Diabetes Drugs raise Cancer Risk, Genital Gangrene

Popular diabetes Invokana Lawsuitdrugs Invokana, Farxiga, and Jardiance can raise kidney and bladder cancer risk, the risk of ketoacidosis, and the risk of genital amputations.

First introduced in 2013, these SGL2 inhibitors are supposed to work by reducing a certain protein and forcing the kidneys to flush glucose out of the body instead of absorbing it.  The problem is that altering the body’s natural processes can cause other problems.

Genital Amputations, other “Side Effects”

Invokana and the other SGL2s can raise the risk of amputations of the genitals or genital amputations.

Fournier’s Gangrene or Necrotizing Fasciitis

The diabetes drugs Invokana, Farxiga, and Jardiance have been linked to causing Fournier’s gangrene of the genitals, or necrotizing fasciitis.  The FDA reported in September 2018 that it had received reports of at least 11 people who suffered Fournier’s gangrene of the genitals from Invokana and other SGL2 drugs. All of the people required painful surgery; one of them died from the condition.

$2.5 Billion in Annual Sales

Though SGL2 inhibitors have proven dangerous or deadly for many people, these drugs account for more than $2.5 billion annually in Big Pharma profits.  Invokana alone brought its maker, Johnson & Johnson, $1 billion in sales in 2018.

Diabetes Drugs linked to Kidney or Bladder Cancer

Several studies have linked Invokana, Farxiga and Jardiance to kidney and bladder cancer:

  • December 2017:  An EMPA-REG clinical trial showed that patients taking Jardiance may have twice the risk of bladder cancer.
  • October 2017:  A joint U.S / Chinese study found a higher risk for bladder cancer with SGLT2 inhibitors.
  • June 2015:  A University of Colorado study showed that patients taking Farxiga had nearly a six-fold increased risk of suffering bladder cancer.
  • February 2015:  A study by Endocrinology Network predicted  higher risk of UTIs from SGLT2 Inhibitors; UTIs can increase risk of bladder cancer.
  • November 2014:  Invokana was linked to kidney cancer in animal studies.
  • August 2014:  A University of Taiwan study found Jardiance patients showed a five (5) times greater risk of bladder cancer.  Animals given Invokana suffered higher rates of kidney cancer.

Compensation for those Diagnosed with Kidney, Bladder Cancer

Patients who have been diagnosed with bladder or kidney cancer after taking Invokana, Jardiance or Farxiga may be entitled to compensation for medical costs, pain, suffering, and other losses.

The manufacturers of these medications may be liable for damages if the makers can be shown to have known about the drugs’ dangers but failed to properly warn doctors and patients.

Cancer risks from SGLT2 diabetes drugs first appeared before 2012 in early clinical trials.  The FDA granted approval for these drugs only on the condition that their makers would conduct more safety testing in the form of post-marketing studies.  Notably, none of these drugs’ makers have added warnings about cancer in the years since, despite several studies suggesting a raised risk.

Kidney and Bladder Cancer

The good news about kidney and bladder cancer is that these types of cancer usually have high rates of treatment success.

Bladder cancer is the 6th most commonly diagnosed type of cancer among Americans.  It usually affects males 65-85.  The three types of bladder cancer are 1.) transitional cell carcinoma, 2.) squamous cell carcinoma, 3.) adenocarcinom.

Bladder Cancer Symptoms include blood in the urine, pain in the side or back, pain during urination, and frequent urination.

Treatment of bladder cancer may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery, or immunotherapy.  The survival rate with these treatments can be as high as 77%.

Kidney cancer is the 7th most common form of cancer in the U.S.  It can affect men and women of any age. The two most common kidney cancer types are renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and transitional cell carcinoma (TCC).

Common symptoms of kidney cancer include blood in the urine, a mass in the abdomen, persistent sweating, abdomen pain, weight loss.

The most common treatment for kidney cancer is surgical removal of the affected kidney or part of it.  The survival rate for kidney cancer is around 73%, though it can be as high as 92%.

Free Legal Consultation

If you or a loved one developed bladder or kidney cancer after taking an SGL2 inhibitor drug – such as Invokana, Jardiance, or Farxiga – contact us for a free legal consultation regarding a potential lawsuit against that drug’s maker.  We work on a contingency fee basis; we don’t get paid unless we achieve financial compensation for our clients.  We look forward to speaking with you.

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Monsanto loses bid to Collect Personal Information

Monsanto fails to curtail free speech
(Oct. 6, 2018)  Monsanto might have its minions working to consolidate its dream of an agricultural business monopoly — in the EPA, the U.S. Senate, the Supreme Court of the United States, to name just a few places — but despite the heavy stacking of the deck in its favor, the biotech bully from Missouri can still be beaten. Monsanto can be beaten not only in the court of U.S. public opinion, but also in the court of law.  In September 2018, activists (sentient humans, by any other name) working to stop the Monsanto juggernaut and uncover its crimes were backed in court by a significant judicial ruling.

Monsanto had sued the citizens’ group Avaaz to force it to hand over the names of millions of people who had acted against Monsanto by signing petitions or sending money to fight it. These activists were trying to stop Monsanto from destroying our land and food with glyphosate and other patented poisons. Monsanto lost that bid to collect the activists’ personal information, thanks to a judge who recognized the dangers of allowing deep-pocketed corporations to harass and bully human beings in the U.S. court system.

Judge Hagler delivers Justice

On September 6, 2018, a Manhattan judge threw out a subpoena filed by Monsanto against Avaaz. The judge then lectured Monsanto on the importance of free speech and democracy.

The 168-page subpoena – authored by Monsanto through a New York court — would have forced  Avaaz to hand over a decade’s worth of internal campaign communications.  That list would have included the personal information of millions who signed petitions protesting Monsanto’s genetically modified crops and the company’s carcinogenic Roundup. (Wouldn’t Monsanto have loved to “roundup” those activists, if only to frighten them into submission, or name them on its next lawsuit in the kind of legal harassment which has helped the company become so deservedly infamous.)

Avaaz campaign director Iain Keith emailed members after the judge denied Monsanto’s gestapo-like quest to roundup the names and personal information of activists:  “This subpoena was terrifying and would have had Avaaz spend months and hundreds of thousands of dollars digging up and handing over to Monsanto everything anyone on our team ever said or wrote about them for YEARS. Including even the email addresses and identities of our members who had sent messages to officials about Monsanto!”

Mr. Keith said in a Facebook video:
“Monsanto was so angry about the millions of activists who fought to convince the European Union and other governments to step up and protect citizens from glyphosate that it took us to court and wanted us to hand over all of our strategies and partnerships.”

Sentient beings can only thank God the case didn’t go Monsanto’s way, and they can thank the fair judge who ruled against the biotech bully from Missouri.

