I suppose stranger things have been put on display, but at one time, premature babies were quite a sensation. An article from the San Francisco Chronicle of 1902 entitled “What Becomes of the Incubator Babies?” opened with the following paragraph… “Nine years ago one of the curiosities of the World’s Fair at Chicago was a baby incubator in full operation, taking care of a prematurely born baby, one of those helpless little changelings brought into the world alive and breathing, yet before its time. It was exhibited as a curiousity, a thing of wonder. Today, to raise a prematurely born baby without the assistance of an incubator would be like dressing a wound without antiseptic precaution. The change measures the swift movement of scientific improvements in this day and age of the world…”

I can’t begin to imagine what a 1902 incubator was like, and lacking any real means of supplying oxygen to tiny babies, the death rate was pretty high back then. But the fascination with preemies remained, and the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933-34 also featured a premature baby exhibit.

So it does seem that Chicago has a soft spot for tiny infants, at least when it came to their World’s Fairs. And now, for the historical note to this article…Chicago was also the first city (don’t know if there were any others, actually, to set up an incubator ambulance service for preemies. On this date in 1935, the ambulance made its first run.

Could it be, as some have said all along, that the Atkins diet is profoundly unhealthy? It never much appealed to me, as I am not overweight nor do I eat meat. But this is an interesting press release from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a group which does promote a non-meat diet.

I have no further information on this, but it is “food” for thought.

Atkins Nutritionals Admits Diet May Be Dangerous

Lawyers for Diet Giant Concede in Court that Diet May Be Dangerous; Attorneys Attempt to Quash Release of Potentially Damaging Documents, Studies on Atkins Diet Safety

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA—Seeking to quash the release of what are sure to be damaging and embarrassing documents on the safety and efficacy of the famed Atkins diet, lawyers for Atkins Nutritionals, Inc., admitted last Monday in court that they are willing to “assume the diet is dangerous”—the first public admission of any kind that dieters following the Atkins Diet may face real and severe health risks.

In a hearing before Palm Beach County Judge Susan Lubitz on March 14, Atkins’ lawyers argued that discovery—the pretrial exchange of information between parties under court supervision—on matters relating to the diet’s safety was unnecessary because they were prepared to concede that the regimen does pose health risks for purposes of an upcoming motion. Atkins’ attorneys sought to avoid discovery, asking the court instead to move directly to arguments as to why the case should be dismissed.

Judge Lubitz rejected Atkins’ argument, ruling that she needed to hear the plaintiff’s discovery requests first. She ordered discovery to proceed as part of the lawsuit filed last year by Jody Gorran, a Florida businessman who developed near-fatal heart disease after two years on the high-fat, low-carbohydrate Atkins Diet.

Attorneys for Atkins now face a March 29 court-ordered deadline to respond to Mr. Gorran’s motion to require Atkins to produce relevant documents and information dealing with the diet’s safety and on the marketing of the Atkins Diet books and food products as safe.

“Atkins’ conspiracy of silence is about to crack wide open,” said Dan Kinburn, Gorran’s lead attorney and senior counsel for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. “We contend that Atkins has known for years, if not decades, that the regimen poses a real danger to significant numbers of dieters and has suppressed that information for commercial gain.”

Among the information requested in discovery, said Kinburn, are the complete medical records of the late Dr. Robert Atkins, inventor of the Atkins Diet. Atkins died in April 2003 in a fall outside his New York offices. Medical records taken by the NY medical examiners office show that Atkins was overweight at the time of his death, tipping the scales at nearly 260 pounds, and may have had cardiovascular disease.

There has long been speculation that Atkins suffered from coronary artery disease. A year before his death, he suffered a cardiac arrest while waiting for breakfast. Atkins and his private physician issued statements claiming that the episode was caused by cardiomyopathy, an inflammation of the heart muscle, and not the result of arterial blockage.

I have been quite open about my feelings towards this case, which goes to show that this saga goes way beyond right-to-life vs. right-to-die. I certainly am not a Bible thumping zealot or a classic “right-to-lifer.” And I am not oppoosed to people making their own decisions about medical treatment, and support a personal decision to refuse it–even if the outcome will be death. But this case is so different, as it is basically a decision to starve a healthy, mentally disabled woman to death.

There are a number of insinuating factors involved, especially about her husband. His only intention seems to kill her. Right from the beginning, when she first collapsed in 1990, why didn’t he perform CPR on her? He was trained in it, but yet, did nothing. Anyway, it does seem that Terri may have a new chance at life. The way has been cleared for a federal court to hear the case, which will happen at 3pm today ET. If a feeding tube is replaced, then the next step is to have Michael Schiavo removed as her guardian. He is husband in name only, as he as already acquired another “wife” with whom he has two kids. This man should not be making decisions for Terri.

And most notably, this is the second time since the year 2000, that I have agreed with something that Bush signed. The first was the bill to limit telemarketers, and I can’t begin to say how that has made my life so much more peaceful. The second, was his signing of this bill, to allow a federal court hear Terri’s case. He flew from Texas to DC to sign the bill.

From the NY Times: President Bush said in a statement just after 1 a.m.: “In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws, and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life. This presumption is especially critical for those like Terri Schiavo, who live at the mercy of others.”

That statement is far too eloquent to have arisen from Bush’s brain, but still, it is the way I feel as well. When in doubt, err on the side of life. And in Terri’s case, there is no concensus about her condition, and no concensus about her wishes.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the federal judges will be less biased than that idiot in Florida, whose behavior has been atrocious. Imagine that Judge Greer even forbid Terri’s parents from trying to spoonfeed their daughter. Whose payroll is he on? That’s what I’d like to know.

Just to add; I find the behavior of some of the Democrats totally despicable. This is not the time to try to flex your muscle and make it difficult for the Republicans. You have had plenty of chances to do that, such as the Iraq War, funding for abstinence only education, and so on. This case involves a woman’s life, and if nothing is done, may set an ugly precedent. So please guys, use your political muscle when it counts, as in saving our environment and investigating charges of torture. Please don’t take out your frustrations on Terri Schiavo.

Praise the Lord, FDA is finally coming to its senses. Maybe all the bad press about Vioxx helped matters some. They are now ready to approve Plan B, the morning after pill, as an over the counter drug.

The nominee to become the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration indicated Thursday that the agency is close to approving a proposal to allow customers to buy the emergency contraceptive “Plan B” without a prescription.

“The science part is generally done,” Crawford told Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., who had pressed him on the issue. “We’re just now down to what the label will look (like). This is going to be a very unusual sort of approval.”

Read the article at AZCentral.com