Top E.R. Doctor Who Treated Virus Patients Dies by Suicide

Top E.R. Doctor Who Treated Virus Patients Dies by Suicide

                       Dr. Lorna Breen

“She tried to do her job, and it killed her,” said the father of Dr. Lorna M. Breen, who worked at a Manhattan hospital hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak.

A top emergency room doctor at a Manhattan hospital that treated many coronavirus patients died by suicide on Sunday, her father and the police said.

Dr. Lorna M. Breen, the medical director of the emergency department at NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, died in Charlottesville, Va., where she was staying with family, her father said in an interview.

Tyler Hawn, a spokesman for the Charlottesville Police Department, said in an email that officers on Sunday responded to a call seeking medical assistance.

“The victim was taken to U.V.A. Hospital for treatment, but later succumbed to self-inflicted injuries,” Mr. Hawn said.

“She tried to do her job, and it killed her,” he said.

The elder Dr. Breen said his daughter had contracted the coronavirus but had gone back to work after recuperating for about a week and a half. The hospital sent her home again, before her family intervened to bring her to Charlottesville, he said..

Dr. Breen, 49, did not have a history of mental illness, her father said. But he said that when he last spoke with her, she seemed detached, and he could tell something was wrong. She had described to him an onslaught of patients who were dying before they could even be taken out of ambulances.

“She was truly in the trenches of the front line,” he said.

He added: “Make sure she’s praised as a hero, because she was. She’s a casualty just as much as anyone else who has died.”

In a statement, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia used that language to describe her. “Dr. Breen is a hero who brought the highest ideals of medicine to the challenging front lines of the emergency department,” the statement said. “Our focus today is to provide support to her family, friends and colleagues as they cope with this news during what is already an extraordinarily difficult time.”

Dr. Angela Mills, head of emergency medical services for several NewYork-Presbyterian campuses, including Allen, sent an email to hospital staffers on Sunday night informing them of Dr. Breen’s death. The email, which was reviewed by The New York Times, did not mention a cause of death. Dr. Mills, who could not be reached for comment, said in the email that the hospital was deferring to the family’s request for privacy.

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As of April 7, there had been 59 patient deaths at Allen hospital, according to an internal document.Credit...Gregg Vigliotti for The New York Times

Aside from work, Dr. Breen filled her time with friends, hobbies and sports, friends said. She was an avid member of a New York ski club and traveled regularly out west to ski and snowboard. She was also a deeply religious Christian who volunteered at a home for older people once a week, friends said. Once a year, she threw a large party on the roof deck of her Manhattan home.

She was very close with her sisters and mother, who lived in Virginia.

One colleague said he had spent dozens of hours talking to Dr. Breen not only about medicine but about their lives and the hobbies she enjoyed, which also included salsa dancing. She was a lively presence, outgoing and extroverted, at work events, the colleague said.

NewYork-Presbyterian Allen is a 200-bed hospital at the northern tip of Manhattan that at times had as many as 170 patients with Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. As of April 7, there had been 59 patient deaths at the hospital, according to an internal document.

Dr. Lawrence A. Melniker, the vice chair for quality care at the NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, said that Dr. Breen was a well-respected and well-liked doctor in the NewYork-Presbyterian system, a network of hospitals that includes the Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the Weill Cornell Medical Center.

“You don’t get to a position like that at Allen without being very talented,” he said.

Dr. Melniker said the coronavirus had presented unusual mental health challenges for emergency physicians throughout New York, the epicenter of the crisis in the United States.

   Source: New York Times

Story of Traffic Monsoon

How to turn £8,000 into £4million: run a pyramid scam like Traffic Monsoon

Imy Aslam and Sharon James from the UK cited as leaders who must return illegal profits from Ponzi scheme

Traffic Monsoon billed itself as a way of making money from the internet by generating traffic to websites and getting paid for clicks on adverts.

The truth is that there was virtually no source of revenue other than the money paid by people who joined it. This money was then shared among the parasites at the top of the pyramid.

I’ve previously told how the US regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission has frozen its assets, stating: “Traffic Monsoon’s advertising business is an illusion designed to obscure the fact that

it is offering and selling a pure Ponzi scheme.”

The SEC has also launched legal action against Traffic Monsoon’s founder, Charles Scoville of Utah.

Now the court-appointed receiver has filed a class action detailing the individuals who milked Traffic Monsoon for the most money, launching action for the recovery of “their ill-gotten profits”.

At the top of the list is Imtiaz Aslam from Manchester, also known as Imy or Immy, who is variously described at Companies House as a property developer and driving instructor.

He made not far short of £4million from the scheme, an incredible sum considering that he only paid around £8,400 into it and was active for just over two years.

