Philadelphia

[ice grillin you]

koba is going to be in it next year

[PhillyPhreak54]

Did Cataldi choke on anything this year?

[ice grillin you]

U.K. woman dies after illegal buttocks-enhancement injections in Phila.
By Nathan Gorenstein, Kia Gregory, and Sam Wood

Inquirer Staff Writers

Two women from the United Kingdom flew into Philadelphia on Saturday looking to improve their physiques with buttocks-enhancement injections.

Only one survived.

The other died at a Delaware County hospital Monday, and Philadelphia homicide detectives are now seeking two women who provided the syringes and unknown drugs in a hotel room near the airport.

Their clients were part of a group of four women, all in their 20s, who arrived Saturday. The two who did not receive injections were on their way to a party in New York City, said Detective Lt. John Walker.

Late Tuesday, police confirmed that the dead woman was named Claudia Adusei, 20. It could not be determined where she lived in the United Kingdom. Police said that the other woman told them the women thought they were being injected with silicone. The autopsy will show whether the substance was in fact silicone, police said.

Buttocks-enhancement injections, often involving silicone gel or liquid, are illegal but widely available. Dozens of women have reported injuries, according to federal health agencies, including infections, kidney impairment, and, in rare instances, death.

Walker said the victim checked into the Hampton Inn on Bartram Avenue and sometime over the weekend received the injections. She was taken to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital at 1:30 a.m. Monday after complaining of chest pains and experiencing shortness of breath.

She died later that day. Fredric Hellman, Delaware County medical examiner, said a preliminary cause of death will not be released until the victim's relatives are notified. The second woman, who received injections to her buttocks and hips, has not been hospitalized, police said.

Legitimate buttocks enhancements using silicone implants are relatively rare - about 5,000 were done throughout the nation last year. There is a large illegal underground market for the sale and injection of silicone even though it has been decades since any product has been approved by regulators for reshaping a body part.

"Silicone injections used to be done years ago to make breasts bigger . . . but that has not been done, legitimately, for 40 or 50 years," said R. Barrett Noone, a Bryn Mawr plastic surgeon who serves as executive director of the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

The FDA, on its website, says the agency has "prohibited the injection of liquid silicone or silicone gel to fill wrinkles or augment tissues anywhere in the body." It has been blamed for autoimmune disease and physical disfigurements.

Collagen injections, using a substance made from protein, have been approved by the FDA to fill small imperfections, typically in facial areas. Some clinics in the United Kingdom offer buttocks and breast injections with a different processed protein, but the cost is about $4,500.

Last month, federal agents in New York City charged a woman with illegal distribution of silicone imported from the Dominican Republic. She was accused of administering illegal injections of liquid silicone for cosmetic purposes as part of a business run out of her Bronx home, allegedly charging up to $1,000 for a round of shots.

Last year, Essex County, N.J., prosecutors brought criminal charges against a professional model who allegedly offered women a series of injections to enlarge their buttocks. Six of her customers later sought medical treatment at local hospitals, said Katherine Carter, a spokeswoman for the county prosecutor. "They all had serious bacterial infections that required them to get surgery," Carter said.

They paid $600 to $1,000, allegedly to Anivia Cruz-Dilworth, 28, of New Brunswick, who was indicted for delivering illegal injections of a substance called "Hydrogel."

More famously, a former Miss Argentina, Solange Magnano, died after a buttocks-enhancement procedure at a medical clinic in Buenos Aires. She spent three days in critical condition after suffering from a pulmonary embolism. The Associated Press reported that sources described her procedure as a "gluteoplasty," which usually involves implants. But a friend said Magnano also received injections.

Noone said implants were one of two legitimate techniques used to enlarge buttocks. The second uses fat tissue removed from one part of the body and then injected into the rear. "It's not really mainstream plastic surgery," he said of the two procedures. Noone said fat injections are more typically used for surgical reconstruction after illness or accident, such as for mastectomy patients.

[smeags]

such a bad ending

[Diomedes]

That bitch got some junk in her trunk, yo.

[Susquehanna Birder]

What a dumbass.

[Sgt PSN]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110210/ap_on_re_us/us_homemade_jail

[DH]

[SD]

Joey Merlino is being released soon.

[smeags]

neato !

[ice grillin you]

Philadelphia's money-losing Tasty Baking Co. has agreed to be purchased by Flowers Foods, Thomasville, Georgia, for $4 a share, double the stock's recent price and a premium to anyone who bought the stock this winter, but a discount to Tasty shares for most of the past two decades. Read Flowers' statement here.

The sale price works out to $34 million in cash for Tasty's 8.5 million shares.  "We are delighted to welcome Tasty's 740 dedicated employees and 413 independent sales distributors to the Flowers Foods family. Our plans are to invest in the combined business for sustainable and profitable growth, and they will be an important part of Flowers' ongoing success," says Flowers boss George Deese.

Flowers also says it will assume Tasty's "existing indebtedness" totalling around $131 million. That will more than double Flowers' existing debt, but should be readily payable, given the company's reported cash flow.

The sale looks like good news for Pennsylvania taxpayers: Tasty had borrowed around $80 million for the company's new South Philadelphia plant, about half of which is owed to state programs, the rest to Citizens Bank and other lenders. Tasty in January asked creditors to delay payments while it sought a buyer or new investors, citing disappointing financial results from the new plant along with higher corn syrup costs and supermarket bankruptcies. Tasty boss Charles Pizzi said in the Flowers statement that the sale will save jobs.

Flowers is one of the companies identified by Costello Asset Management's Robert Costello as a likely Tasty buyer in my Jan. 5 post here.

"They did a phenomenal job getting the deal done. It could have been a bankruptcy," Costello told me. "It's an excellent company," he said of Flowers. "Return on equity is 18%. They're very efficient. There's no question they're going to change the way things are done here. It'll take a year, it won't happen overnight."

Flowers began selling Tasty on some of its Southern routes in 2002. Costello expects Tasty route drivers will start stocking other Flowers products: "Will that cannibalize Tasty sales? Overall I think Tasty will benefit" if Flowers is able to market Tastykakes in parts of its Southern base.

Flowers had sought to buy Tasty in the past but talks led nowhere. Costello said Flowers would likely have closed Tasty's former Hunting Park plant if Pizzi hadn't built the new plant; if so, the move cost shareholders, while saving Tasty's Philadelphia jobs.


Flowers is publicly-traded, but the Amos McMullian family of Macon, Ga., remain major shareholders. Flowers makes Mrs. Freshley's sugary packaged snacks and Nature's Own breads, among other fresh and frozen products. Flowers is also a past owner of the former Mrs. Paul's frozen-foods plant in Pottstown.

[BigEd76]

Other than Sunbeam, I hadn't heard of any of the other stuff this company offered.  What's the deal with Mrs. Freshley's and Blue Bird?  Are they basically the same as Hostess?

[Munson]

As long as they don't try to change the peanut butter kandykakes or the chocolate cupcakes..

[smeags]

flowers is a big client of mine here at work so this could be more potential business for my place. seems like a win-win for all involved including pennsy tax payers.

[Sgt PSN]

As long as they don't try to change anything..