Archive for 2009

Can You Trust the FDA? maybe…maybe not

September 29th, 2009. By Hunter West

It’s enough to make your blood boil. 

Last week it was revealed that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) admitted that it bowed to political influence when it approved a medical device its own scientists had deemed repeatedly as affording little benefit to the patient. 

The name, or indication of the device matters little. Neither does the identity of the manufacturer involved, or the four members of Congress who applied what was described as relentless pressure (read lobbying) to get a product approved. Who they are doesn’t matter. 

What matters are the process, and the loss of principle. 

In a nutshell, a device that was deemed unsafe by FDA scientists because it often failed was approved anyway by the agency. Behind the approval was the relentless lobbying of a handful of Congressmen who represented the state where the manufacturer involved calls home. The Congressmen involved also, according to a September 24^th report in the New York Times (NYT), received political contributions from the executives of the manufacturer involved.  Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: FDA
Posted in Drugs/Medical | No Comments »

KFC sued for doin’ Chicken half-right

September 29th, 2009. By AbiK

Kentucky Fried Chicken (which hopped on board the acronym branding bandwagon to be hip in the hood a few yeas back and so now is known as KFC) is the target of a lawsuit filed by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) in California.

The issue, which has been in the courts for several years now with several fast food chains including Burger King and McDonald’s, centers on the presence of PhIP—a chemical byproduct of cooking meats at high temperatures.

According to a report on SFGate.com, PhIP was added to California’s list of carcinogens in 1994—and as such, it falls under California’s Proposition 65 which requires a business to warn customers if they are being exposed to a substance that can cause cancer or birth defects.

And that’s what’s at the heart of the current lawsuit against KFC—the warning, or lack thereof.

Lest you think that the PCRM is some small, CA-based enclave of lotus-pose-lovin’ quacks (I say that as a yoga practitioner so back off), it’s actually based out of Washington, DC and claims Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: KFC, PhIP
Posted in Emerging Issues, Personal Injury | 1 Comment »

Medtronic CD Horizon Spinal System: Buyer Beware

September 28th, 2009. By LucyC

We’re approaching the two year anniversary of the FDA recall of all lots of the MedTronic CD Horizon Spinal System Agile Dynamic Stabilization Device. So why bring it up? Well, in light of the seemingly endless number of defective products that make their way onto the market every year, the CD Horizon provides a cautionary tale. 

The device was developed to relieve spinal pain, and was surgically implanted. Sadly, the CD Horizon spinal system was prone to failure, causing patients more pain rather than less. 

The device was approved on the strength of risk analyses by Medtronic which allegedly claimed Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: CD Horizon Spinal System, Medtronic
Posted in Drugs/Medical | No Comments »

Steve Poizner: CA has “extreme labor laws”…huh?

September 28th, 2009. By AbiK

That was a quote taken from potential California gubernatorial candidate (and state Insurance Commissioner) Steve Poizner at the California Republican State Convention on Sept. 26th, as reported on in the Los Angeles Times.

Extreme? How you ask? Well, Poizner seems to think that having California labor laws that require overtime pay to kick in after 8 hours are worked in a given day is a bit extreme. He points out that “almost every other state” only requires overtime to kick in after a full 40-hour week has been worked.

Here’s the part I find interesting though—I’ll let you read the excerpt first:

Third part of my plan is to align our labor laws with the rest of the country. Now, I’ve been an employer; a lot of you have hired folks, a lot of you care about workers just as much as anybody. Why does California have to have extreme labor laws that make us stick out like a sore thumb?  Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: California labor law, California Overtime, Overtime
Posted in Emerging Issues | No Comments »

Alfred Rava, Manhattan may need you

September 28th, 2009. By AbiK

All’s been relatively quiet on the Alfred Rava front. Only a bit of a hub-bub over his threatening ski resort Squaw Valley with a discrimination lawsuit because they were offering discounts to furloughed California state employees. Rava doesn’t like it when good-hearted folks try to do something good for those in perhaps a less fortunate situation. Case in point, the Mother’s Day breast cancer awareness promotion with the Oakland A’s.

At any rate, I was scanning this Sunday’s papers and as I was looking at all the super-processed and newfangled foods that had special deals in the weekly FSI coupon section, my eye caught a Dunkin Donuts ad. I don’t go to Dunkin Donuts. Ever. But none the less, there was this little parenthetical phrase on the DD coupons. This is what the one for “99¢ for any two (2) donuts” said: “($1.19 in Manhattan)”. Cough up another 20¢ for those “two (2)” donuts it you live—or just shop for your doughnuts—in the asphalt jungle.

(I would’ve included a pic of the actual coupon, but there in the small type it also said, “Internet distribution strictly prohibited” and well, this being a legal site and all, I didn’t want to risk anyone mass producing DD coupons. But the pic above is the lead promo folks in the NYC area saw this weekend in the paper.)

But that’s when I thought of him. That beacon of light in an unjust world—Alfred Rava. Here’s something he oughta be sinking his teeth into next. Why should New Yorkers—heck, we’re not even talking all boroughs—only “Manhattan”—not be included in the 99¢ deal? Isn’t that some form of discrimination?

Tags: Alfred Rava, Dunkin Donuts
Posted in Lex Levity | No Comments »