Access to Unapproved Drugs Not Constitutional Right: U.S. Court
Terminally-ill patients don't have a constitutional right to treatment with medicines that have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, The New York Times reported.
The 8-2 decision by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was a defeat for the Abigail Alliance for Better Access to Developmental Drugs, which launched its case against the FDA in 2003.
Initially, a district court ruled against the group. That was reversed by an appeals court panel. The full appeals court ruling Tuesday upheld the original district court decision. The founder of the Abigail Alliance vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court, The Times reported.
In its legal challenge, the group contended that forcing dying patients to wait for a new drug to go through the long process of clinical trials deprives their right to self-defense and violates the Fifth Amendment clause that people can't be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.
The FDA argued that allowing dying patents access to unapproved drugs would undermine the entire drug approval process, The Times reported.
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Suspect Chinese Seafood Not Inspected by FDA
At least one million pounds of "suspect" frozen Chinese shrimp, catfish and eel was not inspected, even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered that the food be checked for banned drugs or cancer-causing chemicals before it was allowed into the United States, the Associated Press reported.
Under an "import alert," all shipments of the pond-raised seafood were to be held until they'd passed a laboratory test. But an AP review of shipments since last fall found that one of every four shipments -- equal to the amount that 66,000 Americans eat in a year -- made it through to store shelves and dinner plates without being stopped and tested.
To date, no illnesses have been reported. But the case adds to growing concerns about the FDA's ability to ensure the safety of the country's food imports.
"The system is outdated and it doesn't work well. They pretend it does, but it doesn't," said Carl R. Nielsen, who oversaw import inspections at the FDA until 2005, when he left to start a consulting company. "You can't make the assumption that these would be isolated instances," he told the AP.
In some cases, shipments under an import alert do pass through without inspection but, overall, the system does work, FDA officials said.
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States Taking Action to Get Coverage for Uninsured Young Adults
States are starting to take action to get health insurance for the 13.3 million young American adults who don't have coverage, concludes a report released Wednesday by The Commonwealth Fund.
Since 2003, 16 states have enacted legislation requiring insurance companies to provide health insurance coverage to dependent young adults listed on their parents' health plans, beyond age 18 or 19, the report said.
Many uninsured young adults (those under age 30) have low incomes, so extending eligibility for Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) beyond age 18 would be an important step in improving coverage for this group, the report said.
Currently, Medicaid and SCHIP coverage for children typically ends at age 19.
In 2005, there were 13.3 million young adults ages 19 to 29 without health insurance, compared with 12.9 million in 2004, the report said. They represent only 17 percent of people under age 65 in the U.S., but young adults account for 30 percent of the uninsured in that population.
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'Healthy' Restaurant Foods Cause Most Illness
Restaurant foods considered to be healthy -- lettuce, uncooked vegetables, seafood, and ethnic food -- actually cause the most outbreaks of restaurant-related foodborne illness, according to an analysis of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The analysis by Healthinspections.com revealed that lettuce-based salads, tomatoes, and vegetables were the leading cause of food poisoning outbreaks in U.S. restaurants in 2005. Seafood and ethnic foods were the second-leading cause.
Lettuce-based salads, tomatoes and vegetables served in restaurants caused 49 outbreaks of foodborne illness in the U.S. in 2005, according to the Web site, which said that these foods are easily contaminated if a food worker's hands are not clean.
Restaurant seafood and ethnic food each caused 43 outbreaks of foodborne illness in 2005.
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U.S. Beach Closings Reached Record High in 2006
In 2006, pollution at 3,500 ocean, lake and bay beaches in the United States caused more than 25,000 closing or swimming advisory days, a 28 percent increase from 2005, says the annual "Testing the Waters" report released Tuesday by the National Resources Defense Council.
The number of closing/advisory days in 2006 was the highest in the 17 years of record keeping. Storm water runoff, which carries pollutants into the water, accounted for more than 10,000 of the days,MSNBC reported.
Sewage spills and overflows accounted for 1,300 of the days, while the remainder of closings/advisory days were caused by fecal contamination of undetermined source.
The report said that as many as seven million Americans get sick every year from drinking or swimming in water contaminated with bacteria, viruses or parasites, which can cause a wide range of health problems including; eye, ear, and nose infections; hepatitis; gastroenteritis; skin rashes, encephalitis; and respiratory illness, MSNBC reported.
The "Testing the Waters" report listed 13 beaches that met public health standards more than 90 percent of the time in 2006:
- California: Laguna Beach
- Maine: Libby Cove, Mother's, Middle, Cape Neddick, Short Sands and York Harbor beaches
- Michigan: Grand Haven City Beach and Grand Haven State Park beaches
- North Carolina: Kure Beach and Kill Devil Hills Beach
- Wisconsin: Sister Bay Beach and North Beach.
Beaches that failed to meet federal standards more than half the time were:
- California: Avalon Beach (north of Green Pleasure Peir) and Venice State Beach
- Illinois: Jackson Park Beach
- Maryland: Hacks Point and Bay Country Campground and Beach
- New Jersey: Beachwood Beach West.
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Green Tea Helps Mice Beat Psoriasis
Green tea may help treat inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis, dandruff, and lupus-induced lesions, concludes a Medical College of Georgia study to be published in the Aug. 18 issue of the journal Experimental Dermatology.
The researchers found that a bath of green tea extract mixed with water slowed the development and severity of psoriasis symptoms in mice genetically predisposed to develop the condition, CBC News reported.
Green tea slows the production of skin cells by regulating the activity of the enzyme caspase 14, the researchers concluded. Caspase 14 is involved in regulating the life cycle of skin cells.
In psoriasis and similar kinds of skin diseases, skin cells multiply out of control, which causes the skin to be thicker and flake off, CBC News reported. Immune cells are also activated, which leads to inflammation.
The study authors noted that this research is still in the early stages.
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