Komputer for Alle 1998 #6/1998 CD 6 (Gul).iso/web/ffa/wwwenv~1.org/arrs/digest/news50~1.htm/text0000.txt

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Researchers accused of swindling medical school

The Associated Press

AUGUSTA, Ga. (August 28, 1997 09:28 a.m. EDT) -- Dr. Richard Borison and
Bruce Diamond appeared to have it made at the Medical College of
Georgia.

The two had published widely and won dozens of research contracts from
pharmaceutical companies to study drugs aimed at fighting Alzheimer's
disease, anxiety, depression and schizophrenia.

They also drove luxury cars and lived lavishly. Prosecutors say that's
because they swindled more than $10 million from 1988 to 1996 and
disregarded patient safety in their quest to get results.

Both men have pleaded innocent.

Relatives of patients enrolled in their studies are outraged.

"I just feel like we've been betrayed," said Janis Huckeba, whose
husband was in two studies for drugs to combat Alzheimer's. "The more I
learn about them, the more I feel like it's a slap in the face."

Borison was chairman of the college psychiatry department; Diamond was a
professor but not a medical doctor. The 172-count indictment issued in
February includes charges of theft, bribery, tax evasion, conspiracy and
racketeering. They're each free on $1 million bail as they await trial.

Neither have returned phone messages seeking comment.

The men amassed almost half a million dollars worth of antiques, art and
other amenities for their homes, such as a $32,000 stone lion fountain,
a $1,000 palace rug and four bronze doors adorned
with a lion's head worth $16,000, the indictment said.

"I plead him guilty to having good taste," said Borison's lawyer,
Michael Garrett.

The two men tried to flee and contacted people in other countries for
help, according to affidavits from a state investigator. When Diamond
was arrested in February outside an Augusta bank, he was carrying $9,900
in cash, a packed suitcase and a new passport.

The affidavits include a March 1996 letter to them from an accountant in
London. The letter reads: "As you are aware, I have built up a wealth of
very useful contacts -- worldwide. In your case, I also know of others
in the same line of business who I am sure could help. I recommend you
try and make the finals of Wimbledon!?"

At least once, Borison and Diamond told the Medical College that they
had ended a study because of a lack of patients, while they actually
continued it on their own, said Malcolm Kling, the school's interim vice
president for research.

The two also asked the drug companies to make their checks out to
fictitious firms to divert money that should have gone to the school,
the indictment said.

Some drug companies didn't care who got paid as long as the research was
done, according to the investigator's affidavits.

"He's world renowned," Garrett said of his client, Borison. "Most of the
drug companies dealt with him because of who he was, not because he was
at the Medical College of Georgia."

William Kennedy, vice president of Zeneca Inc. of Wilmington, Del., said
his company chose Borison and Diamond to do studies on its schizophrenia
drug, Seroquel, because of that personal reputation.

But some patients were enrolled in the study only because of the Medical
College, their relatives said.

"We constantly hear about their studies," said Ms. Huckeba, of North
Augusta, S.C. "The reputation the college has, you just don't question
it."

Both the indictment and a separate report by the Food and Drug
Administration found flaws in the researchers' practices.

Diamond and others with no medical training diagnosed patients and
decided dosages for experimental drugs, the FDA report said.

Patients' charts indicated they'd been seen by a doctor when they
hadn't, and Diamond routinely forged Borison's signature on lab reports
and other documents, the FDA said.

Diamond also was charged in several counts with prescribing drugs
without a license.

The FDA said any possible misconduct did not affect conclusions about
the effectiveness of seven prescription drugs they tested. However, it
is investigating their conclusions in several pending drug
applications.

When one patient attempted suicide while on an experimental drug for
schizophrenia, Borison and Diamond tried to buy the silence of a study
coordinator so she would not file a complaint, the indictment said.

"The charges of patient neglect are cruel and absurd," Garrett said.
"Those allegations hurt him more than the allegations of stealing."
Date: Thu, 28 Aug 1997 21:05:32 -0700
From: Andrew Gach <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Human guinea pigs
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Pentagon acknowledges health risk to vets treated with radium

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (August 28, 1997 09:05 a.m. EDT) -- The Defense Department is
acknowledging, after years of hesitation, that thousands of U.S.
servicemen given nasal radiation treatments in the 1940s and '50s may be
at risk for health problems.

