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Health News
Aug 21, 2008
First payments of Vioxx claims to begin Aug. 28
TRENTON - Partial payments for people claiming the withdrawn painkiller Vioxx caused heart attacks will go out starting Aug. 28 under the $4.85 billion settlement between drug maker Merck & Co. and plaintiffs' lawyers, the claims administrator said Wednesday.
Burned DPW worker out of hospital
A DPW worker was released this afternoon after being treated for chest burns caused by a cleaning chemical discarded in a trash bin behind Paramus Catholic High School.
FDA investigates possible Vytorin link to cancer
Although federal drug safety regulators said today they are investigating whether the cholesterol-lowering drug can increase patients' risk of developing cancer, the FDA said the evidence of a link is unclear.
Pascack Valley Hospital should remain closed
Hackensack University Medical Center's plan to reopen Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood is unnecessary and iimpractical. There are too many hospital beds in the region already.
Aug 20, 2008
Study ties low arsenic exposure to Type 2 diabetes
A new analysis of government data is the first to link low-level arsenic exposure, possibly from drinking water, with Type 2 diabetes, researchers say.
Limitless blood supply in sight?
NEW YORK - Scientists say they've found an efficient way to make red blood cells from human embryonic stem cells, a possible step toward making transfusion supplies in the laboratory.
Scabies case reported in North Jersey
A Clifton senior care facility has reported a case of scabies, and officials are attempting to prevent a potential outbreak of the contagious, communicable infection.
Aug 19, 2008
Vioxx study was for marketing
TRENTON - A 1999 Merck & Co. study of its since-withdrawn painkiller Vioxx, touted to participating doctors and patients as meant to show whether Vioxx caused fewer stomach problems than another drug, was primarily a stealth marketing strategy, researchers report.
College presidents push for drinking age review
College presidents from around the country say the legal drinking age encourages alcohol abuse and binge drinking.
UPDATE: How fat is New Jersey?
Time to buy bigger clothes again. Find out how many of us are overweight and how we compare to other states.
Loan bargains for college students
NJCLASS offers very favorable terms: low, fixed interest rates and a 20-year repayment term.
Aug 18, 2008
National briefs
Schwarzenegger has knee surgery
Aug 17, 2008
Strengthening New Jersey hospitals
Heather Howard, commissioner of the Department of Health and Senior Services, discusses four recently enacted laws to ensure the viability of hospitals in New Jersey.
Firm wants to put $80M into Pascack
Legacy Hospital Partners Inc. of Plano, Texas, wants to reopen Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood as a 128-bed community hospital in partnership with Hackensack University Medical Center.
Poll: N.J. adults worry about celebrity births' impact
Most New Jersey adults believe that recent publicity about young celebrities becoming pregnant makes teen parenthood seem more acceptable to teens.
Bikers net cash for kids
Sunday's eighth annual motorcycle run netted about $525,000 for Hackensack University Medical Center's children's hospital.
Aug 15, 2008
Improved flu shots have early due date
Flu vaccine makers have begun shipping their products already, earlier than usual, and for the first time every strain included in the vaccine is new.
Bicyclists give Road Warrior grief for promoting helmets
Who would expect that this column's support of bicycle helmets would produce a backlash from, of all people, cyclists?
Study: Drugs beat stents in averting heart attacks
People with chronic chest pain who are not in big danger of a heart attack now may have even less reason to rush into an artery-opening angioplasty: There's more evidence drugs should be tried first and often are just as effective.
Don't forget the tissues
One Garden State expert says a ragweed storm is approaching.
Water fouled
The swimming area at Wawayanda State Park is closed, although the park remains open, a park employee said this morning. Fecal matter may be to blame.
NJ's largest health insurer seeks for-profit status
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield cited state and federal reform proposals for a change that would affect 3.6 million New Jerseyans.
Passaic has high rate of patients going to hospitals for simple treatment
Bergen County residents are far less likely to visit hospitals for illnesses treatable in doctors’ offices than people in Passaic County, according to a statewide report released today.
Aug 14, 2008
Baby-heart transplants raise ethical questions
A report on three heart transplants involving babies is focusing attention on a touchy issue in the organ donation field: When and how can someone be declared dead?
Ex-sunbathers beware!
Moisturizers may speed skin cancer in reformed sunbathers, even years after giving up on that George Hamilton tan, a Rutgers study of mice shows.
St. Mary's asks permission to shut psychiatric unit
A move by St. Mary's Hospital to close its psychiatric unit could leave Passaic County without a place to involuntarily commit residents in crisis.
Health center takes over hospital clinics
The state's largest community health center has taken over Hackensack University Medical Center's clinics for the poor and uninsured in Hackensack.
A win for U.S. swimmers and black children, too
Olympic gold for a black American swimmer is worth far more than its weight for African-American children, more than half of whom can't swim.
Aug 12, 2008
Letters for Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008
Letters on the usefulness of prostate cancer tests for elderly men and retiring Roger Ebert.
Bergen mulls backup ambulance service
As concerns rise about the dearth of volunteers in local ambulance services, the county is proposing to create a backup emergency medical service throughout Bergen County.
Underground tanks in our area could be leaking into drinking water
The government owns hundreds of underground fuel tanks — including one in Lodi and another in Clifton — that need to be inspected for leaks of hazardous substances that could be making local water undrinkable.
Little Falls plant's drugs recalled
Patients should continue to take medications as prescribed and contact their health care professionals for replacements.
Aug 10, 2008
America's aging workforce
As the U.S. population continues to age, so the number of people in the workforce 55 and older also increases. Here's a snapshot from 2004, the latest year for which statistics are available about older workers in New Jersey:
Prices of specialty medications zooming upward
WASHINGTON - Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly raising the prices of specialty medications by 100 percent or more - sometimes much more - attracting scrutiny from lawmakers who have pledged to lower health care costs.
Corzine OKs hospital-monitoring bill
TRENTON - Governor Corzine has approved a new state law creating an early warning system to help spot financially troubled hospitals. |
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