Two member of Congress have charged the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with lying about the dangers posed by formaldehyde in  Toxic FEMA Trailers that are still home to over 40,000 beleaguered Katrina and Rita hurricane survivors.  The lawmakers allege that FEMA, as well as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) manipulated scientific data to cover up the true hazards facing FEMA trailer residents.

In a letter to Homeland Security chief Micheal Chertoff,  Representatives Brad Miller (N.C.) and Nick Lampson (TX) cited agency documents provided to Congress that that they say prove that the federal CDC was “complicit in giving FEMA precisely what they wanted” to suppress information about the adverse health effects of living in the Toxic FEMA Trailers. (more…)

Another Fosamax has been filed in New Jersey, but this time the plaintiff is not suing over dead jaw syndrom. JoAnn Moranski, a Connecticut woman who took Fosamax for 10 years, claims the osteoporosis drug caused multiple stress fractures and suppressed bone regeneration in her legs. Another 400 plaintiffs have Fosamax lawsuits pending that allege the bone medication caused a bone-wasting condition known as osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ), or dead jaw syndrome.

But all of the pending Fosamax lawsuits could be just the tip of the iceberg. Earlier this month, a federal judge refused to grant class action status to a group of ONJ lawsuit plaintiffs in Pennsylvania, Florida and Louisiana who wanted Merck to establish a Fosamax medical monitoring fund. Because of the judge’s decision in this matter, it is expected that the number of Fosamax Dead Jaw Syndrome lawsuits currently making their way through the courts is likely to explode. (more…)

The injury toll from last month’s Jacksonville plant explosion at T2 Laboratories in Florida has risen to 33, more than double what was first thought. Early reports said that 14 people were injured in the fatal blast, but now it appears that flying debris from the from the Jacksonsville plant explosion flew far enough to hit 19 other people not on the Jacksonville plant’s grounds, causing minor injuries like cuts and bruises.

In addition to the 33 injured, the Jacksonville plant explosion killed four workers at T2 Laboratories. Four T2 Laboratories workers – co-owner Scott Gallagher and workers Karey Renard Henry Sr., Parrish Lamar Ashley and Charles Budds Bolchoz – died as a result of the Jacksonville plant explosion. People as far 750 feet away from the site of the Jacksonville plant explosion needed medical treatment, and buildings as far as 1,000 feet away sustained damage. At least three nearby businesses had buildings that city inspectors effectively closed because of their extensive damage. (more…)

 Vytorin is now being investigated by the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office.  Word of the Connecticut probe is just the latest bad news for Vytorin makers Merck and Schering-Plough.  Vytorin has been under intense scrutiny since a study, known as ENHANCE, was released earlier this month showing the cholesterol lowering drug was no more effective at preventing clogged arteries than a cheaper, generically available statin. Over the weekend, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced a similar Vytorin investigation, and several congressional committees are also investigating the drug makers.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Connecticut Attorney General is investigating Merck and Schering-Plough to see if “state funds were spent on false assurances about the safety and effectiveness of” Vytorin and Zetia. Blumenthal said Connecticut’s Medicaid program was the main public source of money spent on the medications. (more…)

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) is so behind in its inspections of foreign plants that import foods, drugs and medical devices to the US that it could take centuries for the FDA to catch up. That word from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which just finished the latest investigation that found the FDA to be in  serious trouble.

The main reason for the FDA’s poor performance is, as has been cited by numerous other investigations, its budget. According to The New York Times article detailing the GAO report, in the last 14 years, the FDA has lost 1,311 employees and nearly $300 million in appropriations to inflation while Congress has passed more than 100 laws defining or expanding its regulatory responsibilities. The agency now regulates about $1 trillion worth of goods, or 25 cents of every dollar spent by consumers. (more…)

Ambien, a sleep aid taken by the late actor Heath Ledger, has been linked to 6 fatalities in the United Kingdom.  When the 28-year-old Ledger was found dead inhis apartment last Tuesday, Ambien was among the prescriptions drugs found in his bedroom. Results of a postmortem examination last week on the actor were inconclusive and additional toxicology testing is being conducted; however, there has been growing speculation that Ledger died from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills.

