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Watch Your P’s and Q’s on Facebook and Twitter

March 16th, 2010. By janem

If you have a potential personal injury suit, the first thing a lawyer will tell you is to “Keep your mouth shut”. They should also add -and many already do– “Stay off Facebook, Twitter, and any other social networking sites, including your own blog.”

Not only are more people than ever turning to Internet sources for news, a recent study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project show that, of people who do get their news online, 75 percent of them have links sent via email or social media. And that percentage includes private investigators, insurers, defense lawyers and judges.

Insurance companies see social media as a monitor or search for information about claimants. They are looking for information a claimant has posted regarding an accident, such as how it happened, who caused it, or even the claimant saying it was their fault.

They also look for information which might contradict what the injured person says about their injury.

Here are a few examples:

• In Ontario a woman who claimed she was disabled had Facebook photos of her dancing. The judge allowed the photos to be admitted as evidence in her personal injury case.

• A Florida woman claimed a back injury and couldn’t work. She went on a cruise with friends and they videotaped her whooping it up, including a videotape of her doing the limbo. The insurance company had been on her Facebook site, downloaded the video and was ready to show it to the jury. The case didn’t turn out to her liking.

• A Supreme Court judge ordered the production of records showing how often a plaintiff claiming a brain injury uses Facebook.

• In a Twitter libel case, you would need to choose 140 characters-at the most–very, very carefully. The promoters of “the Cookie Diet” allegedly claimed that celebutant Kim Kardashian is a fan But Kardashian disdainfully tweeted she would never be on such an “unhealthy diet.” The Cookies filed a defamation case against Kardashian.

And insurance companies look for general information to profile what kind of a person you are. So if you have photos posted on FaceBook or MySpace in a bar or doing something arguably illegal, judgment evidence will be made against you–more negative fodder that a jury might frown on. Value judgments will be made about you–and even a lawyer you hire might decide not to take your case.

It has long been established that electronic documents can be relevant. In one Ontario case, a judge scolded the insurer’s lawyer for failing to ask the plaintiff to produce her Facebook page as part of a sworn affidavit, or to bring up Facebook in cross-examination.  In another case, a judge ordered up the release of Facebook. So now some lawyers are demanding Facebook photos in every suit.

Typically, courts in civil cases can only demand private Facebook pages, or a twitter here and there if the material is directly related to the case. But just to be on the safe side, take Everything Down! Especially photographs and videos. The e-trail doesn’t stop there so be diligent: it’s also important that all your online friends purge you from their accounts. If a photo is tagged by someone else, it is still accessible by searching.  And strengthen your privacy settings. It’s BIG BROTHER on the Social Media Highway!

Tags: Facebook, personal injury litigation, Twitter
Posted in Personal Injury | No Comments »

What the heck is HVP? Demand better food labeling!

March 10th, 2010. By janem

Dollars to donuts, you’ve consumed Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP) and didn’t even know it because nobody informed you–it isn’t required on food labels–which makes this latest enormous recall a call to action.  As if we don’t have enough to worry about with foodborne illness in the news just about daily, in the past few weeks the FDA has recalled thousands of products containing HVP–from beef and bacon to chips and dip to veggie burgers (so much for thinking processed vegetarian food is healthy) –that may be contaminated with Salmonella.

HVP, also known as acid-hydrolyzed vegetable protein,  is a soy-based food “filler” used to make countless processed food products. It is used as a flavor-enhancer after the food has been processed, and after it has been safety-checked. You likely never see HVP added to the ingredients list on a food label because it is usually part of a flavor mix. HVP is added so that your food tastes better, which means you will buy it again and that translates to profits for food companies such as Nestle, Trader Joe’s, Safeway, McCormick and many other companies. It is a chemical that we can do without!

Here is a list of recalled products.

According to Wikipedia, acid-hydrolyzed vegetable protein is produced by boiling cereals or legumes in hydrochloric acid and then neutralizing the solution with sodium hydroxide. Next time I bite into chips with dip, I’ll be wondering how much hydrochloric acid is in my body. Wait a minute, what am I thinking? There isn’t gonna be a next time, unless the FDA does something about it. And judging from their history regarding food additives (remember aspartame?) I’ll be spending more time cooking from scratch and will likely lose a few pounds due to avoiding convenience foods.  Because the FDA freaks out about bacteria, not the chemicals that are dumped into processed foods.

All of us need to petition the FDA and demand that chemicals such as HVP (god only knows what nasty side effects it can cause) are clearly listed on all food labels.

Meanwhile, health officials advise that you cook/heat the heck out of any processed food to avoid any risks of Salmonella. And if you can’t cook it, throw it out. Even better, return it to the food manufacturers. I wonder if they eat HVP-laced products?

Tags: food chemicals, food labelling, HVP, Salmonella
Posted in Food Illness | 4 Comments »

Pelvic Exams without Consent: Medical Malpractice Suit?

March 1st, 2010. By janem

Imagine you’re unconscious and several men insert objects into your vagina. Many women would consider this gang rape. At the very least, sexual assault. Guess what, it may have happened to you—without your knowledge!

How would you react if you underwent surgery such as a routine hysterectomy and found out that right after you were anesthetized, a team of medical students performed pelvic exams—without your consent? I believe that is a violation of our basic rights, to say the least. Where’s the respect? 

