Legal Issues

Opinion piece on blood pressure treatment considered controversial

An article in Forbes analyzes the likely impact of an opinion piece published in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine, which journalist Peter Lipson concludes is “sure to start some fights.”

In the JAMA column, retired but respected physician Iona Heath argues that mild high blood pressure is over-treated, and that medical professionals should raise the blood pressure rate at which they begin prescribing medication.

Not only might the blood ...

continue reading...

Families pursue nuisance complaints in fracking suits

According to a story in Bloomberg, some families who have filed lawsuits over the natural gas extraction method called “hydraulic fracturing,” or “fracking,” have changed their tactics.

The families in question live in Pennsylvania along the Marcellus Shale — a gas-rich underground rock formation that also extends into New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio and West Virginia.

Fracking involves pumping millions of gallons of water underground to break up underlying rock formations and ...

continue reading...

Physicians question whether blood pressure drugs over-prescribed

A story in The Oregonian deals with the controversial question of whether people with borderline high blood pressure are taking medicine unnecessarily.

The issue is getting a good deal of discussion in the medical community following a recent column in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, in which a British doctor called for raising the blood pressure levels at which medication is prescribed.

Among the doctor’s concerns is that prescribing medication too ...

continue reading...

Endo to pay $54.5 million in mesh lawsuit settlement

A unit of Endo Health Solutions, one of the four companies facing 29,000 lawsuits over vaginal mesh implants, has agreed to pay $54.5 million to settle some of those cases.

According to Bloomberg, the vaginal mesh cases have been consolidated before U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin in Charleston, West Virginia.

The mesh implants are supposed to treat urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse – a condition in which weakened muscles are no ...

continue reading...

Fracking raises concerns over water usage

In an opinion piece for Forbes, writer Mindy Lubber addresses potential water shortages from the method of natural gas extraction known as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”

Fracking involves pumping millions of gallons of chemically treated water underground, to break up underlying rock formations and release trapped deposits of natural gas. It’s used in a number of regions throughout the country, including along the Marcellus Shale — a gas-rich underground rock ...

continue reading...

Senate compounding pharmacy bill criticized as too soft

A U.S. Senate committee has approved a bill designed to impose tighter restrictions on compounding pharmacies, such as the one blamed for a deadly meningitis outbreak. The legislation is now headed for the full Senate.

But according to a story in the Washington Post, consumer health and public advocacy groups are criticizing the proposed legislation for not going far enough.

Compounding pharmacies are specialty pharmacies that prepare medications from ingredients provided ...

continue reading...
Page 5 of 64 «...34567...»