TOP NEWS Class Action Lawsuits

WHAT is a “CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT”?

Do you qualify for a payout from a multi-million dollar settlement?

IF YOU or a loved one have EVER taken a prescription drug and had ANY sort of side effect then “YOU MAY QUALIFY FOR SERIOUS FINANCIAL COMPENSATION.”   Currently in the news there are Several Multi-Million Dollar settlements being paid by Big Pharma. 

Often, when a drug is recalled or when lawsuits are filed, it’s because the manufacturer failed to warn “doctors and patients” about dangerous side-effects or long-term issues.  When the manufacturer doesn’t share important RISK information with doctors, the doctors can’t provide their patients with an honest picture of the risks and benefits.  As a result, patients are prescribed a drug that they think will help them, but they can end up having serious health problems in the long term and the drug manufacturers promote their products for uses outside of the scope of FDA APPROVAL.

When a company can claim that a drug is used for more purposes than it’s actually approved for, it can sell more products.  And, in some cases, these uses aren’t inherently unsafe and they’re just not approved by the FDA.  Some of the cases involve drugs being prescribed at higher doses than recommended, and in other cases the drugs have yet to be tested in clinical trials resulting in injuries and even DEATH.

This is Big Pharma playing Russian Roulette with your health. Your doctor is acting in good faith and prescribing medications according to what the manufacturer specifies is correct.  That’s why the manufacturers are the ones being sued. They’re misleading doctors and the public about how these drugs function and what they can do.

SKIP AHEAD and see if you Qualify for compensation:

How Apple’s new health tech targets baby boomers

With FDA approval to add an electrocardiogram sensor and other health features to its new Apple Watch Series 4, the tech giant has a clear demographic in mind for the technology: baby boomers, according to CNBC‘s Christina Farr.

Apple showcased the new watch during its product launch in Cupertino, Calif., Sept. 12. Along with the EKG sensor

, the watch also includes a number of new health features, including recognizing when the user has fallen and a feature to detect atrial fibrillation — a condition also more common in senior-age patients.

“Fall prevention, AFib detection and slow heart rate alerts are ideally targeted to baby boomers, where the prevalence of these conditions is much higher,” said Jeffrey Wessler, MD, a third-year cardiology fellow at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. “If, and that’s a big if, Apple can get older populations to properly use the devices, the results could be outcome-changing.”

However, Ms. Farr notes encouraging seniors to use the technology may not be all that simple. The latest Apple Watch may be too costly for individuals living on a fixed income and who already spend a significant sum of money to manage chronic disease. Users that did not grow up on smart devices may also have a tough time incorporating the device into their daily lives.

Ms. Farr speculates the watch symbolizes the beginning of Apple’s dive into health monitoring and broadening the target demographic for health devices. The company also recently teamed up with insurer Aetna, which may lead to the watch and Apple’s other technology being subsidized for millions of Americans, the report states.

To access the full report, click here

 

1 in 30 BABY BOOMERS HAS HEP C, AND MOST DON’T EVEN KNOW IT

Hepatitis C (Hep C) is a serious, blood-borne disease that has been under the radar. It’s not talked about much, so even though it affects millions, many people don’t know about it. It’s almost been forgotten.

  • People can live with it for years—even decades—with no symptoms.
  • Meanwhile, Hep C slowly damages their liver. By the time symptoms do appear, liver damage is often advanced.
  • Left untreated, Hep C can cause liver damage, liver cancer, and even death.
  • Each year, more people die from Hep C than from HIV.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all Baby Boomers (born 1945–1965) get tested for Hep C. If you have Hep C, it can be cured.

Get tested. Know for sure.

The Body, The Human Endo-Cannabinoid System … working together for a Healthier YOU!

Most medicines are synthetically made in labs by scientists and doctors.  I personally would rather take a supplement grown in nature to help aide my ailments than a man-made chemical.

