U.S. Nurse Who Contracted Ebola Sues Employer

WebMD News from HealthDay

March 2, 2015 -- An American nurse who contracted Ebola is suing her employer.

The lawsuit by Nina Pham against Texas Health Resources claims that the employer failed to provide Pham with the proper training and equipment needed to treat a patient with Ebola, CBS News reported.

As dayside primary nurse, Pham spent 12 to 14 hours a day treating Eric Duncan, the first person in the United States diagnosed with Ebola. A few days after Duncan died, Pham tested positive for Ebola.

Pham, 26, believes her Ebola infection was a direct result of a lack of training, according to her attorney Charla Aldous, CBS News reported.

The lawsuit also alleges that Texas Health Resources violated Pham's privacy and used her as a "PR pawn."

source : U.S. Nurse Who Contracted Ebola Sues Employer

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2 Sunscreen Ingredients Not Safe, Effective: FDA

By Alicia Ault
Medscape Medical News

March 2, 2015 -- The FDA is proposing to remove two sunscreen ingredients from the market unless the manufacturers can prove they're safe and effective.

The agency published its proposal in the Federal Register. The ingredients, ecamsule and enzacamene, were among eight total that the agency has been reviewing for years. Both ingredients protect the skin from ultraviolet rays.

In early January, the FDA said the other six weren't safe or effective. Ecamsule and enzacamene are the last two in the backlog that it was required to address as part of the Sunscreen Innovation Act, which was signed into law in December.

The organization that was most active in getting that law passed, the Public Access to SunScreens (PASS) Coalition, expressed dismay at the agency's proposal.

The FDA's action "regarding ecamsule and enzacamene means that Americans will not have access to innovative products that have been used safely all over the world -- in some cases for more than a decade," says Michael Werner, policy advisor to the PASS Coalition, in a statement.

"Last fall, the U.S. surgeon general issued a call to action on skin cancer urging the federal government to work with the private sector and take necessary steps to respond to this public health crisis," he says. "FDA's latest action is inconsistent with this approach."

Ecamsule has been approved for use in the U.S. since 2006, but only in a few products manufactured by L'Oreal. Enzacamene has been under review at the agency since 2002. The application was submitted by a division of the German pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA.

According to the FDA, neither of the companies had enough data to prove that the ingredients were safe or effective.

L'Oreal, which is a member of the PASS Coalition, was seeking to market products with concentrations of up to 10% ecamsule. Tests only looked at concentrations of 0.33% to 3.96%, and in the end did not support "safety of ecamsule at any concentration" on human skin, according to the FDA.

The agency also said that the company needed to submit more animal data to determine potential effects from exposure, and that it wanted studies on whether or not the ingredient is a carcinogen (cancer-causing).

source : 2 Sunscreen Ingredients Not Safe, Effective: FDA

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Ultrasound Treatment May Be Option for Plantar Fasciitis

Most patients found relief from foot pain in short study, but longer trials are needed, experts say

WebMD News from HealthDay

By Alan Mozes

HealthDay Reporter

SUNDAY, March 1, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- An ultrasound technique is showing early promise as a quick and minimally invasive treatment for the common and painful foot condition known as plantar fasciitis.

The finding is based on a short-term study involving just 65 patients, the researchers noted.

"While the long-term outcome studies are in progress, the results we have seen to date are very promising," said study lead author Dr. Rahul Razdan, an interventional radiologist with Advanced Medical Imaging in Lincoln, Neb.

The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society describes plantar fasciitis as essentially an "overuse injury" resulting from inflammation of a band of tissue in the sole of the foot that links the heel bone to the base of the toes.

According to Razdan, standard treatment includes painkillers, cortisone shots, icing, heating, massage, silicone arch supports, and physical therapy centered on the benefits of controlled stretching. For some patients, invasive surgery is another option.

Dr. Raymond Monto is an orthopedic surgeon at Nantucket Cottage Hospital in Nantucket, Mass. He said that about 85 percent of patients will recover from plantar fasciitis with sufficient rest and standard treatment. However, the remaining 15 percent are so-called "problem patients" for whom typical treatments fail to provide relief.

"So when you're looking at chronic cases of disabling morning pain lasting three or four months or more, then absolutely it is warranted to explore new treatment options," said Monto, "because the treatments we currently have are just not that great for these kind of stubborn cases."

Razdan said the new ultrasound therapy is an entirely "novel approach" that uses ultrasonic energy to cut and remove damaged, pain-generating tissue while sparing healthy foot tissue.

In the study, Razdan's team tested the procedure on 65 patients who sought care at an interventional radiology clinic in 2013 and 2014.

All had chronic plantar fasciitis, and all had failed to respond to standard treatments.

During the ultrasound therapy, doctors guided a hollow needle tip into an area of "problem" tissue by means of ultrasound guidance. Once in position, the tip targeted a combination of high frequency/low amplitude sound to the damaged foot region. That broke up the pain-generating tissue, which was then extracted out of the foot.

source : Ultrasound Treatment May Be Option for Plantar Fasciitis

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