Things just seem to be getting worse for Johnson & Johnson and one of its branches, McNeil Consumer Healthcare. After a routine inspection by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of a McNeil plant in Pennsylvania found serious lapses in quality control — including bacterial contamination and lack of proper evaluation of a …
Family & Parenting
Pediatricians group withdraws statement on female circumcision
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has reversed its controversial decision on female genital cutting (FGC). The ritual of female circumcision — practiced in some African and Asian countries — is illegal in the U.S., but the bioethics committee of the national pediatricians group suggested in April that doctors be allowed to …
More women still prefer the Pill over other contraceptives
Fifty years since the introduction of the oral birth control pill, it is still the preferred method of contraception for American women, used by 10.7 million women between the ages of 15 and 44. The second most popular method of contraception is female sterilization, with 10.3 million users.
More women are also using birth control …
Pediatricians approve swimming lessons for babies
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) loosened its position on swimming lessons for toddlers younger than 4 years old.
Until now, the national pediatricians group has recommended against swimming lessons for very young children on the grounds that there was no evidence that early aquatic lessons reduced the risk of drowning or …
Study: too few places to exercise
A new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may provide some explanation for why the obesity rate among youngsters continues to climb.
According to the report, released by the government agency, most Americans don’t live in communities where they are encouraged — by parks, sidewalks and playgrounds — to become …
Childhood cancer survivors: how healthy are they?
Surviving cancer is definitely a good thing, and no group of patients has benefited more from recent advances in cancer care than the youngest patients. Among cases of the most common childhood cancers, five year survival rates have jumped from 25% in the 1970s to 80% today.
But because young survivors are more likely to live years, …
Lithium batteries: common but little-known danger to kids
As any parent knows, children, especially infants and toddlers, like to put things in their mouths, and the smaller the object, it seems, the more attractive it becomes for tiny appetites.
Writing in the journal Pediatrics, researchers at Georgetown University and George Washington University report on a disturbing rise in youngsters …
No benefit to delaying childhood vaccinations
In all the time I’ve covered health and medicine issues, nothing has been more polarizing than the debate over childhood immunizations. And while scientific evidence continues to mount against a causal connection between vaccines and developmental disorders such as autism, there was one concern voiced by some parents that seemed to …
Autism research: infertility treatment link, no benefit of special diet
Autism researchers from around the world are meeting this week in Philadelphia at the annual conference of the International Society for Autism Research, and have presented studies investigating everything from the impact of an autistic child on the strength of his or her parents’ marriage, to the merits of popular gluten-free,
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Abortion ad sparks controversy in the U.K.
Marie Stopes International, a sexual health group akin to the U.S.’s Planned Parenthood that provides abortions and other services at clinics throughout the U.K., has purchased a time slot for a 30-second commercial scheduled to air Monday night, the Telegraph reports. The ad — which does not mention the word abortion, but directs
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Survey: the sex lives of married folks
A new survey asks the question that many people quietly wonder: just how much sex do you have once you’re married? According the poll of more than 2,000 married women between the ages of 18 to 49, well, it depends.
Parents of autistic children not more likely to break up
Though the oft-quoted statistic — that strain and stress contributes to an 80% divorce rate among parents of autistic children — has long had its critics, new research presented today at the International Meeting for Autism Research in Philadelphia more definitively undermines that figure with findings based on families of more than
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More children being hospitalized for MRSA infection
New research published today in the journal Pediatrics finds that the number of children being admitted to the hospital for antibiotic-resistant staph infections has surged dramatically in recent years. As the Associated Press reports, the rate of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus infections (MRSA) grew from 2 per 1,000
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