Charlie’s Produce of Spokane, Washington has recalled Charlie’s Produce Brand Cut Cantaloupe Products due to potential contamination with Salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail, or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.  Healthy people develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps within 12 to 72 hours of infection.  Laboratory testing is required to determine the presence of Salmonella; additional testing can determine the specific type and which antibiotics are needed.  Generally, the illness lasts a week and most recover without treatment.  In some, hospitalization is required because the infection may have spread from the intestines to the blood stream and other body sites.  Severe cases can result in arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis, and arthritis and can result in death if not treated.

The products recalled by Charlie’s Produce include fruit items containing cut cantaloupe distributed in Eastern Washington, Idaho, and Montana to retail stores, delis, and food service institutions and have been linked to a food poisoning outbreak spanning 16 states and several Canadian provinces.  Products are branded with the Charlie’s Produce name and logo, in a hard plastic clamshell, with a “Use By” date of 3 07 through 3 29 which is stamped on the bottom of the container.  Cantaloupe used in these products may have been supplied from Agropecuaria Montelibano, a Honduran grower and packer.  The recalled cantaloupe products include: (more…)

Yamaha is recalling the Rhino ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) amid concerns that brakes on the Rhino ATV may fail. The recall, which covers about 7800 Rhino Side-by-Side ATVs, is just the latest safety issue to plague the Yamaha Rhino ATV, which some consider to be the most dangerous ATV on the market.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the brake caliper on the left front wheel of the recalled Yamaha Rhino ATVs could have been made incorrectly, resulting in brake fluid leaking. This can cause a loss of braking and control of the vehicle, posing a serious safety risk to the driver and passenger. The recall covers Model Year 2008 Rhino YXR450 and YXR700 Side-by-Side Vehicles sold at Yamaha dealers nationwide from October 2007 through March 2008 for between $8,300 and $12,000. Consumers with a recalled Rhino ATV should stop using them immediately and contact any authorized Yamaha Rhino dealer to schedule a free repair. The CPSC said registered owners were sent direct mail notification of this recall. (more…)

It could be weeks before salmonella tainted tap water is safe for use in Alamosa, Colorado.  More than 200 residents of the small Colorado town have come down with symptoms of Salmonella poisoning, and health officials in the state still do not know what caused the contamination of the city’s water supply.  According to the Los Angeles Times, Alamosa officials began flushing the water system with concentrated chlorine in an effort to drive out the salmonella.  However, they have warned that  while the chlorine is in the system, the water will not be safe to use, even if it boiled.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), salmonella bacteria sicken 40,000 people every year. Although the true number could be much higher, because it is estimated that for every case of Salmonella poisoning reported, two others are unreported.  Salmonella causes fever, abdominal pain, nausea, gas and bloody diarrhea. Symptoms appear within 36 hours of exposure, and usually last four to seven days. In very severe cases, salmonella can lead to kidney failure and other complications. Salmonella can be particularly dangerous for children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems. In rare cases, salmonella can cause a disease called Reiter’s Syndrome, a difficult- to- treat condition that causes severe joint pain, irritation of the eyes, and painful urination. (more…)

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company of Findlay, Ohio is replacing defective tires for the second time in eight months and the third time in recent years.  This time, Cooper Tire is voluntarily recalling 48,037 tires due to a sidewall separation problem and is filing the recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The recall, which was initiated on March 14, covers over 20 different Cooper Tire brands including Cooper Discoverer, Wildcat, and Wild Country. The recalled tires were built at the company’s Albany, Georgia, plant.

Last July, Cooper Tire recalled 91,000 and, in another recall in 2006, a total of 296,500 other tires.  Meanwhile, at the time of this recall, Cooper Tire was in the midst of a plan to build and sell more high-end products as part of a strategy being implemented by its Chief Executive—Roy Armes—who is working to market Cooper Tire as a maker of high-end tires geared to owners of sport-utility vehicles and luxury cars. (more…)

Doctors from the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada may finally be forced to break their silence - at least if the Mayor of Las Vegas has his way.  The unsanitary practices employed by practitioners at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada are at the center of a hepatitis C scare that could affect thousands of people.  Now, Mayor Oscar Goodman says that the doctors who own the clinic will be subpoenaed to testify at a hearing at which the city will consider rescinding the Endoscopy Center’s business license.

