Former FTX executive Caroline Ellison sentenced to 2 years in prison for fraud

• September 24, 2024

By Larry Neumeister | The Associated Press

Caroline Ellison, a former top executive in Sam Bankman-Fried’s fallen FTX cryptocurrency empire, was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday after she apologized repeatedly to everyone hurt by a fraud that stole billions of dollars from investors and customers of what once They seemed like a groundbreaking company in an emerging financial industry.

Also see: Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison

US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said Ellison’s cooperation in the case was “very, very substantial” and praised her testimony, saying he saw no inconsistencies with documents shown to the jury or things she had previously told prosecutors.

But he said a prison sentence was necessary because she had participated in what might be the “greatest financial fraud ever perpetrated in this country and probably anywhere else” or at least close to it.

He said in such a serious case, he could not let cooperation be a get-out-of-jail-free card.

“I’ve seen a lot of cooperators in 30 years here. I’ve never seen one quite like Ms. Ellison,” he said.

She was ordered to report to prison Nov. 7.

Ellison, 29, pleaded guilty nearly two years ago and testified against Bankman-Fried for nearly three days at a trial last November.

At sentencing, she emotionally apologized to anyone hurt by the fraud that stretched from 2017 through 2022.

“I’m deeply ashamed with what I’ve done,” she said, fighting through tears to say she was “so so sorry” to everyone she had harmed directly or indirectly.

In a court filing, prosecutors said her testimony was the “cornerstone of the trial” against Bankman-Fried, 32, who was found guilty of fraud and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Asking the court for a lighter sentence, Ellison’s own lawyers cited both her testimony at the trial and the trauma of her off-and-on romantic relationship with Bankman-Fried — although they also stressed that she wasn’t trying to evade responsibility for her crimes.

“Caroline blames no one but herself for what she did,” her lawyers wrote in a court filing. “She regrets her role de ella deeply and will carry shame and remorse to her grave de ella.”

FTX was one of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, known for its Superbowl TV ad and its extensive lobbying campaign in Washington, before it collapsed in 2022.

US prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried and other top executives of looting customer accounts on the exchange to make risky investments, make millions of dollars of illegal political donations, bribe Chinese officials and buy luxury real estate in the Caribbean.

Ellison was chief executive at Alameda Research, a cryptocurrency hedge fund controlled by Bankman-Fried that was used to process some customer funds from FTX.

Her work relationship with Bankman-Fried was complicated by her romantic feelings for him, her lawyers wrote in a court filing.

“From the start, Mr. Bankman-Fried’s behavior was erratic and manipulative. He initially professed strong feelings for Caroline and suggested their liaison would develop into a full relationship. But after a few weeks, he would ‘ghost’ Caroline without explanation, avoiding her outside of work and refusing to respond to messages that were not work-related,” her lawyers said.

As the business began to fail, Ellison disclosed the massive fraud to employees who worked for her even before FTX filed for bankruptcy, her lawyers wrote.

Ultimately, she also spoke extensively with US investigators.

“Ellison cooperated at great personal and professional cost, enduring harsh media and public scrutiny and attempted witness tampering by Bankman-Fried,” prosecutors wrote.

They said she was forthcoming about her own misconduct and was “uniquely positioned to explain not only the what and how of Bankman-Fried’s crimes, but also the why.”

“In his many meetings with the Government, Ellison approached his cooperation with remarkable candor, remorse, and seriousness,” they wrote. “She dedicated herself to extensive document review that helped identify key corroborating documents in an investigation hamstrung by Bankman-Fried’s systematic destruction of evidence.”

Her testimony at the trial, they said, was credible and compelling.

Since testifying at Bankman-Fried’s trial, Ellison has engaged in extensive charity work, written a novel and worked with her parents on a math enrichment textbook for advanced high school students, according to her lawyers.

They said she also now has a healthy romantic relationship and has reconnected with high school friends she had lost touch with while she worked for and sometimes dated Bankman-Fried from 2017 until late 2022.

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​ Orange County Register 

AQMD offers up to $250 to replace gas mowers, other lawn tools with electric models

• September 24, 2024

The South Coast Air Quality Management District’s Residential Electric Lawn & Garden Equipment Rebate Program has been expanded to go beyond offsetting costs for lawn mowers, giving residents the opportunity to replace other gasoline-powered tools with electric models.

AQMD officials on Friday announced that the rebate program for residents in the South Coast Air Basin will now include leaf blowers, trimmers and chainsaws. Trimmers can include weed whackers, edgers and brush cutters.

