Author Archive

Shoulder Pain Pump Delivers More than Physical Damage

July 29th, 2009. By janem

Imagine having shoulder surgery to make you better and instead, it makes you worse. In fact, it ruins your career–forever. That’s what is happening to some people who have been given a shoulder pain pump after surgery who now have to deal with dead cartilage.

Intra-articular pumps were designed to be placed in the shoulder tissue for pain relief. Before these pumps existed, patients were given pills or injections to ease the pain under the watchful eyes of medical staff. But hospital beds are scarce and most medical facilities want you out ASAP, so patients would go home earlier to recover with these pain pumps.

But some people didn’t recover-in fact the pain pumps have harmed them irreparably. Doctors began to see their patients develop chondrolysis, which is severe damage to the shoulder cartilage. Many patients suffer shoulder injuries because they use their shoulders in their careers-athletes for instance. So not only do they suffer extreme pain and loss of motion from these toxic pain meds destroying cartilage, now they’re also out of work, no doubt with spare time to file a lawsuit against the manufacturer.

Tags: shoulder pain pump
Posted in Emerging Issues | No Comments »

California Labor Law Board vs California Labor Law Attorney

July 20th, 2009. By janem

So much for that old adage “Go West Young Man”. In these tough economic times, some Californians may be thinking about moving elsewhere, particularly when employers are cutting back on payroll by various means such as implementing furloughs, or not paying overtime. If this has happened to you, the boss may be violating the California Labor Law.

You’ve got two options: either contact the California Labor Board or seek help from a California labor law attorney. “How the heck can I afford an attorney?” you are likely asking, especially when your paycheck has just been slashed. Of course the California labor board gives free advice and that may be a good place to start, but it generally handles cases below $7500 and it doesn’t even attempt to recover the 4th year of California overtime pay under the California Unfair Competition Statute.

A lawyer, on the other hand, will seek to recover up to 4 years of California overtime pay for their clients. And increasingly, many California labor law attorneys work on a contingency basis—meaning you only pay legal fees if your case has been successfully litigated by the lawyer on your behalf. So what are you waiting for? Get all your ducks in a row; get your paperwork together and call a lawyer.

Tags: California labor law
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Hydroxycut Diet Pill vs Cigarettes

July 16th, 2009. By janem

If I want to lose weight, I figure that smoking would get the same result as Hydroxycut. Cigarettes and Hydroxycut have a few things in common: they speed up your metabolism, they are appetite suppressants and they are extremely dangerous to your health.

When I quit smoking years ago, I gained 15 pounds. It took some time, but I got rid of the excess weight by exercise and good eating habits. Many people choose a “quick fix” to shed pounds even though it’s common knowledge that diet pills don’t work. In fact they are downright dangerous; remember Fen-phen? It was recalled for contributing to fatal heart valve damage.

 But diet pills are extremely popular and no wonder; according to the FDA, about 120 million Americans are overweight and 54 million are obese. And getting back to ciggies, while smoking is on the decline, overweight and obesity statistics are rapidly rising and obesity is the second most devastating avoidable cause of premature death in the US after tobacco. So can diet drugs save lives by curbing obesity? Doubtful.

Not only can diet pills deprive the body of essential nutrients, some pills can do irreversible damage such as Hydroxycut, which is known to cause liver damage and more. And more often than not, people just gain weight back—if the diet pills haven’t caused serious damage otherwise beforehand. Ask your doctor; the only way to lose weight is good old exercise and eating healthy foods.

Tags: Hydroxycut
Posted in Defective Products, Emerging Issues | 3 Comments »

Gadolinium—What is it Good For?

July 14th, 2009. By janem

Absolutely nothing, according to many people with some degree of renal failure who were injected with a contrast agent containing gadolinium during an MRI or MRA. These people got an MRI exam thinking that the results would help their condition. Instead, MRI health risks potentially outweigh the benefits if they were exposed to a gadolinium-based contrast dye.

Gadolinium is highly toxic. It is found in microwave ovens, color television tubes, computer memory and compact discs. Gadolinium is also used in nuclear marine propulsion as a burnable poison. Imagine putting that into your body: I thought Botox was bad enough!

And MRI health risks associated with gadolinium aren’t that rare. So far, more than 350 Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy lawsuits have been filed in the US, alleging that the manufacturers of the contrast agents (five of them) knew how potentially harmful the substances were long before letting the public know. Meanwhile, patients are still being exposed to the risk of NSF/NFD (Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis, also known as Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy).

Tags: Gadolinium, MRI Health Risks
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Is the Recession Increasing Foodborne Illness?

July 7th, 2009. By janem

Food manufacturers and retailers are watching their bottom line and finding ways to protect their profits, such as finding cheaper sources of supply, but at the same time they may be contributing to foodborne illness. One of my local grocery stores actually sells products at a huge discount if the “best before” date has expired, rather than send items back to the manufacturer. Perhaps the manufacturer is also getting a kick-back…Even nitwit UK celebrity cook Clarissa Dickson Wright  said that “use by” dates were a marketing gimmick and advised viewers just to give food “a sniff”. Bad advice.

And I just heard that Frugal Food, Delia Smith’s bestseller from the 1970s, is being republished. In the book she advises families to cut costs by making food last longer, reheat leftovers, freeze spare portions and use whatever lurks in the fridge and freezer rather than turf it.

Just in the past few years the US has seen outbreaks from spinach, tomatoes, frozen pizza, peanut butter, hamburger meat, Asian spices and most recently, Nestlé Tollhouse cookie dough. Of course 2 main reasons for potential outbreaks are the increasing complexity of the food chain and globalisation and the ability of new pathogens to evolve. However, could these cost-cutting measures be a contributing factor to increased foodborne illness outbreaks?

Tags: E Coli, foodborne illness
Posted in Emerging Issues | No Comments »