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Talk:Poland and weapons of mass destruction

There IS a source
Poland never had an active nuclear weapons program, and there are no sources to justify such an assertion. A recent article in Nonproliferation Review (see Hersman and Peters, Nonproliferation Review, Vol. 13, No. 3 "Nuclear U-Turns) listed 18 states that once had, but later abandoned nuclear weapons programs. These states constitute the "known universe" of verifiable NW programs Poland is not one of these.  While the Soviets undoubtedly did station tactical nuclear weapons in Poland during the Cold War, this does not constitute a Polish arsenal.  I'm going to change this article to reflect this until someone can come up with any citations, sources, or justifications for accusing Poland of having had a NW program.

I think I am the only one who can provide any information. Poland even now haves from 5 to 15 nuclear warheards. There, I say it, and I am a citizen of Poland.

~Dark Sturm II.

_________ So does Poland have them or not?

-G

They did. During the Cold War, they had Russian-controlled stockpiles, as well as a Russian-sponsored seperate nuclear program. Just like Kazahstan. You are right, it is confusing because the "Nuclear weapons" article mis-classified them. I'll fix it.

But why does the article say it was not officially a nuclear power. That's not correct. I'm getting rid of that too. Evan(Salad dressing is the milk of the infidel!) 19:33, 24 November 2006 (UTC)

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According to then-secret official documents of The Warsaw Pact published in April 2006 by Polish Ministry of Defense, Poland had 178 nuclear weapons during sixties and seventies, up to 250 nuclear weapons in the late eighties. According to the press notes they were meant as offensive only weapons that Warsaw Pact was to use in aggressive action against NATO countries as a first strike. Warsaw Pact's military doctrine stated that if war broke out nuclear weapons situated in Poland where to be deployed and launched before any succesful launch against Warsaw Pact from NATO. I'm posting here few of the press sources that states that. Unfortunatelly I don't have time to look for official documents, and I'm not sure if they are accessible to anyone but historians and journalists. Official documents were passed from Polish Ministry of National Defence to Institute of National Remembrance and access to archives here in Poland is limited.

Here are press notes from journalists that had access to those documents (in Polish only): http://fakty.interia.pl/fakty_dnia/news/prl-miala-bron-atomowa,738043 http://forum.gazeta.pl/forum/72,2.html?f=17007&w=56187539

This nuclear arsenal was under control of the soviets, however Poland during seventees HAD active and advanced nuclear programme. There are many articles that states Poland had active and advanced military nuclear research programme. Poland had three experimental nuclear reactors in Świerk near Warsaw, which were primarily research reactors, but were also meant to produce plutonium. One of the articles is here (Polish only): http://www.polityka.org.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=399&Itemid=38

No sources
This article has no english sources. I've not seen any reputable source suggest Poland had its own nuclear weapons. If Poland practiced delivering Soviet weapons, that would be like NATO nuclear weapons sharing where 7 NATO countries practiced delivering U.S. weapons. Rwendland 21:35, 24 November 2006 (UTC)
 * I've just done a search with Google & Google News and cannot find any english sources that back-up the claim that Poland had its own nuclear weapons. If a reputable source is not offered soon, I will revert these claims (Verifiability). Rwendland 12:43, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

 * Actually according to later informations there were 178 nuclear warheads in Poland. They were located in at least 3 bases in north-west Poland (Trzemeszno-Buszno, Brzeźnica Kolonia (google maps 53.429225,16.580257), Podborsko)
 * Bases were built about 1969-1970 and it is said that warheads were there for next 20 years.
 * Bases was under Soviet Union juristiction and with soviet personel
 * You can see some photos from base in Brzeźnica Kolonia here Brzeźnica click on the base plan to see photos

 * And here from Buszno base
 * Here is an article from one of the biggest Polish newspapers with few photos and scan of some official documents Dziennik

 * Unfortunately sources are in Polish - you know it was not a big secret and everyone here knows about that nuclear warheads from years but official confirmation was published today - hopefully some English sources will be available soon :)

 * You can use http://translate.google.com to translate sources to English if you want.

 * Tom :) --83.21.171.232 18:28, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

 * They were soviet warheads in soviet bases under the control of soviet soldiers. And Polish authorities probably didn't even know they were there. Mieciu K 00:34, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Unref fragment
I move here this entirely unsourced fragment till the sources will be provided:

Chemical weapons
Poland's chemical weapons production originates from before World War II. Prior to the outbreak of the war Poland had developed and stockpiled a large quantity of mustard gas, but never authorized its release during combat. After the war stockpiles of the agent were increased, and current estimates of remnants of these range from hundreds to thousands of tons. Other chemical agents that were stockpiled during the Cold War by Poland included lewisite, VX, sarin, soman, tabun, SN gas, CS gas, nitrogen mustard gas, phosgene, CN gas, BZ Gas, botulin, saxitoxin, and enterotoxin. After the fall of communism Poland greatly reduced its weapons stockpiles, and undertook a proactive program of disarmament. Poland ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention on 23 August 1995. In 2004 during the G8 Summit the Polish-Russian agreement in the sphere of chemical weapons destruction was reached. The chemical weapons agreement will assist Russia in disposing of its lewisite stockpiles.

Biological weapons
The extent of Poland's biological weapons production is unclear, although research was done by both the military and communist regime laboratories during the Cold War on various dangerous agents. Military research of biological agents included encephalitis, influenza, yellow fever, typhus, anthrax, brucellosis, cholera, plague, typhoid, dysentery, and limited access to smallpox through cooperation with the Soviet Union laboratories. Poland ratified the Biological Weapons Convention on 25 January 1973. After the fall of communism Poland undertook the destruction of its biological weapons, along with its general policy of disarmament. In 1997 a NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) entitled "Conversion of Former Biological Weapons Facilities: Development and Production of Prophylactic, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Measures for Countering Diseases" was held at the "Frederic Joliot-Curie" Institute for Radiobiology and Radiohygiene with Poland, Russia and Ukraine agreeing to the conventions of the worksho


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Ballarat Grammar School

Ballarat and Queen's Anglican Grammar School is a private, co-educational, Anglican, day and boarding school located in Wendouree (Ballarat), Victoria, Australia.

History
Originally known as 'Ballarat Church of England Grammar School for Boys', Ballarat Grammar School was opened by Bishop Browne on the current Forest Street site in 1911. The Church of England Girls’ Grammar School was acquired by the Anglican Diocese in 1918 having formerly been Queen’s College which was established 1877, and later having “Queen’s” once again included in the name.

The two schools amalgamated in 1973, and became Ballarat and Queen’s Anglican Grammar School on the Forest Street site.

Headmasters
The first headmaster of Ballarat Grammar was Percy Ansell Robin. Other notable headmasters include G. F. J. Dart.

Adam Heath has been the Headmaster since 2016. Previous to this he was the Middle School Principal at Kristin School in Auckland, New Zealand. Heath originally studied Outdoor Education at La Trobe University and more recently he has completed a master's degree in School Leadership with First Class Honours at The University of Melbourne. After his early teaching in Mallacoota and the UK, Heath moved to join Caulfield Grammar as Head of their Yarra Junction Campus. In 2005, he was appointed as the founding Head of Middle School at Scotch Oakburn College in Launceston.

Previous to Adam Heath, Stephen Higgs was the Headmaster of Ballarat Grammar for 21 years.

Campus
Ballarat and Queen's Anglican Grammar School's main campus is located in Ballarat, on the corner of Howitt and Forest streets, Wendouree. The expansive campus stretches as far north as Norman Street, and west towards Dare Street. Both the Senior School and Junior School are situated on the same campus, sharing many facilities and resources. The Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts is accessed by students via the southern part of the campus, and by the general public via Howitt St.

The Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts (WCPA) was opened in 2006 through a partnership between the school and the wider Ballarat community. It is used by the school and also hosts community events and performances. Ballarat Grammar's Music School is located within the WCPA, featuring tutorial and rehearsal rooms and a professional recording suite.

The Heinz Centre is a Year 9 Environmental Centre, opened in 2001. The centre was the venue for the Sustainable Building Expo held in 2002 as part of World Environment Week. It won the 2002 BEN Environment Award.

The school also has a farming campus at Mount Rowan. This campus is used by grade 4 students and VCE Agriculture-Horticulture students.

