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As fears about melamine contamination continue to grow, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced this week that it’s expanding its investigation of imported Chinese food additives. Initially thought to affect only pet food, there are now concerns that the tainted products have made it into livestock feed and perhaps even human food.

Last month, a major recall of pet-food products was initiated after it was revealed that the chemical melamine, a fertilizer and an ingredient used in the manufacture of plastic was found in a wide variety of dog and cat food. The melamine contamination at that time was linked to wheat gluten imported from China. In recent weeks, it was determined that a shipment of Chinese rice protein concentrate was also contaminated with melamine, causing the pet-food recall to expand.
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New research into capital punishment by lethal injection has determined that method of execution to be not nearly as humane as once believed. According to the authors of the study, “the conventional view of lethal injection leading to an invariably peaceful and painless death is questionable.” The study was published in the current issue of the journal Public Library of Science (PLoS) Medicine. According to the journal’s editors, “The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The results of this paper suggest that current protocols used for lethal injection in the U.S. probably violate this amendment.”

The report, which was led by Dr. Leonidas G. Koniaris of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, concluded, “our findings suggest that current lethal injection protocols may not reliably effect death through the mechanisms intended, indicating a failure of design and implementation.” The problem relates to the particular combination of drugs used in current lethal-injection protocols: the barbiturate thiopental, the neuromuscular blocker pancuronium bromide, and the electrolyte potassium chloride.
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California-based generic-drug manufacturer Dey LP has reached a $2.9 million settlement with the state of Massachusetts with regard to accusations of price inflation and defrauding of the Commonwealth’s Medicaid program. The company has already reached similar settlements with a slew of other states, including Missouri, Ohio, Connecticut, Nevada, West Virginia, Hawaii, and Idaho, but has never acknowledged any wrongdoing in any of the cases.

The origins of the pricing litigation date back to the middle of last decade, when Dey was accused of inflating their wholesale prices when reporting them to the industry meaning that state and federal Medicaid programs were reimbursing the company at much higher rates than they should have been. The alleged scam allows the company to increase its profits while keeping the costs of their pharmaceuticals low for consumers.
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