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

Responding to a sharp increase in the number of illnesses linked to contaminated eggs, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has introduced tougher safety requirements for large-scale egg producers. The agency says that the new rules can eliminate nearly 80,000 illnesses and save 30 lives every year. The measures target the spread of Salmonella Enteritidis bacteria throughout egg producing facilities. The salmonella bacteria frequently contaminate eggs and the products in which they are used.

Read the rest of this entry »

In an analysis of commercial fishing deaths from 2000 to 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found Gulf of Mexico shrimping to be the deadliest form of commercial fishing in the United States. Commercial fishing in general is one of the most dangerous industries for workers, with a fatality rate of 128 per 100,000 — 32 times higher than the rate for all other workers.

Read the rest of this entry »

Public health officials investigating the outbreak of an uncommon strain of salmonella that swept through Illinois from May to June announced they have linked the bacteria to 47 Subway franchise stores in the state. Illinois Department of Health officials say they have confirmed 97 cases of Salmonella Hvittingfoss infection across 28 Illinois counties.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

For decades, big pharmaceutical companies have spent untold millions researching drugs that will assist in the recovery of traumatic brain injury, or TBI. Now, new research shows that the answer may have been there all along.

Read the rest of this entry »

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, and this year the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) is calling attention to concussions, which are often overlooked, ignored, or not taken seriously. To help boost awareness of concussions and the threats they pose, especially to children and adolescents, the BIAA is launching a year-long education and advocacy campaign called under the banner “A concussion is a brain injury. Get the facts.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this month, the Associated Press exposed yet another disturbing Chinese trade secret when it reported that some manufacturers in China are making children’s jewelry with the highly toxic metal cadmium. Children’s jewelry now joins the growing list of dangerous and sometimes deadly products pouring into the United States from China – a list that includes toys covered with lead paint, pet food and baby formula tainted with melamine, sulfuric drywall that has ruined thousands of homes, and other poorly made or defective merchandise.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the world’s largest retailer, is pulling items of children’s jewelry known or suspected to be manufactured with high levels of toxic cadmium from store shelves. The move follows an Associated Press investigation published earlier this week which found some China-based manufacturers were creating children’s jewelry with varying amounts of cadmium — a heavy medal considered by the federal government to be one of the most toxic substances on earth.

Read the rest of this entry »

On the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s priority list of the 275 most toxic substances in the environment, the heavy metal cadmium is ranked seventh. Unfortunately, in an investigative report, the Associated Press found that cadmium is being used in large quantities to make children’s jewelry and other products that are sold in the United States. The country of origin for almost all of these products is China.

Read the rest of this entry »