Health Highlights: Jan. 28, 2006

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Company Recalls 500,000 Baby Teethers

At least a half million liquid-filled baby teethers distributed in the United States and Canada were recalled on Friday because of a possible bacterial contamination that could cause serious illness, the Associated Press reported.

The liquid in six types of teethers could be contaminated with the Pseudomonas aeruginosa or the Pseudomonas putida bacteria, according to The First Years Inc., of Massachusetts. If the teether is punctured and the liquid ingested, the bacteria can cause serious illness in children, although no illnesses have been reported.

"FDA would like to caution consumers that Pseudomonas aeriginosa is a bacteria that can cause serious illness, particularly in people with compromised immune systems and in infants who are still developing their immunity, as well as children who are born with immune deficiencies," FDA spokeswoman Julie Zawisza said.

Three of the products are adorned with popular cartoon characters. The Disney Days of Hunny Soft Cool Ring Teether, bearing style number Y1447, and the Disney Soft Cool Ring Teether, bearing style number Y1470 or Y1490, feature Winnie-the-Pooh characters. The Sesame Beginnings Chill and Chew Teether, style number Y3095, features Sesame Street characters.

The other teethers recalled are The First Years Cool Animal Teether (style number Y1473) and The First Years Floating Friends Teether (style number Y1474), which feature fish and other animal graphics.

Major retailers, including grocery, drug and specialty stores, sold the product nationwide and in Canada from July 2005 through January 2006.

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New Angina Drug to Hit Market in March

A drug that eases the agonizing pain that can grip angina sufferers when their hearts don''t get enough oxygen was given the government''s blessing on Friday, the Associated Press reported.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved ranolazine for use in angina patients, agency spokeswoman Laura Alvey said. The drug is approved for patients who take calcium channel blockers, beta blockers or nitroglycerin, according to CV Therapeutics Inc. The California company hopes to begin marketing the drug as Ranexa in March.

More than 6 million Americans have angina; Ranexa allows the heart to pump more efficiently without the need for more oxygen, the company told the wire service.

Current drugs for angina either increase the supply of oxygen-bearing blood or reduce the heart''s demand for oxygen. Ranexa relaxes contracted heart muscle, Dr. Louis Lange, chairman and chief executive officer of CV Therapeutics, told the AP. That returns blood flow to normal levels, relieving the pain that accompanies it, Lange added.

The drug will be available as an extended-release tablet.

The European Medicines Agency in October demanded further trials of Ranexa before it would consider approving the drug.

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Medical Device Maker Didn''t Report Safety Problems: FDA

Medical device maker Boston Scientific has repeatedly failed to disclose serious safety issues with its products and quality-control concerns at its factories, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Thursday.

The FDA said that problems plagued every Boston Scientific plant and every device made by the company. However, the FDA didn''t order any product recalls and put no restrictions on the sale of the company''s medical devices, The New York Times reported.

The FDA warning came a day after Boston Scientific won a takeover bid for Guidant, another medical device company that has had major problems with some of its defibrillators. Boston Scientific''s best-selling item is the Taxus drug-coated stent, which is used to keep coronary arteries open after blockages are removed.

The company failed to collect, analyze and report problems experienced by doctors and patients using its devices, and that''s a major failure for a medical device manufacturer, the FDA charged.

"In order to properly design a product, you need to understand what has occurred with the previous generation in order to make corrections both to design and manufacturing," Dr. Daniel G. Schultz, director of the FDA''s center for devices and radiological health, said at a news conference.

Boston Scientific executives plan to meet with the FDA on Feb. 3 and the company said it will work closely with the agency to address its concerns, The Times reported.

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Illinois Pharmacists Sue Drug Store Chain Over Morning-After Pill Policy

Four Illinois pharmacists have sued Walgreen Drug Stores, claiming they were fired illegally after they refused to sign a pledge promising to dispense the morning-after birth-control pill, the Associated Press reported Friday.

Walgreen Co. is accused of violating the Illinois Health Care Right of Conscience Act, according to the AP. The American Center for Law and Justice, a public-interest group founded by evangelist Pat Robertson, is representing the pharmacists.

A new state rule requires pharmacies that sell federally approved contraceptives to fill prescriptions for emergency birth control "without delay" if they have the medication in stock. The rule is being challenged in federal court.

In response, Deerfield-based Walgreen asked its pharmacists to promise in writing that they would fill prescriptions for contraceptives such as the morning-after pill. The plaintiffs were suspended indefinitely without pay when they refused to sign the pledge in November.

"It couldn''t be any clearer," ACLJ senior counsel Francis J. Manion told the wire service. "In punishing these pharmacists for asserting a right protected by the Conscience Act, Walgreens broke the law."

Walgreen spokesman Michael Polzin said the company had no legal choice but to comply with the new regulations.

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Sharp Increase in Children''s Asthma Rates

In some parts of North America, children''s asthma rates are four times higher than they were 20 years ago, says a report released Friday by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, which was set up under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The report cited a number of possible factors, other than heredity, that may influence increased rates of asthma. They include outdoor air pollution, and smoke in homes from secondhand cigarette smoke and wood or charcoal fires, CBC News reported.

A tendency toward allergies and the presence of pet dander, dust mite antigens, molds, pesticides, gases or aerosol in homes and schools may also play a role.

"The air children breathe is an important source of exposure to substances that may potentially harm their health," the report said. "Exposures in early childhood when the lungs and immune systems are not fully developed raise concerns that children may respond more adversely than adults would."

There was some good news in the report. In recent years, there''s been a decline in rates of lead contamination and water-related sicknesses among children in Canada, Mexico and the United States, CBC News reported.

Last Updated: Jan. 28, 2006