Girl In Coma After Trip To Dentist - Prayin' Family' Says They Won't Consider Pulling Plug

A Chicago 5-year-old named Diamond Brownbridge fell into a coma after being sedated at a dentist's office this weekend, and allegedly suffered a heart attack.

Television station WMAQ reported said that Diamond's family has been told that the girl is brain dead and her vital organs are severely damaged. Doctors told the family that they must decide when to take Brownridge off of life support.

The dentist who treated the girl spoke exclusively with the Chicago Sun Times on Tuesday.

Dr. Hicham Riba told the paper that he feels like he's being treated like a criminal even though, he said, "I am a very responsible person. I never intended to harm anybody."

In the published report, Riba said, "I don't think I will ever go back to a normal life after an experience like this."

The family of Brownbridge, who remained unresponsive at Children's Memorial Hospital on Wednesday, said they are not going to take her off life support.

"It's a wait-and-see type of game," said her mother, Omettress Travis. "They haven't offered us any hope, but we have that in ourselves -- we're a prayin' family."

The dentist has been in contact with family twice to see how Diamond is doing.

Family described the 5-year-old as a charter school student who is full of life, receiving A's and a few B's, and as a little girl who loves church.

"I told her 'Time to come home. Wake up. Daddy needs you at home,'" said her father, Paris. "She's got to come home. Her daddy loves her (and) misses her. She's my world."

As the family waited at Children's for any sign of improvement, they encountered more and more unanswered questions.

The child's mother, who is a medical assistant at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said that she doesn't understand why she immediately noticed that her daughter was in distress and the dentist in charge of the procedure did not.

"I just want to know, what did they give my baby to make her just lose her life?" Travis asked.

Diamond went to Little Angel Dental, a storefront office, to have two cavities filled and her front, bottom teeth capped.

According to Travis, the dentist gave her a yellow liquid to drink, then nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas. (Note: Previous versions of this story incorrectly referred to nitric oxide.) On top of that, Travis said, the dentists gave the 35-pound girl an IV sedation.

Travis said she was asked to leave the room while the dental work was done. When she returned, her daughter had no pulse and wasn't breathing.

"They did not monitor my daughter when she was having the work done," said the mother. "They also asked me to leave out of the room ... I didn't know why because I was going to sit there, but they said, 'You have to get out of the room.' ... At least if they weren't going to monitor her, I could have watched her."

WMAQ reported Monday that the office had no heart monitor or blood pressure cuff, instruments that are required by Illinois law when sedation is involved.

Last April, Diamond was sedated without incident at Children's Memorial when she had a broken arm. Family members said they don't know what went wrong on Saturday and they want the health department to shut down Little Angel Dental.

"He doesn't need a license," the girl's aunt, Danetta Dupree, said.

Dentist Defends His Practice

WMAQ learned from the Department of Professional Regulation that the dentist is licensed, with a special certification for sedation. The department indicated that it appeared the doctor has the correct certification for the work that was performed on Diamond.

Riba spoke with the station late in the day Monday at his home. He would not go on camera but said his thoughts and prayers were with Diamond and her family. Riba gave the station a written statement defending his practice.

"I have treated thousands of children since 1997 and many of my patients require intravenous sedation," Riba wrote. "I am board certified in pediatric dentistry, licensed for intravenous sedation and have always been in good standing with all licensing bodies."

Riba said that all sedated patients are monitored throughout their procedures, but he could not talk about any specific case because of privacy laws.

"We are cooperating with investigators and at this time. My office has canceled all intravenous sedation procedures," he added.

The director of pediatric dentistry at the University of Illinois-Chicago, Dr. Indru Punwani, said it was rare to use three sedations on a young child, but if a child undergoes deep sedation, there must be a finger monitor to measure oxygen, pulse rate and blood pressure.

"We monitor these very, very carefully," Punwani said. "The monitoring devices are such that even if the oxygen saturation goes a few points, we are monitoring it, and we have a stethoscope on the chest, so we are listening the chest."