The schools City Cite is their campus in the Melbourne CBD and students in year 9 will attend this campus for three weeks in term 4. Ballarat and Queens Anglican Grammar School is a sister school to St Augustine's High School, an Anglican Mission boarding school in Punjabi, Zimbabwe.

Sport
Rowing is considered by many to be the school's most celebrated sport. The Ballarat Associated Schools (BAS) crews compete in the annual "Head of the Lake", which is held at Lake Wendouree.

The Ballarat Grammar Senior Girls Australian Rules Football team has had great success in recent years, winning the Ballarat Associated Schools (BAS) Premiership every year since 2013. Coached by teacher Matt Hanlon, the team was first successful in the AFL Victoria Herald Sun Shield (HSS) Championship in 2014, where they claimed the School Girls Division 1 title. The best on ground for the 2015 game was Rene Caris who was drafted to the Geelong Football Club in the 2018 AFL Women's draft. In 2016 and 2017, the Ballarat Grammar Senior Girls Football team triumphed in the Herald Sun Shield claiming Division 1 titles in successive years at RAMS Arena and the MCG respectfully. In 2017, Lauren Butler, who was drafted to the Collingwood Football Club in the 2018 AFL Women's draft, was named best on ground in the Herald Sun Shield Grand Final.

Renee Saulitis is one of the most recent draftees to the AFLW competition from the Ballarat Grammar Australian Rules Football program, having been drafted to the St Kilda Football Club with pick 34 in the 2020 AFL Women's draft. Maggie Caris, younger sister of Rene Caris of the Geelong Football Club, was also drafted in the 2020 AFL Women's draft to the Melbourne Football Club at pick 17. Nominees for the 2021 AFL Women's draft include Ballarat Grammar students Ella Friend and Nyakoat Dojiok which will take place later in the year.

BAS premierships
Ballarat Grammar has won the following BAS premierships. Premierships won prior to 1973 were done so by the pre-amalgamation schools.

Combined:

 * Athletics (18) – 1986, 1987, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
 * Badminton (8) – 1989, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2012, 2014, 2018
 * Cross Country (19) – 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
 * Lap of the Lake (19) – 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
 * Road Relay (20) – 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

Boys:

 * Athletics (16) – 1925, 1926, 1931, 1934, 1947, 1972, 1973, 1974, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
 * Badminton (5) – 2004, 2005, 2012, 2013, 2015
 * Basketball (6) – 1983, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 2019
 * Cricket (22) – 1912, 1913, 1916, 1931, 1933, 1942, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1991, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2020
 * Cricket T20 (3) – 2016, 2017, 2018
 * Cross Country (7) – 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015
 * Football (2) – 1962, 1969
 * Hockey (19) – 1983, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019
 * Lap of the Lake (7) – 1974, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
 * Road Relay (15) – 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
 * Soccer (8) – 1983, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1998, 2004, 2005
 * Tennis (17) – 1922, 1923, 1924, 1937, 1940, 1947, 1950, 1981, 1988, 1989, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2012, 2018, 2019, 2020
 * Volleyball (11) – 1992, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

Girls:

 * Athletics (10) – 1961, 1984, 1987, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2015, 2017, 2019
 * Badminton (2) – 2006, 2014
 * Basketball (4) – 1976, 2015, 2018, 2019
 * Cricket (12) – 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 2000, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
 * Cross Country (13) – 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019
 * Football (6) – 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
 * Hockey (23) – 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2017
 * Lap of the Lake (9) – 2002, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
 * Netball (11) – 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 2002, 2014, 2015, 2016
 * Road Relay (14) – 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
 * Soccer (5) – 2005, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2016
 * Softball (9) – 1962, 1972, 1983, 1984, 1989, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2012
 * Volleyball (26) – 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

House system
The house system is very important to the structure of the school, and there is substantial rivalry between houses in swimming, athletics, choral competitions, and more. The house system also provides pastoral care and a degree of mentoring to students. The rivalry is particularly seen between the two boys' boarding houses, Dart and Wigan, which often used to engage in pranks against each other. This practice was abandoned in 2007 after new administration deemed the activities of the boarding houses to be inappropriate. Dart and Wigan still compete against each other in soccer and Australian rules football matches. These houses used to be one, and their subsequent division may be the cause of the competition. The Dart-Wigan rivalry is often overlooked when competing against the "day" (non-boarding) houses.

There are also three girls' boarding houses, Hayhoe, Woodbridge and Larritt. Larritt was created to accommodate the ever-increasing number of boarders, housing exclusively female boarders in years 7, 8 and 9. Larritt girls 'graduate' to Hayhoe and Woodbridge when they reach year 10.

There are also eight-day houses, four for girls and four for boys. The girls' day houses are Manifold, Krome, Cuthbert and Macpherson. The boys' houses are Smith, Butler, Robin and Nevett.

All houses are named after people who were important to the school such as former Headmasters/Headmistresses or substantial donors, and are paired in brother-sister groups. While the houses are generally independent, they compete together in a number of competitions.

The pairs are:

 * Macpherson – Nevett
 * Manifold – Smith
 * Woodbridge – Dart
 * Hayhoe – Wigan
 * Cuthbert – Robin
 * Krome – Butler
 * Larritt

Alumni

 * Academia
 * G. F. J. Dart – Ballarat Grammar headmaster 1942–1970
 * David Fleay, AM – naturalist
 * Dr Alan Kenneth Head PhD (Bristol) – Mathematical Physicist at Brown University and University of Oxford
 * Prof. George Seddon AM – Professor of Environmental Science, University of Melbourne

 * Arts and media
 * Roy Dalgarno – Artist
 * Brian James – actor

 * Music
 * Warren Ellis – violinist, composer
 * David Hirschfelder – musician and composer
 * David Hobson – musician, composer and opera singer
 * James Valentine – musician, writer, radio and television presenter

 * Politics
 * Henry Bolte – Premier of Victoria 1955–1972
 * Thomas Hollway – Premier of Victoria 1947–50, 1952
 * John Pasquarelli – Member of Parliament (Papua New Guinea) and aide to Pauline Hanson

 * Sport
 * Rene Caris – Australian rules footballer
 * Lauren Butler – Australian rules footballer
 * Tamsin Barnett – Indoor and beach volleyball (2000 Sydney Olympics; 2008 Beijing Olympics; 2012 London Olympics)
 * Stewart Crameri – Australian rules footballer
 * Robert Eddy – Australian rules footballer
 * Katie Foulkes – Rowing, Olympian, women's eight coxswain in the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Olympics.
 * Tony Lockett – Australian rules footballer, member of Australian Football Hall of Fame with Legend status
 * Emily Martin – Rowing, Olympian and two-time World Champion.
 * Lloyd Meek – Australian rules footballer for the Fremantle Football Club
 * Max Spittle – Australian rules footballer for the Melbourne Football Club
 * Lucy Stephan – Rowing, 2016 Olympian (W8+), 2017 World Champion in the Women's Coxless Four, and 2020 Olympic Gold medalist (W4–)
 * Tom Swann – Rowing Men's Eight (2012 London Olympics)
 * Bronwyn Thompson – Rowing Women's Eight (1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney Olympics)
 * Geoff Tunbridge – Australian rules footballer for the Melbourne Football Club
 * John Vernon – High Jumper (Australian Champion, Empire Games 1954)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Ballarat Grammar School


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Stancomb-Wills Glacier

The Stancomb-Wills Glacier is a large glacier that debouches into the eastern Weddell Sea southward of Lyddan Island. The glacier was discovered in the course of the U.S. Navy LC-130 plane flight over the coast on November 5, 1967, and was plotted by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) from photographs obtained at that time. The name was applied by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names (US-ACAN) in 1969.

The Stancomb-Wills Glacier Tongue (-75°N, -22°W) is the extensive seaward projection of the Stancomb-Wills Glacier into the eastern Weddell Sea. The cliffed front of this feature was discovered in January 1915 by a British expedition led by Ernest Shackleton. He named it "Stancomb-Wills Promontory," after Dame Janet Stancomb-Wills, one of the principal donors of the expedition. In 1969, US-ACAN amended the name to "Stancomb-Wills Glacier Tongue". This followed the U.S. Navy flight on which the glacier was discovered and the relationship with the glacier tongue was first observed.

