US rabbi says jailed American in good health

HAVANA (AP) — A prominent New York rabbi and physician visited an American subcontractor serving a long jail term in Cuba and said the man is in good health, despite his family’s concerns about a growth on his right shoulder.

Rabbi Elie Abadie, who is also a gastroenterologist, told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview following Tuesday’s 2 1/2-hour visit at a military hospital in Havana that he personally examined Alan Gross and received a lengthy briefing from a team of Cuban physicians who have attended him.

He said the 1 1/2-inch growth on Gross’s shoulder appeared to be a non-cancerous hematoma that should clear up by itself.

“Alan Gross does not have any cancerous growth at this time, at least based on the studies I was shown and based on the examination, and I think he understands that also,” Abadie said.

Abadie said the hematoma, basically internal bleeding linked to the rupture of muscle fiber, was likely caused by exercise Gross does in jail. He said the growth ought to eventually disappear on its own.

Gross’s plight has put already chilly relations between Cuba and the United States in a deep freeze. The Maryland native was arrested in December 2009 while on a USAID-funded democracy building program and later sentenced to 15 years in jail for crimes against the state.

He claims he was only trying to help the island’s small Jewish community gain Internet access.

Gross’s health has been an ongoing issue during his incarceration. The 63-year-old, who was obese when arrested, has lost more than 100 pounds while in jail.

Abadie, a rabbi at New York’s Edmund J. Safra Synagogue, said Gross’s weight is appropriate for a man his age and height.

Photos that Abadie and a colleague provided to AP of Tuesday’s meeting with Gross showed him looking thin, but generally appearing to be in good spirits.

In one photo, Gross holds up a handwritten note that says “Hi Mom.”

“He definitely feels strong. He is in good spirits. He feels fit, to quote him, physically. But of course, like any other person who is incarcerated or in prison, he wants to be free. He wants to be able to go back home,” Abadie said.

Gross’s family has repeatedly appealed for his release on humanitarian grounds, noting his health problems and the fact that his adult daughter and elderly mother have both been battling cancer.

Jared Genser, counsel to Alan Gross, said late Tuesday that Rabbi Abadie is not Gross’s physician and he would like an oncologist of his choosing to evaluate him.

“While we are grateful Rabbi Abadie was able to see Alan, we have asked an oncologist to review the test results to determine if they are sufficient to rule out cancer. More importantly, if Alan is so healthy, we cannot understand why the Cuban government has repeatedly denied him an independent medical examination by a doctor of his choosing as is required by international law,” said Genser.

Gross and his wife recently filed a $ 60 million lawsuit against his former Maryland employer and the U.S. government, saying they didn’t adequately train him or disclose risks he was undertaking by doing development work on the Communist-run island.

They filed another lawsuit against an insurance company they say has reneged on commitments to pay compensation in case of his wrongful detention.

Separately, a lawyer for Gross has written the United Nations’ anti-torture expert, saying Cuban officials’ treatment of his client “will surely amount to torture” if he continues to be denied medical care.

Rumors have been swirling in U.S. media that Cuba might soon release Gross as a gesture of good will or in the hopes of winning concessions from the administration of President Barack Obama, but Abadie said that those reports appeared to be false.

“As far as I know there is no truth to it,” he said.

Abadie said he met with senior Cuban officials who expressed their desire to resolve the case “as quickly as possible,” but would not say specifically who he spoke with or what they offered.

“They claim that they are more than willing to sit at the table,” he said.

Cuban officials have strongly implied they hope to trade Gross for five Cuban agents sentenced to long jail terms in the United States, one of whom is already free on bail.

Abadie said Gross made clear that he does not want his case linked to that of the agents, known in Cuba as “The Five Heroes,” because he does not believe he is guilty of espionage.

But Abadie said Gross is hoping for a “constructive and productive” dialogue between U.S. and Cuban officials to resolve his case.

___

Follow Paul Haven on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/paulhaven.