The Pentagon made the acknowledgement Wednesday in releasing a lengthy
report on Cold War-era military radiation research projects that used
human subjects.

The Pentagon said it was working with the Department of Veterans Affairs
to identify and notify servicemen who participated in the radiation
treatments. It made no mention of untold numbers of
children of military personnel given similar treatments with radiation
for inner-ear problems in the 1940s and '50s.

The Pentagon did not admit that the radiation caused any health problems
among servicemen. In fact it continued to point to studies that said
evidence of long-term health problems associated with this treatment
were inconclusive. It acknowledged, however, a "significant risk" of
such linkages.

Some scientific studies have suggested that the nasal radiation
treatments could have created higher risk for head and neck cancers.

Other projects among more than 2,300 military radiation studies and
experiments documented in the Pentagon report included the use of
Mennonite conscientious objectors in experimental taste tests of
irradiated foods in 1956. Also, Alaska Eskimos were given radioactive
iodine-131 in an Air Force-sponsored study of thyroid activity in men
exposed to cold in the 1950s. The government has been negotiating
compensation for some of the Alaska natives.

Stewart Farber, a Rhode Island public health scientist who has pressed
the government for years on the nasal radiation treatments, said the
Pentagon should take a more aggressive approach to finding those who
were given the treatment.

"Steps to notify ... treated veterans are decades overdue," Farber said
Wednesday.

The Pentagon report said the number of servicemen involved was in the
thousands. Available records did not identify most by name, so it was
unclear how many eventually would be alerted and given medical
examinations.

Most apparently were Navy submariners and Army pilots. They were
particularly vulnerable to inner-ear problems from exposure to drastic
pressure changes.

Marvin Baumstein was a 27-year-old Army Air Force gunner when he was
given a series of radium treatments through his nostrils in 1945 to
shrink his adenoids and cure a temporary hearing loss from a B-24 bomber
training flight.

It worked, Baumstein said in an interview Wednesday, but he later
developed cancer of the larynx. He was a cigarette smoker but he
believes the radium treatment caused his cancer.

"I would like my kids to know the Army was responsible," he said in the
barely audible voice of a man who had half of his larynx removed.

In the 1940s and '50s it was common practice in civilian and military
medicine to use radium to treat sinus inflammations and to shrink
swollen adenoids.

Typically, a rod containing 50 milligrams of radium was pushed through
each nostril and placed against the opening of the eustachian tubes for
six to 12 minutes. Repeated over a period of months, this would shrink
the adenoids. The eustachian tubes help the ear to drain and balance
pressure on the inner and outer ear.

The military stopped using the treatment when pressurized aircraft
cabins came into use and questions arose about possible harmful health
effects.

The Pentagon said the VA will contact veterans whose military files show
they received the radiation treatment. They will be advised to tell
their doctor of the past treatment "so it may be considered
when they receive medical examinations," the Pentagon said.

The Army Air Force used radium treatments on an unspecified number of
airmen. A 1944-45 study by the Army Air Force treated 2,289 servicemen
at Drew Air Field in Tampa, Fla. Doctors administered the treatment at
several other sites, including Gulfport Army Air Field in Mississippi;
Esler Field in Louisiana; Dyersburg Army Air Field in Tennessee,
Stuttgart Army Air Field in Arkansas, and Will Rogers Field in Oklahoma.

The Navy used it on submarine crewmen with ear-pressure problems,
including 732 men involved in a 1940s study by researchers at the
Submarine Medical Research Laboratory in New London, Conn.
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 00:45:47 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: CROSSPOSTING--Admin Note
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Time to crack down again...

Please do not "crosspost" when posting to AR-News!

While crossposting is often frowned upon on many lists, on AR-News it can
lead to a "degradation" of the "news" concept.  Crossposting to other lists
and/or individuals when posting to AR-News may be convenient for the
poster, but may later cause problems for AR-News.  Many people quickly go
for the reply option and, depending on software, may "default" through
options asking "reply to all?" or "reply to all recipients?"--this is one
cause of comments/discussion/chat interfering with the "news" of AR-News.
Not everyone has unlimited access or time to the internet, therefore many
people subscribe to a "news" list for news, not discussion.  Please
remember this when posting to AR-News.
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 00:46:51 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS--Admin Note
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Routine post.........

