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<p>As experienced professionals involved in direct care for the rapidly growing numbers of gender-diverse youth, the evaluation of medical evidence or both, we were surprised by the Endocrine Society’s claims about the state of evidence for gender-affirming care for youth (Letters, July 5). Stephen Hammes, president of the Endocrine Society, writes, “More than 2,000 studies published since 1975 form a clear picture: Gender-affirming care improves the well-being of transgender and gender-diverse people and reduces the risk of suicide.” This claim is not supported by the best available evidence.</p>

The parents of a transgender teenager in Texas said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that the state is investigating them after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ordered officials to look into reports of gender-confirming care for kids as abuse. The parents of the 16-year-old girl are asking a judge to block the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services from investigating them and the parents of other transgender youth under a directive Abbott issued last month. The lawsuit marks the first report of parents being investigated following Abbott’s order and an earlier nonbinding legal opinion by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton...

Bad flu shots. Two people in San Angelo, TX recently got flu shots and were hospitalized the next day. One was a 9 year old girl who received a flu shot and was in critical condition in the hospital the next day. Another was a working woman who received the flu shot and was hospitalized the next day. Wonder if this was a bad batch that was local or have there been other cases in Texas or nationally?

More than 100 patients who had colonoscopies between 2011 and 2013 at Seattle Children’s have been advised to be tested for hepatitis B and C and HIV after the hospital discovered special equipment used in the procedures had not been properly cleaned. ... The hospital found that technicians weren’t sufficiently trained on the proper procedures, which led to the scopes being used again before they were ready, DiNuzzo said. The hospital did not inform patients earlier because officials wanted to do a thorough investigation and not unnecessarily alarm patients, Zerr said. From July 2011 to 2013, the hospital can't be...

Egyptian doctors 'ordered to operate on protesters without anaesthetic' Exclusive: Leaked presidential report recommends an investigation into the highest echelons of the army leadership Senior Egyptian army doctors were ordered to operate without anaesthetic on wounded protesters at a military hospital in Cairo during protests against military rule, according to an investigation commissioned by president Mohamed Morsi. The report into military and police malpractice since 2011 also alleges that doctors, soldiers and medics assaulted protesters inside the hospital. The findings, which relate to the army's behaviour during the Abbassiya clashes in May 2012, are the latest leak to the Guardian...

When opium was cheaper than whiskey – and Great Britain waged a "wicked" drug war When Opium Was Cheaper Than Whiskey - and Great Britain waged a "wicked" drug war The bottles have a beautiful aqua color to them. If you hold them up to the light, rainbows fire across the delicate patina. But their beauty belies the deadly reality behind the delicate hues. The bottles once held opium based "elixirs," such as Dr. McMunn's Elixir of Opium, most claiming to be a cure for a host of ailments, including the relief of "convulsions and spasmodic action," as well as...

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Kirk Andrew Murphy seemed to have everything to live for. He put himself through school. He had a successful 8-year career in the Air Force. After the service, he landed a high profile position with an American finance company in India. But in 2003 at age 38, Kirk Murphy took his own life. A co-worker found him hanging from the fan of his apartment in New Delhi. His family has struggled for years to understand what happened. "I used to spend so much time thinking, why would he kill himself at the age of 38? It...

MAKKAH: A clinic in the Eastern Province that provides treatment to people possessed by jinns has volunteered to help Turki, a 29-year-old Saudi from Makkah who according to his father is possessed by a female jinn and has, as a result, been chained to a bed for more than six years. “I’ve spoken to the center and they’ve offered to help my son. They will provide accommodation, food and air tickets for him, his wife, me and his mother who is my ex-wife,” said Turki’s father. He, however, added that traveling to the Eastern Province is going to be difficult....

Surgeon 'cut off patient's testicle by mistake' A patient lost a testicle during an operation after the surgeon accidentally cut it off, the medical watchdog was told today. Dr Sulieman Al Hourani was only supposed to cut out a cyst on the patient's right testis, but instead he 'mistakenly' removed the whole testicle, the General Medical Council (GMC) heard. Dr Al Hourani, who worked as a locum surgeon at Fairfield General Hospital in Bury, Greater Manchester, is accused of misconduct over the error and faces further charges of injecting himself with a drug meant for a patient and stealing tablets....

Socialized medicine through out the world has the following characteristics: • It leads to delays where, as in the case of Canada, patients wait for 17 weeks on average from the time a general practitioner indicates that something is wrong until one visits a specialist; • It leads to rationed care, where people not only wait for years for things such as hip replacements, but often find themselves forced to pay for such out of their own pockets in foreign countries; • It has a negative effect on mortality rates, as we see those who suffer from certain diseases such...

As the Congressional Budget Office explained: "A mandate requiring all individuals to purchase health insurance would be an unprecedented form of federal action. The government has never required people to buy any good or service as a condition of lawful residence in the United States." Yet, all of the House and Senate health-care bills being debated require Americans to either obtain or purchase expensive health insurance, estimated to cost up to $15,000 per year for a typical family, or pay substantial tax penalties for not doing so. The purpose of this compulsory contract, coupled with the arbitrary price ratios and...