The Stancomb-Wills Glacier Important Bird Area (-74.10417°N, -23.09194°W) is a 352 ha site which has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding colony of about 5,500 emperor penguins, as estimated from 2009 satellite imagery, on fast ice on the north-eastern coast of the glacier tongue, some 60 km west of Lyddan Island.

title: Stancomb-Wills Glacier


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V.Smile

The V.Smile (stylized as V.SMILE TV LEARNING SYSTEM) is a sixth-generation educational home video game console manufactured and released by VTech. The system was first released on August 4, 2004. Its titles are available on ROM cartridges called "Smartridges", a pun on the system's educational nature. Several variants of the V.Smile console are sold, including handheld versions and models with added functionality such as touch tablet integrated controllers or microphones. The V.Motion is a variant that includes motion-sensitive controllers and has titles designed to take advantage of motion-related "active learning".

Several versions of V.Smile and V.Motion consoles continued to be sold after newer models were introduced (frequently offered in alternative color schemes), placing the systems in various niches of the educational toy market. Some key differentiators between systems and the ability to fully utilize all game functions include the options of a microphone, touch tablet, additional joystick port (for 2-player gameplay), stylus-enhanced controller, or motion sensitive game pad (with V.Motion).

Hardware
A V.Smile generally has on and off buttons, two joystick ports, and a compartment for keeping the cartridges in addition to the cartridge slot. The system can run using either an AC adapter or with batteries. The V.Smile can hold up to six titles in this compartment.

The V.Smile is a standard cartridge-based system that will play the title inserted. When there is no cartridge inserted, the startup logo plays continuously. The graphics of games are primarily sprite-based.

The console is often bundled with a particular game, the original and most popular being a game called "Alphabet Park Adventure". Other pack-in games included a Winnie the Pooh game bundled with a Orange/Purple console variant, a pink/purple colored console was shipped later, targeting girls and bundled with a Cinderella game and a later Red/Blue and Red/Silver model, which was bundled with a Scooby-Doo game.

The V.Smile was released in several countries with different names:

The buttons on the game system and controllers are large to accommodate small children's less developed manual dexterity. The default controllers consist of an joystick, four colored buttons, a large Enter button, a "Learning Zone" button that immediately takes the player to a minigame section of the software, an Exit button (that either brings up an option to end the game or to keep playing, or to exit out of any menu that the player is in) and a Help button (which repeats the spoken instructions or hints provided by the game to the player). A small latch on the bottom of the controller allows the analog stick to be moved to the other side of the buttons, in order to accommodate left-handed players. This makes it the first console to be bundled with an ambidextrous controller.

Variants
A second generation of the V.Smile console was launched in 2007. This model (Model 752) is bundled with a microphone, and a redesigned controller was shipped, which now comes with a graphics tablet built in. However, the design of the console is the same as the first, apart from the presence of a microphone holder. The internals of the system also appear to be based upon the design of the first-generation console, as software meant for the first-generation console is playable on the second-generation console, and vice versa, although software that takes advantage of the microphone feature will disable the sections of the software that requires the use of the microphone if played on the first-generation console.

In 2008, a translucent-faced V.Smile TV Learning System Limited Edition console was released including two joysticks, and the Alphabet Park Adventure game cartridge. The console colors were reversed (translucent orange face with purple body) from the normal console colors (solid purple face with orange body).

The last revision of the console (Model 1086) was the smallest of the main line, becoming shorter and square in shape, it retains 2 controller ports, but it adds V-Link functionality, and the cartridge storage on the back removed the cover and became smaller with space for only 4 games. The console also drops stereo sound, having a video and mono audio jack.

V.Smile Pocket and V.Smile Cyber Pocket
The V.Smile Pocket is a handheld version of the V.Smile console, released on September 10, 2004. It features a built-in Passive matrix-based color LCD display and a monaural speaker, but is otherwise similar to the desktop console counterpart. However, there is no connector for an additional joystick, and thus many games that support two player mode will disallow access selection of the said mode. The device is not compatible with games that uses any of the other accessories due to the lack of an additional joystick port. It was originally introduced in Orange/Purple, but a Pink/Purple model was introduced later in line with the color schemes available for the desktop console.

A second V.Smile Pocket model was introduced in 2007, in which a microphone is added to the device. Apart from the new feature, added support for games that use the microphone, and a repositioning of the speaker from the lower right to the upper left, it retained the appearance of the first V.Smile Pocket model. Still, if compared side-by-side, a slight difference in the bulkiness of the lower half of the unit can be seen, with the New V.Smile Pocket being a bit slimmer and narrower towards the bottom. The game system is larger than devices such as the Game Boy Advance or Nintendo DS, although the V.Smile Pocket uses full size Smartridges from the console, and is generally offered at lower prices in most of the markets.

A third generation called V.Smile Cyber Pocket was introduced in 2008. The console was redesigned with a smaller flip-open screen (still Passive matrix-based) and an integrated graphics tablet, while retaining the microphone introduced in the second generation V.Smile Pocket. A proprietary port was added to the console, which a flash drive-like device called the “V-Link” with a matching proprietary connector on one end and a USB connector on another, could plug into the Cyber Pocket. This device is used to transfer the data of games that support such function to a PC, which would in turn upload the data to a website. The data could then be used to chart the player's progress as well as be used to unlock bonus games on the said website.

During 2008's Black Friday sales, limited supplies of New V.Smile Pocket units were sold at U.S. Walmart stores for the reduced price of $25 USD. This was roughly half of the cost of a single Xbox 360 Game Disc at that time, and nearly one-tenth the cost of a PlayStation Portable game system bundle.

PC Pal
The PC Pal, released on June 20, 2008, is a variant of the basic V.Smile console with an integrated accessory, a more colorful and functional version of the Smart Keyboard accessory with built-in joystick and tablet controls. Unlike a regular V.Smile system, the V.Smile PC Pal has a port for the V-Link accessory. It comes bundled with a Smartridge of games for the keyboard that teach typing and other basic keyboard skills. The main unit looks like a standard V.Smile system with the name "PC Pal" printed on it. It can play all Smartridges, but since the joystick controls are built into the keyboard, the setup is more easily used on a desktop surface with a small TV serving as a monitor, similar to a personal computer. For someone who already owns a V.Smile, the Smart Keyboard accessory and a touch tablet enhanced joystick will provide a similar experience. Since the keyboard can be disconnected and a standard joystick or other V.Smile accessory used, the PC Pal can function as a normal V.Smile system.

V.Motion and V.Smile Motion
A newer variant of the V.Smile is the V.Motion Active Learning System (Model 788) or V.Smile Motion, released in September 2007. It uses built-in wireless controller with accelerometers that detect three axes of movement. The controller can be tilted in a direction to achieve a result on the screen. The V.Motion controller is adaptable by handedness.

Titles released after the V.Motion system are designed to use its motion controls. However, the traditional joystick directional control can be used, and all Smartridge titles can be played across the V.Smile line of systems. The system's storage compartment can hold up to nine Smartridges.

The V.Motion won the National Parenting Center's Seal of Approval for 2008, and the Creative Child 2008 Seal of Excellence.

Accessories

 * The V.Smile TV Learning System Plus Joystick includes a built-in writing pad and stylus. The joystick with writing pad works on both the original V.Smile and the New V.Smile TV Learning System, and can be used to take advantage of newer Smartridges that use the writing pad functionality in games.
 * The V.Smile Smart Keyboard is a PC-like keyboard that can be connected to a V.Smile System console. It includes several activities and lessons that teach typing, letters, spelling, and logic.
 * The V.Smile Smartbook includes the "Smartbook" - an interface with a stylus that holds activity books and works together with Smartridges (an idea pioneered by Sega with their Sega Pico and Japan-only Advanced Pico Beena educational gaming systems). The activity book plays along with the smartridge and the Smartbook knows which page is being used while the touch sensitive stylus directs the play. The Smartbook may come bundled with a Scooby-Doo Activity Book + Smartridge. Additional Activity Book and Smartridge combos such as "Dora's Got A Puppy" or "Toy Story 2" are also available to use with the SmartBook device.
 * The V.Smile Art Studio is a large touch pad and stylus device that allows for "paintings" to appear on screen. Interactive stamps, color palette, picture drawing, color mixing, animation maker, coloring-in pictures are some of the features of the Art Studio. It comes with an Art Studio specific Smartridge.
 * The V.Smile V-Link is an accessory that works only with the Cyber Pocket, PC Pal, V.Motion systems, and a few of the newer V.Smiles. It allows the user to track their progress by keeping the accessory plugged into the Game Console where it automatically tracks a child's progress and scores. When plugging the V.Link into a PC's USB port, it auto connects to a secure website where the child can see how they rank against all V.Smile players also using V-Link. As children play more of their Smartridges and master more skills, they are rewarded with online bonus games that are "unlocked" by their progress.
 * The V.Smile Jammin' Gym Class is similar to dance pads made popular by Dance Dance Revolution. It is called a "soft exercise mat for interactive play, dance and exercise" by VTech. It includes 10 different active learning activities and connects directly to either the V.Smile TV Learning System or the V.Smile V.Motion with the Jammin' Gym Class cartridge. It helps teach letters, numbers, colors, spelling, and health concepts.

