All news posts from December 01, 2007 to December 31, 2007

Whether your 2007 was a good year or a bad one - many don’t need much of an excuse to throw back a few glasses of bubbly, Scotch, wine, or whatever your preference to wave goodbye to the old and ring in the new.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has fined HSN $875,000 over failing to report a defective pressure cooker that was the subject of a recall and burned 37 consumers.

In a ruling that favors employers, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled on Wednesday that employers can reduce or eliminate health benefits for workers over the age of 65 or when they become eligible for Medicare.

  It is the largest verdict ever in tiny McClain County Oklahoma with a population just over 37,000.   On Friday, December 21st a unanimous jury awarded country music star Toby Keith (Covel) and his family $2.8

One doctor speaks up, " For the first time, I feel truly helpless at the hands of an insurance company.  My fears have come true: we physicians are quickly becoming pawns in the game of healthcare, with an ever decreasing capability to dictate appropriate care for our patients.”

It’s difficult enough when a young person dies.  But when a medical procedure that might have saved her life is denied by the insurance company –  some are calling that criminal. Attorney Mark Geragos has

    Zyprexa is an antipsychotic drug effectively given to treat millions of adults with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.  It may now receive FDA approval for use in kids despite severe side effects including diabetes and weight gain. 

  If you are going to file a lawsuit, New Jersey and Nevada are among the best places for a  favorable ruling.  That is bad news for defendants in civil cases, often corporations, drug companies, product manufacturers or doctors who

A mysterious IV infection has affected 21 Chicago-area patients and at least 40 patients in Texas and Illinois who were receiving home IV's for diseases such as cancer. 

The syringes are used to clear out catheters and IV lines and contain pre-filled heparin.

Chicago middle school principal, Georgette Watson, 46, went in for what should have been a routine root canal dental procedure. Today an autopsy is being conducted after she suffered a fatal heart attack in the chair.

The state of New Jersey will become the first in the country next year to mandate the flu vaccine for children, this despite the fact that the influenza vaccine still contains the mercury-based preservative thimerosal.

KBR says much of Jamie Leigh Jones story is inaccurate. The president of KBR is speaking to employees in a memo reported by ABC. The global construction company says it acted properly and admits that the rape kit adminstered to Jones and handed over to security personnel is missing. 

Merck is recalling 1.2 million doses of a vaccine that protects against bacterial meningitis in children under the age of five. The voluntary recall began Wednesday after the drug giant found quality control problems at its Pennsylvania plant. Those problems

She was just 19 years old when she went to work for Halliburton in Iraq.  Jamie Leigh Jones rape case against the contractor has languished until now.  Now its front and center in Washington and on ABC News.

More than a year after her near death experience from a flesh eating infection, Actress Alicia Cole wants the public to become more aware of the infection and how difficult it is to find a lawyer to take your case.  *Disclaimer- graphic photo at end of story.

LEARN MORE InjuryBoard Hospital Acquired Infections InjuryBoard MRSA Consumers Union Campaign to stop hospital infections Her resume says she is unavailable for work at this time because she is fighting Necrotizing fasciitis (NF) also known as man-eating fle

The FDA is warning against using a bed-wetting drug, desmopressin because of a possible link to fatal seizures that have left two dead. 

The agency is no longer approving desmopressin be used as a nasal spray to control bed-wetting in children. 

Tobacco advertising to children was banned under a 1998 agreement between state governments and the tobacco
industry. But the November 15^th anniversary issue of Rolling Stone magazine features a nine-page ad for Camel cigarettes that targets young smokers in an ad placed by R.J. Reynolds. The attorneys general of eight states has filed suit against R.J. Reynolds  accusing it of luring children to smoke by using cartoons in its marketing campaign.

It sounds like a good idea in theory. But half of doctors surveyed say they do not report incompetent colleagues or serious medical errors.  The startling revelation appears in the Annals of Internal Medicine. In the survey 3,504 practicing doctors were asked whether they understand and support professional standards.  93 percent of doctors responding believe one should always alert authorities when facing potential medical malpractice. But in reality only 55 percent said they always did so.

Actor Dennis Quaid and his wife Kimberly Buffington are suing the makers of the drug Heparin, accidentally given in a massive dose to their two-week old newborn twins by personnel at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.  Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace were given 10,000 units of the Heparin November 18th. They were supposed to receive 10 units of the blood thinner given in an IV to avoid blood clots. 

The report is enough to make anyone afraid.  The Food and Drug Administration, the FDA, so often in the news as the final safety net to ensuring the American food and drug industry are safe, is broken according to a