Now that that whole bath salts craze has died down, we’d expect the zombification of our population to sputter out as well. But kids these days, well they keep finding new ways to freak everyone out. Namely a new designer drug that’s eating its way through human flesh and turning people into stumbling, incoherent zombies. Sigh. [More]
Pharma Medicine
Children Died Because Johnson & Johnson Insisted On Selling Two Types Of Kids’ Tylenol
By 9.20.13
At the intersection of bad marketing, inept regulation, and unwitting consumers, you’ll find the graves of young children, just some of the infants who, according to a new report from ProPublica, have become ill over the decades because Johnson & Johnson and other makers of acetaminophen-based painkillers insisted on selling two youth-targeted varieties of the drug while the FDA did what it does best — nothing. [More]
Walgreens Moving Eligible Employees To Health Insurance Exchange
By 9.18.13
Walgreen Co., the parent company of Walgreen’s, is joining the “Let’s change our health care” party, right after Trader Joe’s announced it’d be giving employees money to purchase their own health insurance on the exchange system. The company announced today that it will send eligible employees shopping for coverage instead of using a company-backed system. [More]
CDC: 2 Million Americans Get Sick From Antibiotic-Resistant Infections Every Year
By 9.16.13
While livestock farmers around the country continue to feed medically unnecessary antibiotics to their animals for the sole purpose of encouraging growth, millions of Americans are falling ill — and thousands dying — every year from bacterial and fungal infections that are resistant to current medication, claims a new report from the Centers for Disease Control. [More]
It’s A Good Idea To Find Out Whether Or Not A Drug Is Illegal Before Flying With 85 Pounds Of It
By 9.3.13
Just because your entire family likes chewing on a bit of leaf overseas doesn’t mean it’s going to be an A-OK substance to fly with. A Minnesota man might’ve wanted to do a bit of Googling before deciding to pack up 85 pounds of a drug called Khat and fly with it. Officials at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport stopped him and he was all, “Shrug! I saw people doing it this one time so…” [More]
Do Prescription Drug Coupons Lead To Higher Insurance Rates For Everyone?
By 9.3.13
If you’ve been to a website for a brand-name prescription drug in the past few years, you’re probably familiar with coupons offering huge discounts or copayment assistance to patients. For the drug maker, it’s a way to hopefully steer customers away from lower-cost alternatives, and it may seem like a good deal to the consumer. But a new report says that in the long run, these coupons could ding the bank accounts of both those who use the coupons and the rest of us who are just trying to keep up with our insurance premiums. [More]
Johnson & Johnson Reveals New Acetaminophen Warning Labels On Bottles Of Tylenol
By 8.30.13
Johnson & Johnson has revealed a new bottle cap design for Tylenol products sold in the U.S. which will warn consumers in bright red lettering that the medication contains acetaminophen. The labels will alert users to the potentially fatal risks of taking too much Tylenol, which is an unusual step for a company to make. [More]
Missouri AG’s Lawsuit Accuses Walgreens Of Overcharging Customers
By 8.27.13
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster is taking on Walgreen Co., accusing the pharmacy chain of overcharging customers. He filed a lawsuit yesterday, claiming the company is yanking customers’ chains by posting misleading or deceptive price tags on various items, after undercover investigators checked out consumer complaints at area stores. [More]
Tests Find Cancer-Causing Chemical In 98 Personal Care Products
By 8.27.13
Cocamide diethanolamine (cocamide DEA) is a chemically-modified form of coconut oil, sometimes used as a thickener or foaming agent in a number of products. It has also been listed by the state of California as a known carcinogen, meaning manufacturers are required to include a warning on the label. But recent tests found 98 shampoos, soaps, and other personal care products, that contain the chemical but don’t have any warning. [More]
Why Does CVS Need A HIPAA Waiver To Count How Many Prescriptions You Fill?
By 8.22.13
If you don’t mind trading your shopping history and personal data for free stuff or discounts, loyalty card programs offer some great benefits if you were going to be loyal to a business in the first place. The question is, how much of your privacy are you willing to give up for some discounts? [More]
Do Food Regulators Care If Foreign Farmers Use Veterinary Drugs Banned In The U.S.?
By 8.21.13
Later this week, the United Nations food standards agency will be meeting in Minneapolis to discuss, among other things, standards for ten veterinary drugs that are banned for use in the U.S. but not globally. Fearing that continued use of these drugs by farmers in other countries could result in these banned chemicals still reaching the American market, a group of consumer advocates have called on federal regulators to not only take a tougher stance, but to stop encouraging the use of these drugs elsewhere. [More]
Maybe The Most Depressing Amazon Listing Ever (Unless You’re In The Market For A Crack Pipe)
By 8.19.13
People employ all manner of odd devices in the smoking of illegal drugs like crack and crystal meth, but there’s something particularly heartbreaking about realizing that people are using these novelty “love roses” as an affordable way to ruin their lives. [More]
Burger King Russia Positions Whopper As Substitute For Opium And/Or McDonald’s
By 8.16.13
People are often quipping that fast food has a drug-like quality that keeps customers coming back for more, but the folks at Burger King’s Russian operation are making the connection quite literal, while at the same time apparently poking fun at McDonald’s. [More]
Chipotle Considers Using Beef Treated With Antibiotics
By 8.14.13
Chipotle prides itself on its meat policy of responsibly raised, antibiotic-free beef, chicken and pork. But that could be changing soon, as the burrito chain says it’s considering the idea of allowing cows that have been treated with antibiotics to remain in the supply chain. It’s only thinking about it so far — until now, only sick animals were allowed to be treated and then they had to be removed from the rest of the herd, and not end up in stores. [More]
CVS Carding Customers To Make Sure You’re Removing Nail Polish And Not Making Meth
By 8.9.13
Shoppers are used to whipping out identification for buying booze and even allergy meds these days, but the next time your manicure needs a refresher, you might find yourself getting card at CVS for buying nail polish remover. The pharmacy chain has posted notices to customers in various locations on the East Coast that the company is trying to fight the meth cookers out there who would twist acetone to their illegal doings. [More]
Snow Cone Means Something Else Entirely When The Ice Cream Truck Driver Is Peddling Drugs
By 8.7.13
Whether you love the jingle-jangle of the ice cream truck cruising your neighborhood or can’t stand it, for most of us it’s a mobile sign of childhood, sweet treats and hot summer days. So it’s a bummer that someone could (allegedly) turn it into a roving drug dispensary. Cops busted a Brooklyn man recently accused of selling cocaine — alongside the real snow cones and ice cream — from his ice cream truck. Innocence = lost. [More]
FDA Links Acetaminophen To Nasty, Possibly Fatal Skin Reactions (But Try Not To Freak Out)
By 8.2.13
Because no weekend can get started without news of a possible scary drug interaction, the FDA has issued a consumer alert warning that, in extremely rare cases, use of the popular over-the-counter painkiller acetaminophen (used in Tylenol and many others) can cause “rare but serious skin reactions,” including three serious skin diseases with symptoms like rash, blisters and widespread damage to the surface of skin. Yuck. [More]
Trader Joe’s Customers: We Don’t Want Drugs In Our Meat
By 7.25.13
While many grocery store chains carry meat from animals that have been fed unnecessary antibiotics purely for the purpose of encouraging growth, the results of a new survey show that a large majority of all supermarket shoppers — but especially Trader Joe’s customers — would rather that their favorite food store stop carrying the drugged-up beef, pork, and poultry. [More]
