WASHINGTON — The popular anti-wrinkle drug Botox and a competitor have been linked to dangerous botulism symptoms in some users, cases so bad that a few children have died, the government warned Friday. The Food and Drug Administration’s warning includes both Botox, a wrinkle-specific version called Botox Cosmetic, and its competitor, Myobloc, drugs that all use botulinum toxin to block nerve impulses, causing them to relax. The FDA said the deaths it is investigating so far all involve children, mostly cerebral palsy patients being treated for spasticity in their legs.
@3. Headline Briefs 14 no:Chelsea comment irks campaign
A distasteful comment about Chelsea Clinton by an MSNBC anchor Thursday could nix Hillary Rodham Clinton’s participation in future presidential debates on the network, a Clinton spokesman said. The Clinton communications director excoriated MSNBC’s David Shuster on Friday for suggesting the Clinton campaign had “pimped out” 27-year-old Chelsea by having her place phone calls to Democratic Party superdelegates on her mother’s behalf. The Clinton spokesman called the comment “beneath contempt” and disgusting.
@3. Headline Briefs 14 no:Pelicans bound back from danger
Pelicans have roosted on the nation’s list of endangered species longer than nearly all other creatures. Now the population is about to be officially declared healthy. The U.S. Interior Department on Friday announced a proposal to remove brown pelicans from the national endangered species list, 40 years after they hovered on the brink of extinction. Pelicans suffered almost complete reproductive failure in the 1960s and early 1970s because the pesticide DDT accumulated in their bodies, weakening their eggs and killing chicks. When DDT was banned in the United States in 1972, the species started to rebound.
Nebraska: Electric chair banned
The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Friday that electrocution is cruel and unusual punishment, outlawing the electric chair in the only state that still used it as its sole means of execution. The state’s death penalty remains on the books, but the court said the Legislature must approve another method to use it. The evidence shows that electrocution inflicts “intense pain and agonizing suffering,” the court said. “Condemned prisoners must not be tortured to death, regardless of their crimes,” the 6-1 opinion said.
Georgia: Bridge inspection woes
Transportation officials are scrambling to re-inspect state bridges after a longtime inspector acknowledged falsifying dozens of reports, authorities said. The inspector, David Simmons, said he and his partner filed 54 reports for bridges they never visited. Officials are trying to determine if any other reports were faked. Commissioner Gena Abraham said the department doesn’t believe any of the state’s bridges are unsafe but is checking to make sure.
Utah: Rescued pair leave hospital
A couple who were stranded for 12 days in a snowy canyon in southwestern Utah have been released from the hospital. Thomas and Tamitha Garner were rescued Wednesday by a snowplow driver after hiking three days through waist-deep snow. They had spent nine days in their truck after it got stuck in the snow. Searchers covered thousands of miles looking for the couple on either side of the Utah-Nevada line.
New York: Blind woman wins
A federal appeals court reinstated the lawsuit Friday of a legally blind woman who says she was mocked and mistreated by workers at fast-food restaurants, including employees at one who directed her to a men’s restroom, then laughed at her humiliation. She claimed in her lawsuit that when she asked workers to read her the menu items, they sometimes made fun of her, or stared at her and forced her to wait until other customers behind her were served.
Algeria: Militants kill police
Suspected Islamist militants gunned down eight police officers in an overnight ambush in eastern Algeria, security officials said Friday. The officers, lured from their barracks by a late-night phone call about a supposed smugglers’ hide-out, came under machine gun fire Thursday outside the village of Ain R’Ghiya, near the Tunisian border, officials said. All were killed. Authorities in Algeria have been fighting the remnants of an Islamic insurgency that broke out in the early 1990s.
Spain: Headscarf ban proposed
Spain’s opposition conservatives said Friday they would bar Islamic headscarves from public schools if they win next month’s general election — another divisive proposal in a campaign suddenly focused on immigration. The center-right Popular Party said it is against symbols that denote discrimination against women. The governing Socialists have a small but firm lead over the conservatives.
From Herald news services
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