Good morning Qcity! Thank goodness it’s Friday. What are your weekend plans? Be sure to check out Toni’s picks in her weekly column “On the town with Toni.”

We will see lots of sunshine this weekend in Charlotte. Today, the weatherman is calling for mainly sunny skies with a high around 54°. Tonight, expect clear skies with a low of 32°. Saturday’s forecast calls for more sunshine with a high around 64°. Sunday, we should see more sunny skies with highs in the mid 60s and lows in the upper 30s.

Here’s what’s brewing in the news:

Debate over alcoholics and liver transplants

Most transplant hospitals commonly require gravely ill alcoholics and others who need a liver transplant have to prove they can stay sober for six months before receiving one. Alcohol can cause lethal, liver-destroying diseases such as cirrhosis and hepatitis, and this is a way of assuring doctors that these patients are serious about staying sober after the operation.

A small French study, which observed patients who were suffering from alcohol-related hepatitis so severe that they were unlikely to survive the six-month delay, found that the vast majority of those who received their transplant without the wait stopped drinking after their surgery and were sober years later.

With livers already in scarce supply, the study, which was reported yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine, could boost demand for livers. It is also likely to reopen the bitter debate over whether those who destroy their organs with heavy drinking deserve new ones.

Last year, nearly 6,300 liver transplants were performed in the United States, with one in five going to patients who reported a history of heavy drinking. More than 1,400 Americans died waiting for a new liver, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.
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Facebook close to settlement with the feds

As privacy remains a major concern in the digital age, Facebook is facing federal charges that it mislead users about the use of their personal data. The social network site is reportedly close to reaching a settlement with the U.S. government. Millions of users were upset when account information they set to private became public by default after Facebook made changes to its privacy settings in December 2009 without their knowledge or consent. A complaint was filed with the Federal Trade Commission, alleging the changes were unfair and deceptive. Sources close to the settlement say that is will prohibit Facebook from making information that’s already on the site available to a wider audience than previously intended, reports the Wall Street Journal. However, the pact, which awaits only final approval from the FTC, will not require users to expressly agree to all changes made to the site. Under the agreement, Facebook would also have to submit to privacy audits for the next 20 years. 

Got news to share with Qcity readers? Email us at editor@qcitymetro.com.
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