For many patients with Parkinson’s Disease, the drug Mirapex seemed to be a miracle.  It offered the promise of stopping the tremors many had experienced or decades.  Unfortunately, it is now apparent that Mirapex and similar drugs cause bizarre behavior in some users – with some developing gambling problems, heightened sexual interest or compulsive spending and eating habits where there had previously been no sign of compulsive behavior.

This week, the first of three “bellweather” trials concerning Mirapex and its alleged linkage to compulsive gambling is underway in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.  More than 200 people are suing Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, the maker of Mirapex, over compulsive behavior they say it caused.   These first three trials will be used by many legal experts to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of those cases. (more…)

A US government report just released information stating that preventable medical errors occurring during or following surgery cause 10 percent of all surgery-related deaths and may be costing employers nearly $1.5 billion annually.  Errors ranged from bedsores and reopened wounds to infections and blood clots, the study stated.  The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) conducted the study and reviewed the records of over 161,000 patients aged 18 to 64 who were covered by employer-based health plans and who underwent surgery in 2001 and 2002.

The records revealed that of those patients who died within 90 days of surgery, one in every 10 died due to a preventable error; one-third of the deaths occurred following patient discharge.  One patient who developed acute respiratory failure after surgery cost insurers $28,218, or 52 percent more, while an infection cost $19,480 or 48 percent more, agency researchers William Encinosa and Fred Hellinger found.  Errors related to nursing care, such as pressure ulcers and hip fractures, added $12,196 to the average bill.  “Eliminating medical errors and their after effects must continue to be top priority for our health care system,” AHRQ Director Carolyn Clancy said in a statement. (more…)

It seems that Florida tomato growers are the latest victims in the federal government’s failure to quickly resolve a Salmonella outbreak that sickened approximately 1,300 people nationwide.  Because the government bowed to food industry lobbyists and refused to implement an electronic record-keeping system years ago that could more quickly determine the source of food-borne illnesses, record delays and additional illnesses occurred in what is one of the largest Salmonella outbreaks this nation has seen.

But now, a U.S. House investigative subcommittee hearing on Thursday may be the push that will ultimately change the current, paper-driven system.  Most experts believe that if better record keeping was in place, tomatoes might not have been mistakenly blamed for this most recent Salmonella outbreak.  Representative Bart Stupak, Democrat-Michigan, is the hearing’s chair.  Stupak also chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee’s investigative subcommittee.  “This latest Salmonella outbreak has shown us that it is necessary to have electronic record keeping and trace-back systems,” Stupak told The Associated Press. (more…)

An inexperienced pilot was operating another tugboat owned by the same towing company involved in last week’s Mississippi River oil spill when it sank 11 days earlier.  According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, that  company, DRD Towing out of Harvey Louisiana, had also failed a May safety audit and faces probation or revocation from the American Waterways Organization, a national trade association for the tugboat, towboat and barge industry.

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. The barge’s owner, American Commercial Lines, immediately took responsibility for the oil spill. (more…)

Hundreds of patients receiving Zimmer Durom Cup hip implants in the U.S. have been experiencing serious problems since the device was introduced in 2006.  But it wasn’t until this past April, when a prominent surgeon went public with his concerns about the Durom Cup, that physicians learned of the widespread nature of the complaints.  Now, patient advocates are calling for the creation of a national database, called a joint registry, that tracks how patients with artificial hips and knees are doing.  Such a system, they argue, would quickly alert doctors and federal regulators to devices that have a high failure rate, possibly sparing tens of thousands of patients from severe, painful injuries.

The Durom Cup has been implanted in more than 12,000 U.S. patients since its introduction.  The Durom Cup was designed  for use in young, active patients who are likely to outlive a conventional hip prosthesis.  But last year, Dr. Lawrence Dorr, a  highly experienced orthopedist and Zimmer consultant, realized something was very wrong with the Durom Cup.  (more…)

According to a report released last week by the US Government, psychiatrists wrote 29 percent of new antidepressant orders, followed by GPs and primary care doctors.  Between 2002 and 2005, prescriptions filled for antidepressant drugs increased from 154 million to 170 million.  The analysis, conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, indicated that antidepressant prescriptions—and this does not include refills—written after doctors spoke with patients either in person or over the phone increased by 16 million over the past 3 years.  The data used came from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey of health services used by Americans.

