State health officials clueless on cause of vaping-related illnesses
State officials on Monday admitted that they haven’t identified a cause for the ongoing epidemic of lung-related illnesses linked to vaping.
“No single product or chemical substance has been definitively linked to all lung injury cases,” Brad Hutton, deputy commissioner at the state Department of Health testified at a state Senate hearing in Manhattan.
FDA classifies Abbott’s blood pumping system recall as most serious
(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday classified the recall of Abbott Laboratories’ CentriMag blood pumping system following the death of a patient, as Class 1 or the most serious type of recall.
The CentriMag System pumps blood through a patient for up to six hours during open heart procedures and is...
Data Breaches Cost Hospitals $4B Annually
The total cost of data breaches at healthcare organizations is projected to reach $4 billion by the end of 2019, according to a Black Book survey released Monday morning.
Nearly all information technology (IT) professionals at provider organizations believe that data hackers are outpacing organizational efforts to protect sensitive healthcare data, a trend which is...
J&J Recalls Surgical Tool After Patient Death, Serious Injuries
Johnson & Johnson is recalling a surgical stapler after reports that seven patients were seriously injured and one died, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Thursday.
The device, made by J&J’s Ethicon unit, is used to simultaneously cut and staple tissue back together during surgery. But problems with a part caused misformed staples that...
‘It’s a far broader problem.’ More tainted blood pressure medicines may be added to carcinogens lawsuit
Lawyers for consumers who claim harm from tainted versions of the blood pressure-lowering drug valsartan want to expand litigation to include at least two other drugs, losartan and irbesartan.
Dozens of consumers have already filed personal-injury lawsuits around the country claiming they were diagnosed with cancer or sustained other injuries after taking valsartan contaminated with...
Here’s the latest from the CDC on the nationwide vaping illnesses and deaths
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new report Monday with first-time details about some of the people who have died from vaping-related illnesses.
As of Thursday, more than 1,600 people have come down with vaping-related illnesses, and at least 34 people have died.
Of those 34 people, the CDC had data about...
Walmart, CVS Pulling J&J Baby Powder Off Shelves Amid Recall
Walmart Stores Inc. and CVS Health Corp. are pulling some bottles of Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder off store shelves after government regulators found tiny amounts of asbestos in one lot of the talc-based product.
Rhode Island-based CVS, the largest U.S. pharmacy chain by locations, said Thursday it’s removing all 22-ounce-sized Baby Powder bottles from...
FDA investigating whether Zantac causes carcinogens to form in users
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating whether the popular heartburn drug Zantac causes carcinogens to form in the bodies of users, in an effort to fully understand the risks posed by the already recalled drug, the agency’s spokesman said on Thursday.
The issue of whether ranitidine, commonly known as Zantac, causes levels of...
Johnson & Johnson CEO testified Baby Powder was safe 13 days before FDA bombshell
“We unequivocally believe that our talc and our baby powder does not contain asbestos,” Gorsky testified in an Oct. 3 deposition in a case involving a retired Indiana college professor who alleges his cancer was caused by the Baby Powder he used for decades. The deposition has not been previously reported.
Gorsky, citing “thousands of...
Johnson & Johnson recalls baby powder after discovering small amounts of asbestos
Johnson & Johnson is recalling a batch of its baby powder after discovering small amounts of cancer-causing chrysotile asbestos in the product.
The recall comes as the company remains embroiled in a controversy over accusations that talc in its baby powder caused ovarian cancer, a connection the company has repeatedly denied.
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