Note: Aside from the V-Link, these accessories are intended for the TV-connected consoles, not handheld versions of the V.Smile.

Competition and comparisons
The V.Motion was introduced as a low-cost, educational alternative to the popular Wii console, to which it has been compared due to its use of motion controllers.

The V.Smile Pocket's direct competition is the handheld Leapster by LeapFrog. The Leapster TV Learning System is the less high-profile but available counterpart to the multiple V.Smile and V.Motion consoles that are direct connect to the TV. The Leapster L-Max is comparable to the V.Smile Cyber Pocket and is stylus-enhanced. VTech has the advantage in number and diversity of available accessories such as SmartBooks and Art Studio, whereas LeapFrog's Leapster accessories are generally focused on portability options such as batteries and cases. The Leapster is also more technically powerful then the V.Smile, albeit with a lower screen resolution and audio quality.

The V.Smile family in general is more focused on TV connectability, while the Leapster family is more focused on the handheld, portable systems, but both VTech and LeapFrog have moved to compete with one another on both fronts. Leapster systems and games tend to be slightly more expensive than V.Smile games. The Leapster does have an age range for some games that reaches up to age 11, which is territory more for the V-Flash than the V.Smile. Noteworthy is that both LeapFrog and VTech continue to sell previous generation handhelds at a reduced price compared to the Leapster 2 and the New Improved V.Smile Pocket.

The V.Smile PC Pal variant console and Smart Keyboard accessory faces direct competition with LeapFrog's ClickStart educational computer offering, and indirect competition with various toy educational laptops and low cost desktop PCs with children software and child-friendly accessories installed. While the V.Smile SmartBook console may have faced competition from the Sega Pico due to the similarity of the concepts, the Sega Pico was not available outside Japan for a long time.

Rough comparisons in technological capability with the V.Smile consoles in terms of graphics and sound can be made to Nintendo's SNES console, thus generally the V.Smile is technologically comparable to most fourth generation consoles despite being released in the seventh generation era. The V.Smile systems in general are offered for a fraction of the price of those consoles when they were new, and the V.Smile systems were designed specifically for children with a focus on education.

Durability and quality of plastics and other components of the V.Smile systems is in-line with expectations given the low cost of the devices. Replacement game system hardware can often be bought for less than the cost of a single game on dedicated current generation console game systems from Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo on the market.

Games
Many educational game Smartridges for the V.Smile involve licensed characters popular with children. Some of these properties include Scooby-Doo, Bob the Builder, The Little Mermaid, Go, Diego, Go!, and The Wiggles. In addition to commercial characters, some V.Smile releases also feature original content with non-commercial characters, such as those in Soccer, Little Red Riding Hood, and Whiz Kid Wheels.

Smartridges are categorized by the intended age of players, with labels indicating suitable age groups. Some releases were updated versions of existing games to incorporate microphone and/or touch tablet enhanced gameplay.

List of V.Smile games
Several games were released in different countries, and as a result of the console being aimed at younger children who might not know English, they were translated into their respective languages. The games also have a suggested age range on the box, that sometimes changes depending on which country it was released in. The Console and its games were sometimes distributed by different companies, such as Concentra in Portugal, and Giochi Preziosi in Italy.

Some V.Smile games were rereleased with V.Motion functionality. All Smartridge titles are compatible with the V.Smile family of systems including the original V.Smile system, V.Motion, V.Smile Pocket, and Cyber Pocket.

The cartridges are light purple in color, but there are others; ones that work with accessories are bright yellow, V.Smile SmartBook games are red, and transparent dark purple cartridges, which came with several bundles of the special edition console in different games. Cartridges designed for V.Motion are a rounded top with a hole in the shape of a "V" and are orange in color.

There are known unreleased titles, Adventures in Oz, which was listed on Amazon by VTech in 2004 before the console was released, but it is unknown if it was ever developed or if/when/why it was cancelled. and also, the German VTech plans to make an untitled Bumba game, it was cancelled in the Netherlands and in Germany.

There were  titles known to have been released:

 * {{legend||size=50%| Background shading indicates games with special edition clear purple cartridge variant.}}

V.Smile Baby Infant Development System
An unrelated and separate spin-off system called the V.Smile Baby Infant Development System, was released shortly after the original V.Smile TLS was introduced to the market. The games and cartridges of a V.Smile Baby IDS are not compatible with a V.Smile TLS and vice versa. This is an important distinction since so many of the other consoles named "V.Smile" are inter-compatible. The control system for the V.Smile Baby Infant Development System is significantly different from those used in the V.Smile TLS that is targeted at older children: it does not have the features of a typical game controller, instead the design is more like that of a playboard. The controls consist of a mode slider, two switches (one for power and the other toggles the board between standalone play mode and console control mode), 7 buttons (5 shape buttons, a "fun" button, a small Exit button), and a roller ball hooked up to a sensor. The controller itself has a speaker which comes into play during standalone mode (in which it functions as a playboard that play music, speech and sound when interacted with). The controller communicates with the console by means of infrared signaling, and runs off six AA (Lithium) batteries. It also lacks a pink variant for girls, V.Smile Baby only ships with an orange color scheme.

The console itself is rather unusual in design, having only an on-off switch and permanently attached cables carrying composite video signal and mono audio through two RCA connectors. It runs off four AA (Lithium) batteries or a 6V DC power supply (sold separately), although European systems are missing the DC-in port, only being able to use batteries. The console has a cartridge slot as well as indents to hold four additional cartridges for storage. Also, powering off the controller will also power off the console if the console is switched on at the time. It was designed for kids ages 9 months-3 Years old.

It was released in several countries with different names;

List of V.Smile Baby games
This is an (possibly) incomplete list of games for the system.

Most games were released in both NTSC and PAL, with PAL region titles sometimes having a different English name to its US counterparts. Most games were also translated for other European market languages.

The game Bailey Goes to Town came included with the Bailey Teddy bear that functioned as a controller.

There were only 14 titles known to have been released;

Region protection and inter-compatibility
Even though the V.Smile range of games are compatible with most of its consoles, the V.Smile Baby games aren't. The cartridges are shorter, but are also thicker and wider than normal V.Smile ones, meaning they can't fit on other systems. However, both cartridges have the same connector and pins, meaning V.Smile Smartridges, which are slimmer and narrower, can be physically inserted into the V.Smile Baby and connected, although it's harder to do so, and the game won't work with the console.

The V.Smile range of consoles are apparently not region-locked. While the console itself come in NTSC and PAL versions and the BIOS on the consoles appear to be region specific (distinguishable from the speech sample played in the screen after the VTech logo when the console is started with no cartridge inserted), games purchased from an NTSC region can play on PAL systems and vice versa. Observations suggest that both the V.Smile and V.Smile Infant Development System used different methods of booting: The V.Smile and V.Smile Pocket variants will apparently boot into their own BIOS, then obligingly run the software on the cartridge.

The V.Smile Baby appears to boot from the default BIOS when a cartridge of the same region is inserted or when there's no cartridge in the system, but appears to boot from a different BIOS when a cartridge of a different region is inserted. Currently it is unknown if the extra BIOS resides on the cartridge or on the console itself.

Reception
Research by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) show that Vtech's V.Smile Baby product, marketed for ages nine months to three years, may not meet the claims that it helps with early childhood development or education in any way, stating that children ages 0 to 2 years are basically too young to understand anything and many cannot watch TV.

On October 17, 2011, AAP's Council on Communications and media released a report titled Media Use by Children Younger than 2 Years concluded that "the educational merit of media for children younger than two years remains unproven despite the fact that three-quarters of the top selling infant videos make explicit or implicit educational claims," and further found that media viewing by children under 2 years of age can have a negative effect on language development.

