Sad tale: accidental chemo drug prescription may have led to miscarriage

Bloomberg:

Walgreen Co. has been sued by a Missouri woman and her husband who claim she had a miscarriage after a prescription for prenatal vitamins was filled with a chemotherapy drug carrying a similar brand name.

Walgreens failed to properly supervise pharmacy personnel who dispensed the medicine to Chanda Givens instead of what her doctor prescribed, lawyers for Givens and her husband, Courtenay, said in a complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in St. Louis. Givens had a miscarriage after taking the drug for less than a month.

The difference was between "Materna" and "Matulane."

Monday roundup of interesting links

Sadly, I am elsewhere occupied until the evening.

In the meantime, however, here's the topics I would blog about at length simply linked:

• CNS: Pope OKs stricter norms for mandatory feast days in church calendar
• Against the Grain has excerpts from John Allen's Brazil coverage
• Dom has a thorough analysis of Pope Benedict's address to Brazilian bishops
• Most the texts from the Pope's trip are now up at the Vatican website
• CWNews: Tough papal challenge for Brazilian bishops // Family Day rally in Rome dwarfs expectations //Faith, not politics, will save Latin America: Pope
• Rocco takes a look at Bertone and visions, as well as Bertone visions.

And finally, what day would be complete without some Motu mania?

• the UK Times makes reference to the Alice von Hildebrand rumor
• WDTPRS notes the oddities in the article and provides some short commentary

USA Today: "Got a Catholic question? Boy, 7, has the answers"

The Religion News Service had a fun and impressive story recently regarding a child prodigy in things Catholic.

While I think the reporter isn't very used to the high standards of proficiency in their knowledge of the faith that young Catholic children are able to sometimes attain, it's still well worth the read.

Gee, I hope he doesn't start a blog - yikes!

Benedict to Brazil: Monday news links

Monday news links of-interest to those following the Pope's trip to Brazil:

• New York Times: As Pope Heads to Brazil, a Rival Theology Persists
• DPA: Pope Benedict XVI to make pro-life speeches in Brazil
• CWNews: Pope puts Brazil trip under Mary's protection
• Reuters: Pope to face shaky Church future in Latin America
• CNS: Pope asks Catholics to pray for his visit to 'continent of hope'
• Reuters: Social policies on Brazil leader's agenda with pope
• Warning: Dengue Fever outbreak reported in future Papal destination
• SperoNews: Brazil: Catholic population holds steady

Update:

• Whispers: The Church's Latin Hope
• CWNews: Brazil has lowest priest-to-laity ratio
• AP: Pope heads to Brazil on rescue mission [See? I called it.]

An extreme example of Limbo mischaracterization

The mind boggles. Simply boggles.

Look at this Washington Post headline and its byline on the recent Limbo decision:

Mercy trumps 'theological hypothesis'

Panel rules that Catholics are free to reject church's teachings on limbo

Now, a little golden gem from the article's body:

While the church is often viewed as a top-down organization in which bishops tell ordinary Catholics what to believe, the commission's report suggests that in this case, the process worked partly in reverse.

And don't worry, Alan Cooperman also managed to bring up the "sensus fidelium."

Really - where to begin?

Burke's determined approach

Via AMDG:

The annual Glennon Sunday collection in parishes to benefit Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center will continue, according to Archbishop Raymond L. Burke...[noting] that the Glennon Sunday collection, to be held the weekend of June 2 and 3, "will go directly to the medical center and not the foundation, as it had in the past."

...the archbishop again reiterated the archdiocese’s commitment to the medical center, which was founded in 1956 with the support of the archdiocese.

The archbishop noted that the Glennon Sunday collection will continue to be sent directly to the medical center until the foundation refrains from featuring at its benefit "performers or anyone else who is advocating moral evils or advocating positions contrary to the teaching of the Catholic Church." [More from St. Louis Review.]

Why is Burke doing all this? I'll let the man speak for himself:

"I hold to the Church’s teaching. This is all about the Church’s teaching. It has nothing to do with me personally."

Amen. Do read the article, it's very informative.

Previous posts on related topics:

• Pro-Choice Missouri Senator disinvited to graduation, blames Abp. Burke
• More on Burke Being Backbonely

Pro-Choice Missouri Senator disinvited to graduation, blames Abp. Burke

Abp. Burke is at it again ... or is he?

[The Associated Press:] ST. LOUIS -- An invitation to Sen. Claire McCaskill to speak at her daughter's graduation from a Roman Catholic high school was withdrawn because of her positions on abortion and stem cell research.

Students at all-girls St. Joseph's Academy in the St. Louis suburb of Frontenac wanted to have McCaskill speak at their commencement this month, McCaskill spokeswoman Adrianne Marsh said Tuesday.

