Why did my IMDb page say I made an appearance on *Brooklyn Nine-Nine*?
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Thursday, March 12, 2020
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Moving beyond “defensive medicine”
Doctors face tough choices during difficult childbirths — often involving the decision of whether to perform a cesarian section operation. And in the background lies a question: To what extent are these medical decisions motivated by the desire to avoid liability lawsuits?
When doctors’ actions are driven by a desire to avoid legal entanglements, it is known as “defensive medicine.” When it comes to childbirth, one common perception holds that doctors, at uncertain moments in the delivery process, would be more likely to intervene surgically to avoid other potential problems. Now, a unique study co-authored by an MIT economist sheds light on the practice of defensive medicine, with a surprising result.
The research, based on evidence from the U.S. Military Health System, finds that when doctors have immunity from liability lawsuits, they actually perform slightly more C-section operations, compared to when they are legally liable for those operations — about 4 percent more, over a 10-year period.
“When you’re worried about errors of commission, defensive medicine can lead to [less] treatment of patients,” says economist Jonathan Gruber, co-author of a new paper detailing the study’s findings.
The paper, “Defensive Medicine and Obstetric Practices: Evidence from the Military Health System,” is published this month in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies. The authors are Gruber, who is the Ford Professor of Economics in the MIT Department of Economics, and Michael Frakes ’01 PhD ’09, a professor of law and economics at the Duke University School of Law.
“Natural experiment” with military data
The finding adds new information to an area of medicine where legal liability issues loom large. As the scholars note in the paper, 74 percent of obstetricians and gynecologists face malpractice claims by age 45, compared to 55 percent of physicians in the area of internal medicine.
To conduct the study, Gruber and Frakes used Military Health System data to conduct what economists call a “natural experiment,” in which two otherwise similar groups of people are divided by one circumstance — often a policy change or social program.
In this case, the study examines the effects of the Feres Doctrine, stemming from a 1950 legal ruling, that active-duty members of the military receiving treatment from military facilities do not have recourse in case they suffer from negligent care. A significant portion of active-duty personnel receive medical treatment under these circumstances.
However, military personnel can also opt to receive private care outside of military bases. For this reason, military medical policy generates two pools of otherwise similar people, divided by their two care options — one with no liability for doctors, and one with liability. The idea for doing a study based on this comparison occurred to Gruber while he was working with the Military Health Service on other health care delivery issues.
“For decades, health economists have been searching to find the holy grail of a natural experiment to tell us what would happen if people couldn’t sue for malpractice,” Gruber notes.
The study examines Military Health System data on 1,016,606 births in military families, from 2003 to 2013. About 44 percent of the deliveries occurred at military health facilities and 56 percent at civilian hospitals. Ultimately, as the study shows, C-sections are about 4 percent more common during the deliveries at military hospitals, compared to the times when mothers in the Military Health System deliver at civilian hospitals.
As Gruber notes, that finding will seem unexpected to those who associate defensive medicine with an increase in operations, treatment, and interventions.
“We tend to think of defensive medicine as … doctors doing extra testing because they’re afraid of getting sued,” he says. But this finding indicates that, in childbirth settings, doctors practice defensive medicine by intervening slightly less.
In each specialty, the right balance
The current finding also adds nuance to an earlier paper by Gruber and Frakes, based on inpatient care generally, which found that across medical areas, doctors who cannot be sued tended to spend 5 percent less on the treatment of patients. Doctors who could be sued, then, were spending more on tests and treatments.
Among other things, Gruber observes, that earlier paper suggests that overall, defensive medicine leads doctors to spend more, although “it’s not the main driver of U.S. health care spending.”
However, as Gruber also notes, what is true of medicine generally need not be true of particular medical specialties.
“This [new] paper is sort of the flip side of the first paper,” Gruber notes. Indeed, he notes, the findings of the new paper may suggest that doctors’ practices are reasonably optimal, in subtle ways. Because doctors effectively receive more compensation for performing C-sections, they have a financial incentive to perform more of them. And yet, if the application of defensive medicine leads doctors to perform slightly fewer C-sections, that might appropriately adjust the overall rate of interventions.
In any event, across medical specialties, the effects of defensive medicine may vary, and may push doctors toward more or less treatment on aggregate. Continued empirical studies of medical decisions will be necessary to shed more light on the matter.
