News in category: Protecting Your Family

Antidepression medication and a high level of depression, resulted in the most impaired drivers, this study finds, while a low dose of medication taken by depressed drivers did not have the same result. Whether its the medication or the driver that causes poor driving remains unknown.

When Merck & Co launched the Advantage study in 1999, it said it was testing the painkiller, Vioxx, alongside its competitor.  Internal company documents now show that the clinical trial was "masquarading as science" and was actually a marketing ploy designed to promote the use of Vioxx among doctors pre-market. Merck denies the allegations in this published study.

People taking the type 2 diabetes drug, Byetta received an FDA warning Monday after it was reported that two people taking the drug died and four others were recovering from pancreatitis. People on the drug with any pancreas problems should stop taking it.  

Disney has revised its blanket prohibition on employees bringing guns to work. Backing off a bit from a new state law that allows employees with a concealed weapons permit to keep guns in their car, Disney will allow those who don't work near explosives.

People who survived the 1918 flu pandemic, who today are in their 90s and 100s, are still producing antibodies to the flu they were first exposed to.  This finding opens up a new area of influenza vaccine research.

Drug maker Wyeth is taking its final appeal of Diana Levine's case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn her $6 million verdict. Jurors agreed that Wyeth should have changed a drug label to make it safer- Wyeth says the label is approved by the FDA. 

You may not know anything about Diana Levine or federal preemption, but her case could impact millions of Americans who take prescription drugs or use FDA-approved medical devices.  Should the FDA be the final word? Should you lose your right to hold corporations accountable? 

43 percent of teens responding to an annual survey on drug attitudes, say they can get their hands on prescription drugs within an hour, and it's easier than getting beer. The report blames "passive parents" who don't know where their children are, and keep prescription drugs available at home assuming they've been approved so they're safe.

An ethical debate is brewing over just how long someone should be dead before their organs are harvested.  Is brain dead, dead enough?  Or should the brain, heart and lungs have ceased functioning irreversibly for a period of time before organs are taken?  Is 75 seconds enough time? This emotional debate has both sides speaking out.

The jury is still out on what type of therapy is appropriate for women who have survived breast cancer past the five-year mark, considered a landmark. Unfortunately, there is still a small risk of relapse which may depend on what type of cancer they had and what stage it was diagnosed.  

Human trials are underway to determine if a common chemotherapy drug, followed 24 hours later by an osteoporosis drug kills breast cancer tumors. In mice, the combination and timing of the drugs was more than 99 percent effective in halting breast tumors. 

If there was ever any doubt about the wisdom of vigorous aerobic exercise, like running, this Stanford study resolves it. Among runners, a 21-year study finds they have improved health and fewer disabilities, the benefits of which last into their 80s and 90s when the participants backed off into walking.

Whole Foods Market issued a voluntarily recall of 1.2 million pounds of fresh ground beef in 21 states due to possible E. Coli contamination. Seven customers in Massachusetts have been reported ill from a strain of E. Coli and people in 11 other states and Canada.

It used to be that being a married person meant better health than single folks. Now the health of the unmarried, particularly men, is catching up to their married counterparts, largely due to greater social access, this study finds.  In fact, having a divorce, separation or being widowed, hurt the quality of health, leading researchers to rethink whether promoting marriage is a goal for public health. 

According to a study from Denmark, deaths from fever-related seizures in children are extremely rare. Parents should be reassured that death after febrile seizures, convulsions brought on by a fever in small children, can lead to a loss of consciousness and shakiness, but last a minute or two generally.