Judge Shlomo S. Hagler of the Manhattan Supreme Court Justice “absolutely destroyed” Monsanto’s subpoena, said Mr. Avaaz.  Judge Hagler said, “the subpoena would have a ‘tremendous chilling effect’” and that “no member would want to have their privacy and their activity known.”

Judge Rules for Free Speech over Monsanto
We beat #Monsanto in court! The judge even said that Monsanto was trying to stop the lobbying efforts of our members. In his words, “This is America…you can speak your mind.”
— Avaaz (@Avaaz) September 6, 2018

Other Recent Wins over Monsanto:

•  The New York state attorney general charged Monsanto with fraud in 1996 and then beat the bully in court.  New York sued Monsanto over its Roundup marketing claims. The state specifically objected to Monsanto’s wild claim that Roundup was as safe as table salt. Monsanto also claimed Roundup had more than a 1,000 fold safety margin over food (whatever that even meant). Another Monsanto ad claimed, “Roundup can be used where kids and pets will play.” Monsanto never admitted any wrongdoing (poisoning the world for profit means never having to say you’re sorry), but the company nonetheless agreed to stop making such unproven claims about its glyphosate products in New York state. (Meanwhile the rest of the country is still treated to Monsanto’s misinformation over glyphosate safety.)

•  In August of this year, Monsanto was ordered to pay a dying California man $289 million for failing to warn him that using Roundup could give him non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

•  In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer announced that glyphosate – the only listed active ingredient in Roundup – was a probable human carcinogen.

World Celebrate Victory over Monsanto

The ruling for Avaaz sparked celebrations around the world. Users took to social media to voice their support for Avaaz, as well as for the judge who delivered justice.

BREAKING: Judge Hagler quash subpoena from Monsanto against Avaaz. Democracy won. Freedom of speech rules the day! #FirstAmendment
— Oscar Soria (@OscarHSoria) September 6, 2018
I love when common sense, #truth, #justice, #wisdom, #freedom, and #integrity stand tall!

Thank you @Avaaz for your courage to speak for freedom in court in response to #Monsanto subpoena. Huge gratitude to the judge who is beyond bullying, who sees simple Truth! https://t.co/FdvXFWacSZ
— Jeanine DuBois (@jrd1776) September 7, 2018

NY Supreme Court just quashed Monsanto’s subpoena against @Avaaz. I hear the judge delivered a spanking to Monsanto’s lawyers. This wouldn’t have been possible without the thousands of Avaazers who donated towards the legal defence — very grateful to them! pic.twitter.com/8HVK0PKSQ6
— Fatima-Zahra Ibrahim (@fortuashla) September 6, 2018

Avaaz Deputy Director, Emma Ruby-Sachs, said in a press release:
“It’s unbelievable, but we beat back Monsanto and won in court! Not only are we safe from this legal attack, but the judge even told Monsanto that what they were doing was anti-democratic and an attempt to ‘chill’ the voices of our members, and the voices of citizens engaged in lobbying everywhere. Monsanto can appeal, but they’d be crazy to try to take on this amazing community of almost 50 million people again.”

Monsanto acted with Malice, Oppression, Fraud
In the $289 million verdict against Monsanto last molnth, a jury of 12 determined that exposure to Monsanto’s Roundup caused cancer in 46-year-old Dewayne Johnson, a former school groundskeeper who became terminally ill with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma after he sprayed Roundup on schoolgrounds. The jury agreed with Mr. Johnson’s lawyers, who charged that Monsanto acted with “malice, oppression or fraud.”

Monsanto said it will appeal the verdict in Mr. Johnson’s case, and it will likely also appeal Judge Hagler’s ruling in the Avaaz case.  The ruling nevertheless sparked a wave of malaise among Bayer investors, pushing the stock price to its lowest in five years, and the ruling gives the rest of us hope that the Monsanto juggernaut can be stopped before it poisons the entire world even more than it already has.

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How Diabetes Drugs cause Dangerous Genital Infections

The US FDA announced on August 29, 2018 that certain diabetes drugs can cause dangerous genital infections.  The agency warned that people suffering from type 2 diabetes can be injured by a terrible “side effect.”  These popular drugs – Invokana, Invokamet, Farxiga and Jardiance — can increase the risk of a flesh-eating bacteria infecting the genitals.

The FDA issued a warning about sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, drugs  commonly prescribed for treating type 2 diabetes.  These drugs were linked, over a five-year period, to a dozen rare cases of genital infection known as Fournier’s gangrene or necrotizing fasciitis. This potentially lethal malady causes the skin to die.  All 12 patients who developed it required hospitalization, according to the FDA.  One person died.

SGLT2 Inhibitors linked to Flesh-eating Bacteria

The SGLT2 inhibitors have been linked to cases of a flesh-eating bacterial infection that attacks the perineum, the skin between the anus and the vulva or the anus and the scrotum.  An infection of the perineum affecting this part of the body is called Fournier’s gangrene.  It is a rare but potentially fatal condition.

Fournier’s gangrene is more common in men than women.  It can spread to other parts of the body, according to medical experts.  It can also rapidly progress to involve the entire genital area, and even infect the abdominal wall.

The 12 cases of this infection that the FDA saw spurned the agency into requiring that all  SGLT2 inhibitors now include a warning about this risk in the prescribing information. The medications in this class include canagliflozin (Invokana & Invokamet), dapagliflozin (Farxiga), empagliflozin (jardiance) and ertugliflozin (Steglatro). The drugs are available as single-ingredient medications or in combinations, such as with metformin.

How do these infections occur?

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body can’t remove sugar from the bloodstream.  In a diabetic, the cells fail to respond to insulin, the hormone that helps move sugar into the cells.  SGLT2 inhibitors can help lower blood sugar by causing the kidneys to remove sugar from the body through urine. This process can stabilize blood sugar levels.

Unfortunately, this process can also lead to infections, because anywhere there is higher blood sugar, there’s an increased risk of bacterial infection.  Bacteria is all over us, and a sugary environment is a great breeding ground for bacteria. When one eliminates more sugar through urine, a greater concentration of bacteria reaches into the genital area.  This area then becomes an   inviting environment for bacteria.

Bacteria can become a problem only when there is an entry point to infect, such as a small cut from shaving or a skin ulcer near the genitals.  When that happens, the infections can become serious and require many surgeries to remove all of the infected tissues, which is exactly what happened to the 12 people in the FDA report which led to the newly required warnings.

How Diabetes Drugs cause Dangerous Genital Infections

The FDA warning includes instructions for any patients taking these drugs to seek immediate medical attention if they experience any signs of swelling, itching or irritation in the genital area, or if they experience a fever above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius).  The bacteria that can cause necrotizing fasciitis can spread quickly, so it’s vital to seek immediate treatment at any sign of infection and a general feeling of ill being.

Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Options Exist

SGLT2 inhibitors are not the only game in town for those who suffer from Type 2 diabetes. Good hygiene can help minimize the risk of necrotizing fasciitis, and Type 2 diabetes can be controlled in ways which don’t involve taking SGLT2 inhibitors.

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Flu Shot Kills Young Doctor

Flu Shot Kills Young Doctor

The flu shot killed at least one young doctor, who died in Florida the day after she took the ill-fated vaccine.  A day after submitting to the deadly shot,  Dr. Marlie Eddia Dulaurier, 35, suffered anaphylaxis with vocal cord paralysis, Guillain Barré Syndrome (“GBS”) and/or Transverse Myelitis (“TM”), gastroparesis, and death.  That, at least, is what the federal government said, before the secretive US Vaccine Court awarded her family $500,000 for “compensation” in 2017.

Dr. Dulaurier’s grieving family was awarded a paltry $500,000 by the US vaccine court, which is virtually never mentioned on any national news outlet.  This arcane “court” — which allows no legal discovery that could actually elucidate the deadly dangers of a vaccine and give that vaccine a bonafide risk-benefit analysis — has paid out more than $3 billion to grieving families whose children, fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters were killed or maimed by deadly vaccines.

The Truth of Vaccine “Safety”

The truth of vaccine safety is that vaccines are not safe.  Vaccines are “unavoidably unsafe,” as even the US Supreme Court announced years before Dr. Dulaurier died from the flu shot.

The truth of vaccine safety occasionally leaks like God’s own light through the cracking iron wall of pro-vaccine propaganda that endlessly pervades and perverts every mainstream news outlet.  Virtually every national television “news” program (they call it “programming” for a reason), newspaper, magazine (owned by the same monopolies which rake in billions from so-called “vaccines”), and google-censored web search extols the virtues of vaccination.  Anyone who dares question the ingredients of a vaccine, any vaccine, or any vaccine’s production in communist China — or any other unsupervised or unknown location — is deemed a conspiracy theorist or worse, an enemy of the state, an anti-vaxxer, a lunatic bent on destroying what little is left of the American republic.

But despite the iron wall of pro-vaccine propaganda, where corporate news lackeys repeat ad nauseam the lie that no scientific study has ever shown any vaccine link with autism (despite at least 30 studies showing such a link), some truth occasionally leaks out.  Sometimes, despite the endless lies that never stop repeating themselves on television, any fool with thinking skills somewhere north of a tape worm is forced to reckon with facts.

Indisputable Vaccine Facts

The facts are that vaccines are not the panacea the CDC – with more than 56 vaccine patents of its own, in one of the most egregiously glaring conflicts of interest imaginable — would have us believe.  The facts show that vaccines are dangerous.  The facts show that the US Supreme Court itself has stated that vaccines are “unavoidably unsafe.”  The facts show that vaccines can be deadly.  Vaccines can prove deadly in the long run by compromising the immune system with a toxic assault directly to a bloodstream otherwise protected by epidermal layer and respiratory system.  They can also prove deadly in the short run, as the grieving families of Dr. Dulaurier and many others can attest.

Visit the US Court of Federal Claims, type in the key word “‘death,” and you can quickly find hundreds of court cases in which people have died from flu vaccines, from HPV vaccines, from T-dap vaccine, from polio vaccines, pneumonia vaccine, Rotovax vaccine.  You can find a person early in the list who died of pneumonia right after receiving the pneumonia vaccine. You can find people who died shortly after receiving the dubious shingles vaccine.

Related:  Shingles Vaccine?  Really?

Flu Vaccine Facts

The facts show that the flu vaccine, in particular, has most likely never worked. The fact is that the flu vaccine, for the last 70 years, has been produced using chicken eggs in a process which has rendered the flu “vaccine” at best worthless and at worst dangerous.  There is a HUGE amount  of doubt about whether the flu vaccine has ever worked for anyone to prevent even one single case of flu.  What is not in doubt is that the flu vaccine is dangerous.  The flu vaccine can kill people.  The flu vaccine has killed people.  The flu vaccine will kill more people who are foolish enough to submit to it.  We don’t know how many people the flu vaccine has killed, but we can look at several people who succumbed to the flu after taking the flu vaccine.  We do know that at least  seven elderly folks in Santa Barbara recently died from the flu after taking the flu shot. We do know that the flu vaccine killed Dr. Marlie Eddia Dulaurie.

Related:  The Great Flu Vaccine Hoax

Those who would swallow the pro-vaccine propaganda whole ignore the real science of the failed flu shot not only at their own peril, but at the peril of the rest of us who refuse it.  Anyone who takes the flu shot endangers not only themselves but also everyone with whom they come into contact, as flu-shot people shed the virus onto un-vaccinated others smarter than they.

Do us all a favor:  Learn some facts and do some research of your own before submitting to the flu shot this season.

The Vaccine “Court” Judge Laments Vaccine Injury Reports

A judge who oversaw the vaccine court in 2014 worried that if more vaccine-injury cases were filed they would all take even longer to handle than they do now.  A single vaccine injury case can take a decade to reach conclusion, and many vaccine-injured children and adults die before their cases ever reach the vaccine court.

Why Hospitals Force Vaccination

Sadly, the dead young doctor from Florida was likely forced to take the vaccine that killed her.  The reason hospitals force their workers – doctors, nurses, other caretakers, hair stylists, etc. – to take the flu vaccine is that Medicare lowers the amount of money it reimburses on all services to a hospital if a certain percentage of hospital employees are not vaccinated.  That is the dirty little secret of how the federal government forces vaccination on hospitals.  If you remember that the CDC, and consequently its bureaucrat employees, have a vested interest in promoting vaccination, you can begin to understand the reason for the subterfuge.

Do Doctors Take the Flu Shot?

A 2008 publication examined how doctors talk the talk on taking flu shots but most often don’t take it themselves.  The CDC has admitted that less than 40 percent of medical doctors and staff take the flu shot themselves.

Another Vax Fact:  All vaccines compromise natural immunity.

Should you listen to your AMA doctor re: Vaccination?

The AMA was convicted of conspiracy in an anti-trust case  in 1990.  The U.S. Court of Appeals 7th circuit found that the AMA had attempted to destroy the chiropractic profession.  Chiropractors threatened AMA profits.  The AMA was forced to pay for trying to silence and destroy the chiropractic profession.  This case proved that profits are more important than patients to the AMA — Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus.

