3 Strikes for Amazon! (but no, they’re not out)

July 21st, 2009. By AbiK

It is baseball season, so it’s fitting—if not welcome over at Amazon—that the company’s had 3 strikes in the last week or so. No, not those kind of strikes where employees walk out and all. These strikes have been more of the strike-to-the-ego sort.

Strike 1

We posted in last week’s Week Adjourned column that Amazon was under fire for its cracking Kindle screens. As of Friday, there were a few reports surfacing on the net that Amazon would replace the cracked screens without charging the $200 repair fee; this week the news is definitely out with numerous sites, including tech.yahoo.com and pcworld.com, reporting Amazon’s about-face.

Strike 2

Next, Amazon had to “retrieve” two George Orwell classics—1984 and Big Brother—from Kindles whose owners had rightfully purchased the books. Seems the books came via a company that didn’t quite have the rights to sell the books. Little red flag to Amazon’s buyers, no? Be that as it may, the class action that Amazon now faces over the situation is reported to also claim that this little mishap devalues the Kindle. Why? Because Kindle owners feel part of the “value” in owning a Kindle and buying books for it is that you can keep the books forever. Or maybe just not anything Orwellian. Read the rest of this entry »

An Internet Community for Avelox Sufferers

July 21st, 2009. By LucyC

Have you suffered an adverse event such as tendon rupture, from taking Avelox? Or any other of the myriad of side effects it’s associated with? If so, you may already be aware of the online community that exists to support people who have suffered or are still suffering from flouroquinolone adverse events.

Sifting through the information available on the internet about Avelox was an educational experience for me. I had no idea this community existed. And it seems as if it’s necessary. While there have been reports of tendon ruptures associated with the drug, it’s not exactly mainstream news. Nevertheless, it seems like pretty serious stuff.

For example, on the website fqvictims.org, several people have posted information about their experience with Avelox adverse events. One man described his problems this way, “Severe pain from left hip through left foot, left leg from mid-calf to foot reddened, severe burning pain in tendons, muscle spasms, depersonalization, anxiety, panic, increasingly severe CNS symptoms with floaters in my eyes which are very dense and almost curtain-like along with anxiety and insomnia which requires three 3 mg melatonin at bedtime, severe photophobia.” Read the rest of this entry »

FBI delivery guy detained in Nigeria…needs your help

July 21st, 2009. By AbiK

So that’s basically what landed in my friend’s email inbox last week. I’d just blogged about Consumer Fraud scams and here was this gem. Seems if my friend forks over $500 (via Moneygram or Western Union) these kind folks will ensure he gets $5.8 million that’s just sitting there being detained at a Nigerian airport. Sounds like an email scam to me…

An email scam happens when something like this gets plopped in your inbox—I’m including the whole thing so you see how it works (my comments are in [brackets] ):

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION SEEKING TO WIRETAP THE INTERNET [sounds important!]

Dear Esteem Beneficiary, [shouldn’t that be “Esteemed”?] Read the rest of this entry »

Colonoscopy Prep: the more palatable, the more risk

July 21st, 2009. By AbiK

Having a colonoscopy is a weird sort of rite of passage. Once you’ve had one, you can give your colon-checking compatriots that knowing nod when they mention the procedure. Guaranteed after that nod, someone will bring up “prep”—it’s the point of convergence for all colonoscopy conversation. And for good reason: it’s the worst part of the procedure and it’s the only part for which you’re entirely too conscious.

So weren’t we all filled with glee when we learned there was an oral sodium phosphate pill—a pill!—we could take rather then slugging back a 4-liter jug of Golytely? Well, with recent reports, maybe not. 

There are 3 basic options for colonoscopy prep: Golytely (also Colyte, Nulytely), Fleet Phospho-soda EZ Prep, and Oral Sodium Phosphate (Osmo-Prep and Visicol). The problem with them (aside from the fact that you have to take one of them) is that there’s an inverse relationship between their palatability and their associated risks. Here, an overview of the options—not to be construed as medical advice; for that, see your doctor. Read the rest of this entry »

Paxil Birth Defects: Baby Beware!

July 20th, 2009. By LucyC

 

Depression during pregnancy is a health risk not only for the mother, but also for her baby, yet it’s not widely publicized.  According to information on the March of Dimes website—the March of Dimes being a leading non-profit organization for pregnancy and baby health—two of every 10 women experience symptoms of depression during pregnancy. That’s considerable.

So where’s the health risk to the baby? You get a prescription for an antidepressant and hope for the best, right? Wrong. The fallback treatment for depression has become antidepressant drugs, the most common type being selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs. SSRIs, such as Paxil (paroxetine) which are associated with serious cardiovascular malformations, primarily ventricular septal defects (VSDs) and atrial septal defects (ASDs). The risk for these birth defects is so serious that GlaxoSmithKline’s (the maker of Paxil) own publicly available literature states:

For women who intend to become pregnant or are in their first trimester of pregnancy, paroxetine should only be used after consideration of the other available treatment options. Read the rest of this entry »