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Obama urges public to pressure Congress

President Barack Obama sits in front of a screen displaying a question he tweeted during a "Twitter Town Hall" …

President Barack Obama urged Americans on Wednesday to help him pressure Congress to prevent a Jan. 1 tax hike on the middle class, saying it was up to the public to make sure Washington doesn't "screw this up."

"When the American people speak loudly enough, lo and behold Congress listens," Obama said, flanked by Americans who answered the White House's call to detail what that tax increase would cost them personally.

"We really need to get this right. I can only do it with the help of the American people," the president said. "It's too important for Washington to screw this up."

Obama's remarks were part of a ramped-up public campaign to pressure Republicans in Congress, who have resisted his calls for letting Bush-era tax cuts that chiefly benefit the wealthiest Americans expire. The president wants to extend reductions on income up to $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for families. But he wants taxes above that level to rise in order to spare popular government programs from the budget-cutter's ax.

Republicans want to extend the tax cuts for higher earners, insisting that a tax hike on that group will reduce investments that generate jobs at a time when the economy is still sputtering and unemployment remains high. The GOP has signaled it would be willing to consider boosting tax revenue as long as Democrats agree to overhaul popular entitlement programs like Medicare or Medicaid. But key Democrats have refused to include those programs in talks on avoiding the "fiscal cliff" of tax increases and spending cuts due to take effect Jan. 1.

"Let's keep middle-class tax low. That's what our economy needs, that's what the American people deserve," Obama said. "And if we get this part of it right, then a lot of the other issues surrounding deficit reduction in a fair and balanced and responsible way are going to be a whole lot easier.

"If we get this wrong the economy's going to go south," the president warned. "It's going to be much more difficult for us to balance our budgets and deal with our deficits because, if the economy's not strong, that means more money's going out in things like unemployment insurance and less money's coming in in terms of tax receipts and it just actually makes our deficit worse."

Obama urged Americans who agree with him to call, write and tweet lawmakers (using the hashtag #My2K), or post messages on their Facebook pages. "Do what it takes to communicate a sense of urgency. We don't have a lot of time. We've got a few weeks to get this thing done."

Still, he said, "I am confident that we will get it done."

The White House says that "a typical middle-class family of four" would pay Uncle Sam an additional $2,200 unless tax cuts are extended for them.

That $2,200 figure is the inspiration for #My2K, part of what the White House describes as an "online push" behind the president's approach. Obama has highlighted Twitter hashtags in past disputes with Republicans: #40dollars in the fight over the payroll tax holiday and #dontdoublemyrate in a feud over student loans.

The president, who spoke to top Republican and Democratic leaders over the weekend, was to make brief public remarks at the top of a meeting with his Cabinet at 3 p.m. before huddling with senior executives from major American corporations.

Here is the list of attendees, as provided by the White House:

• Frank Blake, Chairman and CEO, the Home Depot
• Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs Group
• Joe Echeverria, CEO, Deloitte LLP
• Ken Frazier, President and CEO, Merck and Co.
• Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO, Coca Cola
• Terry Lundgren, Chairman, President and CEO, Macy's Inc.
• Marissa Mayer, CEO and President, Yahoo!
• Douglas Oberhelman, Chairman and CEO, Caterpillar
• Ian Read, Chairman and CEO, Pfizer
• Brian Roberts, Chairman and CEO, Comcast
• Ed Rust, Chairman and CEO, State Farm Insurance Co.
• Arne Sorenson, President and CEO, Marriott
• Randall Stephenson, Chairman and CEO, AT&T
• Patricia Woertz, President and CEO, Archer Daniels Midland

The fiscal cliff refers to an economically painful set of tax hikes and deep spending cuts that come into effect Jan. 1 unless Congress and the president reach a deal.

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German lawmakers condemn Google campaign against copyright law

BERLIN (Reuters) – Senior German politicians have denounced as propaganda a campaign by Google to mobilize public opinion against proposed legislation to let publishers charge search engines for displaying newspaper articles.

