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from the some-correlation-is-still-better-than-none dept.
GungnirSniper writes:
"In the US State of Washington, the rare birth defect anencephaly has become slightly more common, worrying would-be parents and baffling epidemiologists. TechTimes.com reports that the health records of a single three-county area in Washington State 'revealed 23 cases of anencephaly in 36 months, between January 2010 and 2013. This translates to a rate of 8.4 births out of every 10,000. That is four times the normal occurrence for the rare disorder.'
A group of epidemiologists working for the state's Department of Health reported finding no clear cause for the exceptional prevalence of this fatal birth defect. But they are now accused of not looking hard enough for the cause. Dr. Beate Ritz, who has done several studies on birth defects, told CNN that the data quality on medical records, which were the primary source of data used in the study, 'is so low that it's not really research'.
Washington's Department of Health has admitted that 'Medical record reviews might not have captured all information, preventing a cause from being identified,' and says its officials will continue monitoring births, and look for possible causes.
(Score: 3, Informative) by frojack on Monday March 03 2014, @04:14PM
The study they did, amounted to a medical records pull, (and probably bent a few confidentiality laws in the process).
At best it was a cursory glance, and the numbers may not (yet) warrant much further.
HOWEVER: This gets much wider play because the the nurse who noticed this works in the Richland Kennewick Pasco area (commonly called the Tri-Cities area in Wa).
This area is just downstream from the Hanford nuclear site [google.com].
Hanford [wikipedia.org] has huge underground tanks, some of which are leaking radioactive waste quite badly and apparently have been for some time.
The three counties (not mentioned in national press, but common knowledge in Washington state) all border the Columbia River and may tap the same aquifers (or river water) being polluted by Hanford leaks.
State residents are more than a bit pissed off about the Federal Governments handling of the Hanford cleanup.
So you start to see the tie in here (rightly or wrongly) with resident rage over Handord.
This kind of cluster in Minot North Dakota might not not even be noticed.
Discussion should abhor vacuity, as space does a vacuum.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Monday March 03 2014, @05:13PM
Fuck the Feds. Free Cascadia.
(Score: 1) by demonlapin on Monday March 03 2014, @07:32PM
As long as the IRB approves it, not really. And dead babies don't have privacy interests.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Monday March 03 2014, @07:53PM
One does not research dead babies.
One researches living mothers.
Discussion should abhor vacuity, as space does a vacuum.
(Score: 1) by demonlapin on Monday March 03 2014, @11:25PM