contamination
Concerned about bacterial contamination, Tylenol is recalling certain children's liquid medication products manufactured during a certain period in 2008. While the risk of infection is low when the medicines are ingested, still: eww,
bacteria.
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drugs
Look, we know this recession is tough and all, but you've gotta lay off the NyQuil and Theraflu or the
FDA will stuff them behind a counter, ok? Seriously, an advisory panel is meeting today, and already voted to reduce the maximum daily dose of Tylenol and other painkillers. They might even slap scary "black box" warnings on all over-the-counter painkillers to dissuade you acetaminophen addicts from overdosing.
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science says
More than half of the
baby products recently tested by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics were found to contain trace levels of formaldehyde and dioxane. Though the study didn't accuse
Johnson & Johnson of dumping barrels of the potential carcinogens directly into their baby products, the dangerous chemicals can form during the manufacturing process as other ingredients break down. The full list of 48 tested baby shampoos, lotions, soaps, and wipes—including some well-known products you probably have on your shelf—inside.
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google
The Research Institute has compiled a list of
the most reputable companies in the U.S., "calculated by averaging perceptions of trust, esteem, admiration, and good feeling obtained from a representative sample of 100 local respondents who were familiar with the company." (Then they do some
statistical stuff to it.) Coming in at #1 is Google, which we think is remarkable considering how much data the company has managed to collect over the past several years, and continues to collect with new record-keeping initiatives like
Google Health.
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lawsuits
Johnson & Johnson has held the exclusive right to use the "red cross" symbol for commercial purposes for more than 100 years, and is now suing the American Red Cross because it says the ARC is using its trademark in a commercial way. From CBC:
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the news
• New! Baby-no-Tears Nicorette patch! [
LAT] "J & J to Buy Pfizer Consumer Health Unit"
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Consumerist
your health
big pharma
A new meta-analysis showed that popular anemia drugs Aranesp and Procrit increase the risk of death in cancer patients by 10 percent, a statistically significant number. [NYT]
