TASK DEFINITION: Given a paragraph, generate a claim that is supported by the given paragraph. 1) The claim must contain information from within the paragraph. 2) A sentence within the paragraph can be used as a claim. 3) The claim should not have contradictions within the paragraph. 4) The claim should be at most one sentence long.
PROBLEM: The appeal is real, according to a May 7, 2014, ABC News article that said the family of Baylor Fredrickson, a 7-year-old bi-racial boy who is battling Leukemia, are seeking donors who need to be ethnically similar to him. The article said, “Baylor needs a bone marrow transplant and his sister Maddie is not a match. Their parents are Japanese and German, so a mixed race donor — Asian and Caucasian — would be ideal, but so far a worldwide search has come up empty.” Asian American Donor Program spokesperson Jonathan Leong told reporters that trying to encourage more Asian Americans to  register on the national donor list has been his mission for more than two decades. At present, there are about 400,000 mixed race donors listed in the national registry. There are 10 Million donors listed on the national registry. There is special page for Baylor posted on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/amatchforbay Posted 06/04/14 Comments

SOLUTION:    Baylor Fredrickson, a 7-year-old boy from Albany, N.Y., is looking for a bone marrow donor.  

PROBLEM: This release makes no mention of the costs of the drugs compared in this study, even though the drugs have been in use for years and are widely available. Since the study is a comparison of various treatments for this form of cancer, it seems relevant to offer a cost comparison as well as a comparison of efficacy. It appears that the high dose methotrexate is given over a 24-hour period, presumably in the hospital, while the standard methotrexate is given as a single dose. Also, the high dose methotrexate is followed by leucovorin administration while the standard dose is not. According to the site GoodRx, the cost for methotrexate in low-dose (2.5 mg) pill form averages out to about $50 for a month’s supply. Newer, injectable variations of the drug cost upwards of $500 a month for the 25 mg dose. The release states that patients receiving high doses of the drug methotrexate “had a significantly better outcome, by 5 to 6 percent” than did patients receiving the current standard of care, which is gradually escalating doses of the drug. The release also explains that patients nine years old or younger who were also treated with a steroid called decadron (dexamethasone) for half as long as normal (14 versus 28 days) benefited from the treatment while patients 10 and older did not. We’re not sure of the meaning behind these results as portrayed in the release. Which outcome was better by 5 or 6 percent? The study has several. Does that mean the relapse rate was reduced or is it the event free survival that was better? It would be more meaningful to readers if the release had included the actual relapse and event free survival rates for each group analyzed in terms most people can understand. For example: “relapse rates were 5 percent lower in Group X compared to Group Y.” We’ll give this category a satisfactory rating largely due to the release including information that patients 10 and older receiving dexamethasone “were at much higher risk for a debilitating bone condition called osteonecrosis,” although we would have been happier if that greater risk would have been quantified. However, the published study explains that there were toxicity problems beyond that of dexamethasone and the release would have been stronger including that information as well. The release stated the study was randomized and controlled, and provides a broad overview of the study design, for which we give the release a borderline satisfactory under this criteria. However, these are the superficial results. On deeper delving into the study methodology, the statistical significances of the results were very close to not statistically significant. This is due to their planned interim stopping of the treatment and the fact that they were looking at multiple outcomes in multiple groups. This release doesn’t demonstrate disease-mongering. While the release does say that this clinical trial was run by the Children’s Oncology Group, which is funded by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health, it makes no mention of possible conflicts of interest. Compounding that is the fact that the published study says, “Disclosures provided by the authors are available with this article at www.jco.org,” but that information is behind the journal’s paywall for most readers, so it’s unknown if there is, or is not, a conflict. It appears as though five of the authors (out of a total of about 20) have some conflicts of interest, mostly from several types of drug company payments. The release is comparing the efficacy of treatment regimens using different drugs so alternative treatments for B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia are noted. The release makes clear at the end that the treatment of this disease is improving thanks to refinement of the use of existing drug treatments, meaning that they are readily available for patient use. The release suggests the study findings could change the way childhood leukemia is treated. Modifying existing treatments to enhance a patient’s survival is certainly novel enough to warrant a release. There is no use of unjustifiable language in this release. However, the tone may be a bit overly optimistic given the study findings.

SOLUTION: Relapses of childhood leukemia improve with high doses of common chemo drug

PROBLEM: But fitness experts say even the best-intentioned get-fit efforts can founder before the demands of a corporate culture that is stressful, sedentary and increasingly round-the-clock. “This demand for 24/7 access, this idea that I can always access you and you should intensely, immediately respond, is a stressor, and we know from studies that chronic stress will shorten your life and ultimately kill you,” said Dr. Mary Ellen Rose, a Washington, D.C.-based consultant for workplace health promotion. Rose believes that even the wearable fitness bands and watches meant to keep exercisers on track can be counter-productive. “When you’re happy and healthy, you’re more productive,” she said. “But for people who are high anxiety, monitoring every little thing becomes a stressor.”   Obesity costs employers about $73 billion annually in absenteeism and medical expenses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Patrick Hitchins, co-founder of FitRankings, an Austin, Texas-based fitness tech company that ranks the fitness levels of individuals and companies, notes that most fit people in a company are usually the executives. “For employees to perform at their best they need to be fit, yet workplaces have become anti-fit and increasingly sedentary,” he said. Hitchins believes companies have a long way to go before they see their employees as athletes rather than as cogs in a machine. “(We need) to raise that awareness on the corporate level that its (fitness) is cheaper than a trip to the hospital,” he said. Installing showers at the office and welcoming yoga pants at midday meetings are among the methods that Alexia Brue, co-founder with Melisse Gelula of the wellness media company Well+Good, said corporations can use in the workplace. “One of the challenges is (creating the) acceptance that you can work out at lunch and come back to the desk sweaty,” said New York-based Brue. “Culturally there needs to be a shift, so workers can roll into office from their workout.”   On the hopeful side, Brue cites the rise of “sweatworking,” or entertaining clients in boutique fitness studios rather than bars, as a good sign. “We also need to get out the message that it’s as important to unplug and to, say, meditate as it is to be always and immediately responsive, “ she said.

SOLUTION:
Workplace workouts can snag on stressful corporate culture.