Dairy Queen is the king of food safety violations, according to nationwide health inspection reports. Hygiene issues comprise almost 25% of DQ’s violations; busy employees apparently can’t be bothered to wash their hands or store food at the proper temperature.
health
FDA Requiring Hearing Loss Warnings On Viagra, Cialis, Levitra
By 10.19.07
Stop doing that or you’ll go deaf! That’s the new warning (sort of) the FDA will require on popular anti-impotence drugs, spurred after a published report of a man who suffered sudden hearing loss after taking Viagra. The FDA took a look at side effect data and found 29 cases since 1996 where men suffered from similar hearing loss after taking one of the three drugs. “In two thirds of the cases, the hearing loss was ongoing, the agency said.” A drug to treat pulmonary hypertension, Revatio, will also receive the warning because it contains the same ingredient as Viagra.
Deep Vein Thrombosis Lawsuits Against US Airways, Delta Allowed To Continue
By 10.18.07
Three airline passengers who claim that cramped seating gave them deep vein thrombosis can continue with their lawsuits against Singapore, Delta and US Airways, a judge ruled.
Google Announces Plans For Online Personal Health Records Service
By 10.18.07
Microsoft beat them to the punch, but Google has announced that they, too, are planning to roll out a service that lets consumers store their medical records online and transfer them between health care providers as needed. Marissa Mayer at Google said the idea was spawned after reports of lost or damaged records in the wake of Hurricane Katrina: “It doesn’t make sense to generate this volume of information on paper. It should be something that is digital. People should have control over their own records.” Mayer says they hope to include things like x-rays, and that it “will take a lot of breakthroughs in digitization.”
By 10.18.07
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“Stories of elder abuse in long-term care facilities usually involve rogue staff. So you may be surprised to learn that the vast majority of violent assaults in nursing homes involve one resident attacking another.” [CBC Marketplace]
Free $5 Tylenol Coupons
By 10.17.07
Because of recent recalls of useless and potentially deadly children’s cold medicines, Tylenol is giving out $5 coupons. Be advised though that you have to install a special coupon printing program to take advantage of the offer. Turn on your printer, disable popup blocks, hit the red button, install the program, and a $5 coupon good for TYLENOL, MOTRIN, PediaCare, Benadryl, SUDAFED, St. Joseph, or Immodium pops out.
California's Ban On Phthalates May Spread To Other States
By 10.16.07
Yesterday’s legal action in California against Apple over its use of phthalates may be the opening shot in a nation-wide battle between consumer advocates, health agencies, state and federal entities, and manufacturers of everything from teething rings to consumer electronics to sex toys. Although the ban (which will go into effect Jan. 1, 2009) is limited to California, “lawmakers in Texas, Illinois, Florida, Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington, Maine, Connecticut and New York are expected to introduce similar legislation in the coming months, according to environmental and breast cancer groups that sponsored the California measure.”
6 Things To Know Before Getting Angry With Your Health Plan
By 10.16.07
The NYT read the Consumers Union’s, “A Consumer Guide to Handling Disputes With Your Employer or Private Health Plan,” and here’s their distillation of how you can avoid out of pocket expenses and frustration by making sure you know the following:
Hardee's Unleashes 920-Calorie Burrito Bomb
By 10.16.07
Hardee’s new Country Breakfast Burrito contains two egg omelets packed with bacon, sausage, diced ham, cheddar cheese, hash browns and sausage gravy… and 920 calories. We’ve never eaten two omelets in one sitting, and hope to never have to.
Medtronic Stops Selling Faulty Defibrillators
By 10.15.07
Medtronic is “recalling” its latest heart defibrillator models because of faulty wiring, which could lead to either it not working when you most need it, or it shocking you randomly in the heart with painful electric jolts. “The company is urging all of the roughly 235,000 patients with the lead, known as the Sprint Fidelis, to see their doctors to make sure it has not developed a fracture that can make the device misread heart-rhythm data.”
ConAgra Recalls Pot Pies Because Nobody Uses Their Microwave Properly
By 10.14.07
ConAgra is voluntarily recalling their pot pies while they rewrite vague cooking instructions that led 160 people in 31 states to contract salmonella. ConAgra’s current packaging orders hungry consumers to microwave their pot pies until cooked thoroughly, an instruction most consumers can’t follow.
It is relatively easy to figure out when a hamburger is well done by checking to see that it is no longer pink. But it’s preposterous to expect consumers to know how the cooking power of their microwave compares with others.
By 10.13.07
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You’re more likely to get sick in an office building than in an airplane. [Rick Seaney]
By 10.11.07
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If you want decaf coffee on the go, your best bet is McDonald’s, says Consumer Reports: cups from Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, and Seattle’s Best Coffee varied unpredictably, spiking as hight as 20-30 mg of caffeine per serving, while McDonald’s was consistently under 5 mg. [Consumer Reports]
Doctor To U.S.: "We Need To Eat More Feces"
By 10.10.07
Americans should have more poop in their diets, writes a doctor at Slate. Like superbugs and anti-bacterial products, we’ve become too successful at cleansing our food supply of all manner of contaminants—so that kids, for example, “have zero experience with routine gut infections, and when they encounter one that has slipped past our pipes and filters, the result can be catastrophic.”
Don't Eat Chicken Or Turkey Pot Pies Right Now
By 10.10.07
You can add another item to your special “unsafe food” list for October: chicken and turkey pot pies, including the Banquet brand and generic store brands that have “P-9” stamped on the side, which may contain salmonella. Several cases of salmonella poisoning have now been reported in various states, and ConAgra and the USDA are asking consumers not to eat the product while they investigate.
Poverty Makes You Healthier!
By 10.9.07
The decreased caloric intake and increase in non-motorized modes of transportation following Cuba’s economic crisis from 1989-2000 lead to a decrease in heart disease and diabetes, a University of Michigan study finds.
Medicare Companies Use Sick Marketing Practices, Federal Audit Finds
By 10.9.07
A federal audit of Medicare coverage by brand-name insurance companies found a pattern of wrongly denied claims and deceptive marketing practices, NYT reports. In some cases, salesmen would show up at elderly folk’s doors and say the President sent them, or that they’re from Medicare. In others, telemarketers call and say they’re from Medicare and the person will lose their benefits if they don’t enroll in the telemarketer’s plan. Our country’s healthcare system is on life support and we’re not sure what will fix it. Perhaps an appetite for more oversight, audits and fines for misbehaving companies would do the trick.
E.Coli Kills Topps Meat Company
By 10.5.07
Seventeen days after Topps launched the second largest meat recall in U.S. history, the 67-year-old company announced that it’s going out of business. Topp’s COO told American Agriculturist:
“In one week we have gone from the largest U.S. manufacturer of frozen hamburgers to a company that cannot overcome the economic reality of a recall this large… We want to thank our loyal employees and customers who have supported us throughout the 67 years in which Topps Meat has been in business,” D’Urso said. “Topps has always prided itself on providing the utmost quality and safety and never had a recall in our history until now. This has been a shocking and sobering experience for everyone.”
