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• Zyprexa Settles Lawsuits with 33 States

  Joe Saunders | October 13, 2008 11:13 AM | 1 CommentSarasota, FL

  Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of the schizophrenia and bipolar disorder drug, Zyprexa, has settled lawsuits with 33 states that sued the drug company for falsely marketing its drug to patients with...

• Older Patients Who Take Avandia Have Higher Risk of Heart Attacks

  Joe Saunders | December 13, 2007 11:33 AM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  According to an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association older people who suffer from diabetes and take Avandia as part of their treatment regimen are 60% increased risk of heart failure, a 40% increased risk of heart attack, and a 30% increased risk of death. This is obviously not good news for Glaxo Smith Kline, the manufacturer of Avandia. Avandia is a...

• Food Contamination Sources

  Joe Saunders | November 02, 2007 7:17 AM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  Thanks to two University of Arizona researchers, we may now have a better understanding of how our foods become contaminated with salmonella and Escherichia coli O157:H7, better known as E. coli. Their research suggests that "most of the pathogens that have been collected from outbreaks came from sources such as animal husbandry operations, contaminated water and proximity of urban centers,"...

• Manatee Car Accident Claims Two Lives

  Joe Saunders | November 01, 2007 2:39 PM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  Halloween proved fatal for two Manatee residents who crashed through a fence and into a shallow pond during the evening. Witnesses spotted two teenaged girls fleeing the scene. Police are looking for them as this blog post is being written.For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.

• Food Safety Issues

  Joe Saunders | October 27, 2007 10:52 AM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  In the last few years, we've seen a number of food recalls including peanut butter, spinach, lettuce, ice cream, and ground beef patties. These food products were either contaminated with salmonella or E coli bacteria. Recently, consumers have had to face another food safety issue dealing with the mislabeling or incorrect labelling of food products. There's been a spate of recalled foods due...

• Florida No Fault Insurance Law On Agenda for Legislative Special Session

  Joe Saunders | October 03, 2007 10:00 AM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  In a last minute change, PIP has been added to the agenda for this week's special session of the Florida Legislature. The law had expired October 1, but Governor Charlie Crist has added the item to the agenda. The law, which took effect in 1971, required drivers to purchase insurance to cover his or her own medical costs regardless of who is at fault in the car accident. Opponents of the no...

• Grocery Manufacturers Association Wants Beefed Up Regulation to Curb Food Poisoning

  Joe Saunders | September 18, 2007 12:01 PM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  The Grocery Manufacturers Association, the largest trade group in the industry, has called on federal regulators to strengthen their regulation of imported foods. In light of the e coli outbreaks in spinach and lettuce and the ConAgra peanut butter contamination, one would also hope for tighter controls on domestic food processing and handling but in any case, this is a good move for consumers....

• Nuvaring Joins OrthoEvra in Birth Control Blood Clot Dangers

  Joe Saunders | September 04, 2007 8:24 AM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  OrthoEvra preceded Nuvaring in drawing media attention for its risks of causing blood clots. Now, however, Nuvaring has taken its place beside OrthoEvra as another birth control device that has risky side effects such as blood clots, pulmonary emboli, deep vein thrombosis, stroke, heart attack, and death. Nuvaring is a birth control device placed in the vagina during a woman's cycle. It has a...

• FDA Panel to Review Safety of Children's Cold Medicines

  Joe Saunders | August 16, 2007 6:46 AM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  The FDA will convene a panel to review the safety and efficacy of over the counter children's cold medicines. A group of doctors are pushing the FDA to put a warning on these over the counter products that they have not been proven safe and effective for children under six years of age. The petition was filed with the FDA earlier this year after a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...

• Acanthamoeba Keratitis Causing More Eye Infections for Contact Lens Users

  Joe Saunders | May 28, 2007 10:34 AM | 0 CommentsSarasota, FL

  The CDC has linked AMO Complete Moisture Plus Multi-Purpose Contact Lens Solution manufactured by Advanced Medical Optics to a rare but potentially serious eye infection caused by Acanthamoeba keratitis. This infection outbreak involves amoeba as opposed to the fungal keratitis of last year. Eye infections linked to contact lens solution may also be bacterial. We suspect that the CDC will...