[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Thousands of women are now suing pharmaceutical giant Pfizer over claims its popular birth control injection left them with 'life-changing' brain tumors.
Lawyers told the Daily Mail exclusively that Pfizer will have to stand trial on December 7, 2026, as more than 2,100 women across the US claim in publicly filed lawsuits that they were not warned that the birth control shot Depo-Provera had been linked to debilitating and potentially incurable, benign brain tumors.
Taken by 2million women every year, Depo-Provera is a decades-old contraceptive method that is injected into the arm or buttocks once every three months, delivering the synthetic hormone progestin to prevent pregnancy.
Recent studies done in the past two years, however, have found that the shot comes with than a 500 percent increased risk of developing brain tumors long after users stop taking the medication.
Last month, Pfizer added a warning label to Depo-Provera about the risk of meningiomas, benign tumors that can grow in the brain and spine for decades undetected. Though they are benign, meaning they are not cancerous, they can still lead to blindness, seizures and memory loss.
Virginia Buchanan, partner at law firm Levin Papantonio, which filed a purported class-action lawsuit against Pfizer last year, and court-appointed co-chair of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee and member of the Trial Committee, told the Daily Mail that the new label 'has been a long time coming' and is 'long overdue.'
She urged women who have been diagnosed with a meningioma and who have taken Depo-Provera to contact a lawyer in their area working on the case 'sooner rather than later' to be included in the litigation.
She told the Daily Mail: 'It's a critical women's health issue since birth control is something that millions of women rely upon for making their family planning decisions, and it's critical to have something that is safe.'
The number of women signing on to sue Pfizer has surged five-fold since May, and Buchanan estimates more are expected to come forward.
'We have had a significant uptick in the filings, and I hope that with a greater reach, with more information coming out about the FDA warning and about this risk, that more women will come forward,' Buchanan said.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Pfizer for comment but has not received a response.
CDC data estimates nearly one in four sexually active women, roughly 40 million, in the US have used Depo-Provera at least once in their lifetime.
Depo-Provera contains progestin, a synthetic version of the hormone progesterone, which prevents pregnancy by stopping ovulation and thinning the lining of the uterus. This makes it difficult for an egg to implant itself.
Experts believe progestin overstimulates receptors in the meninges, membranes lining the skull and spine, where meningiomas grow. This could lead to cells mutating and forming tumors.
A landmark 2024 study in the British Medical Journal compared over 18,000 women who underwent meningioma surgery to healthy control subjects.
The team found use of Depo-Provera for 12 or more months was associated with a 5.6-fold increased risk of developing a meningioma.
Another study published in 2025 in the journal Expert Opinion on Drug Safety found that the use of Depo-Provera by women of childbearing age for more than one year was associated with a 3.5-fold increased risk of developing an intracranial meningioma compared to the use of birth control pills.
Meningiomas grow in the meninges, the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, and strike 170,000 Americans every year.
Nine in 10 are benign, meaning they are not cancerous. However, they can still lead to frightening side effects. Buchanan told the Daily Mail that plaintiffs facing off against Pfizer have reported impaired hearing, vision and smell, along with seizure disorders.
The tumors grow slowly, so common symptoms like headaches and coordination issues may take years or even decades to be linked, Buchanan said. Many women also experience cognitive and behavioral shifts that lead family members to take notice first.
The lawsuits allege that Pfizer was aware of the link between these birth control injections and brain tumors and that they failed to adequately warn of the risk and promote safer alternatives.
'The basis of this lawsuit is there should have been a warning,' Buchanan said. 'These women who have now been diagnosed, they can't go back and undo or redo what they've been exposed to, but certainly women going forward can.'
She also notes that awareness about the lawsuit can help women who may have a meningioma be diagnosed faster and avoid lasting disabilities.
'It encourages at least a more rapid diagnosis so women don't have to undergo a significant surgery or have a growth of a size that just can't be removed,' she added.
'We've had a number of clients who had partial removal and surgeons couldn't get it all. It's a scary thing to think you have an inoperable brain tumor, because even if it's benign, if it's compressing on critical nerves or something that controls an important bodily function, that's a very scary thing.'
Law firms are also investigating potential class actions in other jurisdictions, including in Europe, Australia, South Africa and Canada.
Buchanan told the Daily Mail that while Pfizer sought Depo-Provera's safety label change from the FDA, the company has largely denied wrongdoing and has maintained that the product is safe enough to keep on the market.
'Given that there are already thousands of cases filed and vetted that now with the FDA warning, we are going to continue to see additional growth with that.'