The program offers a rebate of up to $250 for each piece of eligible equipment from authorized retailers, with a limit of three per person.

“Using a gas-powered lawn mower for just one hour emits the same amount of pollution as a road trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas,” South Coast AQMD Executive Officer Wayne Nastri said in a statement. “By expanding the program, we hope more residents will make the switch to electric lawn and garden equipment, that will reduce their carbon footprint and improve air quality.”

Since 2017, the original Residential Electric Lawn Mower Rebate Program has achieved emission reductions in the South Coast Air Basin of approximately 1.4 tons per year of volatile organic compounds and 0.28 ton per year of nitrogen oxides, according to South Coast AQMD.

Rebates are provided on a first-come, first-served basis, and the destruction of the old gasoline equipment at a certified scrapper is required. The new equipment must be cordless and include a battery and charger to receive the rebate.

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Applications can be submitted online for the rebates, overseen by South Coast AQMD, which is the regulatory agency responsible for improving air quality for large areas of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, including the Coachella Valley.

South Coast AQMD also offers an existing Commercial Electric Lawn & Garden Equipment Incentive & Exchange Program that offers up to an 85% discount for commercial gardeners and landscapers.

For more information about the expanded Residential Electric Lawn & Garden Equipment Rebate Program, visit www.aqmd.gov/lawnmower. For questions about the program, email [email protected] or call 888-425-6247.

​ Orange County Register 

Suicidal ideation is terrifying and isolating. This survivor is ‘living proof’ recovery is possible.

• September 24, 2024

Mary Lawal was 8 years old the first time she tried to take her own life.

Time has blurred the details for Lawal, now a 22-year-old psychology student at Prince George’s Community College. She doesn’t remember the circumstances that led up to her attempt — Did she have a fight with her parents? An argument with her siblings? — or how, as a child, she even knew suicide was possible. She has only a vague memory of feeling lonely and unlovable.

“I don’t think I had a full understanding of what I was doing,” she said.

In the last two decades, overall suicide rates in the U.S. have risen by more than a third. They are also up for children ages 8 to 12 — especially among young girls. Nearly 1 in 10 Maryland high school students reported having attempted suicide at least once in the year leading up to fall of 2022, according to results from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey.

But there are reasons to be hopeful. For two years, in Maryland and across the country, the 988 suicide and crisis hotline has made it easier to ask for help. And earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, introduced legislation that would create a federal grant program to support evidence-based models for stabilizing people with serious thoughts of suicide. Raskin lost his son to suicide in December 2020.

While suicidal ideation — thinking about or formulating plans for suicide — can be terrifying and isolating, research shows it also is treatable through psychotherapy, medication, family and social support, and other treatments. Nine out of 10 people who attempt to take their own lives do not die during that acute period of crisis, and do not go on to die of suicide in the future. Research shows that most people who make one attempt do not try to end their own lives again.

But Lawal did try again. After her first attempt as a child, she tried to take her own life four more times, most recently in 2021.

Lawal survived. And today, after several years of intensive treatment, hospital stays, medication and therapy, she considers herself to be in recovery from suicidal ideation and self-harm. She’s now an outspoken mental health advocate who shares her story with thousands of people on her Instagram, as well as with lawmakers, mental health workers and educators as a volunteer and youth adviser for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

She wants to bring people in crisis the message she so desperately needed when she was younger — that there is hope of getting better.

“I’m living proof that recovery is possible,” Lawal said. “Mental illness does not have to be a death sentence.”

Mary Lawal has survived five suicide attempts and is now a mental health advocate committed to sharing her story with others and spreading a message of hope. Lawal is a student at Prince George’s Community College. (Kenneth K. Lam/Staff)

Lawal remembers struggling with her mental health from the time she was little. She spent her childhood moving between Bowie and Nigeria, where her dad grew up and ran a business. She switched schools four or five times while growing up, sometimes in the middle of the school year.

Ezekiel Adegbola met Lawal while they were both in high school in Nigeria. He remembers her as someone who quickly adapted to the “Nigerian way of life” and was very bright and funny. They quickly became friends, Adegbola said, and stayed close even after Mary returned to Maryland.

But inside, Lawal felt like she didn’t belong anywhere — like nobody truly understood her. At 13, she began to self-harm. She knew she needed help, but she didn’t know how to put what she was feeling into words. Mental health wasn’t something her teachers or classmates talked about at school.