Video game and technology critics are also quick to discount Vtech's line of products, including V.Smile (ages 4–8), V.Smile Baby (ages 9m–3), V.Flash (ages 6–10), V.Smile Pocket (ages 3–8), and V.Reader, citing the lack of professionally developed games, as VTech consoles had no major third party video game publishers by 2009 aside from Disney Interactive.

Critics also state that the V.Smile proves the notion that the need for special electronics for children is artificial, as products like mainstream consoles (Xbox, PlayStation, Wii), tablets (iPad, Android), and computers (PC, Mac) have a variety of educational and children's software. Furthermore, such devices offer flexibility that allows children to grow with them, not outgrow them.

title: V.Smile


text:
Portal:Lithuania/Featured article

The Welles declaration was issued on July 23, 1940 by acting United States Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles. The declaration condemned the Soviet Union's forcible incorporation of the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and announced a U.S. refusal to recognize the legitimacy of Soviet control of the three states. It was an application of the Stimson Doctrine to the Baltic issue.The declaration was consistent with Franklin D. Roosevelt's overall attitude towards forcible territorial expansion, and reflected the views held by the highest levels of the Roosevelt administration. The Welles Declaration established a decades-long non-recognition of the Baltic States' forcible annexation. The document had major significance for overall U.S. policy toward Europe in the critical year of 1940. Subsequent U.S. presidents and Congressional resolutions reaffirmed the substance of the Welles declaration. The Baltic states re-established their independence in 1990. (continue...)

title: Portal:Lithuania/Featured article


text: Category:VTech

title: Category:VTech


text:
Talk:Off-label use

Physician assisted suicide
I am not qualified to do so, but it would be appropriate to have a discussion in the article of the Oregon Death With Dignity act. The U.S. Attorney General attempted to block that state-enacted law by appealing to the illegality of off-label use of controlled substances for physician-assisted suicide. Diogenes 17:45, 30 September 2005 (UTC)

Amphetamine
Amphetamine is a scheduled substance, yet commonly prescribed off-label, as the article indeed says. At the same time, the article says that scheduled substances cannot be prescribed off-label. Why the discrepancy? Is there a legal distinction that causes it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.109.198.99 (talk • contribs) 00:30, 26 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Off-label use is a murky matter, and whether any particular scheduled drug is treated as off-limits by the DEA is more a matter of practical enforcement than of any written law. On an unrelated note, a more international view would be nice-- how does this work in the UK, or in the EU for instance? Kajerm — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kajerm (talk • contribs) 17:28, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

Disputed
The article incorrectly states that Atomoxetine (Strattera) is the only drug with FDA approval in the U.S. for adult ADHD. Since August of 2004, Adderall XR, an extended release amphetamine, has also been approved for this use.Hans Walling 18:25, 25 April 2007 (UTC)
 * There is an article stating that it is the *first* drug approved for adult ADHD, but as you mentioned it's not the only. It's the first (and currently may be only) non-stimulant. But I question the usefulness of this example of off-label use since there is a stimulant used on-label for adult ADHD, and I think the way the paragraph is written really doesn't get to the point. Perigrini (talk) 17:48, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

According to recent discussions (May 2007) with FDA officials, the practice of writing "off-label" prescriptions for narcoticsIS allowed by physicians without penalty. In the case discussed, the narcotic drug "Actiq", or generic fentanyl lollipops, are currently used for breakthrough pain in many diseases. And it is documented in other articles found on the internet and in magazines that only 1% of the prescriptions for this medication are written for the purpose marketed by the pharmaceutical company. Physicians have found a way of treating other diseases, besides cancer, whose sufferers can find no other medication unless their physician is willing to write "off-label" prescriptions to relieve the severe pain of their patients. Rebeccaj1009 00:34, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

It is perfectly legal in the U.S. to prescribe controlled substances off-label. It is, however, illegal to market drugs for off-label uses. Many controlled substances are written off-label. The most common is probably Actiq, which is only FDA-approved for "breakthrough cancer pain" but is prescribed for all sorts of moderate to severe non-cancer pain. It is worth noting that all the citations to the alleged "fact" that controlled substances are legally treated different than other FDA approved medications contains NO citation whatsoever. It is important that this false, and very unfortunate misconception not be propagated any further. I'm going to attempt to correct this entry again, and hopefully the erroneous information won't be put back by whomever it is who thinks they know what they're talking about but clearly does not. For what it's worth, I am a lawyer (though none of this is intended to be, or may be taken as, legal advice). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.196.110.71 (talk) 09:58, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Drug and device
I think the article should indicate that it is drugs and devices that can be used off label. In the opening I would be inclined to say "Off-label use is the practice of prescribing drugs or medical devices for a purpose outside the scope of the product's approved label, most often concerning the drug's or the device's indication for use." Then throughout the article the language should reflect both drugs and devices. An example of using a device off label would be using a hemodialysis machine for home nocturnal dialysis www.homedialysis.org/files/pdf/resources/links/HomeHemoFDAMeeting.pdf BillpSea (talk) 18:20, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

Bevacizumab (Avastin)
The examples section says that clinical results for intravitreal injections of Avastin are anecdotal. There is a growing body of research being published in reputable medical journals worldwide indicating that it is a valid treatment. To date, calling the results anecdotal is an opinion, and thus not in keeping with WP:NPOV. That is why I have deleted the conjecture at the end of the example. Garvin Talk 02:41, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Off-label prescribing for children
Am I correct in believing, and would it be useful to add to the article (given suitable citations), that many if not most of the drugs that physicians prescribe for children are being prescribed off-label, because ethical considerations make it very difficult to conduct drugs trials on child subjects, and consequently most drugs are not approved for them? 87.81.230.195 (talk) 15:08, 30 December 2009 (UTC)

Numerous flagrant violations of balance
This article incorrectly states the law on off label prescribing of off label drugs, it also is unbalanced, citing only positive examples of off-label use, and not the numerous examples of off-label ADR, such as fen-phen. It also does not talk about how drug companies have ghosted or otherwise planted research in an effort to make it seem as if a drug had had independent clinical research proving an off-label use, when in fact it had been drawn from the data already rejected by FDA, for example Merck and Vioxx. 71.174.43.137 (talk) 07:52, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

 * If you have reliable sources for this, why don't you add a criticism/controvery section? stmrlbs | talk  16:18, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Transition to on-label use
Either this article or another article linked from here should discuss the process to get an off-label use approved on-label. For example, in the United States, the FDA approved Zyban (bupropion for smoking cessation) after Wellbutrin (bupropion for clinical depression), and Revatio (sildenafil citrate for heart therapy) was approved after Viagra (sildenafil citrate for erectile dysfunction). Is it just a New Drug Application that reuses the previous phase I, or is there a separate application for this? --Damian Yerrick (talk | stalk) 12:16, 22 August 2010 (UTC)

Globalise
This article deals with the matter entirely from the US point of view - starting from the lengthy "example" in the lede to the "Examples" section where "approved" relates to FDA approval, and "Schedule II drug" is irrelevant and not understandable for non-Americans. Thank you to improve.  kashmiri TALK  10:02, 14 December 2014 (UTC)
 * Just moved large portions from the lede down to the United States section. Still, the globalisation issue remains.  kashmiri TALK  10:23, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

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History of off-label use - origins in thalidomide?
One story about the origins of off-label use is that the concept originated around thalidomide. When that drug caused problems, then various consumer rights advocates blamed off-label use as the practice at the origin of the problem. There are sources cited in thalidomide and Kefauver Harris Amendment which suggest that distinguishing approved and off-label use became an issue around 1962. This might say more.

