedy said he was betrayed by his friend. Addo also obtained credit cards in Kennedy's name, creating an even bigger mess to clean up, the doctor said Wednesday outside his home in Orangeburg.
He said he didn't want to answer detailed questions about what happened until he spoke to a lawyer.
Both Kennedy and Addo are from Ghana. Kennedy ran unsuccessfully for president of the west African nation in 2008. He had a family practice in Orangeburg and spent plenty of time in his homeland, pushing for public health improvements. The two men resemble each other, and Addo used Kennedy's reputation to help get him the doctor jobs. Agape said in a statement it hired him in part because he came highly recommended.
Both Agape and Jackson & Coker, the Alpharetta, Ga., physician recruitment firm that placed Addo with the Department of Mental Health, have promised to help authorities. Metts said it could take months for investigators to go through all the medical records.
Jackson & Coker also is exploring any legal action it could take against Addo and is shocked he was able to obtain all the documents someone would need to prove he was a doctor in the United States, spokeswoman Susan Meyers said.
"He was hired the same way in several different places," Meyers said. "There were no red flags."

Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology: EU, US Greenlit Google-Motorola Deal

http://norton-scientificmedical.com/resources/2012/02/20/norton-medical-and-scientific-research-biotechnology-eu-us-greenlit-google-motorola-deal/


US regulators have given their go-signal for Google to buy Motorola Mobility for USD 12.5 billion but warned that they will strictly monitor the former to make sure that key patents to telecom sector will be licensed at reasonable prices.
The European Commission approved of the acquisition as well for the regulators do not see it as a threat to fair competition. But the deal is far from being over as approval from officials in Taiwan, Israel and China are still pending.
Google's intention to purchase the tablet, mobile phone and set-top box maker Motorola was announced in August 2011. Their Android platform is already leading the competition for top operating system being used in web-capable smartphones.
This potential acquisition (possibly the biggest in the history of Google) wills the company's most critical foray into the hardware industry where it has very little experience.
But Google has already announced that they plan to run Motorola Mobility as a separate unit.
However, an EU Commissioner has expressed worry over the possibility that Google will abuse the patents and dominate the market underhandedly.
This can be done through Google making it hard for new technologies to be used by others through making it unprofitable for others to adopt the technologies. That is precisely what observers are worried about as it will surely bring an antitrust probe later on.
Chinese regulators are given until the 20th of March to decide if they will approve the deal or commence a third stage of review.
Google's decision to purchase Motorola came briefly after they failed in acquiring Nortel's patents. They were later bought by a consortium led by Apple, Microsoft, Ericsson and Sony, EMC and RIM. The group paid USD 4.5 billion for 6,000 patents and patent applications.
Google has openly admitted that they are interested in Motorola mainly because of the latter's 17,000 patents (and 7,500 patent applications) as it gears to go head-to-head with Apple and protect Android manufacturers from patent litigation.
It also appears that the search engine giant is serious in their goal of delving into the hardware business. Just like what Apple has been doing, Google might want to have a hand on both the hardware and software facets of their products. This will allow them to develop their own line of smartphones eventually.
With Motorola's technology in set-top box, Google will be in the position to shift into the home entertainment service that includes TV.
Up until now, Google has been in a disadvantage in terms of litigation. However, having all these patents on their possession might just turn the tables in their favor.

Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology: Transistors the Size of One Atom Created

http://norton-scientificmedical.com/resources/2012/03/21/norton-medical-and-scientific-research-biotechnology-transistors-the-size-of-one-atom-created/ 



