Cave News

California considers declaring common pain killer a carcinogen

From a report at the link below:

A fight is coming to California over whether to list one of the world’s most common over-the-counter drugs as a carcinogen, echoing recent high-profile battles over things like alcohol and coffee.

The drug is acetaminophen, known outside the U.S. as paracetamol and used to treat pain and fevers. It is the basis for more than 600 prescription and over-the-counter medications for adults and children, found in well-known brands like Tylenol, Excedrin, Sudafed, Robitussin and Theraflu.

Acetaminophen has been available in the U.S. without a prescription since 1955. Concerns about its potential link to cancer come from its relationship to another drug: phenacetin. That drug, once a common treatment for headaches and other ailments, was banned by the FDA in 1983 because it caused cancer.

Link

Oops! Paramedics didn’t notice woman fell out of ambulance until 16 miles later

A woman is “lame for life” after she tumbled out of the back of an ambulance in Russia — and the oblivious paramedics didn’t notice for 16 miles, according to a new report.

Galina Dmitriyeva, 56, was being shuttled between hospitals the day of the incident — which happened eight months ago but is only now being disclosed.

Dmitriyeva, who was feeling dizzy and breathless, was at a Lipetsk city hospital where doctors decided she had not suffered a stroke, and sent her to Zadonsk District Hospital instead, according to the report.

On the way there, the paramedic sat in front with the driver, leaving Dmitriyeva alone in the back, the outlet reported.

Link

Pentagon warns military members against using DNA kits

“Exposing sensitive genetic information to outside parties poses personal and operational risks to Service members,” said a Dec. 20 memo.

The memo, obtained by Yahoo News, was signed by Joseph D. Kernan, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, and James N. Stewart, the assistant secretary of defense for manpower.

DNA kits sold by companies such as 23andMe and Ancestry have become popular in determining information on ancestry, medical risks, and revealing unknown family members. But the kits have also raised legal and ethical concerns because some companies have shared the data with law enforcement or sold it to third parties.

“These [direct-to-consumer] genetic tests are largely unregulated and could expose personal and genetic information, and potentially create unintended security consequences and increased risk to the joint force and mission,” the memo, which appears to have been widely circulated in the Defense Department, said.

Full report here.

Report: Feds accuse CVS, Omnicare of prescription drug fraud

CVS Health Corp and Omnicare fraudulently billed Medicare and other federal programs for filling expired prescriptions for the nations’ elderly and disabled, according to authorities.

A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court accused the healthcare giants of illegally dispensing tens of thousands of pills to people living in long-term care or other assisted living facilities.

Instead of seeking new prescriptions between 2010 and 2018, Omnicare would assign new prescription numbers when the original prescription ran out of refills, the Manhattan US Attorney’s office claims in their complaint.

Full report here

Bernie Sanders insisting on single payer medicare for all

Former President Jimmy Carter is back in the hospital less than a week after being released.

According to a statement from The Carter Center, “Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was admitted to Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga., this past weekend for treatment for a urinary tract infection. He is feeling better and looks forward to returning home soon.”

Carter was released from Emory University Hospital on Nov. 27 after surgery to relieve pressure on his brain caused by a subdural hematoma.

Link

Frosty gets caught picking his nose

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg released from a Baltimore hospital

The 86-year-old Ginsburg (pictured) has returned to her home in Washington, D.C., and is “doing well,” court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said Sunday.

Ginsburg spent two nights at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. She was taken there Friday after experiencing chills and fever.

The court says she received intravenous antibiotics and fluids and that her symptoms abated.

Ginsburg has had four occurrences of cancer, including two in the past year. She had lung cancer surgery in December and received radiation treatment for a tumor on her pancreas in August.

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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg back in the hospital

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (pictured) was back in the hospital on Friday night. Ginsburg's latest visit was due to a fever and chills the justice had experienced earlier in the day. According to a statement from the Supreme Court, Ginsburg was initially evaluated at a hospital in D.C. before being transferred to Johns Hopkins in Baltimore for further evaluation and treatment. She is expected to be released on Sunday.

Last week, the 86-year-old missed oral arguments because she was "indisposed due to illness," according to Chief Justice John Roberts. Ginsburg is the oldest justice on the Supreme Court. Before undergoing surgery for lung cancer last December, Ginsburg had not missed oral arguments in 25 years. The four-time cancer survivor has also been treated for colon and pancreatic cancer.

The amount of attention that Ginsburg's health receives is evidence of the court's sharp ideological divide and the activist role the judiciary has taken on in recent decades. Despite all of Ginsburg's health problems, she stubbornly refuses to resign. Even before the 2016 presidential election, Ginsburg made her poor opinion of then-Republican nominee Donald Trump widely known.

Link

Elizabeth Warren tests her health care plan