There currently is no history section in the article. There should be. I am not sure right now where to begin except by gathering sources.  Blue Rasberry  (talk)  17:01, 24 March 2017 (UTC)
 * There seem to be multiple laws regarding off-label use in various countries, all with origins in thalidomide.
 * Kefauver Harris Amendment
 * Medicines Act 1968
 * Directive 65/65/EEC
 * I wonder if there are other laws in other countries with origins from this incident, around this time. Here is a partial narrative of the time.
 * There seem to be lots of publications telling versions of this story. I do not know which source is a comprehensive origin story. Lots of sources that I see gloss over the history, presuming that the reader is already familiar with it and need orientation. At a glance, it seems like 50+ publications tell a ~1 page summary of the story. There could be an entire book about this somewhere or at least multiple papers giving a deep perspective of some aspect of this.  Blue Rasberry   (talk)  17:57, 24 March 2017 (UTC)
 * There seem to be lots of publications telling versions of this story. I do not know which source is a comprehensive origin story. Lots of sources that I see gloss over the history, presuming that the reader is already familiar with it and need orientation. At a glance, it seems like 50+ publications tell a ~1 page summary of the story. There could be an entire book about this somewhere or at least multiple papers giving a deep perspective of some aspect of this.  Blue Rasberry   (talk)  17:57, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Big money big lawsuits - how to describe here
There is a narrative which ought to be in this article but currently is not. Consider In Wikipedia's documentation of the biggest pharma lawsuits, off-label use stands out as the recurring major problem. It seems like if there is a massive medical tragedy which goes to court and gets settled, then by these lists, off-label use is the legal conflict. There are about USD 10 billion dollars in lawsuits here and I expect that every one of those lawsuits involves however many people and stories 100s of millions of dollars can influence. Right now, Wikipedia does not have good coverage of individual lawsuits, but I expect that any 100+ million dollar lawsuit would be notable to have its own Wikipedia article. Also, this article does not really describe how frequent it is for off-label use to lead to the biggest legal settlements that happen in any context.
 * List of off-label promotion pharmaceutical settlements
 * list of largest pharmaceutical settlements

I am not sure where to begin describing this but somehow, this article and those "list of settlement" articles should be better connected to each other because there is so much overlap in scope.  Blue Rasberry  (talk)  17:09, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Off-label use policy change in United States
Various sources are reporting that Scott Gottlieb is likely to become the head of the Food and Drug Administration and that one of the policy changes he will institute will be changes to permit more advertising of off-label use of drugs in the United States.

I am not sure how this information should go into the article. From one perspective, this article should not focus on the laws of one country. From another perspective, the United States has significant influence on global access to medicine. Other countries recognize the precedent of United States law, companies based in the US fund the most pharma research, the US is the world's single largest drug market, and the US produces more medicine related media than any other country. There is currently a tag on this article which says it is too slanted to the United States perspective, and I think this is a valid concern. I am not sure what to do. Perhaps some information should be cut, and other information put in, and perhaps there should be an individual article on "Off-label use in the United States" but I do not think there is enough content here to do a clean fork into a US-only article without more research and writing.

I am not sure what to do next.  Blue Rasberry  (talk)  17:48, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Moved research section here from article
The research section which was in the article described some smaller but nationally representative survey results from 2009 in the United States. This article already has problems being too directed at the United States and not written for a global audience. That combined with the information being survey results made me think it would be better to remove the research section, even if I have no other text with with to replace it. Also, the research section was being used as a holding area for a list of academic papers which have been listed over time since before. Wikipedia prefers summarized text in articles and is never supposed to have bibliographies of this sort in the body of the article. I am cleaning this!

 * Research relating to off-label use

According to a national random mail survey of 599 primary care physicians and 600 psychiatrists in the United States, there is a strong indication between a physician’s belief that a use is approved and the known evidence supporting that use, although almost half of physicians believed one off-label use that had little or no supporting evidence. This shows that there is a need for informing physicians about the evidence supporting off-label prescriptions, although the FDA only regulates drug marketing not drug prescribing.
 * Alexander GC. Clinical prescribing (and off-label use) in a second-best world. Medical care. 2010;48:285-287. (Invited editorial)

--  Blue Rasberry   (talk)  14:40, 3 April 2017 (UTC)

Forked content into new article - Marketing of off-label use
See Marketing of off-label use.

I established that article with the content which was in the "controversies" section here. Controversies was never a good name for that section, but it is common in Wikipedia to put lawsuits in a controversy section. That section actually had a discussion about drug advertising, so I cut and pasted it all to there. The content which I moved was at version of this article.

I discuss more on the talk page there at Talk:Marketing of off-label use.  Blue Rasberry  (talk)  15:40, 3 April 2017 (UTC)

Off-licensed drug
There is an article called Off-licensed drug which is sort of like this one, but which I think is a misunderstanding of the concept. No sources are cited and it is a mess, so I just nominated it for deletion at Articles for deletion/Off-licensed drug.

It was linked from this article in a "see also" section, so because of that and the similarity I am raising the issue here.  Blue Rasberry  (talk)  15:50, 3 April 2017 (UTC)

New article - List of drugs known for off-label use
I just established List of drugs known for off-label use as its own article. See Talk:List of drugs known for off-label use for an explanation. In summary, this list was becoming indiscriminate and could grow indefinitely. Maybe it should not be a Wikipedia article at all, but also, I think it does not belong here either.  Blue Rasberry  (talk)  16:10, 3 April 2017 (UTC)

Review of available sources
I found the full texts of all of these available to read online.

In considering what sources ought to be cited in this article, one challenge to address is when to use sources talking about the United States. This source gives a history of the laws and regulations around off-label use in the United States.
 * Another article starts by citing that article: "Americans have historically had perhaps the world’s most rigorous regulatory system for the protection of medical product consumers."
 * Another article starts by citing that article: "Americans have historically had perhaps the world’s most rigorous regulatory system for the protection of medical product consumers."

 * I think both of these articles are fair sources to use for summarizing in Wikipedia some of the broad discussions for and against off-label use. Many of the available sources are United States-centric.
 * I think both of these articles are fair sources to use for summarizing in Wikipedia some of the broad discussions for and against off-label use. Many of the available sources are United States-centric.

Here are some more sources which I examined -
 * This source lists how patients and physicians use general classes of drugs for off-label purposes. Also, there is an explanation of why off-label use is common in cancer treatment and children's off-label use of drugs approved only for adults.
 * This source lists how patients and physicians use general classes of drugs for off-label purposes. Also, there is an explanation of why off-label use is common in cancer treatment and children's off-label use of drugs approved only for adults.

 * This gives pros and cons about whether a physician should tell their patient whether the drug is off-label. This includes some surprising arguments that off-label use is preferable and that patient ignorance might be best.
 * This gives pros and cons about whether a physician should tell their patient whether the drug is off-label. This includes some surprising arguments that off-label use is preferable and that patient ignorance might be best.

 * Non-American context, much needed
 * Non-American context, much needed

 * Normally I would never cite a source like this. This is a company blog for a law firm. However, this is a fair telling of a story in a short way. The thalidomide narrative needs to be summarized here with an emphasis on the "off-label" aspect of that and a law firm would write it that way. Surely there is more traditional source to cite than this one but it is interesting.
 * Normally I would never cite a source like this. This is a company blog for a law firm. However, this is a fair telling of a story in a short way. The thalidomide narrative needs to be summarized here with an emphasis on the "off-label" aspect of that and a law firm would write it that way. Surely there is more traditional source to cite than this one but it is interesting.

 * If the wiki article needs iconic examples of off-label use then this article presents some stories as cultural history of medicine.
 * If the wiki article needs iconic examples of off-label use then this article presents some stories as cultural history of medicine.

 * "Journal reprints are among the most visible forms of promotion" - The article currently lack a description of just how off-label use comes to happen and this sort of information is key.
 * "Journal reprints are among the most visible forms of promotion" - The article currently lack a description of just how off-label use comes to happen and this sort of information is key.

 * Exceptionally well-written basic definition of the concept, plus this was written by Australians who are drawing from literature in the US and UK. This is a great perspective in itself, and additionally valuable for being a non-US/UK voice.
 * Exceptionally well-written basic definition of the concept, plus this was written by Australians who are drawing from literature in the US and UK. This is a great perspective in itself, and additionally valuable for being a non-US/UK voice.

 * This is great for being an international review of practice, and for talking about children, and for being non-US/UK.
 * This is great for being an international review of practice, and for talking about children, and for being non-US/UK.

 Blue Rasberry  (talk)  22:53, 3 April 2017 (UTC)

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Frequency of off-label use
Line 21 (U.S. General Accounting Office) should be (The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)), instead.

ThomasYehYeh (talk) 11:56, 12 November 2020 (UTC)

title: Talk:Off-label use


text:
John Muir (indologist)

John Muir CIE FRSE DCL LLD (5 February 1810 – 7 March 1882) was a British Sanskrit scholar, Indologist and judge in British India.