Internet lobbyists say they are worried the German law will set a precedent for other countries such as France and Italy that have shown an interest in having Google pay publishers for the right to show their news snippets in its search results.

Lawmakers in Berlin will debate the bill in the Bundestag (lower house) on Thursday. Google says the law would make it harder for users to retrieve information via the Internet.

Google launched its campaign against the bill on Tuesday with advertisements in German newspapers and a web information site called “Defend your web”.

“Such a law would hit every Internet user in Germany,” Stefan Tweraser, country manager for Google Germany, said in a statement. “An ancillary copyright means less information for consumers and higher costs for companies.”

The campaign has caused outrage among some members of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right coalition.

“The campaign initiated by Google is cheap propaganda,” said conservative lawmakers Guenter Krings and Ansgar Heveling.

“Under the guise of a supposed project for the freedom of the Internet, an attempt is being made to coopt its users for its own lobbying,” the two said in a statement.

Supporters of the law argue that newspaper publishers should be able to benefit from advertising revenues earned by search engines using their content.

Under the plans, publishers would get a bigger say over how their articles are used on the Internet and could charge search engines for showing articles or extracts.

German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, a member of the Free Democrats (FDP) who share power in Merkel’s government, said she was astonished that Google was trying to monopolize opinion-making. She is responsible for the law.

“PANIC MONGERING”

Germany’s newspaper industry, suffering from economic slowdown and keen to get its hands on any revenues it can, backs the plans and railed against Google’s campaign.

“The panic mongering from Google has no justification,” Germany’s BDZV newspaper association said in a statement.

“The argument from search engine companies that Internet searching and retrieval will be made more difficult is not serious. Private use, reading, following links and quoting will be possible, just as before.”

Internet lobbyists in Brussels fear the European Commission is sympathetic to publisher demands for a piece of Google’s profits online. Recent statements, they say, are proof.

“Consumers are not the only ones facing difficulties,” Michel Barnier, the EU’s internal market commissioner, said in a speech on November 7. “Think of newspaper publishers who see the content they produce being used by others to attract consumers on the net and generate advertising revenues.”

French newspapers and magazines want Google to pay them for linking to their articles on Google. The French government has named a mediator to negotiate with the press and Google to try to get a deal by the end of the year.

If no deal emerges, President Francois Hollande’s government will ask parliament to draft a law modifying copyright laws to protect the press from appropriation of its content online, according to a letter signed by two ministers on November 28.

(Additional reporting by Harro ten Wolde in Frankfurt, Claire Davenbport in Brussels and Leila Abboud in Paris; Writing by Madeline Chambers, Editing by Gareth Jones and)

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Gay Men, Moms Sue NJ Conversion Therapists for Fraud

Four gay men and two of their mothers filed a lawsuit today against a New Jersey conversion therapy group that claims to rid men of same-sex attractions and turn them straight.

The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court of New Jersey Hudson County, alleges that methods used by the Jersey City-based Jews Offering New Alternatives to Healing (JONAH) do not work and constitute fraud under the state’s consumer protection laws.

Arthur Goldberg, JONAH‘s co-director, and Alan Downing, a “life coach” who provides therapy sessions, were also named in the suit.

The plaintiffs include Michael Ferguson, Benjamin Unger, Sheldon Bruck and Chaim Levin, all of whom used the services of JONAH when they were in their teens or young 20s.

Two of the men’s mothers, Jo Bruck and Bella Levin, who paid for therapy sessions that could cost up to $ 10,000 a year, were also plaintiffs.

One of the plaintiffs alleges that therapy sessions that involved a virtual “strip tease” in front of an older male counselor, as well as reliving abuse and homophobia were “humiliating.”

They are seeking declaratory, injunctive and an undisclosed amount of monetary relief, as well as court costs, according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs have received legal help from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which claims in the lawsuit that conversion therapy is a dangerous practice that has been “discredited or highly criticized” by every major American medical, psychiatric, psychological and professional organization.

