We’ve long been reporting on the sorry state of food regulation in the United States, as well as the frequent, nationwide outbreaks of deadly food borne illnesses such as Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli that are the result. Given the recent problems with meat and produce that have sickened thousands and hospitalized dozens in the past couple of months, it is apparent that our food safety systems needs—if not an overhaul—some changes to better protect Americans.

Although the US is not the only “developed country” to suffer problems associated with tainted food products, we are quickly gaining a reputation for being terribly lax in handling the problem.  And, now, a new federal report on the “common-sense steps” which have been taken by other countries, including Japan, Canada, and Ireland as well as a variety of other nations, might provide a “practical guide to food safety.”  Many are wondering why the US has not yet begun to follow at least some of the proven steps in the report, which was released this week by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. (more…)

Health officials investigating the E. coli outbreak that started in Ohio and Michigan have now added New York, Kentucky, and Indiana to the roster of states reporting victims.  Each new state has one lab-confirmed case of the E. coli strain that matches the 41 earlier cases, according to an Associated Press report and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  All 44 cases are of the same type of E. coli—E. coli O157:H7— the most virulent and deadly E. coli strain.  According to CDC investigator Mark Sotir and the AP report, the patient from Kentucky lives near Ohio; however, New York and Indiana patients did not travel to the states in which the outbreak originated.

The growing, multi-state outbreak has been traced to beef processed by Nebraska Beef and sold in Kroger Grocery stores in Michigan and Ohio.  Last month, Kroger recalled ground beef sold in those two states and later expanded its recall to include other states; in total, about 5.3 million pounds of beef was recalled.  Reports in central Ohio began emerging in mid-June that residents were falling ill from E. coli.  Meanwhile, on June 9, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) told Nebraska Beef executives that samples of Nebraska Beef were among those from a group of processing companies whose meat tested positive for E. coli.  Ohio had test results confirming E. coli-contaminated meat on June 23; however, two days passed before that information was publicly released and Kroger Grocery issued a recall. (more…)

Elderly people who want to avoid nursing homes often employ in-home aids to help meet their day-to-day needs.  However, in many cases, the in-home aid industry is unregulated, and advocates for the elderly say that this situation has led to a growing number of cases of elder abuse, neglect or fraud in which home caregivers take advantage of the elderly.

A district attorney in San Diego County, Calif. told The Wall Street Journal that  he prosecuted at least 25 home caregivers in the past year, mostly for stealing from elderly clients.  Another, from Lake County, Calif., told the Journal that about 80 percent of his office’s 74 prosecutions of elder abuse in the past year involved home aides. (more…)

Wyeth, the maker of Premarin and Prempro, has settled lawsuits with two Nevada women who blamed the Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) drugs for their breast cancers. Wyeth faces more than more than 5,000 lawsuits over the menopause drugs, which are still on the market.

HRT is used to treat the hot flashes and other symptoms that accompany menopause.  In 2002, a major HRT study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) determined that Prempro, Premarin and similar drugs significantly increased the risk of stroke, blood clots, heart attacks and breast cancer. The study results were so alarming that the NIH canceled the study, citing risk to the study’s participants. The authors of the study suggested that many of the women who used HRT should quit and talk to their doctors about alternatives. (more…)

Salmonella has now sickened 1,167 people, yet health officials are no closer to finding the source of the outbreak than they were a month ago.   The last case of Salmonella was reported on July 4th, indicating that something other than tomatoes - the subject of a Food & Drug Administration (FDA) health alert since June - is making people sick.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), illnesses have been reported in Alabama (2 persons), Arkansas (14), Arizona (54), California (9), Colorado (15), Connecticut (4), Florida (2), Georgia (28), Idaho (6), Illinois (104), Indiana (16), Iowa (2), Kansas (18), Kentucky (1), Louisiana (1), Maine (1), Maryland (32), Massachusetts (26), Michigan (21), Minnesota (19), Mississippi (2), Missouri (17), New Hampshire (4), Nevada (11), New Jersey (12), New Mexico (102), New York (32), North Carolina (22), Ohio (10), Oklahoma (25), Oregon (10), Pennsylvania (12), Rhode Island (3), South Carolina (2), Tennessee (8), Texas (449), Utah (2), Virginia (31), Vermont (2), Washington (17), West Virginia (1), Wisconsin (13), and the District of Columbia (1). Four ill persons are reported from Canada; all four appear to have been infected while traveling in the United States. (more…)

Esman Green, the woman who died at Brooklyn’s Kings County Hospital Center (KCHC) June 19 after writhing on the floor of its psychiatric emergency ward for a full hour, has apparently died due to blood clots.  According to an Associated Press (AP) report, the blood clots were caused “by a long period of physical inactivity.”

