On September 18th and the weeks following, a multitude of letters containing the Bacillus Anthracis bacterium were mailed to various New York news stations. Individuals at 5 different stations became ill with similar symptoms that included vomiting and shortness of breath. This began the nationwide panic known as the Amerithrax Investigation. The Amerithrax investigation was said to be the worst biological attacks in all of US History. Three weeks later, on October 9th, two more letters, containing the anthrax bacterium was mailed to two Democratic senators. In all of the 7 attacks, over 22 people developed infections, over half being life-threatening. The letters themselves confused federal investigators. In the sets of letters addressed to the media, certain T’s and A’s were bolded. When added together, the groups of letters formed 3 codons that corresponded to 3 amino acids. These amino acids pointed federal investigators towards a possible culprit, Bruce Edwards Ivins, a scientist for the US government in Frederick, Maryland.
Possible hidden messages in the amino acid codes seemed to authorities like possible doings of Ivins, and he was resultantly placed under watch. Authorities found a copy of a book on amino acids in Ivins’ trash, further incriminating him. Charges were placed against him, but however, on July 27th, 2008, Ivins died in the hospital, after intentionally overdosing on Paracetamol, an over-the-counter pain reliever, in what the authorities believed to be an attempt to avoid his charges. The authorities had lost their strongest suspect, and the investigation began to dwindle. The investigation included over ten thousand witnesses, spanning six continents. 1 year and 6 months later, the investigation was forma...
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...o employ qualitative analysis to combat the Anthrax scare. Because there are multiple types of Anthrax, to understand what strain was present, the investigators had to identify the strain of Anthrax that was present based on its similarities to the isolated samples of the bacteria. When a strain of anthrax was found, investigators had to compare its reactivity and qualities to those of previously isolated strains to determine exactly which strain was present. Likewise, in the lab, qualitative analysis was employed to identify the unknown precipitates by comparing the qualities of the results to the isolated qualities of each unknown compound. This was done by observing the texture and color of each precipitate, and comparing to the previously isolated unknown compounds. Qualitative analysis was an integral part in both the Amerithrax Investigation and Experiment 7.
This summer we had an opportunity to dive into the world of bioweapons, through Richard Preston’s novel The Demon in the Freezer. His book explored the colorful world of smallpox and its use as a biological weapon. Earlier this week we were graced with this authors present for an ACES event. He discussed some of the found topics in his book such as animal testing, what small pox is, and even its eradication. One of the great things we had the chance of vocalizing were our many opinions on the gloom associated with this intriguing disease.
The Demon in the Freezer is divided into eight sections. It begins with the upsetting details surrounding the sudden death of Robert Stevens, just three weeks after the attacks of September 11, 2001. An autopsy showed Mr. Stevens died of inhalation anthrax. Subsequent anthrax illnesses among people exposed to letters laced with anthrax frightened the nation. Some thought the letters might also contain smallpox, but fortunately this was not the case. “There had been only eighteen cases of inhalation anthrax in the past hundred years in the United States, and the last reported case had been twenty-three years earlier” (5). It is no wonder that people became alarmed at the threat of a major anthrax outbreak.
In 2001 the United States suffered a major terrorist attack on 9/11. A week later a new attack started, the anthrax attacks. The attacks occurred over a span of weeks. Anthrax is a type of bacteria that produces spores, which can kill people very rapidly if infected. It is not always easy to diagnose due to its nonspecific symptoms. In this case it was used as biological weapon. The attacks were not known about for a period of time until multiple cases occurred. Many people and organizations would end up working on the anthrax attack investigation, which was codenamed Amerithrax by the FBI. During the investigation the FBI had to work with the science community to try and solve the case. The problem the FBI had though was these scientists could have also been responsible for the attacks they were trying to solve. These 2001 anthrax attacks would end up being one of the most expensive and hardest to solve cases for the FBI to date (Shachtman 2011). The FBI closed the Amerithrax case 8 years after the attacks occurred.
During the fall of 2001, envelopes containing a dry, toxic powder were mailed to numerous government and news media offices. This powder was a deadly biological weapon called anthrax. As a result of these mailings, there were eleven cases of inhalational anthrax and eleven cases of cutaneous disease (Duchin, 2003). Five people died and seventeen people became seriously ill (Linkous, 2004). John Ashcroft, the attorney general of the United States during that time period, declared to the American people that a man by the name of Steven Hatfill was a person of interest in the 2001 anthrax attacks case. Later, the FBI stated Hatfill was not a suspect, nor does it use the term person of interest (Hatfill, 2002).
