What The Hell??? The Government Has Been Testing AIDS Drugs On Foster Kids For The Last Two Decades Without The Proper Protective Measures

What The Hell??? The Government Has Been Testing AIDS Drugs On Foster Kids For The Last Two Decades Without The Proper Protective Measures

SMH… Somebody has to protect these kids.

Government-funded researchers tested AIDS drugs on hundreds of foster children over the past two decades, often without providing them a basic protection afforded in federal law and required by some states, an Associated Press review has found.

The research funded by the National Institutes of Health spanned the country. It was most widespread in the 1990s as foster care agencies sought treatments for their HIV-infected children that weren’t yet available in the marketplace.

The practice ensured that foster children — mostly poor or minority — received care from world-class researchers at government expense, slowing their rate of death and extending their lives. But it also exposed a vulnerable population to the risks of medical research and drugs that were known to have serious side effects in adults and for which the safety for children was unknown.

The research was conducted in at least seven states — Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Colorado and Texas — and involved more than four dozen different studies. The foster children ranged from infants to late teens, according to interviews and government records.

Several studies that enlisted foster children reported patients suffered side effects such as rashes, vomiting and sharp drops in infection-fighting blood cells as they tested antiretroviral drugs to suppress AIDS or other medicines to treat secondary infections.

In one study, researchers reported a “disturbing” higher death rate among children who took higher doses of a drug. That study was unable to determine a safe and effective dosage.

The government provided special protections for child wards in 1983. They required researchers and their oversight boards to appoint independent advocates for any foster child enrolled in a narrow class of studies that involved greater than minimal risk and lacked the promise of direct benefit. Some foster agencies required the protection regardless of risks and benefits.

Advocates must be independent of the foster care and research agencies, have some understanding of medical issues and “act in the best interests of the child” for the entirety of the research, the law states.

However, researchers and foster agencies told AP that foster children in AIDS drug trials often weren’t given such advocates even though research institutions many times promised to do so to gain access to the children.

Illinois officials believe none of their nearly 200 foster children in AIDS studies got independent monitors even though researchers signed a document guaranteeing “the appointment of an advocate for each individual ward participating in the respective medical research.”

New York City could find records showing 142 — less than a third — of the 465 foster children in AIDS drug trials got such monitors even though city policy required them. The city has asked an outside firm to investigate.

Likewise, research facilities including Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore said they concluded they didn’t provide advocates for foster kids.

Some states declined to participate in medical experiments. Tennessee said its foster care rules generally prohibit enlisting children in such trials. California requires a judge’s order. And Wisconsin “has absolutely never allowed, nor would we even consider, any clinical experiments with the children in our foster care system,” spokeswoman Stephanie Marquis said.

Officials estimated that 5 percent to 10 percent of the 13,878 children enrolled in pediatric AIDS studies funded by NIH since the late 1980s were in foster care. More than two dozen Illinois foster children remain in studies today.

Some foster children died during studies, but state or city agencies said they could find no records that any deaths were directly caused by experimental treatments.

We can understand wanting the kids to get the best care but we don’t need what happened in Tuskegee to ever happen again.

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What The Hell??? The Government Has Been Testing AIDS Drugs On Foster Kids For The Last Two Decades Without The Proper Protective Measures
thatsmybiz1
Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:39:22 GMT

Note: Cross posted from NARMER'S PLACE.

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12-Year-Old Leads March Against Gun Violence & Drugs In Harlem

12-Year-Old Leads March Against Gun Violence & Drugs In Harlem

In this is episode of NewOne’s original video series “On The Corner,” we joined twelve-year-old Victoria Pannell, the National Action Network’s Northeast Regional Director of the Youth, in a march and rally in a Harlem neighborhood where gang, drug, and gun activity is rampant.

Dozens of Harlemites congregated at Wright Brothers Playground, a small park that has a reputation of being unsafe for kids, to denounce the illicit activities that go on in the recreation space.

