Do you have any “silver” fillings? Then you will be interested to know that nearly 50% of those fillings are mercury, a metal known to cause neurological damage at high levels.

When absorbed in high enough doses, mercury — in all its chemical forms — can damage the brain, nervous system, kidneys, and other organs. Scientists say this is especially true among infants and children.

Boyd Haley, chemist at the University of Kentucky, said most people with amalgam fillings do get unsafe doses of heavy metals because mercury vapor leaks continuously from the filling. But, the American Dental Association continue to claim the amalgams are “Safe, affordable and a durable material.”

In June, the Coalition of Citizen Health and Environmental groups filed a suit against the ADA for allegedly deceiving consumers into thinking amalgams are made of silver. Consumer groups argue that patients should know what is going into their mouths — if mercury is so “safe” why are they hiding it?

According to the Journal of the American Dental Association, fillings contain a mixture of silver, tin and copper, zinc, and mercury — which hardens the amalgam and makes it adhesive.
Consumers for Dental Choice recently won a state ruling, which requires the California State Dental Board to advise dentists to tell their patients about the mercury content, and to discuss any sensitivities and potential adverse reactions — including the suspected link to birth defects.

Vasken Aposhian, professor of cellular and molecular biology at the University of Rochester, studied how mercury acts on the body.

He said the greatest exposure to mercury is from fillings — which is a serious threat, as it can cross the placenta and harm the developing nervous system of the fetus.

Researchers at the University of Calgary School of Medicine showed mercury could be found in the blood and tissues of pregnant mothers and their fetuses within a few days after mercury fillings were placed.

SOURCE: “Are silver dental fillings safe,” www.msnbc.com, July 11, 2001.

Brutally Long Intern Schedules Increase Medical Errors Headed for the hospital? You better hope any medical resident or intern who treats you has had some rest recently.

A recent study shows that there’s a much higher chance of incurring a medical error, a wrong diagnosis or a medication error if your care provider is sleep-deprived.

Typically, American medical residents and interns work some of the most brutal schedules in the professional world. Their traditional workweek typically runs 80 to 88 hours, with shifts that sometimes run for 30 hours or more. Statistically, mental processes deteriorate with sleep deprivation.

A person who goes 24 hours without sleep operates at a level similar to someone who has a 0.10 percent blood alcohol level – in other words, they act legally drunk!

A study was recently done to determine if a shorter continuous shift schedule would improve job performance among interns. For the study, schedules were reduced to only 16 continuous hours rather than an extended duration shift of up to 30 hours. Instead of 80+ hour workweeks, participants worked no more than 60 hours. Interns were also encouraged to sleep on their time off and to take naps before arriving for night shifts.

When job performances under the two different schedules were compared, here’s what the researchers found: Interns working the longer schedules made 36% more serious medical errors, five times as many diagnostic errors, 21% more medication prescription errors and 22% more critical care unit errors. Obviously, the medical profession would be wise to reduce the number of hours worked by its interns and residents. SOURCE: http://www.citizen.org/documents/LimitDo1.pdf .

Thirty states on Monday reached an $8 million settlement agreement with Bayer regarding allegations that the drug company failed to adequately warn consumers about risks associated with its cholesterol-reducing drug Baycol® (cerivastatin).

The company must pay $8 million to the states for future consumer protection and enforcement programs. Drugs to reduce cholesterol are of a class known as “statins”.

All statins carry a known risk of myopathy, a weakening of the muscles, and rhabdomyolysis, a potentially fatal muscle reaction that is known to cause severe pain and kidney failure.

Papers filed in state courts show that the company learned after introducing Baycol in the U.S. in May 1998, that the drug posed considerably greater health risks than similar drugs, especially when taken in higher doses or in combination with another cholesterol-lowering drug, genfibrozil. Bayer withdrew Baycol from the market in August 2001.

