Kid’s Unlimited Welcome to Dr. Armand Rossi’s email newsletter:
Kid’s Unlimited December 19, 2005
Kid’s Unlimited is a monthly, or semi-monthly, newsletter of various articles, funnies, tidbits and opinions relating to our children and chiropractic. My opinions will always be in red and italicized. Please feel free to share the appropriate articles with patients, friends, and other chiropractors. I never buy any lists or put names on my email list unless the names were submitted to me directly. If you wish to be removed from my list, just reply with the word “remove” in the subject line.
Thank you… Together we will make a difference.
Yours in Chiropractic,
Armand M. Rossi
This month is truly a special time for me. First, the holidays are always a magical time. Having a practice with lots of kids makes for a wonderful time. Watching them get excited is just a joy. Second; I`m celebrating my 10th Anniversary with my wife, Terry. Our partnership just gets better and better with time. She is a precious gem and I`m an extremely lucky man. We also get to have our annual Santa Day in our office. This year it will be on the 21st of December. Everyone that day gets adjusted by Santa (teaching them that Santa really is a chiropractor), they get a picture with Santa, there is food and goodies, and they get entered into a raffle for various holiday gifts. This year the grand prize that one patient will win is a $300.00 VISA card to use wherever they want.
We have all kinds of blessings during the year. Blessings of health. Blessings of success. Blessings of friends. This time of year reminds me of the greatest blessing for me. That is the blessing of service. Just giving to people. Service ignites the flame of God in your heart and keeps the passion of what we do alive. To give, love and serve is my blessing. To be able to serve God by serving the people is my ultimate pleasure. It is the food that feeds us and the mechanism that we stay in communion with God.
Whenever I have doubts, fears, anxieties, loss or problems, I get over them by just serving more. Chiropractic has never been a job or even a profession to me. It is my mission. It is my calling. With my wife by my side, and with all the support I always get from my staff, family and friends, there is no reason why we can`t change the lives of everyone in the world. One soul at a time.
A special announcement for all my Australian friends. Please support this and the ICPA....
February 24-26, 2007:
The ICPA is going "down under` to the Dynamic Growth Congress this February. Sponsored by the Australian Spinal Research Foundation this year`s theme is "Kids and Chiropractic". This program looks fantastic for chiropractors interested in caring for children. Be sure to visit the ICPA booth (# 25) and attend the ICPA "Tea Time" in the Verandah Room on Saturday morning to find out more about us. Click here: http://www.spinalresearch.com.au/Events/default.html to view the great speaker line up and registration.
ALERT: EPA TO ALLOW PESTICIDE TESTING ON ORPHANS & MENTALLY HANDICAPPED CHILDREN
Public comments are now being accepted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on its newly proposed federal regulation regarding the testing of chemicals and pesticides on human subjects. Earlier this year, Congress had mandated the EPA create a rule that permanently bans chemical testing on pregnant women and children, but the EPA`s newly proposed rule puts industry profits ahead of children`s welfare. The rule allows for government and industry scientists to treat children as human guinea pigs in chemical experiments in the following situations:
Medical journal says Vioxx data withheld
Pharmaceutical giant Merck was accused Thursday by the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine of knowingly withholding data on three heart attacks related to its controversial painkiller Vioxx in an influential medical study it published in November 2000.
The journal said Merck`s conduct and that of three physicians who conducted the clinical trials undermined the study`s integrity and its conclusions.
Merck put Vioxx on the market in 1999, prior to the publication of the study, and withdrew the drug on Sept. 30, 2004, after further research showed the arthritis drug doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke with long-term use.
The journal`s disclosure came just as a jury in Houston began deliberations in the first federal civil lawsuit against Merck alleging a connection between Vioxx and users` deaths.
The pharmaceutical maker faces about 7,000 civil lawsuits related to a drug that was used by more than 20 million people and generated more than $2.5 billion in sales last year. It has lost one previous related lawsuit and prevailed in another.
Merck rebutted the journal`s commentary, contending it "fairly and accurately described the results of the study" at the time it submitted the initial results. Merck said it later disclosed the "additional events" to the Food and Drug Administration and the public.
However, the journal says that data related to the three heart attacks was deleted on a data diskette copy of the manuscript "before it was submitted."
The editors said journal personnel never reviewed the diskette until October 2004, days after Vioxx was withdrawn from the market, having worked on a paper copy of the study.
Even then, the journal said, it was unaware that data were missing until its executive editor, Dr. Gregory Curfman, was deposed by plaintiff attorneys in Vioxx litigation before Thanksgiving.
New York attorney Christopher Seeger, whose office has filed more than 100 Vioxx cases, suggested that the publication`s revelation should be brought to the judge`s attention if Merck wins the case now before the Houston jury, because it "could have had an impact on the outcome."
