All Topics

• Salmonella Peanut Butter Recall

  Pete Strom | February 17, 2007 1:49 PM | 0 CommentsColumbia, SC

  Make sure you look at the product code on the jar of peanut butter on your shelf. If it begins with "2111" take it back to the grocery store for a refund. Salmonella has been found in the Peter Pan brand. I read about this peanut butter recall earlier in the week and did not think much about it until I looked in our cabnet at home and a jar with"2111".DHEC urges people who have symptoms commonly...

• Worker Compensation reform...A case of insurance company Profits over injured workers?

  Pete Strom | February 17, 2007 5:28 AM | 0 CommentsColumbia, SC

  I was proud to see this week that the leadership in the South Caroline Senate is standing up to the insurance industry. Workers Compensation insurance has gone out of site over the past few years and it has the small business community screaming for reform. Insurance companies are making millions off of South Carolina's workers' compensation program, Senate President Pro Temp Glenn McConnell...

• Nursing Home Visited by Jurors During Death Trial

  Shannon Weidemann | January 24, 2007 10:49 PM | 0 CommentsColumbia, SC

  Jurors in the Mabel Taylor neglect of a care dependent person, involuntary manslaughter, and reckless endangerment trial will visit the scene of the nursing home on Monday. The former Ronald Reagan Atrium I Nursing, Research, and Rehabilitation Center was closed in 2004 and replaced with a diabetes treatment facility. Mrs. Taylor, age 88, died after being left in an outdoor, fenced courtyard...

• Arkansas Woman Sues Wyeth Over Prempro

  Shannon Weidemann | January 22, 2007 10:24 PM | 0 CommentsColumbia, SC

  Helen Rush of Little Rock, AR is suing drug manufacturer Wyeth on the allegation that the drug Prempro caused her to develop breast cancer. She sued the company in 2005 and the jury is now being selected. Prempro is a combination of estrogen and progestin, used for hormone replacement therapy in menopausal women. Rush took the drug for nine years and was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999. ...

• Rear facing infant car seats fail consumer reports front and side crash tests

  Pete Strom | January 18, 2007 9:38 AM | 0 CommentsColumbia, SC

  While federal standards mandate that both cars and car seats withstand a 30-mph frontal crash, new cars usually undergo more rigorous testing. Most new cars are tested in both a 35-mph frontal impact collision and a 38-mph side impact collision; yet, infant car seats are only tested in the required 30-mph frontal impact collision. Consumer Reports recently tested 12 infant seats and discovered...

• Freight Train Crash in Bullitt County Kentucky Causes Chemical Fire Requiring Evacuation and Shelter in Place

  Pete Strom | January 16, 2007 4:31 PM | 0 CommentsColumbia, SC

  Today, January 16, 2007, a CSX train derailed in Bullitt County, Kentucky, causing a chemical fire. As a result of the chemical fire, authorities have ordered some residents to evacuate and has instructed almost an entire county to remain indoors with their doors and windows shut until further notice. This was the second train accident in two days in Kentucky and reminiscent of the January 6,...

• Lead Paint Still a Risk to Children

  Pete Strom | January 05, 2007 2:48 PM | 0 CommentsColumbia, SC

  Over 300,000 children in the United States are poisoned by lead from lead based paint annually. 83-86 percent of homes built before 1978 (over 64 million homes nationally) contain lead-based paint. Since 1991, the Centers for Disease Control has emphasized the need to make primary prevention of lead poisoning a high priority for health, housing and environmental agencies at the state, local...

• Social Security Disability

  Pete Strom | December 21, 2006 9:54 AM | 0 CommentsColumbia, SC

  There is a serious misconception among today's workforce regarding what Social Security disability actually protects. Social Security disability income is a governmental program that provides monthly benefits for individuals with a substantial work history who become totally disabled from work. If, as a result of an injury, illness, or disease, a worker cannot perform any job that exists in...

• Zyprexa and Strokes

  Pete Strom | December 20, 2006 1:38 PM | 0 CommentsColumbia, SC

  For millions of people, prescription drugs are necessary to health and even survival. Yet, the very drugs designed to help people may cause adverse reactions that range from illness to disability to death. As recently as April 11, 2005 the FDA issued an alert advising health care providers, patients, and patient care givers to safety issues regarding Zyprexa. New marketing documents were...

• Drug Coated Stents May Increase Risk of Stroke

  Pete Strom | December 12, 2006 5:06 PM | 0 CommentsColumbia, SC

  Recently the Food and Drug Administration announced that it would be studying the safety of popular heart stents. The heart stents involved in the study are stents that are coated with medicine that is supposed to prevent arteries from closing again. More than 6 million people have these medicated stents. Doctors now think these stents may raise the risk of life-threatening blood clots that...