“I felt as though I was just in this cycle of doom,” she said.

When it comes to preventing suicide — and most other public health crises — it’s key to implement upstream interventions, said Holly Wilcox, a professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. That means tackling the first seeds of the problem before it becomes a crisis, and teaching people about how to recognize those seeds and what to do when they spot them.

Suicide may seem like too big and scary of a topic to broach with children, but there are age-appropriate — and effective — ways of doing so, Wilcox said. She and other researchers are currently testing out programs in Maryland schools, where kids are given tools for approaching sensitive situations and conversations with their friends, and taught when to involve a responsible adult.

“One thing we’ve been noticing is that students, even as young as middle school, really like having the space and time to talk about mental health,” said Wilcox, who has spent her career advancing public health approaches to suicide prevention.

“By allowing them to talk about it, our hope is that it addresses mental health stigma,” Wilcox said. “They can learn practical skills and learn about different mental health conditions. That should help them when they or someone else in their lives are facing any type of mental health problem or crisis; they’ll have something to draw from to be able to work toward a solution.”

Without a similar program in her school, Lawal turned to YouTube and social media to learn about mental health. Hearing others share experiences similar to her own was helpful, but she still wasn’t sure how to get better. While living in Nigeria, she considered walking to a nearby pharmacy to ask for help.

“I wanted to ask the pharmacist,” she recalled, “‘Do you guys have something for depression or suicidal ideation? Something to help?’”

When she got up the nerve to tell her parents how much she was hurting, they didn’t understand. They were a family of faith — Why couldn’t she trust that God would take care of her?

Lawal’s father, Wasiu Lawal, said he initially attributed his daughter’s mental health struggles to her youth. But things got worse, not better, as she got older, he said. Eventually, even though he didn’t understand therapy — mental health was never something people talked about when he was growing up in Nigeria — he knew his daughter needed serious intervention.

“I was willing to do anything that would help her,” Lawal said.

Toward the end of Lawal’s high school years, her mental health got even worse. In her lowest moments, she would scream and cry to her mother, asking her why she had brought her into the world.

But when Lawal was 19, after years of suicide attempts and terrifying intrusive thoughts regularly sending her to the hospital, a doctor suggested a partial hospitalization program to her family. For several weeks, Lawal spent hours each day participating in group and individual therapy. A few months later, she did the program again. This time, even though it was virtual, Lawal felt more prepared to be open with others in the program — to share her experiences and add her input during group therapy.

After several years of treatment and learning about mental health, it felt like everything clicked, Lawal said. She left the program with a deeper understanding of herself that became even deeper as she explored her relationship with her faith. She came to believe that everything she had gone through had a purpose — to help her understand others who were struggling and help them feel less alone.

“God, he had me then. He has me now,” she said. “In my darkest moments, in my darkest times, where I felt lonely, I felt like I had no one, he was still there with me and the reason why I’m still alive today.”

Rolly Orebote, a preacher and spiritual mentor based in London, remembers meeting Lawal through Instagram about four years ago. She could tell how much the young girl was struggling, she said, but over the past few years, she has been amazed at the person she has become.

“When I first met Sister Mary, she was a totally different person. Someone that was not understood, someone that didn’t have confidence in herself,” Orebote said. “I can’t really say how impressed and how proud of her that I am, because she’s grown so much in such a short space of time.”

Now, Lawal is well-practiced at sharing her story. In 2023, she addressed lawmakers in the Maryland General Assembly to ask them to fully fund the 988 hotline. She’s also helped facilitate support groups for NAMI and regularly volunteers to speak with journalists about mental health issues. As a psychology student at Prince George’s Community College, she’s not quite sure yet whether she wants to continue her studies and become a therapist or stay in advocacy.

Whatever Lawal decides to do, her father said, she is going to help many people. She’s taught him a lot about mental health, he said. Now, when he meets a parent whose child is struggling with their mental health, he knows how to talk to them about it — and helps them figure out how to support their child.

“She is amazing. Amazing,” he said of his daughter. “She can tell her story anywhere. She is not ashamed. She’s bold. I’m really proud of her.”

​ Orange County Register 

How to prevent or at least slow developing ‘dead butt syndrome’

• September 24, 2024

Morayo Ogunbayo | (TNS) The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ATLANTA — Its name might sound funny, but its long-term effects are no laughing matter. “Dead butt syndrome,” an affliction that once targeted athletes, is now a major cause of pain and discomfort among people who sit at a desk for hours a day.

