A novel lawsuit is winding its way through the courts in St. Louis. Thirty Missouri hospitals are pursuing claims against Altria (the parent company of Phillip Morris) and other tobacco manufacturers for the costs of medical care provided to patients with tobacco-induced diseases who were uninsured or unable to pay […]
A recent study published in Kidney International, the journal of the International Society of Nephrology, noted increasing concerns over the use of gadolinium-based contrast agents in patients with renal or liver disease. In this article, researchers from the Oregon Health and Science University urged the use of ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron […]
A September of 2008 study published in the journal Radiology, sought to further identify those patients most at risk for the development of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) as a result of exposure to gadolinium-based contrast agents. Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis is an incurable, devastating disease that manifests itself as significant skin […]
A very dear friend once told me to be careful what you write in a letter, because it could come back to haunt you in the future. That advice was given to me in the early 1980’s by the CEO of a company in my hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania. We […]
Patients who undergo shoulder, knee and ankle surgery often experience significant pain; particularly immediately post surgery. To try and manage that pain, physicians have often employed the use of pain pumps. These pumps inject pain killer into the body in a regulated fashion to minimize pain, while controlling the tendency […]
Caffeine, hands down, is the most popular, legal and widely abused drug on the planet. It’s in everything including: caffeinated snacks; soft drinks; alcoholic beverages; over the counter supplements; not to mention popular face cream and products that boast a remedy for cellulite. Caffeine is legal, but even too much […]
In the last couple of years, it seems as if there has been an increase in the recalls issued by the FDA; contact lens solutions, tainted meat, poisonous vegetables, toxic toys and poisonous pet food to name just a few. In response to concerns over the recent headlines“Infant Formula from […]
There is no question that technological changes have revolutionized discovery in civil litigation, particularly in cases where the parties seek large volumes of documents from their opponents. Medical device and pharmaceutical litigation come to mind. How to manage so-called “e-discovery” is on the minds and lips of many lawyers. In […]
You may want to put your fork down for this one. On August 5, 2008 the division of the USDA Department of Agriculture National Organic Program (NOP) governing Organic foods made an announcement “that 15 of the 30 accredited organic certifiers they recently inspected failed the USDA audit. It is clear […]
More than six years after the Women’s Health Initiative Study was suspended due concerns regarding the long-term health risks associated with the drugs new information continues to emerge. The newest evidence, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, was noted in the Nurses’ Health Study, a study involving 51,637 postmenopausal nurses […]
