WEEKEND TOP NEWS LINKS:
After a year of controversies over grants and alleged conflicts of interest, and looming budget cuts, a story involving two MD Anderson researchers is the last thing the institution needs right now.
Video: KPRC 2 News
Todd Ackerman, Eric Berger, Houston Chronicle
The doctor liked his coffee black. So when it was sweet, he asked his lady friend, also a cancer physician and researcher, for another cup. She urged him to drink up anyway.
The coffee tasted sweet because it was laced with a sweet-tasting toxic chemical used in antifreeze and medical research, ethylene glycol, according to a criminal complaint filed with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. The complaint referred to the chemical as “a deadly weapon.”
Ana Maria Gonzalez-Angulo, a breast cancer oncologist at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, was charged last week with aggravated assault against Dr. George Blumenschein, a specialist in lung and head and neck cancers at the institution.
The pair were in “a casual sexual relationship,” according to the complaint filed May 29, when Gonzalez-Angulo gave Blumenschein not just one cup of poisoned coffee, but two.
Sixteen hours later, he was taken to an emergency center, where he was found to have central nervous system depression, cardiopulmonary complications and renal failure. He subsequently had to undergo dialysis.
(Read more of this story at Chron.com)
LOCAL AREA HEADLINES:
- HISD employee accused of falsifying students’ attendance records (KTRK 13 News)
- E-STEM Academy students upset over conflict with graduation requirements (KHOU 11 News)
- Project Safe Start safetly ends Houston’s school year (KPRC 2 News)
- Injured HFD Captain showing signs of progress (KPRC 2 News)
- Uptown transit plan back on the road (Chron.com)
- Madison High School graduation troubles (KRIV 26 News)
- Free gun initiative begins in Oak Forest neighborhood (KHOU 11 News)
- Operation Feed Our Hereos feeds firefighters (KIAH 39 Newsfix)
STATE HEADLINES:
- Will Gov. Perry Veto House Bill 5 on Testing? (KUT Austin)
- The Cost Of Not Expanding Medicaid (Texas Public Radio)
- In Texas, Abandoned Oil Equipment Spurs Pollution Fears (Texas Tribune)
- Whole Foods Reviews Its Language Policy (KUT Austin)
NATION & WORLD:
- Uneven Job Gains For Class of 2013 (KUHF Public Radio)
- Cities step up disaster-response planning (USA Today)
- Source: Santa Monica gunman previously hospitalized for mental health (CNN)
- Mandela in “serious” condition in hospital (Reuters)