The name refers to a serious weakening in one of the gluteal muscles, and while the early symptoms can lead to pain in the lower back and muscles, which in the long term can affect quality of life.

What is ‘dead butt syndrome’?

Gluteus medius tendinosis, often referred to as gluteal tendinopathy, is a tendon disorder that manifests in the hip and buttocks area, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The condition causes tendon tissue to break down or deteriorate and is a common cause of hip pain.

Although it can affect anyone, it is more in women past the age of menopause. Runners, skiers and dancers are also more prone to this affliction.

It is most typically caused by putting too much pressure on those tendons through physical activity or through tendon compression from an accident.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, excess pressure from weight gain or obesity can also aid in gluteal tendinopathy.

The cause of the condition, however, is underuse of these tendons through inactivity or a generally sedentary lifestyle.

How do you know if you have ‘dead butt syndrome’?

Symptoms of “dead butt syndrome” most commonly manifest as moderate hip pain, according to the Cleveland Clinic. This pain may occur while walking upstairs or up an incline, lying on your side, sitting for a prolonged time, or standing on one leg.

One alarming sign may be if you start to feel hip pain while getting out of bed each morning.

Gluteal tendinopathy can be diagnosed through a symptom evaluation with a health care provider, which may lead to an MRI or ultrasound to check the affected area.

What are the long-term effects?

Long-term, gluteal tendinopathy may cause common signs of aging earlier than you would like, including severe and chronic pain in the lower body, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Fatigue and irritability are also possible if the chronic pain begins to affect your sleep each night.

How can it be prevented or stopped?

The good news is there are ways to prevent this from happening to you. Avoiding repetitive activities that focus on the hips is a good way to start, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Even in common exercises like running or hiking, it is good to take a break when you feel undue pain in that region of your body.

The Cleveland Clinic also recommends lifting weights to strengthen the hips and prevent this condition in the long term. Yoga and other stretching exercises are a good idea to keep the lower body flexible.

Another tip is to change the way you sit each day during work or even just while relaxing. According to Dr. Robert Trasolini, an orthopedic surgeon, posture is important.

“Sitting with an arched back or slouching at your desk can put significant pressure on your deep butt muscles as well as your lower back,” he told People magazine.

If these symptoms have already begun for you, Trasolini has advice on how to slow or stop the condition. He recommends getting up every 30 minutes at work and going for a quick walk, just to reset the lower body.

“Set an alarm every 30 minutes, get up stretch every hour, take a short walk for between three and five minutes. Those allow the muscle to respond and get this thing stronger,” he told People.

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©2024 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

​ Orange County Register 

Am I liable for a slip and fall at a bowling alley? Ask the lawyer

• September 24, 2024

Q: We had a birthday party for our 12-year-old son. One of the kids slipped and fell while bowling, and wound up with a broken arm. We checked, and the approach did have a  greasy substance on it. The parents are angry. Do they have a claim against the bowling alley or against us?

D.R., Inglewood

Ron Sokol

A: The owner of the bowling alley has a legal duty to exercise ordinary care in the maintenance and management of the premises to avoid exposing persons to an unreasonable risk of harm. So, how did the greasy substance get there? Should the owner have known about it and removed it?  Was it, instead, obvious and someone else there (perhaps a parent) should have dealt with it, or the youngster could have avoided it?

Businesses, such as grocery markets, typically have what is a called a “sweep.” This is an inspection made of the aisles, floors, surrounding shelves and containers at reasonable time intervals. Did the owner do so? At this juncture, it is not possible to opine if the bowling alley is liable until you can gather more of the facts.

As to you being at fault, a question arises about the level of supervision of the kids at the party. A bowling party is not quite a swimming pool, so you may not have a “lifeguard” on hand; however, did one of the kids spill something that resulted in the slippery surface? Can you say you were vigilant, keeping a careful eye on things, and that no one noticed anything too risky? Here again, without knowing more, it is not possible to opine on whether there may be a valid claim against you.

If a claim does come forward, or you become aware that a formal claim is going to be brought against you, consult with a qualified attorney, including to assess if you have coverage through your homeowners policy, and/or if you have a claim in turn against the bowling alley. If you are concerned enough at this point, consult with the lawyer now.

Q: What does a premises expert look for in a slip and fall case?

H.O., Marina Del Rey

A: Often it is essential to have a premises expert conduct an inspection of the area where the slip and fall occurred. Alterations may be made to the site, or the location may be modified. Thus, it can be very important to have the inspection done promptly after the incident, and to seek out (or demand preservation of) any video of the incident.

