Article:

 A particularly dangerous type of CRE bacteria is on the rise in the U.S. (Courtesy of CDC)

 This post has been updated.

 A particularly dangerous superbug, dubbed the "phantom menace" by scientists, is on the rise in the United States, according to a report Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 This superbug's strains belong to the family of bacteria known as CRE, which are difficult to treat because they are often resistant to most antibiotics. They are often deadly, too, in some instances killing up to 50 percent of patients who become infected, according to the CDC. Health officials have called CRE among the country's most urgent public health threats.

 The target of Thursday's report is relatively new. Unlike more common types of CRE, it carries a plasmid, or mobile piece of DNA, with an enzyme that breaks down antibiotics. And what makes these bacteria even more dangerous is their ability to transfer that plasmid--and that antibiotic resistance--to normal bacteria that are present in our bodies.

 [Amid superbug worries, these states have the highest antibiotic prescribing rates]

 This type of CRE has had a lower profile because it's actually less antibiotic-resistant than other more common types of CRE. As a result, it hasn't been a frequent focus of testing and has largely escaped detection by health officials, prompting some researchers to dub it "the phantom menace."

 "This is a tricky drug-resistant bacteria, and it isn't easily found," CDC Director Thomas Frieden said in an interview. "What we're seeing is an assault by the microbes on the last bastion of antibiotics."

 Bacteria develop antibiotic resistance in two ways.

 Many can evolve their own genome in ways that deactivate antibiotics, although that ability can't be shared with pathogens outside their own family.

 Yet other bacteria rely on a shortcut: They get infected with a plasmid carrying the resistance gene. That makes them more dangerous because plasmids can make copies of themselves and transfer within a family of bugs and as well as jump to other families of bacteria, which can then "catch" the resistance directly without having to develop it through evolution.

 In a related alarming development, Danish researchers announced Thursday that a dangerous new superbug gene discovered in China two weeks ago had been found in bacteria infecting one person in Denmark. The gene makes the bacteria resistant to colistin, the antibiotic of last resort. And similar to the 'phantom menace' type of CRE, the gene is contained in a plasmid.

 Experts warned that the latest development was frightening. "History shows that these mobile resistance genes can spread around the world quickly, silently riding in people, animals and food," said Lance Price, director of the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center at George Washington University's Milken Institute of Public Health, in a statement.

 He said the news that the superbug gene first found in China has now turned up in Denmark "suggests that this scenario is playing out in real time," he said.

 [A superbug emerges in China]

 CDC received reports counting at least 43 patients in 19 states with this type of CRE superbug between June 2010 and August 2015. All cases were confirmed by CDC. Although the numbers are relatively small, Frieden said they are "just the tip of the iceberg." There was one patient with this type of superbug in 2010 and 11 patients each year in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

 Most U.S. clinical laboratories that test for CRE organisms wouldn't identify this particular type of bacteria because it's not part of standard testing. CDC changed its definition of the organism in January to help increase detection.

 CRE stands for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae.

 Read more:

 CDC says ‘nightmare bacteria’ a growing threat

 Extra funding sought to fight antibiotic resistant bacteria

 One day, doctors might prescribe viruses instead of antibiotics

 White House opens antibiotic summit

 Chipotle CEO pledges to make restaurants ‘safest place to eat.’ Here’s his plan. ||||| Notes from the Field: Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae Producing OXA-48-like Carbapenemases — United States, 2010–2015

 Please note: An erratum has been published for this article. To view the erratum, please click here.

 Meghan Lyman, MD1,2; Maroya Walters, PhD2; David Lonsway, MMSc2; Kamile Rasheed, PhD2; Brandi Limbago, PhD2; Alexander Kallen, MD2

 Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are bacteria that are often resistant to most classes of antibiotics and cause health care–associated infections with high mortality rates (1). Among CRE, strains that carry plasmid-encoded carbapenemase enzymes that inactivate carbapenem antibiotics are of greatest public health concern because of their potential for rapid global dissemination, as evidenced by the increasing distribution of CRE that produce the Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase and the New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase. Newly described resistance in Enterobacteriaceae, such as plasmid-mediated resistance to the last-line antimicrobial colistin, recently detected in China, and resistance to the newly approved antimicrobial, ceftazidime-avibactam, identified from a U.S. K. pneumoniae carbapenemase-producing isolate, highlight the continued urgency to delay spread of CRE (2,3). Monitoring the emergence of carbapenemases is crucial to limiting their spread; identification of patients carrying carbapenemase-producing CRE should result in the institution of transmission-based precautions and enhanced environmental cleaning to prevent transmission.* The OXA-48 carbapenemase was first identified in Enterobacteriaceae in Turkey in 2001 (2), and OXA-48-like variants have subsequently been reported around the world. The first U.S. reports of OXA-48-like carbapenemases were published in 2013 and included retrospectively identified isolates from 2009 (3) and two isolates collected in 2012 from patients in Virginia who had recently been hospitalized outside the United States (4). Although there are limited additional published reports from the United States (5), CDC continues to receive reprots of these organisms. This report describes patients identified as carrying CRE producing OXA-48-like carbapenemases in the United States during June 2010–August 2015.

 CDC received reports of 52 CRE isolates producing OXA-48-like carbapenemases collected from 43 patients in 19 states during June 2010–August 2015 (Figure); seven of these isolates were identified retrospectively from six patients. Eight isolates from four patients were part of two different clusters in the United States during 2014. The number of patients from whom CRE isolates producing OXA-48-like carbapenemases were identified ranged from one in 2010 to 11 per year in 2013, 2014, and 2015. Thirty-five patients (81%) had OXA-48-like carbapenemase identified from K. pneumoniae isolates, seven (16%) from Escherichia coli isolates, one (2%) from an Enterobacter aerogenes isolate, and one (2%) from a Klebsiella ozaenae isolate; two of which were isolates of different species from a single patient. Isolates with both New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase and OXA-48-like carbapenemase genes were obtained from five patients (12%). The most common sources were urine (22 patients [51%]) and respiratory specimens (nine patients [21%]).

 The median age among 35 (81%) patients for whom age was reported was 70 years (range = 29–91 years). Among 29 patients for whom a travel history was available, 19 (66%) had traveled internationally during the year before specimen collection, and 16 (55%) were hospitalized outside the United States for ≥1 night; these percentages increased to 76% and 64%, respectively, when cases associated with the two domestic clusters were excluded. India was the most frequently reported destination among patients with international travel (11 of 19 patients) and international hospitalization (nine of 16).

 CRE producing OXA-48-like carbapenemases have demonstrated the ability to spread in other countries (6) and cause outbreaks in health care settings. Factors potentially contributing to the spread of these organisms include the high transfer efficiency of the plasmid containing OXA-48-like genes (6) and challenges in identifying these organisms. These challenges in identification occur because of the limited testing for CRE resistance mechanisms in U.S. clinical laboratories and the different susceptibility profiles of these organisms compared with other carbapenemase-producing CRE, making them difficult to differentiate from CRE that do not produce carbapenemases (organisms producing OXA-48-like carbapenemases might be susceptible to third generation cephalosporins). The modification of the CDC CRE surveillance definition in January 2015 to include organisms that are resistant to ertapenem or that possess a carbapenemase gene should improve sensitivity for detecting OXA-48-producing CRE (7).

 Although clusters of CRE expressing OXA-48-like carbapenemases suggest transmission has occurred in the United States, the majority of identified patients were reported to have had exposure to health care outside the United States. This is consistent with recommendations in the CDC Health Advisory from February 2013 (8), which sought to prevent transmission of isolates producing non-K. pneumoniae carbapenemases by improving their detection in patients recently hospitalized outside the United States. Recommendations include determining the mechanism of resistance for any CRE isolated from such patients and considering CRE screening of these patients on admission.

 1Epidemic Intelligence Service, CDC; 2Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CDC.

 Corresponding author: Meghan M. Lyman, mmlyman@cdc.gov, 404-639-4241.

