FDA: Traces of Melamine Safe in Baby Formula

Issuing an update on the reports from China of infant formula contaminated with melamine, the FDA has issued a Health Information Advisory to proactively reassure the American public that there is no known threat of contamination in infant formula manufactured by companies that have met the requirements to sell such products in the United States.

This is so because because none of the Chinese manufacturers of infant formula have fulfilled the requirements to sell infant formula in the United States. Based on World Health Organization reports, tainted infant formula in China has claimed the lives of four babies and more than 47,000 children in China had to be hospitalized, and and 12,000 were hospitalized from melamine-contaminated dairy products.

The FDA’s ongoing investigation has shown that the domestic supply of infant formula is safe and that consumers can continue using U.S. manufactured infant formulas. In fact the FDA has concluded that levels of melamine alone or cyanuric acid alone, at or below 1 part per million (ppm) in infant formula do not raise public health concerns.

Here's the FDA update: Melamine Contamination in China

Btw: Did you know that Lab Work is A Top Germy Job or that how How Dietary Supplements Can Save Billions.

Lab Work - A Top Germy Job

If you are one of those who work with sophisticated laboratory equipment, and feel guilty when you take a sick day, there might be no need to feel that way anymore. Because being a laboratory worker entitles you to qualify as one of America's germiest professionals.

These findings were recently made known by Dr. Charles Gerba, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona, who's better known by the moniker "Dr. Germ."

However, laboratory workers aren't alone, in fact they rank at #5 position, and you may be somewhat surprised to know that teachers and day care workers are over the top. And following them are bank employees, tech support pros, medics – the lab workers surface in the next position. Beyond rank #5, police officers, animal control officers, plumbers, sanitation workers and meat packers are subsequently included.

Germy Lab Work

And it seems that laboratorians have a good reason to figure in the list because of how and where they work. For instance, microbiology lab staffers can often be seen walking out from their labs swabbing hands and surfaces in the hospital and then return to find the many of the microbiological cultures test positive for different microbes.

Despite the fact that all of it is very typical of lab workers – nevertheless regular handwashing or using sanitizers in addition to thorough cleansing of medical equipment and lab products around the hospital should provide more protection.

At the same time and according to experts avoiding the office completely or a completely germ free work environment might backfire too. Because a totally sterile environment can make your immune system lazy as it doesn't get enough exercise. As a consequence it might not act promptly when your body actually needs a quick response.

Btw – the data also point to men's desktops being more germier than women's! Fashionable Medical Clothing is becoming a means to self-Expression In The Workplace

How Dietary Supplements Can Save Billions

The national healthcare costs continuing their upward spiral were a good 6.9 percent higher in 2007 than the previous year. This meant that it was twice as much as the inflation rate, and ate into 16 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States. Can dietary supplements control some of these costs?

Naturally, concerns to curb this burgeoning and out of control rate of increase has become a priority in the minds of policymakers and government officials. And while experts debate inefficiencies, administrative expenses, wastage and fraud as the reasons for the current state of affairs, they may have overlooked dietary supplements as an effective and easy answer in the quest of reducing healthcare costs.

More at: Themedica

Fashionable Medical Clothing - Self-Expression In The Workplace

The standard medical clothing has remained virtually unchanged for over 40 years. However, be it the medical industry the new generation of medics, especially women in healthcare, may be inspired to try out fashionable medical clothing, combining utility and elegance.

The need to incorporate fashion in healthcare medical clothing has long been overlooked. Imagine, scrubs, lab-coats, hospital and medical apparel bringing in a new look and utility attire that helps women find a balance between looking fashionable at the same time presenting the professional look that's so important for the industry. An initiative of bringing out such clothing can already be seen in the collection of clinician scrubs and lab coats from Medelita.

However, trying to induce fashion into medical clothing and help women find a sense of self-expression and femininity, and yet allow them to fit in with the generally accepted standards of the industry, which for the most part is male dominated, can be quite a challenge for designers.

Consider for instance, that to mold hospital clothing in stylish yet professional form they'd need to make design improvements to the scrub tops, perhaps by darting at the bust, or include tailored sleeves, and tapered waist and hips that so as to give women modern and trendy lines, coupled with an attractive fit. And not to compromise on comfort associated with the dresses. On the other hand the clinician pants might need to be given a contoured rise and a subtle bootleg for a slimming look.

It won't too far in future, when attractive details, feminine colors, design improvements is a commonplace, and lend medical clothing a fresh appearance on a familiar style and give women a professional look tailored to the female figure that many think, they simply crave for.