After his long flight, he waited in the waiting room at the Nairobi hospital, barely being able to talk to anyone. Finally, Charles Monet lost all control of his body and he began vomiting large amounts of blood along with the intestinal lining. He became a human virus bomb. A doctor, Dr. Musoke, and nurses immediately wheeled him into a room and began trying to figure out what had happened.... ...
In 1992 then pharmacist Robert Ray Courtney started diluting medications that were given to patients by injection or infusion. In 1998 a sales representative from one of the drug companies, Darryl Ashley, noted a discrepancy in the amount of drugs Courtney ordered and dispensed. Eli Lilly was notified and investigated how Courtney was supplied the drugs. Finding that he did not go outside their supply chain, Eli Lilly did not pursue the issue any further. However in 2001 Ashley mentioned this in the office of Dr. Verda Hunter who sent samples of the drug in question to a laboratory for testing (Draper, 2003). In July of 2001 a federal investigation begins and on August 15, 2001 Courtney surrenders to the FBI.
Embar-Seddon, Ed. Ayn and Allan D. Pass, Allan D. (Eds.). (2009). Ricin. Forensic science Vol.
When it comes to EHR’s a patients medical record follows them wherever they go electronically, whether it be home based care, physicians office or a hospital. Access to medical records are easily accessed through smartphones, and computers depending on the EHR system that particular person or company is using. There are many EHR systems that different health facilities use but one in particular has stuck out to me because I constantly see or hear it being used in health facilities Ive personally been too. The particular EHR system I am talking about is Meditech, and it is one of the largest electronic health record softwares that many hospitals as well as small clinics and health facilities are using in order to transfer patient information, and provide detailed information about a person’s medical history such as their medical records electronically. But lately has Meditech been facing substantial issues with their software and why is Meditech the number one ranked EHR system that is being used still despite these complications? By the end of this paper I hope to have all your answers to these questions addressed and answered.
The geriatric population is rapidly growing as individuals continue to benefit from medical advances and pharmaceutical treatments. A large number of this population will need to take some form of medication to maintain a functional lifestyle. Multiple medications can affect the elderly population differently than younger generations. This paper will discuss how polypharmacy impacts geriatrics and the will focus specifically on analgesics and antihistamines. It will also examine demographic factors, changes within the aging body, prescription and nonprescriptive medications, and the role of the nurse practitioner when caring for these patients.
Louis Pasteur, in 1881, discovered the anthrax vaccine. Anthrax is an infection caused by many bacteria cells called “Bacillus”. These bacteria make “spores” which have a protective shell. This disease is most common in farm animals. They live in soil, and affect domestic a...
“Smallpox and Bioterrorism” 6 June 2001. Center for Disease Control. 4 Nov. 2014. < http://www.bt.cdc.gov/Agent/Smallpox/FactSheet.pdf >
The Web. The Web. 10 Apr. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. http://www.drugwarfacts.org/. Miron, Jeffrey A. & Co.
Georgi Markov became sick that night and died a couple of days later. The autopsy that was conducted on the body uncovered a small pellet that had a coat of ricin on it, which is a biological poison (Mayer, p 4).
Observational documentary is the fourth form that Nicholls presents, however he argues that it presents a completely objective construction of reality, which is not true. The observational mode stresses the nonintervention of the filmmaker (Nichols, 1991, p38). Such films cede ‘control’ over the events that occur in front of the camera more than any other mode (Nichols, 1991, p38). Whilst the idea of observational documentaries is to be completely objective, it is still the directors’ decision on where to put cameras, and how to edit the film. The characters could also change their movements with the awareness of being on camera.
Creswell (2009), states that there are three types of designs, qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods. Smith and Davis (2010) states that qualitative research is a field of enquiry that is conducted in a natural setting by a researcher, who may be involved in, or may be part of the data collection process; as it utilizes the views of informants as the basis for the report. Qualitative research attempts to gain and in-depth, holistic picture of the phenomenon one wishes to study by interacting closely with the people being studied; the data collected are usually in the form of words or pictures.