backyard fire pit ideasMany people have fire pits at their homes and use them while entertaining. Gathering around an open fire to talk or roast S’mores can be a lot of fun, but it is important that you know the rules and risks associated with backyard fire pits.

According to the Consumer Products Safety Commission, at least 5,300 injuries related to fire pits and outdoor heaters were treated in emergency rooms in the United States in 2017. That figure is nearly triple the number of fire pit related injuries treated in 2008. Alcohol and drug use is a major contributing factor in open fire burns of adults, accounting for nearly 61% of adult burns.

Tragically, children suffer a high number of these injuries, with 25% of the victims under the age of five. Frequently, burn injuries occur the day after a backyard fire, when the fire is out, but the remaining coals are still hot.

Continue Reading Backyard Fire Pits: Burn Risks & Prevention Tips

According to the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH), over 3,000 patients may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C at the HealthPlus Surgery Center in Saddle Brook, New Jersey.

The DOH released a new statement with the HealthPlus Surgery Center requesting that any patients who received a procedure at the surgery center between January and September 2018 to get a blood test for hepatitis and HIV. According to the statement, there have been no reported incidences of infection or illness relating to the investigation to date.

Continue Reading Over 3,000 Patients Believed to be Exposed to HIV, Hepatitis at Surgery Center

At least 35 people have been infected with the adenovirus, the majority of them children, at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. The outbreak first began in late September, according to the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH), and since then 11 children have died.

On November 20, it was announced that a student at the University of Maryland died after contracting the adenovirus. The university learned of the first case on November 1, and since then have confirmed five more cases of the virus.

Continue Reading First Lawsuit Filed in Adenovirus Outbreak at Wanaque Facility, New Outbreak Announced at Maryland University

You may have heard this one before: 50 percent of all normal and asymptomatic adults have at least one herniated disc (sometimes referred to as a slipped disc.) However, unlike many other buzzy medical “factoids,” this one is more myth than truth. Continue Reading Do 50 Percent of People Have a Herniated Disc? Dispelling the Myth

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced plans to “restrict” sales locations for flavored e-cigarettes that appeal to youth. The restriction, which falls far short of a ban, will require sales to take place only in “age-restricted in-person locations and, if sold online, under heightened practices for age verification.”

The restriction does not apply to menthol, mint, or tobacco flavors because, ostensibly, these appeal in greater percentages to adults. Even so, Gottlieb cites that 20% of kids, roughly 720,000, choose menthol flavoring for e-cigarettes and 54% of minors who smoke combustible cigarettes choose menthol as well. A full ban against similar flavorings, i.e., those that appeal to youth and young adults, was issued for tobacco cigarettes in 2009.

Continue Reading FDA Announces Plan for Restricting Access to Flavored E-Cigarettes

Did you know JUUL implemented a vaping prevention program targeted for use in schools? JUUL is the rapid-rise vaping company that makes e-cigarettes that look like USB units, and vaping liquids with high concentrations of nicotine. It has suffered heavy criticism for its appeal to underage youth and is being investigated by the FDA for targeting underage users in its advertising.

The vaping prevention program, which was created at the start of JUUL’s commercial launch in 2015, has also faced criticism, most recently in an article in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Continue Reading JUUL Has An Anti-Vaping Program For Schools?

A new board chairwoman has been appointed and a state-ordered infectious disease specialist has been hired in response to a bacterial outbreak that occurred at University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey.

The outbreak occurred in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and as a result four infants contracted an infection caused by the Acinetobacter baumannii bacteria and one infant has died.

Continue Reading Newark Hospital Appointed a New Board Chair after Bacterial Outbreak

A second outbreak of the adenovirus has been reported and confirmed at a long-term care facility for children in Voorhees, New Jersey. This strain of adenovirus has been identified as Type 3, different than the Type 7 strain that has infected 30 patients and killed 10 at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation.

The New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) announced on November 5th that the adenovirus was found at the Voorhees Pediatric Facility, and four children have contracted the illness. Two inspectors from the DOH’s Division of Health Facility Survey and Field Operations visited the facility on October 30, and their preliminary findings revealed no infection control issues and no citations were issued.

Continue Reading Second Adenovirus Outbreak Confirmed at Voorhees, NJ Facility

The New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) has reported that seven children have died and twelve more remain infected as a result of an adenovirus outbreak in a nursing and rehabilitation facility in Wanaque.

The facility is the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, and first notified the DOH of a respiratory illness outbreak on October 9. On October 19, the center sent out letters to parents of children at the facility informing them of the outbreak.

Continue Reading Seven Children Die After Outbreak in New Jersey Facility

A doctor in Philipsburg, New Jersey has lost his license after allegations that the physician had accepted more than $117,000 from the pharmaceutical company Insys Therapeutics, Inc. to prescribe the company’s fentanyl painkiller Subsys to his patients.

Dr. Kenneth P. Sun consented to the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners (NJSBME) decision to revoke his license amid allegations that he had written hundreds of Subsys prescriptions for patients for whom the drug was not designed. Subsys is intended as a treatment for cancer patients over the age of 18 who are already receiving “around-the-clock opioid therapy” for their “persistent cancer pain.”

Continue Reading NJ Doctor Stripped of License Over Hundreds of Opioid Prescriptions for the Drug Subsys