Three of the young plaintiffs are from an ultra orthodox Jewish background; Ferguson came from a Mormon background and met Downing at a “Journey Into Manhood” retreat, according to the lawsuit.

JONAH appears to cater to orthodox Jews, but its methods “do not have a strong religious aspect,” according to SPLC lawyer Sam Wolfe.

The lawsuit alleges that some of the methods used included: telling boys to beat a pillow, the “effigy of the client’s mother,” with a tennis racket; encouraging “cuddling” between younger clients and older male counselors; and even instructing attendees to remove their clothing and hold their penis in front of Downing.

Attendees were also subjected to ridicule as “faggots” and “homos” in mock locker room and gym class role playing, according to the lawsuit.

“It’s definitely cruel and unusual and doesn’t work,” said Wolfe. “They are peddling bogus techniques that have no foundation in science and are basically ridiculous and even harmful.”

Wolfe paraphrased JONAH’s message as: “All you have to do is put in the work to overcome your sexual attractions. If you follow our program your true orientation emerges and will turn you into a straight person.”

“Often if what the conversion therapist tells them doesn’t work, it’s their fault,” Wolfe added.

In 2008, when the plaintiffs were seeking help from JONAH, the cost of an individual therapy session was $ 100 and for a group session, $ 60. JONAH also “strongly pushed” attending weekend retreats that could cost as much as $ 700, said Wolfe.

Arthur Goldberg said he “knows nothing about the lawsuit,” which was filed this morning, and referred ABCNews.com to JONAH’s website.

“We have a lot of people who were a success and were healed,” he said of JONAH’s 14 years in service. “Hundreds of the clients we serve are satisfied … Our therapy is very conventional.”

When asked about the group’s practices, he said, “I can’t tell you about the methodology.” Goldberg admitted he had “no background specifically in counseling.”

“I am the administrator,” he said. “I used to teach family law.”

When asked about instructing boys to take off their clothes, he said, “I know nothing about that.”

Goldberg also said he had “no idea” how to reach Downing because he was an “independent contractor.”

According to JONAH’s mission statement on its website, the nonprofit group is “dedicated to educating the world-wide Jewish community about the social, cultural and emotional factors which lead to same-sex attractions.”

“Through psychological and spiritual counseling, peer support, and self-empowerment, JONAH seeks to reunify families, to heal the wounds surrounding homosexuality, and to provide hope,” the statement reads.

JONAH’s Goldberg, who runs the business side of the nonprofit, says on the website that “change from homosexual to heterosexual is possible … homosexuality is a learned behavior which can be unlearned, and that healing is a lifelong process.”

According to the lawsuit, JONAH cites the “scientific” work of Joseph Nicolosi, one of the primary proponents of conversion therapy and Richard A. Cohen, who was permanently expelled from the American Counseling Association in 2002 for “multiple ethical violations.”

Nicolosi’s methodology is based on the belief that a weak father-son relationship and a dominating mother contribute to homosexuality. He advocates “rough and tumble games,” as well as father-son showers, according to the lawsuit.

Cohen uses a technique called “bioenergetics” that includes having male patients beat a pillow, which represents their mother, as a way of stopping same-sex attraction, according to the lawsuit.

Conversion therapists also cite child abuse and bullying as a “primary cause” of homosexuality, according to the lawsuit.

APA Calls Gay Conversion Therapy Risky

The American Psychiatric Association and the World Health Organization, among other mental health groups, have cited the potential risks of reparation therapy, including “depression, anxiety [and] self-destructive behavior,” according to the lawsuit.

Chaim Levin, the most vocal of the plaintiffs, is now 23 and a gay rights advocate who writes a blog, Gotta Give ‘Em Hope.

He grew up in a Jewish ultra orthodox community in Brooklyn where religious leaders threw him out of the Hebrew-speaking yeshiva at the age of 17, when they learned he was gay.

Levin told ABCNews.com that he had been abused as a boy and that he was “confused” by his sexuality and took a rabbi’s advice and began 18 months of gay conversion therapy at JONAH.