National Action Network recently announced the national Shake-Off the Violence tour and coast-to-coast cease fire coordinated by NAN’s Youth Movement and the Youth in Action group.

 

12-Year-Old Leads March Against Gun Violence & Drugs In Harlem
Samuel Aleshinloye, Assoc Editor
Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:27:52 GMT

REPORT: More Than Half Of Black Girls Are Sexually Assaulted

REPORT: More Than Half Of Black Girls Are Sexually Assaulted

Sixty percent of black girls have experienced sexual abuse at the hands of black men before reaching the age of 18, according to an ongoing study conducted by Black Women’s Blueprint.

More than 300 black women nationwide participated in the study and 700 more are being sought to take in the survey by March 2012.

RELATED: An ‘Unlikely Victim’ Of Domestic Violence Speaks Out

Farah Tanis, Co-Founder of the New York-based organization and co-author of the study, says the issue of domestic and sexual abuse in the black community is rarely discussed and that a sixty percent rate should be a wake-up call to black women.

“A similar study which was conducted by The Black Women’s Health Imperative seven years ago found that that number was about 40 percent,” Tanis says. “So that means there is an increase and we need to stop neglecting that issue.”

D.C. Has No Love For Women Of Color

The study comes just as U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) introduced legislation reauthorizing the landmark Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) this week.

While domestic violence advocates praise both senators’ efforts to strengthen the bill, Tanis and other advocates who deal specifically with minority women are advocating for language in the new act that specifically allocates funds to communities of color. More specifically, Tanis and her organization are seeking funding for small community groups which have closer cultural ties to women of color that larger organizations don’t have.

Rita Smith, the Executive Director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, a Denver-based national organization that develops policy on domestic violence issues, says smaller domestic violence groups are often better equipped to work with women of color than larger, more traditional organizations.

“Reports from these local communities to their national representatives has made it clear for some time that victims who are Latino, African American, Asian and Native American have not been served adequately by mainstream programs,” Smith says. “For some communities it is important to establish services that address the cultural, spiritual or immigration status needs of victims, and while some mainstream programs attempt to respond to those needs, they are not universally addressing them in sufficient numbers.”

VAWA, as it is currently written, does include language that allots “grants for outreach and services to under-served populations.” But no racial language is written into the act. Federal law prohibits legislation that earmarks government funding based on race.

Back in 2005 when VAWA was being reauthorized, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) fought unsuccessfully for race-specific language to be kept in a final draft of the act. He and several of his congressional colleagues expressed what they felt was Washington’s utter disregard for women of color.

“This language was necessary because the bureaucrats at the Department of Justice were ignoring communities of color when considering grants from domestic violence, rape prevention and other organizations,” Conyers argued in Congress.

Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.), also lobbied for stronger language to be including in VAWA.

“By addressing domestic violence in these communities in a way that understands their culture and honors their values, we greatly increase the chances of making a difference for women of color who are being abused,”  she said.

Washington’s historic rebuff to race-language provisions does not surprise Olivia Dowd at all.

An outreach coordinator for Black Women’s Blueprint, Dowd feels policy makers have something of an elitist outlook concerning which organizations should get funding and who should be in charge of managing the resources.

She says she has been in domestic violence sessions with mostly black women where she, despite her years of on-the-ground experience with women of color, often has to play second fiddle to a 20 or 30-something white woman with a graduate degree but lacks the sophisticated sass and ethnic intuition black women need to be uplifted emotionally from abusive relationships.

“OK, this is the deal. Take this ‘V’ and put it on your head and then another ‘V’ because you are warrior women so get over it,”Dowd said, mocking a traditional letter-game exercise that encourages women in recovery to express themselves.

“As black women, that’s how we talk to one another. That’s how we grew up. As oppose to being the white missionary saying ‘Oh, the poor natives, how bad! Let me kiss your wombs.’ [Black women] don’t work like that. That doesn’t work with us.”