 References

 Gupta N, Limbago BM, Patel JB, Kallen AJ. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae: epidemiology and prevention. Clin Infect Dis 2011;53:60–7. Liu Y, Wang Y, Walsh TR, et al. Emergence of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance mechanism MCR-1 in animals and human beings in China: a microbiological and molecular biological study. Lancet. Epub Nov 18, 2015. Humphries RM, Yang S, Hemarajata P, et al. First report of ceftazidime-avibactam resistance in a KPC-3-expressing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolate. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2015;59:6605–7. Poirel L, Potron A, Nordmann P. OXA-48-like carbapenemases: the phantom menace. J Antimicrob Chemother 2012;67:1597–606. Lascols C, Peirano G, Hackel M, Laupland KB, Pitout JD. Surveillance and molecular epidemiology of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates that produce carbapenemases: first report of OXA-48-like enzymes in North America. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2013;57:130–6. Mathers AJ, Hazen KC, Carroll J, et al. First clinical cases of OXA-48-producing carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in the United States: the "menace" arrives in the new world. J Clin Microbiol 2013;51:680–3. Doi Y, O'Hara JA, Lando JF, et al. Co-production of NDM-1 and OXA-232 by Klebsiella pneumoniae. Emerg Infect Dis 2014;20:163–5. Nordmann P, Poirel L. The difficult-to-control spread of carbapenemase producers among Enterobacteriaceae worldwide. Clin Microbiol Infect 2014;20:821–30. CDC. FAQs about choosing and implementing a CRE definition. CDC Healthcare-associated infections. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/hai/organisms/cre/definition.html. CDC Health Alert Network. New carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae warrant additional action by healthcare providers. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC; 2013. Available at http://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00341.asp. ||||| OXA-48-type carbapenem-hydrolysing class D β-lactamases are increasingly reported in enterobacterial species. To date, six OXA-48-like variants have been identified, with OXA-48 being the most widespread. They differ by a few amino acid substitutions or deletions (one to five amino acids). The enzymes hydrolyse penicillins at a high level and carbapenems at a low level, sparing broad-spectrum cephalosporins, and are not susceptible to β-lactamase inhibitors. When combining permeability defects, OXA-48-like producers may exhibit a high level of resistance to carbapenems. OXA-163 is an exception, hydrolysing broad-spectrum cephalosporins but carbapenems at a very low level, and being susceptible to β-lactamase inhibitors. The bla(OXA-48)-type genes are always plasmid-borne and have been identified in association with insertion sequences involved in their acquisition and expression. The current spread of the bla(OXA-48) gene is mostly linked to the dissemination of a single IncL/M-type self-transferable plasmid of 62 kb that does not carry any additional resistance gene. OXA-48-type carbapenemases have been identified mainly from North African countries, the Middle East, Turkey and India, those areas constituting the most important reservoirs; however, occurrence of OXA-48 producers in European countries is now well documented, with some reported hospital outbreaks. Since many OXA-48-like producers do not exhibit resistance to broad-spectrum cephalosporins, or only decreased susceptibility to carbapenems, their recognition and detection can be challenging. Adequate screening and detection methods are therefore required to prevent and control their dissemination. ||||| This image shows two rod-shaped bacteria called Klebsiella pneumoniae that are resistant to treatment with the antibiotic drug called carbapenem. In this image, the mustard-colored bacteria are interacting with the green-colored human white blood cell.

 Health experts are keeping a close eye on a type of antibiotic-resistant bacteria called CRE that, while still rare, has the potential to become more widespread in the United States. This type of bug includes some strains of Escherichia coli and other bacteria.

 A new report released on Thursday said that in the past five years, researchers have identified 43 patients in the United States who became sick with infections from one type of CRE. (The name is an abbreviation for "carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae," meaning the bacteria are part of a group called Enterobacteriaceae and are resistant to treatment with antibiotics called carbapenems.)

 These cases all involved CRE that share a particular method of defeating the antibiotics: they have enzymes called OXA-48-like carbapenemases that break down the drugs, said the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Other types of CRE have different methods of resisting the antibiotic. [6 Superbugs to Watch Out For]

 This particular type of CRE that is the focus of the new report is "noteworthy" because the enzyme that thwarts the antibiotic is encoded on a piece of genetic material called a plasmid, "which can actually move from one bacteria to another," said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist and professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, who was not involved with the CDC report.

 At the moment, this whole group of CRE bacteria is of great interest to researchers, Schaffner told Live Science.

 Recently, for example, researchers discovered bacteria in China whose plasmids give them resistance to an antibiotic called colistin, he said. Some doctors consider colistin one of the last lines of defense against certain "superbugs."

 The bacteria found in China and the ones in the new report — which both have key resistance genes contained on plasmids — "are of greatest public health concern because of their potential for rapid global dissemination," the researchers wrote in the new report.

 Still, Schaffner stressed that, at the moment, these infections are not something the general public needs to worry about. But microbiologists, public health officials and infectious disease specialists are paying attention, he said.

 Researchers have seen a few small clusters of cases around the country, which indicate that the infection likely spread in a hospital, Schaffner said.

 In the new report, the CDC researchers noted that many of the patients with this particular type of infection had recently traveled out of the country, with India being the most frequent travel destination. In addition, among the patients who reported traveling abroad, 16 had been hospitalized outside of the United States, the report said, suggesting that foreign hospitals are a potential source of some infections.

 The CDC is also tracking infections that come from other types of CRE. For example, there have been 118 cases in the United States of infections involving a certain enzyme, different from the one found in the bacteria that are the focus of Thursday's report, the CDC said.

 Carbapenems are not considered the last line of defense against Enterobacteriaceae infections, meaning that if these drugs don't work, there are still other antibiotics available. However, the emerging resistance is still concerning to experts. This resistance reduces the number of antibiotics that doctors can use to treat these infections, Schaffner said. Doctors need multiple antibiotics available, and the more options there are, the better, he said.

 To reduce the problems associated with antibiotic resistance, doctors and patients need to join together to be more prudent about using antibiotics, Schaffner said.

 Follow Sara G. Miller on Twitter @SaraGMiller. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Originally published on Live Science. |||||Summary:

– The latest strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to give researchers sleepless nights aren't the most common—or even the most antibiotic-resistant—but they have an ability that could make them a serious danger to public health. They contain enzymes known as "OXA-48-like carbapenemases" that can break down antibiotics and transfer that ability to normal bacteria in the body through mobile pieces of DNA, reports the Washington Post. and Live Science. The enzymes have been nicknamed the "phantom menace" by researchers because they can be tough to detect. In a report issued this week, the CDC says it identified 43 cases in the US involving the superbug between June 2010 and August of this year, mainly involving people who had traveled overseas, though some cases are thought to have been transmitted in the US. "This is a tricky drug-resistant bacteria, and it isn't easily found," CDC Director Thomas Frieden tells the Post. "What we're seeing is an assault by the microbes on the last bastion of antibiotics." The number of cases is small but rising, Frieden says, warning that what has been detected so far could just be the "tip of the iceberg." An infectious disease specialist tells Live Science that while the bacteria shouldn't be a major worry for the general public right now, doctors and patients should be aware that the best way to combat antibiotic resistance is to try to be more sparing in the use of antibiotics. (A mutation spreading in China has prompted warnings of an "antibiotic apocalypse.")


News article:

Last Updated, Wednesday, 11:07 a.m. The year before his seventh and final Tour de France victory, Lance Armstrong offered to donate “in excess of $150,000″ to the antidoping agency in charge of keeping American athletes from using performance-enhancing drugs, according to the organization’s chief executive.

 The latest accusation against Armstrong, the disgraced former cyclist, was made by the current head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, Travis Tygart, in an interview with CBS News posted online on Tuesday. In October, Usada stripped Armstrong of all of his titles and barred him from competition for life following the release of a 202-page report into what the agency called “the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.”

 As my colleague Juliet Macur reported, Armstrong, who has so far denied all allegations of cheating, “has told associates and antidoping officials that he is considering publicly admitting that he used banned performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions during his cycling career.” Late Tuesday, Oprah Winfrey announced that she “will speak exclusively with Lance Armstrong in his first no-holds-barred interview,” to be broadcast next week on her network.

 BREAKING NEWS: Looking forward to this conversation with @lancearmstrong: http://t.co/GwSmBhdW #NextChapter — Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) 9 Jan 13

 As the cycling journalist Lionel Birnie notes, the Oprah Winfrey Network is a joint venture with Discovery Communications, the broadcaster that sponsored Armstrong’s team in 2005.

 Lance is going on Oprah, partly-produced by Discovery Channel, sponsors of Lance’s 7th and final fraudulent Tour win. Somehow fitting. — Lionel Birnie (@lioneljbirnie) 9 Jan 13

 Samantha Lane, a reporter for The Age in Australia, pointed out on Twitter that Winfrey and Armstrong looked comfortable together in a photograph published in the May 2004 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine with an interview of the cyclist before that year’s Tour de France.

 Oprah & Lance, in happier times (pic from her website). http://t.co/TMpMfYfk — Sam Lane (@SamJaneLane) 9 Jan 13

 The photograph showed Armstrong in his Discovery Channel uniform and Winfrey, leaning on his shoulder, wearing a yellow, Livestrong bracelet.

 The network’s logo was emblazoned across the victor’s yellow jersey Armstrong wore on the top step of the podium in Paris that year, as he lectured “the people that don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the skeptics.”

 Directly addressing those who accused him of doping that day, Armstrong said, “I’m sorry for you, I’m sorry you can’t dream big and I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles, but this is one hell of a race, this is a great sporting event and you should stand around and believe. You should believe in these athletes and you should believe in these people. I’m a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live and there’s no secrets — this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it.”

 The notion of Armstrong confessing on Oprah was pre-mocked nearly two years ago by the bike racers and cartoonists Andy Shen and Dan Schmalz in their cult comic strip about the soap-operatic world of professional cycling, “As the Toto Turns,” for nyvelocity.com.

 Andy Shen and Dan Schmalz, nyvelocity.com

 Another journalist who writes about cycling, Shane Stokes, suggested that Armstrong might expect Winfrey to go easy on him, since she let another disgraced athlete, Marion Jones, claim during a 2008 interview that she had used performance-enhancing drugs unintentionally.

 Just after news of the interview broke, Kathy LeMond, whose husband, Greg, is now the only American to win the Tour de France, offered to put Winfrey in touch with people who could give her a crash course on the culture of professional cycling.

 .@Oprah I hope you get educated before the interview. I know people that can help you. — Kathy LeMond (@KathyLeMond) 9 Jan 13

 Joe Lindsey of Bicycling Magazine asked his Twitter followers to help Winfrey by suggesting some tough questions.