A transistor made up of only one atom has been made, according to a report published this month in Nature Nanotechnology. Physicists have built a working transistor using just one phosphorus atom accurately placed in a silicon crystal.
A group of researchers from Australia, US and South Korea have cooperated in creating a single-atom transistor from a single phosphorus atom in silicon.
According to researchers of Purdue University who already did digital simulations of transistors, this technique that utilizes liquid nitrogen-cooled device can only be possible at very low temperatures of negative 391 F.
It is made possible through manipulating single atoms in a scanning tunneling microscope. In the past, silicon's atomic structure has made it hard to engineer circuits using STMs in an atomic scale. What they used is a combination of etching and STM to make a transistor with an accurate location on a silicon surface.
A transistor is the device that can switch and/or amplify an electronic signal, provided that it is connected to an external circuit by at least 3 terminals. Transistors are made of semiconductor materials and are basically crucial in today's lifestyle for they are part of almost every electronic device we have like mobile phones and computers.
Ordinary transistor dimensions are becoming smaller in time owing to the improvements in nanotechnology and materials used. Reducing the size of transistors is a big deal for every device that depends on the number of transistors in them for their efficiency.
The miniaturization was previously described in 1965 by the co-founder of Intel, Gordon Moore. He observed the trend of transistors at that time and formulated what is known today as Moore's Law. It states that the number of transistors in one chip of a computer will double every two years (18-24 months). However, there is a warning that this cannot go on forever and a limit will eventually be reached when the smallest possible transistor is made, which according to Moore's Law should be around 2020. Apparently, we have reached the limit far too early as it is not possible to reduce a transistor already in the size of a single atom.
And just to make sure the idea of how small we are talking about here sinks in, think one ten-billionth of a meter -- that's 100 picometers, the diameter of 1 (one) phosphorus atom.
Their group has proved that it's possible to put a phosphorus atom in silicon with atomic precision.
The team of developers is hoping that their method of manipulation in an atomic scale can be used as founding blocks for quantum computers or devices that use quantum mechanics to represent digital data. Though even with this breakthrough, there is fair warning that quantum computers might not be possible to build.

'Dreamland' review: The science of sleep

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/books/dreamland-review-the-science-of-sleep-1.3906782


DREAMLAND: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep, by David K. Randall. W.W. Norton & Co., 290 pp., $25.95.
It's no wonder sleep is a problem for millions of Americans. We're overweight, lead sedentary lives, spend evenings bathed in artificial light and share beds with other people, all of which impede shuteye. The massive baby-boomer generation is aging, and humans probably evolved to sleep more lightly as we get older. Such are the reasons an astonishing one in four U.S. adults has prescription sleeping pills in the medicine chest, even though studies show that "drugs like Ambien and Lunesta offer no significant improvement" in the quality or quantity of sleep.
We learn all this from David K. Randall's "Dreamland," a modest yet informative work of nonfiction in which a sleepwalker walks us through the subject of sleep. Randall has done a lot of good reporting, writes clearly and makes even the scientific aspects of his subject easily accessible. And he knows what makes lively reading, such as the legal conundrum of people who kill while sleepwalking.
Regrettably, he also seems to feel that every aspect of the topic needs to be embodied in somebody's story. Much of the chapter on snoring, for example, is spent discussing the progenitors of a device for countering sleep apnea. The science of sleep is covered painlessly but a little sparingly. Nor does the author dwell much on sleep in literature and mythology. The result is an enjoyable, edifying book that goes down easy, even if it leaves you wishing that it were a tad more ambitious.
The one thing "Dreamland" will not do -- sorry, insomniacs -- is put you to sleep. The topic and the treatment are both too interesting. Take dreams, for instance. Randall reports that Freud was all wrong; science shows that rather than brimming with hidden meanings and sexual longings, dreams are straightforward, even pedestrian, if usually unpleasant -- rehearsals, perhaps, for bad things we might face while awake. We also learn that, in the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, people spent more time in bed, but sleep was segmented into "first sleep" and "second sleep," with perhaps an hour of relaxed wakefulness in between -- an hour considered convenient for lovemaking.
Randall says that humans evolved for an environment quite different from the one we live in today. The advent of electric lighting means that people aren't exposed to enough daylight, throwing off their circadian rhythms. Or they drink alcohol at night, which leads to wakefulness in the wee hours. And sleep deprivation can blight your waking hours, making you sadder, dumber and less healthy.
While not a self-help book, "Dreamland" provides good advice on improving sleep. Get ample natural light by day, and some exercise. Avoid bright lights at night (including the glow of computers and iPads), establish a consistent bedtime, use the bedroom only for sleep or sex, and keep the place cool -- between 60 and 66 degrees if you wear pajamas. A tepid shower beats a hot bath before bed and, sadly, sleeping on the same mattress as someone else doesn't help. "Getting a good night's sleep takes work," reports the author. By the end of the book he has a better handle on his somnambulism, as well as the credibility to add: "And that work is worth it."

Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology: EU, US Greenlit Google-Motorola Deal: Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology

http://norton-scientificmedical.com/resources/2012/02/20/norton-medical-and-scientific-research-biotechnology-eu-us-greenlit-google-motorola-deal/ 


US regulators have given their go-signal for Google to buy Motorola Mobility for USD 12.5 billion but warned that they will strictly monitor the former to make sure that key patents to telecom sector will be licensed at reasonable prices.
The European Commission approved of the acquisition as well for the regulators do not see it as a threat to fair competition. But the deal is far from being over as approval from officials in Taiwan, Israel and China are still pending.
Google's intention to purchase the tablet, mobile phone and set-top box maker Motorola was announced in August 2011. Their Android platform is already leading the competition for top operating system being used in web-capable smartphones.
This potential acquisition (possibly the biggest in the history of Google) wills the company's most critical foray into the hardware industry where it has very little experience.
But Google has already announced that they plan to run Motorola Mobility as a separate unit.
However, an EU Commissioner has expressed worry over the possibility that Google will abuse the patents and dominate the market underhandedly.
This can be done through Google making it hard for new technologies to be used by others through making it unprofitable for others to adopt the technologies. That is precisely what observers are worried about as it will surely bring an antitrust probe later on.
Chinese regulators are given until the 20th of March to decide if they will approve the deal or commence a third stage of review.
Google's decision to purchase Motorola came briefly after they failed in acquiring Nortel's patents. They were later bought by a consortium led by Apple, Microsoft, Ericsson and Sony, EMC and RIM. The group paid USD 4.5 billion for 6,000 patents and patent applications.
Google has openly admitted that they are interested in Motorola mainly because of the latter's 17,000 patents (and 7,500 patent applications) as it gears to go head-to-head with Apple and protect Android manufacturers from patent litigation.
It also appears that the search engine giant is serious in their goal of delving into the hardware business. Just like what Apple has been doing, Google might want to have a hand on both the hardware and software facets of their products. This will allow them to develop their own line of smartphones eventually.
With Motorola's technology in set-top box, Google will be in the position to shift into the home entertainment service that includes TV.
Up until now, Google has been in a disadvantage in terms of litigation. However, having all these patents on their possession might just turn the tables in their favor.

Futurity.org – Science and faith: Geologist investigates floods

http://www.futurity.org/society-culture/science-and-faith-geologist-investigates-floods/ 


The idea that scientific reason and religious faith are somehow at odds “is, in my view, a false dichotomy,” says a geologist whose new book explores religious accounts of floods.

