News Oct. 23-27

International:

Austrians have been hospitalized after taking a counterfeit Ozempic drug. While Ozempic’s purpose is to treat diabetes, the drug has become  popular for weight loss. 

The use of the drug for weight loss is not approved by Austrian drug administrations, but many patients have used the drug to shave some pounds regardless. The increased demand of the drug has led to shortages for patients who need it for diabetes treatment. 

Austria’s Federal Office for Safety in Health Care reported patients experiencing seizures after taking the knock-off drug claiming to be Ozempic. The drugs the patients were given contained insulin rather than Ozempic’s active ingredient, semaglutide. 

The Austrian Criminal Intelligence Service said the harmed patients received the drug from a doctor in Austria. An investigation is underway as is a recall of the product. The counterfeit injection pens were a darker blue than the true Ozempic doses. 

Austrian authorities are urging doctors to check their supplies for authenticity before administering drugs to patients. 

National:

After searching for her lost son for months in Jackson, Mississippi, Bettersten Wade finally discovered the truth of what happened to him. Wade reported her son missing in March of this year. Police waited until October to reveal his resting place.

Dexter Wade was killed by a Jackson police car while crossing a highway. Police knew his name and had his mother’s contact information, but chose to let his body remain in the county morgue for months.

Dexter’s name was misspelled in the incident report filed after his mother reported him missing. Bettersten continued her own personal search for her son throughout the months. She distrusted the Jackson police after they were charged with manslaughter pertaining to the death of her brother. 

A sheriff’s deputy accompanied by two jumpsuited inmates led Bettersten to Hinds County penal farm, where signs with numbers on them were staked in the ground. 

Dexter was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and had a criminal record. Bettersten said her son “didn’t seem like he was in a bad place” at the time of his disappearance, however, the toxicology report revealed Dexter to have methamphetamine and PCP in his system at the time of his death. 

Local:

The Oklahoma legislature is preparing its bills for the upcoming session in February. They are looking to make additions to Senate Bill 1257 to include penalties for image-based sexual abuse. 

In an age of artificial intelligence, predators are able to take a photo of someone’s face and transpose it over an obscene image or video. 

Heaven Taylor, a victim of this sex crime and an advocate against it, shared her views on the issue. 

“I’m really big on telling people to stop posting pictures of their children on the Internet. I don’t think it’s a very safe space for that. But I would say anyone can really be a victim. The technology’s accessible. So the fact that the technology is so accessible is really what’s causing this to be used for harm,” Taylor said. “I’m not anti-artificial intelligence. I like artificial intelligence. I love technology. I just think we need to make sure there’s no room for interpretation in the law.”

Representative Toni Hasenbeck, R-Elgin is one of the legislators interested in specifying the language around these types of sex crimes. She would also like to include language revolving around extortion. 

Researchers are looking into the AI problems and should complete their studies by December to aid the legislature in their writing. 

“I know that Virginia law includes a subsection that includes your likeness and images. I think that our law really needs to be updated with language, including images made and altered with artificial intelligence,” Rep. Hasenback said.