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Hormone Replacement Therapy and Ovarian Cancer Risk

If you happen to be a woman beginning to experience problems related to hormone levels (i.e. with menopause), you may have noticed the commercials out there for Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) to help alleviate symptoms. There is a story out there that after the analysis of over fifty studies, experts are seeing a distinct link between HRT and a forty percent increased risk of ovarian cancer (specifically the epithelial and endometrioid ovarian cancers). Many women begin receiving HRT to combat the hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal symptoms, and discomfort during sex that crop up in menopausal women. This latest research, however, shows it definitely may not be the risk to start HRT.

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California Apple Plant and Listeria

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as long as the apple is not one of the apples from a California plant recently connected to a deadly listeria outbreak, according to the Federal Drug Administration (FDA). The subject plant apple processing plant in question is Bidart Brothers near Bakersfield, California. The main apples affected were those apples made into packaged caramel apples, products often purchased and frozen for later. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned consumers to avoid eating any prepackaged caramel apples, whether plain or with nuts, sprinkles, or chocolate, even if frozen.

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Recalls, Defects Dominate Automotive Headlines for 2014

For the automotive industry, 2014 was the year of the recall. You couldn’t pick up a newspaper, turn on the evening news or check your favorite news site without hearing about another new and alarming recall. And unfortunately for car owners everywhere, recalls show no sign of letting up. What’s even more concerning is a lapse by automakers and federal regulators in responding soon enough to reports of serious injury and death. Visit Fatal Flaws: Crisis in Auto Safety by The New York Times for an interactive overview of the issue.

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Syngenta GMO Corn Seed Lawsuits

Genetically modified (GMO) corn seeds are the norm in today’s farming world and many American farmers rely on them for choice income producing crops each year. Now American farmers are taking up a fight against at least one big seed company for selling those GMO seeds that are not approved for many importers in the global market (mainly China). Farmers in the United States, in states such as North Carolina and Iowa, have filed lawsuits against Syngenta AG, due to financial losses suffered when China boycotted their corn, and also due to the need for clarification on the seed approval process in this country. Not only were the farmers affected, but also the supportive businesses involved in growth production, transportation, or trade of corn in the United States. Syngenta is a large multinational company that sold the subject corn seeds as Agrisure Viptera MR162.

To date, the lawsuits filed total 360 against Syngenta. Farmers are certainly involved in the lawsuits, but other eligible parties include land owners where corn crops are farmed, grain elevator owner/operators, distributors, transporters (trucking companies, truck drivers, railroads, etc.) and corn exporters. These are occupations built around an American tradition passed from one generation to the next. This industry certainly faces many unknowns every year with the weather, corn prices, pests, and the like, but being misled by companies they must rely on, like Syngenta, is an affront they do not deserve.

Do not hesitate to contact Inserra & Kelley Law Offices if you are a victim of the questionable, irresponsible actions of Syngenta AG. Our caring, knowledgeable experts are committed to help protect the rights of those in the beloved agricultural industry. A lot is owed to those honoring longstanding traditions and back breaking work to bring food to the tables of people around the world.

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SynchroMed Medication Pumps

SynchroMed implantable medication pumps are utilized for patients whom it benefits to have pain drugs directly delivered to cerebral spinal fluid when they have pain conditions that are intractable, or when they experience severe spasticity symptoms not alleviated by prescribed oral medications. Such medication delivery also has the purpose of helping patients receive the medication without the fatigue side effects that occur with oral or injected medications that have to travel throughout the body. While this might sound like a fairly noninvasive way to experience pain relief, there have been dangerous problems with the pump manufactured by Minneapolis-based Medtronic.

