Last weekend, you may have seen a number of comedians online paying their respects to Sean Rouse, the 43-year-old Houston-based comedian who died on June 29th after suffering a stroke and a heart attack. Despite his years in the business, Rouse’s name is likely unfamiliar to most, even self-professed comedy nerds. But that doesn’t mean he was any less good at what he did. In a moving eulogy published on Vulture, fellow stand-up and longtime friend, Doug Stanhope, recounted Rouse’s sniper-like precision as a stand-up and the chronic pain that plagued his life both on and off the stage. Sean lived most of his life with his candle burning at both ends — one end torching through the downward spiral of crippling rheumatoid arthritis, the other ablaze with drugs and alcohol, both celebratory and medicinal, and those drugs, more often than not, were yours. And in spite of that, for over two decades he created some of the most unique, adorably morbid, and precisely … [Read more...] about Read Doug Stanhope’s moving eulogy for “the best comedian you’ve never heard of”
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Investigation Into 170 U.S. Stem Cell Clinics Finds Some Scary Trends
Medical clinics that provide largely unregulated stem cell treatments are popping up all over the U.S. But a new study out Thursday suggests that these clinics aren’t all the same, and some might be more likely to give patients unsafe or useless treatments than others. Previous studies have broadly tried to gauge what the direct-to-consumer stem cell industry looks like in the U.S. and Canada. These clinics claim that conditions such as lower back pain or sports injuries can be treated through the transplantation of stem cells, the building blocks of our body that mature into various types of cells. By using these cells, the theory goes, you can regenerate parts of the body that might not heal otherwise, or at least speed up the healing process. Advertisement The authors behind this new study, all based at Arizona State University (ASU), decided to focus on a smaller slice of stem cell clinics closer to home. They looked at the online marketing of nearly 170 stem cell clinics … [Read more...] about Investigation Into 170 U.S. Stem Cell Clinics Finds Some Scary Trends
Florida Clinic Blinds Three Patients in Botched ‘Clinical Trial’
An unproven stem cell therapy conducted by a Florida clinic has blinded three patients in an apparent clinical trial gone horribly wrong. The incident showcases the extent to which unscrupulous clinics will take advantage of desperate patients—and how the lack of government oversight contributes to the problem. As reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, the clinical trial—if it can be called that—involved three women between the ages of 72 and 88 who were suffering from macular degeneration, a common progressive disease of the retina that leads to loss of vision. The women, all of whom were experiencing various degrees of vision loss, sought the help of a Florida clinic, which claimed to be testing a stem cell procedure designed to treat macular degeneration. Sometime in 2015, a week after stem cells were injected into their eyes, the women became blind. Two years later, doctors say there’s virtually no chance the women’s vision will be restored. … [Read more...] about Florida Clinic Blinds Three Patients in Botched ‘Clinical Trial’
Great-grandmother who spent 12 hours in jail for bringing CBD oil to Disney World will sue [Updated]
Update, May 14, 2019: Some of you likely saw this coming. Civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump and co-counsel Michele Rayner announced today they plan to sue Disney World, Orange County, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for arresting their client Hester Burkhalter in April. The notice of intent to sue will allege illegal detention, false arrest, and a violation of Burkhalter’s civil rights. Original story, May 8, 2019: Grandparents are riding the CBD wave, too, in particular, one North Carolina great-grandmother whose doctor suggested CBD oil for her arthritis pain. But when that grandmother, 69-year-old Hester Jordan Burkhalter, tried to bring her CBD oil into Disney World, sheriff’s deputies stopped her during a bag check outside Magic Kingdom and arrested her. Fox-35 Orlando reports Burkhalter spent 12 hours in jail on a felony charge that she was in possession of hashish, though the charges were later dropped. Advertisement … [Read more...] about Great-grandmother who spent 12 hours in jail for bringing CBD oil to Disney World will sue [Updated]