Biography
Muir was born in Glasgow, the son of William Muir (1783–1820), a merchant of Kilmarnock and magistrate of Glasgow, and Helen Macfie (1784–1866). He was the elder brother of the Indian administrator and principal of the University of Edinburgh, Sir William Muir.

He was educated at Irvine Grammar School in Ayrshire, then studied in the University of Glasgow, and the East India Company College near Hertford. He arrived in Colonial India with the East India Company in 1829 as a civil servant, working first in Bengal, and served in various offices, as assistant secretary to the board of revenue, Allahabad, as collector at Azamgarh and as civil and session judge at Fatehpur. In 1844, he was appointed to be the first principal of Victoria College, Benaras, that later evolved into the Sampurnanand Sanskrit University. From 1842 to 1853 he was a Session Judge in the court at Futtehpore. During this period he was awarded an honorary doctorate in civil law (DCL) by the University of Oxford a second honorary doctorate (LLD) from the University of Edinburgh and a third from the University of Bonn (PhD).

He left the Indian Civil Service in 1853 and returned to Edinburgh. In 1861 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh his proposer being John Hutton Balfour.

In 1862 he endowed the chair of Sanskrit in the University of Edinburgh, and was the main agent in founding the Shaw fellowship in moral philosophy. He was a DCL of Oxford, LLD of Edinburgh and PhD of Bonn, and was one of the first to receive the distinction of Companion of the Indian Empire.

Muir died unmarried, on 7 March 1882, at 10 Merchiston Avenue, Edinburgh.

He is buried in the Grange Cemetery against the western wall of the original cemetery, adjacent to the entrance to the 20th century extension.

Work
Muir's main work is Original Sanskrit texts on the origin and history of the people of India, their religion and institutions (1852–1870), a study of the most important source texts of Indian cultural and religious history, with English language translation. In 1858 the first volume of his Original Sanskrit Texts (2nd ed., 1868) was published; it was on the origin of caste, an inquiry intended to show that it did not exist in the Vedic age. The second volume (1st ed., 1860; 2nd, 1871) was concerned with the origin and racial affinities of the Hindus, exhibiting all the then available evidences of their connection, their linguistic, social and political kinship, with the other branches of the Indo-European stock. The third volume (1st ed., 1861; 2nd, 1868) was on the Vedas, a full inquiry as to the ideas of their origin, authority and inspiration held both by the Vedic and later Indian writers. Volume four (1st ed., 1863; 2nd, 1873) was a comparison of the Vedic with the later representations of the principal Indian deities, an exhibition of the process by which three gods hardly known to the Vedic hymns became the deities of the former Hindu Trimurti. The fifth and final volume was published in 1870 and was on the Vedic mythology. Muir was also the author of a volume of metrical translations from the Sanskrit, an anonymous work on inspiration, several works in Sanskrit, and many essays in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society and elsewhere.

In 1839, Muir published Matapariksa: Sketch of the Argument for Christianity and against Hinduism, a work that, in contrast to the vitriolic missionary tracts prevalent at that time, presented Hinduism in empathetic tone and depicted Christianity and Hinduism as more or less compatible, although Christianity was clearly depicted as superior. However while sensitive to "Hindu genius" Muir advanced miracles, moral excellence, and universality as three basic arguments in favour of Christianity. The work was controversial in India and helped launch a counter-apologetic movement among Hindu scholars.

title: John Muir (indologist)


text: User talk:72.1.206.183

title: User talk:72.1.206.183


text:
User:Cunningham

English subeditor with a liking for (in no particular order): plain modern English, Jimi Hendrix, English history, George Orwell, small towns and Tony Hancock.

Particuarly dislikes the words whilst, ongoing, located, situated and prestigious; and capital letters where they are neither grammatical nor necessary. Also eschews use of World War I & II — as if they were a Hollywood film and sequel rather than ... well ... the First and Second World Wars.

Most hated expression at time of writing is "the then" as in "Bill Bloggs, the then chairman of Bloggs and Co", when "Bill Bloggs, who was then chairman of ..." is much nicer.

{| cellspacing="0" style="width: 238px; background: #FFE0E8"
 * style="width: 45px; height: 45px; background: #FFB3B3; text-align: center; font-size: 14pt" | its & it's
 * style="font-size: 8pt; padding: 4pt; line-height: 1.25em" | This user understands the difference between its and it's.

title: User:Cunningham


text:
Luitpold Coast

Luitpold Coast (Prinzregent-Luitpold-Land) is that portion of the coast of Coats Land extending from the vicinity of Hayes Glacier, at 27°54′W, to 36°W, which is regarded as the eastern limit of the Filchner Ice Shelf. It was discovered by Wilhelm Filchner, leader of the Second German Antarctic Expedition, 1911–12, and named after Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria.

Important Bird Area
A 500 ha site on fast ice some 50 km north-east of the Filchner Ice Shelf, where icebergs regularly calve from the continental margin, has also been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a breeding colony of about 6,500 emperor penguins, an estimate based on 2009 satellite imagery.

Virgen de las Nieves Refuge
Virgen de las Nieves Refuge  (-79.16667°N, -38.88333°W) is an Argentine Antarctic refuge located on the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf on the Luitpold Coast 150 kilometres south of the Belgrano I Base. The refuge is administered by the Argentine Army and was opened on 2 December 1958 and is under the base Belgrano II.

The refuge was built in the Argentine Antarctic campaign of 1958–1959 under the supervision of Lieutenant Colonel Jorge De Marzi and Major Pedro Arcondo. At the time, it was the southernmost Antarctic refuge of Argentina, more to the south of Refuge Santa Bárbara and the old Sobral Base. The name of the refuge refers to Our Lady of the Snows.

title: Luitpold Coast


text:
Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge

Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Virginia is located in the independent city of Virginia Beach. Established in 1938 in an isolated portion of the former Princess Anne County, it is managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The administrative office is located on Sandbridge Road at Sigma between Lago Mar and Sandbridge Beach. The Visitor Contact Center is accessed via Sandpiper Road from the Sandbridge area of Virginia Beach, which is the southernmost area of development on the Atlantic Coast of Virginia.

Most of the 9062.45 acre freshwater refuge is on the Currituck Banks Peninsula, which borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Back Bay of the Currituck Sound on the west. As part of Virginia's Outer Banks, the refuge's barrier islands feature large sand dunes, maritime forests, freshwater marshes, ponds, ocean beaches, and large impoundments for wintering wildfowl. The majority of refuge marshlands are on islands contained within the waters of Back Bay. It is considered by conservationists to be an important link along the Atlantic Flyway for migratory birds such as snow geese.

The refuge adjoins Virginia's False Cape State Park. Beyond that, the northern edge of North Carolina's Outer Banks lies immediately to the south. A tram runs through the refuge, providing the only public access to False Cape State Park other than by foot, bicycle, or boat. A bicycle/pedestrian trail is planned through the refuge between Sandbridge and Lago Mar.

title: Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Atalie Moore

 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or on a Votes for Undeletion nomination).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the debate was DELETE. -Splash talk 23:24, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

Atalie Moore
Not verifiable, no source provided, likely hoax. Google query of "Atalie Moore" yields 21 unrelated hits. --Vsion 17:47, 30 September 2005 (UTC)
 * Speedy delete as unreferenced probable hoax. Hall Monitor 18:21, 30 September 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. I think this might be a quasi-good faith but horribly mistaken attempt at a bio of a notable person, since I do remember a story about someone with somewhat similar history (African-American, female, born in Hawaii around 1900, kept out of Harvard, returned to Hawaii, was an activist), but the names are all wrong. Weird. I can't remember her real name. MCB 02:01, 1 October 2005 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in an undeletion request). No further edits should be made to this page.


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Debbie Desham Delaura

 This page is an archive of the proposed deletion of the article below. Further comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or on a Votes for Undeletion nomination). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the debate was Speedy deleted by Hall Monitor

Debbie Desham Delaura
appears to be attack ("genetically modified hybrid") 202.156.6.62 17:47, 30 September 2005 (UTC) This article has been speedy deleted as per WP:CSD A6 (blatant attack page). Hall Monitor 18:39, 30 September 2005 (UTC)
 * Speedy delete as attack page. Damn, is that a scary picture though.  Can you imagine what the ones they didn't use are like?  Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd  18:22, 30 September 2005 (UTC)
 * Comment since the article has been speedied but the picture remains, here it is for anyone who wants to see the scariness. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 20:02, 30 September 2005 (UTC)

 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in an undeletion request). No further edits should be made to this page.


text:
User talk:Frederick24

'''Please stop. If you continue to vandalize pages, you will be blocked from editing Wikipedia.'''