“The point is, there’s a balance,” Gruber says, adding: “We think of defensive medicine as playing a negative role, but it can also play a positive role.”
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NBA suspends season after player tests positive for coronavirus
The National Basketball Association (NBA) suspended the remainder of its season on Wednesday night after a player tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) just before a game’s tip-off.
The league made the announcement after the player fell ill just before a matchup between the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunders, the New York Times reports.
The league said the suspension would take effect after the completion of Wednesday’s schedule.
READ MORE: Trump suspends travel between US and Europe amid coronavirus pandemic
“The N.B.A. will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic,” the league said in its statement.
NBA To Suspend Season Following Tonight’s Games pic.twitter.com/2PTx2fkLlW
— NBA (@NBA) March 12, 2020
The Jazz-Thunders game was set to begin Wednesday evening at Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Arena when, within seconds away from starting, the Thunder’s head medical staffer ran onto the court to talk to referees.
Players from both teams then left for their locker rooms.
Fans seated in the arena were entertained by musical and dance performances during a 20-minute delay, but later an announcer informed the crowd that the game had been postponed “due to unforeseen circumstances.”
According to ESPN, the player who tested positive was Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert.
A source told the sports network that Gobert was never at the arena, but was in Oklahoma City ready to play if he’d tested negative for the disease that was recently declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
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Trump suspends travel between US and Europe amid coronavirus pandemic
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is suspending all travel between the U.S. and Europe for 30 days beginning Friday as he seeks to combat a viral pandemic.
Trump made the announcement in an Oval Office address to the nation, blaming the European Union for not acting quickly enough to address the novel coronavirus and saying U.S. clusters were “seeded” by European travelers.
Trump said the restrictions won’t apply to the United Kingdom and the U.S. would monitor the situation to determine if travel could be reopened earlier.
Trump said “we are marshalling the full power” of the government and private sector to protect the American people.
President Donald Trump prepared to announce a range of executive actions in an address to the nation Wednesday night as Washington raced to confront a viral pandemic that is roiling global financial markets and disrupting the daily lives of Americans.
Trump was considering new travel advisories, a national disaster declaration and a delay in the tax filing deadline. Congress, for its part, unveiled a multibillion-dollar aid package that was expected to be voted on by the House as soon as Thursday.
After days of playing down the threat, Trump announced he would be delivering a prime-time Oval Office address on the federal response to the outbreak.
The mounting effort to contain the virus and financial fallout intensified on a grueling day: Communities canceled public events nationwide, universities moved to cancel in-person classes, and families grappled with the impact of disruptions to public schools. The number of confirmed cases of the infection topped 1,000 in the U.S. and the World Health Organization declared the global crisis is now a pandemic.
As government officials warned that the outbreak in the U.S. will only get worse, the Capitol was set to halt public tours of the building as the shifting developments raised questions, urgency and a new level of unease.
“I can say we will see more cases, and things will get worse than they are right now,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said in testimony before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. He said the virus is “10 times more lethal than the seasonal flu.”
In a week of mixed messages and false starts, Washington suddenly seemed poised to act.
READ MORE: Coachella postponed until October over coronavirus concerns
“I am fully prepared to use the full power of the Federal Government to deal with our current challenge of the CoronaVirus!” Trump tweeted before a meeting with bankers in which he offered assurances that “we are going to get the problem solved.”
“Now we’re hitting a patch and we’re going to have to do something with respect to getting rid of this virus as quickly as possible and as safely as possible,” he said.
Among other measures, officials were considering placing a “Level 3 Health Travel Notice” on the entire European Union. Such a notice would recommend that Americans avoid nonessential travel to the region and quarantine themselves for 14 days after returning home.
“As you know, we have another part of the world, Europe, that is in very tough shape, having a hard time right now with the virus,” Trump said during a meeting with bankers to discuss how the financial services industry can help consumers and small businesses affected by the outbreak.
Yet there was confusion at the White House, even as officials began to come to grips with the enormous gravity of the situation. Aides struggled to determine what action the president could take unilaterally and what required congressional action, as Trump personally weighed the public and political reactions to the options before him.
On Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled an economic assistance plan that was gaining bipartisan backing. Central to the package is free coronavirus testing nationwide and emergency funding to reimburse lost paychecks for those self-quarantining, missing work or losing jobs amid the outbreak.
