Yesterday, Consumer Reports noted that an anti-health reform politician is trying to convince senior citizens that they’ll be required to take lessons in euthanasia if any reform is passed. Regardless of what side you come down on with health care reform, this is flat out wrong. We care about this lie, which is still bouncing around the media, because it might interfere with the very real and useful tasks of setting up living wills and determining health care proxies—things that matter to both the elderly and the terminally ill.
illness
By 7.8.09
../../../..//2009/07/08/the-fda-has-issued-a/
The FDA has issued a new ruling that says egg producers must “test regularly for salmonella and buy chicks from suppliers who do the same,” and that eggs “will have to be refrigerated on the farm and during shipment” as well as by wholesalers and in the store. The rule is meant to cut down on the number of egg-related salmonella cases nationwide, which currently are around 142,000 a year. [Washington Post] (Photo: Andreas Kollegger)
Pixar Arranges Home Screening Of "Up" For Dying 10-Year-Old
By 6.19.09
We know, that headline just oozes treacle. But it’s for real! The family friend of a dying child cold-called Pixar’s offices and guessed her way through the phone tree to a live person, then pleaded her case: the child desperately wanted to see Up, but was possibly days away from death and too sick to travel or sit in a movie theater. The next day, a Pixar employee arrived with a DVD of the movie and sat with the family while they watched it. Sometimes people can be really decent to each other.
Salmonella Peanut Butter Plant Repeatedly Violated Health Codes
By 1.26.09
The Georgia peanut plant responsible for the salmonella outbreak that has sickened nearly 500 and killed at least 7 was repeatedly cited with health code violations for being “not properly cleaned and sanitized.”
10,000 Babies May Have Consumed Poison Milk
By 9.15.08
Remember melamine, last year’s pet-killing poison? It’s back with a vengeance, and this year it wants Chinese babies. As many as 10,000 may have consumed melamine-laced milk powder, according to authorities. Even worse, a New Zealand company detected the poison weeks ago but couldn’t convince local officials to issue a recall. Only after New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark demanded action did the Chinese recall the death milk.
Leukemia Survivor Who Had Identity Stolen By Lab Tech Tells His Story
By 4.10.08
We wrote about Eric Drew a few weeks ago—his personal information was stolen by a shady lab technician while he was undergoing treatment in 2004.
There's Salmonella In The Cantaloupes!
By 3.25.08
The FDA is detaining shipments of “cantaloupe from Agropecuaria Montelibano, a Honduran grower and packer, because, based on current information, fruit from this company appears to be associated with a Salmonella Litchfield outbreak in the United States and Canada.”
What Airlines Do In The Event Of A Medical Emergency
By 2.26.08
Yesterday’s story of the death of a passenger on board an American Airlines flight continued to unfold throughout the day, and now CNN has posted an article that addresses some of the questions people were asking about in-flight emergencies in general. CNN spoke with several experts in the area where medicine overlaps with the airline industry to find out how airlines prepare for the inevitable really sick passenger.
Beware Dirty Lemon Wedges At Restaurants
By 2.21.08
The slightly alarmist HealthInspections.com has a story about dirty lemon wedges in restaurants—apparently they’re a “witch’s brew of bacteria,” to use the hilariously over-the-top language of the video narrator, who speaks in a parody of a newscaster voice. Our favorite trick of theirs: overlaying gigantic bacteria animations on everyday objects, as you can see in this screen capture. But anyway, the point is a microbiologist from New Jersey found various bacteria on three quarters of the lemons she tested from 21 different restaurants: “The very first sample that we took was loaded with fecal bacteria.”
US Airways Crew Suffers Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
By 11.7.07
More comforting news from the airline industry: Five crew members were taken to the hospital after complaining of an illness caused by a mysterious smell on US Airways Flight 2022 from Washington to Boston. The smell turned out to be carbon monoxide-filled fumes from a generator that drives the jet’s air conditioning.
US Airways Passenger Who Died In Airport Holding Cell Was On Her Way To Rehab
By 10.2.07
This story just keeps getting sadder. Carol Anne Gotbaum, the passenger who got into a screaming match with US Airways gate attendants and later died in a holding cell after being arrested, was on her way to an alcohol treatment center in Tucson to seek help. She was also the stepdaughter-in-law of New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum.
Hypochondriacs Rejoice! CSPI Launches Foodbourne Illness Outbreak Database
By 9.19.07
Here’s a nifty little tool for you hypochondriacs, the CSPI has put together an easily browsable database of all the foodbourne illness outbreaks in the US! Did you know that lima beans caused an outbreak of Clostridium perfringens at an Illinois jail in 1996? Now you do!
FDA: Veggie Booty Snack Food Contaminated With Salmonella
By 6.29.07
The FDA is warning consumers not to eat Veggie Booty snack food, because there is a risk of salmonella contamination. Reader Ethan asked us to announce this recall because “Pretty much everyone I know who has a toddler buys this stuff.” We’d never heard of it, but Salon.com calls it “crack for babies” and says it smells “funkier than poop.” Ok.
VIDEO: Girl Kicked Off Continental For Excessive Coughing
By 3.30.07
While we appreciate the pilot’s concern for the other passengers, we still think he was overcautious.
Continental Ejects Passenger From Flight For Coughing
By 3.30.07
Moments after Collier was seated, she began to cough uncontrollably — suffering from a cold she caught from some of her friends earlier in the week. After a few minutes, members of the flight staff asked the teen if she was OK. […] “A doctor onboard even did a brief physical, said she sounded clear, to give her some NyQuil and she’d be fine, but the pilot didn’t want to listen to that.” Instead, according to Collier, he stepped in and asked that she be taken off the flight.
The teen, part of a school group, was left behind. A teacher stayed behind too, to chaperone.
Blue Cross of California Hates Pregnant Women and Sick People
By 3.23.07
The state of California is fining the company $1 million as a result. Not that that will help the hundreds of people who lost their coverage.
FDA Introduces Fresh-Cut Produce Guidelines
By 3.12.07
The FDA noted fresh-cut or prepackaged produce like spinach, lettuce and fruit is the fastest-growing segment of the $12 billion annual produce industry.