Hey, thanks for reverting that POV article. These people are consistent in their falsities. I believe Wikipedia is for unbiased information, there is alot of prohindu-india mentality on the website. Keep up the good work!!!

Urdu
Hi,

Please sign up under your real account and explain your edits on the talk page. We're trying to come to a consensus on the Urdu article, and that's difficult to do if anonymous users revert attempts to improve it.

If you have evidence that Urdu is not a Hindustani idiom, then please share it with the rest of us. kwami 06:36, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

Please do not vandalize userpages
I have reverted your edits to Kamikawagami's user page. Please, don't do this. It's the sort of thing that leads to banning. If you want to edit, please discuss on talk pages rather than lashing out at other editors. Zora 01:39, 23 October 2005 (UTC)

title: User talk:Frederick24


text:
Democratic Renewal Party (Albania)

The Democratic Renewal Party (in Albanian: Partia Demokratike e Rinovuar) is a political party in Albania led by Dashamir Shehi. It was formed following a split from the New Democratic Party.

In the 2005 parliamentary elections, the party was part of the Movement for National Development coalition.

title: Democratic Renewal Party (Albania)


text:
User:Henriksdal

Trying to put my infinitely useless knowledge of Northumberland to some use, finally

title: User:Henriksdal


text: User talk:69.209.179.217

title: User talk:69.209.179.217


text:
Peter Fincham

Peter Arthur Fincham (born 26 July 1956) is a British television producer and executive. From 2008 until 2016, he was the Director of Television for the ITV network. He was also formerly the Controller of BBC One, the primary television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation, until his resignation on 5 October 2007, following criticism over the handling of the Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work debacle.

Early life
Fincham was educated at the independent Tonbridge School, and then studied at Churchill College, Cambridge. He joined the Cambridge Footlights production team as musical director, alongside a committee which included Griff Rhys Jones, Jimmy Mulville, Rory McGrath and Clive Anderson. After leaving Footlights, Fincham composed songs, none of which were picked up for recording, and then worked on the touring version of Godspell. During a period of increasingly common unemployment, Fincham was walking on Wandsworth Common in the rain and thinking to himself: "Oh my God. What have I done? I have made the wrong decision?" Fincham applied for a job at the BBC in 1984, a position as a researcher on The Late, Late Breakfast Show after his friend Helen Fielding left to concentrate on her writing career. However, he was unsuccessful in this application.

TalkBack (1985–2005)
In 1985 he joined the staff of the independent production company TalkBack Productions as a producer. At the time the company, which was founded by comedians Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones, produced radio programming, television advertisements and corporate videos. Fincham became the company's managing director in 1986, and in 1989 oversaw the move of TalkBack into fully-fledged television production when it produced its founders' sketch show Smith and Jones for BBC One.

TalkBack became particularly well known for its comedy output, which included such shows as The Day Today (BBC Two, 1994), Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge (BBC Two, 1994), They Think It’s All Over (BBC One, 1995–2006), Never Mind the Buzzcocks (BBC Two, 1996–2015), I'm Alan Partridge (BBC Two, 1997 and 2002), Smack the Pony (Channel 4, 1999–2003) and Da Ali G Show (Channel 4, 2000). Fincham was an executive producer on many of these programmes. He also helped to establish TalkBack as a noted producer in other genres, with the company moving into drama with Stephen Poliakoff's Shooting the Past (BBC Two) in 1999.

In 2001, Fincham was given an Indie Award for outstanding contribution to the independent production sector. Also that year, TalkBack was sold to FremantleMedia in a £62 million deal, which made Fincham personally a multi-millionaire. Fremantle merged TalkBack with another of its acquisitions, Thames Television, to form the new Talkback Thames production company, of which Fincham became the Chief Executive in February 2003. He remained in this position until he left at the beginning of 2005, after twenty years at TalkBack and its successor company, claiming he wanted "a new challenge and a new adventure". BBC One controller Lorraine Heggessey's appointment to his old post opened up the vacancy at BBC One, which he in turn applied for and won despite being "rich enough never to have to work again".

BBC One (2005–2007)
Fincham was regarded in some quarters as a surprising choice as Controller, as prior to his appointment he had never worked for either the BBC or any other broadcaster, having spent his career in the independent production sector. In 2006, The Guardian newspaper reported that he was ultimately responsible for an annual programming budget at BBC One of £873 million.

Fincham oversaw the commissioning of successful BBC One programmes such as Jane Eyre, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? (both 2006) and Robin Hood (2006–09). His first full year in charge saw a year-on-year growth in the channel's audience share, with BBC One earning a 23.6% share in August 2006, compared to 22.2% in the same month in 2005.

Fincham directly initiated the creation of both the early evening current affairs and lifestyle programme The One Show (2006–present) and the prime time chat show Davina (2006), the latter designed as a vehicle for presenter Davina McCall. However, Davina was a critical and ratings disaster, which Fincham subsequently admitted was personally his fault, although he defended the strategy of experimenting with the BBC One schedule. He made another notable change to the schedule in January 2007, when he moved the current affairs series Panorama back from Sunday nights to the prime time Monday evening slot it had been removed from in 2000, although this decision was at least partly in response to a demand from the Board of Governors of the BBC for the channel to show more current affairs programming in prime time.

It was also Fincham's decision to scrap the BBC One "Rhythm and Movement" idents, which had been used to provide the channel with its on-screen identity between programmes since they were introduced by Heggessey in 2002. They were replaced by a new set of idents, known as the "Circle idents", in the autumn of 2006; however, Fincham again found himself criticised, this time by The Daily Telegraph newspaper, for the decision to spend £1.2 million on the set of eight ten-second films, some of which were shot in Mexico and Croatia. Fincham also found himself having to publicly defend the £18 million salary the BBC awarded presenter Jonathan Ross in 2006, although Ross's BBC One work – which primarily consisted of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, Film... and various one-off events – formed only part of his BBC commitment, which also encompassed programmes for BBC Three and BBC Radio 2.

On 18 May 2007, Fincham decided to drop the Australian soap opera Neighbours from BBC One after twenty-one years on the channel, when its producers increased the price they wanted the BBC to pay for it in a bidding war. Fincham commented that: "We'd love to have kept it but not at any price."

Fincham was involved in a further controversy in July 2007, when introducing a press conference to publicise BBC One's forthcoming autumn season programming for later in the year. The season launch tape shown to journalists included a trailer from the documentary Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work. It showed the Queen apparently storming out of a session with American photographer Annie Leibovitz over a disagreement about what she should wear, but the BBC subsequently admitted that one of the shots used in the trailer had been edited out of order. Fincham admitted the error, and initially rejected calls that he should resign from his position as a result. However, the publication of the Wyatt Report on 5 October led to his resignation.

ITV (2008–2016)
On 28 February 2008 it was announced that the ITV network, the BBC's main rival, had hired Fincham to be its new Director of Television. At the Edinburgh Television Festival in August 2008, Fincham claimed that broadcasters such as ITV were under too much pressure from industry regulator Ofcom to produce programmes that were only of a minority interest, as opposed to pure entertainment programmes for a mainstream audience. In 2010 he decided to axe the long-running drama series The Bill; ATV News Network reported 97% of the public were against the drama being dropped.. In December 2011, he took the unilateral decision to remove a song from The Jonathan Ross Show that was commissioned especially for the show by the comedian and songwriter Tim Minchin. The song, titled "Woody Allen Jesus", had already been approved by Ross's producer and ITV's legal compliance officers. Minchin, disappointed at the decision, later made the footage available on his own site where he also criticised Fincham's decision.

In January 2016, ITV announced that Fincham had decided to step down as Director of Television and leave the company.

Personal life
Fincham's wife, Clare, runs a charity, Second Space, which provides respite care for the ill and disabled and their carers. Fincham's family live in London. In music, he enjoys Bob Dylan and Neil Young.

Outside of broadcasting, Fincham co-edited The Utterly Utterly Merry Comic Relief Christmas Book with author Douglas Adams in 1986.

title: Peter Fincham