The draft legislation would create a new federal emergency sick leave benefit for people with the virus or caring for a coronavirus victim. It would provide two-thirds of an employee’s monthly income for up to three months.
Facing a likely surge in unemployment claims, the package would also give states money for the newly jobless. It would provide additional funding for food and nutrition benefits for pregnant women, mothers and young children. It also would up money for “meals on wheels” and food for low-income elderly people.
“Right now we’re trying to deal with the direct impact of the virus on individual citizens,” said House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth, D-Ky.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, whom Trump tapped to negotiate with Pelosi, urged Congress “to pass legislation quickly.”
“This is a little bit like a hurricane, and we need to cover these outside of normal expenses,” Mnuchin said.
To that end, the administration floated several other strategies, including the rare idea of declaring a national disaster that could potentially unlock funding streams, according to a person unauthorized to discuss the planning and granted anonymity.
A major disaster declaration provides additional authorities for federal agencies, including the military, to assist in responding to an emergency, including medical care, sheltering and distributing goods.
The White House was expected to delay the April 15 federal tax filing deadline for some taxpayers in a bid to soften the impact of the virus outbreak on the U.S. economy.
And the administration rolled out new recommendations for the counties most impacted by the virus in Washington state and California, while authorizing Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to take whatever steps necessary to increase the supply of face masks available to doctors and nurses by providing them with masks intended for industrial use.
Mnuchin noted that Trump’s executive authorities are “quite significant” and said the administration would be rolling out “various proposals.”
As pressure mounted for Washington to respond, the GOP leader in the House, Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, signaled potential Republican support for the funding package in Congress.
“We need to do something,” McCarthy said. “I think they could become very bipartisan.”
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.
Congress’ attending physician told staff there could be 70 million to 100 million coronavirus cases in the U.S. That’s on par with other estimates. A Harvard official has estimated that 20% to 60% of adults will get the virus, noting it’s “a pretty wide range.”
Trump had been promoting a broader economic stimulus package as the financial markets reel, but lawmakers from both political parties roundly panned his call for a payroll tax holiday or industry aid.
Pelosi’s goal is to pass an aid package before lawmakers leave town for a previously scheduled weeklong recess, and revisit potential stimulus measures later.
In Washington, tourists still arrived at the U.S. Capitol, but an official unauthorized to discuss the situation and speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed that tours would soon be shut down.
___
Associated Press writers Lauran Neergaard, Marty Crutsinger, Laurie Kellman and Kevin Freking in Washington contributed to this report.
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ESSENCE CEO Michelle Ebanks unexpectedly steps down
ESSENCE is officially in search of a new executive leader.
Michelle Ebanks, current Chief Executive Officer of Essence Communications, Inc announced her resignation Monday which will be effective March 31. Following her departure, Ebanks plans to pursue other opportunities outside of the brand, as well as join the board of Essence Ventures, the parent company of ESSENCE.
As a member of the board, Ebanks will advise on strategic partnerships and new growth opportunities. Those will include the development of a diversity and inclusion capability that supports the advancement of people of color in the workplace.
READ MORE: Janet Jackson, Bruno Mars to headline Essence Fest
“I will always be grateful for the opportunity, but most importantly for the impact that ESSENCE continues to have on tens of millions of Black women globally. Since I began, my priority has been to position ESSENCE for its next phase, and we’ve done that,” Ebanks said in a statement.
“The brand has been reestablished as 100% Black-owned and is well-positioned for continued success through what is a remarkable time of transformation and reinvention.”
Ebanks has served as CEO of ESSENCE since 2001. Under her leadership, the ESSENCE Festival of Culture, more popularly known as ESSENCE Fest grew to become the world’s largest cultural, music, entertainment, and empowerment experience. It has produced more than $4 billion in economic impact.
ESSENCE Fest 2020 is set to be headlined by Janet Jackson and Bruno Mars, operating under the theme “Own Our Power.”
READ MORE: Corporate #BlackGirlMagic at Essence Fest
In the interim, Richelieu Dennis, founder & chairman of Essence Ventures, will assume the responsibilities of having direct oversight of the company. Dennis and the senior leadership team will continue working closely together on continuous transformation and strategy execution.
