Current Events

A California state court has cleared the path for nearly a dozen lawsuits to proceed that alleged that pharmaceutical company Bayer's permanent birth control device, Essure, seriously injured patients. The ruling could have major implications for device manufacturers who, like Bayer, argue that federal regulation of their products means they shouldn't be accountable for injuries.

Bayer sought to have the cases thrown out on three separate grounds, but on each of them, Judge Winifred Y. Smith of the Superior Court in Alameda County sided with the plaintiffs. The rulings, filed Aug.
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The smoking-cessation drug Chantix has now played a crucial role in a second violent crime. On Monday, a Maryland man was found not criminally responsible for shooting his wife in the neck in their home in 2014 because he was found to be suffering from “involuntary intoxication” due to Chantix. His wife survived.

Last year, an Army soldier, who brutally stabbed another soldier to death in 2008, won a new hearing because the judge in his original trial refused to let him put on an involuntary intoxication defense. The soldier claimed that he was so neurologically disturbed by Chantix that he was not aware of what he was doing.
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Drinking water supplies serving more than six million Americans contain unsafe levels of a widely used class of industrial chemicals linked to potentially serious health problems, according to a new study from Harvard University researchers.

The chemicals — known as polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFASs — have been used for decades in a range of industrial and commercial products, including non-stick coatings on pans, food wrappers, water-repellent clothing and firefighting foam. Long-term exposure has been linked to increased risks of kidney cancer, thyroid problems, high cholesterol and hormone disruption, among other issues.

“Virtually all Americans are exposed to these compounds,” said Xindi Hu, the study’s lead author. “They never break down.
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On 9/11, Rupa Bhattacharyya was in an office near the White House watching TV as the second plane smashed into the World Trade Center. She walked nine miles home — too afraid to use the subway.

Now Bhattacharyya, the new special master of the federal 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, says she’s eager to dole out money to brave first responders who ran to Ground Zero after the Twin Towers fell, and others caught in the dust.

Influential U.S. magazine Consumer Reports urged the Justice Department to hike compensation to 475,000 owners of polluting Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) diesel vehicles and allow owners who opt for a fix to reconsider.

In comments filed on Friday on the proposed agreement, the magazine said the buyback offer undervalues retail prices and urged the use of values that "would lead to buyback offers for consumers that would be at least several hundred dollars higher.

Boston Scientific Corp. has issued a worldwide voluntary recall for an older version of one of its most commercially promising devices, the Lotus transcatheter aortic heart valve replacement system, following the deaths of three patients.

For college students and late night workers, consuming caffeine and energy drinks is often the only way to concentrate when exhausted. But drinking too many energy drinks — like Red Bull, Monster, Amp, or Burn — can be dangerous to your health, especially for your heart. A new case study published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine is yet another piece of evidence that proves energy drinks can be harmful to your cardiovascular health.

Before a drug can be marketed, it has to go through rigorous testing to show it is safe and effective. Surgery, though, is different. The Food and Drug Administration does not regulate surgical procedures. So what happens when an operation is subjected to and fails the ultimate test — a clinical trial in which patients are randomly assigned to have it or not?

The expectation is that medical practice will change if an operation turns out not to help.

If only.

Viagra (sildenafil) is liberating for men who struggle with getting an erection and keeping it up in the bedroom. The diamond-cut blue pills help treat erectile dysfunction (ED) by increasing blood flow to the penis, but taking more pills than directed could lead to a permanent painful erection, and other potential health risks that could damage the penis.

The oral medication is popularly known for treating impotence in older men, but most Viagra users today are in their early to mid 50s, according to Pfizer. Men are likely to use the blue pills because sexual performance is a high priority for them, which can consequently lead them to abuse and overdoses. Less (blue pills) is more when it comes to healthy sexual function.

New York’s hospitals collectively rank dead last among the 50 states in a new report card from the federal government, an Empire Center analysis shows.

On Wednesday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its first-ever star ratings for hospitals across the country, based on 64 measures of quality.

Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) on Tuesday said it has reached a $486 million settlement of litigation accusing it of causing big losses for shareholders by concealing safety risks associated with its Celebrex and Bextra pain-relieving drugs.

The accord is subject to negotiation of a final settlement agreement with the plaintiff shareholders, and would end more than 11 years of litigation against the drugmaker and several officials, including former Chief Executive Henry McKinnell.

It was reached nearly seven years after Pfizer agreed in September 2009 to pay $2.3 billion to settle a U.