This is the first complaint registered against Riba, according to the state's regulatory agency.

Little Angel Dental did not open for business Monday. Patient after patient showed up, only to find the doors closed and security gates locked.

Nathaniel Williams took his 3-year-old son to the office for a Monday appointment, and said he only learned the office was closed when he showed up.

"No one called," he said.

Williams said he was supposed to have his son, Nate, sedated for dental work.

"Now I'm having doubts. I've got to go and talk with my wife about the whole thing here," he said.

Williams said his 5-year-old daughter, Natalie, was put under sedation at Little Angel last month, and everything went well. But like other parents who learned of what happened to Diamond, Williams said that he was worried for his child's safety.

Diamond remained in critical condition on the second-floor intensive care unit on Monday afternoon.

"I believe that's a miracle baby. I'm hoping that God sees fit to bring her back to us, and she's going to be well," said the father Monday.

The dental office was open Sunday until 3 p.m., but no one returned a reporter's phone call.

WMAQ has not been told if there was a dental anesthesiologist or if there was an anesthesiologist nurse in the room.

The Chicago Health Department learned of the incident Sunday and is investigating.

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First female space tourist inspires fans on Earth

Brian Jackson ,
DiscoveryChannel.ca

Anousheh Ansari, world's first female space tourist, is nearing an end to her stay on the International Space Station.

Ansari hoped to inspire children - especially girls - to follow in her footsteps and become engineers. Her agenda while in space seems set on accomplishing that.

The first Iranian-born astronaut spoke with high school students in Washington, D.C. via radio as the ISS passed by the national capital Sept. 20.

As the ISS became visible from an observatory in Tehran, Iran's capital, dozens of Iranian women burst into applause early Tuesday morning.

The spacecraft launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan on Monday morning. Crewmembers Michael Lopez-Alegria of NASA and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin will take over from Expedition 13 commander Pavel Vinogradov and science officer Jeff Williams.

Ansari came aboard as a member of the primary crew after paying about $20 million US for a seat aboard the spacecraft. The U.S.-based Iranian-born entrepreneur plans to mix business with pleasure during her stay on the ISS, as she's slated to conduct several experiments for the European Space Agency.

Ansari is set to return to earth with the Expedition 13 crew on Thursday. She is the fourth civilian to purchase a space visit. Space Adventures, a company that sells tickets on space-bound rockets to the ultra-rich, facilitated the trip.

The first experiment Ansari is slated to conduct is called "Neocytolysis". It may help scientists understand space-induced anemia, or red blood cell shortage. Blood normally held in the body's extremities by gravity is free to move around in space, causing a high density of red blood cells.

The body then responds by killing them, and when astronauts get back to Earth, they find themselves a few cells short.

Ansari has spent six months training for the eight-day journey at Gargarin Cosmonauts Training center in Star City, Russia as well as at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

The family name Ansari is already popularly associated with space-oriented firsts. They provided title sponsorship for the $10 million X-Prize award.

That prize was awarded to the first private endeavour able to reach outer space twice within two weeks.

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Nigeria’s name missing among countries fighting corruption

SEUN ADESIDA,

Despite the loud ovation that greeted the presentation of Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, at the World Bank/ IMF spring meeting in Singapore, Nigeria’s name is conspicuously missing on the list of countries which have made progress in improving governance and curbing corruption.

According to a new report, Governance Matters 2006: Worldwide Governance Indicators, released by the World Bank after the meetings, only African nations, such as Botswana, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Mozambique and Liberia, are making progress in improving governance and curbing corruption.
Co-author and director of Global Governance at the World Bank Institute, Daniel Kaufmann, said the findings dispel a number of myths. One myth, he said, was about Africa.