The expert may photograph or video the site. In addition, he or she may take measurements; may test the soil or ground; and may determine incline, grade and quality of materials. Bottom line, the expert is going to seek to carefully assess information about what happened, how it happened, and be in position to opine if the slip and fall occurred as a result of a defect or dangerous condition. Part of the evaluation may also determine if an ordinance, code provision, rule, custom or law was violated with regard to the condition of the premises.

Q: Are slip and fall cases handled on an hourly or contingency basis?

P.D., Orange

A: In my experience, slip and fall cases are handled on a contingency basis (in other words, the lawyer receives a percentage from any recovery). The percentage that the lawyer charges should be negotiable. Discuss also with the attorney who is going to pay out of pocket costs, and how much might be spent.

Ron Sokol has been a practicing attorney for over 40 years, and has also served many times as a judge pro tem, mediator, and arbitrator. It is important to keep in mind that this column presents a summary of the law, and is not to be treated or considered legal advice, let alone a substitute for actual consultation with a qualified professional.

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​ Orange County Register 

Trump will attend Al Smith charity dinner that Harris is skipping to campaign in battleground state

• September 24, 2024

By MEG KINNARD

Donald Trump confirmed Monday that he would be the sole featured speaker at this year’s Al Smith charity dinner in New York, typically a good-humored and bipartisan political event that Vice President Kamala Harris said she is skipping in favor of battleground state campaigning.

The former president and current Republican presidential nominee confirmed in a Truth Social post on Monday that he would speak at the Oct. 17 dinner, calling it “sad, but not surprising” that Harris had opted not to attend.

The gala benefiting Catholic Charities traditionally has been used to promote collegiality, with presidential candidates from both parties appearing on the same night and trading barbs. But on Saturday, Harris’ campaign said the Democratic nominee would not go to the event, breaking with presidential tradition so she could campaign instead in a battleground state less than three weeks before Election Day.

Harris’ team wants her to spend as much time as possible in the battleground states that will decide the election rather than in heavily Democratic New York, a campaign official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss campaign plans and confirming a decision first reported by CNN. Her team told organizers that she would be willing to attend as president if she’s elected, the official said.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who plays a prominent role in the dinner, has been highly critical of Democrats, writing a 2018 Wall Street Journal op-ed that carried the headline, “The Democrats Abandon Catholics.” In his Truth Social post, Trump said Harris “certainly hasn’t been very nice” to Catholics, saying that Catholic voters who support her “should have their head examined.”

A Harris campaign official said Catholics for Harris-Walz is working to register people to vote and get involved in outreach across the country. Trump’s post stems in part from 2018 questions that then-Sen. Harris posed to a federal judicial nominee about his membership in the Knights of Columbus, a lay Catholic fraternal organization. Harris asked the nominee if he agreed with the anti-abortion views of the group’s leader, views that broadly align with the church’s stance.

The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner is named for the former New York governor, a Democrat and the first Roman Catholic to be nominated for president by a major party. He was handily defeated by Herbert Hoover in 1928. The dinner raises millions of dollars for Catholic charities and has traditionally shown that those vying to lead the nation can get along, or pretend to, for one night.

It’s become a tradition for presidential candidates ever since Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy appeared together in 1960. In 1996, the Archdiocese of New York decided not to invite then-President Bill Clinton and his Republican challenger, Bob Dole, reportedly because Clinton vetoed a late-term abortion ban.

Trump and Joe Biden, who is Catholic, both spoke at the fundraiser in 2020 when it was moved online because of COVID-19. Amid the pandemic and economic woes, there was no joking, and both candidates instead used their speeches to appeal to Catholic voters.

Both Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton attended in 2016. Trump was booed after calling Clinton corrupt and claiming she hated Catholics.

___

Meg Kinnard reported from Chapin, South Carolina, and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

​ Orange County Register 

Severe obesity is on the rise in the US

• September 24, 2024

By JONEL ALECCIA

Obesity is high and holding steady in the U.S., but the proportion of those with severe obesity — especially women — has climbed since a decade ago, according to new government research.

The U.S. obesity rate is about 40%, according to a 2021-2023 survey of about 6,000 people. Nearly 1 in 10 of those surveyed reported severe obesity, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. Women were nearly twice as likely as men to report severe obesity.

The overall obesity rate appeared to tick down vs. the 2017-2020 survey, but the change wasn’t considered statistically significant; the numbers are small enough that there’s mathematical chance they didn’t truly decline.

