Health

Company linked with meningitis pharmacy lays off workers

Ameridose LLC, which is affiliated with the specialty pharmacy behind a deadly meningitis outbreak, is laying off about 90 percent of its workforce, according to a Reuters story.

The company suspended operations on October 10 so that state and federal investigators could inspect its facilities, and is scheduled to remain shut down until November 19.

Ameridose has the same owners as the New England Compounding Center of Massachusetts, ...

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Bayer contending with problems from Yaz

German pharmaceutical giant Bayer is purchasing Schiff Nutrition International, an American vitamins maker, for $1.2 billion, Reuters reports.

According to Reuters, many pharmaceutical companies are looking to expand into non-prescription drugs. Although non-prescription drugs don’t pull in as much money as their prescription counterparts, they’re also steadier because they don’t carry risks such as clinical trial failures and patent expiries.

The story notes that some prescription medications have been causing problems for ...

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Care is scarce for brain injury sufferers

A story in the Jackson Clarion Ledger out of Mississippi looks at the challenges of caring for people with traumatic brain injury.

The story refers to a 34-year-old man named Neal Sandifer who suffered traumatic brain injury, and must now leave the nursing home where he had been staying.

The story quotes Lee Jenkins, executive director of the Brain Injury Association of Mississippi, as saying that putting Sandifer in a nursing home ...

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Treatment complicated for Stevens Johnson syndrome

The Mayo Clinic says doctors can frequently identify Stevens-Johnson syndrome based on medical history, a physical exam and the condition’s distinctive signs and symptoms. Doctors may also take a skin sample for examination under a microscope.

However it’s diagnosed, Stevens-Johnson syndrome is considered a medical emergency and requires hospitalization, frequently in an intensive care unit or burn unit. It’s usually an allergic reaction in response to medication, infection or illness, and can cause the top layer of skin to shed and ...

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Illegal marketing practices are common

Illegal practices by a Pennsylvania-based company called Synthes have been linked to the deaths of five patients. But according to a story on the affair by Fortune magazine, those practices are common among manufacturers of medical devices.

Four high-ranking executives are doing jail time for their role in “off-label marketing” of a bone cement called Norian XR. That occurs when manufacturers specifically market a product for a use not approved by ...

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Researchers: Pregnant women should avoid antidepressants

Researchers are recommending that pregnant women with past episodes of mild to moderate depression stay away from a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

An article in the Boston Globe cites a review of more than 100 studies that researchers from Boston IVF and Tufts University School of Medicine published in the journal Human Reproduction. According to the story, the researchers concluded that “there is no evidence of improved ...

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