The trial currently scheduled for December will be for one plaintiff who alleges she developed a meningioma from Depo-Provera, and trials for four other plaintiffs will occur every 60 days after. Pfizer can choose to settle at any point or could move to resolve the claims before trial.
[SLTrib] Eight people are shot with two dead and three in critical condition after a shooting at a funeral outside a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Redwood Road.
Police are searching for the suspect at this time.
Courtesy of Skidmark, the Daily Mail chimes in with all the usuals:
#2
Many members of the Pacific Islander and Latter-day Saint communities in the area were attending a memorial service for an individual, Feltch-Malohifo’ou said, when the shooting occurred outside the church, which serves mainly Tongan congregants.
[ZERO] Aldrich Ames, one of the most consequential double agents in the history of U.S. intelligence, has died while serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Maryland, according to a report by The Associated Press. Ames, a former senior official at the Central Intelligence Agency, was convicted in 1994 of spying for the Soviet Union and later Russia in what remains one of the most damaging intelligence breaches ever suffered by the United States.
#6
Ames and Hanssen:
:He was spying at the same time as Aldrich Ames in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Both Ames and Hanssen compromised the names of KGB agents working secretly for the U.S., some of whom were executed for their betrayal and were run by the same NKVD officer, Victor Cherkashin.[4] Hanssen also revealed a multimillion-dollar eavesdropping tunnel built by the FBI under the Soviet Embassy. After Ames's arrest in 1994, some of these intelligence breaches remained unsolved, and the search for another spy continued. The FBI paid $7 million to a KGB agent to obtain a file on an anonymous mole, whom the FBI later identified as Hanssen through fingerprint and voice analysis."
Wiki cite
My understanding in the years before his death Hanssen had spent so much time in solitary at ADX Florence that he had lost the ability to speak or reason cogently. One can only hope Ames had suffered that same level of isolation.
[FoxBusinessNews] The Trump administration has criticized the defense industry for what it describes as high costs and slow production
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to block defense companies from paying dividends or buying back stock until they improve production and delivery performance.
"Effective immediately, they are not permitted in any way, shape, or form to pay dividends or buy back stock, until such time as they are able to produce a superior product, on time and on budget," the order reads.
Trump and the Pentagon have criticized the defense industry for what they describe as high costs and slow production. The administration has vowed to make changes to boost production of military equipment.
"I am committed to ensuring that the United States military possesses the most lethal warfighting capabilities in the world," the order reads. "Our Nation can only be at peace if we maintain strength. The performance of America’s defense industrial base is critical to this capacity. After years of misplaced priorities, traditional defense contractors have been incentivized to prioritize investor returns over the Nation’s warfighters."
"While the United States produces the best military equipment in the world, we do not make enough of it quickly enough to meet the needs of our military and our partners," it added. "As a result, in these dangerous times, it is imperative that our defense contractors be held to the highest standards intended to ensure the advancement of core national interests, including with respect to the timeliness and quality of the defense items that they deliver."
Trump made similar remarks earlier on Wednesday on Truth Social.
"I have been informed by the Department of War that Defense Contractor, Raytheon, has been the least responsive to the needs of the Department of War," he wrote.
#1
Not sure POTUS powers extend that far.
Might be some contractual wiggle-room.
OTOH - this might be the Trumpian version of "play nice or we WILL investigate your fraud."
#3
If it defense contractor has that much extra cash that they can buy their own stock back, i’ll bet Trump would rather have them invest in additional defense infrastructure. Starting with new shipyards.
Posted by: Difar Dave ||
01/08/2026 16:54 Comments ||
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Boys will be boys, especially Moslem boys in the Ummah, terrorizing the dhimmis. China budgets for this kind of nonsense in the Third (or is it Fourth) World.
— Amhara War Updates | የአማራ ጦርነት ወቅታዊ መረጃ (@AmharaWarUpdate) January 7, 2026
Text:
⚡️Two women executed in overnight regime attacks on civilians in Sinan and Awabel Woredas (📍East Gojjam Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia).
🔴 Between December 30th and 31st, regime forces carried out a deadly attack on civilians in Nebir-Gedel Kebele, Sinan Woreda, after occupying the area for several hours. Soldiers reportedly forced their way into a private residence overnight and opened fire inside the home, killing Woizero Ayehu Abebayehu (57) and critically wounding her husband in front of their children. Local sources stated the victim had no political affiliation.
🔴 In a separate incident on December 31st, regime soldiers reportedly executed another civilian woman in Rebreb Kebele, Awabel Woreda. The killing occurred around midnight, when soldiers forcibly entered the victim’s home and shot her with automatic weapons. The victim was reported to be a 55-year-old married mother.
