Month: January 2014

By Shereen Jegtvig NEW YORK (Reuter Health) – Mothers who frequently use over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers are more likely to give them to their children too, according to a new Danish study. More parents are giving OTC medications, such as acetaminophen, to their young children, often without the advice of health care professionals, the study team says. “Half of all the medications used worldwide are non-prescription – it is a huge and growing industry under limited control from the health care system,” Dr. Janne Fangel Jensen, who led the research, told Reuters Health by email. It’s a safe treatment for many forms of mild pain and has few known side effects, Jensen said.

By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) – The world’s largest food and beverage companies have far exceeded a five-year goal set in 2010 to fight obesity by removing trillions of calories from products sold in the United States, according to an independent evaluation released on Thursday. In May 2010, 16 of the biggest food and beverage companies, from Coca-Cola Co to Kraft Foods Group, pledged to remove 1 trillion calories from the U.S. marketplace by 2012 and 1.5 trillion by 2015, compared with a 2007 baseline. In fact, as of 2012 they sold 6.4 trillion fewer calories, found an analysis by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). “Reports like this, and the fact that they exceeded their commitment by four-fold, really shows that you can make progress in giving American families more healthy options,” said Larry Soler, president of the Partnership for a Healthier America, a non-profit chaired by first lady Michelle Obama.

Three months after switching from traditional running shoes to the minimalist variety, study participants had two to three times as many injuries compared to runners who stuck with traditional shoes. Minimalist footwear is designed to provide as little interference to the runner as possible, study author Dr. Michael Ryan of Griffith University in Australia said. They had never tried barefoot running or minimalist running before. Of the 23 injuries that happened during the training period, four were among the runners wearing traditional shoes, 12 among those wearing partial-minimalist shoes and seven in the full-minimalist shoe group.

Patient Silvino Perez, 72, has been in a vegetative state since his 2012 operation.        

Brainy Watson Computer to Tackle Cancer and Other Medical Research

CareFusion Corp agreed to pay $40.1 million to settle a federal government lawsuit accusing it of paying kickbacks to boost sales of a pre-surgical skin treatment, and marketing the product for unapproved uses. The accord announced on Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice resolves allegations that CareFusion violated the federal False Claims Act by paying $11.6 million to a doctor to promote its ChloraPrep product to healthcare providers. That doctor, Charles Denham, received the kickbacks while serving as co-chair of the safe practices committee of the nonprofit National Quality Forum, which makes recommendations on healthcare practices, the Justice Department said.

Regional Medical Center in San Jose separates suspected flu patients to contain the spread of the virus.