Call To Action

Domestic violence advocates say black women should be particularly active in writing and calling their congressmen to support the reauthorization of the VAWA because it affects them more than any other racial group. In fact, Black women experience domestic violence at a rate 35 percent higher than white women.

Advocates say VAWA needs to include language that:

1.) Puts control of domestic and sexual abuse prevention in the hands of the community, and placing less emphasis on law enforcement. “Police are not the only answer,” Tanis says.

2.) Empowers members of immigrant communities who, for example, would go to their Vodoun or Santeria priest for help before reaching out to a more traditional source of assistance like a domestic violence hotline.

3.) Specifies the different facets of domestic abuse and that verbal violence should be legally prosecutable.

4.) Recognizes that sexual assault in black community is a growing epidemic that requires special attention and resources.

5.) Encourages and educates men, especially black men, on the issue domestic and sexual violence.

This final point, is perhaps the most contentious issue of domestic and sexual violence in the black community.

Kereen Odate, Acting Director at the Center for Women’s Development at Medgar Evers College in New York, says black women are reluctant to discuss sexual and domestic abuse for fear of “vilifying the black man.”

Odate says there has always been something of an unexplored history of sexually dysfunctional behavior in the black community that dates back to slavery. For example, Odate cites mating practices that forced black male slaves to have intercourse with female slaves as the origin of shame that keeps black communities silence about domestic and sexual abuse to this very day.

“You were raped,” Odate says, “but you weren’t raped because it was for the for purpose of making more kids to work on the plantation, so there’s a whole history involved.”

Tanis, citing the 60 percent sexual assault rate, urges black women to be more proactive in advocacy issues like supporting VAWA because no one else will fight for needs on Capital Hill.

“Its critical, whether or not we feel comfortable talking and doing something about it,” Tanis says”

NEWSONE RESOURCES: Are You Being Abused?

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, there are organizations nationwide just a phone call away that can assist you.

Safe Horizon Domestic Violence Hotline: 800.621.HOPE (4673)

National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or (206) 787-3224 (Video Phone for Deaf Callers)

For more resources on how domestic and sexual abuse affects the black community, see the Institute on Domestic Violence in the African American Community’s fact sheet.

RELATED:

David Boston Arrested: Former NFL Player Faces Charges Of Aggravated Battery

Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan President, Pardons Imprisoned Rape Victim

REPORT: More Than Half Of Black Girls Are Sexually Assaulted
Terrell Jermaine Starr
Fri, 02 Dec 2011 17:08:00 GMT

Craisin Crisis! Dried Fruit Recalled Due To "Hair-Like Metal Fragments"

Craisin Crisis! Dried Fruit Recalled

Craisins, which for years have battled an inferiority complex against raisins, suffered another blow to their reputation this weekend, when manufacturer Ocean Spray announced a recall of thousands of bags due to "the possible presence of very small hair-like metal fragments." The fragments, like the dried cranberries themselves, will do nothing to enhance your salad-eating experience. [ more › ]

Craisin Crisis! Dried Fruit Recalled Due To "Hair-Like Metal Fragments"
Jamie Feldmar
Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:52:17 GMT

Get Your Charity Together: Wyclef Put On Blast Once Again About What Yele Haiti Is Doing With Their Donors’ Money

Get Your Charity Together: Wyclef

The mayor of the city of North Miami may have thought Wyclef‘s do-gooder-ness was worthy of recognition last week, but people are stil giving him and his Yele Haiti foundation the side-eye.

Yele Haiti’s coffers swelled to $16 million in 2010, the most the charity had ever received. But less than a third of that went to emergency efforts, and $1 million was paid to a Florida firm that doesn’t seem to exist, The Post has learned.

Jean’s charity, which he founded in 2005 with his cousin Jerry Duplessis, was already troubled when the earthquake struck Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010. The Post reported in 2008 that it had never filed a required tax form detailing its spending with the IRS.

