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Nutro Recalls its Dry Cat Food – Cat Owners Be Vigilant

Camryn Hansen — Sun, 24 May 2009 18:46:19 GMT

On Thursday, Nutro Products, one of the nation’s most popular pet food manufacturers, announced a voluntary recall of almost all its dry cat food products.

Unlike many recent pet food recalls, this one is not due to contamination, but to incorrect levels of zinc and potassium, two essential nutrients for cats that if consumed at improper levels, can cause illness.

The recalled cat food is sold under the brand names Nutro Natural Choice Complete Care and Nutro Max dry cat foods with "Best If Used By” dates between May 12, 2010 and August 22, 2010. No dry dog food or canned dog or cat food has been affected.

Nutro is advising consumers who have purchased these products to immediately stop feeding them to their cats, and switch to another food containing a balanced nutritional profile.

The company has not yet received complaints in connection with the nutrient imbalance, but asks that cat owners consult their vets immediately if their cats exhibit symptoms such as loss of appetite or refusal of food, weight loss, vomiting or diarrhea.

Customers may return any unused portion of recalled Nutro cat food to the store for a full refund or exchange.

Read the full press release here.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Camryn Hansen

Before You Vaccinate with Gardasil, Know the Serious Risks

Mike Ferrara — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 12:57:20 GMT

If you are considering vaccinating your daughter with the increasingly popular Merck vaccine Gardasil, designed to protect against cervical cancer by preventing the sexually transmitted virus HPV, consider the following first:

Merck’s marketing for this vaccine has been one of the most aggressive in pharmaceutical marketing history, targeting not only the consumer population but doctors, researchers and even politicians. For the overwhelming success of its Gardasil campaign, Merck took home all of the 2008 Pharmaceutical Advertising and Marketing Excellence awards, and Pharmaceutical Executive Magazine named Gardasil its Brand of the Year.

The FDA was suspiciously eager to approve and recommend Gardasil. Unlike other vaccines, which usually take three years to be FDA-approved after the conclusion of clinical testing, Gardasil sped through the system in a mere six months. With similar alacrity, only a few weeks after FDA approval, the CDC recommended Gardasil for universal use among girls. Typically, it takes vaccines from 5 to 10 years to achieve this kind of universal status.

Typically, the grace period between the time a vaccine enters the market and the time it is universally adopted allows for adverse reactions, side-effects and other problems to be found before they have an impact on a huge population. Gardasil has not had this grace period. As of June 1, 2009, 25 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed in the United States. As of this date, there have also been 14,072 official reports of adverse events occurring after Gardasil vaccination in the United States. Ninety three percent were not serious, and ranged from arm pain to fainting, but seven percent were extremely serious, and included paralysis, blood clots, and more than 40 deaths (26 of which have been confirmed).

The worst reactions, as well as any and all long-term complications, may be still to come. Because the duration of Gardasil clinical trials was only five years, it is also not clear how long the vaccine offers protection against some strains of HPV. (It only offers 70% protection against HPV at full strength to begin with.) Some of Merck’s own clinical trials suggested that HPV protection wears off in some girls as early as three years after receiving Gardasil…which will probably translate into the need for girls and women to get booster shots every few years, ad infinitum.

The available information on this vaccine’s adverse effects strongly suggests that the FDA and CDC need to curb this frightening Gardasil free-for-all and re-evaluate its safety, both in the short term and in the long term.

Readers, if you have had any personal experiences with Gardasil’s negative effects, please share them here! People have to know about this vaccine’s risks before exposing their children to it.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Ferrara

Another Crib Recall! Delta Enterprise Corp. Announces 1.5 Million Unsafe Cribs

Mike Ferrara — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:13:55 GMT

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued yet another recall of cribs for safety issues. Five days ago, we saw a recall of about 2,000 cribs by Playkids USA. Today, in one of the biggest crib recalls in US history to date, 1.5 million Delta Enterprise Corp. drop side cribs have also been recalled, after 985,000 cribs were discovered to have been made without safety pegs, and an additional 600,000 cribs were found to have safety peg defects.

The missing safety pegs are a danger because they can cause the crib locks to detach from the crib, resulting in a gap that is an entrapment and suffocation hazard to infants. As of today, two infants have died as a result of the crib defects, and two other infants have been trapped in crib gaps. Nine cribs have come apart due to the missing safety pegs.

