Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Patients who received massive overdoses of radiation to the head during tests for strokes at hospitals in California and Alabama may face long-term risks of cancer and brain damage, according to the New York Times. The newspaper launched an investigation into the overdoses that were first reported by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in October.

At that time, the agency said it had received reports of more than 200 patients at one hospital receiving excessive doses of radiation to the head, which resulted in hair loss and erythema, or redness of the skin. The Times has since found that the radiation overdoses were larger and more widespread than originally thought – exceeding 400 from eight different hospitals – and that some patients reported symptoms far worse than hair loss, including memory loss and confusion.

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Vaccines for the 2010-2011 flu season in the United States have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but they also include a warning of fever and febrile seizures in young children.

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An explosion blew the roof off an industrial building housing a metal working shop in South Los Angeles early Friday morning, killing one person and seriously injuring another. Investigators suspect somebody within the business tampered with the gas lines Thursday after the gas service was shut off for nonpayment.

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San Francisco, California is poised to become the first city in the United States to order cell phone companies and manufacturers to disclose how much radiation their phones emit. Cell phone use has been linked to cancer and brain tumors by many medical researchers. Other researchers, however, say the studies are inconclusive or reject them outright.

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The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission has identified the manufacturers of the Chinese drywall that thousands of homeowners say has ruined their homes and their health. Enough toxic drywall to build 30,000 homes entered U.S. ports from China during the post-Katrina building boom of 2006 and 2007. People in as many as 18 states claim that the drywall has sickened them with a slew of respiratory problems while corroding their homes’ electrical wiring, air conditioning units, and other household systems.

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is urging the public not to purchase or consume Vita Breath, a brand of dietary supplement sold at health fairs on the Internet, because the product may contain dangerous levels of lead. To date, the FDA has received one report of a patient with lead poisoning who was taking Vita Breath and two other herbal products.

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The U.S. Consumer product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of about 4,600 portable grills manufactured by Eastwind Industries of San Leandro, California under the name Kuuma because of a defect that poses a fire hazard.

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Traumatic brain injures, called TBI for short, have been named as the “signature injury” of war veterans returning home from duty in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now medical researchers are planning to launch a study that will test the effectiveness of hyperbaric chambers in treating veterans with brain injuries.

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Wyoming has become the 20th state to ban texting while driving, surprising many opponents given the state’s traditional reluctance to impose restrictions on drivers. Under the new law, which takes effect on July 1 of this year, drivers caught texting behind the wheel will receive a $75.00 fine.

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All the news about Toyota’s record-breaking recalls and its week-old production and sales suspension have made it easy to forget about the Pontiac Vibe, the hybrid car that General Motors manufactured for the 2009 and 2010 model years.

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