Drugs/Medications

The only vaccination required by Belgian law is that for polio, a debilitating disease that doctors around the world are struggling to be rid of. While doctors in other countries try to persuade parents to get their children the important vaccine, Belgium takes it one step further by enforcing prison sentences for those who do not comply.

Two sets of parents in Belgium were recently given five month prison sentences for failing to vaccinate their children against polio. Each of the parents were also fined 4,100 euros, or about $8,000 USD.

The parents will still have the opportunity to avoid the prison term, as their sentences were delayed to give them one last opportunity to give their children the vaccination. However, if this next deadline passes, the parents will be serving their time in prison.

Due to privacy laws, Belgian officials could not talk about the specifics of the case, including why the parents refused to vaccinate their children, or how much time left they had to vaccinate them.

Exceptions to the polio vaccine law in Belgium are only granted if parents are able to prove that their children may have a adverse physical reaction to the vaccine.

According to an Associated Press survey of 28 major metropolitan areas, prescription and non-prescription drugs were found in the watersheds of more than a few cities. Data was obtained from 62 major water providers and independent researchers.

Test procedures at each location varied wildly. Some researchers tested for more drugs than others. In all, 35 said that they tested, four said tests were negative, and three were awaiting results. 27 locations said that they did not test watershed supplies.

At least one pharmaceutical or byproduct was detected in the treated drinking water supplies. Coffee and tobacco are widely used, and researchers said that their byproducts are often a good indicator for the presence of pharmaceuticals. Researchers therefore routinely test for, and quite often find, caffeine and the metabolite in nicotine, cotinine, more often than any other drugs.

The following metro ares tested positive for the presence of drugs:

Arlington, Texas: 1 (unspecified pharmaceutical)

Atlanta: 3 (acetaminophen, caffeine and cotinine)

Cincinnati: 1 (caffeine)

Columbus, Ohio: 5 (azithromycin, roxithromycin, tylosin, virginiamycin and caffeine)

Concord, Calif.: 2 (meprobamate and sulfamethoxazole)

Denver: (unspecified antibiotics)

Las Vegas police revealed today that a man is in critical condition after having stayed in a motel room where vials of ricin, a deadly poison, were later found. The victim, who has yet to be named by police, called for an ambulance two weeks ago when he was staying in the room.

The man complained of breathing difficulties. Another man who identified himself as a relative stopped by the room to retrieve the victim's belongings. The room had been unoccupied since the victim was taken in to hospital care, but when the relative stopped by to pick up his things, he discovered vials of powder in a plastic bag.

It was confirmed on Friday by local health officials that the powder found is ricin. Six other people, including 3 police officers and 3 hotel staff, have been hospitalized in relation to the incident, but only as a precautionary measure. The man who stayed in the room is currently in critical condition.

An FBI spokesman, Richard Kolko, told press today that the FBI is assisting local police in the investigation, and that "this event does not appear to be terrorism related."

The ricin, along with some castor beans from which the substance is made, were found at the Extended Stay America Motel, which is not too far from the famous Las Vegas Strip.

A federal advisory committee voted on Wednesday to expand annual flu shots to include nearly all children - not just those under age 5. The only children not recommended for flu shots are those younger than 6 months and those with serious egg allergies.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said today that all children should begin getting vaccinated as soon as possible. This means that about 30 million more children could be getting vaccinated each year, and if parents heed the committee's advise, it would be one of the largest expansions of flu vaccination coverage in US history.

The flu vaccine has been available since the 1940's. Many doctors have already ordered their flu vaccines for the 2008-2009 season, so they may not be able to give all these shots until the 2009-2010 season. Flu season typically begins in autumn and continues on through spring.

Advice given by the federal advisory committee is routinely adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who issue vaccine guidelines to hospitals and doctors.

Until now, flu shots were recommend for those at highest risk of death or serious illness from the flu. Those groups included children ages 6 months to 5 years, adults 50 and over, and those with weakened immune systems.