"This changes the whole ballgame," said Daniel Becnel, co-lead plaintiff`s counsel in hundreds of Vioxx cases in federal court. "They`re never, ever going to be able to say, `We told you everything.` "
Testimony related to the study`s findings has been central to all three trials to date. One of the study`s authors, Dr. Alise Reicin, Merck`s vice president for clinical research, testified Wednesday that the company never misled doctors or the public about Vioxx studies.
The journal, however, contends that "at least two" of the study`s three authors knew of the additional heart attacks up to 4 1/2 months before publication. "There was ample time to include the data on these three additional infarctions in the article," the journal`s editors wrote.
FDA researcher David Graham, who last year accused his agency of trying to block publication of a critical study he did on the drug, called Merck`s argument "a fig leaf to hide behind."
"What other pieces of information might have been withheld?" he asked.
Alastair Wood, who chaired an FDA advisory committee meeting on Vioxx and other related drugs in February, affirmed, "The integrity of the system has suffered."
When Eating Your Vegetables
Makes You Sick
Illnesses Tied to Produce
Become Far More Common
As Consumption Rises
By JANE ZHANG
Staff Reporter of THE
November 30, 2005; Page D1
More Americans are eating their vegetables. But the healthy trend comes with a risk: Illnesses traced to fresh produce are on the rise.
Fruits and vegetables are now responsible for more large-scale outbreaks of food-borne illnesses than meat, poultry or eggs. Overall, produce accounts for 12% of food-borne illnesses and 6% of the outbreaks, up from 1% of the illnesses and 0.7% of outbreaks in the 1970s, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, meat-related E. coli infections have been on the decline.
Several factors are responsible: the centralization of produce distribution, a rise in produce imports, as well as the growing popularity of pre-chopped fruits and vegetables. Both the government and the industry have identified five products that are particularly problematic: tomatoes, melons (especially cantaloupes), lettuce, sprouts and green onions.
Last month, Dole Food Co. recalled 250,000 bags of pre-cut salads after Minnesota buyers were infected with E. coli bacteria, some severe enough to be hospitalized. Two years ago, green onions imported from
In response, the federal government is stepping up efforts to get everyone along the produce chain -- growers, processors, supermarkets and restaurants -- to clean up their acts. Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration issued a strongly worded letter -- its second in 20 months -- to the
A group within the FDA is pushing to expand certain food-safety practices beyond food processors to cover those who harvest, store and distribute raw agricultural products. The produce industry, too, is developing detailed guidelines covering each step of the journey to market. The first publication, a 32-page farm-to-fork report on melons, was submitted to the FDA early this month and was released to the industry Monday, says James R. Gorny, a vice president of United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association, a trade group. Among the recommendations: delaying harvest or extra washing after heavy rains, which increase the likelihood of contamination from the soil.
Scientists often have trouble tracing how fresh fruits and vegetables become contaminated. Even washed vegetables can be subject to contamination. Last July, salmonella-tainted tomatoes sickened 561 people in 18 states and in
But scientists do know that fruits and vegetables with protective skins, such as melons and tomatoes, are more easily penetrated by bacteria when the skin is broken. American consumers and restaurants increasingly are purchasing melons, tomatoes and other produce that are pre-cut and packaged. Sales of fresh-cut produce -- mainly sold in clear bags -- reached $12.5 billion in 2004, almost four times their sales in 1994, says Roberta L. Cook, an agricultural economist at
Vicki Nibecker of
Food processors say that they go to great lengths to reduce the risk of contamination. But government food-safety experts say the greater the number of steps between farm and table, the greater the opportunity to introduce food-borne illnesses. And, because packages advise that washing precut produce isn`t necessary, consumers often don`t wash it.
Regulators say that the supply chain has grown longer and more complicated, covering growers, harvesters, packers, shippers and sellers. That increases the opportunities for contamination. For instance, shippers might use the same container for lettuce and meat or might not maintain low enough temperatures for the storage of fresh produce.
Centralized distribution of produce also enables any contamination to spread to a wider area and makes it harder to trace the source of a disease outbreak. The FDA, which regulates fruits and vegetables, doesn`t conduct inspections of them unless there are particular safety concerns or research needs. The Agriculture Department conducts daily inspections on the meat, poultry and egg plants it oversees.
At the same time, more produce is grown overseas. Robert E. Brackett, director of the FDA`s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, says the agency is stepping up scrutiny of imported fruits and vegetables; more imports need to come with production dates and farm information.
