According to a Reuters story, German drug manufacturer Bayer is seeking European approval of a contraceptive skin patch.
The story notes that Bayer’s main oral contraceptive brand, Yasmin, has generated controversy over health risks. The company has so far agreed to pay a combined $400 million to settle almost one third of about 6,000 legal claims in the U.S. that Yasmin caused ...
continue reading...State and federal health officials are reporting an outbreak of fungal meningitis in Tennessee.
Tennessee’s chief medical officer said at least 14 people who received steroid injections have been infected and two have died. All but one of those people received steroid injections for back pain at a Nashville clinic identified as the Saint Thomas Outpatient Neurosurgery Center. The other case, reported in North Carolina, was a patient who received the same type of injection.
Although investigators have not yet identified the ...
continue reading...According to the Mayo Clinic, you may not have time to prepare for a doctor visit before seeking treatment for Stevens Johnson Syndrome.
The condition is usually an allergic reaction in response to medication, infection or illness, and can cause the top layer of skin to shed and die.
It’s considered a medical emergency, and you should call 911 or go to an emergency room if you have signs and symptoms.
But if you do have time before you go, the Mayo Clinic ...
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The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that lawyers representing pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson successfully quashed a subpoena to compel CEO Alex Gorsky to testify about allegations that inappropriate marketing harmed children taking the company’s drugs.
The case involves a 17-year-old boy whose family sued the company because he grew breasts after taking J&J antipsychotic drug Risperdal.
It’s the second of a string of Risperdal trials. The first one concerned a 21-year-old man prescribed ...
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New York Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens has rejected requests by health and environmental groups to have an independent party assess the health impact of the natural gas extraction method called “hydraulic fracturing” or “fracking.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is awaiting the results of a DEC review begun in 2008 before deciding whether to allow high-volume fracking in New York.
Fracking involves pumping large quantities of water underground to break ...
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Lawyer Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate from Massachusetts, is defending her representation of an insurance company in an asbestos lawsuit, the Boston Globe reports.
Warren’s Republican opponent, U.S. Senator Scott Brown, has attacked her for representing Travelers Insurance in a 2009 lawsuit. Brown alleges that Warren’s work on behalf of a corporate client undercuts her reputation as a consumer advocate.
Breathing high levels of asbestos fibers can lead to an ...
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