Here are some items of general information (found in the "welcome letter"
sent when people subscribe--but often lose!)...included:  how to post and
how to change your subscription status (useful if you are going on
vacation--either by "unsubscribe" or "postpone").
---------------------------------------------------------------

To post messages to the list, send mail to [e-mail]
POSTING

To post a *news-related item* (no discussions), send your message to:

     [e-mail]

Appropriate postings to AR-News include: posting a news item, requesting
information on some event, or responding to a request for information.
Discussions on AR-News will NOT be allowed and we ask that any
commentary either be taken to AR-Views or to private E-mail.
------------------------------------------

***General Subscription Information***
ALL THE FOLLOWING SHOULD NOT be sent to ar-news !!!
(send them to [e-mail])
For all commands, use a blank Subject line.
---------------------------------------------------

To request a digest version, send mail to [e-mail]
with the following single line:

     set ar-news mail digest

To switch back to immediate mail, and to get copies of *your* postings
also, send the following command:

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or the following to not get your own postings:

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To see how you are set up ***(and to see if you are still subscribed!)***, use

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To temporarily stop mailings, use:

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To re-enable it, use ack, noack, or digest as above.

To unsubscribe, use:

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or:

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If you have to subscribe again, use:

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If you have problems, please contact:

     Allen Schubert
     [e-mail]


Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 13:16:13 +0800
From: bunny <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: RCD controls lifted (New Zealand)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Fri, 29th August 1997

RCD Areas To See Controls Lifted


Agriculture Officials are ending attempts to quarantine the
killer rabbit virus RCD.

Officials and Government ministers met today to consider whether to extend
controls they had placed on a number of properties in the Otago area.

The decision followed confirmation that the RCD outbreak is now known to
be on at least 20 properties in the MacKenzie Basin, Omarama and Otago
areas.

A number of farmers say they have been spreading the disease by hand and
there are reports that the virus has been sent to North Canterbury, Blenheim
and the North Island.

MAF has now abandoned, for the time being, thoughts of quarantining the
whole of the South Island and attempts to stop the spread of the rabbit
virus RCD

MAF chief vet, Barry O'Neil, also says that restrictions in Cromwell would be
lifted as from Saturday. He says there is no purpose in pursuing attempts to
contain the virus at this stage.

There is still uncertainty if the disease is spreading geographically by itself
and Mr O'Neil says there is no confirmation of rabbit deaths caused by RCD
in the North Island and he says MAF will be carrying out further field tests
to learn more about how RCD is spread.

                     (29.8.97)


===========================================

Rabbit Information Service,
P.O.Box 30,
Riverton,
Western Australia 6148

Email>  [e-mail]

http://www.wantree.com.au/~rabbit/rabbit.htm
(Rabbit Information Service website updated frequently)

     /`\   /`\
    (/\ \-/ /\)
       )6 6(
     >{= Y =}<
      /'-^-'\
     (_)   (_)
      |  .  |
      |     |}
 jgs  \_/^\_/













Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 08:00:02 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Beefeaters Not Shy After E. Coli
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from AP Wire page:
------------------------------------------------
 08/29/1997 01:28 EST

 Beefeaters Not Shy After E. Coli

 By SCOTT BAUER
 Associated Press Writer

 LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Labor Day is prime time for beef -- and
 that won't change this year despite a possibly deadly bacteria
 that caused the nation's largest-ever meat recall.

 ``It hasn't scared me,'' said grocery shopper Jack Holland of
 Atlanta. ``I haven't made a big change in my buying habits. As
 a matter of fact, I'm going in to buy something to grill out
 for the weekend.''

 Americans traditionally consume 57.5 million pounds per day, or
 nearly a quarter-pound for every person in the country, over
 the Labor Day weekend. That's 20 percent more beef than the average daily
 consumption of 46 million pounds.

 Beef sales in stores across the country have remained strong in spite of
 the E. coli outbreak that sickened more than a dozen people this month in
 Colorado, said Timothy Hammonds, president of Food Marketing Institute,
 an association of 15,000 supermarkets.

            Retailers are not cutting prices on beef any more than they
            normally would on a holiday weekend, Hammonds said. Prices for
            beef products nationwide have remained about the same compared
            to last year, according to the National Cattlemen's Beef
            Association, which represents 230,000 cattle producers.

