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Firings at Mental Hospitals Over Abuse

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.

Cephalon drug gets FDA panel review

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 […]

Anti-psychotic drug use soars in UK children

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 […]

Officials issue warning on meat productsOfficials issue warning on meat products

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 […]

Health care workers sue state over pay-cut plan

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 […]

Vitamin E Supplements Linked to Lung Cancer

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, […]

Doyle calls on Legislature to pass smoking ban, autism coverage

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 […]

CNA issues strike notice to Sutter Health hospitals

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.

Honey works best to calm kids’ coughs, study finds

A spoonful of buckwheat honey quells a child’s nighttime chest cold coughing better than the most common cough suppressant in nonprescription medicines, researchers said on Monday.

Early findings of beluga whale’s death at US aquarium inconclusive

Early results from a necropsy performed on a beluga whale that died at the Georgia Aquarium produced no conclusive findings on the cause of death, officials said Monday.Marina had fallen ill at the aquarium and died early Saturday morning.