 I am trying to anticipate some of “no holds barred” questions in Oprah’s Lance interview. How about some suggestions? #questionsforlance — joelindsey (@joelindsey) 9 Jan 13

 That’s pretty good. RT @BBQ44 what did you tell your kids or will/have you? #questionsforlance — joelindsey (@joelindsey) 9 Jan 13

 The complete CBS interview with the antidoping official is scheduled to be broadcast on Wednesday, during the premier of a new program, “60 Minutes Sports.” In one portion released on Tuesday, Tygart said it was “totally inappropriate” that Armstrong had donated about $100,000 to the International Cycling Union, a regulatory body involved in drug testing, during his career. He then revealed that someone representing Armstrong had offered to give the American antidoping agency more than $150,000 at some point in 2004. “It was a clear conflict of interest for Usada,” Tygart said. “We had no hesitation in rejecting that offer.” Pressed further about the amount of the proposed donation, Tygart said that it was about $250,000.

 In another portion of the interview, broadcast on the CBS Evening News on Tuesday, Tygart said that Armstrong had tried to intimidate former teammates who had testified to a federal grand jury about his doping. The official also revealed that he personally had received death threats as a result of his investigation into the cancer survivor who was once a hero to millions. ||||| Story highlights Lance Armstrong has agreed to 90-minute interview, Oprah Winfrey's network announces

 Release says Armstrong is expected to talk about doping allegations

 Armstrong has been working out in Hawaii, doing triathlon training

 Lance Armstrong will give his first television interview since being stripped of his Tour de France titles to Oprah Winfrey, her network announced Tuesday.

 A news release from the Oprah Winfrey Network said the 90-minute "no-holds-barred" interview will air at 9 p.m. ET January 17 and will be simulcast on Oprah.com.

 Winfrey will ask the disgraced cycling star to address the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's report, which said there was overwhelming evidence he was directly involved in a sophisticated doping program, the statement said.

 The International Cycling Union, which choose not to appeal the USADA's lifetime ban, stripped Armstrong of his record seven Tour victories in October.

 The World Anti-Doping Agency also agreed with the sanctions, which means Armstrong may not compete in sports governed by WADA code.

 JUST WATCHED What's the truth with Lance Armstrong? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH What's the truth with Lance Armstrong? 01:30

 JUST WATCHED Journalist's crusade to expose Armstrong Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Journalist's crusade to expose Armstrong 04:37

 JUST WATCHED Armstrong may have to pay back bonuses Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Armstrong may have to pay back bonuses 05:01

 Before the ban, he was competing in Ironman triathlons and had won two of the five events he had entered. Since the ban he has entered two non-sanctioned events.

 According to his Twitter feed, Armstrong has been biking, running and swimming in Hawaii. The Winfrey interview will take place at Armstrong's home in Austin, Texas.

 The New York Times reported last week that Armstrong, 41, was contemplating publicly admitting he used illegal performance-enhancing drugs. Such an admission might lead toward Armstrong regaining his eligibility.

 Attorney Tim Herman, in a recent e-mail to CNN Sports, did not address whether Armstrong told associates -- as reported by the newspaper -- that he was considering an admission.

 Armstrong has repeatedly and vehemently denied that he used banned performance-enhancing drugs as well as illegal blood transfusions during his cycling career.

 In the past, Armstrong has argued that he took more than 500 drug tests and never failed. In its 202-page report that detailed Armstrong's alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions, the USADA said it had tested Armstrong less than 60 times and the International Cycling Union conducted about 215 tests.

 The agency did not say that Armstrong ever failed a test, but his former teammates testified as to how they beat tests or avoided the tests altogether.

 The New York Times, citing unnamed associates and anti-doping officials, said Armstrong has been in discussions with USADA officials and hopes to meet with David Howman, chief of the World Anti-Doping Agency. The newspaper said none of the people with knowledge of Armstrong's situation wanted to be identified because it would jeopardize their access to information on the matter.

 Under World Anti-Doping Agency rules, an athlete who confesses to using performance-enhancing drugs may be eligible for a reinstatement.

 Armstrong has been an icon for his cycling feats and celebrity, bringing more status to a sport wildly popular in some nations but lacking big-name recognition, big money and mass appeal in the United States.

 He fought back from testicular cancer to win the Tour from 1999 to 2005. He raised millions via his Lance Armstrong Foundation to help cancer victims and survivors, an effort illustrated by trendy yellow "LiveSTRONG" wristbands that helped bring in the money.

 But Armstrong has long been dogged by doping allegations, with compatriot Floyd Landis -- who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after failing a drug test -- making a series of claims in 2011.

 Armstrong sued the USADA last year to stop its investigation of him, arguing it did not have the right to prosecute him. But after a federal judge dismissed the case, Armstrong said he would no longer participate in the investigation.

 In October 2012, Armstrong was stripped of his titles and banned from cycling. Weeks later, he stepped down from the board of his foundation, Livestrong.

 It is unclear whether Armstrong would face criminal prosecution for perjury should he confess. Armstrong was involved in several cases where he gave sworn testimony that he never used banned drugs. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Lance Armstrong is rumored to be ready to confess to drug use—and it could happen on Oprah's show. The disgraced cyclist will give a "no-holds-barred" interview to Oprah Winfrey that will air on her network next week, CNN reports. In his first formal interview since he was banned from the sport and stripped of his titles for doping, Armstrong will "address the alleged doping scandal, years of accusations of cheating, and charges of lying about the use of performance-enhancing drugs throughout his storied cycling career," the network says in a statement. In a 60 Minutes Sports interview to be aired tonight, the chief of the US Anti-Doping Agency says an Armstrong representative offered to donate around $250,000 to the agency, reports the New York Times. Travis Tygart, who accuses Armstrong of trying to intimidate former teammates, says the 2004 offer represented a clear conflict of interest. "We had no hesitation in rejecting that offer," he says. Tygart says he received death threats during his organization's investigation of Armstrong.


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 19/37 Contraceptive gel that creates ‘reversible vasectomy’ shown to be effective in monkeys An injectable contraceptive gel that acts as a ‘reversible vasectomy’ is a step closer to being offered to men following successful trials on monkeys. Vasalgel is injected into the vas deferens, the small duct between the testicles and the urethra. It has so far been found to prevent 100 per cent of conceptions Vasalgel

 20/37 Shift work and heavy lifting may reduce women’s fertility, study finds Women who work at night or do irregular shifts may experience a decline in fertility, a new study has found. Shift and night workers had fewer eggs capable of developing into healthy embryos than those who work regular daytime hours, according to researchers at Harvard University Getty Images/iStockphoto

 21/37 Breakfast cereals targeted at children contain 'steadily high' sugar levels since 1992 despite producer claims A major pressure group has issued a fresh warning about perilously high amounts of sugar in breakfast cereals, specifically those designed for children, and has said that levels have barely been cut at all in the last two and a half decades Getty

 22/37 Fight against pancreatic cancer takes ‘monumental leap forward’ Scientists have made a “monumental leap forward” in the treatment of pancreatic cancer after discovering using two drugs together dramatically improved patients’ chances of living more than five years after diagnosis. Getty Images/iStockphoto

 23/37 Japanese government tells people to stop overworking The Japanese government has announced measures to limit the amount of overtime employees can do – in an attempt to stop people literally working themselves to death. A fifth of Japan’s workforce are at risk of death by overwork, known as karoshi, as they work more than 80 hours of overtime each month, according to a government survey. Getty Images

 24/37 Over-cooked potatoes and burnt toast ‘could cause cancer’ The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued a public warning over the risks of acrylamide - a chemical compound that forms in some foods when they are cooked at high temperatures (above 120C). Getty Images/iStockphoto

 25/37 Cervical cancer screening attendance hits 19 year low Cervical screening tests are a vital method of preventing cancer through the detection and treatment of abnormalities in the cervix, but new research shows that the number of women using this service has dropped to a 19 year low. Getty/iStock

 26/37 High blood pressure may protect over 80s from dementia The ConversationIt is well known that high blood pressure is a risk factor for dementia, so the results of a new study from the University of California, Irvine, are quite surprising. The researchers found that people who developed high blood pressure between the ages of 80-89 are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease (the most common form of dementia) over the next three years than people of the same age with normal blood pressure. Getty Images/iStockphoto

 27/37 Most child antidepressants are ineffective and can lead to suicidal thoughts The majority of antidepressants are ineffective and may be unsafe, for children and teenager with major depression, experts have warned. In what is the most comprehensive comparison of 14 commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs to date, researchers found that only one brand was more effective at relieving symptoms of depression than a placebo. Another popular drug, venlafaxine, was shown increase the risk users engaging in suicidal thoughts and attempts at suicide Getty

 28/37 'Universal cancer vaccine’ breakthrough claimed by experts Scientists have taken a “very positive step” towards creating a universal vaccine against cancer that makes the body’s immune system attack tumours as if they were a virus, experts have said. Writing in Nature, an international team of researchers described how they had taken pieces of cancer’s genetic RNA code, put them into tiny nanoparticles of fat and then injected the mixture into the bloodstreams of three patients in the advanced stages of the disease. The patients' immune systems responded by producing "killer" T-cells designed to attack cancer. The vaccine was also found to be effective in fighting “aggressively growing” tumours in mice, according to researchers, who were led by Professor Ugur Sahin from Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany Rex

