June 19th, 2013 JSophy
A medical device company has been ordered to pay an additional $16 million for violating patent laws.
According to a report from FierceMedicalDevices.com, a jury in a Delaware federal court ruled that Globus Medical violated patents held by DePuy Synthes. The jury determined that Globus should pay $16 million in penalties to its competitor for those violations.
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June 17th, 2013 JSophy
With five infant deaths linked to it, the once-popular Nap Nanny infant sleeper device has finally been forced into a recall by consumer safety officials.
According to a report from U.K.’s The Daily Mail, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has recalled the Nap Nanny. Included in the recall are both “generations” of the device as well as the Nap Nanny Chill model. The recall follows five deaths and nearly 100 injuries to infants who had slept in the device.
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June 13th, 2013 JSophy
A new study indicates that most Americans aren’t washing their hands properly after using the restroom, which increases their chances of spreading infectious diseases.
According to a report at MedicalNewsToday.com, researchers at Michigan State University found that 1 in 10 people don’t wash their hands at all after using a bathroom. One-third of all people don’t use soap if they do wash their hands after using toilet facilities. Most worrisome is the fact that just 5 percent of all people included in this study washed their hands properly and long enough to kill potentially infectious bacteria.
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June 12th, 2013 JSophy
New information is underscoring the risks associated with distracted walking.
Lately, there has been more than enough information and attention drawn to the dangers of using a cellphone while behind the wheel of an automobile, known commonly as “distracted driving.” Law enforcement efforts, based on our previous reports, show that while states across the country are issuing more fines and penalties to drivers who talk, text, or check emails behind the wheel, it’s not stopping people from continuing the dangerous habit.
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June 11th, 2013 JSophy
Auto safety officials are weighing the possibility of ordering a recall on about 320,000 Honda Odyssey minivans because airbags could deploy at any time, even without any impact on the vehicle.
According to a New York Times report this week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a report recently that indicates a defect in 2003 and 2004 Honda Odyssey minivans causes airbags to deploy without incident. An unexpected deployment of an airbag could result in serious and permanent injuries or even death to drivers or passengers that are hit with them.
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June 10th, 2013 JSophy
A new lawsuit aims to shed more light on the horrific abuse of prisoners – many mentally ill – held in Mississippi state prisons.
According to a New York Times editorial, the Southern Poverty Law Center and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have jointly filed a federal lawsuit against the East Mississippi Correctional Facility. The lawsuit alleges that prisoners have been injuring themselves, committing suicide, or attempting suicide at epidemic rates. The complaint claims that mentally ill prisoners are forced into “solitary confinement zones” and subject to rape, abuse, violence, and often must set fires to create an emergency situation to get medical attention.
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June 6th, 2013 JSophy
A major factor in reducing the cost of health insurance and the cost of healthcare overall is eliminating Medicare fraud. The federal government believes that the patient may prove to be its best defense at exposing Medicare fraud.
According to a recent USA Today report, since passage of the Affordable Care Act (dubbed Obamacare), the federal government has revoked the right of more than 14,000 healthcare providers to bill Medicare for their services. That amount over the two years since Obamacare was signed into law is double the amount from the two years prior to the bill’s passage.
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June 4th, 2013 JSophy
Increased hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations on California’s most fertile farmland is straining a working relationship that’s existed for years between the state’s oil and agriculture industries.
According to a report from The New York Times, more fracking wells are encroaching on what was once fertile farmland used to produce the many crops that come from California and are distributed around the world. While oil drilling has been happening in California nearly since its inception, the use of fracking to tap reserves in the Monterey shale formation below much of that farmland is threatening the environment and potentially the health of farmers living nearby.
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May 29th, 2013 JSophy
A total of 88 people have now been confirmed as victims of a salmonella outbreak in North Carolina.
Based on our previous reports on salmonella outbreaks across the country, the hallmark signs of a potential infection are abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. These symptoms can range in severity and most infected people will pass off signs of an infection as something they ate not agreeing with them. In some victims, as is the case with this latest outbreak, symptoms can be more severe and require hospitalization. Children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems are more likely to experience more severe symptoms of an infection.
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May 28th, 2013 JSophy
The growing federal lawsuit which includes women who claim they were injured by the Mirena IUD contraceptive device took a major step forward recently.
On May 22, U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel appointed Parker Waichman LLP’s Senior Litigation Counsel Matthew J. McCauley to the role of Co-Lead Counsel in the Mirena IUD multidistrict litigation (MDL), according to the national law firm.
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