            The E. coli contamination was traced to a Hudson Foods Inc.
            plant at Columbus, Neb., where the U.S. Department of
            Agriculture is now investigating food safety practices. The
            contaminated meat is believed to have come to the plant from
            an outside supplier.

            While there have been no deaths or serious illness reported,
            the plant has been shut for a week and 25 million pounds of
            beef was recalled.

 ``Most people see this as an isolated incident,'' said A. Dwayne Ball, a
 marketing professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who specializes
 in consumer research.

 That's the case for Robert DeBuck, an electrical contractor from
 Edgewood, N.M., who was having lunch Thursday at a Blake's Lota Burger in
 Albuquerque.

 ``I would be more concerned about being struck by lightning. I think more
 people die from lightning and bumble-bee stings than from eating a bad
 hamburger,'' said DeBuck, chomping into his burger.

 In New Orleans, Ira Hayes was stocking up for the weekend at a local
 grocery store.

 ``I've given some thought to it but I've got to eat meat,'' Hayes said.
 ``I've got to have it. I'll just make sure it's well done and hope for
 the best.''

 Hammonds said the recall has made consumers more aware about how to
 safely cook meat.

 ``I think people do understand that ground beef needs to be properly
 cooked and if it is properly cooked it kills the E. coli bacteria,'' he
 said. Food safety experts recommend cooking ground beef to 160 degrees to
 kill the bacteria.

 Burger King, a prime victim of the beef scare, is heading into the Labor
 Day weekend hoping meat lovers will go for the new Big King sandwich it
 introduced Thursday. It has 75 percent more beef than the Big Mac.

 Last week, Burger King pulled all the hamburger meat supplied by Hudson
 Foods from its stores and said it would no longer buy beef from the
 Arkansas-based company. Spokesman David Nixon said sales still trail
 pre-recall levels.

 But for people looking to fire up the grill for the last big cookout
 holiday of the year, beef will definitely be on the menu.

 ``They're going to look at the meat, poke it, smell it, and they're going
 to buy it,'' said Renold Jackson, who works in the meat department at a
 Schwegmann supermarket in New Orleans. ``And they're going to hope to God
 that it don't kill them.''
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 08:06:51 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) CJD?-- Journal: Squirrel Brains Dangerous
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

poss CJD link
from AP Wire page:
-----------------------------------
 08/29/1997 07:11 EST

 Journal: Squirrel Brains Dangerous

 LONDON (AP) -- U.S. researchers believe they may have found a link
 between the consumption of squirrel brains, a practice found in some
 rural parts of the United States, and a lethal brain ailment in humans.

 Scientists at the University of Kentucky worry that Creutzfeldt- Jakob
 Disease, which can kill humans within months after symptoms first appear,
 may be contracted by eating the brains and nervous system tissue of
 squirrels.

 A tentative warnings against eating squirrel brains was published today
 in this week's issue of The Lancet, a British medical journal.

 In Britain, mad cow disease, which has led to the deaths of several
 people in Europe and forced the slaughter of vast numbers of cattle, also
 is suspected as a cause of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.

 Joseph Berger, Erick Weisman and Beverly Weisman of the University of
 Kentucky reported on five patients, aged between 56 and 78, who had been
 diagnosed as having Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. All of them reported that
 they had eaten squirrel brains.

 Among 100 people of similar age who had no neurological disease, 27
 reported eating squirrel brains, the researchers said.

 Some residents of rural regions in the United States, including Kentucky,
 scramble the squirrel brains with eggs, or add them to a stew known as
 ``burgoo,'' the researchers said.

 A big unanswered question is whether the disease occurs in squirrels, the
 researchers said.

 A rare disorder, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease afflicts only about one person
 in a million, usually striking victims age 50 or older. It develops
 slowly. But once symptoms appear, it destroys the brains of its victims,
 who lose muscle control and mental ability, and die within a few months.

Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 08:07:25 -0400
From: allen schubert <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Farmer Finds Organic Profitable
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

from AP Wire page:
------------------------------------
 08/29/1997 01:46 EST

 Farmer Finds Organic Profitable

 By JOE BIGHAM
 Associated Press Writer

 WINTERS, Calif. (AP) -- Russell Lester finds organic farming good for
 business as well as for the environment.

 Lester, who grows 230 acres of certified organic walnuts, said he stopped
 spraying walnuts because the spray schedule ``was out of sync'' with his
 almonds.

