All news posts from August 01, 2009 to August 31, 2009

At least one-third of the cocaine in the U.S. and Canada has been found to be tainted with an animal de-wormer. Three deaths and hundreds of illnesses are linked to the contaminated cocaine.

The New Chrysler has agreed to accept product liability claims for consumers injured by defective automobiles, but only after it emerged from bankruptcy June 10. GM and Chrysler together had about 2,000 product liability claims pending before bankruptcy that can now only proceed against bankrupt companies.

The gold standard blood-thinners, used for heart attack and stroke, may be rivaled by an experimental drug, Brilinta, which causes less bleeding and increases the chance of survival.

A new study by Dutch researchers finds people that suffer from irritable bowel syndrome may find relief with Psyllium, the soluble fiber in Metamucil and other such products.

A new study in the journal Stroke suggests Women who are otherwise healthy but suffer from feelings of hopelessness are at a higher risk of suffering a stroke.

InjuryBoard launches a nationwide Wii donation program of 70 systems to be used for rehabilitation at hospitals, veterans centers, and nursing homes. Increasingly, the Nintendo entertainment system is receiving much praise for inspiring the injured to move and enjoy it.

A nationwide alert has been issued by CPSC warning school officials and facility managers to immediately inspect outdoor stadium light poles because they can crack or fall over, possibly causing serious injury or death to bystanders.

The media is shaping the debate on health care reform, with Fox News following one Republican strategy, as the consumer group, Media Matters has found.

Sen. Edward Kennedy died Tuesday night of a malignant glioma, the most common type of brain cancer, which kills about 13,000 patients a year.

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science explores how testosterone affects financial risk-taking differently in men and women.

Consumer groups are asking the Federal Trade Commission to require that a skull and crossbones sticker be put on used Chrysler automobiles to warn prospective customers that the manufacturer will not assume liability for any injuries or death from any defects among 30 million Chrysler vehicles still on the road.

A scientific statement issued by the American Heart Association on Monday suggests curbing sugar intake, a recommendation likely to rile food and beverage companies.

Alli and Xenical, the same drug with different strengths, are available to help people fight weight gain. The benefit may not offset liver damage, which the FDA is investigating.

1.8 million Americans could be hospitalized with half dying under the worst-case scenario outlined in a government report on the swine flu. The report is being issued as millions of swine flu shots are about to be delivered by drug makers, who are provided complete immunity for liability by the federal government.

Court documents released Monday help tell the story of a cocktail of drugs and half dozen doctors attending to Michael Jackson to help him fight insomnia. Propofol and a dozen other drugs led to his death, and Jackson becomes one of more than 20,000 deaths a year due to prescription drugs.

Calls coming into poison control centers around the country jumped 76 percent over a seven-year period, reporting teens having a bad reaction to drugs used to treat ADHD, this study finds. That jump roughly corresponds with the sharp rise in the prescription use of these stimulants in children and teens.

Schools will be the front line in fighting the swine flu virus, especially since young people do not have the natural immunities acquired by older people.

reStart Addiction Recovery, the first program of its kind to help Internet addicts, is now open in Fall City, Washington, near Redmond (home of Microsoft) and Seattle.

A large group of seniors have trouble with alcohol but few make it to recovery finds a new study by Duke University Medical Center.

The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on manufacturers of ointments that claim to relieve pain by containing ibuprofen. This is the latest in a series of tougher regulatory actions by the agency under new chief Margaret Hamburg.

The new head of the newly created Center for Tobacco Products, under FDA authority, has been named. The center will be able to regulate ingredients in tobacco products for the first time. Big Tobacco is already planning a lawsuit challenging restrictions on advertising.

Women are involved in about 2,000 alcohol-related deaths each year. The statistics were released in connection with the National Labor Day Enforcement Crackdown, which targets drivers leading up to the Labor Day holiday weekend.

Oprah and Dr. Oz have filed more than 40 complaints against marketers of the acai berry to stop them from using the famous duo for promotional purposes. They say there is no science that supports the claim the berry promotes weight loss.

If you were born in 2007, your life expectancy just went up to nearly 78 years, the highest it’s ever been, the government reports today.

Merck's Gardasil was promoted by medical societies after they received a total of $750,000. Medicine and marketing were blurred, says the published study.

J & J won preliminary approval to market a new ceramic-on-metal hip replacement device that is thought to be an improvement over metal-on-metal.

Loud snoring, interrupted breathing and sleep disruption – classic signs of sleep apnea – raise the risk of premature death in men by 40 percent.

At least one drug maker plans on formulating a H1N1 vaccine without thimerosal, the mercury-based preservative.

Expect to see a back-to-school campaign for the Gardasil cervical cancer shot as sales for the Merck vaccine have been disappointing.

Researchers find a total of 28 carcinogens identified with smokeless tobacco and even more in snuff. In addition, snuff can lead to nicotine addiction in the same way that cigarette smoking does.

While Americans debate health care, Americans are not as healthy as Britons, even those with insurance. Reforms may only deliver a 10 to 25 percent change in overall health.

Researchers have identified a compound that can destroy breast cancer stem cells, a type of master cell resistant to conventional treatment. This research introduces a completely new way of identifying cancer drugs.

The public option, considered a key to health care reform, that would force insurance giants to become more competitive, appears to be in critical condition as the administration now appears to be backing insurance co-operatives as an alternative.

The FDA is warning patients with diabetes that they may get an inaccurate reading of their blood sugar levels from certain glucose test strips when used with dialysis and immunoglobulins. 13 deaths have been reported to the FDA over the years.