David Montgomery is a geomorphologist, a geologist who studies changes to topography over time and how geological processes shape landscapes. He has seen firsthand evidence of how the forces that have shaped Earth run counter to some significant religious beliefs.
In his new book The Rocks Don’t Lie: A Geologist Investigates Noah’s Flood, published August 27 by W.W. Norton, Montgomery explores the long history of religious thinking—particularly among Christians—on matters of geological discovery, from the writings of St. Augustine 1,700 years ago to the rise in the mid-20th century of the most recent rendering of creationism.
“The purpose is not to tweak people of faith but to remind everyone about the long history in the faith community of respecting what we can learn from observing the world,” he says.
Many of the earliest geologists were clergy, he says. Nicolas Steno, considered the founder of modern geology, was a 17th century Roman Catholic priest who has achieved three of the four steps to being declared a saint in the church.
Though there are notable conflicts between religion and science—the famous case of Galileo Galilei, for example—there also is a church tradition of working to reconcile biblical stories with known scientific fact, Montgomery says.
“What we hear today as the ‘Christian’ positions are really just one slice of a really rich pie,” he says.
Global floods
For nearly two centuries there has been overwhelming geological evidence that a global flood, as depicted in the story of Noah in the biblical book of Genesis, could not have happened. Not only is there not enough water in the Earth system to account for water levels above the highest mountaintop, but uniformly rising levels would not allow the water to have the erosive capabilities attributed to Noah’s Flood, Montgomery says.
Some rock formations millions of years old show no evidence of such large-scale water erosion. Montgomery is convinced any such flood must have been, at best, a regional event, perhaps a catastrophic deluge in Mesopotamia. There are, in fact, Mesopotamian stories with details very similar, but predating, the biblical story of Noah’s Flood.
“If your world is small enough, all floods are global,” he says.
Perhaps the greatest influence in prompting him to write The Rocks Don’t Lie was a 2002 expedition to the Tsangpo River on the Tibetan Plateau. In the fertile river valley he found evidence in sediment layers that a great lake had formed in the valley many centuries ago, not once but numerous times. Downstream he found evidence that a glacier on several occasions advanced far enough to block the river, creating the huge lake.
But ice makes an unstable dam, and over time the ice thinned and finally give way, unleashing a tremendous torrent of water down the deepest gorge in the world. It was only after piecing the story together from geological evidence that Montgomery learned that local oral traditions told of exactly this kind of great flood.
“To learn that the locals knew about it and talked about it for the last thousand years really jolted my thinking. Here was evidence that a folk tale might be reality based,” he says.
He has seen evidence of huge regional floods in the scablands of Eastern Washington, carved by torrents when glacial Lake Missoula breached its ice dam in Montana and raced across the landscape, and he found Native American stories that seem to tell of this catastrophic flood.
Other flood stories dating back to the early inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest and from various islands in the Pacific Ocean, for example, likely tell of inundation by tsunamis after large earthquakes.
But he noted that in some regions of the world—in Africa, for example—there are no flood stories in the oral traditions because there the annual floods help sustain life rather than bring destruction.
Open mind
Floods are not always responsible for major geological features. Hiking a trail from the floor of the Grand Canyon to its rim, Montgomery saw unmistakable evidence of the canyon being carved over millions of years by the flow of the Colorado River, not by a global flood several thousand years ago as some people still believe.
He describes that hike in detail in The Rocks Don’t Lie. He also explores changes in the understanding of where fossils came from, how geologists read Earth history in layers of rock, and the writings of geologists and religious authorities through the centuries.
Montgomery hopes the book might increase science literacy. He notes that a 2001 National Science Foundation survey found that more than half of American adults didn’t realize that dinosaurs were extinct long before humans came along.
But he also would like to coax readers to make sense of the world through both what they believe and through what they can see for themselves, and to keep an open mind to new ideas.
He writes, “I doubt the historic truth about Noah’s Flood will ever be known with certainty. And I don’t think it really matters. The discoveries of science have revealed the world and our universe to be far more spectacular than could have been imagined by Mesopotamian minds. To still see the world through their eyes is to minimize the wonder of creation.”

Living Legends needs a hand

http://www.ashburtonguardian.co.nz/news/todays-news/8202-living-legends-needs-a-hand.html 

Green fingered people are being called upon to lend a hand planting 2100 native trees and shrubs at an Ashburton reserve this Sunday. 
Living Legends – a community conservation project first established last year to celebrate and leave a legacy of New Zealand's hosting of the Rugby World Cup – is back for round two at the Harris Scientific Reserve.
Each planting project across New Zealand was dedicated to a rugby legend from the region. Mid Canterbury's former All Black Jock Ross was named as Mid Canterbury's Living Legend and while he's unavailable to attend on Sunday, he's hoping Mid Cantabrians will get behind the project.
Ross isn't available but Canterbury rugby legend Tane Norton is, and he'll be there lending a hand along with Ashburton Mayor Angus McKay. They will be and planting alongside what they hope will be a heap of volunteers.
A staggering 85,000 native trees were planted as part of Living Legends last year and now it's returning to the same 17 regions to plant a further 45,000 native trees and shrubs – 2100 of those in the Ashburton reserve.
Devon McLean, project manager of Living Legends, said the project would contribute hugely to conservation in New Zealand.
"By the end of the Living Legends project in 2015 we will have planted 170,000 native trees," he said.
Registrations for the Ashburton event close at midnight tomorrow.
The Harris Scientific Reserve protects one of the last stands of dry-land kanuka in Canterbury. The 2.5ha paddock and its surrounding natural and undisturbed dry-land kanuka stand was purchased by the Ashburton District Council along with an adjoining 8ha paddock to the east. Forest and Bird was granted a 'licence to occupy' by the council on condition a trust was set up to manage the site.
The total area of 10.5ha is now managed by the Ashburton Community Conservation Trust and the trust has already planted the 2.5ha area within the natural kanuka border.
Anyone can take part but people need to register their interest at www.livinglegends.co.nz.

Pictured: Mid Canterbury's Living Legend Jock Ross is doing his bit for conservation and he's calling on the rest of Mid Canterbury to get their hands dirty too, at Sunday's Living Legend planting day.

