NEWSInferno.com

Date Published: Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

People who use denture creams like Super Poligrip or Fixodent and are experiencing unexplained neurological problems should know that these zinc-containing products could be to blame. Excessive use of Super Poligrip, Fixodent and similar denture creams can lead to zinc poisoning, copper depletion and neurological disorders.

Often, the symptoms of zinc poisoning caused by denture creams like Super Poligrip and Fixodent mimic other disorders, such as multiple sclerosis. It is important that anyone who uses these denture creams and experiences neurological problems have a blood test to determine if they are suffering from zinc poisoning and copper depletion.

Neuropathy is by far the most serious health problem linked to Fixodent and Super Poligrip. Neuropathy is a disorder caused by damaged nerves. Neuropathy is often a consequence of diabetes or poor nutrition. It can also be a reaction to a toxin, or a side effect of certain drugs, such as chemotherapy agents. Neuropathy can leave victims permanently disabled and reliant upon a walker or wheelchair.

Symptoms of neuropathy vary, but may include:

• numbness or tingling in the feet, legs, hands, and/or arms;
• a reduction in strength or ability to move legs or feet, or arms and hands;
• unexplained pain in the extremities;
• a tendency to stumble or fall down; instability and lack of balance;
• change or decrease in walking stride;
• abnormal blood pressure and heart rate;
• reduced ability to perspire;
• constipation and/or bladder dysfunction;
• sexual dysfunction.

Most of the more than 35 million Americans who wear dentures have no idea that denture adhesives can be dangerous. Because denture creams like Fixodent and Super Poligrip are considered to be a Class I medical device, the Food & Drug Administration does not require their labels to warn that excessive use may lead to zinc poisoning and neurological problems.

The problems caused by Super Poligrip and Fixodent have resulted in lawsuits against their manufacturers. For example, two such class action lawsuits were recently filed in federal court in Tennessee. The lawsuits are seeking compensation from the makers of Super Poligrip and Fixodent for testing, medical monitoring and treatment for zinc poisoning which may develop in consumers who have used these products.

May 2, 2009

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says 18 patients treated at its hospital in Murfreesboro have tested positive for a form of hepatitis since the agency began an investigation into the use of improperly sanitized equipment in colonoscopies there.

Five have tested positive for hepatitis B, and 13 have tested positive for the hepatitis C. In addition, one Murfreesboro patient tested positive for HIV.

All of the patients received colonoscopies at the Alvin C. York Medical Center between April 2003 and December 2008. During that time, the VA has said, some colonoscopies were performed at the Murfreesboro hospital using tubes with valves that were not working correctly. The improper valves may have exposed patients to bodily fluids from previous patients.

The VA has insisted that it is impossible to know whether the positive test results are directly linked to problems with hospital equipment, and that the risk of catching a virus in this way is exceptionally low.

In all, more than 6,300 Murfreesboro colonoscopy patients received letters this year advising them to be tested.

Similar problems were discovered at VA medical centers in Miami and Augusta, Ga. Nineteen patients from those two centers have tested positive for viruses; four of those positive tests were for HIV.

— CLAY CAREY
mcarey@tennessean.com

By NATASHA T. METZLER – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Yamaha Motor Corp. USA recalled about 120,000 off-highway recreational vehicles for repairs Tuesday, after two models were involved in 46 deaths.

The two-passenger vehicles are designed for drivers over 16 years old with valid drivers licenses, although some reported deaths involved younger children who were passengers or who operated the vehicles against recommendations, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which announced the recall.

All Rhino 450 and 660 model vehicles were recalled for repairs designed to prevent accidents that resulted in 46 deaths and hundreds of injuries. The reported deaths occurred between the fall of 2003, when the vehicles were first distributed, through this year.

More than two-thirds of the incidents were rollovers. According to the CPSC many of these involved turns on level ground at relatively slow speeds. A number of incidents also involved riders not wearing seat belts.

The repairs are designed to reduce rollover risk, as well as to improve handling and keep riders’ limbs inside the vehicles.

