In the first of two toy recalls today, stuffed toy dogs imported by Daiso LLC, of Burlingame, California were recalled due to a chocking hazard.   About 40 of the stuffed toy dogs were manufactured in China and sold in Daiso retail stores in California and Washington State from October 2007 through December 2007.  The recalled stuffed toy dogs, which contain small parts, posing a choking hazard to young children, retailed for about $3.00.

The recalled stuffed toy dogs are crème colored with black eyes and nose; some have brown spots on the back.  A tag attached to the toy is written in Japanese and contains the following UPC codes: 4947678264166 and 4947678246063. (more…)

As expected, the New York State Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against Swiss banking giant UBS for allegedly pushing everyday investors into buying troubled auction rate securities.   Just days later, UBS announced that it was suspending David Shulman, its U.S. fixed income unit head and global head of municipal securities.  Though UBS would not comment on the reason’s for Shulman’s suspension, he was in charge of the auction rate securities business for the bank.

Auction rate securities are long-term corporate bonds, municipal bonds and preferred stock on which the interest rates are reset periodically based on bids submitted through securities firms. Generally, rates are reset every  seven, 14, 28 or 35 days. Because they can be sold during weekly or monthly auctions, banks and brokerages often touted auction rate securities as short-term investments or cash equivalents.   (more…)

House and Senate lawmakers agreed to permanently ban three phthalates from children’s toys and outlaw three others pending an extensive study of their health effects in children and pregnant women.  Phthalates, a ubiquitous group of chemicals that make plastics softer and more durable, are often found in children’s products, perfumes, lotions, and shampoos, to name a few.  A 1999 Food and Drug Administration  (FDA) study found traces of phthalates in all of its 1,000 subjects.

The ban—seen as a major boon to parents, advocates, and health experts who have been fighting for government removal of these toxins from toys—is scheduled to become effective in six months.  The ban is also expected to create a huge challenge for the chemical industry and its ability to stem federal regulation and is likely to point to a shift in favor of safety-minded consumers.  The move was stepped up following last year’s phthalate ban in children’s products by California; Washington state and Vermont soon followed. (more…)

In another study of cell phone usage and its related adverse health effects, researchers have found that those children whose mothers used cell phones frequently during pregnancy and who are also cell phone users themselves are more likely to exhibit behavior problems.  Dr. Leeka Kheifets, of the UCLA School of Public Health, who helped conduct the study, told Reuters Health that although cell phones offer great convenience, “We need to be looking into what are the potential health effects and what are ways to reduce risks should there be any.”

Kheifets and her team reviewed a group of 13,159 children whose mothers participated in the Danish National Birth Cohort study early in their pregnancies.  As part of the research, when the children reached age seven, mothers were asked to complete a questionnaire about their children’s behavior and health, the mother’s cell phone use during pregnancy, and the child’s use of cell phones. (more…)

Federal regulators have informed healthcare providers of new heart monitoring recommendations or patients being treated with Novantrone.  Novantrone and generic equivalents are approved to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) and cancer. Novantrone has been linked to the development of congestive heart failure.

In 2005, the labeling for Novantrone (known generically as mitoxantrone) was changed to recommend that left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) be evaluated before initiating treatment and before administering each dose of Novantrone to patients with MS. The 2005 label change was initiated after postmarketing and case reports in the medical literature that described decreases in LVEF or frank congestive heart failure in patients with MS who had received cumulative doses of Novantrone that were lower than 100 mg/m2.  LVEF measures the amount of blood pumped out per beat by the heart’s left ventricle. (more…)

Tainted heparin manufactured by Baxter International has been directly linked to the deaths of three people, according to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA).  Earlier this year, the FDA had received more than 90 reports of deaths and more than 1,000 adverse events associated with patients in the U.S. who had one or more allergic reactions to heparin products, including those sold by Baxter since Jan. 1, 2007.

In January, Baxter International recalled nearly all its heparin injections in the US after some patients experienced extreme – and in some cases fatal – allergic reactions, including difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, excessive sweating, and rapidly falling blood pressure that was life threatening after being administered the products.  There have been similar recalls by other manufacturers of Chinese-sourced heparin in Denmark, Italy, France Germany and Japan. In total, the FDA said tainted heparin has been identified in 12 countries. In the US, other heparin suppliers have issued precautionary recalls, and some medical devices makers have also recalled heparin-coated products. (more…)

American Commercial Lines, owner of the barge that spilled thousands of gallons of oil into the Mississippi River last Wednesday, is denying responsibility for the accident that caused the oil spill. While it plans to seek protection from oil spill lawsuits that name it as a defendant, the company said it would pay for cleanup of the oil spill.