The group lost $244,000 in 2009. But hours after the earthquake hit, Jean took to Twitter to beg for $5 donations. An avalanche of donations poured in.

Almost immediately, allegations surfaced that the former Fugees singer had used the charity’s cash for his own benefit. Critics found that four years earlier Yele Haiti had steered $250,000 to a Haitian TV station controlled by Jean and Duplessis.

Jean held a Jan. 18, 2010, press conference to tearfully defend Yele Haiti’s reputation.

“Have we made mistakes before? Yes,” Jean said. “Did I ever use Yele money for personal benefits? Absolutely not. Yele’s books are open and transparent.”

The earthquake killed between 200,000 and 300,000 Haitians and left a million homeless. The country is still in the grip of a cholera epidemic.

For all the desperation, records show that Yele Haiti spent just $5.1 million for emergency relief efforts, including food and water delivery to makeshift survivor camps, according to a review of the charity’s 2010 tax filings, which were obtained by The Post.

Yele Haiti paid five contractors to accomplish its goals, including P&A Construction — which received $353,983 and is run by Warnel Pierre, the brother of Jean’s wife, Claudinette.

A purported Miami business called Amisphere Farm Labor Inc. received a whopping $1,008,000 as a “food distributor.”

No trace of the company could be found last week in the Sunshine State, but records show the company’s head, Amsterly Pierre, bought three properties in Florida last year, including a condo in an upscale waterfront community.

The firm incorporated in August 2008 but never filed any of the subsequent financial paperwork required to do business in Florida, according to the Florida Department of State.

The address listed for the business is an auto-repair shop in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood, where a worker said he had never heard of Pierre or Amisphere. Pierre did not return a call for comment.

Yele Haiti also paid $577,185 to a company called Samosa SA, based in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, as a “bulk water supplier.” But some of that money went to rent a house for Yele Haiti volunteers on Samosa’s property at the inflated price of $35,000 a month.

“Given the fact that Yele Haiti was involved in a swirl of controversy after the earthquake in Haiti, it’s all the more reason to be more transparent to ensure donors that their funds are going to help people,” said the Better Business Bureau’s Bennett Weiner.

In Clef’s defense, a lot of charities’ hands have been tied by red tape and political BS in Haiti following the earthquake, due to the fact that the outbound government at the time wasn’t necessarily all that interested in seeing the country move forward. Yele also wouldn’t be the first American-based charity to partner with people who didn’t necessarily have the best intentions when it came to actually helping Haiti.

But you would think, at this point, Wyclef would do a better job of covering his a$$ and making sure everything he and Yele did was on the money…

Source

Get Your Charity Together: Wyclef Put On Blast Once Again About What Yele Haiti Is Doing With Their Donors’ Money
EditorialGrrl
Sun, 27 Nov 2011 17:36:33 GMT

Latest TV Trend? The Black Best Friend

Latest TV Trend? The Black Best Friend

Despite the fact that none of the 26 new shows on network TV feature an African American lead character, several African American characters play secondary roles, also known as the “Black Best Friend.”

Two new popular shows, “Grimm” and “Up All Night” feature Russell Hornsby and Maya Rudolph playing the role of “Black Best Friends.”

 

The Washington Post reports:

What they have in common — besides not being white, of course — is a devotion to helping their white friends achieve, sometime to the detriment of their own circumstance. And despite the BBFs often having an amazing pedigree, with cool jobs, prestigious careers or intriguing personal history, viewers rarely see their lives away from the lead character.

Indeed, there are so many BBFs on new fall shows this year — I count 13 shows, from NBC’s canceled “Playboy Club” to CBS’s hit “2 Broke Girls” and Fox’s “The New Girl” — that you can stick them in their own categories.

