March 2008
Monday 31 March
- Vytorin and Zetia Shown to Be Ineffective Drugs (09:49) - In an article published online by the New England Journal of Medicine, popular cholesterol drugs Vytorin and Zetia have not been proven to be effective in lowering the buildup of plaque, a leading cause of heart attacks and strokes. The... | 0 Trackbacks
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Thursday 27 March
- Merck's Singulair Probed for Potential Suicide Risk (16:04) - As reports of suicidal thoughts, mood swings, and actual suicides became associated with Merck's popular allergy and asthma drug Singulair, the FDA has decided to investigate if there is a causal relationship between the drug and suicide. Merck has updated... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Sodium Phosphate Solution Linked to Kidney Failure (09:30) - The oral sodium phosphate bowel preparation used in colonoscopies has been shown to cause kidney damage and long term renal failure, especially in elderly patients. Colonoscopy and flexible sigmoidoscopy are currently the most commonly used procedures for colon cancer screening... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Harvard Drug Study of FDA Deadlines Finds Increased Recalls (08:53) - Recalled pharmaceutical drugs such as Vioxx, Bextra, Rezulin, and Baycol all were approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under speedy approval deadlines enacted in 1992 according to a Harvard study published in today's New England Journal... | 0 Trackbacks
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Wednesday 26 March
- Kava Dangers Confirmed (11:33) - While there are no restrictions on the sale and distribution of kava in the United States, there is mounting evidence that the herbal supplement should be banned due to damage it causes to the liver. Now, new scientific evidence reveals... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Ketek Probe Snares FDA Chief (11:08) - In a stunning turn of events, the Congressional probe into Sanofi-Aventis' drug Ketek has snared the head of the FDA, Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D. The FDA chief is now under investigation for perjury in light of his testimony concerning Ketek.... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Charges Dropped Against Chantix User (10:50) - Andrew James Smith had been charged with disrupting a Thanksgiving flight forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Fargo, North Dakota. However, the charges were dropped because the erratic behavior was linked to his use of the smoking... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Botox Recall (10:43) - Botox or botulinum toxin (available as Botox and Myoboloc) has been linked by the FDA to severe adverse reactions including respiratory problems and death in some cases. Adverse reactions can include paralysis of the respiratory muscles and difficulty swallowing (dysphagia),... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Zyprexa Lawsuit Settles (10:33) - Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of the schizophrenia drug Zyrexa, has settled a lawsuit with the State of Alaska for $15 million. Alaska had sued Lilly in order to recoup costs associated with treating Medicaid patients who experienced weight gain and... | 0 Trackbacks
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Tuesday 25 March
- Cantaloupe Recall (21:17) - Central American Produce, Inc. of Pompano Beach, FL announces a voluntary recall of cantaloupes grown, packed and shipped by an independent third-party grower, Agropecuaria Montelibano of San Lorenzo Valle, Honduras. The product was distributed nationwide and Canada. Based on current... | 0 Trackbacks
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- FDA Warns Against Blue Steel and Hero Supplements (21:09) - The FDA has issued a warning to consumers against using dietary supplements Blue Steel and Hero because they are unapproved and contain an active ingredient that is similar to sildenafil found in Viagra which is regulated by the FDA. The... | 0 Trackbacks
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- The Pope's Impending US Visit (21:01) - Pope Benedict XVI is coming to visit the United States for the first time as Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church. No doubt, he'll face criticism within the church as well as those not affiliated with the Catholic Church for... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Tallahassee Budget Crunch and Consumer Safety (20:55) - While we're hearing a lot about the budget constraints in Tallahassee and the continuous push for lower taxes, we're not hearing enough about how these two forces impact our quality of life and the safety of the consumer. Both are... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Congressmen Introduce Pre-Emption Amendment (20:39) - In response to the Supreme Court's ruling concerning pre-emption, Congressmen Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ) have drafted legislation to ensure federal law does not preempt state law when people harmed by medical devices sue devicemakers for liability. The... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Teacher Sex Abuse Arrests on the Rise (20:33) - While the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church has certainly grabbed the majority of headlines since 2002, a new abuse phenomenon is springing up: teachers who abuse their minor students. Since 2005, 10 teachers have been arrested on sex... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Cooper Tires Faces Another Tire Recall (20:19) - After only eight months, Cooper Tire has been forced to recall its tires again. This time, the defective tires have experienced a sidewall separation problem. The recall involves 48,000 Cooper tires. Tires under recall include: * Cooper Discoverer ATR (sizes... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Heparin Recalled in France, Italy, and Denmark (20:10) - The heparin contamination recall continues and has now spread to other European countries. Earlier this month, Germany recalled its heparin and now France, Denmark, and Italy are recalled batches of the contaminated heparin. The culprit appears to be the same... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Priest Abuse Allegation (19:12) - | 0 Trackbacks
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- Priest Abuse Lawyer Sex-abuse case against religious order settled (18:22) - A Wilmington man who said he was sexually abused over a nine-year period by a former Salesianum School principal received a written apology, a vow his abuser will never work with children and an undisclosed amount of money in a... | 0 Trackbacks
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Saturday 22 March
- Heparin Recall and Consumer Safety (14:42) - In a reversal of sorts, the Chinese drug safety officials have now decided to take responsibility for the oversight and supervision of their blood thinnning product, heparin. Initially, the Chinese had stated that it was the exporters responsibility for safety... | 0 Trackbacks
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- B Braun Heparin Recall Lawyer Class Action Lawsuit Attorney Information (08:39) - Scientific Protein Laboratories LLC (SPL) manufactures Heparin Sodium USP active pharmaceutical ingredient that is used by B. Braun Medical Inc. to produce Heparin Sodium in 5% Dextrose and 0.9% Sodium Chloride injection solution Click Here To Contact Us For A... | 0 Trackbacks
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Thursday 20 March
- Contaminated Heparin May Be Linked to Counterfeiting (06:44) - Federal regulators may have found that the contaminated heparin linked to 19 deaths was caused by a Chinese counterfeit that was much cheaper than the actual heparin to produce. The counterfeit substance, believed to be a chemically altered form of... | 0 Trackbacks
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Wednesday 19 March
- Mentor ObTape Vaginal Sling Faces Lawsuits (22:21) - 13 million people, primarily women, suffer from urinary incontinence. The Mentor ObTape Vaginal Sling transobturator device was designed to replace weakened or ineffective muscles in the urethra that control urination. The Mentor ObTape Vaginal Sling was supposed to be the... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Accidentes de Auto (21:25) - Accidentes automovilísticos continúan siendo la causa principal de muerte para Americanos menores de 34 años. Cada año, 40,000 personas pierdan sus vidas en choques de autos. Los resultados psicolólogicos, economicos, y físicos causan un tremendo impacto tanto en familias como... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Reusing Medical Devices , The Debate (20:57) - An interesting debate is brewing among healthcare professionals and medical device manufacturers over the ability to re-use devices that are labeled as single use. Hospitals say that reusing medical devices such as scissors, scrubs, and sharp saws saves money and... | 0 Trackbacks
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- FDA Data Shows Medtronic Stent Has Higher Death Rate (16:26) - Medtronic's AneuRx stent-graft system has had a higher death rate than conventional surgical options, according to the FDA, which posted its findings on its website. The stent is designed to treat abdominal aortic aneurysms, a potentially life-threatening condition in which... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Kava Kava Popular in Idaho (09:31) - Kava, the Polynesian herbal supplement, has made its way into health food stores and vitamin outlets in Idaho. While Kava has been touted for its tranquilizing qualities by its supporters, the FDA and other medical professionals have warned that it... | 0 Trackbacks
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Tuesday 18 March