Los Angeles is now home the worlds first marijuana vending machines. The new machines can be used to buy medical marijuana by patients who have been prescribed the herbal remedy by a doctor. The vending machines will dispense the marijuana when the patient swipes a pre-paid credit card in the machine.

So far two machines have been made to the public and will strict security will be in place.

"They'll be greeted by a security guard right there. They'll slide the card in and they'll fingerprint in to verify that it's them," Vince Mehdizadeh, owner of the Herbal Nutrition Centre, told Los Angeles television station KWTX.

"A camera takes a picture of them, verifying that they're actually at the machine. And they get the medicine and they move on."

Following various surveys and investigations into the use of over-the-counter cough and cold medicines in children, the FDA this week is urging parents and caregivers to refrain from giving these OTC medications to children under 2 due to dangerous side effects. The FDA is still investigating the use of these drugs in children aged 2 to 11.

"We strongly recommend that over-the-counter cough and cold products should not be used in infants and young children under 2 years of age because serious and potentially life-threatening side effects can occur from use of these products," said Charles Ganley M.D., director of the FDA's Office of Nonprescription Products.

An FDA news release this week indicates that rare, serious adverse side effects - including rapid heart rates, decreased levels of consciousness, convulsions, and death - have been reported with the use of cough and cold products in young children.

It should be noted that the FDA "has never endorsed the use of these products in children less than 2 years of age". Instead, the FDA has "acknowledged that there was no safety and efficacy data", and left it up to children's doctors to make the determination of whether OTC medication should be used.

Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. has issued a voluntary recall of about 1 million doses of two types of childhood vaccines due to possible microbial contamination. The recall was announced late Wednesday, and involves 11 lots of the PedvaxHIB vaccine and two lots of the COMVAX vaccine. The recall is expected to result in a serious vaccine shortage, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Both of the recalled vaccines protect against Hemophilus influenzae type B, a bacterium that can cause a serious form of pneumonia, as well as a condition known as bacterial meningitis. The vaccines are popularly referred to as the Hib shot.

Merck decided on a recall of the vaccines after tests at their Pennsylvania manufacturing plant revealed a malfunction in the sterilization process. All affected lots were manufactured after April.

Got a cough? Instead of reaching for a bottle of that over-the-counter medication, why not have a spoonful of honey instead? According to the results of a new clinical trial, honey is more effective at soothing a sore throat than a common ingredient in children's cough medicine.

Using honey to treat a sore or scratchy throat isn't a new phenomenon. Rather, it's been used now for centuries, and scientists believe that it may be effective because it has constituents that kill microbes and acts as an antioxidant. This means that honey may prevent damage inside cells from chemical byproducts of their activity.

In the study, they compared buckwheat honey with dextromethophan, a common active ingredient found in over-the-counter cough medicines in the US. It's found less commonly in UK medicines.

The researchers used 105 children with nighttime cough, and then split them into three groups. The first group got a syringe full of honey, the next a syringe containing medicine, and the third group got an empty syringe.

The honey was found to be more effective than dextromethorphan at relieving the severity, frequency, and bothersome nature of the cough. Surprisingly, the medicine was only slightly more effective than no treatment at all.

When we think of steroid use, the first thing that comes to mind are professional sports players who use steroids to gain an edge on their opponents. Instead, according to a new report issued by the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, the average American steroid user is a white male around age 30 who's educated, earns an above average income, and is not particularly athletic. In fact, the report revealed that most men abused steroids in order to look better.

"In total, our findings belie the images of (steroid) users as mostly risk-taking teenagers, cheating athletes, and a group akin to traditional drug abusers," said Jack Darkes of the University of South Florida, Tampa, and co-investigators.

Researchers recruited 1955 male steroid users for the study from websites dedicated to strength training and muscle-enhancing substances, mass emails, and print media. The men thus completed surveys on their background, lifestyle habits, and history of their steroid use.