"The indicators challenged Afro-pessimism and by looking at the data, on average, Africa has enormous challenges. But it’s a mistake just to look at the averages," he said, adding:
"Our report is very frank in suggesting that Africa, on average, faces enormous governance challenges. Many countries are not doing well in terms of governance and in terms of controlling corruption. But there are shining stars, which have been doing well and increasingly better over the past decade. And it shows in the case of Ghana, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Senegal and others."

The second myth dispelled by the research is that strong performance on governance and curbing graft are the preserve of the wealthy developed nations. The research, covering well over 200 countries, also showed that more than 12 non-OECD countries, including Botswana and Estonia, scored higher in the rule of law and in control of corruption than some industrialized countries, like Greece and Italy. It showed that democratic accountability and clean government most often go hand in hand.
"We find in the evidence that countries that have a freer press also have more transparent government and more effective government and more control of corruption," says Kaufmann, who wrote the report with Aart Kraay and Massimo Mastruzzi.

The research cited Chile, Portugal and Canada as nations with vibrant democracies and little corruption. It’s in contrast to countries with what the report calls "voice and accountability challenges, such as China and the Russian Federation, who tend to have more corruption."
It said, however, that there are exceptions to the link between the extent of voice and democratic accountability a country exhibits and its success in controlling corruption.

Singapore, for example, is cited as having one of the best rankings in the world, on control of corruption, but it ranks in the middle of the pack on vice and accountability – below much poorer countries, such as Brazil and Botswana.
The research is based on responses from over 120,000 citizens, enterprises and experts worldwide, provided by 25 different organisations worldwide. These, in turn, are used to construct the worldwide governance indicators through a state-of-the-art methodology.

Overall, it paints a sobering picture of global trends in governance. The report suggests that over the past decade there is little evidence of a significant improvement, on average, among industrialized and developing countries. However, it pointed out that in many specific countries, there have been significant improvements.
Kaufmann says even if these improvements are not universal, the minority of countries, where improvements are already evident, do suggest that where there is leadership and reform, governance and corruption control can improve significantly in a relatively short period of time.

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Steve Irwin's Wife Speaks Publicly First Time Since His Death

Terri Irwin Talks to Barbara Walters in First Interview Since Husband's Death


The widow of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin says she is coping with his death "one minute at a time — sometimes an hour at a time with great faith, great determination," in an exclusive interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters.

In an interview to be aired on "20/20" on Wednesday, Terri Irwin sits down with Walters to remember her husband, discuss his death and talk about her family's future. Steve Irwin died on Sept. 4, when a stingray barb pierced his heart during TV filming in the Great Barrier Reef.

The interview is Terri Irwin's first since her husband's death. Walters also sits down the Irwins' two children, Bindi Sue, 8, and Bob, 2, and his longtime business partner and friend, John Stainton, who was with Irwin on the day of his death.

Terri Irwin said she felt blessed to have had to life she did with Steve.

"If I had to do it all over again, even knowing how it ended, I would in a minute," she said. "I feel I was so blessed. I had the best 14 years, two beautiful children, and just a romance like I didn't think existed anymore."

Terri, a native of Eugene, Ore., met her husband at Irwin's Australia Zoo while vacationing in Australia in 1991. Sometimes called the "Crocodile Huntress," she co-starred on her husband's TV show and in his 2002 movie, "The Crocodile Hunter — Collision Course."

Children to Carry on 'Croc Hunter' Legacy?

Friends, family members and celebrities paid their final respects to Steve Irwin in speeches and televised tributes at a public memorial service at the Australia Zoo on Sept. 20. His family held a private service for him there on Sept. 9.

Some observers have predicted that Irwin's children will carry on his wild conservationist legacy. Bindi and Bob Irwin made frequent appearances on their father's TV show. Bindi's own TV show is scheduled to debut in 2007.

At the public memorial, there was hardly a dry eye when Bindi Irwin eulogized her father.

"I don't want daddy's passion to ever end," she said. "I want to help endangered wildlife just like he did. I had the best daddy in the whole world," she said.