For some trial lawyers, problems with produce have been a gold mine. Bill Marler, a lawyer in Seattle, Wash., who handled a 1993 Jack in the Box Inc. case involving E. coli in hamburgers, has since turned to suing suppliers and restaurants on behalf of hundreds of people who became sick after eating lettuce, cantaloupe, sprouts, spinach and green onions. In August, one of his 100 clients won $6.25 million after contracting hepatitis A from eating green onions from
Restaurants, often the first ones hit by lawsuits after an outbreak, have stepped up monitoring their suppliers` safety programs, says Donna Garren, a vice president at the National Restaurant Association. "Lawsuits and liability go down the chain," she says.
An analysis of government data by the Center for Science in the Public Interest shows there were 554 produce-related outbreaks infecting 28,315 people from 1990 to 2003. Vegetables caused 205 of them, sickening 10,358, while fruits caused 93 outbreaks with 7,799 cases. The remaining outbreaks were traced to dishes that included produce. Produce was associated with the most large outbreaks -- those involving more than 200 people -- though seafood caused more outbreaks overall.
The outbreaks have put government officials "in a quandary" as they try to find a balance between touting the benefits of fresh produce and alerting consumers of potential hazards, says Dr. Brackett. They don`t want to muddy the message that eating veggies is healthy, especially now that Americans are eating more fruits and vegetables. Per-capita consumption of fresh produce rose to 332 pounds in 2004 from 287 in 1990, according to the Produce Marketing Association, a trade group.
One thing officials stress is the importance of washing. A survey published in the Journal of Food Protection in 2002 found that 6% of consumers seldom or never wash fresh produce, more than 35% don`t bother to wash melons, and nearly half don`t wash their hands before handling fresh produce. The study estimated that each year 65 million to 81 million Americans become sick from eating food prepared at home.1
Congressman Ron Paul introduced H.R. 4282 bill,
(http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul288.html) the Health Freedom
Protection Act, to the House of Representatives. The bill is intended to
restore First Amendment rights of consumers to receive truthful
information regarding the benefits of foods and dietary supplements and
to stop the FDA and FTC from censuring this information.
PLEASE take a moment to read the bill and educate yourself on the
issues and then write your State Representative and tell them how you
feel about protecting your rights to obtain truthful information about
the benefits of food and herbs by simply clicking here:
http://www.healthactioncenter.com/ctt.asp?u=3978495&l=110761
hese will will put a sweet chuckle in your heart for today! These have to be original and genuine - no adult is this creative!! MELANIE (age 5) asked her Granny how old she was. Granny replied she was so old she didn`t remember any more. Melanie said, "If you don`t remember you must look in the back of your panties. Mine say five to six." STEVEN (age 3) hugged and kissed his Mom goodnight. "I Love you so much, that when you die I`m going to bury you outside my bedroom window." BRITTANY (age 4) had an earache and wanted a painkiller. She tried in vain to take the lid off the bottle. Seeing her frustration, her Mom explained it was a childproof cap and she`d have to open it for her. Eyes wide with wonder, the little girl asked: "How does it know it`s me? SUSAN (age 4) was drinking juice when she got the hiccups. "Please don`t give me this juice again," she said, "It makes my teeth cough." DI (age 4) stepped onto the bathroom scale and asked: "How much do I cost?" MARC (age 4) was engrossed in a young couple that were hugging and kissing in a restaurant. Without taking his eyes off them, he asked his dad: "Why is he whispering in her mouth?" CLINTON (age 5) was in his bedroom looking worried. When his Mom asked what was troubling him, he replied, "I don`t know what`ll happen with this bed when I get married. How will my wife fit in?" JAMES (age 4) was listening to a Bible story. His dad read: "The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city but his wife looked back and was turned to salt." Concerned, James asked: "What happened to the flea?" TAMMY (age 4) was with her mother when they met an elderly, rather wrinkled woman her Mom knew. Tammy looked at her for awhile and then asked, "Why doesn`t your skin fit your face?" The Sermon I think this Mom will never forget.... this particular Sunday sermon..."Dear Lord," the minister began, with arms extended toward heaven and a rapturous look on his upturned face. "Without you, we are but dust." He would have continued but at that moment my very obedient daughter (who was listening!) Leaned over to me and asked quite audibly in her shrill little girl voice, "Mom, what is butt dust?"
"You`ve got so many freckles, there`s no place to paint!" A girl in the line said to the little fella. Embarrassed, the little boy dropped his head.
His grandmother knelt down next to him "I love your freckles.When I was a little girl I always wanted freckles, she said, while tracing her finger across the child`s cheek. "Freckles are beautiful!"
The boy looked up, "Really?"
"Of course," said the grandmother. "Why, just name me one thing that`s prettier than freckles."
The little boy thought for a moment, peered intensely into his grandma`s face, and softly whispered, "Wrinkles."