That means it’s too soon to know whether new treatments for obesity, including blockbuster weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound, can help ease the epidemic of the chronic disease linked to a host of health problems, according to Dr. Samuel Emmerich, the CDC public health officer who led the latest study.

“We simply can’t see down to that detailed level to prescription medication use and compare that to changes in obesity prevalence,” Emmerich said. “Hopefully that is something we can see in the future.”

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Most telling though, the results that show that the overall obesity rate in the U.S. has not changed significantly in a decade, even as the rate of severe obesity climbed from nearly 8% in the 2013-2014 survey to nearly 10% in the most recent one. Before that, obesity had increased rapidly in the U.S. since the 1990s, federal surveys showed.

Measures of obesity and severe obesity are determined according to body mass index, a calculation based on height and weight. People with a BMI of 30 are considered to have obesity; those with a BMI of 40 or higher have severe obesity. BMI is regarded as a flawed tool but remains widely used by doctors to screen for obesity.

“Seeing increases in severe obesity is even more alarming because that’s the level of obesity that’s most highly associated with some of the highest levels of cardiovascular disease and diabetes and lower quality of life,” said Solveig Cunningham, an Emory University global health professor who specializes in obesity.

Cunningham, who was not involved in the new study, said it’s not clear why rates of severe obesity are going up, or why they were higher among women. Factors could include the effects of hormones, the impact of childbearing or other causes that require further study, she said.

The new study also found that obesity rates varied by education. Almost 32% of people with a bachelor’s degree or higher reported having obesity, compared with about 45% of those with some college or a high school diploma or less.

The new report follows the release earlier this month of data from U.S. states and territories that showed that in 2023, the rate of obesity ranged widely by place, from a high of more than 41% of adults in West Virginia to a low of less than 24% of adults in Washington, D.C. Rates were highest in the Midwest and the South.

All U.S. states and territories posted obesity rates higher than 20%. In 23 states, more than 1 in 3 adults had obesity, the data showed. Before 2013, no state had a rate that high, said Dr. Alyson Goodman, who leads a CDC team focused on population health.

Color-coded U.S. maps tracking the change have gradually shifted from green and yellow, the hues associated with lower obesity rates, to orange and dark red, linked to higher prevalence.

“Sometimes, when you look at all that red, it’s really discouraging,” Goodman said.

But, she added, recent emphasis on understanding obesity as a metabolic disease and new interventions, such as the new class of weight-loss drugs, gives her hope.

The key is preventing obesity in the first place, starting in early childhood, Cunningham said. Even when people develop obesity, preventing additional weight gain should be the goal.

“It’s really hard to get obesity to reverse at the individual level and at the population level,” Cunningham said. “I guess it’s not surprising that we’re not seeing downward shifts in the prevalence of obesity.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

​ Orange County Register 

Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre says he has Parkinson’s disease

• September 24, 2024

By MARY CLARE JALONICK

WASHINGTON — Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, he told a congressional committee Tuesday.

Favre made the disclosure as part of his testimony about a welfare misspending scandal in Mississippi. Favre, who does not face criminal charges, has repaid just over $1 million in speaking fees funded by a welfare program in the state and was also an investor in a biotech company with ties to the case. The biotech firm has said it was developing concussion treatments.

The former football star told the committee that he lost his investment in the company “that I believed was developing a breakthrough concussion drug I thought would help others.”

“As I’m sure you’ll understand, while it’s too late for me — I’ve recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s — this is also a cause dear to my heart,” Favre said.

What causes Parkinson’s disease is unknown, and it is unclear if Favre’s disease is connected to his football career or head injuries. He said in 2022 that he estimates he experienced “thousands” of concussions in his two decades in the NFL.

Favre appeared at the Republican-led House Ways and Means Committee hearing to advocate reform of the federal welfare system to better prevent fraud.

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“The challenges my family and I have faced over the last three years—because certain government officials in Mississippi failed to protect federal TANF funds from fraud and abuse, and are unjustifiably trying to blame me, those challenges have hurt my good name and are worse than anything I faced in football,” Favre said.

House Republicans have said a Mississippi welfare misspending scandal involving Favre and others points to the need for an overhaul in the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

Favre has said he didn’t know the payments he received came from welfare funds and has noted his charity had provided millions of dollars to poor kids in his home state of Mississippi and in Wisconsin, where he played most of his career with the Green Bay Packers.

​ Orange County Register