⚡️Around 50 civilian farmers forcibly arrested and conscripted in overnight regime sweep in Raya-Kobo Woreda (📍North Wollo Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia).
— Amhara War Updates | የአማራ ጦርነት ወቅታዊ መረጃ (@AmharaWarUpdate) January 7, 2026
Text:
⚡️Around 50 civilian farmers forcibly arrested and conscripted in overnight regime sweep in Raya-Kobo Woreda (📍North Wollo Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia).
🔴 On the night of December 30th, extending into the early hours of December 31st, regime forces carried out mass arrests in the Zobel area, detaining approximately 50 civilians, most of them subsistence farmers.
🔴 Those arrested were reportedly registered local militia members but were not actively involved in combat or operations against Fano forces. Sources state the arrests were conducted under the pretext of forcing the detainees to align with the regime and participate in military operations against the Amhara population.
🔴 Following their arrest, the civilians were reportedly transferred to military training facilities for forced conscription, triggering widespread fear, anxiety, and social tension among families and the wider community.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] An attempted military coup in Burkina Faso has been thwarted. This was reported on January 7 by the French news radio station RFI.
The Republic's Minister of Security, Mahamadou Sana, reported that the former transitional president, Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, attempted to destabilize the country. He orchestrated a plot to assassinate President Ibrahim Traoré and several military and civilian officials.
"This was supposed to be followed by an action to decommission the drone base and ground military intervention by external forces," Sana said.
According to Sana, Damiba carried out the operation using funds from Côte d'Ivoire. The transfer involved 70 million African francs (9.8 million rubles).
The conspirators' plan was thwarted on January 3. Those involved in the coup attempt were arrested. The minister did not name them for the sake of the investigation.
These measures did not affect Damiba, who has been living in exile in Togo since another coup d'état ousted him in September 2022. Traoré then became president. Eight months earlier, in January 2022, Damiba came to power in another coup.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Thousands of vacancies for six-figure, blue collar jobs remain unfilled in the United States because Americans are simply uninterested in hands-on work, experts said.
The automotive giants that once had workers rush to help build cars for the front lines during World War II are now hurting to find skilled trade workers.
Ford CEO Jim Farley said there were 5,000 mechanic jobs hiring that could earn workers up to $120,000 - almost double the average salary in America.
However, he was struggling to fill those positions as the US is suffering a shortage of workers skilled in manual labor.
'We are in trouble in our country,' Farley warned. 'We are not talking about this enough. We have over a million openings in critical jobs, emergency services, trucking, factory workers, plumbers, electricians, and tradesmen. It’s a very serious thing.'
He said dealerships across the country had a 'bay with a lift and tools and no one to work in it.'
Part of the problem is the time it takes to make the six-figure salaries in the industry, which often does flat rate jobs, meaning, in order to earn a high salary, one would have to work quickly to do more tasks.
Another obstacle is the length of time it takes to learn the job - five years.
But for those who stick it out, like Ted Hummel, 39, of Ohio, one can rake in unbelievably good salaries like Hummel's $160,000.
Hummel, a senior master technician who specializes in transmissions, took around a decade to even break the $100,000 mark.
'They always advertised back then, you could make six figures,' Hummel, who has an associate's degree in automotive technology, told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
He started working for Klaben Ford Lincoln in Kent, near Cleveland, in August 2012. It wasn't until 2022 that he made more than $100,000, he told the WSJ.
'As I was doing it, it was like: "This isn’t happening." It took a long time.'
Ford's job center starts off skilled trade workers around $42,000 a year, according to listings viewed by the Daily Mail.
For an auto mechanic in Southeast Michigan, the starting rate is $43,260, with an increase after three consecutive months of employment.
The job also requires eight years of previous experience or apprenticeship, but does not require a college degree.
#3
you're right grom, you have to have common sense. Not a lot of that going around these days.
Posted by: chris ||
01/08/2026 4:42 Comments ||
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#4
The auto mechanic trade isn't what it was 30 years ago, or even 10. Expensive, licensed computer programs (generally unavailable to Joe Shadetree) along with today's AI made auto diagnostics much easier.
#5
Sure, the new cars and the drive trains now last over 100k++ miles and 7+ years compared to the 36k and maybe 3 to 5 years of the pre-80's
Have owned and repaired Nova SS's, 440 Super Bee's, Dodge Cornet 440 and other 1/2 bondo ☺ cars in and from the 70' & 80's.
Most from that day ang age knew how to run down the salvage yard, purchase remove a wreck car engine or transmission, and how to change them out in few hours.
Most of us knew how to tune them using strobe timing light and set dwell to what was needed.
We could grab a Chilton manual, read it and do most anything we had time and parts for, to service my cars up to the 80's.