The recall of 985,000 Delta cribs includes products manufactured in Taiwan or Indonesia with the "crib trigger lock with safety peg" drop side design, which were sold at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target.com and other stores from January 1995 to September 2007. The recall of 600,000 Delta cribs includes those with the "crib trigger lock with spring peg" drop side design, sold at nationwide stores from January 2000 to January 2007.

If you have a Delta crib, please look on its mattress label immediately for the model number and country of origin to see whether it’s included in the recall. Model numbers subject to the larger recall are: 4320, 4340, 4500, 4520, 4530, 4532, 4540, 4542, 4550, 4551, 4580, 4600, 4620, 4624 (production dates 01/06 thru 11/07), 4640, 4660, 4720, 4735, 4742, 4750 (production dates 01/95 thru 12/00), 4760, 4770, 4780, 4790, 4820, 4840, 4850, 4860, 4880, 4890, 4892, 4900, 4910, 4920, 4925-2, 4925-6, 4930, 4940, 4943, 4944, 4947, 4948, 4949, 4950, 4958, 4963, 4968, 4969, 4980.

Model numbers subject to the smaller recall are: 4340, 4343, 4520, 4600, 4620, 4624, 4625, 4629, 4660, 4665, 4720, 4750, 4751, 4850, 4855, 4857, 4880, 4920, 4925 -2, 4925-2B, 4925-6, 4980, and 8605.

If your crib bears one of the above numbers, please do not use it anymore, and have it replaced right away.

As a general rule, always follow these CPSC tips for crib safety as well:

Parents should not use any crib with missing, broken or loose parts.

Hardware should be inspected from time to time and tightened to keep the crib sturdy.

When using a drop side crib parents should check to make sure the drop side or any other moving part operates smoothly on its track.

Always check all sides and corners of the crib for disengagement. Any disengagement can create a gap and entrap a child.

Do not try to repair any side of the crib without manufacturer approved hardware or with tape, wire or rope.

Putting a broken side up against the wall does not solve the problem and can often make it worse.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Ferrara

Uninsured Trauma Patients Almost Twice as Likely to Die – We Need a System that Works

Camryn Hansen — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:56:33 GMT

Legally, it’s not supposed to matter whether emergency room patients have insurance or not. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, passed by Congress in 1986, guarantees that all people brought to the emergency room receive all the treatment they require, independent of their ability to pay.

And yet, a study just published in the Archives of Surgery found that patients lacking insurance are 80% more likely to die from traumatic injuries than those with private insurance, including commercial health plans, health maintenance organizations, and Medicaid.

Trauma physicians said they were surprised by the findings, even though a slew of studies had previously documented the ill effects of going without health coverage. Uninsured patients are less likely to be screened for certain cancers or to be admitted to specialty hospitals for procedures such as heart bypass surgery. Overall, about 18,000 deaths each year have been traced to a lack of health insurance. –LA Times

While the researchers from Harvard University and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston were expecting to find some disparity in risk between insured and uninsured trauma patients, they were shocked at just how large the disparity was.

The researchers offered several possible explanations for the findings. Despite the federal law, uninsured patients often wait longer to see doctors in emergency rooms and sometimes visit ERs at several hospitals before finding one that will treat them. Other studies show that, once they're admitted, uninsured patients receive fewer services, such as CT and MRI scans, and are less likely to be transferred to a rehabilitation facility. –LA Times

Whatever the explanation, findings like this make it clear that we need to do away with a health care system that effectively makes second class citizens out of the uninsured.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Camryn Hansen

Wyeth to Pay $6.3 Million in Damages for Prempro Connection to Breast Cancer

Camryn Hansen — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:40:43 GMT

This week, a Philadelphia jury ruled that drug giants Wyeth and Upjohn, both owned by Pfizer, are liable for at least $6.3 million in damages because their hormone replacement therapy drugs played a significant causal role an Illinois woman’s breast cancer.

The drugs, Wyeth’s Prempro and Pharmacia & Upjohn’s Provera, are used to treat menopause symptoms including hot flashes, night sweats and mood swings. Donna Kendall, 66, took them for 11 years before having to have a double mastectomy.

In 2002, when Prempro sales were more than $2 billion, a federal study found that women who used Prempro and similar drugs had an increased risk of breast cancer.

Nearly a year ago, we learned that Wyeth paid ghostwriters to produce fraudulent articles in medical journals praising Prempro. Wyeth also kept the ghostwriters’ role in the articles a secret from the medical journal editors and readers. Disturbingly, at least one Wyeth-sponsored positive article was published after the federal study citing Prempro as a breast cancer risk.