- Medical Device Companies Pay Docs $800 million (15:36) - A federal investigation into the relationship between medical device companies such as knee and hip replacement manufacturers and the orthopedic surgeons who use these devices has revealed a murky, ethically challenging, and sometimes illegal relationship between the two. Four of... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Arthritis Drug Enbrel Gets Black Box Warning for Infections (15:27) - Amgen and Wyeth have added the black box warning to the arthritis drug Enbrel after the drug has been linked to infections including tuberculosis. Enbrel is designed to work by soaking up an inflammatory protein called TNF. Enbrel had already... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Slade Gorton & Co. Recalls Langostinos (05:49) - Listeria monocytogenes, an organism that is capable of causing serious and sometimes fatal infections in those with weakened immune systems, the very young and the elderly is the culprit for the latest food recall. Slade Gorton & Co. has recalled... | 0 Trackbacks
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Monday 17 March
Sunday 16 March
- Zyprexa Lawsuit Reveals Eli Lilly's Marketing Practices (19:50) - An Alaska courtroom is revealing some interesting facts about Eli Lilly's marketing practices concerning it's schizophrenia drug, Zyprexa. What we're learning is something we've suspected and been able to infer for years about the big drug companies. They are always... | 0 Trackbacks
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Saturday 15 March
- FDA Will Test All Heparin Imports (09:28) - As a result of finding contaminants in 20 of the 28 lots of heparin in a Chinese factory, the FDA will now inspect all heparing entering the United States. The contaminant remain unknown but it mimics the actual heparin and... | 0 Trackbacks
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Friday 14 March
- Tussionex Lawyer Hydrocodone Possible Class Action Lawsuit (22:34) - FDA Issues Alert on Tussionex, a Long-Acting Prescription Cough Medicine Containing Hydrocodone Agency gives new safety information on proper use of Tussionex as a cough suppressant The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an alert today on the safe and... | 0 Trackbacks
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Thursday 13 March
- Ford Truck Recall (10:21) - This month, Ford Motor Co. issued another truck recall because the weld connecting a bracket and the front seat could potentially crack. This particular recall covers F-250 through F-550 Super Duty trucks. These trucks were manufactured in Ford's Louisville plant.... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Baxter Heparin Recall Lawyer Class Action Lawsuit Attorney (03:33) - Heparin blood thinner video, from YouTube related to Baxter outsourcing. Discussion on China and Germany related to Heparin recall. Baxter Heparin Recall Lawyer Class Action Lawsuit Attorney From The FDA: FDA Public Health Update Recall of Heparin Sodium Injection and... | 0 Trackbacks
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Wednesday 12 March
- Clergy Abuse Lawyer -Bishop Says Reputation of Church is Most Important (19:17) - I know I blogged about this just a day or so ago but I can't let this one go. Bishop Gianfranco Girotti actually said that the first task of the bishops was to protect the reputation of the Catholic Church!... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Heart Defibrillators and Hackers (08:53) - While we've all heard of Medtronic's problems with their Sprint Fidelis leads breaking and causing faulty electrical signals to the heart, this is a new one: pacemaker patients could be subject to a hacker remotely jolting their heart. According to... | 0 Trackbacks
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Tuesday 11 March
- Catholic Church's New Sins Omits Bishops who Hide Sexually Abusive Priests (09:28) - In an effort to revive the practice of regular confession among Catholics, a bishop of the Apostolic Penitentiary, Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, has updated a list of sins to include those affecting the modern world. The Apostolic Penitentiary is a church... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Heparin Recall Rotexmedica And Baxter International (07:08) - German Heparin Manufacturer Rotexmedica recalled heparin after allergic reactions were reported in Germany. Apparently, the ingredients from the German heparin came from Chinese plants. Baxter International in the U.S.A. also recalled heparin because of possibly contaminated or counterfeit ingredients from... | 0 Trackbacks
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Monday 10 March
- Expert Doctor: Lilly Should Have Warned about Zyprexa Dangers Earlier (09:43) - In what is becoming commonplace, a judge or federal agency official blasts a pharmaceutical company for not revealing a drug's dangerous side effects earlier. This time, expert witness Dr. John Gueriguian has testified that Eli Lilly should have told the... | 0 Trackbacks