 ``Come to find out, I didn't have many pests when I stopped spraying,''
 he said. ``I felt it was because of the softer usage of chemicals.''

 His crop's worm count was a low 1 percent without sprays, convincing
 Lester to switch his orchard to organic and get certified in 1992. He
 says yields remain comparable to walnuts that are sprayed regularly.

 Lester has embraced biological techniques since his family sold their
 century-old fruit and nut ranch in Santa Clara County, Calif., and
 resettled near Winters in the early 1980s.

 He uses cover crops as a host for insects which eat pests that could
 damage his crop.

 ``We have thousands and thousands of employees out here to eat our
 bugs,'' Lester said of the insects. ``So we've got to provide employee
 housing and food'' by keeping a cover crop on the ground.

 Besides, the cover crop keeps the hard clay in one orchard from cracking,
 a cheaper solution than spreading gypsum at $200 an acre.

 Lester also has a small chipping machine that grinds up limbs during
 pruning and blows tiny chips back onto the ground.

 ``There's lots of nutrients in these branches,'' he says.

 And recycling is better for both the air and ground than burning the
 prunings, Lester said while conducting a tour of walnut orchards that use
 biological methods in the Sacramento Valley, 80 miles northeast of San
 Francisco.

 ``If you've ever seen anything grow on a burn pile, good luck; it's real
 toxic,'' Lester said. ``Recycling puts it back into the ground where it
 goes back into the trees in a few years.

 ``It's a continuous loop. In the meantime, it's a soft and beautiful
 soil. Adding this organic material to the soil is really good for it.''

 Ground water that irrigates his trees also gets recycled in a basin the
 size of a swimming pool at the lower end of his orchard.

 A couple of innovative ideas are being tried around this pond. Robert
 Bugg, a University of California entomologist, has planted nearly extinct
 trees and bushes there to attract beneficial insects, particularly during
 seasons when the ground cover is gone.

 ``The whole idea is to have a perennial insectary -- something out there
 blooming for our employees (beneficial bugs) when there's nothing in the
 orchard,'' Lester explained. ``We're trying to create little islands of
 habitat.''

Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 04:50:25 -0500
From: Liz Grayson <[e-mail]>
To: ar-news <[e-mail]>
Subject: Doctors Warn Against Regional Dish: Squirrels' Brains

Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

August 29, 1997
     NYT

                    Kentucky Doctors Warn Against
                    Regional Dish: Squirrels' Brains

                    By SANDRA BLAKESLEE

                              octors in Kentucky have issued a warning
that
                              people should not eat squirrel brains, a
regional
                              delicacy, because squirrels may carry a
variant of
                    mad cow disease that can be transmitted to humans
and is
                    fatal.

                    Although no squirrels have been tested for mad
squirrel
                    disease, there is reason to believe that they could
be
                    infected, said Dr. Joseph Berger, chairman of the
                    neurology department at the University of Kentucky
in
                    Lexington. Elk, deer, mink, rodents and other wild
animals
                    are known to develop variants of mad cow disease
that
                    collectively are called transmissible spongiform
                    encephalopathies.

                    In the last four years, 11 cases of a human form of
                    transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, called
                    Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, have been diagnosed in
rural
                    western Kentucky, said Dr. Erick Weisman, clinical
director
                    of the Neurobehavioral Institute in Hartford, Ky.,
where
                    the patients were treated. "All of them were
                    squirrel-brain eaters," Weisman said. Of the 11
patients,
                    at least six have died.

                    Within the small population of western Kentucky, the
                    natural incidence of this disease should be one
person
                    getting it every 10 years or so, Weisman said. The
                    appearance of this rare brain disease in so many
people in
                    just four years has taken scientists by surprise.

                    While the patients could have contracted the disease
from
                    eating beef and not squirrels, there has not been a
single
                    confirmed case of mad cow disease in the United
States,
                    Weisman said. Since every one of the 11 people with
the
                    disease ate squirrel brains, it seems prudent for
people to
                    avoid this practice until more is known, he said.

                    The warning, describing the first five cases of
                    Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, will appear in Saturday's
issue
                    of The Lancet, a British medical publication.

                    The disease in humans, squirrels and cows produces
holes
                    in brain tissue. Human victims become demented,
stagger
                    and typically die in one or two years. The people
who died
                    from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Kentucky were
between
                    56 and 78, lived in different towns and were not
related,
                    Weisman said.