“There aren’t enough words to express the gratitude, recognition, and admiration that we have for everything Michelle has brought to ESSENCE over nearly 20 years – her vision, her leadership, her advocacy, and her determination,” Dennis said.
2020 marks the 50th anniversary of the Black-woman centered brand. Dennis will continue his search for a successor with Ebanks assisting in the transition and search process.
The post ESSENCE CEO Michelle Ebanks unexpectedly steps down appeared first on TheGrio.
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Are Charlamagne and Angela Yee leaving ‘The Breakfast Club’?
The Breakfast Club is an incredibly popular radio show that has legions of fans online, but after months of speculation is appears its hosts may be seeking to part ways sooner rather than later.
Last week While the hosts of State of the Culture which including Joe Budden, Remy Ma, Jinx, and Eboni K. Williams, dropped by the studio to talk about how they’d come up for the line up for their own show.
READ MORE: Black Lives Matter founders honored on cover of Time’s ‘100 Women of The Year’ issue
During the discussion Budden that originally there had been some chatter of rapper Azealia Banks joining him as a cohost. However, when those plans fell through, Remy, whom he works with on Love and Hip Hop: New York ended up nabbing the spot.
Remy chimed in that even though the show didn’t pay a lot and she’d only agreed to a short-term contract, she ultimately had such a great time on the show that she’s now looking forward to renegotiating with Revolt for a longer stint.
This seemingly innocent conversation about contracts is what lead to Budden inquiring if Charlamagne, Angela Yee and DJ Envy if they’d renegotiated their own contracts. And that’s when things suddenly became incredibly awkward.
READ MORE: Charlamagne Tha God blasts Joe Biden for refusing ‘The Breakfast Club’ interview
READ MORE: 5 reasons John Legend is a legit choice for PEOPLE’s Sexiest Man Alive
“Aw naw,” responded Charlamagne who was then met by silence. Co-host also Angela Yee said no. With DJ Envy being the only one who confirmed held resigned his contract and would definitely be back.
“I got five kids, I’m long term” Envy explained. “I’m loooong term.”
“It’s renegotiation time. I wanted the shortest contract possible,” Yee answered honestly before hinting that she was still keeping her options open. “You never know if something else happens, who wants to be stuck if that’s not… Who knows?”
“We’re always getting syndicated and more markets, over 100 now,” she added.
Never one to miss an opportunity, Remy chimed in by stating that she and Eboni would be more than happy to fill in if any of the host seats needed to be filled, to which Charlamagne said, “Probably gonna happen.”
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A Woman Pardoned By Trump Wants To Challenge Rep. John Lewis for Congressional Seat
Angela Stanton-King was recently pardoned by President Donald Trump after her 2004 conviction on federal conspiracy charges for her role in a car theft ring. After spending more than two years in prison, she found herself in the Oval Office, praying over Donald Trump with a handful of black Trump supporters. Now she has her eyes set on Rep. John Lewis‘ congressional seat,
The author and former reality show star announced on Friday that she will run for Congress as a Republican against longtime Georgia Democrat and civil rights activist Rep. John Lewis. “I have the utmost respect for the contributions that (Lewis) has made to black America,” Stanton-King told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an interview last week. “However, this isn’t the Selma bridge, and our babies are dying. It is time for war.”
Lewis announced in December that he was battling pancreatic cancer but said he still intends to run for the seat that he has held for 17 terms representing Georgia’s 5th district. “There is still much work left to do on guaranteeing civil rights to all people in this country, protecting and expanding access to healthcare, and ensuring that every American can freely cast a vote regardless of race or resources,” Lewis said. “With the support of my constituents, I look forward to getting into more good trouble in the years ahead.” He has also been a staunch critic of Trump calling his presidency illegitimate.
Stanton-King claims her campaign is less about replacing Lewis and more about taking action for the issues she cares about. She wrote on Twitter that she is “Pro GOD Pro LIFE Pro WOMAN Pro AMERICA Pro TRUMP and PRO COMMON SENSE” and included the American flag emoji.
Pro GOD
Pro LIFE
Pro WOMAN
Pro AMERICA
Pro TRUMPand PRO COMMON SENSE
— Angela Stanton-King (@theangiestanton) March 8, 2020
Lewis will also be running against Barrington Martin who is running as a Democrat.
