Although U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt refused to grant class-action status to the hundreds of toxic FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Association) trailer lawsuits, he did rule the cases must be presented on a case-by-case basis, reported the Washington Post. The judge also rule that FEMA was not immune from the lawsuits.

The lawsuits claim that Hurricane Katrina and Rita victims were exposed to potentially toxic fumes while living in the Toxic FEMA trailers, said CBS News. Attorneys representing plaintiffs in the suit claim trailer makers used substandard “products and methods,” reports The Washington Post. (more…)

New questions are being raised about the safety of Botox and similar wrinkle treatments after Australian health regulators revealed that a mother treated with another botulinum toxin Type A product gave birth to a baby with severe birth defects.  The drug implicated in that incident is called Dysport, which while not yet approved in the U.S., contains the same active ingredient found in Botox and Botox Cosmetic.

Earlier this week, the Australian Federal Health and Ageing Department released documents detailing the case of a baby who was born deaf and blind in November 2005 after the mother was given facial cosmetic injections of Dysport in the first week of pregnancy.  A 2006 report on the Australian birth defect case, written by the medical services manager for Dysport manufacturer Ipsen, admits a “possible” link with the drug’s use. (more…)

Actavis Totowa announced today that it has agreed to temporarily close its Little Falls, New Jersey manufacturing facility, as well as another in Riverview and a packaging plant in Taft as part of a Consent Decree it has reached with federal regulators.  The Little Falls plant made several generic drugs, including Digitek, that were subject to recalls this year.

Actavis said in a press release that the Consent Decree reached with the Food & Drug Administration settles the issues identified by the Department of Justice in its previously filed lawsuit against Actavis Inc., Actavis Totowa, and officers Sigurdur Oli Olafsson and Douglas Boothe.  Under the Consent Decree, Actavis has agreed to not distribute any products from the closed facilities until it has certified completion of certain enumerated requirements that demonstrate compliance with FDA’s current good manufacturing practice and has passed follow-up FDA inspections of the facilities. The company  said it anticipates that commercial production in the Actavis Totowa facilities will resume shortly. (more…)

A Congressional committee has scheduled a hearing into the Bernard Madoff investment fraud scandal for next Monday.  The House Financial Services Committee is expected to focus on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC)  poor oversight of Madoff’s investment advisory business.

The 70-year-old Madoff was arrested on one count of securities fraud on December 11.  Madoff – once a chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange – is the founder and primary owner of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. The firm is primarily known for its business in market-making, or serving as the middleman between buyers and sellers of shares. However, Madoff also oversaw an investment-advisory business that managed money for high-net-worth individuals, hedge funds and other institutions. (more…)

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) said that some  tests done in the wake of last week’s fly ash spill showed high  amounts of arsenic in water, the Associated Press is reporting.  State and federal officials are urging residents around Kingston, TN to stop drinking water from private wells or springs, the report said.  However, they continue to reassure people that municipal water supplies are safe.

The Tennessee fly ash spill occurred  around 1:00 a.m. last Monday morning after  a wall holding back 80 acres of sludge from the TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant in central Tennessee broke.  Though the exact cause of the accident was not known, it was thought that six inches of rain over the previous 10 days and overnight temperatures in the teens contributed to the dam breach. (more…)

Late last week we reported on a BBC piece that discussed the trial taking place in China over melamine-tainted milk.  At that time, the BBC said the courts were rejecting lawsuits filed by families whose children were sickened by the milk, even though kidney damage was reported in hundreds of thousands of cases.  Now, 22 firms involved in the scandal have offered victims a settlement, said MarketWatch.

According to MarketWatch, the firms, which are part of the China Dairy Association will make a one-time cash payment to the families of the nearly 300,000 children sickened by melamine-tainted milk, Xinhua—China’s state-run news agency—reported.  “The enterprises offered to shoulder the compensation liability.  By doing so, they hope to earn understanding and forgiveness of the families of the sickened children,” said the Association, reported MarketWatch.  The 22 will also create a medical fund to pay for long-term effects of the melamine poisoning, said the BBC, according to MarketWatch. (more…)

Inorganic phosphate salts, a common additive used in a variety of foods, may increase lung tumor growth in laboratory settings based on a study reported in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care, said the Daily Mail.  The phosphates are used to increase water contents in ham, bacon, and chicken said the Daily Mail.  The BBC reported that inorganic phosphates are also found in processed cheeses and drinks; and the Guardian said that phosphates are used as a leavening agent in cakes, to retain moisture in meat, in carbonated drinks, milkshakes, fruit juices, and canned seafood.

According to the Daily Mail, Dr Myung-Haing Cho, of South Korea’s Seoul National University, which conducted the research, said, “Our studies indicate that increased intake of inorganic phosphates may play an important role in lung cancer treatment and suggests that dietary regulation of inorganic phosphates may be critical for lung cancer treatment as well as prevention.” The Daily Mail noted that experts believe the phosphates increase tumor growth speed and size by interfering with the chemical signals between cells. (more…)

Another medical researcher is under fire for questionable financial ties.  According to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal, David Sinclair, a professor at Harvard Medical School sat on the scientific advisory board of supplement maker Shaklee Corp., where he helped promote a product that claimed life-extending properties.  Sinclair left his seat on the Shaklee board after the Journal raised questions about his support of the company’s Vivix Cellular Anti-Aging Tonic.

The ties between medical research have come under increasing scrutiny of late.  Just last week,  prominent researcher Charles Nemeroff agreed to step down as chair of Emory University’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, position he has held since 1991, following an internal investigation into his financial ties to drug makers.  The university also said it would be restricting Nemeroff’s research and  extracurricular activities. (more…)

More and more, automobile floor mats have been found to be the culprit in a number of car accidents.  According to a new report in Newsday, at least one million vehicle recalls have been linked to floor mats “that are poorly designed, improperly used, or both” over the past quarter century.

The most recently reported crash by Newsday involved a driver losing control of his vehicle because of a “bunched-up” floor mat that sent his vehicle into a storefront holiday party on Long Island injuring a number of people.  According to police, the mat in Theodore Saretsky’s BMW X3 became jammed beneath the brake and above the gas pedals.  Apparently, the driver was trying to brake, but because the mat was also pressing on the gas pedal, the car rammed into the Hanukkah party, injuring eight children—aged one through eight—and six adults.  A BMW spokesman—Tom Kowaleski—told Newsday that all BMWs are equipped with mats that contain Velcro that is supposed to firmly fasten the mat to the car’s floor. (more…)

The investigation into the Bernard Madoff investment fraud is turning to “middlemen” who convinced investors to sink their money into Madoff’s alleged Ponzi scheme.  According to The Wall Street Journal, many of those at the center of the Madoff probe claim to be victims themselves, but investigators want to know exactly what these recruiters told investors, and whether or not they even disclosed that Madoff would be the one managing investors’ money.

The 70-year-old Madoff was arrested on one count of securities fraud on December 11.  Madoff – once a chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange – is the founder and primary owner of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. The firm is primarily known for its business in market-making, or serving as the middleman between buyers and sellers of shares. However, Madoff also oversaw an investment-advisory business that managed money for high-net-worth individuals, hedge funds and other institutions. (more…)