                    The cause of transmissible spongiform
encephalopathies is
                    hotly debated. Many scientists believe that the
infectious
                    agent is a renegade protein, called a prion, which
can
                    infect cells and make copies of itself. Others argue
that a
                    more conventional infectious particle causes these
                    diseases but that it has not yet been identified.

                    In either case, the disease can be transmitted from
one
                    animal to another by the eating of infected brain
tissue.

                    Such diseases were considered exotic and rare until
10
                    years ago, when an outbreak occurred among British
                    cattle. Tens of thousands of animals contracted a
bovine
                    variant called mad cow disease, and their meat along
with
                    bits of brain tissue was sold as hamburger. Thus far
15
                    people in Britain have died of a transmissible
spongiform
                    encephalopathy that they seemed to have contracted
                    from eating infected meat.

                    Most people with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease are
elderly, but
                    the British victims were all young, which alarmed
                    public-health officials. The outbreak in western
Kentucky
                    has occurred in older people, Weisman said, "which
makes
                    me think there may have been an epidemic 30 years
ago
                    in the squirrel population."

                    Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies have a
long
                    latency period, he said, which means many people in
the
                    South may be at risk and not know it.

                    Squirrels are a popular food in rural Kentucky,
where
                    people eat either the meat or the brains but
generally not
                    both, Weisman said. Families tend to prefer one or
the
                    other depending on tradition. Those who eat only
squirrel
                    meat chop up the carcass and prepare it with
vegetables
                    in a stew called burgoo. Squirrels recently killed
on the
                    road are often thrown into the pot.

                    Families that eat brains follow only certain
rituals.
                    "Someone comes by the house with just the head of a
                    squirrel," Weisman said, "and gives it to the
matriarch of
                    the family. She shaves the fur off the top of the
head and
                    fries the head whole. The skull is cracked open at
the
                    dinner table and the brains are sucked out." It is a
                    gift-giving ritual.

                    The second most popular way to prepare squirrel
brains is
                    to scramble them in white gravy, he said, or to
scramble
                    them with eggs. In each case, the walnut-sized skull
is
                    cracked open and the brains are scooped out for
cooking.

                    These practices are not related to poverty, Berger
said.
                    People of all income levels eat squirrel brains in
rural
                    Kentucky and in other parts of the South. Dr. Frank
                    Bastian, a neuropathologist at the University of
South
                    Alabama in Mobile, said that he knew of similar
cases of
                    Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Alabama, Mississippi
and West
                    Virginia.

                    Squirrel-hunting season began last week, and it
lasts
                    through early December, Berger said. He and Weisman
are
                    asking hunters to send in squirrel brains for
testing,
                    including those taken from dead animals found on the
                    roadside. A mad squirrel would be more likely to
stagger
                    into the road and be struck by vehicles, Berger
said.
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 97 07:40:24 UTC
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Join Moody Gardens in Honoring Anthropoligist Richard Leakey
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

Richard Leakey is the 1997 Moody Gardens ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP
AWARD winner. Known for his important discoveries concerning the origin of
man as well as his efforts to save the African elephant from extinction,
Leakey will speak in the Moody Gardens Convention Center, Galveston,
Texas, USA. Public is invited, reservations required.
Call: 1-800-582-4673, ext. 209.

Schedule:

         7:00pm - 8:00pm Tour of the Rainforest
         Hot hors d'oeurves served and cash bar

         8:00pm - 9:00pm Assemble in the IMAX theatre for viewing of
         "Tropical Rainforest" and Presentation of Environmental Award

Charge: $21.00
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 97 08:00:00 UTC
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Correction
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

Sorry - I just noticed I spelled "Anthropologist" wrong in the Leakey
announcement. I should have proofread before sending!

--Sherrill
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 97 09:33:00 UTC
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: National Cattlemen's Beef Ass'n./Nat'l. Pork Producers Council
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association and The National Pork
Producers Council are going after kids who are going down the vegetarian
path. Dorothea Vafiadis, director of communications for the council, says,
"If we target teens, they'll be consumers tomorrow." The beef and pork
industries, along with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, have developed a
pamphlet, "Visiting People on a Dairy Farm" with the intent to send to
schools to counter the "emotional" message of animal rights. The
pamphlet compares a dairy farm to a sports team with cows as "star
players." The idea is to convince kids that the livestock industry is
no more cruel than their favorite sports teams.