[Levin filed a civil lawsuit against his cousin in July, alleging he was abused for three years from the time he was 6.]

When Levin met co-director Goldberg, he said the defendant told him JONAH could change his sexual orientation, “as long as I tried hard enough and put enough effort into it.”

“He told me, ‘You will marry a woman and have a straight life,’” said Levin.

“Given where I came from, with three older siblings who were married with kids and not knowing any gay people or English, I was sure I could change,” he said. “That was the theology.”

Levin first did a retreat with Downing, then saw him weekly at therapy sessions in Jersey City.

“A lot of the therapy involves reliving the experience,” he said. Levin alleges he was forced to relive the sexual abuse by his cousin, “with no counseling afterwards.”

But the most “humiliating” experience, the one that Levin alleges made him quit therapy, was being asked by Downing to take off his clothes, article by article and told to touch his “private parts” — to hold his penis in front of a mirror to “be in touch with my masculinity.”

“I told him I wasn’t comfortable, but I desperately wanted to change and was ready to do anything,” said Levin. Afterward, he said he felt “degraded and violated.”

Today, Levin no longer identifies as orthodox, but said his parents have been “supportive” of the lawsuit.

Some Jewish denominations and many congregations are inclusive of homosexual congregants, and even New York’s orthodox communities are more open-minded now, according to Levin.

“I had gone for help and they had misrepresented themselves,” he said.

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Disney Channel to debut ‘Sofia the First’ Jan. 11

NEW YORK (AP) — Disney says its animated children‘s series “Sofia the First” will premiere Jan. 11 on the Disney Channel and Disney Junior networks.

Created for kids ages 2 to 7, “Sofia the First” is about a young girl who becomes a princess and learns that honesty, loyalty and compassion are what makes a person royal.

Sofia is voiced by “Modern Family” actress Ariel Winter, and her mother is played by “Grey’s Anatomy” star Sara Ramirez.

Last week’s premiere of the “Sofia the First” animated movie drew a total audience of more than 5 million viewers. It was the year’s top-rated cable TV telecast among kids ages 2 to 5.

In the series’ debut episode, Sofia strives to become the first princess to earn a spot on her school’s flying derby team.

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Let the fiscal cliff road show begin

President Barack Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner meet at the White House on November 16 to discuss …President Barack Obama is ramping up efforts to win over Americans — and pressure Congress — on the looming fiscal cliff, with events at the White House and on the road to argue for the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts chiefly benefiting the rich.

The response from his top Republican foes? On Tuesday morning, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell portrayed the president's outreach effort as an unserious distraction from negotiations with Congress. But minutes after McConnell's sharp-tongued criticism, Republican House Speaker John Boehner's office announced that his members would be countering the president's road-show with one of their own.

Obama was meeting Tuesday behind closed doors with 15 small-business owners from the retail, construction, and health care information technology sector.  At the White House on Wednesday, the president planned to showcase Americans who would be affected if no deal can be reached to extend middle-class tax cuts. On Friday, Obama planned to travel to the Philadelphia suburb of Hatfield to make a speech at the Rodon Group manufacturing facility. Rodon is an American maker of K'NEX Brands, which include Tinkertoy, K'NEX, and Angry Bird Building Sets.

In a speech on the Senate floor, McConnell cast the White House efforts as little more than a public relations gambit.

"Rather than sitting down with lawmakers of both parties and working out an agreement, he's back out on the campaign trail, presumably with the same old talking points we're all familiar with," McConnell said. "Look: we already know the President is a very good campaigner. What we don't know is whether he has the leadership qualities necessary to lead his party to a bipartisan agreement on a big issue likes this."

But 26 minutes after a transcript of McConnell's remarks landed in reporters' in-boxes, Boehner's office made it clear that the House GOP would also be taking its sales pitch on the road.

Republican lawmakers planned to hold events with small businesses around the country warning that job creation will slow if taxes on small businesses are hiked, aides said.