Vaccines unproven, but decidedly dangerous

No evidence produced anywhere has ever proven that the flu vaccine works to help people avoid the flu, or that taking the flu shot is worth its life-and-death risks.  All we get is the nonsense, with no proof whatsoever, that if one takes the flu shot and then gets the flu, the “symptoms” one then suffers aren’t as bad as they would have been had the person not submitted to the shot at all.  Really?  Well, maybe the person wouldn’t have gotten the flu at all if he hadn’t been dumb enough to submit to the flu shot and compromised his immune system with the flu virus as well as various other carcinogens and unknown toxins.

Real Evidence the Flu Shot Can and Does Kill People

Real evidence has shown that the flu vaccine can kill people, and quickly. And if you’re the person who believes what you were taught in school, that the influenza outbreak of 1918 was stopped by the flu shot, you need to revisit your history.  The 1918 influenza outbreak was caused by vaccines.

Please take some time and read some vaccination history for the thinking person.  Your life and the lives of those you love may depend on your knowledge of the real facts, and the real history of vaccination.

Please read, too, how the sick medical media complex was built into the vast superstructure of brutality that it is today.  The forces aligned against humanity are great.  But the light of truth is greater, and those who love humanity and the chance humanity has to make this world a better place are on the side of God.  We shall overcome all of these people who oppose the light, and the truth, and the words of truth which must, in the end, prevail.

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Roundup Celiac Disease and Gluten Intolerance

(Sept. 28, 2018)  Celiac disease or gluten intolerance, which strike millions of people, may not be caused by the wheat itself.  These diseases may well be caused by Monsanto’s flagship product. Roundup wheat contamination occurs in most wheat in the U.S., and most people eating it are entirely unaware of its considerable danger to their health.

The Healthy Home Economist noted this past summer that she had received numerous emails from people with allergy or digestive problems that they attributed to eating wheat in the U.S. She said the stories were far too frequent to ignore. But curiously, the same people did not experience the same problems when they ate pasta while vacationing in Italy.

Related: Real Reason for Toxic Wheat not Gluten

She also noted stories from parents who wondered why their children suffered autoimmune reactions while eating American-made pasta. She also noted that her husband experienced digestive problems from eating just a “single roll in a restaurant,” while suffering no ill effects from the organic wheat she served him at home.

What’s wrong with U.S. Wheat?
She began to ask what was wrong with U.S. wheat. She determined that something was done to most U.S. wheat which was not known to most people. Because even conventionally-grown (non-GMO) wheat causes no problems for many gluten-intolerant people who eat wheat in other parts of the world, she determined that the problem goes beyond organic vs. nonorganic, gluten or hybridization of wheat.

What is done to wheat
She found that it is not the wheat itself which causes problems, but what is done to the wheat. She feared, like some other healthy food-conscious consumers, that GMO wheat was secretly invading and contaminating organic wheat in the U.S.  She reasoned that it couldn’t be the gluten or wheat hybridization, because gluten and wheat hybrids had been eaten for thousands of years without the kinds and the number of wheat-related problems we see today. She asked why it was that so many people suddenly began having problems with wheat and gluten in just the past 5-10 years.

Discovering the Culprit
She discovered the culprit while researching and speaking with a friend. She was relieved to learn that wheat had not become toxic due to its secretly being contaminated by GMOs.  On the other hand, she was horrified to learn that the reason wheat had become a problem for so many Americans was that U.S. farmers were saturating their wheat crops with Roundup just prior to harvest.

Drenched in Roundup
Common wheat harvest practice for U.S. farmers is to drench their wheat fields with Roundup several days before the harvest. This poison practice is believed to allow for earlier, easier, bigger yields.

Carcinogenic Roundup Everywhere
Monsanto’s Roundup – the killer which the World Health Organization declared a probable carcinogen in 2015 — is sprayed copiously on U.S. wheat and barley as a “desiccant” before harvest. In “conventional” farming, it has become routine in the last 15 years to use Roundup as a drying agent 7-10 days before harvest.

Dr. Stephanie Seneff of MIT has studied the issue in depth. She told attendees at a recent nutritional Conference in Indianapolis that “desiccating” non-organic wheat crops with glyphosate just before harvest came into vogue late in the 1990’s. Now, most non-organic wheat in the U.S. is contaminated with it. Dr. Seneff explained that exposing wheat to a toxic chemical like glyphosate makes the plant release more seeds, in its last gasp at life, which results in a slightly greater yield.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that 99% of durum wheat, 97% of spring wheat, and 61% of winter wheat is now treated with herbicides.

While the herbicide industry maintains that glyphosate is minimally toxic to humans, research published in the Journal Entropy strongly argues otherwise by shedding light on exactly how glyphosate disrupts mammalian physiology.

$289 Million Roundup Verdict against Monsanto 

And then there is that $289 million verdict in California where a jury of 12 determined that Monsanto and Roundup were responsible for the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma suffered by a man who used Roundup while working for a local school.

Just because Roundup doesn’t kill a person immediately doesn’t make it nontoxic. The fact is that the active ingredient in Roundup – glyphosate — lethally disrupts the all important shikimate pathway found in beneficial gut microbes. That pathway is responsible for synthesis of critical amino acids. Mental and physical health start in the stomach, and Roundup attacks the friendly flora in the human stomach, just as it attacks plants, and kills them.

People whose health is weakened or compromised by Roundup are less able to fend off the attacks of other chemicals and environmental toxins. Worse, glyphosate works slowly and insidiously over months and years. The inflammation it causes gradually infects the cellular systems of the body.

Systemic inflammation has many consequences that include:
• Gastrointestinal disorders
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• Depression
• Autism
• Infertility
• Cancer
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Alzheimer’s disease
• And more …

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Diabetes Drugs cause Gangrene

(Sept. 24, 2018)  Diabetes drugs can cause Fournier’s gangrene.  That was the shocking conclusion of the FDA last month after the agency said it received reports that 12 people contracted gangrene or necrotizing fasciitis after taking a popular diabetes drug.

Invokana, Farxiga, Jardiance, or Steglatro can raise the risk of a nightmarish flesh-eating bacteria that can infect the genitals and cause partial amputations.

A serious genital infection has been reported with the class of type 2 diabetes medicines called sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors.  The serous infection, called necrotizing fasciitis of the perineum, is also referred to as Fournier’s gangrene.

The U.S. FDA announced the infection warning on August 8, 2018 after receiving a dozen reports of individuals who had been diagnosed with the potentially fatal gangrene or necrotizing fasciitis after using an SGLT-2 inhibitor. Several of those infected people required multiple surgeries, and one person died from the infection.

What are SGLT-2 Inhibitors?

SGLT2 inhibitors — sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 – are prescribed by doctors to help lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes.  SGLT-2 drugs lower blood sugar by causing the kidneys to remove sugar through the urine.  Brand-name SGLT2 inhibitor drugs (and their active ingredients) include Invokana (canagliflozin), Farxiga (dapagliflozin), Jardiance (empagliflozin), and Steglatro (ertugliflozino).   Steglatro is also FDA approved to lower heart attack and stroke risk in adults suffering from type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

What is Fournier’s Gangrene?

