NOOOOO!! Harold Ramis Died. :-(

[charlie and algernon]

'Ghostbusters' Star and Writer Harold Ramis Dies at 69

"Ghostbusters" star Harold Ramis has died at 69 years old, United Talent Agency confirmed to ABC News today.

Ramis was known as much for his off-screen work -- writing the "Ghostbusters" films, along with "Groundhog Day" and "Analyze This" -- as he was for playing Dr. Egon Spengler in front of the camera.

Ramis, a Chicago native, was surrounded by family when he died early this morning from complications of autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, his wife Erica Mann Ramis told the Chicago Tribune.

His rare disease involved a swelling of the blood vessels and the report adds that his health issues began in 2010. His condition was so bad in the past, the actor/writer/director had to relearn to walk.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/ghostbusters-star-writer-harold-ramis-dies-69/story?id=22651174

[nirvana555]

1. I loved this incredibly talented man.. Groundhog Day is one of my favorite

Movies of all time. It's message is classic. And, IMHO, it's one of Bill Murray's greatest roles. He will be missed.

[cyberswede]

2. Aw shit!

That's too young!

[Boom Sound 416]

3. Mesopotamian not Babylonian

[NewJeffCT]

4. Don't cross the streams

Venkman: "why"
Spengler: "It would be bad"

[Boom Sound 416]

5. Imagine every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light

Ok, that's bad. Important safety tip! Thanks Egon.

[geardaddy]

6. I remember him from early SCTV

seasons. He was a great writer, performer and director.

RIP

[AnneD]

7. How sad...

he was a nice human being...and relatively young. He will be missed

[pacalo]

8. How heartbreaking!

I had no idea he had been ill.

I'll always think of him as Egon.

[davidpdx]

9. I saw that just as I was reading the news today

Very sad, he was a great actor. I liked him in Knocked Up. He just had that lovable dad feel about him.

[mucifer]

10. Just for DU

Sniff Sniff

[Boom Sound 416]

17. Great find

[Paulie]

11. Thanks Harold!

[mockmonkey]

12. Directed "Caddyshack" and "Nat. Lamp. Vacation"

How sad to hear of his passing.

[NewJeffCT]

13. Are you homosexuals?

"No, but we're willing to learn."

[orleans]

14. love that scene. thanks for posting. n/t

[orleans]

15. his credits include:

for writing:
analyze this
analyze that
rover dangerfield (developed)
bedazzled
ghostbusters series
meatballs series
armed and dangerous
club paradise
back to school
stripes
caddyshack
animal house
year one
sctv episodes/skits

directing:
cadyshack
national lampoon's vacation
club paradise
groundhog day
stuart saves his family
multiplicity
analyze this
analyze that
ice harvest
bedazzled
year one

acting:
year one
ghostbusters
knocked up
orange county
as good as it gets
airheads
groundhog day
baby boom
stripes

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000601/?ref_=nv_sr_1

such a wonderful and talented person.
wishing him all the best as he travels onward.

[Boom Sound 416]

18. Back to School

'Bring us a pitcher of beer every 7 minutes until someone passes out. Then bring one every 10.'

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

16. RIP

[proverbialwisdom]

19. AOA: 'Harold Ramis, Inflammatory Vasculitis and "Rare" Conditions.'

PREFACE: Last year the BBC linked to Age of Autism as one of two "Related Internet Links." Yes, that's right, check it out. Scroll to bottom of page. (This a completely legitimate BBC decision. To see why, do a site search for 'John Stone' at AOA (UK editor). Stone's reporting is outstanding although off-topic for purposes of this thread.)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22132428

13 April 2013 Last updated at 02:34 ET
ARTICLE
Related Internet links:

Age of Autism: http://www.ageofautism.com
Public Health Wales: http://www.publichealthwales.wales.nhs.uk

http://www.ageofautism.com/2014/02/harold-ramis-inflammatory-vasculitis-and-rare-conditions.html#comments

Harold Ramis, Inflammatory Vasculitis and "Rare" Conditions

By Wayne Rohde

With the passing of Harold Ramis, I was surprised to learn of the medical condition that led to his death. I remember him as Private Russell Ziskey in Stripes, an unemployed parapsychology professor in Ghostbusters, and as a co-writer in Animal House. Press releases state that the actor, director and screenwriter succumbed to complications from autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis (vass-ku-lite-us). According to medical journals, autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis is an acquired disease that causes inflammation of the blood vessels. In Mr. Ramis’s case, it was reported that he had extreme difficulty walking and using his legs and arms.

So how did this horrible disease afflict Mr. Ramis? Dr. Waseem Mir, a rheumatologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York told CBS news that only 1% of the US population has this disease, making it extremely rare. However, Dr. Peter Merkel, a rheumatologist and director of Penn Vasculitis Center at the University of Penn medical school told CNN that “Mr. Ramis had one of 15 identified variants of vasculitis. None of these conditions individually affects more than 200,000 people in the US. But if you add them all up together, it’s not rare, and the chances are everybody knows somebody, directly or indirectly, that is affected.”

Now does that last sentence sound familiar? Maybe in discussions about vaccine injury? If two leading rheumatologists cannot agree whether or not this medical condition is rare, why not examine some previous medical cases of vasculitis?

In a paper presented by Tomljenovic and Shaw in 2012 regarding the death of two individuals who were administered the HPV vaccine, tissue samples of the brain led the authors to interpret the results as demonstrating an autoimmune cerebral vasculitis. Now, we can confidently assume that Mr. Ramis did not receive a Gardasil vaccine, but it does bring vaccinations into the question. Another study, published in 2009 by Birck, Kaelsch, et al, titled “ANCA-associated vasculitis following influenza vaccination: causal association or mere coincidence?” did not prove a causal association between influenza vaccine and vasculitis, but it did assert that in rare cases vaccination might induce vasculitic disease. Now we have the possibility that influenza vaccine might, under “rare” conditions, induce vasculitis.

On its website “Living with Vasculitis”, Vasculitis UK posts the following warnings about the influenza and pneumonia vaccines: “Flu and Pneumonia vaccines are not recommended for vasculitis patients.” The website continues with a warning to those with autoimmune disorders not to receive the shingles vaccine. Now how many of you drive by a retail pharmacy such as CVS, Rite-Aid, or Walgreens and see their electronic outdoor signs blasting the message, “Don’t forget about your shingles vaccine”? By the way, the shingles vaccine is not covered in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, so if you do have an adverse reaction to the shingles vaccine, which results in a serious injury, you are SOL.

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