Medications used to treat high blood pressure inked to birth defects

Heartburn Medication Users Raise Hip Fracture Risk By As Much As 50%

Women who take certain drugs for heartburn, acid reflux and peptic ulcers are raising their risk of hip fractures by as much as 50 percent, according to researchers at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The drugs, called proton pump inhibitors (PPI’s) are used by millions around the world who suffer from [...]

Doctors used to tell women with epilepsy not to have children, because the only available medications to treat the disorder also increased the risk of birth defects.  But according to a May 2011 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, newer antiepileptic medications used during the first trimester carry no such risks. However, [...]

Expectant mothers with HIV have some hope of preventing the transmission of the deadly virus to their unborn baby, with a special kind of drug called antiretrovirals.  But, unfortunately based on new research, these drugs may come with several possible birth defects. Everyday Health explained that Vassiliki Cartsos, associate professor and director of graduate orthodontics [...]

A new study has found that while Risperdal, an antipsychotic drug, works well when it comes to treating childhood bi-polar disorder, the drug’s metabolic side effects need to be taken seriously. Risperdal is a newer atypical antipsychotic drug. It is manufactured by Jannsen Pharmaceuticals, a division of Johnson & Johnson. Risperdal has been known to [...]

A new proposal to toughen the Food and Drug Administration’s power to regulate dietary supplements has the makers of vitamins, minerals and botanical extracts in an uproar.  They are mad and upset at the new guidelines and believe that they are too strong.  But other’s simply don’t agree.  One editorial found in the New England [...]

Johnson & Johnson Suffering From Manufacturing Issues and Recalls

The drug & medical device giant Johnson & Johnson seems to be a name that is coming up a lot lately; from the controversial chemicals found in baby products to the major artificial hip recall surrounding DuPuy Orthopaedic’s, they continually seem to be on the radar. Now, in their just released last quarter financial statement [...]

Recently we reported about the now defunct French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) that manufactured defective silicone implants.  We told you about other countries around the world and how they each are responding to the anxieties over the defective products. Now, as of today, January 26, 2012, the former head of a French company at [...]

  For the second time, four Democratic lawmakers are seeking hearings into two controversial medical devices, the Lap-Band surgical weight loss device, made by Allergan Inc. and transvaginal meshes made by Johnson & Johnson. In a letter sent last week, the group, led by U.S. Representative Henry Waxman of California, asserts that both transvaginal mesh [...]

Johnson & Johnson in the hot seat again, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just issued a warning to Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy Orthopaedics for marketing a number of unapproved medical device components. The drug and device giant’s subsidiary sold more than a dozen different orthopedic devices without ever having received required regulatory [...]

If you’ve ever had to have a surgery, you know the fear that comes along with it.  Will I be ok?  Is this the right thing for me to do?  What will happen if I have trouble?  There are just so many uncertainties, and unfortunately when going under the knife, there is nothing you can [...]