Fournier’s gangrene is a life-threatening bacterial infection of tissue under the skin that surrounds the perineum’s muscles, nerves, fat, and blood vessels.  The perineum is the space between anus and scrotum in the male, and the skin between anus and vulva in the female.

Diabetes raises Risk Factors  

The FDA web site states that “having diabetes is a risk factor for developing Fournier’s gangrene.   But this condition is still rare among diabetics.  There’s a dearth of published literature regarding the occurrence of Fournier’s gangrene for men and women.  Fournier’s gangrene occurs in roughly 1.6 out of 100,000 males annually in the U.S.  It most frequently occurs in males aged 50-79 (approx. 3.3 out of 100,000).

At least 12 Diabetes Drug Gangrene Cases reported to FDA

In a five-year period since the first SGLT-2 drug was approved by the FDA — from March 2013 to May 2018 — the agency said it found 12 cases of Fournier’s gangrene in patients taking an SGLT-2 inhibitor.  That number includes only reports submitted to FDA and found in the medical literature.  The FDA admits there may be more cases about which it is not aware.  Most experts generally agree that only 1-10% of a given drug’s adverse drug events ever get reported. That would put the actual number of people injured by Fournier’s gangrene or necrotizing fasciitis from SGLT-2 drugs somewhere between 120 and 1,200.

1.7 Million SGLT-2 Prescriptions in 2017

The U.S. FDA estimates that 1.7 million patients filled a prescription for an SGLT-2 inhibitor in 2017.  The agency said the 12 Fournier’s gangrene cases it saw involved 7 men and 5 women.  All the injured people developed Fournier’s gangrene several months after filling an SGLT2 inhibitor prescription.

Diabetes Drugs cause Gangrene

The FDA said that in the 30 years prior to 2013, it had received reports of just six cases of Fournier’s gangrene (all of which occurred in men) from all other antidiabetic drug classes.

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Clergy Abuse Claims bankrupt Catholic Dioceses

Clergy abuse claims bankrupt Catholic dioceses in many cases.  In just the last 14 years, claims from more than 4,000 victims of abuse by clergy — or priest abuse — have driven 19 different Catholic dioceses or religious orders into bankruptcy.  The watchdog group BishopAccountability.org  put the bankruptcy list together in May of this year.

Related: Abuse by Clergy Lawsuit

Here is a list of 19 bankrupted Catholic dioceses or religious orders, the dates they filed for bankruptcy protection, the settlement amount they agreed to pay, the number of alleged abuse survivors.

  1. Archdiocese of Portland Oregon:  filed 7/6/04 — $75 million settlement.  At the time the archdiocese filed for bankruptcy, some 170 people had filed abuse suits.
  2. Diocese of Tucson, Arizona:  9/20/04 — $22.2 million.  At least 26 victims
  3. Diocese of Spokane, Washington:  12/6/04 — $48 million.  ~ 175 victims
  4. Diocese of Davenport, Iowa:  10/10/06 — $37 million.  156 victims
  5. Diocese of San Diego, California:  2/27/07 — $198 million. 144 victims
  6. Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska:  3/1/08 — $9.8 million.  ~ 300 victims
  7. Oregon Province of the Jesuits:  2/17/09 — $166 million.  Nearly 500 victims
  8. Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware: 10/18/09 — $77 million.  142 victims
  9. Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin: 1/4/11 — $21 million.  ~330 victims Congregation of the Christian Brothers:  4/28/11 — $16.5 million.  400+ victims
  10. Diocese of Gallup, New Mexico: 11/12/13 — $22 million.  ~ 57 victims
  11. Diocese of Stockton, California: 1/15/14 — $15 million.
  12. Diocese of Helena, Montana: 1/31/14 — $20 million. 362 victims
  13. Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minn.: 1/16/15 — $210 million.  ~400 victims
  14. Diocese of Duluth, Minnesota: 12/7/15 — Ongoing
  15. Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota:  3/3/17 — Ongoing
  16. Diocese of Great Falls-Billings Montana: 3/31/17 — $20 million.  86 victims (pending judicial approval)
  17. Crosier Fathers and Brothers Minnesota & Arizona: 6/1/17 — $25 million.  400+
  18. Diocese of St. Cloud, Minnesota:  intention announced 2/28/18 — Ongoing

More Catholic Dioceses’ and Religious Orders’ Settlements  

Catholic dioceses and religious orders have paid out nearly $3 billion in out-of-court settlements since the mid 1980s, according to BishopAccountability.org.  Here is a list of the major awards and settlements since 2000, the place, the amount paid out, the number of alleged victims.

2000-03-15:  Santa Rosa, California — $1.6 million – 4 victims

2000-12-04:  Los Angeles, California: $5.2 million — 1

2001-03-08:  Bridgeport, Connecticut — $15 million — 26

2001-12:  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma — $5 million — 1

