Finally acting on last fall’s huge voluntary recall by most manufacturers of cold and cough medicine, the Food and Drug Administration warned today that giving over-the-counter cough and cold medicine to children under the age of 2 could potentially kill the child.

After studying the issue for months and noting that more than 1,000 infants and toddlers have been taken to emergency rooms after having serious reactions to cold medicine and cough syrup given to them by a caregiver, the FDA concluded that the use of these products in children under the age of 2 could lead to “serious and potentially life-threatening” side effects.

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If you are one of the estimated 15 million Americans who will have a surgical procedure this year, pay attention, please! You and your loved ones may thank me later.

Every single time anyone has a surgical procedure performed, whether the surgery is life-saving or elective, there are risks involved. That “simple” and “routine” tonsillectomy for your five year old can actually result in death. The liposuction that your Aunt Sally has always wanted to remove those saddle bags could leave her with a pulmonary embolism. Nothing is without risk, even though most surgical procedures are much safer than they used to be - picture that bullet removal from Marshall Dillon’s chest from an old episode of “Gunsmoke” and you know what I mean.

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According to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Bausch & Lomb is involved in a lawsuit against its insurance companies arising out of the ReNu with MoistureLoc lawsuits. The Democrat reports that attorneys for the insurers maintain that Bausch knew about the problems with its ReNu with MoistureLoc causing infections to injured victims for “several months before the recall” and that any injuries were not accidents.

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