"I know that daddy had an important job," Bindi continued. "He was working to change the world so that everybody would love wildlife like he did."

The wildlife enthusiast's show "Crocodile Hunter" was broadcast internationally by the Discovery network. Irwin's documentaries were seen by 200 million people around the world.

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Today in history - Sept. 27

The Associated Press

Today is Wednesday, Sept. 27, the 270th day of 2006. There are 95 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 27, 1964, the Warren Commission issued a report concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone in assassinating President Kennedy.

On this date:

In 1779, John Adams was named to negotiate the Revolutionary War's peace terms with Britain.

In 1854, the first great disaster involving an Atlantic Ocean liner occurred when the steamship Arctic sank with 300 people aboard.

In 1928, the United States said it was recognizing the Nationalist Chinese government.

In 1939, Warsaw, Poland, surrendered after weeks of resistance to invading forces from Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II.

In 1942, Glenn Miller and his Orchestra performed together for the last time, at the Central Theater in Passaic, N.J. prior to Miller's entry into the Army.

In 1943, Bing Crosby, the Andrews Sisters and the Vic Schoen Orchestra recorded "Pistol Packin' Mama" and "Jingle Bells" for Decca Records.

In 1954, "Tonight!" hosted by Steve Allen, made its debut on NBC TV.

In 1956, Olympic track and field gold medalist and Hall of Fame golfer Babe Didrikson Zaharias died in Galveston, Texas, at age 45.

In 1991, President George H.W. Bush announced in a nationally broadcast address that he was eliminating all U.S. battlefield nuclear weapons, and called on the Soviet Union to match the gesture.

In 1994, more than 350 Republican congressional candidates gathered on the steps of the U.S. Capitol to sign the "Contract with America," a 10-point platform they pledged to enact if voters sent a GOP majority to the House.

Ten years ago: In Afghanistan, the Taliban, a band of former seminary students, drove the government of President Burhanuddin Rabbani out of Kabul, captured the capital and executed former leader Najibullah.

Five years ago: An armed man went on a shooting rampage in the local parliament of Zug, Switzerland, killing 14 people before taking his own life. President Bush asked the nation's governors to post National Guard troops at airports as a first step toward federal control of airline security.

One year ago: Former FEMA director Michael Brown angrily blamed the Louisiana governor, the New Orleans mayor and even the Bush White House that appointed him for the dismal response to Hurricane Katrina in a fiery appearance before Congress; in response, lawmakers alternately lambasted and mocked the former official. New Orleans Police Superintendent Eddie Compass stepped down from his post four weeks after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city. Army reservist Lynndie England was sentenced to three years behind bars for her role in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

Today's Birthdays: Former Illinois Sen. Charles Percy is 87. Actress Jayne Meadows is 86. Movie director Arthur Penn is 84. Actress Sada Thompson is 77. Actress Kathleen Nolan is 73. Actor Wilford Brimley is 72. Actor Claude Jarman Jr. is 72. Author Barbara Howar is 72. Producer Don Cornelius ("Soul Train") is 70. Singer-musician Randy Bachman (Bachman-Turner Overdrive) is 63. Actress Liz Torres is 59. Actor A Martinez is 58. Actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa is 56. Rock singer Meat Loaf is 55. Rock musician Greg Ham (Men At Work) is 53. Singer Shaun Cassidy is 48. Rock singer Stephan Jenkins (Third Eye Blind) is 42. Actor Patrick Muldoon is 38. Singer Mark Calderon is 36. Actress Amanda Detmer is 35. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is 34. Country musician Patrick Bourque (Emerson Drive) is 29. Rock singer Brad Arnold (3 Doors Down) is 28. Rapper Lil' Wayne is 24. Singer Avril Lavigne is 22.

Thought for Today: "The more you practice, the better. But in any case, practice more than you play." — Babe Didrikson Zaharias, American athlete (1911-1946).

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