Current Events

Older people may too often be diagnosed with an underactive thyroid and prescribed thyroid hormones, which can cause new troubles and expenses without improving their lives, researchers say.

A recent case study provides a snapshot of the larger problem, the authors write in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Just 1 percent to 2 percent of people have hypothyroidism, in which their thyroid gland is underactive and requires treatment, coauthor Dr. Juan P. Brito of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told Reuters Health.
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The novel oral anticoagulant (NOAC) field is hotly contested, and drugmakers are turning to real-world data to gain their meds an advantage. Now, Boehringer Ingelheim may have one such advantage for its Pradaxa (dabigatran) over market leader Xarelto (rivaroxaban), thanks to a new observational study.

Patients on Xarelto--marketed by Johnson & Johnson and Bayer--may be more likely to experience serious bleeding events than patients taking Pradaxa, according to a study published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Researchers sifted records on 118,000 Medicare patients with atrial fibrillation who started on one of the two meds.  When compared with Pradaxa therapy, Xarelto treatment was associated with significant increases in intracerebral hemorrhage and major extracranial bleeding, too--including major GI bleeding, they found.
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Common blood pressure medications may increase the risk for severe mood disorder episodes, a new study suggests.

People taking drugs known as beta-blockers and calcium antagonists for more than 90 days were twice as likely to be hospitalized for a mood disorder such as major depression or bipolar disease, compared to people treating their high blood pressure with so-called angiotensin antagonists, researchers report. 

Commonly prescribed beta-blockers include propranolol, metoprolol, and atenolol, for example. Calcium channels blockers include amlodipine, nifedipine, verapamil, and diltiazem, while losartan, valsartan, telmisartan, and candesartan are all angiotensin blockers.

Still, people on these medications shouldn't change their prescription or do anything differently, said senior author Dr.
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Long Island Rail Road crews have restored train service to one of two Main Line tracks damaged after a Saturday night train derailment in New Hyde Park that injured 33, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said early Monday, allowing for limited rush-hour service for commuters.

Limited train service will resume in time for the Monday morning commute on the LIRR’s Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma and Oyster Bay branches, Cuomo said in a statement.

Limited train service will resume in time for the Monday morning commute on the LIRR’s Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma and Oyster Bay branches, Cuomo said in a statement.
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  New Jersey Transit must install inward facing cameras in cabs as a first step to improve safety conditions, Sen. Schumer said Sunday.

The push for the boosted camera coverage comes after a NJ Transit Pascack Valley Line train crashed into Hoboken terminal killing a 34-year-old mother and injuring 114 commuters on Sept. 29.

The cameras can spot train engineers texting, goofing around or falling asleep.
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Power down your Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phone now.

Whether you’ve hung onto the original Note 7 or exchanged it for one of the replacement devices, Samsung and federal regulators are urging consumers to turn the device off because some of the phones — including replacement units — are overheating when charged.

"No one should have to be concerned their phone will endanger them, their family or their property,” U.S.
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Samsung Electronics Co.’s global recall of Note 7 smartphones received a fresh blow after a replacement device was blamed for smoke that led to the evacuation of a Southwest Airlines Co. plane.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission are investigating Wednesday’s incident, they said in e-mailed statements. Samsung started replacing Note 7s around the world last month because a flaw in its lithium battery can lead to overheating, posing a burn hazard to consumers.
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Johnson & Johnson is warning users of its OneTouch Ping insulin pump that hackers could exploit a cybersecurity flaw to infuse additional doses of the diabetes drug without their knowledge, which could be life-threatening. 

“The probability of unauthorized access to the OneTouch Ping System is extremely low,” the company said in a letter to patients alerting them to the risk. “It would require technical expertise, sophisticated equipment and proximity to the pump, as the OneTouch Ping system is not connected to the Internet or to any external network.”

The New Brunswick, New Jersey-based device maker said it has worked to address the issues and laid out steps patients can take to reduce their risk, such as turning off the pump’s wireless connection to a blood sugar meter, or setting a limit on the amount of insulin that can be delivered. While the potential risk with insulin pumps has been known since at least 2011 when a security conference in Las Vegas featured the hack of a Medtronic Plc device, the issue has gained attention as more devices include wireless technology to make them easier to use.
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The long road to court has not been an easy one for Deborah Giannecchini. Mrs. Giannecchini used Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder daily as far back as 1967 for feminine hygiene purposes, but in November 2012 she was thrown a curveball – an ovarian cancer diagnosis. More than 20 epidemiological studies found a link between the talc in baby powder and ovarian cancer, but despite this, proving Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is responsible for failing to warn consumers of the risks has been challenging.

The company has fiercely battled thousands of pending baby powder lawsuits, but it appears its luck has run out.
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Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said Monday that he plans to push legislation that would allow Wells Fargo & Co. customers to sue the bank over unauthorized accounts opened by employees trying to meet aggressive sales quotas.

The escalating scandal also drew the attention of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who in a speech criticized the San Francisco bank and other companies that use the fine print in customer contracts to force disputes into private arbitration instead of allowing consumers to go to court.

She said Monday that if elected, she would “rein in the abuse.
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New Jersey residents who were injured, sickened or whose loved ones suffered harm as a result of the 9/11 attacks will begin receiving new payments from the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, the fund's overseer said.