Republicans have warned that Obama's push to let tax cuts expire on income over $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for families will hit some small businesses, a sector they often credit with fueling job growth. The president characterizes the tax increase -- a centerpiece of his successful reelection campaign -- as asking wealthier Americans to pay more in order to preserve popular government programs that might otherwise face steep cuts.

"Republicans understand that we must avert the fiscal cliff and have laid out a framework to do so that is consistent with the 'balanced' approach the President says he wants," Boehners spokesman Brendan Buck said. Buck accused some Democrats of ruling out "sensible spending cuts," notably overhauls of popular entitlement programs like Medicare, the government health care plan for seniors, and Medicaid, a state-federal program that provides health care to low income Americans.

The White House and Congressional Republicans profess eagerness to avoid the fiscal cliff, an economically toxic blend of tax increases and dramatic spending cuts that will go into effect January 1 unless at deal is reached on a far-reaching deficit-cutting plan (or an agreement is reached to push back what are Congressionally enacted deadlines that lawmakers can un-enact if the president signs on).

Obama spoke to Boehner and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid over the Thanksgiving weekend, but Republicans have complained that negotiations are at an impasse. One of the major roadblocks is the fight over whether to let tax rates on higher incomes revert to Clinton-era levels. The fiscal cliff fight could shape the direction of the nation's spending for a decade — and it certainly amounts to Obama's first major test of post-election clout.

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Nintendo says more than 400,000 Wii Us sold in US

NEW YORK (AP) — Nintendo has sold more than 400,000 of its new video game console, the Wii U, in its first week on sale in the U.S., the company said Monday.

The Wii U launched on Nov. 18 in the U.S. at a starting price of $ 300. Nintendo said the sales figure, based on internal estimates, is through Saturday, or seven days later.

The Wii U is the first major game console to launch in six years. It comes with a new touch-screen controller that promises to change how people play games by offering different people in the same room a different experience, depending on the controller used.

Six years ago, Nintendo Co. sold 475,000 of the original Wii in that console’s first seven days in stores, according to data from the NPD Group. The original Wii remains available, and Nintendo said it sold more than 300,000 of them last week, along with roughly 250,000 handheld Nintendo 3DS units and about 275,000 of the Nintendo DS.

At this early stage, demand isn’t the only factor dictating how many consoles are sold. Supply is, too. This means it’s likely that more people wanted to buy the Wii U in the first week than those who were able to. The original Wii was in short supply more than a year after it went on sale.

As of Monday afternoon, the website of Best Buy Co. was sold out of the Wii U. Video game retailer GameStop Corp. said there was at least a three day wait for a deluxe Wii U, which costs $ 350, has more memory and comes with a game called “Nintendo Land.” GameStop still had the basic, $ 300 version available.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter estimates that Nintendo will ship 1 million to 1.5 million Wii Us in the U.S. through the end of January.

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Leyes no reducen la sobreutilización de costosas terapias del cáncer prostático

NUEVA YORK, 26 nov (Reuters Health) – Dos estudios coinciden

en que las leyes para prevenir el uso excesivo de servicios de

salud no impiden que los médicos sigan indicando terapias

costosas para el cáncer de próstata.

Los autores hallaron que los médicos utilizaban cirugías

robóticas y radioterapias especiales para tratar la enfermedad,

sin importar si en la región existían leyes que exigen una

autorización oficial previa para el uso de instalaciones y

nuevos equipos médicos.

“Las leyes de certificación de necesidad se diseñaron para

alinear la demanda pública con el uso de distintos servicios”,

dijo el doctor Bruce Jacobs, autor principal de uno de los

estudios, de University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

El gobierno de Estados Unidos impulsó que los estados

implementaran las leyes en los 70 y los 80, pero dejó de hacerlo

un par de décadas después. Aun así, algunos estados siguen

utilizándolas para controlar los costos.

En cada estudio, los autores analizaron tratamientos del cáncer

de próstata, que es el más común en los varones estadounidenses.