 29/37 Green tea could be used to treat brain issues caused by Down’s Syndrome A compound found in green tea could improve the cognitive abilities of those with Down’s syndrome, a team of scientists has discovered. Researchers found epigallocatechin gallate – which is especially present in green tea but can also be found in white and black teas – combined with cognitive stimulation, improved visual memory and led to more adaptive behaviour. Dr Rafael de la Torre, who led the year-long clinical trial along with Dr Mara Dierrssen, said: “The results suggest that individuals who received treatment with the green tea compound, together with the cognitive stimulation protocol, had better scores in their cognitive capacities”

 30/37 Taking antidepressants in pregnancy ‘could double the risk of autism in toddlers’ Taking antidepressants during pregnancy could almost double the risk of a child being diagnosed with autism in the first years of life, a major study of nearly 150,000 pregnancies has suggested. Researchers have found a link between women in the later stages of pregnancy who were prescribed one of the most common types of antidepressant drugs, and autism diagnosed in children under seven years of age

 31/37 Warning over Calpol Parents have been warned that giving children paracetamol-based medicines such as Calpol and Disprol too often could lead to serious health issues later in life. Leading paediatrician and professor of general paediatrics at University College London, Alastair Sutcliffe, said parents were overusing paracetamol to treat mild fevers. As a result, the risk of developing asthma, as well as kidney, heart and liver damage is heightened

 32/37 Connections between brain cells destroyed in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease Scientists have pinpointed how connections in the brain are destroyed in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, in a study which it is hoped will help in the development of treatments for the debilitating condition. At the early stages of the development of Alzheimer’s disease the synapses – which connect the neurons in the brain – are destroyed, according to researchers at the University of New South Wales, Australia. The synapses are vital for brain function, particularly learning and forming memories

 33/37 A prosthetic hand that lets people actually feel through The technology lets paralysed people feel actual sensations when touching objects — including light taps on the mechanical finger — and could be a huge breakthrough for prosthetics, according to its makers. The tool was used to let a 28-year-old man who has been paralysed for more than a decade. While prosthetics have previously been able to be controlled directly from the brain, it is the first time that signals have been successfully sent the other way

 34/37 Research shows that diabetes drug can be used to stop first signs of Parkinson’s Scientists in a new study show that the first signs of Parkinson’s can be stopped. The UCL study is still in its research period but the team are ‘excited’. Today’s Parkinson’s drugs manage the symptoms of the disease but ultimately do not stop its progression in the brain. PA

 35/37 Drinking alcohol could reduce risk of diabetes A new study shows that drinking alcohol three to four days a week could reduce the risk of diabetes. Wine was found to be most effective in reducing the risk due to the chemical compounds that balance blood sugar levels. Getty Images

 36/37 NHS agree, after loosing legal battle, to fund HIV prevention drug Having lost the legal battle over who was to pay for the drug the NHS have finally agreed to fund the HIV prevention treatment. National Aids Trust, whom Princess Diana supported, said that it was a ‘pivotal moment’. Getty ||||| Tarek El Moussa's cancer is in remission, and the HGTV Flip or Flop star may owe that good news to the alert eyes of a nurse who was watching the show.

 The 34-year-old, who co-hosts the home buying and renovation show with his wife, Christina, revealed to The Insider that his thyroid cancer was discovered by a fan who wrote in after noticing a lump on Tarek's neck.

 "We actually ended up spending the day with her," Tarek said, revealing he met the nurse, Ryan Read, on an episode of The Doctors. "It was just such an amazing experience to meet this person, because she stepped up and did what others probably wouldn't have done."

 "I probably would've never known that I had cancer," he continued. "And by the time that I would've found out, it probably would've been in a much further stage."

 PHOTOS: Stars We've Lost In Recent Years

 Tarek -- who was diagnosed in 2013 -- admitted that at the age of 31, the cancer diagnosis was particularly tough to take.

 "It really hit me hard," he admitted. "It hit my family hard, and it was just a really scary thing."

 Thankfully for the couple and their two children, Tarek's cancer is currently in remission and they remain cautiously optimistic for what may come.

 "I feel fantastic. I'm in shape, I'm taking all my medicines, and I'm currently in remission," he said. "Every day that goes by, the odds of the cancer [recurring] decreases, so we're really excited for that."

 WATCH: Renovation Meets Competition on HGTV's 'Beach Flip'

 Meanwhile, country singer Joey Feek is in hospice care after ending her cancer treatments in late October. Watch her remain brave in her last days in the video below. ||||| Flip or Flop's Tarek El Moussa After Thyroid Cancer Battle: 'I Have Slowed Down Quite a Bit'

 VIDEO: Why Jackie Collins Kept Her Breast Cancer Private for 6 Years

 Tarek El Moussa's thyroid cancer is in remission , but the Flip or Flop star is still dealing with lingering effects from his grueling battle "I feel good, but I don't have the energy I used to have," El Moussa, 34, tells PEOPLE. "The only thing is most days or like half the time I feel a little jetlagged. I'm really tired."The real estate guru, who stars alongside his wife Christina on their hit HGTV show, was blindsided by the shocking diagnosis after a fan emailed producers saying she noticed a lump on his neck prompting him to have a biopsy.After surgery revealed it was in fact cancer and it had spread to his lymph nodes, El Moussa then underwent thyroid radioactive iodine therapy."The last three years have been a pretty big challenge," says El Moussa.The couple, who are already parents to daughter Taylor, tried for more than two years to get pregnant with their son, going through two failed attempts at IVF – including one resulting in a miscarriage at eight weeks, just before Tarek’s diagnosis.Now in remission, the new dad, who welcomed son Brayden James with Christina, 32, in August, is positive about his family's future."There is always that chance of reoccurrence but every year that goes by the odds of reoccurrence goes down so it's good," he says. "I have slowed down quite a bit. Which is actually a good thing because I can actually relax now."Flip or Flop airs Thursdays (9 p.m. ET) on HGTV.For more on the El Moussa family, pick up next week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Nov. 23 |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Tarek El Moussa, the co-host of HGTV's real estate and renovation show Flip or Flop, is in remission after a battle with thyroid cancer and has an observant viewer to thank. Back in 2013, El Moussa visited a doctor about a lump that had appeared on his neck, but he was told it was benign. Then Ryan Read, a fan and trained nurse, spotted the growth while watching an episode. "This is not a joke. I'm a registered nurse. I've been watching Flip or Flop. I noticed that the host Tarek has a large nodule on his thyroid, and he needs to have it checked out," she told the show's production company in an email, per the Independent. That email prompted El Moussa, then 31, to get a biopsy, which found he had thyroid cancer and that it had spread to his lymph nodes. El Moussa, who hosts Flip or Flop with his wife, Christina, says the pair got to meet Read when his case appeared on an episode of The Doctors. "We actually ended up spending the day with her," he says, per Entertainment Tonight. "It was just such an amazing experience to meet this person, because she stepped up and did what others probably wouldn't have done." He adds that without Read, he may never have known he had cancer, or "by the time that I would've found out, it probably would've been in a much further stage." El Moussa had the tumor removed and underwent thyroid radioactive iodine therapy. Now "I feel fantastic," he tells People. "Every day that goes by, the odds of the cancer [recurring] decreases, so we're really excited for that." (This dog can also spot thyroid cancer.)


News article:

Police say they're questioning the mother of a newborn baby girl - her umbilical cord still attached - found dead outside a Bronx apartment building.No arrests have been made.According to the New York City Police Department, the infant was thrown out a seventh-floor apartment building window with the umbilical cord still attached just after 3:30 p.m. The building is on West 183rd Street near Loring Place North in Morris Heights.The child's mother was located and taken to a hospital. The father was questioned and reportedly told police he was not aware that the the infant's mother was pregnant. He was released.Neighbors looked on Monday night, silent and stunned as word of the chilling story spread. "Oh. It just broke my heart. Just broke my heart," a neighbor said."It's just something that's so ridiculous. I can't believe that someone would throw their own baby out the window," said D. Joshua Charleston, a neighbor.As the doors to the Medical Examiner's van shut and drove away with the body of a newborn baby inside, police pieced together the details of the baby's death.A secretary for the building's landlord, P.R.V. Realty Corp., said police were investigating and declined further comment. She said 50 people live in the building.Fonzi Vucinaj's mother found the baby on the courtyard's cement floor. "To be honest, I've never seen something so unhuman like that; I don't know what those people were thinking about. I don't know what kind of mother would be to do that," Vucinaj said.Fonzi's mother was in shock seeing all that. "She couldn't believe it, she was shocked, how would you react? You would react bad too, everyone would react the same thing," Vucinaj said."I know him for 10 years. He's a very good father, he comes from a good home, his parents are very good parents. It's not like he's in the street, he's mostly home with his son, he babysits his son while his wife works," said Christy Mercado, a neighbor.Neighbors were heartbroken."It's crazy you know, a turn of events, a bad turn of events, We are all still wondering what's going on, we are all still questioning," a neighbor said."I'm hurting right now, I'm hurting right now, he's got to be sick in the mind, he's got to be sick, there's something wrong upstairs," another neighbor said. ||||| Photo Advertisement Continue reading the main story

 Detectives are investigating the death of a newborn — her umbilical cord still attached — who fell several stories from a Bronx apartment building into an alleyway on Monday, the authorities said.

