Dresser stability tested

Tuesday

U.S. Investigating Deaths of Two Patients Who Received Injections of Antipsychotic Drug

June 18, 2013 |

Food and Drug Administration probe focusing on possible risks of schizophrenia treatment. The agency said today the investigation was triggered by the deaths of two patients who passed away  three to four days after receiving the Eli Lilly & Co. treatment Zyprexa Relprevv. The medicine, approved by the FDA in late 2009, comes with warnings that patients must stay at the doctor’s office for at least three hours after it is given so they can be monitored. The agency said high doses of the drug can cause, among other things, delirium and cardiopulmonary arrest. In a website post, the FDA said both victims were found to have received “appropriate” doses but had “very high” blood levels of the drug in their systems. Bloomberg, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal

Two independent studies fail to find an advantage to using Medtronic’s controversial bone-growth product. The researchers said the product, Infuse, works no better than a traditional operation for spine surgeries. What’s more, one of the studies, by Oregon Health & Science University researchers, linked Infuse to increased cancer rates after two years. The $2.5 million review of Infuse was commissioned by Minneapolis-based Medtronic in 2011 after the product was called into question by research linking it to male sterility, infections and cancer. The product also was plagued by allegations that key previous studies that backed Infuse were written by doctors who received millions of dollars in royalties and fees from Medtronic. The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg

World Health Organization calls for controls on food marketing to combat childhood obesity. The European office of the United Nations organization today said the marketing to children of foods laden with fat, salt and sugur has proven “disastrously effective.” A WHO official said recent data suggest children become obese not just because they watch TV instead of being active but also because of exposure to marketing messages. In a new report, the WHO said the food industry increasingly uses avenues such as social media and smart phone apps to target children. Leading categories of advertised foods are soft drinks, sweetened breakfast cereals, biscuits, sweets, snacks, ready meals and fast-food outlets, the report said. Reuters

National study links autism to air pollution. Researchers from Harvard University’s School of Public Health found that pregnant women exposed to high levels of air pollution — including diesel particulates, mercury and lead – were twice as likely to have an autistic child as women in low-pollution areas. The findings were based on a nationwide sample of 116,430 nurses participating in a survey that began in 1989. About 2 percent of American school children were diagnosed with autism disorders in 2011 and 2012, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Previous regional research also linked autism to air pollution but the new study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, was the first national look at the issue. Bloomberg, Time, The Huffington Post

Judge approves reopening a Southern California battery recycling plant accused of posing health hazards. The state judge’s decision — if it isn’t reversed at a folow-up hearing next month — puts Exide Technologies, one of the world’s largest makers and recyclers of lead acid batteries, back in business at its Vernon, Calif., plant. The operation was closed by the state in April, and air quality officials said its arsenic emissions posed an elevated cancer risk to as many as 110,000 people living nearby. Exide contested the state’s shutdown, contending that the plant complied with environmental regulations, that there was “no imminent and substantial danger” and that  the closure was hurting the company and its workers. Los Angeles Times

Compiled by Stuart Silverstein

Monday

Court Documents Show That Pesticide Maker Waged Campaign to Discredit Critics

June 17, 2013 |

To fight a lawsuit over its controversial herbicide atrazine, Swiss-based Syngenta spent millions to undercut its foes. Unsealed court documents reveal a corporate strategy to discredit critics and strip plaintiffs from the class-action case againt Syngenta. The company targeted one of atrazine’s most outspoken critics, Tyrone Hayes of the University of California, Berkeley, whose research suggests that atrazine feminizes male frogs. ...

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