Medtronic Inc. has recalled three million disposable infusion sets designed for their MiniMed Paradigm insulin pumps after discovering that some of them could deliver incorrect doses of insulin, potentially leading to injury or death. The Medtronic Paradigm recall involves one lot of Quick-set infusion sets, which are disposable plastic tubes…
Russell Powell wondered for years after he returned from Iraq why he couldn’t run even short distances without wheezing. Following his yearlong tour of duty that ended in 2004, he coached his son’s Little League team, but had to stop because it exhausted him. The 34-year-old, who was able to…
Two years after several environmental groups sued, a Houston energy company has agreed to clean up mercury contamination around its natural gas wells in the Monroe area. EnerVest Operating LLC will decontaminate land in Ouachita, Union and Morehouse parishes and replace about 400 leaky mercury meters the company uses to…
Has a Zicam nasal cold remedy robbed you of your sense of smell, and possibly the ability to taste? If so you have probably been stricken with a condition called anosmia – loss of sense of smell, sometimes accompanied by loss of sense of taste – related to the presence…
Federal and state officials plan to interview about 100 Midlothian residents next week as part of an environmental study to see whether a link exists between industrial pollution and human and animal health problems, including birth defects. Midlothian, southeast of Fort Worth, has 10 cement kilns, one of the largest…
A $31 million verdict against Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio, could be the largest jury award for a medical malpractice case in Ohio history, though a settlement agreement makes it unlikely the hospital will have to pay that much. As the jury was deliberating, after a four-week trial before…
Dallas County commissioners voted Tuesday to settle two federal jail neglect lawsuits for close to a half-million dollars. County officials say the lawsuits are the last major legal claims related to prior conditions in the jail system, which were described a few years ago by federal investigators as being dangerous…
Is Gary Kao a renegade physician, or maybe just a doctor who was allowed to get in over his head? Kao is the only person whom officials have identified in the unfolding scandal over substandard radioactive seed implants at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center. As the radiation oncologist who did…
Yasmin was introduced in 2001 by Berlex Laboratories as a combined hormonal oral contraceptive. After Berlex was acquired by Bayer Healthcare in 2006, they marketed Yaz, which was an identical drug to Yasmin, except that Yasmin contained 30 mcg of ethinyl estradiol, while Yaz contained 20 mcg. Yasmin/Yaz was sold…
The New Jersey Supreme Court has designated mounting litigation over the Johnson & Johnson antibiotic Levaquin as a mass tort and has assigned it to an Atlantic County, N.J., judge. The suits charge that the drug, which is prescribed for bacterial infections of the lungs, urinary tract and skin, has…