MONROE — A mentally ill convicted killer has been temporarily committed to Western State Hospital after serving 20 years in the Special Offender Unit of the state prison at Monroe.
The Department of Corrections says Michael McFarland, who is classified by the state as dangerously mentally ill, was referred Wednesday for civil commitment at the mental hospital for 72 hours.
Twenty years ago, McFarland pleaded guilty to stabbing his mother to death Read the rest of this entry »

February 11, 2009 7:42 a.m. EST
Miami, FL (AHN) – The federal government will subject makers of certain prescription pain medications to a risk-management program designed to prevent the abuse of the drugs and ensure they are being prescribed properly.
The Food and Drug Administration said abuse of time-released pain killers like oxycodone, morphine and fentalyn patches has been on the rise over the last 10 years, and the agency sent letters Read the rest of this entry »

A California woman who made national headlines and inspired a movie when she shot to death the accused molester of her 12-year-old son in a courtroom 15 years ago has died. Ellie Nesler died at the University of California Davis Medical Center after a long battle with breast cancer.
Nesler’s actions were portrayed in the movie, ”
” in 1999.
In 1993, Nesler pulled out a gun in a Jamestown courtroom during a hearing for Daniel Driver, who was Read the rest of this entry »

LOS ANGELES — After a Christmas Eve slaying in suburban Covina that left nine people dead, surviving family members on Sunday were grappling with how to best care for the victims’ children.
At least 13 young people were orphaned after the shooting and two others lost a parent, according to a family attorney.
“We have to help them,” said Jose Castillo, a relative who came out to the crime scene on Sunday to pay his respects.
The shooting Read the rest of this entry »

In the end, Ellie Nesler said she was sorry for killing her son’s accused molester in a Jamestown courtroom, sorry she was in prison rather than home raising her adolescent son and daughter, sorry for the damage it caused her family for years to come.
The woman whose name became synonymous with vigilante justice, whose five bullets into the back of Daniel Driver’s head in 1993 sparked a national debate and inspired a TV movie, died Friday at UC-Davis Read the rest of this entry »

Sticking to a Mediterranean-style diet can help people live longer and protect them against major chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, a major new study has found.
What do we know already?
The Mediterranean diet is eaten by people who live around the Mediterranean in countries like Greece, Italy and Spain. It is well known for its health benefits. The diet is rich in olive oil, grains, Read the rest of this entry »

Unless new treatments are found, there could be 27 million people with cancer by 2030, and 17 million cancer deaths annually. And, there could be 75 million people living with cancer within five years after diagnosis, according to a new report,
, released Tuesday by the World Health Organization.
“The burden of cancer is shifting from developed countries to developing nations,” Dr. Otis Webb Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Read the rest of this entry »

as the world’s leading cause of death by 2010, killing more people than the combined death toll of AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, HealthDay reports. There could be 27 million new cancer cases annually by 2030, compared with an expected 12.4 million
, CNN.com reports. The projections come from the 2008 World Cancer Report, issued this week by the World Health Organization. The report names tobacco use as a major factor driving the increase. Less Read the rest of this entry »

(Media-Newswire.com) – Since the start of the war in Iraq 170 young British men have been killed in combat. In that time, 6,729 young men aged 15-34 have killed themselves in Britain².
At a time when suicide is one of the biggest killers of young men in this country, a major one-day conference hosted by the University of Reading’s Charlie Waller Institute, will examine the science, stigma and solutions associated with men’s mental health.
Held Read the rest of this entry »

An autopsy of a man who fatally shot two people and seriously injured two others before killing himself showed he did not have drugs or alcohol in his system.
The Mesa County Coroner’s office reported that toxicology testing on Stefan Martin-Urban, 22, who shot himself in the head on Oct. 12, showed he had not been drinking or using cocaine, methamphetamine or prescription drugs.
Killed on that Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. were 61-year-old dentist Read the rest of this entry »