Health & Environment News Clips - 05/02/06

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Antibiotic linked to blood-sugar problems Bristol-Myers Squibb to stop making Tequin after increased warnings Updated: 5:00 p.m. ET May 1, 2006 WASHINGTON - An antibiotic plagued by serious blood-sugar complications is coming off the market. Bristol-Myers Squibb confirmed Monday that it plans to stop making and selling Tequin. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12580698/ Stolen body parts linked to patients' illnesses Lawsuits claim tissue transplants were infected with viruses, other germs Updated: 6:23 p.m. ET April 28, 2006 NEW YORK - At least a dozen people

who had routine operations claim they caught deadly viruses and other germs from body parts stolen from corpses in a ghoulish scandal that has sent hundreds of people for tests. The patients tested positive for germs that cause AIDS, hepatitis or syphilis after receiving tissue transplants, according to their lawyers and court records. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12534958/ Industrial hazards take toll on reproductive health -- study First posted 06:24am (Mla time) May 01, 2006 By Jerome AningInquirer Editor's Note: Published on page A10 of the May 1, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer CHEMICALS, radiation and work-related stress have taken their toll on the

reproductive health of women working in the industrial sector, according to a non-government organization. In a recent study, the Manila-based Institute of Occupational Health and Safety Development (IOHSD) said the three occupational hazards endangered women's reproductive processes, sexual functions, pregnancy and maternal conditions. IOHSD surveyors examined 361 women working in two semiconductor plants and one garment manufacturing firm. Their findings were linked to known theories and propositions already set by scientific and medical studies on occupational hazards associated with adverse reproductive outcomes. http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1 & story_id=74271 Los Alamos Nuclear Whistle-Blower Is Reassigned He will oversee safety training nationally. He says he

is being muffled and the lab will suffer. By Ralph Vartabedian, Times Staff WriterMay 1, 2006 A top official at the Los Alamos National Laboratory who has long raised concerns about nuclear safety practices there has been reassigned effective today, a move he sees as an effort to silence his criticisms. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-nuke1may01,1,2177968.story Elderly at risk using mood drugs: Study Danger in first month of antidepressant useSuicide rate much higher in early therapy May 1, 2006. 06:35 AM ELAINE CAREY STAFF REPORTER Elderly patients who are prescribed a popular brand of antidepressants are five times more likely to commit suicide during the first month of therapy than those taking other drugs, a new study shows. The study by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, an independent research group, released today in the American Journal of Psychiatry, looked at 1,142 suicides among Ontario residents older than 65 over nine years. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1 & c=Article & cid=1146433820109 & call_pageid=968332188492 & col=968793972154 & t=TS_Home Expired Drugs Headache for Pharmacies By Kim RahnStaff Reporter Pharmacists have found it increasingly difficult to deal with expired medicine stocks. According to a survey of 401 pharmacists in Seoul by Rep. Moon Hee of the opposition Grand National Party, about 60 percent have kept more than 2 million won worth of expired medicines, not knowing how to dispose of them. Some 38 percent of those surveyed are keeping 2 to 5 million won worth of such medicines. Another 24 percent have expired stock worth 1 to 2 million won, 14 percent 5 to 10 million won, and 6 percent more than 10 million won in expired medications. When asked about how they deal with such medicines, only 63 pharmacists, 15 percent of the total, said pharmaceutical companies take them back. About 16 percent said they simply dump the medicines with other garbage. Some 64 percent said they just keep the medicines and wait for decisions from

pharmaceutical companies and the Korean Pharmaceutical Association (KPA). Only 1 percent answered they take the medicines to agencies that deal with medical waste http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200605/kt2006050116065510510.htm UN acknowledges climate change May 1, 2006 - 7:19AM A United Nations panel on climate change has noted for the first time the likelihood that global warming resulting from human activities is causing heat waves and other abnormal weather phenomena as well as Arctic ice mass loss. "It's very likely that greenhouse gas forcing has been the dominant cause of the observed warming

of globally averaged temperatures in the last 50 years," says the draft fourth assessment report of Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change seen by Kyodo News. Compared with the third assessment report in 2001, the latest report by a sub-panel argues for clearer links between human activities and the warming. http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/UN-acknowledges-climate-change/2006/05/01/1146335637765.html Stockholm Convention to focus on health, environment issues Geneva: The second meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-2) of the Stockholm Convention will be held from May 1 to 5, 2006 here.

The first meeting took place between May 2 and 6, 2005 in Punta del Este, Uruguay. The Stockholm Convention is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants or POPs. POPs are chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed geographically, accumulate in the fatty tissue of living organisms and are toxic to humans and wildlife. POPs circulate globally and can cause damage wherever they travel. In implementing the Convention, Governments will take measures to eliminate or reduce the release of POPs into the environment. http://www.newkerala.com/news2.php?action=fullnews & id=51451 Are you drinking pure water? Vibha Sachdeva CNN-IBN Posted Monday , May 01, 2006 at 12:18 Updated Monday , May 01, 2006 at 13:02 Email Print New Delhi: You may turn the tap on and find that the water that flows from it is pure. The suppliers may even tell you it is safe enough to drink it but the advertisements may emphasise that it is not. It is time for you now to think for yourself whether the water you drink is safe. Some studies suggest tap water gets contaminated with heavy metals while water is being supplied. “You could get various infectious diseases like gastroenteritis, cholera in case water is contaminated with bacteria and the sewage over a prolonged period of time. If the water contains a lot of heavy metals then that can also cause problems in the human body," microbiologist, Dr Atul Kothari says. So to get water good enough to drink you could have options. You could boil it, chlorinate it, filter it, electrolyse it or even distill it. "Boiling is probably the safest method. However, boiling cannot take care of heavy metals, which can be present in the water. And in case

you are living in an area where the water is contaminated with heavy metals or pesticides, it is possible that RO systems will work better than boiling," Dr Kothari says. If you do not believe the advertisers then check your water. Use easily available water testing kits. You can buy one of them for around Rs 6000 or send a sample of water to the water-testing lab. The results should help you figure out which purification method to use. Of course, you could always fall back on the easy option, the mineral water bottle. Experts say that even some of the branded ones may not follow proper purification guidelines or to make it more worse, your supplier might just refill it with tap water. So it’s always good to crush the bottle after use. http://www.ibnlive.com/news/are-you-drinking-pure-water/9162-17.html "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo.

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