Juries are paying attention, and this is good.

In Kendall’s case, jurors concluded Wyeth and Upjohn officials failed to adequately warn Kendall’s doctors about the drugs’ cancer risks and that failure played a role in the physicians’ decision to prescribe the drugs.

The panel also found Wyeth’s and Upjohn’s conduct in marketing and selling the drugs was hiding health risks was “wanton and reckless.” That makes the companies open to a punitive-damage award under Pennsylvania law. –Bloomberg

Since 2006, Wyeth has lost six out of nine jury verdicts. Thus far, at least 34 cases involving Prempro are set for trial, and Wyeth has settled at least five cases over hormone replacement therapy drugs.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Camryn Hansen

How Safe is Your Car? IIHS Top Safety Picks for 2010

Mike Ferrara — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:25:03 GMT

Every year, the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety performance-tests the various vehicles on the market to see how each fares in accidents.

After performing high-speed front and side crash tests, a rollover test, and an evaluation of seat and head restraint protection against neck injuries in rear-impact accidents, the IIHS awards each vehicle a rating of good, acceptable, marginal, or poor for each test. Top Safety Picks must earn ratings of good on every single test, in addition to offering electronic stability control.

Here are the IIHS Top Safety Picks for 2010.

Small Cars

Honda Civic 4-door models (except Si) with optional ESC

Kia Soul

Nissan Cube

Subaru Impreza (except WRX)

Volkswagen Golf 4-door models

Midsize Cars

Audi A3

Chevrolet Malibu built after October 2009

Chrysler Sebring 4-door models with optional ESC

Dodge Avenger with optional ESC

Mercedes C class

Subaru Legacy

Subaru Outback

Volkswagen Jetta sedan

Volkswagen Passat sedan

Volvo C30

Large Cars

Buick LaCrosse

Ford Taurus

Lincoln MKS

Volvo S80

Small SUVs

Honda Element

Jeep Patriot with optional side torso airbags

Subaru Forester

Volkswagen Tiguan

Midsize SUVs

Dodge Journey

Subaru Tribeca

Volvo XC60

Volvo XC90

Please visit IIHS Testing 2010 and click on the name of each car model for more information. Let's keep safe cars like these on the road.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Ferrara

New Jersey Dog Bite Law Tough On Homeowners - Check Your Homeowners Insurance Policy

Mike Ferrara — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 11:06:25 GMT

New Jersey has a dog bite law with teeth. If your dog bites someone, you are legally responsible. Unlike some states, New Jersey does not allow a dog "one free bite". Be certain you contact your homeowners insurance company to make sure your homeowners policy covers injuries and lawsuits caused by dog bites. There was a recent Hawaii jury verdict of $800,000 to the victim of someone bitten by a 100 pound Rottweiler. The dog owner claimed that the photos of the bites were computer enhanced, something that was not true. The high award was probably due to the owner failing to accept personal responsibiliy for the harm caused. If you serve on a jury, remember that any award you make will come from an insurance company and not from the home owners. Unscrupulous insurance companies try to convey the image to jurors that any award for a dog bite injury will have to be paid by the homeowner, a fact that in most cases, is not true.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Ferrara

Texas Tort Reform is NOT a Model for Nationwide Health Care Reform

Mike Ferrara — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:24:15 GMT

Tort reformers like to talk a lot about how the threat of malpractice suits raises health care costs by forcing doctors to practice “defensive medicine”—the ordering of unnecessary tests, procedures, and prescriptions in an attempt to protect themselves against a possible negligence lawsuit.

In a 2008 AMA survey, they remind us, a majority of the doctors who responded admitted to practicing defensive medicine—a number that translates, the AMA calculated, to $1.4 billion more spent annually on health care. If our doctors weren’t threatened into doing this, we’d all save loads of money and our national health crisis would be over.

Are the tort reformers right? Well, let’s look at Texas. Several years ago, the state passed a stringent medical malpractice law that capped awards for pain and suffering at $250,000, and brought the number of malpractice lawsuits down dramatically.

So the cost of health care in Texas must also be down, you suppose, since doctors don’t face the same malpractice threats as the rest of the country. Eh, No. In fact, Texas is home to three of the top ten most expensive cities in the country to receive health care: McAllen, Harlingen and Corpus Christi. In each of these cities, every Medicare patient is costing the country more than $10,000 a year (a couple thousand more than the national average).