2002-01-30:  Tucson, Arizona — $14 million — 11

2002-04-01:  Orange and LA, California — $1.2million — 1

2002-06:  Los Angeles, California — $1.5 million — 1

2002-06-14:  Omaha, Nebraska —  $800.000 — 1

2002-08-23:  Orange, California — $400.000 — 1

2002-09-04:  Los Gatos, California — Jesuits — $7.5 million — 2

2002-09-09:  Providence, Rhode Island — $13.5 million — 36

2002-09-18:  Boston, Massachusetts — $10 million — 86

2002-10-10:  Manchester, New Hampshire — $950.000 — 16

2002-11-26:  Manchester, New Hampshire — $5.1 million — 62

2003-01-09:  Boston, Massachusetts (Jesuits) — $5.8 million — 15

2003-01-29:  Metuchen, New Jersey — $800,000 — 10

2003-03-13:  Camden, New Jersey — $880,000– 23

2003-05-08:  Manchester, New Hampshire — $815.000 — 4

2003-05-22: Manchester, New Hampshire — $6.5 million — 61

2003-05-22: Manchester, New Hampshire — $2.1 million — 33

2003-06-10:  Louisville, Kentucky — $25.7 million — 243

2003-06-30: San Bernardino, California — $4.2 million — 2

2003-07-01:  Chicago, Illinois — $1.9 million — 1

2003-07-10:  Chicago, Illinois — $4 million — 4

2003-08-14 — Tucson, Arizona — $1.8 million — 5

2003-09-09 — Boston, Massachusetts — $84.2 million — 552

2003-09-11 — Seattle, Washington — $7.9 million — 15

2003-10-02 — Chicago, Illinois — $8 million — 15

2003-10-11 — Covington, Kentucky — $5.2 million — 27

2003-10-16 — Bridgeport, Connecticut — $21million — 40

2003-11-24 — Oakland, California — $1 million — 1

2003-12-04 — Covington, Kentucky — $1million — 5

2004 — Bridgeport, Connecticut — $40,000 — 2

2004-01-23 — Oakland, California — $3 million — 1

2004-01-28 — Covington, Kentucky — $2 million — 7

2004-04-15 — St. Petersburg, Florida — $1.1 million — 12

2004-04-21 — St. Louis, Missouri — $1.7 million — 1

2004-05-27 — Altoona-Johnstown, Pennsylvania — $3.7 million — 21

2004-07-03 — Toledo, Ohio — $500,000 — 2

2004-08-17 — Springfield, Massachusetts — $7.8 million — 46

2004-08-20 — Toledo, Ohio — $1.2 million — 23

2004-08-26 — St. Louis, Missouri  — $2 million — 18

2004-09-22 — Miami, Florida — $3.4 million — 23

2004-10-08 — Newark, New Jersey — $1 million — 10

2004-10-28 — Davenport, Iowa — $9 million — 37

2004-12-02 — Orange, California — $100 million — 91

2004-12-17 — Seattle, Washington — $1.8 million — 12

2004-12-23 — Oakland, California — $6.3 million — 3

2005-02-15 — Paterson, New Jersey — $5 million — 27

2005-03-08 — Cincinnati, Ohio — $3.2 million — 120

2005-03-24 — Oakland, California — $437,000 — 1

2005-03-31 — Fort Worth, Texas — $1.4 million — 1

2005-04-07 — Fairbanks, Alaska-Jesuits — $1 million — 1

2005-04-09 — Fort Worth, Texas — $2.7 million — 1

2005-04-15 — Oakland, California — $1.9 million — 2

2005-04-20 — San Francisco, California — $5.8 million — 4

2005-04-22 — Santa Rosa, California — $3.3 million — 1

2005-05 — Orlando & St. Augustine, Florida — $1.5 million — 3

2005-05-09 — Davenport, Iowa — $1.9 million — 1

2005-05-19 — Stockton, California — $3 million — 1

2005-06-10 — San Francisco, California — $21.2 million — 15

2005-06-10 — Seattle, Washington — $1.7 million — 4

2005-06-29 — Sacramento, California — $35million — 33

2005-06-30 — Boston, Massachusetts — $33.1 million — 257

2005-07-01 — Santa Rosa, California — $7.3million — 8

2005-07-08 — San Francisco, California — $16.0 million — 12

2005-08-05 — Oakland, California — $56 million — 56

2005-08-27 — Seattle, Washington – Benedictines — $2.6 million — 7

2005-09-02 — San Francisco, California — $4 million — 4

2005-10-11 — San Francisco, California — $2.6million — 2

2005-11-01 — Hartford, Connecticut — $22million — 43

2006-01-09 — Covington, Kentucky — $2.5 million — 19

2006-01-09 — Covington, Kentucky — $79 million — 243

2006-02-21 — Dubuque, Iowa — $5 million — 20

2006-03-13 — Los Angeles, California – Franciscans — $28 million — 25

2006-03-16 — Jackson, Mississippi — $5.1 million — 19

2006-04-01 — Seattle, Washington — $1 million — 2

2006-06-30 — Boston, Massachusetts — $6.3 million — 86

2006-08-04 — Anchorage, Alaska and Boston, Massachusetts — $1.4 million — 5

2006-09-01 — Milwaukee, Wisconsin — $16.7 million — 10

2006-10-27 — Los Angeles, California – Carmelites — $10 million — 7

2006-11-30 — Norwich, Connecticut — $1.1 million — 1

2006-12-01 — Los Angeles, California — $60 million — 45

2006-12-16 — Washington, D.C. — $1.3 million — 16

2007-01-05 — Denver, Colorado — $1.5 million — 15

2007-03-27 — Dubuque, Iowa — $2.6 million — 9

2007-03-29 — Fairbanks, Alaska and Oregon Province of Jesuits — $1.9 million — 4

2007-05-10 — Rockford, Illinois — $2.2 million — 2

2007-05-16 — Portland, Oregon — $1.3 million — 2

2007-05-18 — Rockville Centre, New York — $11.4 million — 2

2007-05-29 — Chicago, Illinois — $6.6 million — 15

2007-06-30 — Boston, Massachusetts — $2.1 million — 34

2007-07-14 — Los Angeles, California — $660 million — 508

2007-07-30 — Charleston, South Carolina — $10.3 million — 80

2007-08-30 — Charleston, South Carolina — $1.375 million — 11

2007-09-07 — San Bernardino, California — $15.1 million — 11

2007-09-13 — Santa Rosa, California — $5 million — 10

2007-10-05 — Orange, California — $6.6 million — 4

2007-10-19 — St. Louis, Missouri – Marianists — $160,000 — 1

2007-11-16 — Fairbanks, Alaska – Jesuits — $50 million — 110

2008-01-04 — Spokane, Washington – Jesuits — $4.8 million — 16

2008-01-18 — Wilmington, Delaware — $450,000 — 1

2008-04-10 — Dubuque, Iowa — $4.7 million — 18

2008-05-13 — Burlington, Vermont — $784,000 — 1

2008-05-14 — Los Angeles, California – Salesians — $19.5 million — 17

2008-06-30 — Boston, Massachusetts — $5.4 million — 55

2008-07-01 — Denver, Colorado — $5.5 million — 18

2008-08-12 — Chicago, Illinois — $12.6 million — 16

2008-08-19 — Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri — $10 million — 47

2008-08-27 — Belleville, Illinois — $5 million — 1

2008-08-29 — Providence, Rhode Island — $1.3 million — 4

2008-09-11 — Chicago, Illinois — $2.5 million — 1

2008-09-18 — Chicago, Illinois — $1.7 million — 1

2008-10-30 — Pueblo, Colorado – Marianists — $4.2 million — 23

2008-11 — Seattle, Washington – Christian Bros — $7.2 million — 11

2008-12-03 — Springfield, Massachusetts — $4.5 million — 59

2008-12-17 — Burlington, Vermont — $784,000 — 1

2009-01-29 — Seattle, Wash. – Christian Brothers — $7 million – 13

2009-02-28 — Memphis, Tennessee — $2 million — 1

2009-04-08 — Wilmington, Delaware — $1.5 million — 1

2009-06-03 — Monterey, California — $1.2 million — 1

2009-06-30 — Boston, Massachusetts — $3.6 million — 27

2009-07-21 — Chicago, Illinois — $3.9 million — 6

2009-10-09 — Burlington, Vermont — $784,000 — 1

2009-10-22 — Belleville, Illinois — $1.2 million — 1

2009-10-28 — Savannah, Georgia — $4.2 million — 1

2009-11-05 — Portland, Maine — $200,000 — 1

2010-05-03 — Indianapolis, Indiana — $199,000 — 1

2010-05-13 — Burlington, Vermont — $17.6 million — 26

2010-06-10 — Charlotte, North Carolina and Capuchins — $1.2 million — 1

2010-08-11 — Lansing, Michigan — $250,000 — 1

The sheer number of these heinous abuse cases staggers the mind.  If the Catholic church expects to remain a viable institution in the world, it would seem that those in charge of running the church have no choice but to clean house entirely.  It doesn’t take a genius to see that church leaders need to perform the kind of soul-searching which they endlessly encourage in their parishioners.  The sheer number of abuses can represent nothing more than a systemic problem at the very heart of the Catholic church itself, as well as systemic problems at some of the religious orders which also clearly suffer from something rotten inside their very foundations.

