High Risk

Health-care providers in New Jersey would be penalized for giving flu shots to those not in high-risk groups, and orders of the vaccine could be redistributed by the state under a bill passed yesterday. If Gov. McGreevey signs the bill, New Jersey would join a growing number of states that have attached penalties to the violation of federal guidelines for who should be vaccinated during the nationwide flu-shot shortage. The state would be the only one, however, to address the situation through legislation rather than direct action by the government, the National Conference of State Legislatures said.

Residents chatted about auto insurance, incinerators, tax reforms and the state master plan at a recent town meeting for residents of Winslow, Waterford and Chesilhurst. Assemblyman Anthony Marsella (D., Gloucester, Camden) discussed various issues with 35 residents who attended the meeting in the Winslow Township hall. Marsella, whose legislative district includes 17 municipalities in Camden and Gloucester Counties, said he calls about four regional town meetings a year, trying to talk to residents from each municipality at least once a year.

The report concerning the effectiveness and side effects of a drug for preventing breast cancer in women of high risk is dramatic good news. It is also instructive. Many of us are suspicious of news of medical progress. It's as if we insist that every advance become the perfect cure. About 29 million women in this country are at high risk for breast cancer, which strikes 180,000 women each year. The risk factors include age, pre-cancerous conditions or genetic predisposition (mothers or sisters had the disease)

DHAKA, Bangladesh - Fire raced through a garment factory that supplies major retailers in the West, killing at least 112 people, many of whom were trapped by the flames because the eight-story building lacked emergency exits, an official said Sunday. The blaze broke out late Saturday at a factory operated just outside Bangladesh's capital of Dhaka by Tazreen Fashions Ltd., a subsidiary of the Tuba Group, which makes products for Wal-Mart and other companies in the United States and Europe.

I had a recent experience with the medical care system I would like to share. Because I'm in a high risk group for influenza, I asked my medical group about getting a flu shot. They suggested I get one in November. Three days later local television channels came on urging us high risk guys to get flu shots. Who does one believe? TV channels do not have medical degrees so I followed my medical service's advice. What was the outcome? First, the good news. For someone with borderline emphysema, apparently my breathing function is great.

"Ten Percent Revue" at the Walnut Street Theater, Studio 5, through Oct. 26. Featuring Tom Wilson Weinberg, Jon Arterton, Jenifer Firestone, Elliot Pilshaw, Helena Snow. 'Ten Percent Revue," the gay-lesbian musical that opened last night at the Walnut Street Theatre's Studio 5 for a two-week run, is an exhilarating evening with the warm heart of an old-time hoofer and the big city brains of a Talking Head. Philadelphia-spawned composer and lyricist Tom Wilson Weinberg writes songs like the legendary Broadway guys used to write songs in the '30s and '40s.

Four years after industry officials persuaded Congress and the Department of Homeland Security to accept watered-down regulations on securing chemical plants from terrorists, they're urging federal officials to once again kick the can down the road. One proposal in the Senate would even renew these flawed rules for five more years. That's an imprudent strategy, though, for safeguarding millions of Americans from the risks posed by hundreds of plants where dangerous chemicals are processed or in use. Plant safety rules that will expire in October simply aren't doing the job - which is why Congress must strengthen them now. For instance, even the mandated government inspection of high-risk facilities lags far behind schedule.

When casino mogul Sheldon Adelson wrote a $5 million check this month to a super PAC backing his close friend Newt Gingrich, it was the largest donation the executive had ever made to a candidate in an election cycle. Aides close to the 78-year-old billionaire, whose company, Las Vegas Sands Corp., owns the Sands Bethlehem Casino Resort, about an hour's drive from Philadelphia, say the contribution reflects Adelson's penchant for making high-risk bets - with high payoff. It also showcases the growing influence of super PACs on the presidential campaign.

Son was responsible for checking on father In a March 16 article on the discovery of a man 10 days dead ("Questions linger over man's death"), the deceased's son railed against the manager of the West Chester residential complex where his elderly father had lived. "We're furious about what happened," he said. "Somebody ought to be responsible. " I agree. And who better than one of the old man's seven children. How difficult is it to call your old dad once a day? Did he live too far from his children for casual drop-in visits?

In case you were wondering - and any sane person would - a climber making his way up the sheer and treacherous ice face of the Delphine Glacier in British Columbia without a rope explains, "I want to get places where no human has been before. " Extreme, the latest and one of the giddiest Imax releases at the Franklin Institute, is full of breathtaking shots of high-risk behavior and helpful comments from those who dare on why they do it. The film covers the most extreme of the extreme sports and activities, far beyond the fodder ESPN uses to fill its daytime schedule.