La Sociedad Estadounidense del Cáncer estima que a uno de cada

seis hombres se le diagnosticará cáncer prostático, pero que la

mayoría no morirá por esa causa. Estudios previos habían

mostrado que este cáncer es de lento crecimiento y que la

mayoría de los pacientes se puede controlar con espera vigilada.

El equipo de Jacobs revisó si en los estados con normas

estrictas (los que exigen aprobación hasta para el uso de

equipos de bajo costo) se utilizaban menos cirugías robóticas

para extirpar la próstata que en los estados con leyes no tan

estrictas o sin leyes.

En The Journal of Urology, los autores escriben que tanto el

costo de esos robots como si la cirugía robótica supera o no a

la cirugía tradicional para extirpar la próstata deberían ser

“la meta ideal” de revisión donde se aplican esas leyes.

En septiembre, por ejemplo, uno de los estudios que había

cuestionado la utilidad de la cirugía robótica demostró que los

hombres operados con la técnica robótica tuvieron pocas

complicaciones, pero puso en tela de juicio la conveniencia de

sus efectos en el largo plazo y su costo.

Pero otro estudio más reciente mostró que la cirugía robótica

reducía las complicaciones, las reinternaciones y las muertes

por causas quirúrgicas que los métodos tradicionales, según

informó Intuitive Surgical, el fabricante del sistema quirúrgico

da Vinci.

“Eso es importante para el paciente y para reducir el gasto del

sistema de salud”, indicó por e-mail Angela Wonson, vocera de

Intuitive Surgical.

En el nuevo estudio, los autores hallaron un aumento del uso

de la cirugía robótica para extirparle la próstata a un grupo de

beneficiarios de Medicare, independientemente de si el estado

contaba con leyes estrictas, más blandas o ninguna ley. Además,

la posibilidad de que un cirujano utilizara robots no tenía

relación alguna con la vigencia de las normas.

Un segundo estudio, a cargo del doctor Ganesh Palapattu, jefe

de oncología urológica de University of Michigan, analizó si las

leyes limitaban el uso de la radioterapia de intensidad modulada

o IMRT, por su sigla en inglés, o si controlaba el aumento de

los costos de atención del cáncer prostático (la IMRT permite

que los médicos orienten la radiación al tumor sin dañar el

tejido sano que lo rodea).

El equipo escribe que la IMRT es costosa y que, hasta ahora, no

habría sido comparada con otros tratamientos del cáncer de

próstata en un estudio aleatorizado, que es el diseño de

preferencia en la investigación clínica.

Al comparar el costo de tratar a una persona con cáncer

prostático en los estados con leyes y los estados sin leyes, el

equipo observó que las leyes no parecían influir en el control

de los costos de los tratamientos.

Palapattu opinó que es tiempo de reevaluar las leyes.

FUENTE: The Journal of Urology, online 19 de noviembre del

2012.

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Rolling Stones turn back clock with hit-filled comeback

LONDON (Reuters) – The Rolling Stones turned back the clock in style on Sunday with their first concert in five years, strutting and swaggering their way through hit after familiar hit to celebrate 50 years in business.

Before a packed crowd of 20,000 at London‘s O2 Arena, they banished doubts that age may have slowed down one of the world’s greatest rock and roll bands, as lead singer Mick Jagger launched into “I Wanna Be Your Man”.

More than two hours of high-octane, blues-infused rock later, and they were still going strong with an impressive encore comprising “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”.

In between there were guest appearances from American R&B singer-songwriter Mary J. Blige, who delivered a rousing duet with Jagger on “Gimme Shelter” and guitarist Jeff Beck who provided the power chords for “I’m Going Down”.

Former Rolling Stones Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor were also back in the fold, performing with the regular quartet of Jagger, Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards on guitar and Charlie Watts on drums for the first time in 20 years.

“It took us 50 years to get from Dartford to Greenwich!” said Jagger, referring to their roots just a few miles from the venue in southeast London. “But you know, we made it. What’s even more amazing is that you’re still coming to see us…we can’t thank you enough.”