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Floyd Mayweather’s ex-girlfriend Josie Harris found dead in front of her home
Josie Harris, the ex-girlfriend of Floyd Mayweather and the mom to three of his children was found dead at her Valencia, Calif. home Monday night.
TMZ Sports confirmed the death and quoted law enforcement sources that told them officials were called to Harris’ home around 9:30 p.m. but when they arrived, Harris, 40, was unresponsive in her car and pronounced dead at the scene.
READ MORE: Is Floyd Mayweather hinting at another comeback, or is it just hype?
No foul play is suspected, TMZ reports. Police are reportedly viewing the matter as a death investigation and not a “homicide probe.”
Harris and Mayweather had a troubled relationship. A decade ago, Mayweather was convicted of attacking her and spent two months locked up for the domestic violence incident.
Harris went public with the abuse, alleging Mayweather attacked her six different times. However, Mayweather only was convicted of the September 2010 incident, which Harris accused him of entering her Las Vegas house as she slept and attacking her in front of the kids. She said her oldest son, Koraun, ran out of the house and got a security guard to phone police.
When Mayweather was asked about the incident, he told Katie Couric he restrained Harris for her alleged drug use. “Did I restrain a woman that was on drugs? Yes, I did. So if they say that’s domestic violence, then, you know what? I’m guilty. I’m guilty of restraining someone,” Mayweather said.
READ MORE: Floyd Mayweather doesn’t know about the #MeToo movement
After the interview, Harris sued Mayweather for over $20 million for defamation, TMZ reports.
Back on Mother’s Day, 2013, after Mayweather had already served time for assaulting Harris, the boxer reportedly visited Harris’ home and spent the night. At the time, he was engaged to another woman, Shantel Jackson. Harris is said to have snapped a photo of Mayweather while he slept and posted it to her Instagram page.
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Michelle Obama responds to 4-year-old girl who called herself ugly
Our forever FLOTUS was moved to respond to the heart-wrenching words of 4-year-old Ariyonna who called herself ugly while getting her hair done in Atlanta.
Michelle Obama dropped this gem Ariyonna’s way in her Instagram story. “Ariyonna, you are gorgeous. In a world that sometimes tries to say otherwise, I want to tell you —and every other beautiful, intelligent, brave Black girl— just how precious you are” the former first lady said.
READ MORE: Michelle Obama delivers a special message to Black women during the Black Girls Rock event
In addition to Obama, many other people —from celebrities to everyday people— have sent love to Ariyonna and have applauded the affirming words of her hairstylist, Shabria, who immediately swirled Ariyonna around to tell her that she is beautiful.
“Don’t say that! You are so pretty,” Shabria shared on the viral video, which she posted on social media under the caption: “We must uplift our queens.” Ariyonna is seen crying in the video, but Shabria continues affirming her beauty: “You have this beautiful chocolate skin. You are just so gorgeous.”
Viola Davis took to Instagram to implore Black women to leave their daughters with the knowledge that they are worthy and beautiful.
“We are fighting hundreds of years of brutal conditioning of being considered less than. It is sprinkled in our language, behavior, laws, music…etc.. and trickles down to our youth,” Davis wrote. “I’m speaking life into Ariyonna. From a sista who looks a lot like you….you were born worthy therefore you were born beautiful!”
Laverne Cox echoed Davis, saying this is the “work” that Black people need to prioritize doing. “Inspired by her words I have said loving transness is a revolutionary act. My trans politics are rooted in intersectional feminist politics taught to me by black women like bell hooks through her books. Teaching stunningly beautiful brown girls like this one to see her profound beauty and worth is our work. Let’s get busy.”
Actress Cynthia Erivo said she sees herself in Ariyonna. “Tell her that she’s just like me, brown skin with a gap in her teeth and I KNOW she’s beautiful. Always.”
READ MORE: Atlanta hairdresser encourages 4-year-old Black girl after she says ‘I’m so ugly’
And Hair Love director and co-producer, Matthew Cherry, used the opportunity to call on fellow artists to create original images to uplift Ariyonna using the hashtag #ArtworkForAriyonna.
All the social media love, combined with Shabria’s words, appears to have worked.
Several days after Shabria’s initial post, she updated social media with a new video that featured Ariyonna smiling and saying, “I’m Black and beautiful. Thank you, everyone.”
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