Rhino 450 and 660 owners should stop using these vehicles and call their local dealer to schedule an appointment for repairs. They can also receive a free helmet.

Sales of these vehicles have also been suspended for repairs.

This is the first government recall of this category of recreational vehicle.

For more details, call Yamaha at 800-962-7926.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Tue Mar 31, 2009 9:43am EDT

Calif. pistachio processor recalls pistachios

* FDA advises consumers avoid all pistachio products (Adds details, comments by FDA, background)

NEW YORK, March 31 (Reuters) - A California pistachio processor issued a nationwide voluntary recall on Tuesday of pistachios due to potential salmonella contamination.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the California Dept. of Public Health are investigating the matter. Thus far, several illnesses have been reported by consumers that may be associated with the pistachios, the FDA said.

The recalled nuts were shipped on or after Sept. 1, 2008 by Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc.

Because the pistachios were used as ingredients in a variety of foods, the FDA said the recall is likely to impact many products. It also said the investigation at Setton was ongoing and may lead to additional pistachio product recalls.

Setton’s current recall involves about 1 million pounds of pistachios, according to the FDA. Setton said the recall is not related to the recent recalls associated with peanuts or peanut butter.

The FDA recommends that consumers avoid eating pistachio products until further information is available about the scope of affected products.

Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

Setton recalled specific lots of bulk roasted shelled pistachios and roasted unshelled pistachios in 2,000-pound, 1,800-pound, 1,700-pound and 1,000-pound bags sold to wholesale customers after learning that a small amount of shelled pistachios it sold in late 2008 tested positive for salmonella.

Setton is also recalling its Setton Farms brand roasted salted shelled pistachios in 9-ounce bags with a “Best Before” date between Jan. 6, 2010 and Jan. 19, 2010, distributed in seven Southeastern states.

Grocery chain Kroger Co (KR.N) recalled its Private Selection shelled pistachios on Friday due to potential salmonella contamination. That recall affects pistachios sold at Kroger, Ralphs, Fred Meyer and a host of other stores owned by Kroger. [ID:nPnCL90405] (Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Steve Orlofsky, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved

Family of patient who died awarded
$11 million

Updated: Monday, 09 Mar 2009, 9:34 AM EDT
Published : Monday, 09 Mar 2009, 9:27 AM EDT

·         Chris Hurley

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) - The family of a New Jersey man who died hours after having his wisdom teeth removed has won more than $11 million in damages.

A Middlesex County jury determined Friday that George Flugrad, a Perth Amboy oral surgeon, committed medical malpractice when he failed to get clearance from Francis Keller’s doctor to operate on the 21-year-old in 2005.

Keller told Flugrad he had a hereditary condition that caused his immune system to react to any trauma to his face or hands by swelling.

And that condition caused Keller’s throat, face and hands to swell and his airway to slowly close following the surgery.

The lawsuit named Flugrad and Keller’s family dentist, John Madaris of Woodbridge.

The two had blamed each other, but Madaris was cleared by the jury.

Copyright Associated Press, Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Posted By: Heather O’Bryan      2 hrs ago

PORTLAND (AP) — A 41-year-old Thomaston woman has settled her lawsuit over an illegal strip search at the Knox County Jail for $290,000.

Laurie Tardiff originally filed a lawsuit in 2002 after being strip-searched at the Knox County Jail following her arrest for tampering with a witness, a charge that was later dismissed. She then pulled out of the class-action suit and filed another complaint on her own.

According to court documents, the settlement in the new case was reached last month just days before a jury-waived trial on damages was to have begun.

Officials say the cost of the settlement will be covered by the county’s insurance.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

By CURT ANDERSON

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A jury was asked Friday to decide if tobacco giant Philip Morris caused the lung cancer death of a four-decade smoker through deceptive and misleading practices or whether the smoker himself bore the lion’s share of responsibility by failing to quit.

