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Generate an explanation for the given claim using the provided supporting material from the paragraph. Please consider the following points while generating an output. 1) The claim will always have supporting proof in the paragraph, and the paragraph will have a clear point of view supporting the claim. 2) There can be instances where direct correlation to the claim is not available. Make use of the sentences in the paragraph to provide a corresponding output supporting the claim. 3) The explanation should be at least one and at most twelve sentences long.
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Paragraph: About 400 patients, many of them with cancer, were given the oil for free at a flagship clinic at the Public Health Ministry in a suburb of Bangkok. The initial four formulations handed out are used for treating conditions such as migraines, insomnia, nausea, numbness and pain. The medicines are touted as being based on traditional remedies. Thailand was previously known for harsh anti-drug laws, but is now eyeing the economic potential of cannabis. A report last year by Prohibition Partners, which claims to be the leading authority on the subject, said Asia’s medical cannabis market would be worth around $5.8 billion by 2024. Around 25 similar clinics have been operating part-time since the legislature agreed in 2018 to amend the country’s drug laws to allow the use and production of medical cannabis. The Health Ministry clinic and another in Bangkok are forerunners of a planned nationwide network, if they show positive results. “Marijuana could be an answer. At least the patients’ quality of life is improved,” said Dr. Prasert Mongkolsiri, the director of a public hospital, who helped advise patients on Monday. “At least it can lessen the side effects of the modern chemical-based medicines that they’ve been taking for 10 or 20 years,” he said, referring to chemotherapy for cancer patients. Chamroen Nakurai, 57, was diagnosed with lymph node cancer two years ago. She said cannabis oil helps lessen the side effects of her chemotherapy, but until now she had been able to get it only through illegal underground suppliers. “The treatment isn’t widely available and the cost is quite high if you visit underground clinics, but this service is free and anyone can access it,” she said. Nuthjutha Ulpathorn, 29, was born with cerebral palsy that makes her unable to walk and garbles her speech. She began to use cannabis oil two months ago after her mother brought her to a government hospital that started to give out cannabis oil. “I sleep better, and (am) less cranky,” Nuthjutha said with a smile. Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, the chief architect of the new policy drive, toured the suburban clinic on Monday. He expressed hope that the remedies might be soon added into the National List of Essential Medicine, which allows them to be covered by Thailand’s 30-baht ($1) universal health care scheme. Officials say the policy of free cannabis is likely to be changed. Anutin is the leader of the Bhumjai Thai Party, a partner in the country’s coalition government. The party won 50 seats in March’s general election after Anutin campaigned for legalization of the production of marijuana to aid farmers. Moves to allow small-scale private production are moving ahead. The Public Health Ministry, meanwhile, supervises cannabis production at six locations around the country. Claim: Thailand launches full-time clinics dispensing cannabis oil.
answer:
Thailand on Monday opened its first two full-time clinics dispensing cannabis oil for medical treatment, a step forward in the government’s policy of promoting the licensed use of marijuana products to relieve the symptoms of a range of ailments.


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Paragraph: Costs of the MRIdian on-table adaptive radiotherapy in comparison to conventional radiotherapy are not discussed. Given that it is new and more personalized than current treatment options it’s likely to be correspondingly more expensive. Certainly, more frequent MRIs would be very costly. The release provides exact information about increased survival rates in the cohorts of individuals treated with the adaptive versus the convention radiotherapy techniques. “The cohort receiving a higher dose demonstrated a near doubling of median overall survival (Kaplan-Meier estimated median overall survival of 27.8 months compared to 14.8 months).” The news release provides specific results regarding experiences of both groups with regard to toxicity from radiotherapy. We appreciate that the headline of this release starts with the words “early data” because this report deals with preliminary and retrospective research. It was not a clinical trial. Instead, results are based on retrospectively comparing treatment of two groups of patients at four institutions. Respective comparisons can’t account for a host of factors that might influence results. At the end of the news  release readers are told that on the basis of these promising results a clinical trial is being planned. With five-year survival rates of 1 to 14%, it would be hard to engage in disease mongering about pancreatic cancer. This research was sponsored by ViewRay, the company that developed the MRIdian system, and the release does a good job calling attention to this. However, according to the published study, at least one of the co-authors received honoraria from ViewRay Medical Systems. Since this was not included in the release we’re rating this criteria Not Satisfactory. This study was all about comparing alternatives, so it scores Satisfactory on that criterion. It would have helped readers if alternatives would have been described more in laymen’s terms. The news release notes that the next step is a prospective clinical trial and that tells savvy readers that this treatment strategy has a long road of testing ahead. Still, we think the release could have done a better job clarifying that this therapy is not yet ready for patients, outside of the clinical trial. A study that suggests a doubling of median survival is sure to capture the attention of patients newly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. These patients and their families are closely aware of the glum statistics for the disease. This is a practical concern that the release should have touched on. This technology is indeed novel and unique to ViewRay, though it is becoming available in more and more cancer treatment centers. No unjustifiable language was identified in the news release. Claim: Early data shows nearly 2x prolonged median survival for inoperable pancreatic cancer
