Now, could this be what was done to poor Caylee Anthony?  Caylee is the Florida girl who went “missing” about 2 months before her third birthday during the summer of 2008.  The case made national news because her mother, Casey Anthony, failed to report the girl missing for an entire month.  Well, the body of Caylee was found about six months later by a meter reader who stumbled upon it near the Anthony house.  Casey maintains her innocence despite her confusing stories and the evidence that is being stacked against her.

Most recently, the investigation has turned up traces of chloroform in the trunk of Casey’s car, where a bloody imprint of a child was found.  Casey’s computer is full of internet searches for chloroform recipes, death, and neck breaking.  The body of the child was found to have duct tape over the mouth.  Did Casey force her daughter to inhale chloroform to anesthetize her and kill her?  I guess we’ll have to stay tuned to find out.  Unfortunately, the chemical remains of Caylee’s body were already decomposed, so no toxicologic analysis could be performed.

Chloroform is an old anesthetic, no longer in clinical use for humans.  It is a liquid that vaporizes to a gas at room temperature, so it is easily inhaled.  It is highly lipid soluble, which means that it’s clinical effect is very fast.  Patients/animals can be anesthetized very quickly.  It is slightly sweet smelling as well.  I’m not sure how one would make it, not having done the internet search myself, but it would be easy to get.  When I was an undergraduate student I used chloroform on a daily basis to extract lipids from various tissues for a research project.  I went to the laboratory supply store and purchased it very easily.  Could Casey have had access to a lab?  She doesn’t give the impression of being capable of performing chemical reactions in her home.

From The New York Times:

For the first time since the terrible event on September 11, 2001, rescue workers in NYC can breathe a little easier today. A U.S. District Court has settled an insurance case for workers who have suffered health problems since having been exposed to hazardous environmental agents during the rescue and clean up efforts at the World Trade Center site. The settlement is reported to provide up to $657.5 million for the approximately 10 thousand workers who have claimed health damage from the rescue effort. The money awarded to individual claimants will vary depending on the severity of their illness and any medical conditions or risk factors they were known to have prior to the exposure.

Most of the complaints these people are taking to their doctors are of respiratory nature, with the common diagnosis being asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Some are also developing cancers. An example from the New York Times article: a man who developed esophageal cancer after 9/11 who has since died. Esophageal cancer is known to occur in smokers and patients who have a history of gastroesophageal reflux disease. It is also been linked to asbestos and other environmental exposures. So his award would have to consider his past medical history and personal habits in addition to the role his job at Ground Zero played in developing cancer. If he were a big smoker, drinker, or had bad reflux, his award might be less than if he were completely healthy.

Naturally, some people are happy with the settlement and others are not. One fire fighter says that it took too long; people have had to suffer too long without financial assistance. The lawyers think this is a great settlement. I have to agree. It would be really hard to prove that an environmental exposure caused some one’s esophageal or thyroid cancer. These cancers were bound to happen to a certain percentage of the workers anyway – regardless of the hazards of their jobs. They could have been sitting in a cubicle in front of a computer all day and still have developed cancer at some point in their lives.  And who’s to say that this particular job was any more health-risky than any other job a fire fighter might respond to?  Aren’t they exposed to burning buildings every day?  They better take the money and run.

Basically, an employee at a Brooklyn hospital called a patient’s family to inform them that their relative had died.  The family was obviously distraught and started to make funeral arrangements.  When they got to the hospital to take care of the legal matters and collect the belongings, they found their loved one still in the ICU, mechanically ventilated, but moving her limbs spontaneously.  They were shocked and were told that she hadn’t died, but that they were wrongly informed.  Of course this will probably result in a law suit that the hospital will have to settle; however, at this time the family is only asking that the employee who called them be fired.

There are some problems with the health care system that Obama will obviously not be able to change.

Well, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the professional organization that speaks publicly on behalf of the pediatricians in this country, thinks that choking on hot dogs is unacceptable, and that hot dog makers are not helping the problem.  The AAP wants to change the design of the hot dog and revamp packaging to warn of the risk of choking.

ABC News has a great video, complete with an animation of the choking mechanism. Take a look…

More of the article can be read on abcnews.com

Although a child dies every five minutes from choking, and despite hot dogs being the number one choking hazard, hot dog manufacturers are reluctant to change the design or even the package labels for their product.  The claim that placing an ominous label on their product will hurt sales.  They also claim that grapes and peanuts are just as harmful, but since they are naturally-occurring, they are not subject to regulation or scrutiny.

Now, I’m not sure how changing the shape of the hot dog can solve the problem.  It’s not like a square hot dog would be much better.  And I’m sure that whatever shape it will be, it will have to be cut up to serve to children.  But I could definitely say that if I owned a hot dog factory – I’d be the first one to change the shape — sounds at least like a good business plan!