Asbestos Legislation is Flawed
July 14, 2005 07:11

"A flawed piece of legislation is making its way through the U.S. Senate. Before matters go any further, the 'Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act' (FAIR), which has made it out of committee, deserves to be defeated. The bill has not yet reached the Senate... (Read Article)

Federal health officials said that they were looking into a suggestion by a small Texas study that Ritalin and other stimulant drugs given to children might increase their risk of cancer later in life. A team of experts from the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency went to Texas on May 23 to examine the methods used by the researchers, who found damage to the chromosomes of 12 children who took Ritalin for three months.

The Food and Drug Administration said that potential electrical flaws in some heart devices made by the Guidant Corporation, including one flaw that the company did not tell doctors about for years, posed a risk of serious injury or death to patients. In its announcement, the F.D.A. designated three models recently recalled by Guidant as "Class I" actions, the highest risk level. It also designated eight other models as "Class II" recalls, or those posing a less serious risk. F.D.A. officials also said the agency was continuing its investigation into how the company assessed and disclosed those product dangers. In the past, such inquiries have led, in some cases, to actions ranging from consent decrees to civil fines to criminal inquiries. Effectively, the decision by the F.D.A. is a rebuke to Guidant. Barry Meier, The New York Times, 07/02/2005