More than 70 employees at the 10 state mental hospitals in Texas have been fired and dozens others disciplined since 2005 over accusations of brutal beatings and other physical abuse, according to a newspaper report on Sunday. (Continue reading…)

Medical experts will consider Tuesday whether use of a painkiller made by Cephalon Inc. should be expanded, despite government concerns about increased risks for abuse.Cephalon’s drug Fentora is already approved to treat severe pain flare-ups in cancer patients taking opioids, a type of prescription painkiller. On Tuesday the FDA will ask a panel of outside experts whether it should be approved to treat pain in non-cancer patients, a larger market that includes those suffering from back and nerve pain. (Continue reading…)

American children take anti-psychotic medicines at about six times the rate of children in the United Kingdom, according to a comparison based on a new U.K. study.Does it mean U.S. kids are being over-treated? Or that U.K. children are being under-treated?

Experts say that’s almost beside the point, because use is rising on both sides of the Atlantic. And with scant long-term safety data, it’s likely the drugs are being over-prescribed for both U.S. and U.K. children, research suggests.

Among the most commonly used drugs were those to treat autism and hyperactivity.

In the U.K. study, there were 595 anti-psychotic prescriptions for children in 1992, or a rate of fewer than four children per 10,000 using the drugs. By 2005, 2,917 prescriptions were written, or a rate of seven children per 10,000 — a near-doubling, said lead author Fariz Rani, a researcher at the University of London’s pharmacy school.

The study is being released Monday in the May edition of the journal Pediatrics.

By contrast, an earlier U.S. study found that nearly 45 American children out of 10,000 used the drugs in 2001 versus more than 23 per 10,000 in 1996.

There are big differences that could help explain the vastly higher U.S. rate.

A recent report in The Lancet suggested that the U.K.’s universal health care system limits prescribing practices there. The report also said direct-to-consumer ads are more common in the United States. These ads raise consumer awareness and demand for medication.

While drug company ties with doctors are common in both the U.S. and U.K., Vanderbilt University researcher Wayne Ray said U.K. physicians generally are more conservative about prescribing psychiatric drugs. Ray co-authored the U.S. study, published in 2004.

The new U.K. study, involving 1992-2005 health records of more than 16,000 children, is the first large examination of these drugs in U.K. children. It found the increase was mostly in medicines that haven’t been officially approved for kids. They were most commonly prescribed for behavior and conduct disorders, which include attention deficit disorder. (Continue reading…)

Officials issue warning on meat products

Local health officials are warning consumers to avoid certain fresh and frozen meat and poultry items after a New York company voluntarily recalled more than 286,000 pounds of its products.

Officials said certain products labeled Gourmet Boutique, Jan’s and Archer Farms may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, although there were no reports of illness before the recall.

Listeria can cause a potentially fatal disease that it is rarely contracted by healthy people, the Monterey County Health Department reported. Symptoms include high fever, severe headaches, neck stiffness and nausea. Rare but serious symptoms can occur in those with compromised immune systems. Pregnant women make up about a third of listeriosis cases, health officials said.

The recalled products include certain chicken salads, wrap sandwiches, burritos and other prepared poultry and meat products.

A coalition of health care groups sued the state Monday to prevent pay cuts to doctors, dentists, pharmacists and others who treat the poor, elderly and disabled.

The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf of California health care providers seeks an injunction to halt 10 percent cuts to Medi-Cal and Denti-Cal reimbursements scheduled to take effect July 1.

“These specific cuts strike at the core of the safety net,” said Erica Murray, vice president of the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems. “These are the trauma centers, the burn units, the places where people go not only when they don’t have insurance or they have Medi-Cal, but if they have an automobile accident, their house burns down or another tragic event.” (Continue reading…)

Every day thousands of Americans rely on the blood thinner Heparin to survive.

Now that drug is under suspicion for 21 deaths and hundreds of allergic reactions. Baxter International, a major manufacturer of the drug, has stopped selling almost all forms of Heparin.

CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay reports that officials say they have not yet identified the cause, but are looking to China where nearly half of Heparin’s raw ingredients come from.
(Continue reading…)

According to a study published in the March issue of the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, vitamin E can increase the risk of developing lung cancer. The study used data on 77,126 men and women between the ages 50 and 76 from the Washington State Vitamins and Lifestyle study, examining their rate of lung cancer over four years. The increased risk equaled seven percent for every 100 mg a day of vitamin E supplement taken. While the increased risk posed by smoking and age weren’t surprising, the link to vitamin E was.

“In contrast to the often assumed benefits or at least lack of harm, supplemental vitamin E was associated with a small increased risk of lung cancer,” said Dr. Christopher G. Slatore, M.D., of the University of Washington in Seattle.

Using vitamin supplements as a substitute for fruits and vegetables has long been controversial due to their containing not only vitamins, but also phytochemical compounds and other components whose benefits aren’t well understood. “Future studies may focus on other components of fruits and vegetables that may explain the decreased risk [of cancer] that has been associated with fruits and vegetables,” said Dr. Slatore.

The FDA approved esomeprazole (Nexium) to help short term gastroesophagel reflux disease (GERD) in children between the ages of 1 and 11. The drug was approved in 2 forms: the delayed release capsule and a magnesium liquid, in 10 and 20 mg doses.

This proton pump inhibitor was already approved for adolescents between the ages of 12 to 17. This approval shows promise to help children in managing the disease more effectively. The FDA approved Nexium on the basis of exploratory research demonstrating the drug’s effectiveness and safety for use with children. Previous studies showed improvement among the children who were administered Nexium.

The FDS suggests monitoring of these children over time to ensure that they do not have any adverse side effects. There are some side effects, although not ever patient will experience them, such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, gas, constipation and dry mouth.

There’s no reason why the Legislature can’t vote next week to ban smoking statewide and force insurance companies to cover autism, Gov. Jim Doyle said Monday.

Even though Doyle called on the Legislature to pass both proposals, that is highly unlikely to happen next week given strong opposition to each and where the bills are in the process. (Continue reading…)

The California Nurses Association has delivered a 10-day strike notice to Sutter Health hospitals in Northern California for a strike that could take place Dec. 13 and 14, reprising an earlier two-day walkout in October. (Continue reading…)