One Panama City Beach, Florida public health doctor tried to get his healthy eating message across via electronic signs, but angered donut and hamburger vendors. Instead, he lost his job.

While much of the health care debate has been very public, details of the very private negotiations between the White House and the pharmaceutical industry are becoming public.    

Lawmakers are proposing legislation that would curb the reach of direct-to-consumer advertising. While reasons for the new legislation vary, it appears no stone will be left unturned during the ongoing debate over U.S. Health Care Reform.

Two air traffic controllers, on duty at the time of a collision of two aircraft over the Hudson River last weekend, have been suspended. One of them was reportedly talking to his girlfriend at the time of the collision, the other was not in the building. Nine people died.

Rats fed a high-fat diet for just nine days showed a sharp decline in their physical endurance and cognitive ability. Researchers already blamed the diet for heart disease and obesity. Now the rat study will be carried out on humans to see what a junk food diet might be doing in the long-term.

Making not-yet-approved drugs available to chronically ill patients should be easier under clarified new rules as part of the changes at the FDA.

Two major shakeups at the Food and Drug Administration may be signs of how the agency is remaking itself to become more pro-consumer and less friendly to the industries it tries to regulate.

The drug is called denosumab, and it is used to stop the production of cells known as osteoclasts, that breakdown bone causing osteoporosis. Amgen is seeking approval for the new drug but the FDA is concerned the drug also supresses the immune system opening up someone to infections and cancer.

Taking aspirin regularly may make you much less likely to develop tumors of the colon and a new study finds even if taken after a diagnosis, survival increases.

Coverage Denied, a new report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, examines the insurance company practice of denying coverage and discriminating against millions of Americans who have pre-existing medical conditions.

The Wii mote controller charging station can heat up and burn hands and pose a fire hazard. The CPSC issued a recall, in cooperation with the company, after receiving six consumer complaints.

Remote Area Medical delivers health care to the underinsured and uninsured, about 47 million Americans, one visit at a time. This week it is the Los Angeles area, where people began lining up at 3 a.m. for everything from eye glasses to chest x-rays, in a scene reminiscent of a Third World nation.

Dredging on the Hudson River has been halted over concerns that the probable carcinogen, PCB, is being churned up in the the silt where it settled 50 years ago. General Electric Company (GE) has reluctantly agreed to begin cleaning up the chemicals it dumped from 1946 to 1976.

Merck & Co. will face the first of several hundred lawsuits today brought by patients who claim they suffered jaw damage from the company’s widely used drug, Fosamax for treatment of osteoporosis.

A report by the Hearst Newspapers finds that about 200,000 people die from errors by doctors and infections in hospitals, which are largely preventable. Here are some of their stories.

Dead By Mistake reports 200,000 avoidable medical mistakes lead to death in the U.S. every year, and during debates over health care reform, no one is monitoring how to make hospitals safer.

Saturday around noon, a helicopter and small plane collided and crashed into the river near New York City killing nine. There are calls for regulating the "Wild West" airspace over the Hudson which requires pilots to monitor themselves visually.

Pitchman Billy Mays had cocaine in his system, an autopsy finds, which contributed to the development of heart disease. He also had prescription amounts of painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs.

While the family of Diane Schuler denies she had a drinking problem, federal statistics show that the number of women arrested for DUI is up, although still fewer then men arrested for DUI.

A ground beef recall is impacting nine states and has sickened 21 people with Salmonella Newport, some varieties of which are drug-resistant.

Expect an upcoming push to be vaccinated against the H1N1 swine flu, and if this internal CDC document is any indication, those who question its wisdom, risk being labeled "hostile".

A published study in the New England Journal of Medicine to weed out ineffective treatments has doctors scratching their heads. They thought vertebroplasty, the use of an acrylic cement, worked to relieve pain in those with oseoporotic vertebral fractures. Turns out those who didn't get the cement also got pain relief.

At least 26 scientific papers touting hormone therapy for menopausal women, were secretly produced with the help of ghostwriters and for-hire communications companies, as revealed by unsealed court documents in litigation against Wyeth filed by women who developed breast cancer.

Merck and Schering-Plough agreed on Wednesday to pay $41.5 million to settle class-action lawsuits filed by patients taking the cholesterol drugs Vytorin and Zetia.

Diane Schuler was twice the legal limit for DUI and had marijuana residue in her bloodstream before she got behind the wheel of a minivan and drove head-on into an SUV killing herself, four children and three men.

The largest registry of health effects following the 9/11 attacks, finds psychological stress and asthma are lingering.

The FDA is requiring TNF blockers to carry stronger warnings highlighting the increased risk of cancer in children and adolescents who receive these drugs to treat juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.

A study in the journal Neurology suggests activities such as playing card games, doing puzzles, reading and writing, which keep the brain active, can delay the start of symptoms of dementia.

If booing, jeering and fear promoting ads on television are any indication, the president has a tough road ahead of him on making health care reform the test of his presidency.

A new study just published in the medical journal Pediatrics reports a 150% increase in injuries sustained by students in school gym classes in the last 10 years. Researchers at Ohio State...

Millions of kids aren’t getting enough vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, possibly increasing their risk for heart disease, bone problems and other health risks. In sheer numbers, 7.6 million children have a vitamin D deficiency while 50.8 million have insufficient levels.

The FDA is warning consumers not to use any Clarcon products because they contain harmful bacteria. U.S. marshals seized the products, along with their ingredients, after the company refused to destroy them despite tests showing that they were toxic.