 They said the girl fell from 130 West 183rd Street and that surveillance video captured at least part of the fall.

 But they could not immediately say how the baby fell, whether she fell from a window or the roof, or whether she was alive when she fell.

 An official with the New York Fire Department said the infant was found unconscious and unresponsive in the alleyway. She was declared dead at the scene, officials said.

 The police said the episode was reported around 2:40 p.m. after the building superintendent’s wife discovered the baby while cleaning up a concrete area behind the seven-story residential building.

 Investigators from the New York Police Department’s 52nd Precinct, in the Bronx, were at the building, trying to determine what had occurred.

 “Obviously there is criminality,” a police official said. “But no arrests have been made.”

 The police were questioning a woman at the 52nd Precinct on Monday night.

 The police did not release further information about the baby on Monday night. A spokeswoman for the Administration for Children’s Services said it was investigating and that privacy laws forbade her to discuss whether the agency had previously been involved with the family.

 Many residents of the dense block in the University Heights neighborhood stood across the street, staring at the building, with its main entrance cordoned off by police tape.

 Some people walking on the block stopped to ask what the commotion was about. Their faces dropped when they heard why the police were at the white brick complex. A Crime Scene Unit van idled in front, and detectives walked briskly up and down the block.

 Krissy Mercado, 33, who lives across the street from the building, said the police were speaking with her former boyfriend, who lives in the building with his mother. Ms. Mercado said she was also interviewed by detectives.

 She and the man dated for four years before they broke up four years ago, she said. While they were together, he lived for three years with Ms. Mercado and her two sons.

 She said she believed her former boyfriend was not involved, and added, “He would never hurt a kid.”

 Tiffany Martinez, who lives across the street, said she was shaken by what happened.

 “I get frustrated with my son a lot,” she said, but “doing harm to him never crossed my mind.”

 By nightfall, people outside the building had started to leave. Beyond the police tape, a neighbor sat and sobbed. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– A 33-year-old woman could face criminal charges after police say she threw her newborn baby—complete with placenta and umbilical cord—out the window of her New York City apartment Monday, the New York Daily News reports. She reportedly told police the baby had died before she threw it, according to the newspaper. The wife of the building's superintendent found the body while cleaning a concrete courtyard behind the building, reports the New York Times. She called 911, and the baby was pronounced dead at the scene, the AP reports. "I've never seen something so unhuman like that," the son of the woman who found the baby tells WABC. "I don't know what kind of mother would be to do that." The baby's mother, Jennifer Berry, allegedly told police she gave birth in the shower Monday, the Daily News reports. Police say Berry originally denied the baby was hers. According to the Times, police are continuing to investigate the incident, and at least part of the baby's fall was captured on surveillance video. Berry hasn't been arrested, and charges against her are pending an autopsy and cause of death, the Daily News reports. "Oh, it just broke my heart," a neighbor tells WABC. "Just broke my heart."


News article:

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A $69,000 reward is being offered for anyone with information leading to an arrest in connection to the vandalism of hundreds of gravestones at a Jewish cemetery in Northeast Philadelphia.

 Authorities said the damage was reported just after 9:30 a.m. Sunday at Mount Carmel Cemetery in the Wissinoming section of the city.

 An estimated 300 gravestones were found toppled and vandalized. A team of helpers are trying to put the gravestones back up.

 A GoFundMe has also been created to help raise money to fix the damage.

 Naomi Adler, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, says this act is unacceptable.

 “We are incredibly disgusted by the nature of this act.”

 Regardless of the motives, she says this brings up a dark history.

 “There are a number of people who have this hearken back to the Holocaust or to other Anti-Semitic act. Whether or not this is an act of anti-semitism, it brings up those memories and those fears.”

 Jennifer was among those who heard about what happened. She came by to show support for those hurting.

 “I don’t know why anything like this would happen. Somebody did something and maybe they weren’t thinking, or maybe they were thinking too much.”

 READ: Dog’s Role Investigated In Suspicious Death Of Man In Olney

 This comes less than two weeks after Holy Redeemer Cemetery in the city’s Bridesburg neighborhood was vandalized. More than 30 tombstones were found knocked over by a man walking his dog.

 It’s unclear if there is any connection between the two incidents.

 Mayor Jim Kenney released the following statement on the vandalism of Philadelphia’s Mount Carmel Jewish Cemetery.

 “My heart breaks for the families who found their loved ones’ headstones toppled this morning. We are doing all we can to find the perpetrators who desecrated this final resting place, and they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Kenney said. “Hate is not permissible in Philadelphia. I encourage Philadelphians to stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters and to show them that we are the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection.”

 Gov. Tom Wolf called it “truly reprehensible.”

 “Any anti-Semitic act or act of intimidation aimed at Jewish institutions and people in Pennsylvania is truly reprehensible and we must find those responsible and hold them accountable. This is not who we are as Americans or Pennsylvanians,” Wolf said in a statement. “We will not take these threats and acts lightly and I have asked the Pennsylvania State Police and Office of Homeland Security to offer their full resources towards protecting these institutions and finding those responsible.”

 Last week, a Jewish cemetery in suburban St. Louis reported that more than 150 headstones had been vandalized, many of them tipped over.

 Through their generous support, the following have donated monetary rewards for information leading to an arrest and conviction:

 ▪ The Mizel Family Foundation and the Anti-Defamation League is offering a $10,000 reward

 ▪ An anonymous donor is offering a $10,000 reward

 ▪ Councilman Allan Domb is offering a $12,000 reward

 ▪ Mayor Kenney’s office is offering a $15,000 reward

 ▪ The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #5 is offering a $3,000 reward for information leading to an arrest “ONLY”.

 CBS 3’s Joe Holden and KYW’s Kristen Johanson contributed to this report. ||||| "It's just very disheartening that such a thing would take place," Mallin said. "I'm hoping it was maybe just some drunk kids. But the fact that there's so many, it leads one to think it could have been targeted. It's just very heartbreaking." ||||| Northeast Philadelphia Police Det. Timothy McIntyre and another Philadelphia police officer look over tombstones that were vandalized in the Jewish Mount Carmel Cemetary Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017 in Philadelphia.... (Associated Press)

 Northeast Philadelphia Police Det. Timothy McIntyre and another Philadelphia police officer look over tombstones that were vandalized in the Jewish Mount Carmel Cemetary Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017 in Philadelphia. A police spokeswoman said preliminary estimates are that 75 to 100 graves were damaged The... (Associated Press)

 Northeast Philadelphia Police Det. Timothy McIntyre and another Philadelphia police officer look over tombstones that were vandalized in the Jewish Mount Carmel Cemetary Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017 in Philadelphia. A police spokeswoman said preliminary estimates are that 75 to 100 graves were damaged The... (Associated Press) Northeast Philadelphia Police Det. Timothy McIntyre and another Philadelphia police officer look over tombstones that were vandalized in the Jewish Mount Carmel Cemetary Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017 in Philadelphia.... (Associated Press)

 PHILADELPHIA (AP) — More than 100 headstones have been vandalized at a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia, damage discovered less than a week after similar vandalism in Missouri, authorities said.

 A man visiting the cemetery called police at 9:40 a.m. Sunday to report that three of his relatives' headstones had been knocked over and damaged.

 "The cemetery was inspected and approximately 100 additional headstones were found to be knocked over," apparently sometime after dark Saturday, a police spokeswoman said in a statement. A criminal mischief-institutional vandalism investigation will be conducted by the police Northeast Detectives Division, she said.

 The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia lists Mount Carmel as a Jewish cemetery.

 Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon called the report "shocking and a source of worry," although he added that he had "full confidence" that authorities in the U.S. would be able to catch and punish those responsible.

 The damage comes less than a week after a Jewish cemetery in suburban St. Louis reported more than 150 headstones vandalized, many of them tipped over.

 Police said Sunday evening that the Anti-Defamation League, due to support from the Mizel Family Foundation, is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. A local Fraternal Order of Police lodge also is offering a reward of $3,000.

 Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said authorities were doing everything possible to find those "who desecrated this final resting place."

 "My heart breaks for the families who found their loved ones' headstones toppled," he said in a statement. "Hate is not permissible in Philadelphia."

 Aaron Mallin told WPVI-TV that he discovered the damage when he came to visit his father's grave. He called it "very disheartening" and said he hopes it wasn't intended as an anti-Semitic attack.

 "I'm hoping it was maybe just some drunk kids," he said. "But the fact that there's so many, it leads one to think it could have been targeted." |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Cops in Philadelphia have vowed to track down the vandals who toppled large numbers of headstones in a Jewish cemetery over the weekend. Initial estimates put the number of graves vandalized in the Mount Carmel at around 100. CBS Philadelphia reports that the estimate has risen to 300. "It's criminal. This is beyond vandalism," Northeast Detectives Capt. Shawn Thrush tells the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It's beyond belief." Police say the damage was discovered Sunday morning after a man called to report that three of his relatives' headstones had been knocked over, the AP reports. The Anne Frank Center said it was "sickened, sickened, sickened" by the vandalism and urged President Trump to deliver a nationally televised speech outlining how he plans to fight anti-Semitism, as well as "Islamophobia and other rising forms of hate," the New York Daily News reports. Mayor Mike Kenny offered condolences to affected families. "Hate is not permissible in Philadelphia," he said. "I encourage Philadelphians to stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters and to show them that we are the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection." (After a similar attack in Missouri last week, Muslim-Americans started a fundraiser.)


