U.S. unprepared for nuclear radiation
A study by
Physicians for Social Responsibility shows the United States is still not prepared for a terrorist nuclear attack.
Half a decade after the September 11, 2001 attacks and one year after Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed a region’s health care system, the United States remains dangerously unprepared to deal with the medical aftermath of a terrorist attack involving nuclear weapons, dirty bombs or explosions at nuclear power plants, according to a new report.
To evaluate U.S. readiness, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) created casualty maps for three plausible nuclear terrorism scenarios – a nuclear weapons blast in lower Manhattan, an attack on a nuclear power plant near Chicago, and detonation of a dirty bomb near the White House – and evaluated the medical and public health consequences. The authors then examined steps that should be taken to try to minimize deaths and injuries.
Dr. Ira Helfand, one of the co-authors of The U.S. and Nuclear Terrorism: Still Dangerously Unprepared, explained, “We found that the U.S. government lacks a workable plan to respond to the likely medical needs. Thousands of American civilians injured by a nuclear terrorist attack could survive with better preparedness.” Dr. Helfand, a Massachusetts emergency physician, is a member of PSR’s board of directors.
Other findings from the report include:
- The U.S. has no system for determining whether people should try to evacuate or take shelter at home or work after an attack
- No central coordinating authority has been designated to step in to direct response and rescue efforts
- Plans for establishing field medical care, mobilizing health care personnel, and deploying supplies to the site of an attack are inadequate
- The U.S. public health system, which would bear a large burden in responding to nuclear terrorism, is under-funded and under-staffed
Human Tissue Under Study
The
Food and Drug Administration has finally decided to take a look at the human tissue industry.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced the formation of a multidisciplinary FDA task force on human cell and tissue safety. The FDA Human Tissue Task Force (HTTF), which will be led by senior FDA officials from within the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) and the Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA), was established as part of the agency’s efforts to strengthen its comprehensive, risk-based system for regulating human cells and tissue.
The main priority of HTTF will be to assess the effectiveness of the implementation of the new tissue regulations, which went into effect in 2005. Of particular interest will be a review of recently reported findings that some tissue recovery establishments are not following federal requirements for tissue recovery.
“The primary goal of the new task force is to identify whether any additional steps are needed to further protect the public health while assuring the availability of safe products,” said Jesse Goodman, MD, MPH, director of CBER. “The creation of this task force is part of the agency's overall plan to ensure that all human cells and tissues are as safe as possible.”
Wonder what took them so long.
FDA: Avoid certain online drugs from Canada
The
Food and Drug Administration has issued a consumer warning about buying prescription drugs online from certain web sites.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advising consumers not to purchase prescription drugs from websites that have orders filled by Mediplan Prescription Plus Pharmacy or Mediplan Global Health in Manitoba, Canada following reports of counterfeit versions of prescription drug products being sold by these companies to U.S. consumers. FDA is investigating these reports and is coordinating with international law enforcement authorities on this matter.
The FDA lists the following suspect drugs:
- LIPITOR - Cholesterol disorders
- CRESTOR - Cholesterol disorders
- ZETIA (US name) / EZETROL (Canadian name) - Cholesterol disorders
- DIOVAN - High blood pressure
- HYZAAR - High blood pressure
- ACTONEL - Osteoporosis in postmenopausal women
- NEXIUM - Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- CELEBREX - Arthritis-related pain
- ARIMIDEX - Breast cancer
- PROPECIA - Male-pattern baldness
Web sites under investigation include:
- www.RxNorth.com;
- www.Canadiandrugstore.com;
- www.Rxbyfax.com;
- www.Northcountryrx.com;
- www.Canada-pharmacy.com;
- www.My-canada-pharmacy.com;
- www.NLRX.com;
- www.Canampharmacy.com;
- www.Canada-Meds-For-Less.net;
- www.Canadian-safe.com