The six-person jury has already found that Stuart Hess was hopelessly addicted to nicotine before his 1997 death at age 55, in the first of some 8,000 similar Florida lawsuits to go to trial. And the Florida Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that Philip Morris and other tobacco companies knowingly sold dangerous products and conspired to conceal that information from the public.

Adam Trop, attorney for widow Elaine Hess, said evidence is overwhelming that Philip Morris knew for years that it sold a deadly product and worked hard to hide that knowledge through outright lies and bare-knuckled attacks on scientific studies regarding the serious health risks. And Hess didn’t know the truth, Trop said.

“They didn’t tell him this product they were selling could kill him in any number of ways,” Trop said. “We ask you in this case to hold Philip Morris accountable for these actions.”

Philip Morris attorney Kenneth Reilly replied that there was ample evidence of smoking’s risks even when Hess started in the 1950s and that the Richmond, Va.-based company did not set out to harm him. Philip Morris USA is a unit of Altria Group.

“What I’m talking about is the decisions people make about whether they will or won’t smoke,” Reilly said.

In addition to deciding blame, the jury in this second phase of the trial must determine compensatory damages for Elaine Hess and her son and whether Philip Morris should pay punitive damages, which could run into the millions of dollars. If the answer is yes to punitive damages, that part of the case will occur next week.

Elaine Hess said her husband of 32 years tended to believe tobacco industry claims that cigarette health risks hadn’t been proven and that filtered cigarettes removed dangerous compounds. It wasn’t until the 1970s that he began trying to quit, around 20 years after he began smoking.

“He over and over and over again believed what they were saying,” Elaine Hess testified. “He was taken in by the ads. Plus, he was addicted.”

But under cross-examination by Reilly, she admitted she couldn’t recall a specific conversation with her husband about the industry’s tactics. “It was a general feeling,” she said.

The lawsuit is among thousands of similar cases filed against tobacco companies since the Florida Supreme Court in 2006 threw out as excessive a $145 billion jury award in a class-action lawsuit. But the high court did let that jury’s findings stand against tobacco companies, making them binding on the Hess case and all the others.

“They are not being disputed by Philip Morris in this case. Period. End of story,” Reilly said.

Some tobacco litigation experts predict the Hess case could be the first of many costly defeats for Philip Morris and the other companies.

“It is highly likely that the tobacco companies will be forced to account for their decades-long, reprehensible history of corporate wrongdoing,” said Edward L. Sweda Jr., attorney for the Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University law school.

The $145 billion damage award by a Miami jury in 2000 was the largest such punitive award in U.S. history. The original lawsuit was filed in 1994 by Miami Beach Dr. Howard Engle, a pediatrician who had smoked for decades and couldn’t quit.

Engle’s lawyer, Stanley Rosenblatt, was in the audience Friday for the Hess trial.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

By: TAMARA VOSTOK

Updated 8:34 PM EST, Sun, Feb 1, 2009

A 22-month-old boy choked on a used condom in the Homewood Suites in Mount Laurel, N.J., accrding to a lawsuit filed by the little boy’s family.

The Wolfe family of Pittsburgh, Mass. was headed home after spending the holidays in Florida and they stayed overnight in the Burlington County hotel. 

The morning of their departure, the toddler apparently found a used condom in the room, left behind by previous travelers, according to the lawsuit.

The child’s mother, Amy, heard  her little boy chewing and choking on the condom and tried to get it out of his mouth, but he had already “ingested the contents ” the lawsuit stated.

The Philadelphia Daily News noted the suit contends a “life threatening” item was left in the room, which put the boy at risk of getting a “sexually transmitted disease, including HIV or AIDS, or some other, potentially life threatening, potentially fatal illness.”

The boy had to undergo tests and faces more testing in the future, Wolfes’ attorney Norm Hobbie told the Philadelphia Daily News.  

The complaint also contends the Wolfe family, both parents and three children, have suffered mental distress.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.02.2009

After more than eight years of legal skirmishing, a trial is scheduled to open Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by animal welfare groups alleging that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus routinely abuses its performing elephants.