But the offer was rescinded last week. The president of St. Joseph's, Sister Michaela Zahner, said she reluctantly made the decision after receiving a call from the St. Louis Archdiocese.

McCaskill narrowly defeated Republican incumbent Sen. Jim Talent last November in a race in which embryonic stem cell research was a key issue. A McCaskill ad featuring actor Michael J. Fox _ swaying noticeably from the effects of Parkinson's disease _ drew nationwide attention.

Marsh said the senator, a Catholic, understands that her positions supporting abortion rights and stem cell research are different from those held by the church.

The senator was told by the school that the decision came from Archbishop Raymond Burke, Marsh said.

"I'm disappointed that the archbishop has made this decision," McCaskill said in a statement. "It does not diminish my respect and admiration for St. Joseph's Academy, their faculty, and students."

A spokeswoman for the archdiocese, Anne Steffens, said the decision was not made by the archbishop. But Zahner said an archdiocese policy forbidding a public forum for speakers who diverge from church teaching clearly reflects Burke's position.

While St. Joseph's is a private, rather than an archdiocesan school, it receives its right to be identified as a Catholic institution through the archdiocese, Zahner said, adding that rescinding the invitation "was a very hard decision."

Clearly we have a disagreement concerning the facts. Whether Abp. Burke personally made an intervention in this decision or not is ambiguous from the report. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch offers some additional reporting here. Certainly, most of the blame against Burke is coming from the McCaskill camp, and it would not surprise me if they are trying to gain some sympathy by tagging Burke with the responsibility. Then again, I doubt Burke would shun ownership of such a prudent and just decision.

Oh, and Sister Michaela Zahner (the president of this school), boo hoo about having to disinvite a pro-choice Senator! You made the decision to disinvite "reluctantly"? It was "very hard?" Please. What's hard about this? You're providing a terrible example to your all-girls school. Be thankful someone helped you remedy your error.

Sad news: Blue Angel pilot dies during airshow

This is very sad news. Growing up in California I was able to see the Blue Angels perform many times. They would practice their formations and routines over the backyard of one of my good friends. Of course it is very dangerous and (for that reason) impressive flying. We should pray that the pilot had a provided death.

(CNN) -- A jet flying in formation with the U.S. Navy Blue Angels precision flying team crashed into a Beaufort, South Carolina, neighborhood, causing an "enormous fireball" during an air show, authorities said.

The Navy aviator was killed Beaufort County Coroner Curt Copeland said. The F/A-18's pilot is the only known fatality.

Fred Yelinek told CNN he saw the crash occur about a mile from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, which was holding the two-day show. He said the jet came down about 100 yards from him.

Yelinek said the jet struck a stand of pine trees, and pieces of the plane hit homes, but he didn't see any catch fire. The pieces were "as big as a hand but no larger," he said.

Pieces of a tree and the plane crashed into the home of a neighbor, Yelinek said, but she was uninjured. Pieces also hit other houses and smashed car windshields, he said. [More...]

Katie Holmes wants daughter Suri in Catholic school

Horribly, horribly tabloid of me, but here goes:

Los Angeles (eCanadaNow) - Katie Holmes reportedly wants to enrol daughter Suri into "kiddie Catholicism" classes - even though husband Tom Cruise is a devout Scientologist. [that's an odd use of "devout", wouldn't you say?]

The actress who was raised a Catholic, gave up her religion and embraced the bizarre sci-fi cult when she met in Tom in 2005.

But Katie has now allegedly been secretly talking to pastors about her child’s upbringing, and wants to enrol one-year-old Suri into some classes when she is older to learn about the faith, according to Life and Style magazine.

Why is the Limbo story so popular?

I sometimes drop by the Yahoo! News "most popular" page to see what people are reading these days. Today, the Reuters and AP stories on Limbo are topping the charts.

Are people really that interested?

"Clergy" tops Most Satisfying Jobs survey

LifeScience reports:

Here are the Top 10 most gratifying jobs and the percentage of subjects who said they were very satisfied with the job:

• Clergy—87 percent percent
• Firefighters—80 percent percent
• Physical therapists—78 percent percent
• Authors—74 percent
• Special education teachers—70 percent
• Teachers—69 percent
• Education administrators—68 percent
• Painters and sculptors—67 percent
• Psychologists—67 percent
• Security and financial services salespersons—65 percent
• Operating engineers—64 percent
• Office supervisors—61 percent

People who scored high on the happiness scale had the following jobs:

• Clergy
• Firefighters
• Transportation ticket and reservation agents
• Housekeepers and butlers
• Hardware/building supplies salespersons
• Architects
• Mechanics and repairers
• Special education teachers
• Actors and directors
• Science technicians

The gentlemen I study with at Sacred Heart Major Seminary can take some solace that in addition to storing up great treasures in heaven, they might have some reward here on earth. Nonetheless, ad majorem Dei gloriam!