ER visits tied to energy drinks double since 2007


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A new government survey suggests the number of people seeking emergency treatment after consuming energy drinks has doubled nationwide during the past four years, the same period in which the supercharged drink industry has surged in popularity in convenience stores, bars and on college campuses.


From 2007 to 2011, the government estimates the number of emergency room visits involving the neon-labeled beverages shot up from about 10,000 to more than 20,000. Most of those cases involved teens or young adults, according to a survey of the nation's hospitals released late last week by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.


The report doesn't specify which symptoms brought people to the emergency room but calls energy drink consumption a "rising public health problem" that can cause insomnia, nervousness, headache, fast heartbeat and seizures that are severe enough to require emergency care.


Several emergency physicians said they had seen a clear uptick in the number of patients suffering from irregular heartbeats, anxiety and heart attacks who said they had recently downed an energy drink.


More than half of the patients considered in the survey who wound up in the emergency room told doctors they had downed only energy drinks. In 2011, about 42 percent of the cases involved energy drinks in combination with alcohol or drugs, such as the stimulants Adderall or Ritalin.


"A lot of people don't realize the strength of these things. I had someone come in recently who had drunk three energy drinks in an hour, which is the equivalent of 15 cups of coffee," said Howard Mell, an emergency physician in the suburbs of Cleveland, who serves as a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians. "Essentially he gave himself a stress test and thankfully he passed. But if he had a weak heart or suffered from coronary disease and didn't know it, this could have precipitated very bad things."


The findings came as concerns over energy drinks have intensified following reports last fall of 18 deaths possibly tied to the drinks — including a 14-year-old Maryland girl who died after drinking two large cans of Monster Energy drinks. Monster does not believe its products were responsible for the death.


Two senators are calling for the Food and Drug Administration to investigate safety concerns about energy drinks and their ingredients.


The energy drink industry says its drinks are safe and there is no proof linking its products to the adverse reactions.


Late last year, the FDA asked the U.S. Health and Human Services to update the figures its substance abuse research arm compiles about emergency room visits tied to energy drinks.


The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's survey was based on responses it receives from about 230 hospitals each year, a representative sample of about 5 percent of emergency departments nationwide. The agency then uses those responses to estimate the number of energy drink-related emergency department visits nationwide.


The more than 20,000 cases estimated for 2011 represent a small portion of the annual 136 million emergency room visits tracked by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


The FDA said it was considering the findings and pressing for more details as it undertakes a broad review of the safety of energy drinks and related ingredients this spring.


"We will examine this additional information ... as a part of our ongoing investigation into potential safety issues surrounding the use of energy-drink products," FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess said in a statement.


Beverage manufacturers fired back at the survey, saying the statistics were misleading and taken out of context.


"This report does not share information about the overall health of those who may have consumed energy drinks, or what symptoms brought them to the ER in the first place," the American Beverage Association said in a statement. "There is no basis by which to understand the overall caffeine intake of any of these individuals — from all sources."


Energy drinks remain a small part of the carbonated soft drinks market, representing only 3.3 percent of sales volume, according to the industry tracker Beverage Digest. Even as soda consumption has flagged in recent years, energy drinks sales are growing rapidly.


In 2011, sales volume for energy drinks rose by almost 17 percent, with the top three companies — Monster, Red Bull and Rockstar — each logging double-digit gains, Beverage Digest found. The drinks are often marketed at sporting events that are popular among younger people such as surfing and skateboarding.


From 2007 to 2011, the most recent year for which data was available, people from 18 to 25 were the most common age group seeking emergency treatment for energy drink-related reactions, the report found.


"We were really concerned to find that in four years the number of emergency department visits almost doubled, and these drinks are largely marketed to younger people," said Al Woodward, a senior statistical analyst with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration who worked on the report.


Emergency physician Steve Sun said he had seen an increase in such cases at the Catholic hospital where he works on the edge of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.


"I saw one young man who had mixed energy drinks with alcohol and we had to admit him to the hospital because he was so dehydrated he had renal failure," Sun said. "Because he was young he did well in the hospital, but if another patient had had underlying coronary artery disease, it could have led to a heart attack."


___


Follow Garance Burke on Twitter at http://twitter.com/garanceburke


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Wall Street knocked lower by debt limit worries, Apple

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday on worries over the debate brewing in Washington over raising the U.S. borrowing limit, while Apple's stock extended its fall on concerns of weaker demand for its products.