I know what I’d do: file a medical malpractice suit, pronto.  As a matter of fact, I’m actually scheduled for routine surgery in a few months—at a university hospital—and that rang my alarm bell. I called my gynecologist and spoke with her receptionist. “Under no circumstances do I want a student poking around my private parts,” I said, or probably yelled. She replied that I had to take that up with my gynecologist, who of course is never available for a phone call. 

So does uninformed consent qualify for a medical malpractice suit? Well, not quite, but then again, I haven’t spoken with a medical malpractice attorney…What I did discover online is that “A medical practitioner may also be legally liable if a patient does not give “informed consent” to a medical procedure that results in harm to the patient, even if the procedure is performed properly.” In my opinion, psychological harm fits the bill. 

In Canada, you aren’t even asked for consent, unlike the UK and the US—or so Americans and Brits were led to believe. Some ethical medical students have been asked to perform pelvic exams in Canada (and in British and American hospitals) without the patient’s knowledge, and they have refused. And that’s how the public knows about Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: medical malpractice, Pelvic Exam
Posted in Drugs/Medical, Emerging Issues | 18 Comments »

Nestle cheating babies again – Gerber babies, that is

February 25th, 2010. By janem

Just about everyone knows that we have to watch our sodium intake. Recent studies report that most North Americans consume twice as much salt as they need and that leads to a host of health problems, such as kidney disease, stroke, heart disease and dementia. But what about baby? Most parents trust baby food like they trust their pediatrician, however, when it comes to Gerber products, baby beware.

According to the Canadian Stroke Network, a Gerber pasta meal—marketed for toddlers—contains the same amount of salt as two orders of McDonald’s fries. So the Stroke Network bestowed upon Gerber the “Salt Lick Award“, which is handed out annually to food items with extremely high levels of sodium. The Lil’ Entrees Chicken & Pasta Wheel Pick Ups meal contains 550 mg of salt—that’s more than half of the 1,000 mg of sodium a toddler needs to consume in one day.

In 2007 Gerber was sold to the Nestle Company for $5.5 billion. It makes more than 190 baby foods, sold in 80 countries. On its website, Gerber says it “doesn’t strain to make money. But it Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Baby Food, Gerber, Nestle, Sodium
Posted in Emerging Issues | No Comments »

The Research on Reglan

February 3rd, 2010. By janem

Sixteen years ago, the Health Research Group of Public Citizen published a report in its Worst Pills, Best Pills News regarding the heartburn drug Reglan and the link to tardive dyskinesia-often an incurable and irreversible disorder. But the FDA didn’t slap a black box warning on this treatment for heartburn until last February, 2009. Talk about closing the barn door after the horse has bolted…

When you consider how many people are prescribed Reglan–dispensed 6.5 million times in 2008–it’s mind-boggling that the FDA didn’t act sooner.

My friend suffers from tardive dyskinesia and it’s not a pretty sight. His eye is constantly twitching and he can barely control his jaw when he’s talking-like he’s grimacing all the time. Some people think he has Parkinson’s disease. Because of this disorder, he lost a job in retail and now works as a line cook in a chain restaurant-a job that doesn’t suit him.

My friend is 50. He doesn’t know how he got this disorder and neither does his doctor, but he does remember taking a med for heartburn years ago…

The FDA approved metoclopramide, the generic name, way back in June 1985. I wonder how many people have tardive dyskinesia and took Reglan years ago and haven’t connected the dots?

This is how Reglan works: it stimulates the muscles of the gastrointestinal tract including the muscles of the lower esophageal sphincter, stomach, and small intestine . That in turn stimulates more rapid emptying of the stomach as well as decreasing the reflux of stomach acid into the esophagus. Some patients, particularly those with diabetes, have nerve damage in the stomach and that causes delayed emptying of the stomach, resulting in heartburn and other symptoms.

I’d take heartburn over tardive dyskinesia any time. Or take another drug for heartburn!

Getting back to Public Citizen, I’m a big fan. When my doctor prescribes a new med, Worst Pills, Best Pills is my bible. You can subscribe to their website and get more current news than the FDA provides, or biased information from the drug companies.

And what about your doctor? Most of us trust our physicians to prescribe the right meds and think it unfathomable that we could be given a harmful drug. Yesterday I asked health expert Judy Norsigian of Our Bodies Ourselves to shed some light on the doctor dilemma with drugs.

She told me that many doctors don’t keep track of the latest findings and what happens with post-marketing surveillance. “Reports from the medical community usually become one of the key ways we find out about low level effects of any drugs, and not all the information from clinical trials, because there are not enough [people] involved in the trials to collect data,” Norsigian explained. ” And doctors are not always paying attention, so they aren’t even aware that there is a problem…”

All the more reason to do your own research, both online and by talking to your doctor and pharmacist about possible side effects. Another great source is the online Physicians’ Desk Reference. Just keep in mind that you can’t rely on the FDA (the “Foot Dragging Administration” as columnist Herb Denenberg calls it) to protect you.

Tags: Reglan, Reglan Side Effects, Tardive Dyskinesia
Posted in Drugs/Medical | No Comments »