Lawyers suing Bayer released documents back in February 2003, showing that the company was aware of serious problems with cerivastatin long before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered the drug pulled from the market.

The suits state that Bayer informed the FDA about Baycol’s elevated risks but failed in its marketing to adequately disclose safety risks associated with the drug to physicians and consumers. Attorney Generals participating in the settlement represent the following states: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. Pennsylvania, Vermont, Oregon, Michigan and Connecticut each will receive $600,000 as part of the settlement.

The other states will receive $200,000 each. In addition to the $8 million to the 30 states, the settlement requires Bayer to register most of its clinical studies and then post the results at the end of each study. The judgment also orders Bayer’s future compliance with the law in the marketing, sale, and promotion of its pharmaceutical and biological products, and prohibits Bayer from making false and misleading claims relating to any such product sold in the United States. The company made the agreement “without admitting wrongdoing or conceding a violation of law or liability.” “Bayer has entered into this agreement to settle our disagreement with these various states and to avoid unnecessary expense, inconvenience, and uncertainty,”

 Bayer’s chief legal officer, George Lykos, commented in the press statement. “We are gratified to achieve this agreement and have this matter behind us.” SOURCE: http://www.prnewswire.com/ Baycol is a registered trademark of Bayer, AG.

31 DEATHS LINKED TO CHOLESTEROL DRUG The cholesterol-lowering drug, Baycol, has been linked to Rhabdomyolysis, a severe adverse muscle reaction, which has caused 31 deaths.

Baycol, manufactured by the Bayer Pharmaceutical Division, is classified as a statin, drugs which block the enzymes in the body that produce cholesterol. Even though all statins have been associated with Rhabdomyolysis, the FDA granted approval of Baycol in 1997.

And, doctors continue to prescribe it; despite the numerous reports that show cholesterol levels can usually be lowered through proper diet, without the need for drugs.

According to Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, statins have been responsible for 50 other deaths in the United States, warranting the need for stronger warning labels. The FDA does not plan to review Baycol or other statins. Rhabdomyolysis is a condition that results in muscle cell breakdown and releases cell content into the bloodstream.

Symptoms include muscle pain, weakness, tenderness, malaise, fever, dark urine, nausea, and vomiting. Pain from Rhabdomyolysis may involve specific muscles, usually the calves or lower back, or may spread throughout the body, targeting all muscle groups. Rare cases have been reported, in which the muscle injury is so severe that patients develop renal failure and other organ failure, which can be fatal. After 31 reports of deaths linked to Baycol were sent to Bayer, the company “voluntarily” withdrew the drug from the market. SOURCE: “Cholesterol drug linked to 31 deaths,” Health Watch newsletter, www.wcanews.com, August 2001

Weight loss in America is a big business, resulting in sales of more than $33 billion every year. Diet foods, diet pills, appetite suppressants, creams, tonics – there are hundreds of choices. But as was seen with the dietary supplement fen-phen, not all diet aids are safe. In 1997, fen-phen, a prescription appetite suppressant made from a combination of fenfluramine and phentermine, was removed from the market by the FDA amid reports of heart valve damage.

A recent report from the FDA reveals that the over-the-counter diet aid market is still flooded with products that contain unapproved substances and prescription-only drugs. Here are some of the restricted substances and drugs that were detected in over-the-counter diet aids in FDA lab tests: Sibutramine: a controlled substance and the active ingredient in Meridia®, an approved prescription drug to treat obesity.

This was the most common contaminant in diet products, however, using some of these products as suggested would deliver a dosage three times the recommended daily dosage of the drug. Fenproporex: an amphetamine derivative.

Fluoxetine: the active ingredient in Prozac®, a prescription antidepressant. Bumetanide: the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Bumex®, a prescription diuretic. Bumex carries a Boxed Warning (a type of strong warning issued by the FDA) because the drug may lead to serious and significant fluid and electrolyte loss. Furosemide: the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Lasix®, a potent diuretic which is available only by prescription for treatment of congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, and edema.