Also, this year's European Medical Devices Green Excellence Product Innovation Award by Frost & Sullivan tell you why Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Is The Winning Formula for medical wastes.

Medical Waste - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Is The Winning Formula

Medical wastes not only pose a risk to human lives but also to the environment and animal life. Though treatment at waste management plants does reduce the risks, indirect health risks may occur through the release of toxic pollutants or through treatment or disposal of waste. Given this scenario, the three R's - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle seems to be an apt solution for managing medical wastes. And for the most part a winning formula too.

Medical wastes include a myriad byproducts from healthcare activities, such as Infectious wastes -- cultures and stocks of infectious agents, etc, Anatomic wastes – the body parts and animal carcasses, Sharp wastes--syringes, disposable scalpels, etc., Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Radioactive matter --radioactive diagnostic material, Wastes with high heavy metal content e.g. broken mercury thermometers. In addition to these include the used up medical consumables like gloves, bandages, medical tapes, sanitary products, etc, which are processed by waste treatment equipment and waste management plant.

Though it may have taken some time for adjusting to the three R's, it seems to be gaining momentum pretty fast, as can be witnessed from the growth of the medical device reuse industry. Presently valued at $4 billion, it's forecasted for a significant annual growth rate of 12.9% through 2012. And much of the popularity is due to the cost savings derived from reuse.

As for the winning formula, The 2008 European Medical Devices Green Excellence Product Innovation Award by Frost & Sullivan to the EcoGlove system should be proof enough.

The company was successful in introducing a system that change the glove supply from a commodity style purchasing to a full service based approach. The medical waste management equipment innovation promises high quality glove, lower overall cost, better quality control, and also addresses the issues of waste management and overuse of resources in healthcare.

For instance, these gloves can be reconditioned for repeated use (up to 7 times). An H2O2 process cleans the gloves, which has the capability to reduce waste by as much as 75 per cent, thus slashing energy use and expense when compared to a single-use disposable product.

It appears that in these times of environmental concerns, especially the management of medical wastes and cost cutting, where often quality is given a back-seat to meet price pressures, only innovative solutions by the industry and waste management companies, incorporating the R's will be the winners.

Also, discover Why Medical Device Reuse Is Hot.

Tracking Hospital Bed Availability During Emergencies

Unlike the underdeveloped nations, there no shortage of hospital beds in the US. And considering the normal course of affairs, about 2.5 million hospital beds that are in use in the US are sufficient. But if everyone in the country needed one of these items of hospital furniture at once, they won't be sufficient.

Now considering a worst case scenario, this sort of a situation is possible in case of a public health emergency or a bioterrorist event. In order to make it easy for organizations to track the availability of beds in such a case the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has developed standard hospital bed definitions to enable hospital systems and emergency responders seeking beds to know and understand each other's language.

The following are the classification of hospital beds to help emergency responders to communicate better.

Licensed Beds: These pieces of medical furniture refers to the maximum number of beds for which a hospital holds a license to operate. For many hospitals the number of beds in operation is less than the all of the beds for which they are licensed.

Physically Available Beds: These hospital beds are licensed, physically set up, and available for use. Further, these beds are periodically maintained in the hospital for the use of patients, which supply accommodations coupled with support services viz. food, housekeeping, laundry, etc. However, these beds may or may not be staffed despite being physically available.

Staffed Beds: These are beds licensed and physically available, and there's also staff available to attend to the patient using the bed. Staffed beds make up both the occupied ones as well as the vacant ones.

Unstaffed Beds: Just like staffed beds these too are licensed and physically available, however they don't have no current staff on hand to take care of the patient, if one were to occupy it.

Occupied Beds: These beds are licensed, physically available, staffed, and occupied by a patient. Simply put, they are in use.

Vacant/Available Beds: As the title suggests these beds are vacant and are available for occupation by patients immediately. Also, for a bed to be called “Available,” these beds must include supporting space, equipment, medical material, ancillary and support services, and staff to operate under normal circumstances. In addition, these beds are licensed, physically available, and have staff on hand to attend to the patient who occupies the bed.

So many classes of beds, so that emergency responders can speak the same language

Why Medical Device Reuse Is Hot?

Just as healthcare costs skyrocket and landfills & medical waste disposal add to the woes of healthcare providers, reprocessing single-use labeled medical devices and medical instruments takes on priority. Not to say that the practice or medical device reuse hasn't been questioned on account of patient safety, but reports on the issue, especially the new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) showed that reused medical devices didn't pose and extra risk to patients. On the whole, proper reuse of medical devices and instruments is not only safe and cost effective but also helps the cause of the environment. More at: Themedica