July 20, 2009
Blacks had 51 percent higher prevalence of obesity, and Hispanics had 21 percent higher obesity prevalence compared with whites, according to researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Greater prevalences of obesity for blacks and whites were found in the South and Midwest than in the West and Northeast. Hispanics in the [...]
July 20, 2009
New data from the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample — the largest, all-payer emergency department database in the United States — indicate that people who are uninsured accounted for nearly one-fifth of the 120 million hospital-based emergency department visits in 2006.
The Nationwide Emergency Department Sample is designed to help public health experts, policymakers, [...]
July 17, 2009
In an effort to make train travel safer, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo have announced proposed rules designed to prevent train collisions through the use of Positive Train Control.
The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, or NPRM, sets out how railroads must use Positive Train Control systems to prevent [...]
July 17, 2009
The Food and Drug Administration has approved Onsolis, medication intended for certain patients with cancer to help manage severe flares of pain that break through regular pain medication – also known as breakthrough pain.
Onsolis is in a class of drugs that deliver the potent opioid fentanyl through the mouth’s mucous membranes. Onsolis delivers [...]
July 16, 2009
On June 19, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned consumers not to eat any varieties of prepackaged Nestlé Toll House refrigerated cookie dough due to risk of contamination with E. coli O157:H7 (a bacterium that causes foodborne illness).
FDA had found E. coli in a [...]
July 15, 2009
The Food and Drug Administration has issued draft guidance on the use of inks, pigments, flavors, and other physical-chemical identifiers (PCIDs) by manufacturers to make drug products more difficult to counterfeit, and to make it easier to identify the genuine version of the drug.
“Drug counterfeiting is a serious public health concern,” said Commissioner [...]
July 15, 2009
Scammers who duped consumers into paying more than $30 million for bogus business opportunities have settled Federal Trade Commission charges that their deceptive claims violated federal law.
The settlements prohibit future violations by the defendants, who promised consumers that they would receive access to overstocked merchandise, expert training in the surplus goods industry, [...]
July 15, 2009
The Department of Health and Human Services will commit $884 million to purchase additional supplies of two key ingredients for potential H1N1 – or swine flu — vaccine to further prepare the nation for a potential resurgence of the virus.
“We recognize that preparedness is shared responsibility between federal, tribal, state, local governments, [...]
July 14, 2009
A new roadside survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirms a continuing decline in the percentage of legally intoxicated drivers.
In 1973, 7.5 percent of drivers had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. In the latest survey, that was down to 2.2 percent. A BAC of .08 or [...]