Now there is a 100% natural flower extract that can replace those expensive and unhealthy synthetic pills. CBD is grown from the Earth with very little to no herbicide or insecticide because the plants naturally grow so tall and thick, no weeds or bugs can survive.  CBD has many natural health benefits that most people don’t know about.

Doctors and millions of Americans already use CBD to treat:

  1. ADHD
  2. Anxiety Relief and Stress Support
  3. Regulates Pain
  4. Reduce the number of Seizures in Epilepsy
  5. Aide in Digestion by supporting fat loss & cleansing of your colon
  6. Diabetes
  7. Reduces Inflammation
  8. Neuro-protective properties for head injuries including preventing concussions
  9. Depression
  10. Supports Heart Health
  11. Sleep

What most people don’t understand is that CBD can’t get you high.  It contains less than .03% of THC, which is the chemical that gives you a high.  It does however, have many of the health benefits without the high.  The main thing CBD does is help you maintain homeostasis.  Homeostasis is the ability to maintain internal stability  in our bodies to compensate for environmental changes.  So, CBD helps us to maintain balance in the body despite the environment we live in. When the body is out of balance any number of the ailments listed above can happen and cause you discomfort and pain.

Millennial desire for holistic health in line with value-based care

Millennials take a more holistic health approach than previous generations.

Is healthcare ready for millennials?
It would seem that the future of healthcare is actually in line with what millennials are looking for, especially with the move from fee-for-service to value-based care. According to Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, this initiative aims to boost care quality and health outcomes in general, aligning with 16- to 36-year-olds’ desire for a more comprehensive medical approach.

This goal is reached by rewarding providers based on the well-being status and other measures instead of just the volume of tests ordered. Doctors are more focused on keeping patients from being readmitted. The implementation of value-based care, when applied effectively, meets millennials’ desire to avoid scheduling appointment after appointment.

In an effort to keep patients healthy and reduce costs in value-based care, providers also put greater emphasis on preventative medicine. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, many tests are covered under the Affordable Care Act for this purpose, including screenings for alcohol misuse, Type 2 diabetes and depression. Diet counseling and immunizations are also covered. As noted, millennials embrace preventative health, which means value-based care’s emphasis on this type of wellness also matches their needs.

For a provider, being able to deliver that high-quality holistic care this generation demands involves having the appropriate tools for the job. Electronic health records give clinicians a comprehensive view of each patient’s health history and current well-being status, allowing them to make informed decisions that ultimately lead to better health outcomes.

Depending on the EHR vendor, physicians may have access to the IMO 2.0 Enhanced Terminology Platform (ETP). This tool provides the most current dictionaries and maps clinical terms within ICD-9, ICD-10 and SNOMED to all standardized reimbursement codes. This means clinicians can be as specific as possible in documenting patient health, allowing for more enhanced care.

IMO clinical terminology is the most widely used in the industry – find out why.

Can these New Socks Eliminate Foot Odor, Kill Bacteria and Save Water?

In a small town in North Carolina, Crawford Knitting, the maker of Pro-Tect Copper Socks, has single-handedly changed the Sock Industry. For decades, medically beneficial socks were ugly, uncomfortable, expensive and not durable. Pro-Tect has changed all that with an eye on quality, design and comfort while including its patented Copper technology in every sock.

If the technology is good enough for NASA, imagine what it can do for you!

Copper Oxide Defense Technology

Copper oxide defense technology might not be something that you’ve heard about in fabric before, particularly socks. Copper is known for its antibacterial and antifungal properties, but does not always get the recognition that it deserves. Copper infused technology refers to fabrics and yarns which have been treated with minute copper oxide particles, thus “impregnating” the fabric with copper’s antimicrobial properties and making it self-sterilizing. This is particularly useful in garments like socks, which are typically subjected to a warm, damp environment that is particularly suited for the growth of bacterial and fungal infections, and indeed many people do suffer from skin conditions on their feet. Copper oxide technology has other applications too, and some manufacturers have also experimented with products like hypoallergenic makeup brushes and bedsheets utilizing it. Copper infused textiles may well help to heal diabetic ulcers and cure a range of other ailments, but few parts of your body are as pointedly vulnerable to these problems as your feet.