It may cause profound dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. Phenytoin: the active ingredient in Dilantin®, an anti-seizure medication. Rimonabant: the active ingredient in Zimulti®.

This drug was disapproved for distribution in the U.S when it was found to increase the risk of seizures, depression, anxiety, insomnia, aggressiveness, and suicidal thoughts among patients. Phenolphthalein: an ingredient in some over-the-counter laxative products until the FDA reclassified the drug as “not generally recognized as safe and effective.”

Studies showed that this drug presented a carcinogenic (cancer-causing) risk. The diet aids had names like these: 2 Day Diet, 7 Diet Day/Night Formula, 24 Hours Diet, BioEmagrecim, Body Creator, Cosmo Slim, Extrim Plus, Fatloss Slimming, Imelda Fat Reducer, Slimming Formula, Slim Burn, Slim Express 4 in 1, Super Fat Burner, Venom Hyperdrive.

For safety reasons, the FDA recommends avoiding products that contain promises of an “easy” fix for problems like excess weight or that use impressive-sounding terms, such as “hunger stimulation point” and “thermogenesis.” Source: Ohio State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter “Consumer Directed Questions and Answers about FDA’s Initiative Against Contaminated Weight-Loss Products,” August 2009, http://pharmacy.ohio.gov/sbn2009-08.pdf Source: National Institutes of Health, “Strategic Plan for NIH Obesity Research,” August 2004, http://www.obesityresearch.nih.gov/About/Obesity_Text.pdf Source: Food and Drug Administration, “Questions and Answers about Withdrawal of Fenfluramine (Pondimin) and Dexfenfluramine (Redux),” 9/18/97, http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm180078.htm Source: Food and Drug Administration, “Questions and Answers about FDA’s Initiative Against Contaminated Weight Loss Products,” 4/30/09, http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/QuestionsAnswers/ucm136187.htm

FIRST BAN ON EPHEDRA PRODUCTS ISSUED IN NEW YORK The sale of products containing Ephedra have been banned in Suffolk County, New York. According to the Food and Drug Administration, nearly 100 reports of death have been linked to Ephedra use.

 Ephedra increases metabolic rate and heart rate; it’s often used in dietary supplements as weight-loss aids and energy boosters. The Suffolk County ban was issued following the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher, Steve Bechler, who was using Xenadrine RFA-1 — a amphetamine-like stimulant, containing ephedra.

First-time violators of the Suffolk ban will receive a warning; if sales of ephedra products continue, retailers could be fined up to $5,000. The FDA is also consideringto ban these product, after being linked to nearly 100 deaths and 1,500 reported health problems.

The FDA is not authorized to ban ephedra or other supplements; the agency can only take action “after a product has been deemed unsafe.” Results of a recent RAND study, commissioned by the National Institutes of Health, as well as other recent studies, provide evidence that ephedra may be associated with significant and unreasonable risk of illness and injury.

 Although ephedra-containing products make up less than one percent of all dietary supplement sales, 64% of adverse events associated with dietary supplements are linked to ephedra. Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., Commissioner of Food and Drugs, noted that, “We are particularly concerned about the risks of using products containing ephedra during heavy workouts, with caffeine and other stimulants, in a diet program that stresses the cardiovascular system, or by people under the age of 18. We are also concerned about potential stresses to the body caused by the long-term use of ephedra.” SOURCE: FDA News, www.fda.gov, February 28, 2003; Los Angeles Times, www.latimes.com, March 6, 2003; USA Today, www.usatoday.com, Feb. 2003.

The more that is learned about statin drugs and the potential harm they cause to the body, the less reasons there are for a person to consider taking The more that is learned about statin drugs and the potential harm they cause to the body, the less reasons there are for a person to consider taking them. The evidence continues to mount that the possibilities of reduced good health far outweigh the benefits of any cholesterol reduction.