Current Events

People over the age of 60 should no longer consider taking a daily low-dose or baby aspirin to prevent a first heart attack or stroke, according to a draft recommendation issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Tuesday.

The announcement marks a change in the 2016 Task Force guidance that recommended aspirin therapy in certain men and women to lower cardiovascular risk. But more recent evidence suggests it also could cause harm, including bleeding in the stomach, intestines, and brain – a risk that increases with age and can be life-threatening.
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Older Americans were disproportionately affected by several different types of infection for which antibiotics were largely ineffective, resulting in nearly 12,000 deaths and costing the U.S. health care system almost $1.9 billion in 2017, a new study found.

Of those deaths, 40% were estimated to have occurred among those 65 years and older, while this same group of patients accounted for 41% of the associated health care costs.
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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., one of the largest generic drugmakers in the world, has recalled more than 2.5 million vials of drugs that the company said may not be sterile.

The vials — many filled with medicine used to help treat cancer — may have contained mold contamination stemming from water leaks, U.S.
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Coppertone is voluntarily recalling five of its aerosol sunscreen products due to the presence of benzene, a chemical that can cause cancer with repeated exposure.

The company announced the recall Thursday of 12 lots of sunscreen and advised consumers to stop using the affected products, which were manufactured between Jan. 10 and June 15, 2021.

According to a recall notice posted on the Food & Drug Administration's website, the affected products were sold at retailers nationwide and include: Pure & Simple SPF 50, Pure & Simple Kids SPF 50, Pure & Simple Baby SPF 50, Sport Mineral SPF 50 and travel-size Coppertone Sport Spray SPF 50.

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The Boppy Co., makers of nursing pillows and baby carriers, is recalling three types of baby pillows after eight infants died from suffocation.

The infants' deaths, which occurred between December 2015 and June 2020, happened after the babies were placed on their back, side, or stomach on a newborn baby lounger and were found on their side or their stomach, the company and the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday.

The Golden, Colorado-based company is recalling all of the about 3.3 million baby loungers sold.
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Nursing home aides — the staff members who provide the most direct care to residents — were the least likely to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by mid-July, according to a new analysis of U.S. facilities.

The study underscores the influence that President Biden’s new federal mandate for all health care workers may have on populations like the elderly in nursing homes who are vulnerable to coronavirus infections, experts say.

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Sept 16 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) said on Thursday it was recalling all lots of its anti-smoking treatment, Chantix, due to high levels of cancer-causing agents called nitrosamines in the pills.

The drugmaker paused distribution of the drug in June, and has already recalled a number of lots of the medicine so far.

Pfizer asked wholesalers and distributors on Thursday to stop the use and distribution of the tablets immediately.

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Sept 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. drug regulator has asked Pfizer (PFE.N), Eli Lilly & Co (LLY.N) and AbbVie (ABBV.
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More than two decades after Purdue Pharma launched its blockbuster pain pill OxyContin, a judge approved a bankruptcy plan Wednesday that will grant the drugmaker’s billionaire owners sweeping legal immunity in the opioid epidemic.

Negotiated until the 11th hour, the final terms of the settlement confirmed by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert D. Drain grant the family that owned Purdue Pharma, the Sacklers, broad protection from current and future litigation, despite objections from nine states and a branch of the Justice Department.
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For three years, Donald Camp has used a breathing device to sleep. He has severe sleep apnea, so without this device, his breathing is obstructed and he gasps for air.

But in June, Mr. Camp and many others began learning that more than a dozen Philips Respironics machines that deliver pressurized air through a mask were recalled because of potential health risks from faulty components. Since then, millions of people in the United States, and their doctors, have been scrambling to find alternatives for those with common sleep disorders, breathing problems and respiratory emergencies.
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