The Mississippi River oil spill occurred when a 600-foot tanker and a barge loaded with fuel collided. The spill occurred about 1:30 a.m. central time last Wednesday near the Crescent City Connection, a pair of New Orleans bridges. The barge split in half, spilling more than 419,000 gallons of tar-like oil into the river. At the time, the American Commercial Lines barge was being towed by the tugboat Mel Oliver, owned and operated by DRD Towing of Harvey, Louisiana. (more…)

The Chicago Associated Press (AP) is reporting that deaths linked to in-home medication mistakes—such as what we saw with actor Heath Ledger’s—have risen markedly in the past 20 years, based on a review of U.S. death certificates.  Study authors say the increased availability and “home use of prescription painkillers and other potent drugs” is to blame and many of these potent medications were typically administered in hospitals 25 years ago.  “The amount of medical supervision is going down and the amount of responsibility put on the patient’s shoulders is going up,” said lead author David P. Phillips of the University of California, San Diego.

The findings were based on a study of about 50 million U.S. death certificates and can be found in yesterday’s Archives of Internal Medicine.  Of those certificates studied, over 224,000 involved fatal medication errors that included overdoses and mixing prescription drugs with alcohol or street drugs.  Deaths from in-home medication mistakes “increased from 1,132 deaths in 1983 to 12,426 in 2004.”  Figures were “adjusted for population growth” for “an increase of” over “700 percent during that time.”  The greatest increase was seen from mixing medicine with alcohol or street drugs at home, which rose from 0.04 per 100,000 people in 1983 to 1.29 per 100,000 people in 2004; suicides, homicides, and deaths related to side effects were excluded. (more…)

Vita Food Products, Inc. of Chicago, Illinois has issued an alert regarding 12 individual packages of Vita Nova Salmon, which were sold at Kroger stores in Houston, Texas on or after July 22, 2008.  The fish may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. Kroger is the grocery chain involved in the ongoing E. coli outbreak linked back to beef supplied to the store by Nebraska Beef.  Also, 192 individual packages of Vita Nova Salmon have either possibly been sold or are being offered for sale at various grocery stores in the Avenol, New Jersey metropolitan area.

The Vita Nova Smoked Salmon which is involved in the public announcement and recall are contained within packages of a deep dark blue that bear the Vita logo in the upper left corner on the part of the packaging immediately visible to the consumer.  Each package contains four-10 bacon-style slices, which total three ounces of smoked salmon.  The salmon slices are contained in a vacuum pack within a box that is four inches wide by 7.5 inches in length by 1/2 inch in depth.  Of most importance is the Code Date of 11/16/08 198, which appears on the left end flap of each package. This announcement and recall only applies to packages bearing this specific Code Date. (more…)

Jack Distribution, LLC, located at 1501 Green Road Unit C Pompano Beach, Florida 33064, and its wholesale distributors G & N works, Inc., and Devine Distribution, Inc., announced today that they are conducting a voluntary nationwide recall of all lot numbers of the company’s defective supplement products sold under the brand names Rize 2 The Occasion and Rose 4 Her.  We reported earlier this month that a voluntary, nationwide recall of selected lots of these products were recalled because because some lots contained thiomethisosildenafil, an undeclared ingredient similar in chemical structure to sildenafil, an FDA-approved erectile dysfunction (ED) medication.

Jack Distribution, LLC, is conducting this recall after being informed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that lab analysis of Rize 2 and Rose 4 Her samples of random lots found the product contains potentially harmful, undeclared ingredients.  FDA states that its chemical analysis found Rize 2 The Occasion and Rose 4 Her contain thiomethisosildenafil and is expected to possess a similar pharmacological and adverse event profile, thus posing a potential threat to consumers because it may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs—such as nitroglycerin—and may lower blood pressure to dangerous levels.  Consumers with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease often take nitrates and ED is a common problem in men with these conditions; therefore, consumers may take these products to enhance sexual performance. (more…)