Year: 2014

A new federal program aims to standardize inspection procedures for pet food and farm animal feed produced in the United States, making them safer, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday. The Animal Feed Regulatory Program Standards comprise a series of new voluntary standards for inspections by state and other regulatory programs that oversee the production of pet food and feed for farm animals such as cattle, chickens and pigs. Concern over the safety of pet food and farm animal feed has mounted in recent years, as discoveries of salmonella-contaminated dog food and livestock feed contaminated with a corn-based toxin led to waves of product recalls and worries about the safety of the U.S. food production system.

By Patricia Reaney NEW YORK (Reuters) – Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who was found in his New York apartment on February 2 with a needle in his arm, died of an accidental overdose of drugs, the New York City Chief Medical Examiner said on Friday. The cause of death was acute drug intoxication, including heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines and amphetamine, according to Julie Bolcer, spokeswoman for the Medical Examiner's Office. She added that it is the final determination in Hoffman's death. A drug overdose had been suspected when Hoffman, 46, was discovered in his apartment along with dozens of small plastic bags containing a substance believed to be heroin.

Find out what the medical examiner learned about Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death.

Dawson Barnett is the class comedian – an unlikely role for the boy born unable to smile. But thanks to surgery that rerouted a nerve and “borrowed” muscle from his thigh, the “happy-go-lucky” first grader finally has a fitting grin.

By Shereen Jegtvig NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Based on two dozen clinical trials, U.S. researchers find that expensive mattress covers make no difference in reducing dust mite allergies or their symptoms. Up to 40 percent of the world population has allergies, and dust mites are thought to be one of the most common causes. “Based on this analysis which combines data from many different studies, there doesn’t seem to be any benefit to using dust mite covers to prevent allergic disease or to prevent symptoms,” lead author Whitney Arroyave told Reuters Health. Arroyave, a researcher with the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, and her colleagues combined results from 24 trials of methods to reduce dust mite exposure and prevent allergy signs and symptoms The study team found that use of the mattress covers had a large effect in reducing exposure to house mite dust levels – about 20 percent – but this reduction had no statistically significant impact on house dust mite sensitization, or symptoms such as wheezing, asthma, runny nose or dermatitis.

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Less than half of German people who are told they have cancer through a set and accepted protocol for breaking bad news are satisfied with the conversation, according to a new study. “The idea was somehow that physicians will ‘naturally’ have the ability to communicate,” Dr. Carola Seifart wrote in an email. For example, the diagnosis of a new cancer or a negative development with an existing cancer can significantly change a person’s view of the future. While SPIKES has been tested in the U.S., the researchers write that it has not been tested in Germany and there is little information on how bad news is broken there.