Summarize this article:

Estrada said employees would open premium checking accounts for Latino immigrants, enabling them to send money across the border at no charge. Those accounts could be opened with just $50, but customers were supposed to have at least $25,000 on deposit at Wells Fargo within three months or pay a $30 monthly charge. |||||

 Siham El-Dahan said she has held financial services jobs for more than 20 years and joined Wells in May 2013, working as a business banker in the San Fernando Valley until she was fired two weeks ago.

 El-Dahan said she sought help from the bank's human-relations department beginning in September. She said her managers played favorites, denied employees' breaks that are required by law and regularly threatened employees about meeting sales quotas.

 Employees responded by opening bogus accounts for customers who didn't want them on a "daily" basis, she told The Times.

 When she asked to be transferred to another branch, she was referred back to her managers, she said. An emailed letter of complaint to bank directors and a signed letter to Wells Fargo's chief executive, John Stumpf, drew no response, El-Dahan said.

 She believes she was fired in retaliation for speaking out. The stated reason was that a customer she signed up for a loan had defaulted, but she said she had nothing to do with the underwriting or approval of the loan.

 Customers continue to report problems too. Frank Ahn, who runs a San Fernando Valley convenience store, said Wells overwhelmed him by opening one unwanted account after another — despite his repeated protests.

 It started four years ago, he said, when he opened two accounts. Immediately, bank employees started pitching him on more accounts he didn't need, sometimes saying they must be opened by certain dates, which he interpreted as deadlines to meet quotas.

 After repeated phone calls, Ahn said, he opened a third account he didn't need, as a favor to the banker. He was told there would be no charge, got charged anyway, then canceled the account,

 "Then a couple of months later, I got three new accounts and a credit card I hadn't asked for," Ahn said. "I called the 800 number and said I want them canceled. They would cancel them, but more would pop up later."

 Ahn then went into the branch to complain and have the accounts canceled.

 "They said, 'We'll get rid of them,' but they never did," he said. "It got to where I had 10 accounts."

 Eventually, Ahn said, he got most but not all of the improper fees reversed. He would have switched to another bank, he said, but too many of his dozens of suppliers are connected to the account, making it impossible to untangle the payment systems.

 Ahn, 33, who grew up in the Valley, said he feels sorry for people like his parents, immigrants from South Korea, who would not have the English skills to conduct what Ahn calls "a three-year battle" with Wells Fargo.

 "This is making me a less productive person," he said. "I should be spending my time improving the productivity of my business instead of this."

 Wells Fargo declined to comment on El-Dahan's and Ahn's stories. |||||

– The city of Los Angeles is suing Wells Fargo, claiming the California-based bank pushed employees to engage "in unfair, unlawful, and fraudulent conduct" to hit sales quotas. The suit notes bank employees opened unauthorized accounts for customers, failed to close them when asked, and applied phony fees that hurt customers' credit. The bank says the issues stem from a few bad eggs, who have been disciplined or fired. But "on the rare occasions when Wells Fargo did take action against its employees for unethical sales conduct, Wells Fargo further victimized its customers by failing to inform them of the breaches, refund fees they were owed, or otherwise remedy the injuries that Wells Fargo and its bankers have caused," the suit alleges, per the Los Angeles Times. The suit also claims bank employees robbed customer accounts of money that was used to pay fees on accounts they never wanted, while the bank placed customers in collections and added "derogatory information" to credit reports, Courthouse News reports. The lawsuit follows a 2013 Times investigation which described Wells Fargo employees forging customers' signatures to open unwanted accounts. In new interviews, a former employee says false accounts were opened "daily," while a customer describes "a three-year battle" with the bank after his three accounts multiplied to 10. Per the suit: "Wells Fargo has generated a virtual fee-generating machine, through which its customers are harmed, its employees take the blame, and Wells Fargo reaps the profit." LA hopes to put an end to the practices, with up to a $2,500 fine for each violation, plus refunds for customers.


– Earthquake survivors desperate for food broke into a UN warehouse in Port-au-Prince today, a sign of the growing frustration at delays in relief. UN officials say they've recovered nearly all of their stocks, however, and pledged to hand out 6,000 tons of food shortly. But with necessities such as water, medical supplies, and heavy moving equipment slow to arrive, anger and despair are rising among the tens of thousands of survivors in the capital. "We're all aware that the situation is getting more tense as the poorest people who need so much are waiting for deliveries," a Brazilian peacekeeper tells the Guardian. "They are slowly getting more angry," a UN official tell the New York Times. In other developments: Cuba gave the US permission to use its airspace for relief flights. About 4,000 inmates who escaped from the main prison remain at large. About 7,000 bodies have been buried so far in a mass grave. Two big aftershocks rattled the capital again today.

Expand this summary.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti  As tension rose here in the battered Haitian capital, relief workers scrambled on Friday to deliver desperately needed food, water and medical care, recover survivors still trapped in the rubble and collect thousands of decaying bodies from the streets.

 An immense relief operation was under way, with cargo planes and military helicopters buzzing over the crowded Toussaint Louverture International Airport. But three days after the earthquake struck, with many cries for help going silent, not nearly enough search and rescue teams or emergency supplies could make it here. The United Nations said it had fed 8,000 people, while two million to three million people remained in dire need.

 Patience was wearing thin, and reports of looting increased, as another day went by with no power and limited fresh water.

 “For the moment, this is anarchy,” said Adolphe Reynald, a top aide to the mayor of Port-au-Prince, as he supervised a makeshift first aid center that was registering long lines of wounded people but had no medicine to treat them. “There’s nothing we can do. We’re out here to show that we care, that we’re suffering along with them.”

 The United Nations said that 9,000 people had been buried in mass graves  and collecting bodies had become one of the few ways to earn money.

 “They pay me $100 a day,” Valencia Joseph, 32, said Friday at 2 a.m., as he was called to tug a body free of wires. “We must have picked up 2,000 bodies.”

 He added, “And there’s more.”

 In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said she would visit Haiti on Saturday to show support for the victims of the 7.0-magnitude quake. The Obama administration, cautioning that it would take time for all the aid to reach those in need, granted Haitians living in the United States protection from deportation for 18 months and permission to work.

 Mr. Obama said he had spoken with the Haitian president, René Préval, and pledged the United States’ full commitment in helping rebuild from a quake that, according to United Nations estimates, destroyed at least 30 percent of the capital and half the buildings in some neighborhoods.

 “As I told the president, we realize that he needs more help and his country needs more help  much more,” Mr. Obama said. “And in this difficult hour, we will continue to provide it.”

 The United States, in fact, took firmer control of the emergency operation on Friday. After three days of chaos and congestion at the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s government ceded control of it to American technicians, to speed the flow of relief supplies and personnel.

 The Federal Aviation Administration, which began managing air traffic into Haitian airspace, issued a stern warning to allow aid to flow in a more orderly way: no planes from the United States, military or civilian, would be allowed to land without express permission from the agency.

 Exceptions to the new rule would be granted only to humanitarian aid planes, based on arrival times and on the availability of space at the airport, a notice from the agency said. The F.A.A. warned pilots that fuel still was not available at the airport, and that any aircraft bound here would need to have enough fuel to circle in the air for at least an hour.

 Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that 9,000 to 10,000 American troops were expected in Haiti, on shore and off, by Monday, and that the Pentagon was poised to send more.

 Speaking at a Pentagon news conference, Admiral Mullen said that about 5,000 would be ground troops, who would help with security and logistical support, among other duties; the rest would be on ships. He said that an American aircraft carrier, the Carl Vinson, arrived off Haiti early Friday with 19 helicopters aboard, and that it would serve as a staging area for relief flights, purified water and other supplies.

 Port-au-Prince, volatile in normal times, remained relatively calm, but the United Nations reported that one of its food warehouses in the capital had been looted. It called the theft limited and said it had recovered most of its provisions.

 Looting of houses and shops increased Friday, and anger boiled over in unpredictable ways: residents near the city’s overfilled main cemetery stoned a group of ambulance workers seeking to drop off more bodies.

 Some people were bracing for the worst. Harold Marzouka, a Haitian-American businessman who was hustling his family onto a private jet to Miami, said he could feel the tension rising and feared that hunger and desperation might prompt an explosion of violence.

 “If aid doesn’t start pouring in at a significant level, there will be serious consequences on the streets,” he said. “People are in the shocked and frightened phase. But the next phase will be survival.”

 In New York, the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said he recognized that the slow pace of the relief effort could make people in Port-au-Prince restive. ||||| Up to 100,000 people may have died in the Haiti earthquake, the Pan American Health Organisation has said, as the UN launches an appeal for more than $550m (£337m) in aid.

 "A variety of sources are estimating the numbers [at] between 50,000 and 100,000," said Jon Andrus of PAHO, the Americas arm of the World Health Organisation.

 Barack Obama said the US would do everything it could to get the country back on its feet. "The scale of the devastation is extraordinary ... and the losses are heartbreaking," he said at the White House.