We can pray for those leaders to do better.  But we must also hold them accountable by the law for their moral and professional failures to protect the young from unspeakable abuse at the hands of trusted elders.  

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Houston Protest at Catholic Church

(Sept. 17, 2018)  A Houston protest at a Catholic church was attended by about a dozen people on  Sunday last week.   The Houston Chronicle reported that protesters handed out flyers at Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart downtown.  Their goal was to call attention to the church’s systemic child sex abuse problem.  The protesters were prompted anew following abuse by clergy reports that came from a Pennsylvania grand jury last month.

The protesters called on the Catholic Church to address abuse by clergy that was revealed in the Pennsylvania grand jury’s report.

Protect Our Children!

Churchgoers who left 9 a.m. mass were met with signs that read, “Protect our Children!” and “Speak Up, Speak to Police, Speak Out!”

The protest was led by SNAP – Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“What we’re asking for is transparency,” said Michael Norris, leader of the Houston chapter.

Related:  Abuse by Clergy Lawsuit

A survivor of  sexual assault by a priest in Louisville, Kentucky, Mr. Norris is also asking for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to investigate the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.  He is asking for the removal of two diocesan priests who have been accused of sexual abuse.

“You will find the same filth that we found in Pennsylvania right here in Houston, Texas,” Mr. Norris told the Houston Chronicle.

Julie Rhoades, an attorney with Matthews and Associates, has represented survivors of sexual abuse by priests.  She said her boss encouraged her and other lawyers at the firm to attend and advocate to raise awareness.

“It’s heartbreaking,” she told the Chronicle.  “I had my first cases back in the late 2000s.  It doesn’t seem like things have changed much since then.  (I) thought things were better. And then you hear one more scandal breaks after another.”

Cardinal DiNardo under fire from Texas’ Catholic Victims

In a Texas Catholic Herald article dated Sept. 11, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston Daniel Cardinal DiNardo wrote that he shares the anger and rage felt by survivors.  He asked for prayers to bring accountability to the church. He admitted failure, writing, “I realize in spite of the progress made in 2002 that we, the bishops of the United States, have failed you,” he said. “We can and must do better.”

But recent charges against a priest in Cardinal DiNardo’s jurisdiction suggest that he himself also may have failed to protect parishioners from an accused pedophile priest.

Houston Protest at Catholic Church

Cardinal DiNardo, who is leading a delegation to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis to discuss the church’s pedophile abuse crisis, has been accused by two Texans of not doing enough to stop a Houston-area priest who was arrested last week on sexual abuse charges.

Manuel LaRosa-Lopez was arrested last week by Conroe police.  He stands accused of fondling two people when they were underage teenagers while he was a priest at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe. He is charged with four counts of indecency with a child. Each count carries a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison.

Mr. LaRosa-Lopez is the current pastor at St. John Fisher Catholic Church in Richmond, and also the archdiocese’s episcopal vicar for Hispanics.

One of the alleged victims was flown by the church from the West Coast to Houston to meet with Cardinal DiNardo and the victims’ assistance coordinator for the archdiocese. They met at the archdiocese on the afternoon of Aug. 10, 2018.

The alleged victim shared with the Associated Press a copy of the notes he took.

Cardinal seemed Dismissive

“Cardinal seemed dismissive of situation,” the alleged victim’s notes read.  He also wrote down what he says is a quote from DiNardo: “You should have told us sooner.”

“It was a dismissive tone,” he recalled. “In the back of my head, I was thinking about his comment. I was so mad afterward.”

Both said they had believed their cases were too old to prosecute under statute of limitations laws. But in 2007, the Texas Legislature removed the statute of limitations for indecency with a child cases.  Montgomery County prosecutors say that change means their cases remain eligible to be prosecuted now.

SNAP has called for the Texas attorney general to investigate the Houston archdiocese and others for whether they covered up sexual abuse in their ranks.

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Texas Priest faces Sexual Abuse Charges

(Sept. 12, 2018)  A Texas priest faces sexual abuse charges in Montgomery County.   Conroe police say the alleged sex crimes with children happened over several years’ time, from the late 1990’s to the early 2000’s.

The priest was a former employee of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe.  The Conroe Police Department reported that he has been charged with four counts of indecency with a child. The police say they took two separate criminal reports which named Manuel La Rosa-Lopez as a person who victimized children.

Houston-Area Priest

While Montgomery police identified the accused man as an employee of the church, multiple online profiles and church websites identify Mr. La Rosa-Lopez as a priest who still works in the Houston area.  Mr. La Rosa-Lopez turned himself in to the Montgomery County Jail on Sept. 11, 2018.

Cardinal DiNardo relocated Priest after accusations

The Associated Press reported this afternoon that Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston has been accused by two people of not doing enough to stop Father La Rosa-Lopez from abusing children.

Both people told the AP they met with Cardinal DiNardo, one in August 2018, the other several years ago.  One of them said she was promised that Mr. La Rosa-Lopez would be removed from any contact with children.  She later discovered that the priest remained in active ministry at another parish 70 miles away.

The Archdiocese released the following statement today:

In 2001, a then-16 year old girl and her family notified this Archdiocese that Fr. Manuel La Rosa-Lopez had kissed and touched her inappropriately when he was assigned as Parochial Vicar at Sacred Heart in Conroe. We immediately referred this information to Children’s Protective Services for further investigation.

Father La Rosa-Lopez denied touching the girl inappropriately, and the girl’s family decided not to pursue the matter, relocating out of the country that same year. After an internal review, including presentation of the above allegations to the newly founded Archdiocesan Review Board in 2003, Father La Rosa-Lopez was permitted to return to parish ministry in 2004.

Following her return to the U.S., the Archdiocese, in accordance with our commitment to provide pastoral outreach, provided the young woman with counseling services for a period of time, until she decided to discontinue her therapy.

