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.

Q: Paragraph: We give the story credit for at least citing a $30,000 cost for the “surgeries” but wish it had explained what that included and what it might not. Surgery to change the battery every two years certainly adds to cost. Undoubtedly patients require more intensive expensive followup and perhaps specialized checks to ensure the device is working. With broad strokes across discussion of three different uses for three different conditions, the story did an adequate job quantifiying benefits. As stated in the “Evidence” criterion above, this is where a control group and reporting response rates for treated versus control groups would be very informative. Instead, we only get a qualitative description of benefits which is useful but which might leave careful readers asking for more. This is one area where the story could have been improved. There was no detailed discussion of what can go wrong with deep brain stimulation. There was a brief mention of “if” the electrodes cause neurological side effects. But how often does that happen? And the story noted that the surgery does “sometimes” cause dangerous brain bleeding or infections. How often is “sometimes”? At a very high, overview level, the story explained the current state of the evidence. But more information would have been better. Current evidence for depression/OCD is based on case series. These studies don’t have a control group, making the results more subject to bias. No disease mongering of any of the conditions discussed. The story was repeatedly clear about deep brain stimulation being used when standard medications or behavior therapy had not worked. But it would be helpful to give estimates of the proportion of patients with depression or OCD who aren’t helped by available treatments. Several sources were cited. Dr. Mayberg’s connection to St. Jude Medical was mentioned. The story could have mentioned that Dr. Okun’s center and Dr. Greenberg have received funding from Medtronic. Greenberg’s current funding from the National Institute of Mental Health was noted. We think the sourcing and disclosure was adequate. A strong point of the story was that it repeatedly provided the context for the use of deep brain stimulation — “when standard medications fail…worst-case patients…doesn’t mean patients can abandon traditional therapy…people with intractable (problems)…(people who) failed behavior therapy.” This story already attempted to accomplish a lot, but to be complete, it could have offered explicit description of currently approved options: antidepressant medications (multiple classes); psychotherapy (multiple options); combinations of medications or medications and therapy; transcranial magnetic stimulation (limited availabilty), vagal nerve stimulation, ECT – and estimate of the proportion of patients who fail these treatments. Nonethless, we feel it met the criteria for a satisfactory score. The story states that 70,000 have had deep brian stimulation for Parkinson’s or other movement disorders, and that studies are underway on at least 60 people with intractable obsessive-compulsive disorder and 100 with severe depression. The experimental nature of these approaches is clear from the story. A nice touch would be to give a link to clinicaltrials.gov to allow readers the option of looking up more information on the studies in progress and finding out if recruitment is open and how to access the study. The story did a good job putting the new uses of deep brain stimulation into the context of other research and other therapeutic approaches. It’s clear that the story did not rely on a news release. Claim: Trying brain pacemakers to zap psychiatric disease

