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• Novartis Pulls Pain Relief Drug from Australian Market

  Joe Saunders | August 14, 2007 7:32 AM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  After two people died, Novartis AG has pulled its pain relief drug Prexige from the market in Australia. According to a story published in the Wall St. Journal, "Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration said it had received eight reports of serious liver reactions in patients taking the drug. "It seems that the longer people are on the medicine, the greater the chance of liver injury," its...

• Zyprexa Manufacturer May Face More Legal Woes

  Joe Saunders | July 02, 2007 2:47 PM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of the drug Zyprexa, may face more legal troubles after the FDA told the company it would delay the approval of its new drug Symbyax for hard-to-treat depression because the agency wanted more information about the risk of diabetes in the medicine's prescribing label. Symbyax combines Lilly's antipsychotic pill Zyprexa and the antidepressant Prozac. Zyprexa has...

• Drug Coated Stents Prove Risky

  Joe Saunders | December 01, 2006 9:27 AM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  In a recent medical study released by the Cleveland Clinic, drug coated stents manufactured by such companies as Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson have shown an increased risk for clots. With the older bare metal stents, tissue grows around and reclogs bare metal stents. Drug-eleuting stents prevent this growth but are now believed to increase the risk of blood clots.

• More Problems for Catholic Church in Florida

  Joe Saunders | October 25, 2006 12:43 PM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  Within a week, the Catholic Church in Florida has been rocked by the revelations of two more sexually abusive priests and two other priests who stole millions from the collection plate. Rev. Anthony Mercieca, now 69 and living on the Maltese island of Gozo, recalls touching former Congressman Mark Foley but not abusing him sexually. Mercieca seems incredibly unmoved by the damage inflicted by...

• 100,000 or More Lawsuits to be Filed Against Big Tobacco

  Joe Saunders | August 22, 2006 10:36 AM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  Victims of big tobacco will finally get their day in court after a US District Judge ruled yesterday that the cigarette manufacturers have conspired to withhold the deadly effects and addictive qualities of tobacco from the public. The ruling found Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, British American Tobacco, and Lorillard Tobacco guilty of misleading the public about tobacco's...

• Infant Tylenol Manufacturer to Pay $5 million

  Joe Saunders | August 16, 2006 9:37 AM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  A Philadelphia jury has returned a $5,000,000 judgement against the manufacture of Tylenol for infants. McNeill-PPC was slapped with the verdict for failure to warn of overdose dangers that caused liver damage and death to a 5 year old. Infant Tylenol is more potent than children's Tylenol and the label did not sufficiently advise of the drug's concentrated formula.

• Anesthesia Administration a Risky Proposition for Patients

  Joe Saunders | August 09, 2006 9:58 AM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  In today's Wall St. Journal,, there's a disturbing article about the administration of anesthesia by those who are not properly trained. This lack of training significantly increases the risks of respiratory complications, cardiac arrest, brain damage and even death. According to the article which cites a University HealthSystem Consortium study, "there may be a potentially 1,690 incidents a...

• Ft. Myers Pastor Charged with Sexual Abuse of Minors

  Joe Saunders | August 02, 2006 2:48 PM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  Pastor Russell Brown was arrested Monday night on charges he molested three young boys who attended his church, Antioch Missionary Baptist Church. He is accused of three felony counts of lewd and lascivious behavior. Prior to his arrest, he had been pastor of the church for 20 years. In all, there are six children that have come forward to accuse Brown of sexual abuse between the years...

• New Boss (Hopefully) Not the Same as the Old Boss

  Joe Saunders | July 23, 2006 4:55 PM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  As the Diocese of Venice, which includes Sarasota, prepares to welcome a new bishop, we can only hope that this new prelate will deal with the scourge of sexual abuse more openly and honestly than his predecessor, Most. Rev. John Nevins. Nevins has a long history of transferring, covering up, and protecting abusive priests. In fact, in one notorious case, he set up the offending priest with...

• Cruise Ship Accident Brings Up Question of Seaworthiness

  Staff Writer | July 19, 2006 3:43 PM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  Just two short weeks after our post about boating accidents being on the rise, a really, really, REALLY BIG boat (OK, a ship) was involved in an incident off of Florida's east coast yesterday. The Crown Princess cruise ship accident has been all over pretty much every news outlet since it nearly rolled over Tuesday. The fact that dozens of passengers were injued (some reports report as many as...