Northfield Laboratories has come under heavy criticism for the unorthodox manner in which it is testing its new blood substitute PolyHeme. However, it’s not the substitute itself that has caused the uproar. It’s the fact that the 31 hospitals around the country participating in the study have failed to inform the patients of the substitute’s use. The subjects of the study, badly hemorrhaging trauma patients, never gave their consent to the blood substitute. Moreover, the FDA approved the manner in which the study would be conducted.
Monthly Archives: March 2006
Mandatory Taser Training for Cops Passes Florida House Committee
Florida police officers would be required to take four hours of training before using the Taser stun gun under HB 303 which was unanimously approved by the Florida House Criminal Justice Appropriations Committee. Presently, no training is required. The training requirement bill surfaced after many people have been seriously injured or killed after being hit by the Taser. Republican Dick Kravitz of Jacksonville is sponsoring the bill.
Jackson Mississippi Diocese Settles Abuse Claims
In spite of claiming protection under the First Amendment, the Catholic Diocese of Jackson, MI has settled 19 claims of sexual abuse brought against it. The Diocese had strenuously argued for the separation of church and state during the lengthy litigation. The church’s position that it is autonomous from civil law has been asserted by other diocese across the country as they sought to protect themselves from civil exposure and the damaging revelations internal church documents might uncover.
Tampa VA Doc Uses Unsterilized Implant
In a hastily called briefing for Congressional staffers, authorities at the James A. Haley VA Center in Tampa announced that an unsterilized cranial implant was placed into a patient last month. The mistake was nearly duplicated a few weeks later at the same hospital. The hosptial officials waited nearly two weeks before notifying anyone of the error!
Of course, the usual political recriminations followed. The question remains-are the errors being addressed and fixed or will we see more political posturing?
Vioxx Docs Lobbied by Merck Now Its Foes
Doctors who had been heavily courted by Merck, the manufacturer of Vioxx, are now some of the drug’s most outspoken foes. In the ongoing Vioxx trial, doctors have come forward and testified that if they had been told of the potential risks the drug posed, they would never have prescribed the drug to their patients. One of the doctors, John Braun, took Vioxx for two years to treat neck pain, suffered a heart attack. Dr. Braun is now suing Merck. This is a classic man bites dog story and even more so considering it ran in the pro-pharmaceutical industry newspaper, the Wall St. Journal!
Sex Abuse Claims Mount Against Louisiana Orphanage
Madonna Manor, a Catholic run home for poor and troubled children, has been rocked by 8 more lawsuits filed against the institution as a result of physical and sexual abuse of the children dating back to the 1950’s and 1960’s. Unlike other areas of the country, Madonna Manor has faced more sex abuse complaints than any other Catholic institution in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
Study Finds Implanted Defibrillators May Help More Men than Women
Implanted devices designed to shock the heart into a normal rhythm may not be as effective in women as they are in men, researchers said on Monday.
Researchers at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut and the University of Connecticut evaluated five previous trials of Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and found that ICDs cut the risk of death by 24 percent in men compared with 12 percent in women. ICDs are stopwatch-sized devices placed in the chest to regulate a dangerously fast heart beat with a jolt of electricity.
However, the researchers are not sure why the difference between men and women.
Guidant Issues New Implant Warning
According to a report published in the NY Times, Guidant Corporation has issued a warning to doctors about possible battery defects in two of its implantable defibrillator devices. The devices in question, the Contak Renewal 3 RF and Renewal 4 RF cardiac defibrillators, have not been implanted in any patients thus far. Guidant said the FDA may classify the warning as a product recall.
University Study Targets Taser Safety
Armed with a $650,000 grant from the Department of Justice, two University of South Carolina research professors will undertake a study of the controversial Taser stun gun. The study will focus on the weapon’s safety as well as its ability to reduce injuries to police officers and suspects.
Leaders of US Conference of Catholic Bishops Feel the Heat
Both the President and Vice President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops find themselves embroiled in the church’s sex abuse scandal. Vice President Francis Cardinal George has come under heavy fire for not removing an abusing priest when he learned of the abuse. President William Skylstad, Bishop of the beleaguered Spokane Diocese, has been accused of the sexual abuse of a woman 40 years ago. Skylstad has protested his innocence and George has apologized for not doing more to prevent abuse.
Both men have been asked to step down from their posts. Neither seem likely to do so, however.