“State hospital patient with AIDS petitions for early release - Statesman Journal” plus 4 more

State hospital patient with AIDS petitions for early release - Statesman Journal
Politics Today: G-20 Reflects New Global Power Structure - CBS News
Rep. Frank Releases House Version of Obama's Consumer Watchdog Bill - CNBC
Trico Marine to sell two vessels for $40 million - Houston Business Journal
Improved treatment offers sickle cell patients longer lives - Shreveport Times

State hospital patient with AIDS petitions for early release - Statesman Journal

Posted: 25 Sep 2009 08:01 AM PDT

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"I don't think it's fair that people get put here under the PSRB and then have to worry about whether or not they're going to die in this hospital," he said. "If the board keeps me here, they'll turn a period of supervision basically into a death sentence."

If Anderson officially asks the review board to release him, Buckley said, the panel would weigh multiple factors, including his prognosis, reports from hospital therapists, public safety considerations and the availability of a suitable care facility in the community.

"Clearly, if the hospital felt that he could be adequately controlled in a different environment that met both public safety and his medical needs, then I'm sure the board would be open to hearing about that," she said. "Obviously, the board would need to hear from the hospital in terms of their prognosis and efforts in dealing with this issue."

Drug abuse leads to HIV

A Statesman Journal review of Anderson's hospital file, authorized by his consent, found that mental illness and drug abuse have made a shambles of his adult life.

After growing up in a boy's home in Hershey, Pa., Anderson joined the Navy when he was 17 "because I wanted to see the world."

His tour of duty took him to Sardinia, Italy, where he worked on a submarine tender for almost two years.

Shortly before he was discharged from the Navy in 1980, Anderson witnessed a grisly tragedy.

"Towards the end of his service Mr. Anderson witnessed an accident on his ship," wrote a state hospital social worker in a recent report that delved into his background. "A rope somehow beheaded one sailor, cut another in half, and injured the arm of a third individual. Mr. Anderson says that around this time … he began to experience hearing voices and having 'disjointed" thinking. He characterizes these symptoms as the beginning indicators that he had schizophrenia."

After his Navy stint, Anderson worked as a fisherman, restaurant chef and construction worker. Work-related injuries and recurring bouts of mental illness prevented him from holding steady employment after he moved to Portland around 1985.

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Politics Today: G-20 Reflects New Global Power Structure - CBS News

Posted: 25 Sep 2009 07:32 AM PDT

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Rep. Frank Releases House Version of Obama's Consumer Watchdog Bill - CNBC

Posted: 25 Sep 2009 07:03 AM PDT

House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass) has prepared an alternative version to Obama administration legislation creating a Consumer Financial Protection Agency and as promised it includes several key departures from the Obama administration bill.

Frank's discussion draft—outlined in a memo to Democratic members earlier this week, a copy ofwhich was obtained by CNBC.com—does not require companies to offer "plain vanilla" products and services or mandate "reasonableness standards", forcing the firms to determine whether consumers understand the products and services being offered.

The Frank bill also addresses the key question of funding for the consumer agency.

The bill states that the Federal Reserve "shall transfer funds in an amount equaling 10 percent of the Federal Reserve System's total system expenses" to the new agency to pay for its annual operations.

That funding will come from fees and assessments determined by the CFPA director and deposited into a special fund, known as the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Depository Institution Fund.

CNBC.com obtained a copy of the discussion draft before its release early Friday morning.

In general, Frank's version gives the agency many of the same rulemaking and enforcement powers of the White House proposal. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Frank and his committee at a public hearing Wednesday that the administration was "very supportive" of the changes.

Analysts, however, consider it less tough on financial firms by dropping the plain vanilla and reasonable standards provisions.

"Though it makes a number of changes, we're still opposed to creating a separate regulatory agency," said Scott Talbott, SVP of Government Affairs for the Financial Services Roundtable.

Frank's committee is taking up the issue of the consumer agency before the other remaining parts of the financial reform package at the request of the president.

The House already approved a bill on executive compensation in July, shortly before its August recess. Other measures include banking supervision consolidation, the creation of a super, or systemic, regulator, and resolution authority to deal with too-big-to-fail firms.

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Trico Marine to sell two vessels for $40 million - Houston Business Journal

Posted: 25 Sep 2009 07:46 AM PDT

Trico Marine Services Inc. has agreed to sell two of its North Sea-class vessels in separate agreements to unnamed buyers in Asia for a total of $40 million.

Both sales will close in October, according to the marine support company, which is based in The Woodlands.

Trico (NASDAQ: TRMA) said it plans to use the sale proceeds to pay down its European bank debt.

In addition, the company said it will suspend delivery of four new vessels in an effort to reduce capital expenditures for 2010 and 2011 by $80 million.

Meanwhile, Trico has reached an agreement with a shipyard in India for the construction of seven subsea vessels, and expects to incur about $40 million in expenditures between October 2009 and July 2010 to complete three of the vessels.

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Improved treatment offers sickle cell patients longer lives - Shreveport Times

Posted: 25 Sep 2009 07:18 AM PDT

Jennifer Mandigo doesn't let sickle cell disease slow her down.

Mandigo, of Shreveport, works full time, spends time at her children's college activities and presides over a sickle cell support group. She's looking forward to her 44th birthday, a milestone for someone with an ailment that once struck down its sufferers in childhood.

Sickle cell is a mutation that occurs in the red blood cells of some people of African, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Indian descent. Some people carry the mutation but don't suffer the disease.

Others develop the illness, in which red cells become sickle-shaped instead of round. The mutated blood cells damage and clog blood vessels, causing problems throughout a person's body.

About 800 Northwest Louisiana residents have been diagnosed with sickle cell anemia or related illnesses. Up to 80,000 U.S. residents suffer from it.

"I had a sister, and it was worse all the time for her," Mandigo said. "She passed (away) in 1991. Her illness made me start doing research, learning all I could about it."

Mandigo is among 150 patients who regularly visit a sickle cell center at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport. Money raised by the Sickle Cell Disease Association of Northwest Louisiana helps support the center, outreach efforts and education about the disease.

The organization puts on two signature fundraisers each year. Each raises about $35,000, but Executive Director Lilly Bradford hopes for more in the future.

"All of the funds that we get from fundraisers stay right here in Shreveport. They support patients," Bradford said. "We do case management services. We offer clinical support services and adult support services that include counseling, financial assistance and transportation."

Three decades ago, sickle cell patients usually died in childhood. Today, patients survive and thrive into their 40s and beyond. Besides blood transfusions to replace damaged blood cells with healthy ones, doctors can offer medication to try to stop cells from becoming damaged. The effectiveness of the medicine depends on the individual, Mandigo said.