A: We especially appreciate the lack of hype in this story. The reporter clearly worked hard to stick to the evidence – not merely to promote the potential. About 65-70 percent of patients with major depressive disorder improve substantially with 1 to 2 course of standard treatment (medication, psychotherapy or combinations). Subsequent treatment options have progressively lower rates of treatment response. Therefore, a significant number of people need other treatment options. Deep brain stimulation is an invasive treatment, but one that has shown promise in a small number of patients.
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Q: Paragraph: Pfizer shares were up nearly 4 percent on positive findings for the oral treatment, called palbociclib, one of the company’s most important experimental drugs that some analysts believe could eventually claim annual sales of more than $5 billion, if approved. The trial tested the pill in post-menopausal patients with locally advanced or newly diagnosed breast cancer that had spread to other parts of the body. “We are delighted with the final data,” Pfizer said in a release, adding the company will discuss the successful data on progression-free survival with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration “to determine next steps” for palbociclib. A secondary goal of the study is to determine whether palbociclib can prolong overall survival. But Pfizer spokeswoman Sally Beatty said the company does not yet have such data, because it takes longer periods to follow patients and gauge survival trends. Although Pfizer is conducting two larger late-stage trials of palbociclib, ISI Group analyst Mark Schoenebaum noted the company has previously said it might discuss with the FDA the potential to seek approval of the medicine based upon mid-stage trial data, if the data warranted. Palbociclib, which blocks enzymes known as cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) 4 and 6, was taken in combination with a standard treatment called letrozole among women who were estrogen receptor positive - meaning tumors grow in response to estrogen - and HER2-negative, meaning that the HER2 protein is not causing the cancer. Such patients make up about 60 percent of advanced breast cancer cases. Letrozole is the chemical name of Femara, a Novartis AG drug that belongs to a class of treatments called aromatase inhibitors that block production of estrogen. Pfizer on Monday did not present detailed data from the trial results, saying they would be presented at a scientific meeting in San Diego in April. The success of the trial, called Paloma-1, follows highly favorable interim data that Pfizer unveiled in December 2012. At that point in the study, those taking both palbociclib and letrozole went an average of 26.1 months before tumors worsened. That compared with 7.5 months for those taking letrozole, but not palbociclib. The 18.6-month difference was considered statistically significant. Side effects from palbociclib were similar to those previously reported, Pfizer said on Monday. The earlier interim results had shown that patients taking the drug combination experienced anemia, fatigue and neutropenia - a decline in white blood cells called neutrophils that can put patients at higher risk of infection. Palbociclib was designated a “breakthrough” drug by the FDA last April based on initial data from the trial. The FDA grants “breakthrough” status to drugs that may offer substantial improvement over existing treatments for serious or life-threatening diseases. The status helps to speed up the approval process. Pfizer has started two late-stage trials of the drug - Paloma-2 and Paloma-3 - in patients with advanced breast cancer. Paloma-2 will test the same drug combination, palbociclib and letrozole, as an initial treatment for breast cancer. Paloma-3 will evaluate palbociclib in combination with another hormone therapy, fulvestrant, in women whose cancer has progressed after hormonal therapy. The drug, sold under the brand name Faslodex by AstraZeneca Plc, is called an estrogen receptor antagonist. Companies trying to develop treatments similar to palbociclib include Novartis and Eli Lilly & Co. Breast cancer killed more than 508,000 women worldwide in 2011, according to the World Health Organization. Pfizer shares were up 3.7 percent at $31.53 on Monday morning on the New York Stock Exchange. Claim: Pfizer breast cancer drug succeeds in mid-stage trial.

A: Pfizer Inc’s experimental breast cancer drug significantly delayed progression of symptoms in a mid-stage trial, meeting the study’s primary goal and keeping Pfizer in the forefront of a race for a new standard of care for the disease.
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Q: Paragraph: President Sebastian Pinera said on Thursday during a tour of the affected zone that there was evidence the fire had been started deliberately. “I deeply regret that what should have been a good night, a night of peace, should have been so profoundly altered by this tragedy,” he said. Valparaiso, known for its colorful wood-frame houses, is popular among tourists in the South American country. The fire broke out in a forested area on the outskirts of the city and spread toward the coast, hitting the Rocuant and San Roque hills, a jumble of settlements that overlook the city. Inhabitants fled their homes just moments before sitting down to their Christmas Eve dinner, some losing all their belongings and even pets. Marta Pinto, 78, said her granddaughter spotted the fire coming down the hill and raised the alarm. “They took me to the house of a niece because I suffer from lung disease,” she told Reuters. “My husband arrived and said: ‘Love, we have lost everything.’ I´ve cried all my tears already. My heart is so sore for everything that has happened to us, to our neighbors, in this tremendous tragedy.”  Juan Silva Suazo, 68, said he had lost his home and all of the possessions he spent 45 years accumulating. “So many years of sacrifice, it has cost me so much to make my house and now that I´m retired, I have no way of making it back,” he said. “I have polio, I cannot stand for a long time, or sit for a long time either as I have osteoporosis in my hips, knees and feet. We are sleeping in a bathroom right now, it´s terrible.”       Chile´s forestry commission said the fire was only fully brought under control at midday on Thursday with the help of nine firefighting teams, five helicopters and two water trucks. A total of 132 hectares of vegetation were destroyed, it added. Agriculture Minister Antonio Walker said the high temperatures at the height of the Southern Hemisphere summer, which runs from December to March, and dry conditions caused by a historic drought currently blighting Chile had provided fertile ground for the fire. Valparaiso’s mayor Jorge Sharp, said on Wednesday he had filed a criminal complaint with the courts against those who started the fire, once they are identified. “That this fire was intentionally started is, from various indications, clear and we want to know who is responsible and why they would want to cause so much damage to Valparaiso,” he said. Claim: Wildfire in Chilean port city of Valparaiso leaves 700 homeless.

A:
More than 245 homes have been destroyed and 700 people left destitute after a forest fire tore through a low-income area of the Chilean seaside city of Valparaiso on Christmas Eve.
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