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Sunday 9 March
- Rotexmedica Issues World Wide Heparin Recall (22:02) - German Heparin Manufacturer Rotexmedica recalled heparin after allergic reactions were reported in Germany. Apparently, the ingredients from the German heparin came from Chinese plants. Baxter International in the U.S.A. also recalled heparin because of possibly contaminated or counterfeit ingredients from... | 0 Trackbacks
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Saturday 8 March
- New Priest Abuse Allegations on the Rise (13:56) - In stark contrast to what the United States bishops have been saying in their public relations' campaign, new, credible allegations of priest sexual abuse are on the rise. This news comes surprisingly from the bishop's own report concerning the audit... | 0 Trackbacks
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Friday 7 March
- Medical Devices and Consumer Safety (05:29) - Imagine a country where air travelers, cell phone users, and cable tv customers are safer than patients who receive potentially life-saving medical devices. According to Dr. William Maisel, a prominent cardiologist, that country is the United States of America. In... | 0 Trackbacks
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Thursday 6 March
- Resurgence in Bed Bugs? (11:31) - I came across an interesting article in the NY Times yesterday about a resurgence in bed bugs or Cimex lectularius, the common bedbug. Businesses employing bed bug detecting dogs are thriving and, according to the article, are receiving so many... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Source of Heparin Contamination Found (11:20) - The FDA has found the source of the contamination in the recently recalled Heparin. However, it remains unidentified and is also not known if the contaminant was introduced to the Heparin inadvertently or intentionally. Thus far, 19 deaths have been... | 0 Trackbacks
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Wednesday 5 March
- MMPI Fake Bad Scale Excluded in Florida Auto Crash Cases (15:29) - Dr. Paul Lees-Haley, a psychologist, who makes his living primarily helping insurance companes in personal injury cases has designed a "Fake Bad Scale" psychological test to challenge personal injury claimants. An article in the March 5, 2008 Wall Street Journal... | 0 Trackbacks
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Tuesday 4 March
- Lilly Faces First Court Battle with Zyprexa (09:51) - Drug manufacturer Eli Lilly and Co. will face its first court battle over its antipsychotic drug Zyprexa in Alaska. The trial will have important implications for other states considering suing the drug maker for not disclosing that the company knew... | 0 Trackbacks
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Monday 3 March
- Florida Pedestrian Accidents (05:00) - Unfortunately, Florida ranks as one of the worst states in the nation regarding pedestrian safety. According to the Florida Department of Transportation, Florida ranks second only to California in the number of pedestrian fatalities in the nation. Such accident deaths... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Department of Justice Subpoenas Stryker Documents (04:55) - Stryker Corporation, the artifical hip manufacturer, has received a subpoena regarding the agency's probe into Stryker's sale of medical device prodcuts to foreign countries. Stryker was one of five medical device companies to settle with the federal government and avoid... | 0 Trackbacks
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Sunday 2 March
- Boston Scientific Probed for Off-Label Marketing of Bile Duct Stents (20:05) - Boston Scientific as well as some medical device competitors are under federal investigation for possible off-label and unapproved marketing of their bile duct stents. The US Justice Department is investigating whether the company marketed the stents for off label use,... | 0 Trackbacks
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- Prescription Drug Errors on the Rise (18:31) - 1.5 million Americans are injured or killed by prescription drug errors each year. Prescription errors in hospitals are so common that patients are subject to drug errors each day they are hospitalized. These are the conclusions drawn by the notable... | 0 Trackbacks
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Saturday 1 March
- Tysabri Linked to Liver Injury (11:54) - Biogen's multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri has been linked to liver injury. The link was strong enough that the FDA posted a warning on its website. Biogen sent warning letter to doctors advising them of the potential liver damage. Signs of... | 0 Trackbacks
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