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This news release reports results of a retrospective study comparing conventional radiotherapy for inoperable pancreatic cancer versus an adaptive radiation therapy that allows clinicians to see the tumor in real time and respond to changes on a daily basis. Targeting the tumor more specifically means higher doses of radiation can be used without increasing damage to surrounding tissues. The study, funded by ViewRay, maker of the MRIdian system, is admittedly preliminary. It is to be followed up by a clinical trial. The release would have been more helpful to readers had it mentioned costs and disclosed a conflict of interest between one of the study authors and the device manufacturer. Surgery is an option only for certain less common types of pancreatic cancer. The five-year survival rates for pancreatic cancers that cannot be treated with surgery are 12% to 14% even for those diagnosed in stage I; the five-year survival rate for cancers detected at stage IV is about 1%, according to the American Cancer Society. ACS reminds readers that five-year survival rates are estimates and that “many people live longer – often much longer – than 5 years.” In that context, a treatment that could extend the lives of the 1.5% of Americans who develop pancreatic cancer is big news.


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Paragraph: A nurse extracts a vaccine in a file photo. Federal health officials said on Thursday the government has not conceded that vaccines cause autism even after a Georgia girl won federal compensation in a case arguing a vaccine led to her brain damage. REUTERS/Phil Klein  Hannah Poling, 9, had a rare mitochondrial disorder and a  federal court ruling said regular childhood vaccinations may  have contributed to some of her autism-like symptoms. She was  awarded compensation under the National Vaccine Injury  Compensation Program in a case that became public this week. Some activists who argue vaccines can trigger autism jumped  on the case as vindication of their cause. But Dr. Julie  Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control  and Prevention, denied this. “Let me be very clear that (the) government has made  absolutely no statement about indicating that vaccines are a  cause of autism,” Gerberding told reporters in a telephone  briefing. “That is a complete mischaracterization of the findings of  the case, and a complete mischaracterization of any of the  science that we have at our disposal today. So I think we need  to set the record straight on that.”    The vaccine injury program is a no-fault system that has a  $2.5 billion fund built up from a 75-cent-per-dose tax on  vaccines. It was set up to ensure companies would not be afraid  to make vaccines, and to provide injured children an easier way  to seek compensation. Thousands of lawsuits have been filed by parents who argue  their children have autism caused by vaccines. The Institute of Medicine, an independent organization set  up to inform U.S. policy, has found there is no evidence that  vaccines can cause autism. Many recent studies have come to the  same conclusion. Some autism advocacy groups argue that a mercury-containing  preservative in vaccines called thimerosal can cause autism. Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain entered  the debate last week, saying there is “strong evidence” linking  autism to a thimerosal. Dr. Edwin Trevathan, director of the CDC’s National Center  on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, said the  Poling case did not demonstrate any link between vaccines and  autism. “I think it’s also worth noting that most children with  autism do not seem to have a mitochondrial problem,” he told  the briefing. “So this association between mitochondrial disorders and  autism is actually probably relatively rare. But the  association between mitochondrial disorders and severe brain  damage and dysfunction is one that is not as rare and is  actually quite important.”    Trevathan said it is not clear whether a fever caused by a  vaccine might further stress a child with such a condition,  causing autism-like symptoms. Autism can have relatively mild symptoms or can severely  disable a child by interfering with speech and behavior. No one  knows what causes it. The CDC estimates that about one in every 150 children has  autism or a related disorder such as Asperger’s syndrome —  560,000 people up to age 21 in the United States. “Our message to parents is that immunization is  life-saving. There’s absolutely nothing changed in the adamant  recommendations that we are making to get children vaccinated,”  Gerberding said. Claim: Still no autism-vaccine link, say health officials.
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Federal health officials said on  Thursday the government has not conceded that vaccines cause  autism even after a Georgia girl won federal compensation in a  case arguing a vaccine led to her brain damage.