Then the electronic age flush those skills & abilities.
#6
/\ Chevrolet used to publish a shop manual each year. I had one for my '57. When publications stopped, Chilton's was the 'go-to.' Chilton's was an anathema to the purist, eventually however, it became the standard.
#7
A few years could be cut in the process if we hung a few public educators who turned the secondary school system into a feeder system for academia. Bring back shop at 7th grade with a integration into apprenticeship programs at 9th grade.
#8
1. I don't think 120k is representative of what mechanics make generally.
2. The guys (yes, guys) who could do the job are getting paid more on the oil fields. If you want a specific skill set then you have to pay the market rate.
3. Employers generally deserve zero sympathy. They treat their employees like sh-t, pay them peanuts, lay them off at will and then complain there's no loyalty. F that.
#10
What a crock of shit. There are no plus hundred thousand dollar jobs that marginalized IT workers and other underemployed heritage americans do not want.
All these jobs 'no one wants' have so many hoops to jump through and boxes to check. It's not that people do not want them... How do I know, because I am a marginalized IT worker.
[FoxNews] President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a presidential memorandum directing the U.S. to withdraw from 66 international organizations, ordering executive departments and agencies to cease participation in and funding of entities the administration says no longer serve U.S. interests.
The memorandum follows a State Department review ordered earlier this year under Executive Order 14199 and applies to 35 non-United Nations organizations and 31 United Nations entities, according to the White House.
In the memorandum, Trump said he reviewed Secretary Rubio's findings and determined it is "contrary to the interests of the U.S. to remain a member of, participate in, or otherwise provide support" to the listed organizations.
The order directs all executive departments and agencies to take immediate steps to effectuate the withdrawals as soon as possible. For United Nations entities, withdrawal means ceasing participation in or funding to the extent permitted by law
The administration framed the move as part of Trump’s broader "America First" agenda aimed at restoring American sovereignty and ending taxpayer support for organizations it views as wasteful, ineffective or contrary to U.S. interests.
Review of additional international organizations remains ongoing, according to the White House.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the withdrawals fulfill a key commitment of Trump’s presidency.
"Today, President Trump announced the U.S. is leaving 66 anti-American, useless, or wasteful international organizations," Rubio said in a post on X. "Review of additional international organizations remains ongoing."
Rubio said the administration concluded the institutions were "redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity."
"It is no longer acceptable to be sending these institutions the blood, sweat, and treasure of the American people, with little to nothing to show for it," Rubio said. "The days of billions of dollars in taxpayer money flowing to foreign interests at the expense of our people are over."
The list includes organizations involved in areas such as climate, energy, development, governance, migration and gender policy, according to the White House. The White House published the full list alongside the order.
Rubio said the withdrawals reflect a shift in how the administration views international engagement.
"We will not continue expending resources, diplomatic capital, and the legitimizing weight of our participation in institutions that are irrelevant to or in conflict with our interests," Rubio said. "We seek cooperation where it serves our people and will stand firm where it does not."
The White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
#9
I would like to hear an opinion from our last representative for each of those organizations. I bet half of those people are farther left than Lenin.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/08/2026 11:48 Comments ||
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#10
Conservative Treehouse has an excellent breakdown where Sundance explains how this is a bigger win than it seems.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] NASA is considering a rare evacuation of its crew from the International Space Station (ISS) over an unspecified medical issue involving one of the astronauts.
A spokeswoman for the agency said the astronaut with the medical concern, whom she did not identify, was in a stable condition on the orbiting laboratory.
'Safely conducting our missions is our highest priority, and we are actively evaluating all options, including the possibility of an earlier end to Crew-11's mission,' the spokeswoman said in a statement on Wednesday night.
'These are the situations NASA and our partners train for and prepare to execute safely. We will provide further updates within the next 24 hours.'
Crew-11 includes four astronauts: Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov.
NASA has never had to pull an astronaut home for medical reasons, but evacuation capability is built into every ISS mission, with crew return vehicles kept on standby.
The announcement came as the space agency canceled Thursday's scheduled spacewalk due to the issue.
Station commander Fincke and flight engineer Cardman were slated to carry out a 6.5-hour spacewalk Thursday to install external hardware on the ISS.
#2
Awww, the solar irradiation will kill mutate any of that
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/08/2026 16:56 Comments ||
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#3
^ We've seen this movie!
And having just read a Phillip K. Dick novel, I gotta ask: How do we know the 'people' that come back are the same ones that went up?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[FoxNews] President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a presidential memorandum directing the U.S. to withdraw from 66 international organizations, ordering executive departments and agencies to cease participation in and funding of entities the administration says no longer serve U.S. interests.