The plaintiffs — including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Animal Welfare Institute — allege that trainers’ use of sharp tools called bullhooks and the prolonged use of chains on the Asian elephants add up to an egregious violation of the federal Endangered Species Act.

They seek an order from U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., halting these practices, which some activists hope would force Ringling Bros. to give up elephants altogether.

The non-jury trial before U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan is expected to last three weeks.

Ringling Bros. and its parent company, Feld Entertainment, have defended themselves aggressively since the suit was filed in 2000, contending their treatment of all circus animals is state-of-the-art.

Circus officials note that government regulations permit use of chains. They say the elephants are chained in place at night to keep them from foraging their companions’ food, and during train rides to prevent sudden weight shifts that might derail their freight car.

The plaintiffs have asserted that Ringling Bros.’ own train records show the elephants are chained in railroad boxcars for an average of more than 26 straight hours, and often 60 to 70 hours at a time, when the circus travels.

The circus also defends the use of bullhooks, saying the sharp tools have been used for centuries in Asia to control elephants humanely. Activists say the implements — which resemble long fire pokers — often inflict wounds that leave scars.

Michelle Pardo, a lawyer for Feld Entertainment, said the defense will prove that the elephants “are healthy, alert, and thriving.”

“Animal special interest groups are distorting the facts by making false allegations about the treatment of Ringling Bros. elephants as part of a long-running crusade to eliminate animals from circuses, zoos and wildlife parks,” Pardo said.

In addition to four animal welfare groups, the plaintiffs include Tom Rider, a former Ringling Bros. employee who alleges that he witnessed abuse of the elephants on numerous occasions.

“We look forward to showing at trial how the elephants are routinely hit with bullhooks and continuously chained in the hopes that this case will preclude Ringling Bros. from mistreating these spectacular endangered animals ever again,” Rider said.

His testimony will be supplemented by photographs, video footage and internal Ringling Bros. documentation which the plaintiffs say support the allegations of mistreatment.

Much of the wrangling over the past eight years has dealt with access to circus veterinary documents and in-house videos.

Overall, Ringling Bros. has 54 elephants — many of them kept at a 200-acre conservation center in Florida while the others are on tour. The newest arrival is a calf born at the center on Jan. 19 — named Barack in honor of the new U.S. president inaugurated the next day.

The circus says it spends $60,000 annually on care of each elephant and has three full-time veterinarians to look after them.

The plaintiffs hope the lawsuit pressures Ringling Bros. to stop using elephants in its shows and contend that many circus-goers have come to appreciate animal-free circuses.

However, Ringling Bros. says its audience surveys indicate the elephants are a favorite attraction.

Updated: January 26, 2009, 4:25 PM ET

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The widow of Minnesota Vikings lineman Korey Stringer reached a settlement with the NFL over his heatstroke death during training camp in 2001.

Under an agreement with Kelci Stringer, the NFL will support her efforts to create a heat illness prevention program.

No other terms of the settlement announced Monday by a family spokesman were released.

Kelci Stringer had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the league, claiming the NFL hadn’t done enough to ensure that equipment used by players protected them from injuries or deaths caused by heat-related illnesses.

“We were able to find what we feel is a very fair settlement that helped us move to the next step,” said James Gould, a spokesman for the family who also was Korey Stringer’s agent.

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the heat illness prevention program will be for children and older athletes.

A separate lawsuit against equipment maker Riddell Inc. remains pending in federal court in Columbus, Gould said. The lawsuit alleges Riddell fails to warn players and coaches that wearing its helmets and shoulder pads in hot temperatures can be dangerous. It seeks a jury trial.

Korey Stringer was a 27-year-old, 335-pound lineman. He died from heatstroke July 31, 2001, during the second day of training camp in preparation for the 2001 season. He practiced in the sweltering heat and humidity, which pushed his body temperature to 108.8 degrees.

Stringer and his wife both attended college at Ohio State, where Stringer left for the NFL in 1995 after his junior season.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press