Beijing officials agree to publish more accurate air pollution data. The information for China’s notoriously smoggy capital will start being made available this month. The change stems from an online campaign, fueled partly by Twitter reports from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, revealing air quality to be far worse than official Chinese accounts indicated. The Wall Street Journal, Agence France-Presse
Officials at the Tennessee plant where five died last year knew about the explosion dangers from the dust that coated much of the plant, federal authorities say. But in their final report, investigators for the U.S. Chemical Safety Board said the company, Hoeganaes Corp., did little to reduce the risk. The deaths occurred in three fires over the first five months of 2011 at the factory in Gallatin, about 25 miles northeast of Nashville. The Associated Press
Founder of the breast implant manufacturing company PIP admitted deceiving European safety regulators. Jean-Claude Mas, currently hiding and facing criminal charges internationally, told French police last year that the now-closed company for 13 years concealed from inspectors the unauthorized industrial gel it used for the implants. Hundreds of thousands of women worldwide received the implants, which can cause agonizing pain when they leak and by some accounts are unusually prone to rupture. The Guardian, Daily Mail, The Telegraph
New technologies may speed the diagnosis and treatment of brain injuries. The tests being developed rely on objective physical measures of trauma, such as bleeding in the brain or markers in the bloodstream. More than 155,000 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan have suffered traumatic brain injuries, many of them difficult to diagnose. ProPublica
Johnson & Johnson will pay more than $1 billion to resolve a civil investigation into the marketing of the antipsychotic Risperdal. Sources said negotiations over a possible criminal plea are continuing. The payment, to settle charges of promoting the drug for unapproved uses, will be divided among the federal government and most of the states. Bloomberg
Federal authorities propose regulating hand and face transplants. The move would create a nationwide system, such as those that already exist for kidneys, hearts and other organs, to distribute body parts and perform donor testing to prevent deadly infections. A goal is to expand access to these operations, especially for wounded troops. The Associated Press
Chevron vows to fight $18 billion damages ruling for polluting the Amazon rain forest in Ecuador. The energy company is seeking arbitration in The Hague, and still can appeal to Ecuador’s supreme court. The company called the $18 billion judgment, which was upheld by an Ecuadoran appeals court this week, “another glaring example of the politicization and corruption of Ecuador’s judiciary that has plagued this fraudulent case from the start.” Financial Times
More employers refuse to hire smokers. The tobacco-free policies are designed to promote health and reduce insurance premiums. But the policies stir charges of discrimination, even among public health advocates, and 29 states have smoker-protection laws that restrict the employment practice. USA Today
The amount of toxic chemicals released into the environment nationwide increased 16 percent in 2010. That result, reported by the Environmental Protection Agency, reversed several years of declines. Air releases of dioxin, which is linked to cancer as well as neurological and reproductive problems, rose 10 percent. The Washington Post, EPA
Recalls: bicycle helmets, cheeses and fondue
Compiled by Stuart Silverstein
Risperdal is a cousin of Zyprexa and Seroquel.
PTSD treatment for Veterans found ineffective.
Risperdal and Eli Lilly Zyprexa can cause diabetes
This is a powerful drug that can damage a young person physiologically for life.
Please take with caution and learn as much as you can about side effects. *FIVE at FIVE* The Zyprexa antipsychotic drug,whose side effects can include weight gain and diabetes, was sold for “children in foster care, people who have trouble sleeping, elderly in nursing homes. *Five at Five* was the Zyprexa sales rep slogan, meaning *5mg dispensed at 5pm would keep patients quiet*.
WARNING- If a drug Risperdal (Zyprexa) lists anything about the pancreas among the side effects, it probably means it can cause diabetes.
Risperdal,Zyprexa is glorified Thorazine at ten times the price.
– Daniel Haszard Zyprexa victim activist
FMI zyprexa-victims(dot)com