In February, the Southern Nevada Health District sent letters to 40,000 people treated at the clinic, advising them to get tested for hepatitis B and C, and HIV.  The Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada has been under investigation since early January, after health officials learned of three people who had been diagnosed with hepatitis C after being treated there.   Ultimately, the Southern Nevada Health District said a total of  six people were known to have contracted hepatitis C after being treated at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada.  Five of them were treated the same day in late September; the sixth is believed to have been infected in July, the district said. The Southern Nevada Health District investigation revealed that “unsafe injection practices related to the administration of anesthesia medication might have exposed patients to the blood of other patients.” Last week, a seventh hepatitis C victim, who had been treated at a clinic owned by the same group that owns the Endoscopy Center,  was identified. (more…)

A kitchen worker at a Hicksville, Long Island Mama Sbarro’s pizzeria contracted typhoid fever, putting over 100 customers at risk for the potentially deadly bacterial infection, according to the Nassau County Department of Health.  Customers who ate at Mama Sbarro’s at 265 Broadway in Hicksville on March 14, 15, and 16—when the infected employee last worked—have a “low risk” of contracting the rare intestinal infection, the Health Department said, emphasizing that Mama Sbarro’s passed two inspections since Friday evening, when the county was informed of the kitchen worker’s condition.  The restaurant, which did not know the employee had typhoid fever, had no major health violations in the last two years and would remain open, authorities said, because it was safe to eat there.

Cynthia Brown, a spokeswoman for the county Health Department, said current customers are not at risk, adding that the infected kitchen worker told authorities he always wore gloves while handling food, making it unlikely that the disease was transmitted.  Also, the restaurant’s employees were seen wearing gloves when preparing food during unannounced visits, Brown said.  “We’re hopeful that this is an isolated instance,” said Stuart Steinberg, general counsel to the Long Island-based pizza chain Sbarro’s, the parent company of Mama Sbarro’s. (more…)

In spite of three heparin recalls since January, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) said that there is no shortage of the vital blood thinner.  Concerns of a heparin shortage were sparked by Baxter International’s recall earlier this year of all of its heparin products after some patients experienced serious, and sometimes fatal, reactions from the drug.   Last week, B. Braun Medical Inc. recalled another 23 lots of heparin products, and American Health Packaging, a unit of AmerisourceBergen Corp, said it was voluntarily recalling 1,421 units of heparin injection vials as part of Baxter’ broader recall.

Heparin is a vital drug used in surgery, dialysis, and for the bedridden.  Other drugs thin blood, but their effects are not as quick or easily reversed.  Baxter manufactures about half of all multiple-dose heparin vials sold in the U.S., while B. Braun Medical supplies 10%-15% of the U.S. supply of injectable heparin.  Despite the massive heparin recalls, an FDA spokesperson told the Website Webmd.com that there is no shortage of heparin.   (more…)

Federal investigators looking into kickbacks in the orthopedic device industry have apparently set their sites on another target - doctors who received these illegal incentives.  The physician investigation is just the latest chapter in the government’s ongoing probe of the financial arrangements often made between medical device makers and the doctors who use their products.  So far, the kickback investigation has uncovered excessive consulting agreements, lavish trips and other perks  the makers of hip and knee implants handed out as rewards to surgeons who used their products.

A recently completed New Jersey Attorney General’s Office probe alleged that orthopedic device companies paid U.S. physicians lucrative fees for nominal services between 2002 and 2006. One, Stryker Orthopedics,  cooperated with prosecutors and escaped a fine, but agreed to federal monitoring for 18 months. The other companies, Zimmer Holdings Inc., Depuy Orthopaedics Inc., Biomet Inc. and Smith & Nephew Inc. agreed to a $311 million settlement with the Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (more…)

The number of suspected salmonella cases linked to contaminated tap water in Alamosa, Colorado exceeded 200 Sunday.  Of 216 reported cases, 68 were confirmed by lab results, public information officer Jim Shires said.  Alamosa spokeswoman Connie Ricci said, “I am very troubled by the drinking water situation in Alamosa.”  Nine people have been hospitalized, but only one was believed to still be in the hospital, according to Shires who is part of a nine-person incident management team from Jefferson County helping Alamosa respond to the outbreak, which health officials said may be caused by the municipal water system.

Health officials said the Alamosa tap water tested positive for bacteria believed to be salmonella, but are awaiting final confirmation.  Authorities said the first victim began showing symptoms around March 8.  State emergency management officials activated an emergency operations center in the Denver suburb of Centennial to help coordinate deliveries of bottled water. (more…)

Some Food & Drug Administration (FDA) advisors are pushing for new warnings on the labels of Suprane and Colazal because of potential risks these drugs may pose when used in children. An FDA safety panel is scheduled to meet tomorrow to discuss the safety of Suprane and Colazal,  as well as other medications used in children.

Suprane, an anesthetic manufactured by Baxter International, has been associated with instances of cardiac arrest when it has been used in children. According to Baxter’s website, Suprane is indicated as an inhalation agent for induction and/or maintenance of general anesthesia for inpatient  and outpatient surgery.  On December 15, 2006, the FDA approved an expanded indication of Suprane, allowing its use for the maintenance of anesthesia in infants and children, after induction with other agents and tracheal intubation. (more…)