Bogus doctor, 25, sexually assaulted pensioner in home Saturday, January 10, 2009 BOGUS doctor Yaqub Hussain sexually assaulted an 82-year-old widow in her own home while "examining" her. The 25-year-old managed to get hold of the pensioner's phone number and called to arrange to visit her bungalow in the south of Stoke-on-Trent on January 8 last year. The city's crown court heard yesterday how the elderly woman suffers from deep vein thrombosis, angina, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – for which she requires oxygen and has several tanks – and depression. Hussain called her on four occasions before he arrived, telling...

New Zealand Denies Immigration to U.K. Wife Because She's Too Fat Saturday, November 17, 2007 NEW YORK — New Zealand immigration officials are keeping a U.K. wife from joining her husband "down under" because they say she is too fat, the Daily Mail reports. Click here to read the full report in the Daily Mail. British citizens Rowan Trezise, 33, and Richie Trezise, 35, are living apart as she tries desperately to shed the pounds needed to comply with New Zealand guidelines that immigrants maintain a healthy BMI, or body mass index. BMI is a weight-height ratio that estimates percentage...

'Cockroaches on operating tables during surgery' at RNS A parliamentary inquiry into Sydney's Royal North Shore (RNS) hospital has heard a claim of live cockroaches being killed on operating theatre tables during surgeries. A submission from retired RNS doctor Henry Sleye Hughes also claims some of the hospital's operating tables are so old, one broke in two while a patient was anaesthetised. New South Wales Health Minister Reba Meagher was the first witness to front the inquiry, set up after 32-year-old Jana Horska miscarried in the hospital's emergency room toilets after waiting two hours for treatment. Ms Meagher has told...

Dentist's drill bit lodged in patient's sinus cavity By SUE WEIBEZAHL PORTER The (Syracuse, N.Y.) Post-Standard SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A dentist who was dancing to the song "Car Wash" while extracting a patient's tooth lost an inch-long drill bit, which punctured the patient's sinus cavity and came to rest by her eye socket, according to the woman's lawsuit. Brandy Fanning, 31, underwent surgery at a hospital after the dentist, Dr. George Trusty, was unable to retrieve the bit, said Fanning's lawyer, Joseph Cote III. He said Fanning spent three days at the hospital, with a steady drip of intravenous morphine....

17th century baldness cure is chicken dung says Ye Olde Men's Goode Health By OLINKA KOSTER 30th August 2007 In our age of gyms and jogging, dental floss and deodorants, mouthwash and moisturisers, a chap can waft along with ease every day feeling fit and fragrant. But back in 1654, with Oliver Cromwell ruling England, good health and grooming for men was somewhat more basic. Then, no self-respecting male's medicine chest was apparently complete without liberal supplies of cat's dung, snail's blood and chicken droppings - not to mention arsenic and brimstone. Gruesome as they may sound, they were recommended...

Transgendered person charged with practicing medicine without license 05:39 PM EDT on Friday, August 17, 2007 Reported by: Lindsey Roberts Suffolk Police have arrested a man and charged him with practicing medicine without a license. According to police, Francis Renee White, 36, of South Main Street, injected silicone into other transgendered people. Police say the shots, used to plump up lips, cheeks and breasts, were administered inside White's home. The injections were with the consent of the transgender customers, but the practice is illegal and very dangerous. "They did them in different places, but generally the face the buttocks or...

Woman, 108, must wait 18 months for hearing aid Thair Shaikh Monday July 30, 2007 The Guardian A 108-year-old woman has been told she must wait at least 18 months before she receives a new hearing aid. Olive Beal, who has failing eyesight and uses a wheelchair, finds it difficult to hear with her five-year-old analogue aid and needs a digital version that cuts out background noise and makes conversation easier. Mrs Beal, a former piano teacher who was involved in the suffragette movement, would be 110 by the time she gets her new hearing aid. "I could be dead...

Doctors use shark skin grafts to treat burned terror suspect 24.07.07 Surgeons treating the terror suspect burned in the Glasgow Airport car bomb attempt are going to use "grafts" of a skin substitute made from shark cartilage and cow tendons. Kafeel Ahmed, 27, is being treated at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. The process is called Integra Dermal Regeneration Template. "It tricks the body into creating new skin cells," explained Steve Jeffrey, a surgeon who worked in Australia perfecting the treatment. Silicone implanted with shark skin extracts is laid on the burns for two weeks before it is removed and replaced...

Drug addicts to be given i-Pods if they beat their habits By JAMES SLACK Last updated at 16:37pm on 22nd July 2007 Drug addicts could be offered food vouchers and the chance to win prizes such as i-Pod music players by the Government body refusing treatment to Alzheimer's sufferers. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) wants to offer heroin and crack addicts 'incentives' to quit their habit. The users - many of whom commit crime to feed their habit - will be offered vouchers if they test clean for the illegal substances. The size of the taxpayer-funded gift will...