 In Britain, the Disasters Emergency Committee has launched an appeal for aid. The British Red Cross said £1m was raised in the first 36 hours of its appeal.

 Initial estimates spoke of 45,000 to 50,000 deaths, and the sharp rise comes as peacekeepers in Haiti warn that security has become an urgent priority amid fears of a breakdown in order.

 UN troops patrolling the capital said there was rising anger that aid had not been distributed quickly. The Brazilian military advised that aid convoys should add security to guard against looting.

 "Unfortunately they're slowly getting more angry and impatient," said David Wimhurst, spokesman for the Brazilian-led UN peacekeeping mission.

 "I fear … we're all aware that the situation is getting more tense as the poorest people who need so much are waiting for deliveries. I think tempers might be frayed."

 Fevil Dubien, an aid worker, said some people were almost fighting over the water that he handed out from a truck in a northern Port-au-Prince neighbourhood.

 Security was the biggest problem, Delfin Antonio Rodriguez, the rescue commander from the neighbouring Dominican Republic, told the AFP news agency. "Yesterday they tried to hijack some of our trucks. Today we were barely able to work in some places because of that."

 The UN World Food Programme partly retracted a statement that looters had raided one of its warehouses containing 15,000 tonnes of food aid. In the new statement it said 6,000 tonnes of food remained in the building. A spokesperson said looting was not unusual in disaster situations when people were without the most basic supplies such as water.

 The UN said it would launch a flash appeal this afternoon in New York for $550m in aid. A flash appeal is a way of structuring a co-ordinated humanitarian response. The former US president Bill Clinton said he would try to model a disaster assistance fund along the same lines he and former president George Bush Sr pursued for victims of the Asian tsunami. Barack Obama has asked Clinton, a UN special envoy to Haiti, to work with George Bush, the previous president, on a fundraising effort.

 Hundreds of US troops and an aircraft carrier arrived in Port-au-Prince, raising hope that the situation would improve in the coming hours.

 "We have much more support on the way," said the US commander in the capital, Lieutenant General Ken Keen. "Our priority is getting relief out to the needy people, to mitigate the suffering that the Haitian people are experiencing right now."

 The US aircraft carrier Carl Vinson arrived off Haiti's shores overnight with 19 helicopters. It started flights from its deck this morning.

 The carrier has water purifying equipment and three surgical operating rooms, and can do medical evacuations as well as ferrying supplies and people to and from land.

 The arrivals added to more than 300 military personnel who had already landed in Haiti.

 The 82nd Airborne was sending another 800 troops and aiming for a full brigade of 3,500 on the ground by the end of the weekend.

 Jan Egerland, a former UN humanitarian chief, said he expected the arrival of aid to speed up. "We are in a very classic development. Days three, four and five are the most frustrating. Everybody knows that the whole world is mobilising and everyone has heard the promises. But it takes time to reach the beneficiaries. The infrastructure has either gone or totally clogged up," he told the BBC.

 He said the inability of the Haitian government to direct relief operations and the death of the head of the UN mission in the country meant the US was effectively in charge of the situation.

 The small airport in Port-au-Prince has struggled to cope with the stream of aid flights. Some have been turned away and little of the aid that has landed has arrived in the most needy areas.

 Bodies lay all around the hilly city, with people covering their mouths and noses with cloth to block out the smell. Corpses were piled on pickup trucks and delivered to the general hospital in Port-au-Prince, where the hospital director, Guy LaRoche, estimated there were 1,500 bodies piled outside the morgue.

 More than 48 hours after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck, people clamoured for food and water and continued digging for relatives missing under the rubble. "We need food. The people are suffering. My neighbours and friends are suffering," said Sylvain Angerlotte, 22. "We don't have money. We don't have nothing to eat. We need pure water."

 Aid workers warned that time was running out for the thousands still trapped in the rubble. One described his frustration at hearing the cries of trapped people but being unable to help them because of a lack of heavy machinery.

 Rezene Tesfamariam, the Haiti director of charity Plan International, said people were using their bare hands or basic tools such as shovels and pick-axes to dig for their loved ones.

 "There are people still alive underneath [rubble], you can hear them crying for help, but time is running out. It is beyond the means of individuals to reach them. They are trying to move concrete with their hands. What is desperately needed is proper machinery and equipment to lift the rubble."

 Tesfamariam said vehicles and equipment were urgently needed to remove the tens of thousands of bodies.

 "I have been travelling round the city to find where we can provide assistance and I see dead bodies lying in the street everywhere." |||||


Summarize this article:

Confectionery giant Nestle has failed to convince European judges that it has the right to trademark the shape of its four-finger KitKat bar in the UK.

 The European Court of Justice said that the company had to demonstrate the public relied on the shape alone to identify the snack.

 The judges concluded this was difficult to prove if goods also showed a brand name such as KitKat.

 Rival Cadbury has battled to prevent Nestle obtaining the trademark.

 Both Nestle and Cadbury said they were "pleased" with the ruling.

 The case will now return to the UK High Court for a final decision.

 Nestle claimed that in the 80 years since the chocolate bar was introduced, the four fingers have become almost completely associated with KitKats.

 In June, a senior European court lawyer, the advocate-general, disagreed saying such a trademark did not comply with European law.

 Nestle has not sought to trademark the two-fingered bar.

 Sally Britton, intellectual property lawyer at Mishcon de Reya, said that Nestle was likely to continue arguing its case, "even if, as now appears likely, the English court decides that the KitKat shape should not be registered as a trade mark".

 She said Nestle had experience of trying to register difficult marks.

 It took more than 40 years for it to register the slogan "Have a Break" as a trade mark, finally succeeding in 2006, she added.

 Image caption Norway's "Kvikk Lunsj" looks similar to the KitKat and is available in some parts of the UK

 Chocolate wars

 Wednesday's ruling is the latest development in a more than 10-year legal battle between Nestle and Cadbury, which started when Cadbury tried to trademark the purple colour it uses on its Cadbury chocolate wrappers.

 Nestle objected and finally had the original decision allowing Cadbury to trademark the colour overturned in 2013.

 Now it would appear Cadbury, which is owned by US company Mondelez International, has scored a significant but not final victory in the continuing chocolate war.

 It has always argued the shape alone was not distinctive enough for consumers to associate it with the rival snack.

 A bar called the Kvikk Lunsj, meaning "quick lunch", launched in Norway in 1937 is available in some UK shops, and although less well known, looks similar to the four-finger KitKat.

 A ruling in favour of Nestle would stop other confectionery producers making chocolate bars of the same shape or size. ||||| The origin of the name

 The Kit Kat name originates from the late 17th century in London, when a literary club met at a pie shop owned by pastry chef Christoppher Catling. The group was called the Kit Kat club and took its name from an abbreviated version of the owner's name. ||||| SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share Tweet Post Email

 Photographer: Jason Adlen/Bloomberg Photographer: Jason Adlen/Bloomberg

 Nestle SA may find it harder to convince U.K. judges that the shape of its KitKat chocolate bar is distinct enough to trademark after the European Union’s top tribunal set strict limits on what qualifies for the status.

 For a shape to deserve a trademark, owners must prove that consumers can recognize the product exclusively by that characteristic, and not in combination with another trademarked aspect, the EU Court of Justice said in a ruling Wednesday. The judgment gave both sides an opportunity to claim victory.

 The EU court decision will help guide a U.K. tribunal handling a clash between Cadbury, the U.K.’s biggest chocolate maker, and Nestle over the Swiss company’s 2010 application to trademark the four-fingered chocolate bar, which brought in 40 million pounds ($61.7 million) a year between 2008 and 2010 in the U.K. Cadbury separately is fighting an EU trademark Nestle got for the shape of its chocolate bar in 2006 in a case that’s been pending in a lower EU court since 2013. Any decision will determine whether or not the trademark is valid.

 The KitKat was first sold in Britain in 1935 by Rowntree & Co., with the shape changing very little since then. Nestle, the world’s biggest food company, bought Rowntree Plc in 1998.

 The U.K. Trade Marks Registry turned down the application to protect the shape of the chocolate bar in the U.K. in 2013 following the opposition from Cadbury.

 The EU court Wednesday said trademark protection can’t be given if a shape “contains three essential features, one of which results from the nature of the goods themselves and two of which are necessary to obtain a technical result.”

 Vevey, Switzerland-based Nestle said it was “pleased with the decision” and “now looks forward to the decision of the U.K. High Court.” Mondelez International Inc., which owns Cadbury, said in an e-mailed statement that the court’s ruling “is in line with our contention that the shape of the KitKat bar is not distinctive enough to be protected as a trademark.”

 Nestle won a U.K. Court of Appeal ruling in October 2013 blocking Cadbury from obtaining a trademark for the color purple it uses to package its milk chocolate.