-- Sherrill
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 10:35:31 -0500 (CDT)
From: [e-mail] (HSUS Government Affairs)
To: [e-mail]-news
Subject: unsubscribe ar-news
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Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 12:41:13 -0400 (EDT)
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: (US) Oklahoma Animal Collector's Death
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>


This was in a local Oklahoma City news source:

Forty-five animals have been killed after they were found in poor
conditions at the home of Pittsburg County man, Mr. Charles Curtis,
whose body was discovered after it had been partly multilated by
his pets.  And most of the animals were dogs.
A goat with badly split hooves was also destroyed.

Investigating deputy Brad Inman from the sherif's dept. said dogs
found inside the home had no food or water.  They drank the
toiletes dry.

The body of Charles Curtis, 68, was discovered Monday by a
mechanic who arrived to repair a vehicle at the house near
Indianola.  Investigating officers say Curtis was last known to have
been alive Thursday.  And no foul play is suspected in his death.

Deputies called McAlester's animal control for help restraining
about 30 dogs found inside the home.  Five dogs were taken to
Reneger Animal Hospital for adoption efforts.

                                                For the Animals,

                                                Jana, OKC
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 11:04:44
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK/CA]  Meningitis and fish link found by doctors
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, August 29th, 1997


              Meningitis and fish link found by doctors
              By Roger Highfield, Science Editor

              FISH have been found to be capable of causing a
              life-threatening form of meningitis, which could mark the
              emergence of a new type of disease as a result of the spread
              of aquaculture.

              "This is probably a new, emerging pathogen," Dr Don Low
              of Mount Sinai and Princess Margaret hospitals in Toronto,
              Canada, said yesterday. He said he expected jumps of fish
              disease to humans to increase with the spread of fish
              farming, for instance in Scotland.

              "With this will come opportunities for bacteria which
              previously did not have an opportunity to cause infection in
              accidental hosts like ourselves," he said.

              Reporting in yesterday's New England Journal of Medicine,
              Dr Low and his colleagues said they found nine cases of
              infection in Toronto hospitals due to tilapia taken from
              several fish farms in America.

              Only one of the cases resulted in meningitis. In the other
              instances, victims developed swelling around the infection
              and fever-like symptoms. They recovered after antibiotic
              treatment.

             ⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.

Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 11:15:55
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK/RU]  Envoys accused on beef
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, August 29th, 1997


              Envoys accused on beef

              VLADIMIR Zhirinovsky, the Russian ultra-nationalist, has
              demanded the expulsion of the British and Belgian
              ambassadors, saying they should take the blame for the
              illegal importation of British beef into Russia.

              During a protest outside Moscow's main McDonald's
              restaurant, he trampled on several hamburgers, declaring
              that the chain spearheaded an "invasion of Western poison
              into Russia". Alan Philps, Moscow

             ⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.

Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 11:17:54
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK/IN] Surgeons gave man pig's heart
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, August 29th, 1997


              Surgeons gave man pig's heart

              TWO doctors in India are to go on trial for transplanting a
              pig's heart into a 32-year-old man who later died.

              Dhaniram Baruah, an Indian, and Jonathan Ho, a doctor
              from Hong Kong, face manslaughter charges that carry a
              maximum sentence of 10 years in jail.

             ⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.

Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 11:11:21
From: David J Knowles <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: [UK]  Shot deer put out of its misery by hunt
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>From The Electronic Telegraph - Friday, August 29th, 1997



              Shot deer put out of its misery by hunt
              By Charles Clover, Environment Editor






              HUNTING groups criticised the National Trust yesterday
              after a wounded stag was found wandering on Trust land up
              to three days after it had been shot with a high-powered rifle
              that destroyed half its face.

              The deer, seen by walkers near the village of Triscombe in
              the Quantock Hills, Somerset, was tracked down and
              despatched by the Quantock Staghounds, which still
              provides a call-out service despite being banned from
              hunting on Trust land last April.

              National Trust staff were accused by the British Field Sports
              Society of failing to notice the distressed animal. The society
              warned that such instances would increase as farmers
              carried out their own deer culls.

