[Health] FDA Panel Votes for Tighter Controls on Vicodin

FDA Panel Votes for Tighter Controls on Vicodin
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/01/25/170255897/to-fight-addiction-fda-advisers-endorse-limits-on-vicodin-and-similar-painkiller
SILVER SPRING, Md. -- An FDA advisory committee voted 19 to 10 on Friday in favor of moving hydrocodone combination drugs such as Vicodin, Lortab, and Norco into the more restrictive schedule II category of controlled substances.

Decline in Hamilton's smoking rates may have hit a wall
http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/news/story/2013/01/25/hamilton-smoking-strategy.html
National Non-Smoking Week draws to a close Saturday, but in Hamilton and across the province, efforts to reduce the number of smokers is an issue tackled 365 days of the year.

FDA Approves First Medical Robot For Hospital Use
http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/4553/20130125/fda-approves-first-autonomous-remote-presence-robot.htm
A robot that allows patients to communicate with doctors via a telemedicine system that can move around on its own has just received 510(k) clearance by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration).

Have You Been Drinking Flame Retardant?
http://ktla.com/2013/01/26/have-you-been-drinking-flame-retardant/
gatorade692 (KTLA) - The makers of Gatorade say they will no longer be using an ingredient linked to flame retardant in their sports drinks.

High doses of folic acid not tied to cancer risk
http://lifestyle.myjoyonline.com/pages/health/201301/100461.php
By Genevra Pittman. NEW YORK | Fri Jan 25, 2013 2:51pm EST. NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - According to a new analysis, people taking high doses of the B vitamin folic acid are not at an increased risk of cancer - easing some concern about possible side ...

Got the flu? Stay home from work
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/health/article/294070/10/Got-the-flu-Stay-home-from-work
Staying home with the flu can be hard for workers, but it's better for you and others. Flu test. A medical assistant tests a patient's nasal swab with a rapid-detection flu test Jan. 7 at Lakes Urgent Care in West Bloomfield, Mich.

In NAACP, Industry Gets Ally Against Soda Ban
http://newyork.newsday.com/news/new-york/nyc-soda-ban-bloomberg-blasts-naacp-hispanic-federation-over-opposition-1.4508818
As the American soft-drink industry argued its case in court on Wednesday against Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's restrictions on sugary drink sizes, a prominent local group stood by its side: the New York chapter of the N.A.

Bearing With Coke: Soft Drinks, Hard Choices
http://www.triplepundit.com/2013/01/coca-cola-vitaminwater-lawsuit/
Responding to our justifiably increasing preoccupation with widespread obesity, the Coca-Cola Company has released a masterful television ad on the subject.

Social Security's disability trust fund could fail to cover all benefits early as 2016
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Snyder-eyes-mental-health-makeover-GOP-skeptical-4222504.php
As President Obama faces pressure on the left to defend federal entitlement programs from the benefit cuts that the Republicans say are necessary to keep the programs solvent decades down the road, one part of Social Security could fall short of paying out ...

Baby born with heart outside body leaves Texas hospital
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/baby-born-heart-body-leaves-texas-hospital/story?id=18313959
A baby girl born with her heart outside her body has been discharged from a Texas hospital. Baby Audrina Enlarge. Baby Audrina Cardenas has gone home after undergoing a six-hour surgery to put her heart back in her chest.

Bird flu research blackout lifted despite bioterror fears
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1318938--bird-flu-research-blackout-lifted-despite-bioterror-fears
A year-long freeze on bird flu research has finally ended and - depending on who you ask - either life-saving science or a man-made disaster could now emerge from the thaw.

Waiter Michael Garcia Refuses to Serve Man Who Insulted Boy with Down ...
http://news.msn.co.nz/worldnews/8598954/waiter-stands-up-for-boy-with-down-syndrome
Waiter Michael Garcia made his regular customer Kim Castillo feel like family last week at the Houston restaurant Laurenzo's Prime Rib.

Toddler Gets Pencil Stuck In Her Brain (PHOTO)
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/national_world&id=8968874
X-ray of the pencil that was lodged in toddler Olivia Smith's brain. It was successfully removed. Olivia Smith is very lucky. The 19-month-old toddler from New Boston, N.H.

FDA approves three type 2 diabetes pills from Takeda
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/25/us-takeda-diabetes-idUSBRE90O17X20130125
Fri Jan 25, 2013 6:21pm EST. (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators approved Takeda Pharmaceutical Co's alogliptin to treat type 2 diabetes as a standalone drug and in two other formulations in combination pills with older diabetes medicines.

FDA OKs First OTC Remedy for Overactive Bladder
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/778226
Jan. 25, 2013 -- The FDA has approved Oxytrol for Women, the first over-the-counter treatment for overactive bladder in women 18 and older.

Fla. Dems upset state playing catch up on ACA
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/01/25/1494461/faith-leaders-pressure-ohio-governor-to-expand-life-saving-medicaid-program/
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Florida Democrats expressed frustration with state insurance regulators Friday, accusing them of dragging their feet on drafting policies to comply with the new federal health overhaul.

On life support
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/life-support-article-1.1248285?localLinksEnabled=false
In 2011, with the collaboration of two governors and the top management of the State University of New York, SUNY Downstate Medical Center's then-President John LaRosa pushed through a takeover of Brooklyn's struggling Long Island College Hospital.

Two Macomb County stores recall ground beef after illnesses
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/01/salmonella-typhimurium-outbreak-expands-to-five-states-16-illnesses/
Two retail stores in Macomb County are recalling gound beef that may be contaminated with a strain of Salmonella that has sickened nine people in Southeast Michigan and another eight infections nationally.