Based on surveillance footage obtained by the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), Green, 49, appeared to be ignored and unattended while hospital workers and other patients in the room, did nothing.  Green was in the KCHC psychiatric ward waiting area for over 24 hours before she began convulsing, collapsed, and died.  Eventually, a nurse approached Green’s body and nudged it with her foot.  This medical negligence occurred while that unit’s attending psychiatrist and two security guards—who all appeared to have noticed Green’s prone body on at least three occasions—were in the vicinity, but failed to act or even acknowledge what was happening. (more…)

A lawsuit against Botox Cosmetic was just filed and states that Botox killed four and injured 11.  Plaintiff’s attorneys are urging for an end to the promotion of Botox’s off-label use and are requesting physicians be better trained in its use.  The four deaths included two children and two adults according to the attorneys who added, “The two were children with cerebral palsy and they got very high doses to treat spasticity.”  The two adults were a 69-year-old woman who died in March after receiving Botox to treat her shoulder and neck pain and a 60-year-old man who died in April after receiving Botox for excessive salivation.

Botox Cosmetic is approved for treating moderate to severe facial frown lines.  Botox is medically approved for treating blepharospasm (involuntary blinking of the eye), cervical dystonia (involuntary contractions of the neck muscles), hyperhidrosis (excess sweating), and strabismus (crossed eyes); Myobloc is only approved for the neck condition.  Both injections are made with forms of the botulinum toxin, which blocks nerve impulses to muscles, relaxing them.  In off-label use, a physician uses a drug to treat a condition for which it is not specifically approved but for which evidence suggests it will help. (more…)

More and more studies are indicating that antidepressants such as Paxil and Prozac are putting older people at increased risk for fractures.  As a matter-of-fact, in one of the more recent reports, Leslie Spangler, a researcher at Group Health, a Seattle-based health plan, discovered that antidepressant use in postmenopausal women—those who averaged around 64 years of age—was linked to an increased risk of fractures of the spine and other sites.  “Our study didn’t show any strong association between antidepressants and wrist fractures and hip fractures,” she said. “It did find an association with spine fracture.”

In that study, the women taking antidepressants experienced a 30 percent increased risk of spine fracture and a 20 percent increased risk of any type of fracture, according to Spangler.  Spangler’s team based its findings on a review of data from over 93,000 women enrolled in the large Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study.  For the review, the researchers looked at antidepressant use and then at the incidence of fracture.  The study’s findings were published in the May issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.  In an earlier study, Dr. David Goltzman, director of the McGill Centre for Bone and Periodontal Research at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, reviewed data from an osteoporosis study that included over 5,000 randomly selected people, including 137 who took those antidepressants which are known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors—SSRIs—on a daily basis.  That research revealed that daily SSRI users had twice the risk of bone fracture as those not taking SSRIs.  While the studies suggest an association between antidepressant use and fractures, no research has found a cause-and-effect relationship, Spangler said. (more…)

Genentech Inc., has just sent out a written warning to doctors about a type of anemia seen in patients treated with its popular cancer drug Avastin—bevacizumab—when taken with Pfizer Inc.’s Sutent in a clinical trial.  The cases of microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (MAHA) seen in a Phase 1 kidney cancer study prompted the closure of a mid-stage trial of Avastin plus Sutent, Genentech said in a letter to doctors posted on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) website.

The Avastin-Sutent combination is neither approved nor recommended according to the Genentech letter.  Avastin, stops blood supply to tumors and is approved to treat colon, lung, and breast cancer.  Sutent—generically known as sunitinib malate—is one of the most widely used medicines for the treatment of advanced kidney cancer.  Avastin, considered Genentech’s most important product, is being tested in combination with other drugs in a variety of clinical trials. (more…)

CT (Computer Tomography) scans can cause some electronic medical devices, such as pacemakers, cardiac defibrillators and insulin pumps to malfunction.  According to a Food & Drug Administration (FDA) alert issued yesterday, CT scans have caused such medical devices to shock patients, or to emit inaccurate signals.

According to the alert, the FDA has confirmed six reports of devices that malfunctioned after a CT scan and another nine reports of suspected problems.   No deaths have been reported as a result of the malfunctions.   Devices that could be affected by CT scans include cardiac pacemakers, implantable cardiac defibrillators, neurostimulators, drug infusion and insulin pumps, cochlear implants and retinal implants, the FDA said.  People with these devices are already prohibited from undergoing MRI procedures because of similar risks. (more…)