******************
A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own childhood was like. "We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods."
The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this in. At last she said, "I sure wish I`d gotten to know you sooner!"
********************
When my grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly replied "I`m not sure."
"Look in your underwear, Grandma," he advised. "Mine says I`m four."
*********************
A Sunday school class was studying the Ten Commandments. They were ready to discuss the last one. The teacher asked if anyone could tell her what it was. Susie raised her hand, stood tall, and quoted,
"Thou shall not take the covers off thy neighbor`s wife."
********************** Our five-year-old son Mark couldn`t wait to tell his friend about the movie we had watched on television, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." The scenes with the submarine and the giant octopus had kept him wide-eyed.
In the middle of the telling, my husband interrupted Mark, "What caused the submarine to sink?"
With a look of incredulity Mark replied, "Dad, it was the 20,000 leaks!!"
************************
A second grader came home from school and said to her mother, "Mom, guess what? We learned how to make babies today."
The mother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. "That`s interesting," she said. "How do you make babies?"
"It`s simple," replied the girl. "You just change "y" to "i" and add "es." (Why wouldn`t an English teacher love that one???)
*************************
"Give me a sentence about a public servant," said a teacher.
The small boy wrote: "The fireman came down the ladder pregnant."
The teacher took the lad aside to correct him. "Don`t you know what pregnant means?" she asked.
Sure," said the young boy confidently. "It means carrying a child."
**************************
A grandmother was surprised by her 7 year old grandson one morning. He had made her coffee. She drank what was the worst cup of coffee in her life. When she got to the bottom, there were three of those little green Army men in the cup. She said "Honey, what are these army men doing in my coffee?"
Her grandson said, "Grandma, it says on TV, "The best part of waking up is soldiers in your cup!"
More info on the bird flu below.
The Center for Disease Control has released a list of symptoms of bird flu.
If you experience any of the following, please seek medical treatment
immediately:
1. High fever
2. Congestion
3. Nausea
4. Fatigue
5. Aching in the joints
6. An irresistible urge to shit on someone`s windshield.
POSITION :
Mom, Mommy, Mama, MaDad, Daddy, Dada, PaJOB DESCRIPTION :
Long term, team players needed, for challenging permanent work in an, often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities! Travel expenses not reimbursed. Extensive courier duties also required.RESPONSIBILITIES :
The rest of your life. Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily, until someone needs $5. Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Also, must possess the physical stamina of a pack mule and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat in case, this time, the screams from the backyard are not someone just crying wolf. Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges, such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets and stuck zippers. Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and coordinate production of multiple homework projects. Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings for clients of all ages and mental outlooks. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices. Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst. Must assume final, complete accountability for the quality of the end product. Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and janitorial work throughout the facility.POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION :
None. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass youPREVIOUS EXPERIENCE :
None required unfortunately. On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.WAGES AND COMPENSATION :
Get this! You pay them! Offering frequent raises and bonuses. A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because of the assumption that college will help them become financially independent. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.BENEFITS :
While no health or dental insurance, no pension, no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and no stock options are offered; this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth and free hugs for life if you play your cards right.
Forward this on to all the PARENTS you know, in appreciation for everything they do on a daily basis,letting them know they are appreciated
for the fabulous job they do...
An elderly Italian man lay dying in his bed. While suffering the agonies of impending death, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite Italian anisette pizelle cookies wafting up the stairs. He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed.
Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even greater effort, gripping the railing with both hands, he crawled downstairs. With labored breath, he leaned against the doorframe gazing into the kitchen.
Were if not for death`s agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven, for there, spread out upon waxed paper on the kitchen table were literally hundreds of his favorite anisette pizelle cookies. Was it heaven? Or was it one final act of heroic love from his devoted Italian wife of sixty years, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man?
Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself towards the table, landing on his knees in a crumpled posture. His parched lips parted, the wondrous taste of the cookie was already in his mouth, seemingly bringing him back to life. The aged and withered hand trembled on its way to a cookie at the edge of the table, when it was suddenly smacked with a spatula by his wife...... "Back off!" she said, "They`re for the funeral."
Here are a list of my upcoming talks and seminars. Please note that these may change.
Feb. 25 -26, 2006 K.C. Missouri Chiropractic Care for the Family - I.C.P.A.
March 4 -5, 2006 Chicago, Il. Chiropractic Care for the Family - I.C.P.A.
March 25 - 26, 2006 San Fran., Ca. Chiropractic Care for the Family - I.C.P.A.
April 1 - 2, 2006 Atlanta, Ga. Chiropractic Care for the Family - I.C.P.A.
April 8 - 9, 2006 Montreal, Canada Chiropractic Care for the Family - I.C.P.A.