Ledger’s death prompted actor Jack Nicholson to say that the tragedy could be a warning about the dangers of certain sleeping pills. Nicholson reported that he had taken Ambien and suffered serious side effects as a result, saying “I warn people about Ambien. I almost drove off a cliff once. I don’t take sleeping pills but somebody said, ‘take this, it’s mild’.” “I got a call in the middle of the night, kind of an emergency, and I almost drove off a cliff 50 yards from my house. I live up in the mountains in Aspen. It’s something to warn people about,” he said. (more…)

The deaths of  four children from Botox side effects has consumer groups calling for tougher warnings on the drug.  In all, 16 fatalities and 87 adverse events resulting in hospitalizations have been atrributed to Botox and Mylobloc, another drug made with botulinum toxin. In all of the cases, the botulinum toxin spread inside the bodies of the patients, killing some and injuring others.

As well as deaths, there have been reported problems of muscle weakness and difficulty swallowing related to Botox and Mylobloc.  Spokesman Dr. Sidney Wolfe—director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group—said users should be told of early symptoms such as dry mouth, trouble breathing, slurred speech, or droopy eyelids, adding “Significantly improved warnings would increase likelihood of earlier medical intervention and could prevent complications, including death.” The consumer group wants a new black box warnings be included to Allergan Inc.’s Botox and Solstice Neurosciences Inc.’s Myobloc packaging to indicate the medications can cause death in some cases. (more…)

Recovery from food poisoning might not be as straight forward as once thought.  It is not uncommon for food poisoning victims to experience new symptoms or syndromes related to the original food-borne illness months, weeks and years after an initial diagnoses.  In some cases, food poisoning patients thought to have experienced complete recovery are suddenly struck by a new illness related to a years-old case of food poisoning.

“Folks often assume once you’re over the acute illness, that’s it, you’re back to normal, and that’s the end of it,” said Dr. Robert Tauxe of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The long-term consequences are “an important but relatively poorly documented, poorly studied area of food borne illness.” While late effects of food borne illness likely comprise a very small percentage of America’s 76 million annual food poisonings, the actual number of at-risk individuals remains unknown. Also unknown is what other illnesses will be found to be scientifically linked to food poisoning.

(more…)

Mercury is not just a problem in tuna sush. While a new survey found high levels of the toxic substance in the popular dish, tests conducted by the conservation group Ocean also found that equally dangerous amounts of mercury in fresh tuna steaks and swordfish as well. The Oceana findings are similar to other recent studies on fresh seafood and mercury, and prove that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and other federal regulatory agencies have not done enough to insure that consumers are protected from mercury-tainted seafood.

In 2004, the FDA joined with the Environmental Protection Agency to warn women who might become pregnant and children to limit their consumption of certain varieties of canned tuna. However, the FDA mercury advisory does not address the threat from fresh tuna or other fresh seafood. From what Oceana discovered, the FDA clearly made a mistake. (more…)

No end to the Vytorin troubles facing Merck and Schering-Plough. Already named a slew of lawsuits and several congressional investigations since announcing the results of the so-called ENHANCE study, the companies have now been served with a subpoena by the New York State Attorney General’s Office. ENHANCE found that Vytorin worked no better than cheaper generic statins, and now Andrew Cuomo wants to know why Merck and Schering-Plough took so long to make those findings public. The attorney general also wants to know if the disappointing ENHANCE results had anything at all to do with stock sales made by company executives prior to its release.

According to an email released by the New York Attorney General’s office on Saturday, the state’s Vytorin investigation focuses on the marketing of the drug. “We will investigate and, when appropriate, hold accountable drug companies for engaging in irresponsible and deceptive conduct and any deceitful marketing of prescription drugs,” Cuomo said in the statement. “Drug companies are on notice that concealing critical information about life-saving prescription drugs, profiting at the expense of patients’ health, and wasting taxpayer dollars, is simply unacceptable.” (more…)