Product News and Recalls

Information about deaths associated with energy drinks

The Washington Post provided a series of questions and answers about high-caffeine “energy drinks,” following reports that a brand called Monster Energy has been responsible for several deaths.

Anais Fournier, 14, of Hagerstown, Md., died of cardiac arrest last December after consuming two of the Monster Energy drinks over a span of two days. Her mother, Wendy Crossland, is suing the manufacturer. Crossland obtained the reports about the deaths from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration through a Freedom of Information ...

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Advice for people who had a stroke

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides some advice for people who have suffered a stroke. According to the CDC, post-stroke care may involve emergency care, treatment to prevent another stroke, or some combination of the three.

A stroke may occur when a blood vessel bursts in the brain, which is called a “hemorrhagic stroke.” But about 85 percent of all strokes are “ischemic,” meaning that blood flow to ...

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Meningitis pharmacy aware of contamination

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says the Massachusetts pharmacy linked to a deadly meningitis outbreak was aware it had mold and bacteria contamination – including in the “clean rooms” where supposedly sterile drugs are made. Yet the New England Compounding Center repeatedly failed to take action, according to an article in the Washington Post.

The current outbreak of meningitis – an inflammation of the tissue lining the brain and the spinal cord – was caused by ...

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FDA warns of children sickened from eyedrops, nasal sprays

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning that the potentially dangerous eye drops and decongestants – including a wide range of brand-name and generic varieties – don’t come in child-resistant packages, and can sicken children.

The medicines in both types of product cause blood vessels to constrict. While harmless when used as directed, less than a fifth of a teaspoon can send children to the hospital, or even put them in a coma.

And according to a U.S. Consumer Product Safety ...

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Case of brain-damaged girl spotlights difficult issues

An article in the New York Times tells the story of a brain-damaged, two-year-old girl whom doctors describe as “neurologically devastated,” and used her story as an example of the difficult issues surrounding the expensive care of patients who will never recover.

The girl, Portia Davis, has virtually no brain, the story says.

Portia’s mother, Venita Davis, was 27 weeks pregnant and had started having labor pains when her doctor gave her a drug to stop uterine contractions and ordered a sonogram, ...

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CDC says meningitis outbreak is ‘new territory’

A story on CBS News says the current meningitis outbreak presents a unique challenge for medical professionals dealing with it. That’s because the fungus causing it has never before been associated with meningitis.

The report quotes Dr. Arjun Srinivasan of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as saying: “I don’t think there is a precedent for this kind of thing … This is definitely new territory ...

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