So if defensive medicine against the threat of malpractice suits isn’t driving up costs, what is?

Harvard Medical School surgeon Atul Gawande got a candid answer to this question from a general surgeon in McAllen, Texas:

“Come on,” the general surgeon finally said. “We all know these arguments are [BS]. There is overutilization here, pure and simple.” Doctors, he said, were racking up charges with extra tests, services, and procedures.

The surgeon came to McAllen in the mid-nineties, and since then, he said, “the way to practice medicine has changed completely. Before, it was about how to do a good job. Now it is about ‘How much will you benefit?’ ” –Atul Gawande, The NewYorker

While tort reform like Texas' won't improve the cost of our health care, changing our charge-per-service structure just might.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Ferrara

Toyota Recalls 4 Million Vehicles to Fix Gas Pedals

Mike Ferrara — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:15:35 GMT

After receiving more than 100 reports of accelerators getting stuck on driver’s side floormats, causing several deaths in high-speed crashes, Toyota is recalling more than 4 million vehicles to repair or replace their gas pedals.

The gas pedal recall is Toyota's largest in the U.S. and the sixth-largest ever in the U.S., according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It includes 3.8 million vehicles, including the 2007-10 model year Camry, 2005-10 Toyota Avalon, 2004-09 Prius, 2005-10 Toyota Tacoma, 2007-10 Toyota Tundra, 2007-10 Lexus ES350 and 2006-10 Lexus IS250/350. NHTSA said 4.26 million vehicles would be covered, including new cars and trucks sold since September and others manufactured since the recall was announced. -AP

According to Toyota, the gas pedals have been getting stuck simply because they are too long, and not because of any sort of electrical problem. The company is developing new shorter pedals that dealers will install in customer vehicles starting next April. Beginning in January, dealers will offer to shorten the length of customers’ gas pedals by about ¾ of an inch while they wait for replacement pedals to become available.

Toyota also plans to install brake override systems in the Camry, Avalon, and Lexus ES350, IS350, and IS20, so that if the brake and accelerator are applied at the same time, the brake will win out and stop an out-of-control car. According to Toyota, these models are at the highest risk for pedals getting stuck in floor mats.

In November, Toyota issued a statement saying NHTSA had confirmed "that no defect exists in vehicles in which the driver's floor mat is compatible with the vehicle and properly secured." But in a rare rebuke, NHTSA accused Toyota of releasing misleading information about the recall, saying removing the mats did not "correct the underlying defect." Toyota said it was not the company's intention to mislead anyone. -AP

Whether Toyota deliberately misled us or not, life-threatening safety issues like these should never arise at all. The company needs to take more care in the development and safety testing stages to prevent their products from causing unnecessary injury and death in the first place.

If you own one of these Toyota models, please contact Toyota at 800-331-4331 or the NHTSA hot line at 888-327-4236 for more information about the recall.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Ferrara

FDA is Understaffed, Underfunded, and Can’t Handle Food Inspections

Mike Ferrara — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 00:02:08 GMT

This week, Dr. Steven Nissen, the current chairman of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic who may soon become head of the Food and Drug Administration under President Obama, said that the FDA is not equipped to handle the increasingly complex processes of inspected the United States food supply.

According to Nissen, the enormous tasks involved in approving medications and medical devices have swamped the FDA to the point where it’s lost control of the food situation.

"The truth be told, the FDA is a failed agency . . . the main problem is that it is terribly underfunded," Nissen said. "It needs to do more inspections, especially of foods brought in internationally. We are all very vulnerable. This has to be fixed and fixed quickly."

Nissen is no stranger to speaking out against the FDA and has garnered the spotlight for occasionally taking the agency to task, even while serving as a committee member on high-profile FDA drug panels.

He is widely known as a physician-activist and doesn't mind taking heat from drug companies when he finds deadly flaws in their products. –Delthia Ricks, CNN

As more and more food is being imported to the United States, more inspections are needed to ensure that products like the recent melamine-tainted milk and infant formula from China don’t make it onto American store shelves. At this time, much of the food brought in from abroad isn’t FDA-inspected at all.

Nissen, a long-time proponent of drug safety, voiced early objections to the Merck drug Vioxx, arguing (quite correctly, as it turned out) that the drug caused heart attacks. Accordingly, Vioxx was taken off the market in 2002. In 2007, his warnings that the diabetes drug Avandia could also cause heart attacks led the FDA to give the drug the black box warning label it carries today.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Ferrara