Author: KJ McElrath

Hernia Mesh Lawsuits: We’ve Seen This Before

Hernia Mesh Lawsuits: We’ve Seen This Before

Posted by | May 1, 2017 | , , , |

One month ago, a Louisiana woman filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, Ethicon, Inc., alleging that the Physiomesh device she received in 2012 for the treatment of her hernia was responsible for her personal injuries and caused her to incur additional medical expenses when revision surgeries were required. Two days later, a Florida woman filed suit in U.S. District Court for similar reasons. Not long after that, a story was published online about a Texas man who underwent hernia surgery during which he received an Ethicon Physiomesh. He is now in constant pain, which has...

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The Opioid Epidemic: Destroying Ecosystems as Well as Lives

The Opioid Epidemic: Destroying Ecosystems as Well as Lives

Posted by | Apr 28, 2017 | |

Here at The Ring of Fire, we have covered several aspects of America’s opioid crisis, including its costs to society and how Big Pharma has been profiting – as well as its legislative efforts to keep cannabis (an effective treatment for opioid addiction) illegal. However, there is one cost that has not been widely covered in the media, yet has grave implications for all of us: the destruction of rainforests. The phenomenon has been labeled “narco-deforestation.”  The term describes the wholesale destruction of rainforest habitats in Central and South America as drug traffickers dealing in heroin (chemically, virtually indistinguishable...

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The “Byrd Rule” And How It May Save Us From a Disastrous Tax Plan

The “Byrd Rule” And How It May Save Us From a Disastrous Tax Plan

Posted by | Apr 27, 2017 | , |

As Trump continues to fill the swamp he promised to drain with the worst of the worst, being enabled by the most openly-corrupt GOP Congress since the Harding and Coolidge Administrations, it is easy to feel despair. It seems as if the checks and balances that the Founders put in place to rein in monsters like Trump have gone by the bye. The good news is that a little-known, four-decade-old budget rule is still in place that can help stop the worst legislative excesses in their tracks if they reach the Senate. It’s known as the “Byrd Rule.” The...

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Marine Le Pen Moves One Step Closer to Being France’s First Far-Right President  

Marine Le Pen Moves One Step Closer to Being France’s First Far-Right President  

Posted by | Apr 26, 2017 | , |

  This week, nationalist right-wing populist Marine Le Pen came a step closer to becoming the first female President of France. However, her gender is not nearly as significant as is the possibility that she will be that country’s first far-right President, should she win the run-off election over moderate centrist Emmanuel Macron. Marine Le Pen’s rise to power in France has had some parallels to that of Donald Trump here at home. It has been steady and inexorable – and fed by a combination of resurgent nationalism, racism, and increasing xenophobia. Trump’s questionable election has encouraged Le Pen’s...

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How do Evangelical Christians Feel About Their Presidential Selection Now?

How do Evangelical Christians Feel About Their Presidential Selection Now?

Posted by | Apr 25, 2017 | , |

Last week, The Ring of Fire posted an article on how the racists of the United States played a large role in propelling Donald Trump to an office for which he is neither deserving nor qualified. However, there was another factor in his so-called “victory,” which on the surface makes little sense: support from evangelical Christians. According to a poll conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute last fall, nearly two-thirds of evangelical Christian voters supported Donald Trump. It’s quite a contradiction: a self-proclaimed “Moral Majority” supporting and voting for a man who is an unabashed liar, a serial...

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