May, 2009Flomax (Tamsulosin) After Cataract Surgery Linked to Severe Eye Damage, Report Finds
Flomax, the drug taken by millions of older men with enlarged prostates, can lead to vision loss and other serious eye injuries when taken within two weeks of cataract surgery, new research finds. Tamsulosin, the generic drug better known as Flomax, resulted in lens loss, retinal detachment, and inflammation of eyes in a study conducted by researchers from St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada. Another class of prostate drugs does not have the same eye side effects, researchers said. Study …
Continue →‘Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights’ Clears Senate; House Vote and Obama’s Signature Could Come By End of Week
Tough new federal rules for credit card companies, which limit such tactics as sudden interest rate hikes and excessive hidden fees, were overwhelmingly approved by the U.S. Senate today and could be signed into law within days.
Continue →WV Hospital to Pay $2 Million to Family for Fatal Surgical Error
A West Virginia hospital has agreed to pay $2 million to the family of a woman who died as the result of mistakes made during cancer surgery.
Continue →6th, 7th H1N1 Flu Deaths Confirmed in U.S., Vaccine Delayed for Months
A New York City middle school principal and a 44-year-old man from St. Louis County, Missouri have become the sixth and seventh confirmed deaths associated with the H1N1 “swine flu” while global health officials bracing for a growing pandemic say efforts to develop a vaccine to prevent further spread of the deadly sickness will be delayed for months. Mitchell Wiener, an assistant principal at a Queens school, died Sunday after being sick for nearly a week, officials said. He is …
Continue →Experimental Heat Therapy Reduces Symptoms of Severe Asthma, Researchers Say
A new and experimental treatment which uses heat to reduce constriction of the airways in people with severe asthma appears to help those who have not benefitted from traditional asthma drugs, new research says. In a clinical study, the device, called Alair and made by Asthmatx Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., was shown to dramatically reduce the rates of severe asthma attacks and emergency room visits in patients with severe asthma. Alair cut the rate of extreme asthma attacks by 32 …
Continue →Beware of Dangers From Swimming Pool Chemicals, CDC Warns
As the summer swimming pool season approaches, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are warning Americans about the dangers of commonly used pool chemicals. When not used or stored properly, chlorine and other caustic chemicals, which help keep swimming pools clean and healthy, can result in severe injury, including blindness, and even death.
Continue →Medtronic Warns of Potential Pacemaker Problems
Medtronic Inc., a leading maker of pacemakers and defibrillators, is warning about the potential for problems from faulty wiring in about 37,000 of its older pacemakers. More than 1.7 million of the company’s Kappa and Sigma pacemakers have been implanted since 1997, and Medtronic said it first noticed wiring problems in some units in 2005. The faulty wiring can cause the pacemakers to fail at a higher-than-expected rate, the company said this week. A wire separation problem inside the pacemakers …
Continue →LexisNexis® Legal News Podcast for May 19, 2009
The Supreme Court finds smaller pension payouts due to leave that came prior to the Pregnancy Discrimination Act are proper, and, a Pennsylvania judge issues sanctions over a Joe Camel ad in a national magazine. Hear these and other stories from LexisNexis® Mealey’s™ Employment Law, Tobacco Litigation and Punitive Damages Reports. Copyright© 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. For the latest litigation news headlines, visit www.lexisnexis.com/mealeys.
Wyeth Accused of Ripping off Medicaid
Wyeth, one of the world’s largest drug companies, overcharged state Medicaid health plans hundreds of millions of dollars by charging full price for drugs that should have been offered at a discount, according to two newly filed whistleblower lawsuits. According to the Justice Department and the attorneys general of 16 states, Wyeth offered discounts to hospitals for Protonix, a drug for the suppression of stomach acid. However, the drug company offered no such deal to Medicaid, in violation of a …
Continue →For Heart Patients, Chewable Aspirin is Best, New Study Says
Heart patients who take an aspirin a day to reduce the risk of blood clots appear to benefit more from using chewable tablets than from pills, a new study has found. Researchers from the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla found that chewable aspirin is absorbed into the body faster than traditional aspirin pills that are either swallowed whole or chewed before swallowing. That allows the aspirin to reach the blood stream and start working faster, they said. …
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