Antimicrobial Properties in Copper Socks

Copper fabrics are becoming a rising trend largely because of their antimicrobial properties. Quite simply, foot odor and athlete’s foot are both caused by microbes – odor by bacteria and athlete’s foot being a fungus. Copper prohibits the growth of these microbes and therefore eliminates these problems. Fifty-six people suffering from chronic athlete’s foot saw significant improvement regarding itching, swelling, and scaling after forty days in a 2008 study published in the journal Foot. The same fungus that causes athlete’s foot also causes toenail fungus, and thus copper oxide technology could be useful in treating this as well. Not everyone suffers from athlete’s foot or toenail fungus frequently, but if you lead an active lifestyle then you are more than aware of the nuisance of smelly socks. As such, people have become interested in copper infused socks because it kills bacteria, including the kinds that cause sock odor, and it’s particularly useful in applications where one would be at risk of ending up with foul-smelling feet – athletics, hiking, the military, or if you’re a diabetic. It can prevent infection in general, and additionally promotes skin cell growth. The way that copper defense technology works is that when copper ions and bacteria encounter one another, the process of oxidization weakens the cell’s outer membrane. As copper is toxic to the inside of the cell, the copper ions eventually cause the cell to rupture and therefore die when it loses its vital structure. Unlike many anti-bacterial products which eventually cause bacteria to become more resistant through evolution, copper oxide technology has multiple pathways to kill bacteria and thus does not entail this risk.

The first time where there was a real-world test with copper infused technology was in 2010, when a mine collapse occurred in Chile, leaving 33 miners trapped nearly 700m below the earth’s surface. Conditions in the mine were conducive to the growth of bacteria and fungi, with temperatures greater than 34°C and 85% humidity. This left many of the trapped miners suffering from skin irritation and infections, with their feet being particularly affected. Several topical ointments such as clotrimazole were given to the miners after they were discovered on their seventeenth day underground, but to no avail. Based on interviews and questionnaires with the miners when they were rescued some sixty-nine days after becoming trapped underground, many noted that they were suffering from skin irritation and scaling on their feet – indicators of fungal infections but also possibly irritant dermatitis. On the thirty-sixth day, each miner was given three pairs of polyester socks with copper oxide technology in what was not a planned trial, but a practical one. Up until this point, copper defense technology was something that had been discussed, but several doctors and the media had been cautious about the benefits without any controlled tests. After beginning to use copper infused socks while still trapped underground, the skin problems went away, mostly within four to seven days of starting to use the socks. Many miners had noticed a bad smell emanating from their feet previously, and almost all of them noted that this went away within days of starting to use the socks.

Considering just how conducive that the environment in the mine was to microbial growth, this stands as a testament to the effectiveness of copper oxide technology. Not everyone who buys copper infused socks works in a mine, and no one plans on being trapped underground for sixty-nine days. But if you frequently suffer from athlete’s foot or want a good pair of sports or hiking socks, this stand as a testament to the effectiveness of copper defense technology.

The US Marine Corps has tested copper oxide defense socks on new recruits, and NASA was interested enough in Pro-Tect copper infused socks to test them although they do not allow findings from studies to be published or used in marketing. The Israeli Defense Force was interested enough in copper infused socks and their antimicrobial properties that they started issuing them to their soldiers. Being on active military duty or in space means having little chance to do laundry, high likelihood of being in situations where you would not have the opportunity to change your socks for an extended period, and conditions which are conducive to microbial growth and therefore a high risk of skin irritation and athlete’s foot. If copper defense technology is good enough for them and demonstrated its efficacy on the Chilean miners, you can rest assured that it will be more than effective for your hiking socks.

Check out their complete collection of copper oxide socks right here

This article was composed by contributions from our Editorial Staff

Inquiries may be directed to healthnews@jointcommunity.com