Wrongful Birth Lawsuits

An Oregon couple is suing their OB/GYN because he did not catch that their unborn child had down's syndrome. Oregon news reports:

"...within days of the birth of their daughter, the Southwest Portland couple learned the baby did have Down syndrome. Had they known, they say, they would have terminated the pregnancy. Now they're suing in Multnomah County Circuit Court, seeking more than $14 million to cover the costs of raising her and providing education, medical care, and speech and physical therapy for their daughter, who turned 2 this month. The suit also seeks money to cover her life-long living expenses.
The Levys declined to be interviewed. Their attorney, David K. Miller, said the toddler is as dear to them as their two older children but they fear being perceived as "heartless."

This reminds me of a scene in the movie GATTACA (somewhat swiped from a classic sci-fi book):

ER Homeopathy

Very Funny.

I Don't Think She Gets It

Funny story from today. I was doing an inspection on a house and the 20 something girl just got on the phone and the scene went down something like this...

Girl on the phone: Hi I was wondering....

Girl on the phone's 2 yr old: AHHHHHHH!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!

Girl on the phone: (Just as loud as daughter) Hey why don't you just shut the heck* up; Oh yes, Hi, I was wondering if you had job openings?

*edited from the original

Pretty Cool

LGBT Confusion

LGBT or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered seem to present (at least to me) a philosophical oxymoron with their position. Clearly, those who think positively towards LGBT would say that they are feminists who see no distinction between men and women. The roles and positions given to the sexes are purely a result of societal dictation and not biology. Then I read statements like this about transgenered individuals, this was in CNN.

Many people who have transitioned... say they knew they had been born into the wrong gender from childhood. As early as age 3, Dr. Julie Praus, born male, didn't understand why her father wanted to play catch. As a boy, Praus learned how to fish and hunt, but enjoyed collecting Depression-era glassware vases.

So if these roles and activities (hunting, fishing, sports and glassware collecting) have been shoved upon us by society (a patriarchal society) then is getting a gender reassignment just giving in to the gender stigmas our society apparently places upon individuals? If these "clues" that alerted Julie Praus to her confused condition were purely societal (as argued by certain feminists) then why change? Apparently in THIS situation though the difference is more inherent, more biological. That seems like a convenient coincidence to me.

Homeopathic Manslaughter

Parents guilty of eczema baby manslaughter

Posted Fri Jun 5, 2009 11:29am AEST Updated Fri Jun 5, 2009 7:15pm AEST
(AAP: Paul Miller, file photo)

Thomas and Manju Sam were visibly upset as the verdict was read out.

There have been emotional scenes at a Sydney court where a homeopath and his wife were found guilty of the manslaughter of their baby daughter.
Thomas Sam and his wife Manju Sam were convicted over the death of their nine-month-old Gloria.
The baby girl had severe eczema and died of septicemia in 2002.
After a four-week trial the Supreme Court jury took less than two days to reach its decision.
The Crown argued the couple did not seek conventional medical treatment for their child, instead treating her with homeopathic drops.
The defence argued the couple were not warned about how sick the child was by medical staff who examined her.
Thomas and Manju Sam sat in the dock with their arms around each other, crying as the verdict was read out.
Thomas Sam's brother, who was in the public gallery, collapsed sobbing and was taken outside.
Both were granted bail with strict conditions ahead of their sentencing hearing.

This just goes to show how dangerous homeopathic claims can be. People following snake oil salesmen is nothing new but when there are scientifically established protocols there is no excuse for this.

Are Homeopathics On the Way Out?

At least I can dream. But here is a good article in the Financial Times. Below I have put for your convenience a patients guide to homeopathy. Now the tough part, you have to beleive in the power of self-deception.

Mumbo-jumbo and barmpots: A glossary of Magic Medicine

Homeopathy: giving patients medicines that contain no medicine whatsoever.

Herbal medicine: giving patients an unknown dose of an ill-defined drug, of unknown effectiveness and unknown safety.

Acupuncture: a rather theatrical placebo, with no real therapeutic benefit in most, if not all, cases.

Chiropractic: an invention of a 19th-century salesman, based on nonsensical principles: shown to be no more effective than other manipulative therapies, but less safe.

Reflexology: plain old foot massage, overlaid with utter nonsense about non-existent connections between your feet and your thyroid gland.

Nutritional therapy: self-styled “nutritionists” making untrue claims about diet in order to sell you unnecessary supplements.

Spiritual healing: tea and sympathy, accompanied by arm-waving.

Reiki: ditto.

Angelic reiki: the same but with added “angels, ascended masters and galactic healers”. Excellent for advanced fantasists.

Colonic irrigation: a rectal obsession that fails to rid you of toxins which you didn’t have in the first place.

Anthroposophical medicine: invention of the mystic barmpot, Rudolf Steiner, for whom nothing whatsoever seems to strain credulity.

Alternative diagnosis: kinesiology, iridology, vega test, etc: various forms of fraud, designed to sell you cures that don’t work, for problems you haven’t got.

Any alternative “therapist” who claims to cure Aids or malaria: agent of culpable homicide.