Current Events

Just two weeks after recalling millions of Rock 'n Play sleepers, Fisher-Price is facing class-action lawsuits linking the product to 32 infant deaths.

The suits, filed in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, allege that the East Aurora toy maker knew about the risks to babies well in advance of the recall – years before, in fact – and ignored them.

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The highly effective but highly addictive properties of fentanyl have made it a drug that has figured prominently in national concerns over opioid addiction. A drugmaker is now recalling two lots of mismarked fentanyl patches because they could lead to overdoses.

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Torrent Pharmaceuticals is recalling an additional 104 lots of losartan blood pressure tablets, according to an FDA notice.

The recall includes both losartan potassium tablets and losartan potassium hydrochlorothiazide tablets.

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The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday ordered manufacturers of surgical mesh used for repairing a condition called pelvic organ prolapse to immediately stop selling their products, the latest turn in a years-long battle over the safety of the implants.

The agency said the companies, Boston Scientific and Coloplast, had not demonstrated a “reasonable assurance” of safety and effectiveness for the devices for use over the long term, and will have 10 days to submit plans for withdrawing them from the market.

The FDA action specifically affects surgical mesh used for the transvaginal repair of pelvic organ prolapse, which occurs when the muscles and tissues supporting the uterus, bladder or rectum become weak or loose. That can allow organs to drop or press into the vagina. The regulatory action does not apply to mesh used for other conditions, such as hernias or stress urinary incontinence.
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(CNN)Three people died and 45 people developed infections from contaminated endoscopes, the US Food and Drug Administration said Friday.

The reports of contamination are with a side-viewing duodenoscope used for a medical procedure called endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography or ERCP. "These flexible lighted scopes are vital for minimally invasive procedures to diagnose and treat conditions of the pancreas and bile duct," said Dr. Jeff Shuren, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

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(Reuters) - An Indianapolis food company has voluntarily recalled fresh cut melon produced at its facility after reports of nearly 100 illnesses tied to Salmonella contamination.

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A killer germ is raging through some New York hospitals and nursing homes. But public health officials are deliberately keeping the public in the dark about it.

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(Reuters) - The American Academy of Pediatrics called on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on Tuesday to issue a full recall of the “Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Sleeper” infant rocker, which has been linked to 32 infant deaths, it said on its website.

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Fisher-Price has issued an alert regarding their Rock 'n Play Sleeper due to reports of ten infant deaths linked to the product since 2015.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Fisher-Price are warning parents that the Rock 'n Play Sleeper should not be used when infants exhibit roll over behavior. The infant deaths occurred when babies rolled from their backs to their stomachs or sides while unrestrained in the sleeper.

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Insurers can deny coverage for treatment related to infections caused by breast implants, causing a budding advocacy movement.

“The insurers use the fact that there’s no true medical definition for breast implant illness as an opportunity to try not to pay for it,” said Scot Glasberg, a former president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

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Experts are sounding the alarm about a cluster of four New York City hospital patients carrying an antibiotic-resistant "superbug" form of E. coli.

The E. coli harbored by the patients has an antibiotic resistance gene called mcr-1, which gives the bacteria resistance to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort against some multidrug-resistant infections, according to a team led by Dr. Anne-Catrin Uhlemann.

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