Photo Kirsty Graham

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Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology - FDA approves kidney cancer drug from Pfizer: Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology

http://norton-scientificmedical.com/resources/2012/01/30/norton-medical-and-scientific-research-biotechnology-fda-approves-kidney-cancer-drug-from-pfizer/ 


The medicine made by Pfizer against advanced kidney cancer was recently approved by Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology regulators for commercial use despite a warning of possible side effects.
On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated that the drug (with the generic name of axitinib) is effective in curing patients who do not show response to other drugs against kidney cancer.
The advance stage of kidney cancer usually begins in the lining of the kidney's tubes. Inlyta does its work by blocking specific receptors that are involved in the growth of tumor.
According to FDA, Inlyta is already the seventh drug it approved to cure advanced cancer of the kidney since 2005.
American Cancer Society said that more than 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with kidney cancer last year and 1 out of 5 is expected to die from them.
The FDA approval has come as a welcome opportunity for Pfizer since they have lost revenue from their cholesterol drug, Lipitor, after generic counterparts started to come out last year.
However, Inlyta will still face tough competition from the 6 other drugs for kidney cancer that have their respective market shares already.
An advisory committee of FDA endorsed the oral drug last month and announced that it is as effective and as safe as the kidney cancer medication from Bayer AG, Nexavar.
Generally, in clinical trials made by Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology, Inlyta slowed the growth of cancer by 2 months versus Nexavar for patients who have already been cured for renal cell carcinoma.
However, the results differed based on what certain medicines patients have taken prior. For people who took first the Sutent (also from Pfizer), Inlyta slowed the spread of disease only by one and a half months, compared to the more than 5 months for patients treated with cytokines beforehand.
Most of the advisers of FDA stated that the drug does not have a huge advantage over others. However, the fact that it has different side effects than the other medicine in the market could be an important deciding factor for patients.
Several of the most common side effects of using Inlyta include high blood pressure, weight loss, vomiting, loss of voice and diarrhea. Some patients also reported bleeding problems that can possibly lead to fatality in extreme cases.
FDA issued a warning to patients with high blood pressure, intestinal bleeding, or untreated brain tumors in their intake of Inlyta.
Meanwhile, Pfizer is conducting further tests of Inlyta for liver cancer treatment.

Target to Stop Selling Kindle: Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology

http://norton-scientificmedical.com/resources/2012/06/01/37/ 


Target, the 2nd largest discount chain announced that it will stop offering Amazon's e-reader Kindle because of a «conflict of interest» while Barnes & Noble and Apple devices will continue to be offered.
According to Molly Snyder, Target spokesperson, the decision to drop Kindle e-readers starting this spring came after a review of the retailer's merchandise, which consisted of evaluations on prices and quality of their products. However, Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology got a hold of an internal memo regarding the removal of Amazon hardware (Kindle) from Target stores starting this month and while some accessories are to remain in stock, shipments of the tablet will stop beginning on May 13.
Before the Minneapolis-based retailer started offering Kindles in June 2010, Amazon only sold the tablet on its own website. But after recognizing the need of customers to see the products in person before buying, Amazon approached Target for some sort of partnership, followed by WalMart, Best Buy and Staples. Even though most of the Kindle items are being sold at Amazon, Target's 1,800 stores nationwide have made it one of the biggest Kindle retailers in the physical world. In fact, Target has announced after last year's Thanksgiving that the Kindle was the bestselling tablet in its stores.
Target's move is perhaps due to the fact that Apple products are being promoted prominently in the store. But Snyder declined to say more but «We will continue to offer our guests a full assortment of e-readers and supporting accessories» regarding the apparent partnership with Apple.
According to a statement from the retailer, the «very tight alignment» of Kindle with the online store Amazon, their direct competitor, explains the conflicting interest presented as the reason.
Target's decision to drop Kindle might also be a boycott to manufacturers' using their brick and mortar stores to as a showroom of products. This often happens as customers go to retailers like Target in order to personally check out an item and then buy the item online for a cheaper price. In fact, Target has already appealed to vendors for aid in developing exclusive products and rivaling prices online.
«What we aren't willing to do is let online-only retailers use our brick-and-mortar stores as a showroom for their products and undercut our prices,» said a Target in a statement.
The absence of Kindle from Target stores is not likely to stop Amazon customers from visiting Target for other products but Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology said the move will definitely send a message to Amazon.