              Examination by a vet, Tom Gliddon, showed the stag had
              been shot through the back of the head and that maggots
              had infested the wound while the animal was still alive.

              Mr Gliddon said the injuries meant the stag had been unable
              to eat or drink. It had been shot between 48 and 72 hours
              before it was found. "This deer could have been shot by
              anybody, even [a] professional stalker. I hope this is not the
              start of a trend."

              He said it would be unacceptable if the kind of suffering
              endured by the stag was to be repeated among a large
              number of animals.

              Warren Davis, a Trust spokesman, said: "It is ridiculous to
              suggest the Trust has no way of dealing with these incidents.
              The Trust hired its own stalker three months ago. You might
              as well say why did someone call out the RAC* rather than
              the AA*."

             ⌐ Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997.

[Note: The RAC, for those not familiar with UK acronyms, is the Royal
Automobile Association, and the AA is the Automobile Association - not the
other AA !]

Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 15:37:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: PAWS <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Watch Court TV Tonight
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PAWS' Director Pat Derby will be interviewed tonight on "Court TV."  The
piece will be live--at 5:30-6:00 pm California time and will discuss the
King Royal case. Tune in if you can.
Date: Fri, 29 Aug 1997 17:09:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: PAWS <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: King Royal's Animals
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
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PAWS has sent the following letter to the USDA, urging that agency to
confiscate the animals remaining in King Royal's custody because we
believe they are  in a life-threatening situation.  Please continue to
write and call the USDA, demanding that the animals that are still on the
road with King Royal be confiscated and sent to a place of permanent
safety.  These animals must not be sold or transferred to other circuses
or traveling shows.

Mr. Mike Dunn
USDA
14th St. and Independence Ave. SW
Box AG 0109
Wash, DC 20250

Dear Mr. Dunn,

Thank you for your continuing concern for the King Royal animals and for
your determination that there by a swift and just resolution to this case.

I am writing today to inform you that, during the past week, PAWS has
been given a recently-recorded video tape of the second King Royal unit,
which is traveling with several animals, including Mickey, a male Asian
elephant; Boo, a female Asian; two other young African female elephants;
a firaffe; a pygmy hippo; two zebras; and several llamas.  While it is
not possible to make any really accurate evaluations of the animals'
condition based on a video tape, we have been told by the observers who
took the tape that the smallest African elephant has the same diarrhea
that was seen in Heather before she went down and, subsequently, died.
this is the same condition that prevails with Donna and Irene, the two
elephants currently at the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque.

This severe diarrhea is indicative of the presence of salmonella and is,
therefore, a cause for major concern in these animals.  Also on the
video, it is apparent that the smaller African elephant is very
underweight and that Mickey, too, seems to be undersized.  It is highly
likely that the same conditions that prevailed in the animals seized in
Albuquerque also exist with the other group.  As you know, the condition
of the animals in that trailer was horrendous. In fact, a zoo
representative told me that these animals had been chronically neglected
and, for example, that the skin of Donna peeled off in great chunks when
they bathed her, indicating a total long-term lack of skin care.  Based
on what I can see in the new video, I am inclined to believe that these
same conditions must pertain with the animals still on the road.  Given
the past history of other King Royal animals--the elephant Joy, for
example, and the giraffe who died in Texas--I have grave concerns about
the safety of the remaining animals in King Royal's custody.  I am,
therefore, urging you to act swiftly in the interest of these remaining
animals, as I believe their situation is, indeed, life-threatening, as
was Heather's.

I would also like to remind you that Heather, Donna, Irene, and the
vehicle in which they were traveling were inspected by a USDA inspector
in Las Vegas two weeks prior to Heather's death.  Everyone now agrees
that the vehicle was inappropriate. This further corroborates what I have
said before:   I do not believe that the USDA is capable of monitoring
these traveling circuses in a way that meets the standards of and
enforces the Animal Welfare Act.  Last year, for example, PAWS sent you
an urgent letter in regard to Joyce and Hattie, the hawthorn Corporation
elephant traveling with Circus Vargas.  Unfortunately, the USDA "experts"
misdiagnosed these elephants so badly that they later died of
tuberculosis while still on the road.

I hope this won't be case with the remaining King Royal animals.  I urge
the USDA to  immediately seize these animals and place them in protective
custody.  PAWS is prepared to assist in any way necessary.  I hope to
hear from you as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Pat Derby
Director