The Sunday night gig was the first of two at the O2 Arena before the band crosses the Atlantic to play three dates in the United States.

The mini-tour is the culmination of a busy few months of events, rehearsals and recordings to mark 50 years since the rockers first took to the stage at the Marquee Club on London‘s Oxford Street in July, 1962.

There has been a photo album, two new songs, a music video, a documentary film, a blitz of media appearances and a handful of warm-up gigs in Paris.

“STYLE AND PANACHE”

The reunion nearly did not happen. One factor behind the long break since their record-breaking “A Bigger Bang” tour in 2007 has been Wood’s struggle with alcohol addiction, while Jagger and Richards also fell out over comments the guitarist made about the singer in a 2010 autobiography.

But they eventually buried the hatchet, and Richards joked in a recent interview: “We can’t get divorced – we’re doing it for the kids!”

Critics were fulsome in their praise of the first comeback gig.

“Keith Richards has said that the beauty of rock and roll is that every night a different band might be the world’s greatest. Well, last night at the O2 Arena, it was the turn of the Rolling Stones themselves to lay claim to the title they invented,” wrote Neil McCormick of the Daily Telegraph.

“And they did it with some style and panache.”

The big question on every fan’s lips is whether the five concerts lead to a world tour and even new material. The Stones sang their two new tracks “Doom and Gloom” and “One More Shot”, which appeared on their latest greatest hits album “GRRR!”.

Richards has hinted that the five concerts ending at the Newark Prudential Center in the United States on December 15 would not be the last.

“Once the juggernaut starts rolling, it ain’t gonna stop,” he told Rolling Stone magazine. “So without sort of saying definitely yes – yeah. We ain’t doing all this for four gigs!”

The band has come in for criticism from fans about the high price of tickets to the shows – they ranged from around 95 pounds ($ 150) to up to 950 pounds for a VIP seat.

The flamboyant veterans, whose average age is 68, have defended the costs, saying the shows were expensive to put on, although specialist music publication Billboard reported the band would earn $ 25 million from the four shows initially announced. A fifth was added later.

“Everybody all right there in the cheap seats,” Jagger asked pointedly as he looked high to his left at the arena. “They’re not really cheap though are they? That’s the trouble.”

Among the biggest cheers on the night were for classics including “Wild Horses”, “It’s Only Rock and Roll” and “Start Me Up”.

There was even time for the odd reference to their advancing years.

“Good to see you all,” said Richards with a mischievous grin. “Good to see anybody.”

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

Music News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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UN climate talks open in Qatar

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — U.N. talks on a new climate pact resumed Monday in oil and gas-rich Qatar, where negotiators from nearly 200 countries will discuss fighting global warming and helping poor nations adapt to it.

The two-decade-old talks have not fulfilled their main purpose: reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say are warming the planet.

Attempts to create a new climate treaty failed in Copenhagen three years ago but countries agreed last year to try again, giving themselves a deadline of 2015 to adopt a new treaty.

A host of issues need to be resolved by then, including how to spread the burden of emissions cuts between rich and poor countries. That’s unlikely to be decided in the Qatari capital of Doha, where negotiators will focus on extending the Kyoto Protocol, an emissions deal for industrialized countries, and trying to raise billions of dollars to help developing countries adapt to a shifting climate.

“We all realize why we are here, why we keep coming back year and after year,” said South Africa Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, who led last year’s talks in Durban, South Africa. “We owe it to our people, the global citizenry. We owe it to our children to give them a safer future than what they are currently facing.”

The U.N. process is often criticized, even ridiculed, both by climate activists who say the talks are too slow, and by those who challenge the scientific near-consensus that the global temperature rise is at least partly caused by human activity, primarily the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil.

The concentration of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide has jumped 20 percent since 2000, according to a U.N. report released last week.

A recent projection by the World Bank showed temperatures are on track to increase by up to 4 degrees C (7.2 F) this century, compared with pre-industrial times, overshooting the 2-degree target that has been the goal of the U.N. talks.

Middle East News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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