It seems to me that more and more drugs are being pushed without adequate studies and warnings. If you take Byetta, please read this article that I found via ABCNEWS:


FDA Reports Deaths With Diabetes Drug Byetta
FDA working on new warning label for Amylin, Eli Lilly drug Byetta after deaths reported
By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Business WriterWASHINGTON August 18, 2008 (AP)

Federal regulators are working on a stronger label for a widely used diabetes drug marketed by Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Eli Lilly & Co. after deaths were reported with the medication despite earlier government warnings.

The Food and Drug Administration said Monday it has received six new reports of patients developing a dangerous form of pancreatitis while taking Byetta. Two of the patients died and four were recovering.
Regulators stressed that patients should stop taking Byetta immediately if they develop signs of acute pancreatitis, a swelling of the pancreas that can cause nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. The FDA warned that it is very difficult to distinguish acute pancreatitis from less dangerous forms of the condition

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article today on Food Safety. Something I feel is well worth your reading time. I'm including a bit but please check out their webpage at this link for the complete article.

Salmonella Outbreak Exposes Food-Safety Flaws

The twisting road that led federal investigators to announce Monday that they found a single contaminated jalapeño pepper grown in Mexico and sitting at a distribution center in McAllen, Texas -- the smoking gun in the continuing salmonella outbreak long blamed on tomatoes -- has exposed problems in the U.S. food-safety system.

After weeks of trying to get to the bottom of the outbreak, it occurred to investigators in late June that they had to look beyond fresh tomatoes. In at least two large clusters of illnesses, tomatoes weren't a factor, and cases kept piling up after the government had warned consumers to avoid eating fresh tomatoes.

Hurdles to the probe ranged from poor record-keeping for tracking fresh produce to some overwhelmed state health departments to the fact that jalapeños had never before been implicated in a salmonella outbreak.

"It's a mess -- that's part of the problem with the food-safety system we have today," said Michael Doyle, director of the University of Georgia's Center for Food Safety. "When folks get together at the table, no one is officially in charge. Sometimes one person talks over another."

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of 12 federal agencies responsible for food safety, relies heavily on state health departments to test stool samples. But some states don't have the money or resources to handle that task quickly. Delays in reporting -- Texas, with the largest number of cases, had a backlog -- slowed the probe.

It seems that everyday more information is NOT known about this latest outbreak. It truly is a bit scary. I am hoping that it will put a spotlight on what a vulnerable position we are in when it comes to our food supply.

Hope things will show up better. Also hope to have more contributors for this one.

that somewhere along the line we have not kept track of our food supply the way we should. This comes from the New York Times article about the Salmonella outbreak reaching 1,000+. You can read the article at the NYT website by clicking this link.

All four items cited today are common ingredients in some of the building blocks of Mexican cuisine, and the C.D.C. told consumers to stay away from fresh salsa, guacamole and pico de gallo if they wish to reduce the risk of infection.

In the months since the outbreak was first detected in April, the agency has identified 1,017 people who were infected with the same strain, Salmonella Saintpaul. But officials warned that “it is likely that many more illnesses have occurred than those reported.”

The illness usually lasts less than a week without treatment, but 203 people were hospitalized with severe conditions. As with nearly any infection, the very young and the very old face the most risk. Indeed, the C.D.C. said that the death in Texas of a man in his 80’s was directly tied to salmonella.