The 48-year-old held sessions with Scoville to drum up recruits in the UK and boasted on online videos of a network of members spanning 17 countries.

“Charles Scoville is a genius,” he declared in one video.

Charles Scoville and Immy Aslam

“You are literally making money over night, you are making money 24 hours, round the clock. Don't forget, the internet never sleeps.”

In another video, from 2016, he boasted: “I’ve been in just over a year now and I’m making money I’ve never made before, several thousand dollars a day with this opportunity, and anybody can do it.”

Sharon James and Charles Scoville

Another name on the court receiver’s list is well-known to me – Sharon James.

She was also a recruiter for a failed Bitcoin trading scheme called USI-Tech, a disaster that I’ve reported on several times. According to the Utah court papers, she put around £1,500 into Traffic Monsoon and got back approximately £190,00 As the scheme began to collapse with members complaining that they couldn’t withdraw their investments she posted: “I don’t want to be around negative people, it’s not my thing, so if there is any negativity around, I’m not interested, you can post negativity on here, I won’t read it, I’ll just delete you.”

She bragged online of being the highest female earner in Traffic Monsoon and said of Charles Scoville: “He’s just an amazing guy, he really has got our backs, so trust in the man.”

Tragically around 160,000 people worldwide did just that and have nothing to show for it apart from the knowledge that they helped line the pockets of the people who got commission for recruiting them.

Traffic Monsoon raked in £132m, and there was another £535m of supposed profit that members never saw after reinvesting it back into the scheme.

Now the receiver, Peggy Hunt of US law firm Dorsey & Whitney , says she will fight for the return of the money.

“Net winners are not entitled to retain profits that they received from this unlawful Ponzi scheme, and must return them to the receiver for the benefit of the receivership estate to be distributed to victims of the Traffic Monsoon fraudulent enterprise,” she told the court.

Her class action complaint rips apart the claims by Traffic Monsoon to have had a viable business selling "Adpacks" that would turn a profit through web traffic.

"Prior to the commencement of the SEC action, Traffic Monsoon had in fact delivered only 1.6 billion website visits, and therefore during this time it delivered only 10% of the web traffic purchased by members through the sale of AdPacks," it states.

"It would cost Traffic Monsoon tens of millions of dollars to acquire and deliver the billions of web visits it owes to its members. Yet, based on its business model and the way the acquisition of AdPacks could be 'funded', it would have been nearly impossible to generate these funds."

The scheme could not meet its obligations to existing members, and those obligations kept increasing as new members were recruited, and old members rolled over profits into purchases of more AdPacks. Put simply, Peggy Hunt states: "At all times relevant hereto, Traffic Monsoon was insolvent."Sharon James and Imtiaz Aslam have not replied to my emails inviting them to comment.

Other UK defendants named in the class action are Mohammed Yasin, whose profit was £260,000, Adil Khan who made £242,000, Javediqbal Naeem who made £221,000, and the partnership Limited By Invitation which made £194,000.

Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk

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US monitoring intelligence that North Korean leader is in grave danger after surgery

US monitoring intelligence that North Korean leader is in grave danger after surgery

 CNN)The US is monitoring intelligence that suggests North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, is in grave danger after undergoing a previous surgery, according to a US official with direct knowledge.

A second source familiar with the intelligence told CNN that the US has been closely monitoring reports on Kim's health.

Kim recently missed the celebration of his grandfather's birthday on April 15, which raised speculation about his well-being. He had been seen four days before that at a government meeting.

Another US official told CNN Monday that the concerns about Kim's health are credible but the severity is hard to assess.

Daily NK, an online newspaper based in South Korea that focuses on North Korea, reports that Kim reportedly received a cardiovascular system procedure on April 12.

Kim received the cardiovascular system procedure because of "excessive smoking, obesity, and overwork," according to the news site, and is now receiving treatment in a villa in Hyangsan County following his procedure.

After assessing that Kim's condition had improved, most of the medical team treating him returned to Pyongyang on April 19 and only part of them remained to oversee his recovery situation, according to the news site. CNN is unable to independently confirm the report.

A South Korean source told CNN Monday that the country's top leaders are very much aware of reports about Kim's health status but cannot independently verify details published by Daily NK. The source acknowledged that Kim's issues related to weight and smoking are well known but made clear they are waiting for more information.

South Korea's Presidential Blue House said in a statement provided to reporters that they have nothing to confirm on reports about Kim's health and that "no unusual signs" have been detected inside North Korea.

South Korea's Unification Ministry and Defense Ministry have given a "no comment."

The National Security Council and Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment when reached by CNN on Monday. CNN has also reached out to the CIA and the State Department for comment.

In the meantime, US officials have been reaching out to North Korean experts -- particularly those who have studied the Kim regime -- to talk about contingency planning, a third source familiar with the communications told CNN.

