At a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation into this summer’s Mississippi River oil spill, the Coast Guard promised to implement new rules governing tugboats  soon. Four years ago, Congress ordered the Coast Guard to create rules requiring the regular inspection of towing vessels and limits on the number of hours that crew members work each day.

Thomas Allegretti, president and CEO of the American Waterways Association, a national association for the tugboat, towboat and barge industry, told the hearing the regulations would have made a difference. As it stands now, the association depends on operators to comply with its rules voluntarily. “It’s too easy to look the other way because there are not consequences for ignoring them.” Allegretti said. (more…)

As the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association votes to replenish its reserves in the wake of Hurricane Ike, it appears that there is a dispute brewing over the association’s claim that its policies do not cover storm surge damage.

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association covers  142,566 policies in the six Texas counties hardest hit by Ike.  The amount of claims paid through the association depends on how much of the damage is determined to be wind-related.  Texas Windstorm Insurance Association policies do not cover flooding and most other water damage.   (more…)

Contradicting the Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) recent assertion that Bisphenol A (BPA) is safe, a new study links  the chemical – found in most plastics – to a variety of health problems, including diabetes, heart Disease, and liver abnormalities. The study also reinforces findings by the federal National Toxicology Program recent report  that BPA may affect the development of the brains and prostate glands of fetuses and young children.

In this week’s study, Dr. David Melzer and colleagues from the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, England, divided a 1,455 Americans aged 18-74 into quarters based on BPA concentrations in their urine; data was derived from a 2003-04 survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  The team discovered those with the highest concentrations exhibited a nearly three-fold chance of developing cardiovascular disease, a 2.4 times higher risk of developing diabetes, and clinically abnormal concentrations of three liver enzymes versus those in the lowest quartile.  Melzer said the new finding on heart disease was unexpected. (more…)

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has banned 30  potentially defective generic drugs made by Indian drug-maker Ranbaxy Labs from import to the U.S. In addition to the import alert, the FDA said it won’t approve any drug applications that list the two suspect Ranbaxy plants as a source of ingredients.  FDA officials said patients shouldn’t stop taking needed medicines, and maintained they haven’t found any problems with Ranbaxy drugs currently sold in the U.S.

In the past, the FDA has come under fire for its approach to problems at Ranbaxy facilities.  The agency found quality problems in February 2006 during an inspection in India, but  said then they didn’t believe the deficiencies justified an import alert. (more…)

Hurricane Ike could be the third costliest hurricane in history, with insurance claims expected to reach $11 billion.

In Texas, where Ike did significant damage to Galveston and Houston, there is concern about whether or not the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association, the insurer of last resort for 14 coastal counties, can weather the financial fallout for Ike.  The Houston Chronicle reports that the association’s $100 million base, along with part of a $500 million catastrophic reserve trust fund, were already used up paying for damage caused by Hurricane Dolly and Tropical Storm Edouard earlier in the summer. So it will have to tap its backup funding sources to cover claims from Ike. That ultimately could cost Texas taxpayers. (more…)

Drug and alcohol tests reveal that the pilot of the tugboat involved in the Mississippi River oil spill was not under-the-influence at the time of the accident, but one of the vessel’s deckhands did test positive for drugs.  Tests on the crew of the other ship involved in the oil spill, the  chemical tanker Tintomara, were all negative.

The tugboat – the Mel Oliver – was being staffed by a crew provided by DRD Towing.  While John Bavaret,  the pilot operating the Mel Oliver at the time of the collision,  had no drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of the spill, he was not properly licensed to operate a tugboat. Bavaret had  an apprentice mates license, which only allowed him to operate the tugboat under the supervision of a licensed master, who was not onboard the Mel Oliver at time of the accident. (more…)

Investigators at the scene of a fatal Los Angeles commuter train crash are trying to figure out why the train’s engineer ignored a stop signal last Friday afternoon, setting the stage for a head-on collision with a oncoming freight train.  The Metolink crash, one of the nation’s deadliest train accidents, killed 25 people and injued 138.

The commuter train was traveling at 42 mph at the time of the crash.  Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Sunday that the Metrolink train failed to stop at the final red signal, which forced the train onto a track where the Union Pacific freight was traveling in the opposite direction.  Investigators have yet to determine  whether the signal was working properly.  Nevertheless, obeying signals on the track was the responsibility of the engineer driving the train. (more…)

The  Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning parents and caregivers that last month’s Simplicity bassinet recall includes some sold under the Graco brand name, as well as others in the “Winnie-the-Pooh” motif licensed by Disney.  These bassinets have already killed two children, and the CPSC is urging anyone with a bassinet to make sure it is not included in this recall

The Simplicity Bassinet recall followed the death of a six-month old girl in Kansas last month.  Police in Shawnee, Kansas said the baby became caught in the metal bars of a 4-in-1 Bassinet. As a result, she was strangled. (more…)

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has warned that a patient being treated for rheumatoid arthritis  with Rituxan died of the brain infection progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).  In a letter sent to healthcare providers, Genentech and Biogen Idec, the makers of Rituxan, advised doctors to consider PML in any patient presenting with new onset neurologic manifestations. Consultation with a neurologist, brain MRI and lumbar puncture should be considered as clinically indicated. Rituxan should be discontinued immediately in patients who develop PML, the letter said.

Rituxan is a powerful medication that suppresses the immune system. It was approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis and non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, but is often used off-label to treat other conditions.   In February 2006, the labeling of Rituxan was updated to include information about the risks of patients contracting several viral infections, including PML. The FDA also cautioned physicians who were considering treating a patient with Rituxan for any condition to inform the patient of the risk of developing PML. Last year, the FDA warned that two patients taking Rituxan off-label for systemic lupus erythematosus had died from PML. (more…)

A newly published study of the World Trade Center Health Registry has found that rescue workers and others exposed to the 9/11 terrorist attacks are still dealing with health problems. Unfortunately, the World Trade Center Health Registry provides only a small glimpse of the true health toll of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  According to the study authors, the 71,437 people enrolled  represent slightly more than 17 percent of those who are actually eligible for inclusion in the registry.

More than half of the rescue and recovery workers, lower Manhattan residents, area workers, commuters and passersby included in the registry reported being in the dust cloud from the collapsing World Trade Center towers; 70 percent witnessed a traumatic sight, such as a plane hitting a tower; and 13 percent suffered an injury on 9/11. (more…)