Economic data offset some of the negative tone after retail sales rose more than expected in December. But manufacturing activity in New York state contracted for the sixth month in a row in January.


On Monday, President Barack Obama rejected any negotiations with Republicans over raising the U.S. debt ceiling. The United States could default on its debt if Congress does not increase the borrowing limit.


Resolving the debt ceiling debate is more a question of how than if. Investors don't expect a U.S. default, but they are also wary of another eleventh-hour agreement like the one in August 2011.


"The concern is just the uncertainty and the negotiating going down to the last minute," said John Fox, co-manager of the FAM Value Fund, in Cobleskill, New York.


Apple fell for the third day in a row, weighing on the Nasdaq after reports on Monday of cuts to orders for iPhone parts. Apple was down more than 2 percent at $491.96. The stock fell below $500 for the first time in almost a year on Monday.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> slipped 29.55 points, or 0.22 percent, to 13,477.77. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> fell 4.35 points, or 0.30 percent, to 1,466.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> gave up 18.82 points, or 0.60 percent, at 3,098.68.


Although Tuesday's economic data was mostly positive, reaction in the market was likely to be limited since investors' attention centered on the negotiations over the debt ceiling and spending cuts, said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer of Hugh Johnson Advisors LLC in Albany, NY.


"'Fiscal Cliff Two' is now the principal focus of investors," he said.


An expected lackluster earnings season also kept investors from taking aggressive bets. Analyst estimates for the quarter have fallen sharply since October. S&P 500 earnings growth is now seen up just 1.9 percent from a year ago, Thomson Reuters data showed.


Homebuilder Lennar reported a sharp rise in quarterly profit, but the stock fell 2.2 percent to $40.11 on worries that growth in orders was slowing.


Shares of Dell rose 3.1 percent to $12.67 the day after sources said the company is in talks with private equity firms on a potential buyout.


Facebook added 0.6 percent to $31.11 ahead of a major news event at its headquarters. The secretive nature of the event has triggered a guessing game about what the company could unveil.


(Editing by Kenneth Barry)



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India Ink: Image of the Day: Jan. 15

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Tata Consultancy says demand in U.S. strong across segments






MUMBAI/BANGALORE (Reuters) – India’s top software services provider Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) said demand in the key U.S. market is strong across its business segments, with regional banks stepping up spending on technology.


The Mumbai-based company said on Monday that profit jumped 23 percent in the quarter ended December, beating analysts‘ expectations. TCS also gave an upbeat growth outlook, sending its shares up the most in more than eight months and prompting analyst upgrades on the stock.






Economic uncertainty in the United States had fuelled investor worry that clients may keep their IT budgets tight and postpone decision-making on technology spending.


“The U.S. is still a growth market,” Chief Financial Officer S Mahalingam told Reuters in an interview at his Mumbai office on Tuesday. “If it sneezes then we have got a big problem. (But) the demand is very good across all segments.”


The United States accounts for about half of TCS’ revenue, compared with more than 60 percent overall for India’s $ 100 billion outsourcing industry.


Banks, insurers and other financial services clients usually account for more than a third of the revenue at companies such as TCS’ rival Infosys Ltd , where better-than-expected results on Friday and an increased revenue outlook powered a 20 percent rise in its shares over two sessions.


“(The) U.S. economy has regional banks as well, and they are starting to spend. So there is growth,” Mahalingam said.


While Monday’s results prompted analysts from HSBC and CLSA to increase their ratings on TCS stock, some analysts said volume growth was not especially impressive.


Volumes, or billable hours, rose 1.25 percent on a sequential basis, while revenue in dollar terms increased 3.3 percent over the September quarter.


“The key disappointment was soft volume growth of 1.25 percent quarter-on-quarter. However, we remain assured by management’s optimistic outlook on FY14 growth,” Nomura analysts wrote in a note to clients.


(Editing by Tony Munroe and Ryan Woo)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Mindy McCready's Boyfriend David Wilson Died of a Self-Inflicted Gunshot Wound















01/15/2013 at 11:30 AM EST



Last year, things were looking up for Mindy McCready after a judge awarded her custody of her 6-year-old son, Zander.

"It was good news," her rep, Kat Atwood, tells PEOPLE. "The custody battle was over. Zander was comfortable at home with Mindy. She had a new baby. Things were going well."

But everything fell apart for McCready on Sunday night, when her partner, David Wilson, shot himself.