Still, the situation remains murky as gathering intelligence out of North Korea is notoriously difficult -- one of the most challenging targets for US intelligence.

North Korea tightly controls any information surrounding its leader, who is treated almost like a deity within the country. His absences from official state media often spark speculation and rumors about his health. North Korea has no free press and is often a black hole when it comes to the country's leadership. Analysts are heavily reliant on scanning state media dispatches and watching propaganda videos for any semblance of a clue.

Kim last appeared in North Korean state media on April 11. April 15 -- North Korea's most important holiday, the anniversary of the birth of the country's founding father, Kim Il Sung -- came and went without any official mention of Kim Jong Un's movements.

Experts are unsure of what to make of Kim's absence from any festivities celebrating his grandfather. When North Korean leaders have not shown up to these important celebrations in the past, it has portended major developments. But it has also turned out to be nothing.

"There have been a number of recent rumors about Kim's health (smoking, heart, and brain). If Kim is hospitalized, it would explain why he wasn't present on the important April 15th celebrations," said Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and former CIA deputy division chief for North Korea. "But, over the years, there have been a number of false health rumors about Kim Jong-un or his father. We'll have to wait and see."

Kim Jong Il's absence from a parade celebrating North Korea's 60th anniversary in 2008 was followed by rumblings that he was in poor health. It was later revealed he had a stroke, after which his health continued to decline until his death in 2011.

Kim Jong Un disappeared from the public eye for more than a month in 2014, which also prompted speculation about his health. He returned sporting a cane, and days later South Korean intelligence said that he had a cyst removed from his ankle.

"It's easy to be wrong on this one," said John Delury, a professor of international relations at Yonsei University in Seoul.

Still, with concerns about Kim's health mounting, the state of US-South Korean relations has US officials worried, sources tell CNN.

On Monday, President Donald Trump said the two countries have a "great relationship," but added he wants them to pay more for the US presence in the country. The two countries have missed multiple deadlines for those negotiations. And now in-person negotiations are hindered because of the coronavirus pandemic.

This breaking story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNN's Betsy Klein, Alex Marquardt, and Vivian Salama contributed to this story.

Source: CNN.com

Report: Covid-19 patients recovering quickly after getting experimental drug remdesivir

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(CNN)Covid-19 patients who are getting an experimental drug called remdesivir have been recovering quickly, with most going home in days, STAT News reported Thursday after it obtained a video of a conversation about the trial.

The patients taking part in a clinical trial of the drug have all had severe respiratory symptoms and fever, but were able to leave the hospital after less than a week of treatment, STAT quoted the doctor leading the trial as saying.

"The best news is that most of our patients have already been discharged, which is great. We've only had two patients perish," Dr. Kathleen Mullane, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Chicago who is leading the clinical trial, said in the video.

What we know about the state of corona virus treatments, vaccines and antibody tests

Mullane did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNN.

The University of Chicago said Mullane's comments constituted partial information.

"Partial data from an ongoing clinical trial is by definition incomplete and should never be used to draw conclusions about the safety or efficacy of a potential treatment that is under investigation," it said in a statement.

"In this case, information from an internal forum for research colleagues concerning work in progress was released without authorization. Drawing any conclusions at this point is premature and scientifically unsound."

There is no approved therapy for the Covid-19, which can cause severe pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome in some patients. But the National Institutes of Health is organizing trials of several drugs and other treatments, among them remdesivir.

The FDA authorizes 2 more corona virus antibody tests

The drug, made by Gilead Sciences, was tested against Ebola with little success, but multiple studies in animals showed the drug could both prevent and treat corona viruses related to Covid-19, including SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome).

Back in February, the World Health Organization said remdesivir showed potential against Covid-19.

STAT said it obtained and viewed a copy of the video discussion Mullane had last week with colleagues about the trial.

"Most of our patients are severe and most of them are leaving at six days, so that tells us duration of therapy doesn't have to be 10 days," she was quoted as saying.

However, the trial does not include what's known as a control group, so it will be difficult to say whether the drug is truly helping patients recover better. With a control arm, some patients do not receive the drug being tested so that doctors can determine whether it's the drug that is really affecting their condition.

Trials of the drug are ongoing at dozens of other clinical centers, as well. Gilead is sponsoring tests of the drug in 2,400 patients with severe Covid-19 symptoms in 152 trial sites around the world. It's also testing the drug in 1,600 patients with moderate symptoms at 169 hospitals and clinics around the world.

Gilead said it expected results from the trial by the end of the month.

"We understand the urgent need for a COVID-19 treatment and the resulting interest in data on our investigational antiviral drug remdesivir," the company said in a statement to CNN. But it said a few stories about patients are just that -- stories.

