News in category: In The Workplace

The most expansive public health investigation in U.S. history has added more names to the list of victims. Now health officials say 85 former patients of the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada have been diagnosed with hepatitis C. Hundreds of others also have the disease but may have risk factors forcasting the complications involving the class-action litigation that lies ahead.

In the event of a terrorist attack, U.S. hospitals in seven cities are already unprepared and cannot take further cuts to Medicaid, public health hospital emergency rooms and physician training, lawmakers discussed.

St. Petersburg, Florida neighbors to defense contractor Raytheon, have filed two class-action lawsuits against the company for contaminating groundwater. Raytheon denies the drinking water is contaminated.

SuperTarget stores began removing prepared burritos and wraps from store shelves sold under the Archer Farms label after a possible Listeria contamination was uncovered by USDA and Florida food inspectors. This is the second recall since March for this Queens, New York-based food producer.

The CDC is seeing more measles in the first four months of this year than in any time period over the last seven years.  The outbreak is due to foreign travel, failure to vaccinate and failure to follow safety protocols for contagious disease in medical clinics.

Last night Minnesota lawmakers worked out a $38 million compromise plan under which victims of the Minneapolis bridge collapse can receive up to $400,000 to settle their case, avoiding trial.  Those injured more severely can still file lawsuits tapping into a $12 million fund.  Gusset supports on the 1967 built bridge that were too thin to hold its weight is the leading theory on why it collapsed. 

Move over Los Angeles, Pittsburgh has grabbed your thunder and not in a good way. The American Lung Association in its “State of the Air” report released Thursday, says Pittsburgh surpassed Los Angeles because of short-term particle pollution which combines ash, soot, chemicals, metals diesel and aerosols as well as smog or ozone.

Two doctors who owned clinics where an outbreak of hepatitis C is linked to unsafe medical practices, face temporary restraining orders that could lead to a permanent lose of their medical licenses. 

The first in what likely will be several indictments was unsealed Tuesday in connection with UCLA Medical Center celebrity record-leaking. In this indictment, a workers is alleged to have sold records for $4,600. She is facing up to 10 years in prison for violating the HIPAA privacy act.

26 Californians who were dropped by their health insurers, got back their policies after the state intervened on their behalf. Thousands more could also get their health coverage back under a state policy that more liberally interprets preexisting condition.  One woman sued and won $9 million.  

Procter & Gamble knows that its Pro-Health Mouthwash turns the teeth of some users brown. But that is the decay from bacteria just coating your teeth, the company says. Still many users are furious and are venting all over the internet especially since there is no warning label.

Speaking beyond his own family’s ordeal with the blood thinning drug heparin that nearly killed his newborn twins, actor Dennis Quaid and his wife Kimberly will tell 60 Minutes' Steve Kroft on Sunday March 16,  that medical errors kill as many as 100,000 a year. These are largely avoidable mistakes, he says. The Quaids have filed a lawsuit against Baxter International.

Hepatitis C, B and HIV are the fears of most people who have ever visited the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada. But the case of Las Vegas pharmacist Kevin Rexford raises the question of just how well did the clinic check for colon cancer? In the case of Rexford, not very well.  

iPod nanos are a hot commodity- literally. A number of reports of fires and melting batteries are coming to light. The latest in Japan has the Trade Minister there launching an investigation. The likely source - the lithium-ion battery.

It is winter. You get a cold. In fact often any change of season triggers the uncomfortable symptoms of a cold or the flu.  Now scientists believe they know why.  Flu viruses tend to strike in cold weather because they have a protective gel coating that allows them to survive and invade a live host where the coating dissolves.