 The case is: C-215/14, Societe de Produits Nestle SA v. Cadbury UK Ltd. |||||

– It started with a candy wrapper and ended (for now) in a courtroom. Nestle's attempts to trademark the shape of its "four-fingered" KitKat have been rejected by the European Court of Justice, which ruled that shape alone isn't enough to recognize it as a KitKat, the BBC reports. The decision was a setback for Nestle—which manages the brand overseas; Hershey is licensed to sell the brand here in the US—and a victory for Cadbury, which was trying to block the trademark. The ruling means that, for now, other candy companies can make similar-looking chocolate bars. Nestle, which reaped more than $60 million a year from 2008 to 2010 in the UK from KitKat, argued that the four-fingered design has become inextricably associated with the KitKat brand over the past eight decades, Bloomberg notes. But Cadbury said the shape wasn't enough to make a consumer automatically think "KitKat," and the court agreed. The BBC even notes that in Norway, a lesser-known chocolate bar called Kvikk Lunsj ("quick lunch") has been around for nearly as long as KitKat. The fight between the two confectionary giants is the second major brouhaha they've had in recent years: In 2013, Nestle managed to block Cadbury's attempts to trademark its signature purple-colored chocolate wrappers, per Bloomberg. KitKat case now heads back to the UK High Court, which will render a final decision. (Claims of excess lead in Nestle noodles led to a major recall in India.)


Summarize this article:

Hospitals should cremate or bury aborted foetuses rather than incinerating them, the medical director of the NHS in England says.

 The move by Prof Sir Bruce Keogh comes after it emerged that some hospitals have been burning foetuses as clinical waste.

 Channel 4 Dispatches programme says 10 NHS trusts have been burning remains alongside rubbish.

 It claims two more disposed of bodies in incinerators used to heat hospitals.

 Health minister Dr Dan Poulter said this practice was "totally unacceptable".

 "That is why I have asked Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS medical director, to write to all NHS hospital trusts, to make it clear that it must stop now.

 I am disappointed trusts may not be informing or consulting women and their families Professor Mike Richards, Care Quality Commission

 "The chief medical officer has also written to the Human Tissue Authority to ask them to make sure that there is clear guidance on this issue.

 "While the vast majority of hospitals are acting in the appropriate way, that must be the case for all hospitals and the Human Tissue Authority has now been asked to ensure that it acts on this issue without delay."

 'Disappointed'

 The HTA has a code of practice for the disposal of human tissue, which includes foetal remains, that hospitals should follow.

 It says women who have had an abortion or miscarriage should be informed that there are different options available - burial, cremation and incineration.

 It says disposal via incineration should be handled as "sensitive" and therefore should not be done alongside the burning of waste.

 In his letter, Prof Keogh says he believes it would be better not to use incineration at all.

 "While it is acknowledged that incineration is not illegal across the UK, existing professional guidance makes clear that the practice is inappropriate.

 "I share the view that incineration of fetal remains is inappropriate practice and that other methods offer more dignity in these sensitive situations."

 The Dispatches programme claims some women were not told that their aborted foetus would be incinerated as waste.

 Professor Sir Mike Richards, chief inspector of hospitals, from the Care Quality Commission, said: "I am disappointed trusts may not be informing or consulting women and their families. This breaches our standard on respecting and involving people who use services and I'm keen for Dispatches to share their evidence with us.

 "We scrutinise information of concern and can inspect unannounced, if required."

 Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity, said the practice of incinerating pre-24 week foetuses is unacceptable and that whenever possible, cremation should be used instead.

 A spokesperson said: "Research has shown that the stage the pregnancy has reached when the baby dies is not an accurate predictor of the length and depth of the grief the parents will experience.

 "Foetus is not a term that parents use or that should be used with them. From the day the pregnancy is confirmed they are expecting a baby.

 "The death of a baby at any stage of pregnancy is a major bereavement with life long consequences.

 "The care that parents receive cannot lessen their pain, but poor and insensitive care can and does make matters worse both in the short and the long term."

 In 2011, 189,931 abortions were carried out in England and Wales, mostly on the NHS. ||||| Focused crawls are collections of frequently-updated webcrawl data from narrow (as opposed to broad or wide) web crawls, often focused on a single domain or subdomain. ||||| Amanda Holden leads campaign to stop NHS hospitals secretly burning miscarried foetuses without parents’ knowledge

 Investigation finds thousands of miscarried babies have been incinerated

 Uncovered as part of Channel 4 Dispatches programme hosted by actress

 Britain's Got Talent host leads campaign after suffering miscarriage in 2010

 Addenbrooke’s Hospital burned 797 foetuses at its 'waste to energy' plant

 Actress Amanda Holden, who suffered a miscarriage herself in 2010, and delivered a stillborn son in 2011, is hosting Channel 4's Ending Hospital Heartache

 Thousands of miscarried and aborted babies have been incinerated by NHS hospitals without their mothers’ knowledge, an investigation has found.

 The government was forced to ban the practice after it emerged that 15,500 foetal remains have been incinerated by 27 trusts over the last two years alone.

 The bodies are being burned as ‘clinical waste’, while at two trusts they were put into ‘waste-to-energy’ furnaces which generate power for hospitals.

 One devastated mother who suffered a miscarriage was told her child would be ‘incinerated with the rest of the day’s waste’.

 The scandal of how the NHS treats parents who lose a child in early pregnancy was uncovered as part of a Channel 4 Dispatches programme to be broadcast tonight.

 Last night health minister Dan Poulter stepped in to order an immediate ban on incinerating foetal remains.

 ‘This practice is totally unacceptable,’ he said. ‘That is why I have asked Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS medical director, to write to all NHS hospital trusts, to make it clear that it must stop now.

 ‘The Chief Medical Officer has also written to the Human Tissue Authority to ask them to make sure that there is clear guidance on this issue.

 ‘While the vast majority of hospitals are acting in the appropriate way, that must be the case for all hospitals and the Human Tissue Authority has now been asked to ensure that it acts on this issue without delay.’

 Cathryn Hurley, 35, found out during a 13-week pregnancy scan that her baby had died at eight weeks, and later underwent a medical procedure to remove the foetus.

 She said: ‘I was hysterical. I was crying. I asked one of the nurses what would happen to my baby; and she just said - well, it will be incinerated with the rest of the day’s waste.

 ‘That was really difficult to hear because to me it wasn’t waste, it was my baby.’ The trust involved cannot be named for legal reasons.

 The programme reveals that Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge incinerated 797 babies below 13 weeks’ gestation at their own ‘waste to energy’ plant.

 Channel 4 programme Dispatches: Ending Hospital Heartache reveals how Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, pictured, incinerated 797 babies below 13 weeks' gestation at their own 'waste to energy' plant

 Forms handed to women at the hospitals say the remains are ‘cremated’ - making no mention of ‘incineration’.

 It goes against advice from Sands, the neonatal death charity, which states that incineration, under which the remains are burned along with the rest of the waste, ‘must not be called cremation’.

 Another ‘waste to energy’ facility at Ipswich Hospital has incinerated 1,101 foetal remains between 2011/12 and 2012/13.

 They were brought in from another hospital before being burned, generating energy for the hospital site. Ipswich hospital itself uses cremation, and the furnace facility is run by a private company.

 The programme is hosted by actress and Britain’s Got Talent star Amanda Holden, who suffered a miscarriage herself in 2010, and delivered a stillborn son in 2011.

 The bodies are being burned as 'clinical waste', while at two trusts - including Addenbrooke's in Cambridge - they were put into 'waste-to-energy' furnaces which generate power for hospitals

 She said: ‘I was shocked at some of the discoveries I made during filming. The mothers I spoke to said that despite the best intentions of individual nurses and doctors, they sometimes felt that hospitals weren’t as compassionate as they should be towards them.

 ‘I am absolutely delighted that the government has announced a ban on this practice. The change in policy means an end to the misery and prolonged anguish of many parents across England.’

 The Care Quality Commission watchdog has also said it will investigate the programme’s findings.

 Professor Sir Mike Richards, chief inspector of hospitals, said: ‘I am disappointed trusts may not be informing or consulting women and their families. This breaches our standard on respecting and involving people who use services.

 ‘We scrutinise information of concern and can inspect unannounced, if required.’

 A total of one in seven pregnancies ends in a miscarriage, while NHS figures show there are around 4,000 stillbirths each year in the UK - or 11 each day.

 A spokesman for the Cambridge University Hospitals trust, which runs Addenbrooke’s, said: ‘Trained health professionals discuss the options with the patients and families respectfully and sensitively, both verbally and in writing.

 ‘The parents are given exactly the same choice on the disposal of foetal remains as for a stillborn child, and their personal wishes are respected.’

 Ipswich trust said it was concerned to discover that foetal remains from another hospital were incinerated on its site.

  |||||

– British hospitals have incinerated more than 15,500 aborted and miscarried fetal remains over the years, at times to generate power for heat in "waste-to-energy" plants, the Telegraph reports. A UK television show revealed the practice tonight, but health officials beat them to the punch by banning the practice yesterday. In all, ten hospitals have admitted to incinerating fetal remains with other garbage, while two leading hospitals—Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge and Ipswich Hospital—said they burned about 1,900 of them at energy facilities. Until now, British law has required hospital staff to offer women who have a miscarriage or abortion three options: incineration, cremation, or burial, the BBC reports. But forms given to women mention "cremated" and make no mention of "incineration" with the daily trash, reports the Daily Mail. At times, hospital staff actually told the real story: "I was hysterical. I was crying," said a 35-year-old woman who learned at a 13-week scan that her baby had died at 8 weeks. "I asked one of the nurses what would happen to my baby, and she just said, 'Well, it will be incinerated with the rest of the day's waste.'"