Read More At The Washington Post

Latest TV Trend? The Black Best Friend
Casey Gane-McCalla, Lead Blogger
Mon, 21 Nov 2011 22:16:51 GMT

What Our Black Ancestors Ate for the Holidays

 

Before you slice into that sweet-potato pie, douse those greens in hot sauce or cut a corner of macaroni and cheese this holiday season, consider what you may be missing.

African-American food historian Leni Sorensen says the iconic images of soul food during Thanksgiving and Christmas represent a small slice of black American culinary customs.

"There's a wide repertoire of food. Everybody understands the iconic list of greens and pork chops and cornbread and sweet-potato pie. But that is only a minor list of all of the different foods that people eat within their own communities," says Sorensen, a researcher at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

In the late 19th century, geography factored in how people celebrated the yuletide season. During this time African Americans lived mostly a rural existence, which translated into a farm-to-table lifestyle.

Read full article...

What Our Black Ancestors Ate for the Holidays
Natalie Y. Moore
Fri, 18 Nov 2011 16:19:00 GMT

Livetweet: Bloomberg Admin On Yellow Bus Strike

 

Here's my quick livetweet of Mayor Bloomberg, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott and NYC Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo discussing a potential strike by yellow school bus drivers. Our Ben Chapman and Jonathan Lemire (who also livetweeted) have a full story for you after the Storify ...

Livetweet: Bloomberg Admin On Yellow Bus Strike
Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:49:27 GMT

NYC has 2 new enforcers: bedbug-sniffing dogs

NYC has 2 new enforcers: bedbug-sniffing dogs
Wall Street Journal
Most of that's covered by the City Council. Council Speaker Christine Quinn says all New Yorkers, regardless of their income, can now receive "the best bedbug attention money can buy." Inspection requests can be made through the city's 311 help line. ...
See all stories on this topic »

Electric Truck Manufacturer Coming To Bronx

 

Smith Electric Vehicles will establish a clean technology manufacturing facility in the Bronx that's expected to create more than 100 new jobs, Gov. Cuomo's office says. Smith is leasing the 90,000 square-foot former Murray Feiss building near Hunts Point. The private investment is bolstered ...

Electric Truck Manufacturer Coming To Bronx
Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:28:32 GMT

Heavy D’s Funeral Set For Friday At Historic Church

Heavy D’s Funeral Set For Friday At Historic Church

Dwight Myers, the rapper known as Heavy D, will be laid to rest at the historic Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, New York, this coming Friday, November 18.

The cemromony is scheduled to begin at 11am and will be led by Senior Pastor Reverend Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, who will deliver the eulogy.

A viewing will be held a day earlier on Thurday, November 17 from noon to 6pm.

In lieu of flowers the family is requesting that donations be made to the Heavy D and Xea Myers Fund:

C/O JP Morgan Chase

726 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10085

Checks payable to: The Heavy D and Xea Myers Fund

Heavy D Information Line: 212-381-2037

See also: Rapper Heavy D Dead At Age Of 44

Heavy D’s Funeral Set For Friday At Historic Church
Johan Thomas
Sun, 13 Nov 2011 18:57:43 GMT

Quidditch World Cup

 

Date: November 13, 2011

Celebrate the emerging sport of Quidditch with the 5th World Cup, with ten fields of games featuring college, high school, and intramural teams from around the world.

In addition to the athletic events, spectators can listen to live music of all stripes (performances in 2010 ranged from Harry and the Potters to a jazz quartet to a beat boxer), eat a variety of ethnic and American foods, shop for Harry Potter- and other whimsical-themed merchandise, see live owls, fire jugglers, and get their faces painted. World Cup is a celebration of having fun and growing up on our own terms. Come for the spectacle, for the atmosphere, and for the world-class athleticism.

Start time: 9:00 am

End time: 10:00 pm

Contact phone:

Location: Harlem River Ballfields (in Randall's Island Park)

Quidditch World Cup
Mon, 07 Nov 2011 05:00:03 GMT