Nation/World Briefly: Former health official: Ignore new mammogram guidelines
Published 6:07 pm Monday, November 22, 2010
WASHINGTON — The former director of the National Institutes of Health is advising women to ignore new guidelines that delay the start of routine mammogram testing for breast cancer.
Dr. Bernadine Healy said the directive would save money but not lives.
The recommendation, released last week by an independent panel, recommends that women not routinely undergo mammograms until age 50. Longtime guidelines have said women should have regular mammogram screening after age 40.
Healy said if the new guidelines are followed, more women will die of breast cancer.
The independent panel, the Preventive Services Task Force, said its recommendations are based on accurate and up-to-date information.
Pennsylvania: Three Mile Island radiation called insignificant
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the small amount of radiation detected at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant is not significant. Specialist John White said there is no indication that radiation at the plant exceeded or even approached regulatory limits. Exelon Nuclear spokeswoman Beth Archer says the radiation was quickly contained. The unit has been shut for refueling and maintenance since Oct. 26. Workers are being tested for radiation exposure.
New York: Teen killed by police was shot 11 times
A teenager killed in a confrontation with New York City police over the weekend was shot 11 times, the medical examiner’s office said Sunday. Dashawn Vasconcellos, 18, died of gunshot wounds to the torso, neck and extremities, medical examiner spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said. Police fired a total of 14 times, chief NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said. Vasconcellos and two others were spotted leaving a city park in Queens late Saturday by four officers in an unmarked car. Vasconcellos ran and was pursued by three officers. He then turned and pointed a 9mm semiautomatic pistol at them, Browne said. Police shot when he would not drop the gun; the teen did not fire.
California: Building take-over by university students ends
fficials at the University of California, Santa Cruz said dozens of protesters who were occupying the university’s main administrative building ended their protest Sunday morning and left. About 70 protesters had occupied the university’s Kerr Hall since Thursday in a demonstration over tuition fee increases. No arrests were made, but campus spokesman Jim Burns said the students who took part in the protest are facing criminal charges or student judicial sanctions. During the demonstration, protesters knocked over furniture, scattered refuse about and damaged some electronic conferencing equipment.
Britain: Documents claim Iraq war planned a year ahead
Leaked British government documents call into question ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair’s public statements on the buildup to the Iraq war and show plans for the U.S.-led 2003 invasion were being made more than a year earlier, in February 2002, the Sunday Telegraph reported Sunday. The newspaper published details of private statements made by senior British military figures claiming plans were in place months before the invasion, but were so badly drafted they left troops poorly equipped and ill-prepared for the conflict. In July 2002, Blair told lawmakers at a House of Commons committee session that there were no preparations to invade Iraq.
Canada: Some Afghan prisoner transfers were halted
Canada’s top general said Sunday the transfer of prisoners to Afghan authorities has been halted more than once due to concerns detainees would be tortured. Gen. Walt Natynczyk, the country’s chief of defense staff, declined to elaborate Sunday because he didn’t want to pre-empt statements by other military officials in upcoming hearings on the matter in Parliament. Canada has about 2,800 soldiers in the Afghan city of Kandahar on a combat mission that is due to end in 2011. Canadian troops first began transferring detainees to Afghan authorities in late 2005. A senior Canadian diplomat alleged last week that government officials ignored evidence that prisoners handed over to Afghanistan’s intelligence service a few years ago were tortured.
From Herald news services
