On May 1, consumers were urged by the FDA to immediately stop using fourteen Hydroxycut weight loss products. The manufacturer recalled Hydroxicut after the FDA received 23 reports of liver damage under the Adverse Event Reporting system that now includes dietary supplements—several reports of jaundice, one incident that required a liver transplant, and one death.
Dr. David Blumenthal has been named the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology as part of the economic stimulus package allocating more than $20 billion for a massive move to electronic medical records (EMRs). Dr. Blumenthal recently published a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine noting, as he starts his Washington job, that […]
In 2007 a deal was struck between the British National Health Service (NHS) and drug manufacturer Johnson and Johnson (J&J). NHS had decided not to pay for J&J’s cancer drug, Velcade, so J&J gave NHS a money-back guarantee.
AAHF board members and AAHF legislative director Tami Wahl recently became involved in a battle in Delaware over who had the right to guide and counsel patients about their nutrition. The Delaware Board of Dietetics proposed regulations that would have given only those with a Registered Dietician (RD) certification the right to dispense nutritional counseling, […]
The Obama administration is making a huge financial commitment to preventive care. But will it be targeted toward “early detection,” with its inherent risks, or will its focus be on true preventive care?
In mid-April, the Finnish health and social affairs ministry unveiled a proposal that only “healthcare professionals” should be allowed to treat mentally ill and disabled patients. The report went on to state that alternative therapies should only be offered under a doctor’s care to cancer, diabetic, pregnant women, and mental health patients. The Finnish health […]
Five individuals, including former Congressman Dick Armey and lead plaintiff Brian Hall, have filed a lawsuit accusing the Social Security Administration (SSA) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of improperly adopting illegal and coercive policies that deny otherwise eligible retirees their rightful Social Security benefits if those retirees choose not to enroll in […]
When Security is Breached, What Happens Public comments are being accepted through June 1, 2009, by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on a proposed rule that would require notification of consumers when the security of their electronic health information is breached. According to healthcare attorney W. Reece Hirsch, the FTC is under a tight schedule […]
A previous Pulse of Health Freedom issue mentioned the uncover operations of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) which ensnared Coast IRB, LLC, of Colorado Springs. The GAO created a fake medical study of a fake product to see whether for-profit review boards adequately supervised medical trials. Two firms turned it down but Coast IRB took […]
Dealing with heavy metals—lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and others—were once the concern of integrative medical physicians and dentists alone. In fact, these practitioners were routinely targeted by medical boards for screening patients for heavy metal toxicity. But now the conventional medical literature links mercury to heart attacks and heart disease and lead to high blood […]