"The totality of the data need to be analyzed in order to draw any conclusions from the trial. Anecdotal reports, while encouraging, do not provide the statistical power necessary to determine the safety and efficacy profile of remdesivir as a treatment for Covid-19," Gilead said.

• Source: CNN.com

Boris Johnson's Family Tree

Boris Johnson's Family Tree

BOJO’S ‘MUMMY’ 

Boris Johnson says he’s ‘very proud’ he’s descended from mummified Swiss woman who died from syphilis as he hails ‘sexual health pioneer’

DNA evidence - taken from the mummy's big toe - has revealed she is the great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother of the UK Foreign Secretary

BORIS Johnson has revealed that he is "very proud" to be descended from an ancient mummified Swiss woman who died of syphilis.

The corpse of the woman – who’d lain unidentified for years – was discovered in Basel, Switzerland.

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New DNA evidence reveals Boris Johnson is related to an ancient mummy who died of syphilisCredit: SRF

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Boris says he was 'very excited' and 'very proud'

And new DNA evidence - taken from the mummy's big toe - has revealed she is the great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother of the UK Foreign Secretary.

Mr Johnson wrote on Twitter: "Very excited to hear about my late great grand 'mummy' - a pioneer in sexual health care. Very proud."

Experts say the body found in Barfusser Church  appears to be that of a wealthy, well-fed woman dressed in good quality clothes, who died in 1787.

She was exhumed in 1975 when the church was renovated.

Her coffin was unmarked, and there was no gravestone to identify her, although she was buried right in front of the altar, a symbol of great importance in her community.

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The woman, found in a church in Switzerland, is the great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother of the UK Foreign Secretary, scientists sayCredit: AFP or licensors

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The mummified corpse of Anna Catharina Bischoff, which had lain unidentified for yearsCredit: SRF

But after extensive DNA testing scientists believe it is likely the woman is Anna Catharina Bischoff, born in 1719.

Her body was riddled with mercury, which was a standard treatment for syphilis between the 15th and 19th centuries.

The Bischoff family were wealthy and well-established in Basel.

DNA samples from the mummy were compared with living descendants of the family to reveal the conclusive result.

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What Anna Catharina might have looked likeCredit: SRF

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We look at Boris Johnson's family tree

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Boris is aware of the von Pfeffel connections - he once told the BBC programme Who Do You Think You Are that they were 'posh toffs'Credit: AFP or licensors

It's thought Anna Catharina had seven children, of which only two survived childhood.

Her daughter, also named Anna, married Christian Hubert Baron Pfeffel von Kriegelstein.

Five generations later, Marie Luise von Pfeffel married Stanley Fred Williams.

Their daughter, Yvonne, married Osman Wilfred Johnson Kemal.

Together, they had a son, named Stanley Johnson, who is the father of Boris.

It's believed Anna Catharina married a church minister and lived for most of her adult life in Strasbourg, the BBC reports.

She is likely to have contracted syphilis while caring for patients affected by the sexually transmitted disease.

After her husband's death, she returned to Basel and underwent treatment in a bid to cure her of her disease.

Sadly, it did not work and scientists think it's possible that she died of mercury poisoning.

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he body found in Barfusser Church was exhumed in 1975 when the church was renovatedCredit: SRF

Boris Johnson 'responding to treatment' in intensive care

Coronavirus: Boris Johnson 'responding to treatment' in intensive care 

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Boris Johnson is "responding to treatment" for coronavirus after he spent a second night in intensive care.

The prime minister is being kept in St Thomas' Hospital in London "for close monitoring" and remains clinically stable, Downing Street said.

Downing Street said he was not working but could contact those he needed to.

No 10 also suggested a review of the lockdown measures put in place on 23 March would not go ahead as planned - at the three-week point on Monday.

The PM is "comfortable, he's stable, he's in good spirits", health minister Edward Argar said earlier on Wednesday.

Asked on BBC Breakfast when the measures might be lifted, Mr Argar said the scientific evidence "isn't yet there to allow us to make us a decision".

"We have to be over that peak before we can think about making changes," he said, adding: "It's too early to say when we will reach that peak."

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for the PM, said on Tuesday he was "confident" the PM would recover from this illness, describing him as a "fighter".

Speaking at the Downing Street coronavirus briefing, he said Mr Johnson was receiving standard oxygen treatment and was breathing without any assistance, such as mechanical ventilation or non-invasive respiratory support.

The prime minister was admitted to St Thomas' on Sunday, on the advice of his doctor, after continuing to display symptoms of a cough and high temperature 10 days after testing positive for the virus.

Mr Raab said the prime minister was being monitored closely in critical care, as was usual clinical practice.

Source: BBC NEWS