FDA got 21,000 accounts, including 4,800 deaths in first 3 months of 2008The number of serious drug reactions and deaths reported to the government shot up in the first three months of this year to set a new record, a health industry watchdog group said Wednesday.

The Food and Drug Administration received nearly 21,000 reports of serious drug reactions, including more than 4,800 deaths, said an analysis of federal data by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, known as ISMP.

Two drugs accounted for a large share of the latest reports. One was heparin, the tainted blood thinner from China that caused an international safety scandal. The other was Chantix, a new kind of anti-smoking drug from Pfizer.

Chantix, which had the most reports of any medication, works directly in a smoker’s brain to ease withdrawal symptoms. It also blocks the pleasurable effects of nicotine if the patient is tempted to light up again. Earlier this year, the FDA warned that Chantix may be linked to psychiatric problems, including suicidal behavior and vivid dreams. Pfizer said Wednesday it stands by Chantix, and that the volume of reports might be linked to publicity about the side effects.

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During the first few months of life, babies ease into a normal cycle of sleep and wakefulness. They gradually reduce the number of daytime naps and start sleeping for longer periods of time at night. But some children continue to have difficulty falling asleep or sleeping through the night, and the problem can persist long after children start school.

Sleep disorders may be even more common in children with autism. Researchers estimate that between 40% and 80% of children with autism have difficulty sleeping. The biggest sleep problems among these children include:

• difficulty falling asleep
• inconsistent sleep routines
• restlessness or poor sleep quality
• waking early

A lack of a good night’s sleep can affect not only the child, but everyone in his or her family. If you’re bleary-eyed from night after night of waking up with your child, there are a number of lifestyle interventions and sleep aids that can help.

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By MARILYNN MARCHIONE
The Associated Press

The largest alternative medicine study the government has ever launched has stopped enrolling people while officials investigate whether participants were fully informed of the risks and are being adequately protected, The Associated Press has learned.

More than 1,500 heart attack survivors are involved in the research, which tests a controversial treatment called chelation. It is mainly used to treat lead poisoning. (more…)

The use of chelation therapy is no stranger to controversy and had recently been dropped as a potential beneficial study in children with Autism, showing no benefits. However, an ongoing study in the alternative medicine community using the same metal-flushing therapy that dates back to the World Word I era is now under investigation. (more…)

For those of you that haven’t heard of this before, you are not alone. While most of us have or have had yeast overgrowth in our systems in our lifetime, most cases go undiagnosed. Candida is an overgrowth of yeast in the the human body. Our digestive tract contains small amounts of yeast at all times, this is normal. However when a dysbiosis occurs with the good bacteria in the gut (that means an imbalance of bad to good bacteria), yeast organisms are able to overgrow. We run into real problems when the yeast is able to leave the digestive tract and enter the blood stream. This leads to a systemic problem which can affect the vagina, mouth, skin, urinary tract, organs, tissues, finger and toe nails. This is known as Candidiasis and is a considered a medical condition. (more…)

It seems as if the makers of vaccinations have no respect for human life - and the same is true for the government agencies that stand behind them in support of their propaganda. I have long been concerned by the way vaccinations are pushed on parents and the amount of vaccines administered these days to the poor children who have no choice in the matter.

With educational systems requiring vaccinations for admittance to schools, parents are feeling as if they are left with no other choice but to vaccinate their children. With the long term and negative effects of vaccinations still not completely understood and the effectiveness of many vaccinations still unproven, putting children at risk with vaccinations strikes me as a selfish and irresponsible tactic to make money. Lately, however, the vaccine pushers have really gone too far. (more…)

by author Croft Woodruff

Statistically, you’d be more likely to avoid the flu if you took nothing at all. So why are we subjected to the flu vaccine media blitz each year?

In Vancouver, a BCTV reporter, commenting on the current flu epidemic that is overloading BC hospital emergency wards, claimed that of 32 people who were vaccinated, 30 caught the flu. Immediately, the news anchor intoned “It is not too late to get your flu shot. The vaccine is 70 percent effective.” [BCTV News Hour, January 11/00]

How does a 93.75 percent failure rate for the vaccine translate into a 70 percent effectiveness? Here is a vaccine with a success rate of 6.25 percent. This is an amazing under-achievement, since the average placebo response to distilled water injections is 30 percent-even to cure chronic low back pain. (more…)

If you had 30 seconds to ask Dr. Buttar one question about Autism or Heavy Metal Toxicity, what would your single most important question be?

Ask your Question at www.AskDrButtar.com

If you had 30 seconds to ask Dr. Buttar one question about Autism or Heavy Metal Toxicity, what would your single most important question be?

Ask your Question at www.AskDrButtar.com