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Xarelto: Latest News

Xarelto blood thinning medication continues to be the subject of lawsuits due to its dangerous bleeding risks, with no approved antidote to date. Janssen Pharmaceuticals (Johnson & Johnson subsidiary) and Bayer Corporation are now the subjects of consolidated lawsuits on behalf of patients injured by the commonly prescribed drug. Xarelto has been common to complaints of internal bleeding, including gastrointestinal bleeding and brain bleeding, as well as death. Federal judges have found that a large enough number of the lawsuits includes common complains and similar facts, including the possibility that the drugs were not labeled with the dire warning of severe bleeding possibilities as a large side effect.

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BPA Replacement Suspect Too

So you breathed a great sigh of relief when you found out the major bottled water manufacturers and others had replaced the scary Bisphenol A (BPA) used for bottles and other products with Bisphenol S (BPS). The replacement was touted as protection to the consumer against BPA’s dangers of obesity, cancer, childhood, hyperactivity, and childhood anxiety. BPA free labels were proudly placed on millions of plastic bottles and the tap water wary rejoiced they could keep on drinking bottled water. As if often the case in modern manufacturing, there has been a study putting a damper on the belief that BPS is safe for all.

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Teen Drivers and Older, Smaller Cars

Are you in the market for an economically advantageous car for your teenager to kick around town in? Are you thinking a smaller, older car might be just the ticket? You might want to rethink that after a study found that more teenagers die in older cars, especially those smaller in size. It would stand to reason that such cars would be the least likely to excel in crashes given the older protective technologies, or lack thereof, and smaller area of the vehicle. In fact, researchers found that four out of five teens killed over a five year span were driving cars at least six years old; that nearly half of teens killed in the same five year span were driving cars that were at least eleven years old; and that a third of these teens were driving small or mini cars.

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GM Deadly Ignition Switch Defect

Attention owners of General Motors (GM) vehicles: GM defects have fallen through the cracks to the detriment of consumers. A major defect causes GM ignition switches to power off and prevents airbags from deploying during vehicle crashes. Unfortunately, the safety regulating powers that be in the federal government have not put a halt to the involved ignition switches and the legal system has also failed to bring attention to the defect that has caused at least 42 GM vehicle crash related deaths. The legal system has failed in this particular defect due to the extremely high cost of litigating such cases. It is a sad fact that many attorneys simply cannot afford to take on these cases, and others that are similar, for precisely the reason of cost versus recovery in a system where tort reform and lawsuit costs are making negative impacts. When such cases are litigated individually a great impact is not realized in fighting against product defects as proper attention is not brought to consumers as is the case when victims and attorneys come together in class action lawsuits.

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Caffeine Powder FDA Warning

Another warning from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is imploring consumers to avoid use of pure caffeine powders after being linked officially to two deaths of young males. These caffeine powders are often used to enhance athletic performance, to work longer, to study longer, to lose weight, and to have increased energy. A single teaspoon of these powders, widely available online for purchase, equals twenty-five cups of coffee!

The parents of the two young men who died as a result of these caffeine powders are urging the FDA to go further than warning against the product and instead banning them. Logan Stiner was only eighteen years old and a high school senior when he died from pure caffeine powder ingestion. James Wade Sweatt was only 24 years old when he went into a coma and eventually died after using the caffeine powder in hopes that it would replace depending too much upon energy drinks and soda. Both of these young men were said to be healthy young men, who were both conscientious and smart about what they put in their bodies.

It only takes a very small amount of pure caffeine powder to experience a rapid heartbeat, seizures, and death. Symptoms of high caffeine intake of these powders, as well as other sources, can yield unpleasant side effects such as insomnia, restlessness, heart palpitations, irritability, nervousness, and anxiety. Energy drinks, more and more popular, also contain high levels of caffeine that can lead to unhealthy side effects. Parents should assure their children and adolescents are not using caffeine powders and other caffeine products. Pregnant women should never use them. Adults should take heed and stay away from them as well, as they are simply more risky than beneficial.

Be a smart consumer and stay away from pure caffeine powders! Consult your medical provider whenever considering the use of such a product to enhance energy or performance. We at Inserra & Kelley want health and happiness for all of you out there throughout this holiday season and in 2015!