For the last 17 years, no other allegations of inappropriate conduct involving minors were presented against Father La Rosa-Lopez until 2018. During an interview in Houston on August 10, 2018, a 36 year old man formally presented an allegation to the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston stating that Fr. Manuel La Rosa-Lopez sexually abused him from 1998 through 2001, when he was a high school student and Father La Rosa-Lopez was still assigned at Sacred Heart in Conroe.

The Archdiocese immediately reported this allegation to Children’s Protective Services as well. Father La Rosa-Lopez has denied these allegations of sexual abuse. . .  

. . . The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston recognizes it clearly has both a legal and a moral obligation to address any incidence of abuse — sexual or otherwise — to God’s children.

Such behavior simply will not be tolerated. To anyone affected by any form of abuse by anyone who represents the Church, the Archdiocese deeply regrets such a fundamental violation of trust, and commits itself to eliminating such unacceptable actions.

States Rolling Back Statutes to Allow Victims Leeway

Many states are beginning to roll back statutes of limitations to allow victims of sexual abuse more time in which to file a claim.  In many states, people who allege they were victimized as children by clergy or others have only until they turn 30 to file a lawsuit against their perpetrator(s).  Some states allow lawsuits to proceed against child sex abuse predators until the victim reaches 50.  But it is not unusual for a sexually abused person to come forward after age 30 or even after age 50.  Consequently, several states – such as Minnesota and others — have passed legislation allowing victims a new 3-year grace period of time in which to file a lawsuit against their alleged perpetrator(s).  In those states, a person can file a sexual abuse lawsuit at any age, in they do so in the newly granted grace period.

Pennsylvania state is considering such a move to grant long-reticent victims  a reprieve from their private suffering.  The state was rocked by a Catholic church scandal last month after a grand jury determined that more than 300 Catholic priests in one Philly-area parish had sexually abused more than 1,000 children, and quite possibly thousands more.

Abuse by Clergy Lawsuit

Our law firm is investigating priest abuse lawsuits in Texas, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere.  If you or a loved one was abused by a Catholic priest or other clergy, contact us for a free, confidential consultation regarding an abuse by clergy lawsuit.

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Catholic Church pays $1 Million to settle Sex Abuse Claims

(August 6, 2018)  AP Million to settle Sex Abuse Claims">reported last month that a Roman Catholic order has agreed to pay $1 million to eight people who say they were sexually abused by two Massachusetts priests.  The victims’ attorney said the sex-abuse claims were brought to the attention of the Augustinians about a year ago, and the parties reached an out-of-court settlement during mediation.

En Español:  La iglesia catolica paga 1 millon para transar las demandas de abuso sexual

The Boston Globe reported that five men and three women were allegedly abused by the Revs. John Gallagher and Robert Turnbull in the 1970s and early 1980s, when the victims were 9 to 12 years old. Both the accused priests have since died.

Related:  Abuse by Clergy Lawsuit

A Cry for Help Ignored

One of the victims wrote about her abuse to the late Cardinal Bernard Law, said her attorney, Mitch Garabedian.  He said that letter proved the former archbishop of Boston knew of sexual abuse by priests.  Cardinal Law, who died last year, was also at the center of a sex abuse scandal while he reigned, and he is also part of the recent Pennsylvania grand jury report on runaway sex abuse by clergy.

The president of Road to Recovery Inc., Robert Hoatson, made the announcement regarding the  settlement outside St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Boston.  Mr. Hoatson, a priest sex-abuse survivor himself, said the settlement avoided bringing a lawsuit against the Augustinians. His nonprofit charity in New Jersey assists sexual abuse victims and encourages them to come forward with their stories.

Mr. Garabedian said three of his clients, now adult women, were abused by a former parish priest who also performed as a coach at St. Mary’s in Lawrence between 1973 and 1976.  Father Gallagher was a swim coach and basketball coach for CYO.  He abused young girls on the two teams in the rectory, and also on field trips, including one to Saratoga, New York.

Mr. Garabedian said five other people, now adult males, were abused by a priest who was also a teacher and an athletic equipment manager when the victims (then 13-14) attended Austin Preparatory School in Reading between 1977 and 1981.

“He would sexually abuse my clients (fondling and some digital penetration) at the Northmeadow Health & Racquet Club in Tewksbury, in the showers and in the swimming pool,” said Mr. Garabedian.  “He would also sexually abuse them in a room next to his classroom at Austin Prep.

He found it difficult to believe Father Turnbull’s supervisors did not know he was sexually abusing children, because rumors swirled about the priest among students.

“His supervisors turned their backs on innocent children,” said Mr. Garabedian.

Woman:  “This pain is still with me. . . ”

Mr. Hoatson said that one of Father Gallagher’s victims was sexually abused when she was attending fourth, fifth and sixth grade at the Catholic Inter-Parochial schools in Lawrence. Those schools were St. Mary, St. Lawrence and Holy Rosary. The woman gave details in the letter she wrote to Cardinal Law:  “Typically, Father Gallagher would have me and my friends with him for some reason: to paint the gym, to count out the money from collections, because he was our coach. . .  While the rest of the girls would be doing the work, he would call one of us to him.”

“As he sat facing the girls working, he would tell me to climb on his lap. This way I could not see the other girls. He would wrap my legs around him so that I was straddling him. He would push me very close to him. (and) would insist that I hug him tightly and kiss him.  (When) he finished with me, he would release me and call up another girl and repeat his act on her.”

Mr. Hoatson said the woman told Cardinal Law that it was her desire to see Father Gallagher punished for the pain he caused her.  “This pain is still with me and will be a part of my being forever,” wrote the woman in her letter.

Cardinal Law should have warned parishioners and the public about FatherGallagher, but instead he “participated in the coverup,” Mr. Garabedian said.

Catholic Church pays $1 Million to settle Sexual Abuse Claims

Instead of being disciplined and dismissed, predator priests such as Father Gallagher were shuffled from one parish to another, which is a claim that was also made by the recent Pennsylvania grand jury, which found that 300 Catholic priests had abused more than 1,000 children.

“The cardinal or archdiocese had an obligation to inquire as to why these individuals were transferred into the Archdiocese of Boston,” said Mr. Garabedian.  The church’s failure to have the pedophile predators screened, and to be forthcoming about their possible history of sexual abuse, he said, “is another indication of  how the Catholic Archdiocese has failed miserably to protect children.”

5,000+ Victims of Abuse by Clergy

Mr. Hoatson said that since forming in 2003, his organization has provided a range of support services to more than 5,000 victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families.

“I attend these public events as an advocate and to encourage other victims to come to me,” said Mr. Hoatson.   He knows the territory.   He was a victim of clergy sexual abuse himself as a child, and he later served as a Catholic priest for 14 years.

“We’ll do anything to help a victim get on the road to recovery,”  he said.

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