"It was a self-inflicted gunshot wound," Atwood says. "Now they're working on funeral arrangements and figuring out where to go from here."

For the first 24 hours after the shooting, McCready, 37, was alone with her children. (She and Wilson had a 9-month-old son, Zayne.) "Her family drove up from Florida," says Atwood. "I'm not exactly sure when they got there, but her personal friends arrived late last night."

This marks the latest setback in the troubled life of McCready, who has struggled with custody battles, addiction and her own suicide attempts.

Those close to her hope that the love of family and friends will help her through this difficult ordeal. "She is surrounded by people who love her and are there for her," says Atwood. "It's a very sad time, but she has support in place."

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Experts: Proposed NY gun law might hinder therapy


NEW YORK (AP) — Mental health experts say a proposed New York state gun control law might interfere with treatment of potentially dangerous people and even discourage them from seeking help.


One provision would require therapists and doctors to tell government authorities if they believe a patient is likely to harm himself or others. That could lead to revoking a patient's gun permit and seizing the gun.


Dr. Paul Appelbaum, director of law, ethics and psychiatry at Columbia University, said that provision might discourage people from revealing thoughts of harm to a therapist, or even from seeking treatment at all.


Dr. Mark Olfson, a psychiatry professor at Columbia, said if the law is crudely applied, it could erode the trust patients have in their doctors which is needed for effective care.


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S&P, Nasdaq dip as Apple weighs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street slipped on Monday, weighed down by shares of Apple in the face of demand concerns, while investors faced a busy week for earnings in what is expected to be a lackluster quarter.


Apple lost 2.8 percent to $505.84 as the biggest drag on both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 <.ndx> indexes after reports that the tech company has cut orders for LCD screens and other parts for the iPhone 5 this quarter due to weak demand. The stock earlier hit a session low of $498.51, the first dip below $500 since February 16.


"There is this speculation building 'Is this the end of Apple?'" said Carol Pepper, chief executive of Pepper International in New York.


But Pepper said Apple also "doesn't have to grow at the rate it was to do extremely well. It's still going to be one of the marquee companies of the U.S. and the world."


Apple suppliers also lost ground, with Cirrus Logic off 6.8 percent to $29.43 and Qualcomm down 1.2 percent to $64.13. The S&P tech sector <.gspt> gave up 0.9 percent as the worst perfumer of the 10 major S&P sectors.


The pace of earnings season picks up this week with 38 S&P 500 companies set to report, including Goldman Sachs , Bank of America , Intel and General Electric .


Overall earnings are expected to grow by just 1.9 percent in this reporting period, according to Thomson Reuters data.


President Barack Obama is expected to hold a news conference, which will cover looming budget and debt ceiling due dates on Monday, White House officials said.


"We could have some more noise because they are trying to get people to focus on their issues, but I don't think they are going" to allow the government to default, said Pepper.


Separately, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will be speaking on monetary policy, recovery from the global financial crisis and long-term challenges facing the American economy at 4 p.m. (2100 GMT).


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> added 6.79 points, or 0.05 percent, to 13,495.22. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> shed 3.37 points, or 0.23 percent, to 1,468.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> lost 14.16 points, or 0.45 percent, to 3,111.48.


Appliance and electronics retailer Hhgregg Inc slumped 9.6 percent to $7.13 after the electronics and appliance retailer cut its same-store sales forecast for the full year.


Transocean Ltd has disclosed that billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn has acquired a 1.56 percent stake in the offshore rig contractor and is looking to increase that holding. Its shares rose 2.5 percent to $55.43.


The Dow, which does not list Apple as one of its components, fared better than the other two indexes as Hewlett-Packard rose 3.8 percent to $16.78 after JPMorgan upgraded its rating on the stock and raised its price target to $21 from $15.


(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)



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IHT Rendezvous: 2012: The Year of Extreme Weather

The weather reports are in. 2012 was the hottest and the most extreme year on record in many places.

While parts of China are enduring the harshest winter in 30 years, the Antarctic is warming at an alarming rate. In Australia, out of control bushfires are partially the result of record-breaking weather (new colors were added to weather forecast maps, to account for the new kind of heat). In the United States, where Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of New Jersey and New York and where extreme drought still lingers in the Midwest, the average temperature in 2012 was more than a whole degree Fahrenheit (or 5/9 of a degree Celsius) higher than average – shattering the record.

On Friday a long-term weather forecast for the United States was released, when the National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee published a draft of the third Climate Assessment Report. Like last year’s weather, the assessment does not pull its punches.