• 29 percent of prescriptions were written by psychiatrists
• 23 percent of prescriptions were written by GPs
• 21 percent were written by family practitioners
• 10 percent were written by internal medicine specialists. (more…)

Although marble makers disagree, recent test results reveal that some granite countertops are emitting dangerous radon levels into consumers- home.  Some groups are urging people with such countertops to have them tested for the amounts of radon gas they emit over concerns that amounts are above levels considered safe.

Marble manufacturers maintain that, “Radiation in granite is not dangerous,” but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that radon is “a cancer-causing natural radioactive gas that you can’t see, smell, or taste.  Its presence in your home can pose a danger to your family’s health.  Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers.  Radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in America, and claims about 20,000 lives annually.”   Meanwhile the popularity, demand, and variety of and for granite countertops has grown in the last decade. (more…)

According to a study conducted by GlaxoSmithKline, Chantix—a smoking cessation medication recently making headlines for unusual side effects being reported in those taking the drug—is no better at helping patients quit smoking than therapeutic nicotine (TN), such as NicoDerm.  Glaxo is maker of the smoking cessation medication NicoDerm and Pfizer makes Chantix.  Glaxo’s findings were published today in the August issue of Thorax and claim there is no significant differences in six-month and one-year quit rates between the NicoDerm(R) CQ(R) Clear Patch and Chantix (varenicline tartrate), even though “statistically higher quit rates are shown for Chantix at 12 weeks.”  According to the official 2008 U.S. Public Health Service Guideline, “longer-term quit rates at the six-month milestone are the most predictive of long-term success.”

The Thorax paper, entitled, “Varenicline Versus Transdermal Nicotine Patch for Smoking Cessation:  Results from a Randomised Open-Label Trial,” reports on a 52-week study–the first-ever direct comparison of the NicoDerm CQ Clear Patch to Chantix.  The study used an “open-label” design.  In other words, subjects knew the medications they were taking.  “This study confirms that there is no magic bullet when it comes to smoking cessation and that both therapeutic nicotine and Chantix (varenicline tartrate) demonstrate long-term effectiveness,” stated Dr. Howard Marsh, vice president of Worldwide Medical Affairs for Glaxo Consumer Healthcare.  “There is also no single approach that will work for everyone.  For example, a substantial proportion of quit attempts are made spontaneously, without much planning.  Therapeutic nicotine is widely available without the need for a prescription or a visit to a doctor’s office.” (more…)

According to an Associated Press report, Representative Bart Stupak—Democrat-Michigan—is calling on the food industry to stop opposition to electronic record-keeping and back an effective system for tracing contaminated food to its source. “It is my hope that the food industry will drop its opposition to these common-sense safeguards and move forward with implementation,” said Stupak, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s investigative subcommittee.

Since January 2007, Stupak has been conducting an ongoing investigation into the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) ability to protect the country’s food and drug supply.  Stupak is also chairing a hearing next week on the current outbreak of Salmonella, considered one of the nation’s worst in years.  “This latest salmonella outbreak has shown us that it is necessary to have electronic record-keeping and trace-back systems in order to quickly detect the source of food-borne illnesses,” Stupak said. (more…)

Federal regulators are not doing enough to stop drug makers from promoting unapproved uses of medications, according to a new report.  Even when the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) does catch a company promoting a so-called off-label use of  a drug, it can takes months for the agency to the act.

Drug companies are prohibited from promoting medications for uses that have not been validated by the FDA on evidence from clinical trials. Doctors, however, can prescribed medicine in any way they see fit. Also, under guidance proposed by the FDA this year, drug companies could distribute to doctors scientific articles that suggest new and unapproved uses for medications. (more…)