“Climate change threatens human health and well-being in many ways, including impacts from increased extreme weather events, wildfire, decreased air quality, diseases transmitted by insects, food, and water, and threats to mental health,” write the authors as part of their key findings.

Experts from 13 federal agencies, including NASA, the State Department and the Department of Defense put together the report under the auspices of the United States Global Change Research Program.

While some predictions have been adjusted upward from previous reports, the difference in tone in this newest assessment is striking. The second assessment, published in 2009, predicted of thresholds that will be crossed, while the 2013 draft presents a reality in which some of the changes are already irreversible.

“As a result of past emissions of heat-trapping gases, some amount of additional climate change and related impacts is now unavoidable,” wrote the authors in the executive summary.

Adaptation to climate change is discussed in the new draft, which is open for public comment before it is officially released early in 2014. The authors write:

Planning and managing based on the climate of the last century means that tolerances of some infrastructure and species will be exceeded. For example, building codes and landscaping ordinances will likely need to be updated not only for energy efficiency, but also to conserve water supplies, protect against insects that spread disease, reduce susceptibility to heat stress, and improve protection against extreme events.

The authors predict that within the next several decades, temperatures will go up between 2 and 4 degrees Fahrenheit, roughly 1 and 2 degrees Celsius. The experts discuss a possible 10 degree Fahrenheit (or more than 5 degrees Celsius) warming by the end of the century, in the case that not enough is done to curb emissions. (The World Bank recently released a report of the dangers of a world warmed by 4 degrees Celsius).

Sea levels could rise up to four feet, or 1.2 meters, within the century, according to the experts.

Though official assessments, predictions and studies like these serve to reinforce what many already fear, they do not necessarily lead to policy change. Andrew Restuccia predicted in a Politico article that the new report would ultimately do little to change the embittered climate-change politics in that country. He wrote:

But don’t hold your breath for serious action on climate change in Congress. Republicans and some moderate Democrats remain opposed to measures to address climate change. The Obama administration, meanwhile, is moving forward with its own efforts on climate change, including beefed-up fuel economy standards and greenhouse gas regulations for new power plants.

Sometimes official assessment reports provide substance for those who question man-made climate change.

My colleague Andrew C. Revkin recently reported on how a revision by Britain’s Weather and Climate Agency on short-term global temperature forecast became fodder for climate change deniers. The fact that the government agency had revised its numbers downward allowed climate change skeptics to argue that the world was not significantly warming after all.

In December, Alec Rawls, a climate-change skeptic, made a name for himself by leaking an unpublished Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, one of the major global players in climate change assessment. Mr. Rawls tried to argue that the panel’s language on solar radiation was an admission that much of the warming trends were caused by the sun, not human activity.

As Andrew reported at time, his claims were mostly debunked.

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RIM says 15,000 BlackBerry 10 apps submitted in under two days









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It'll Be a Girl for Nick & JoAnna Garcia Swisher




Celebrity Baby Blog





01/14/2013 at 11:45 AM ET



Golden Globes: Nick and JoAnna Garcia Swisher Having a Girl
Paul Marks/Broadimage


This spring will bring more than just May flowers for Nick and JoAnna Garcia Swisher — the couple will welcome a baby girl that month as well, they confirm to PEOPLE exclusively.


“I’m just so excited,” the outfielder and first baseman, 32, told PEOPLE at the InStyle/Warner Brothers Golden Globes after party on Sunday. “As long as she’s healthy, that’s all I really care about.”


As for the mommy-to-be, 33, the former Animal Practice star is just enjoying the “honeymoon stage” of her pregnancy after a “humbling” week of being “really into mayonnaise.”


“I tried to put it on everything but that faded,” Garcia Swisher, who was wearing Marina B. jewelry, explains. “Now I’m just trying to eat healthy and you know, the further I get in the pregnancy the more I need to eat!”

With Swisher — who recently wrapped a stint with the New York Yankees — accepting an offer to play for the Cleveland Indians, the expectant parents have been busy prepping three different nurseries for their bundle of joy.


“My husband works in one city, I work in a second city and we live in a third city, so we have a lot of cribs to buy,” the actress shares.


And though they’ve got several more months to go, the couple can’t wait to meet their daughter.


“It’s been a wonderful journey for us to be able to do this together,” says Swisher. “It’s going to be great. In a couple of months, our lives are going to turn upside-down.”


– Melody Chiu


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