Some police agencies, while strongly in favor of such mandates, say its tough for officers to enforce them.

The California Highway Patrol has handed out nearly 163,000 tickets to drivers talking on hand-held phones since mid-2008. But it has issued only 1,400 texting citations since January in a state of 23 million drivers -- not for lack of trying.

"The handheld cell phone is relatively easy for us to spot, we can see when somebody has their phone up to their ear," CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader said.

"But with the texting it's a little bit more of a challenge to catch them in the act, because we have to see it and if they are holding it down in their lap it's going to be harder for us to see."

Texting increases the likelihood of being in an accident by as much as 23 times.

"What I would say is that texting and cell phone devices have become such a component of life for teens and for young people that it's hard for them to differentiate between doing something normal and doing something wrong," said Steven Bloch, senior research associate for the Automobile Club.

According to government watchdog group, many of these criminally convicted health professionals are in charge of overseeing the safety of patients undergoing clinical trials, which calls into question how safe any of us are when it comes to medical research in general.

The article mentions one specific doctor who remained in practice for 11 years...

even though he had been convicted of 53 counts of criminal offense for, among other things, bribing an employee to conceal information about the attempted suicide of a clinical-trial patient and prescribing a drug without a license.

The FDA has the power to ban doctors from overseeing medical research if federal regulations are ignored while caring for clinical trial patients. The organization is also required to disqualify doctors who have been accused of other crimes, such as fraud.

The types of misconduct that can get a doctor debarred include submitting false information to the FDA, forging patient consent forms and not reporting when a patient has an adverse reaction to an experimental drug.

If convicted of a DUI, the jury may also require that the offending driver pay punitive damages, on top of the criminal charges associated with a DUI. The driver may be held responsible for damages to the other vehicle and/or other property, medical bills and lost wages of the other driver and any other expenses because of the accident.

Driving under the influence is one of the most commonly committed criminal offenses. Often, no one is seriously injured as a result of such conduct but driving under the influence has also been responsible for a multitude of deaths and serious injuries. If such injury occurs, the driver can be held responsible for the injury both by the imposition of criminal charges and the awarding of a large amount of damages against the driver.

The companies that make navigation systems are well aware of the dangers that interacting with them while driving can pose, and most navigation systems have a disclaimer that makes the user agree that they will not be actively interacting with the system while in motion. One obvious danger posed by such systems is that drivers who are using a hand to adjust something on the system do not have two hands with which to control the automobile if necessary.

Another danger is that some drivers choose to rely on their navigation system rather than common sense. They often assume the navigation system will warn them of every detail of the road.

However, possibly the greatest risk of navigation systems is that if you're looking at it, you're not looking at the road. This is good for everyone to remember, especially during the holiday season when so many people are on the road.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is working to produce an official plan to reduce the number of hours truckers can drive, but likely won't have results for around nine months. Previously, truckers were limited to ten hours of driving time per day, so it would seem likely the FMCSA would revert back to that.

At first it may not seem that a single hour can make a significant difference, but trucker fatigue accounts for a large number of traffic accidents.

Every year, thousands of truck accidents can be traced to tired, drowsy truckers, fatigued from too many hours spent on the job...Dealing with trucker fatigue is an important part of reducing accident fatality rates, and setting lower maximum working hours for truckers is an important part of those efforts.

An eleven hour day would certainly make sense from an economic standpoint, but the pressure truckers are under to make timed deliveries combined with fatigue can often lead to serious accidents.

Profits for the trucking industry must not be allowed to take precedence over the safety of motorists and truck drivers.

Falls account for 87% of the annual 250,000 hip fractures in people over 65. Hip fractures can then lead to other serious health complications such as blood clots, "skin breakdown" and pressure sores, ulcers and infection. More time for recovery is needed, which raises the risk of the above complications.

Family members can help their elderly relatives by trying to lessen the risk of the possible side effects. For example, try to keep seniors among familiar settings where they are less of a risk of suffering a fall. Also, to make sure they are in the best possible health, make sure they attend their doctor's appointments, which might require making driving arrangements for less mobile seniors. Make sure they are taking all their necessary medications and receiving proper nutrition. These measures will help ensure your family member stays as healthy as possible and lessens the risk of any negative outcomes.

The risk of being the victim of a surgical fire (or "flash fire") is rather low, but the article suggests that it is entirely too high considering the fires are completely preventable.

According to ECRI forensic investigators, most flash fires occur when high oxygen levels cause material like surgical sheets in the operating room, to ignite. High oxygen levels can often be found under these sheets or drapes. Other common causes of flash fires are alcohol-based cleaners. The cleaner must be fully dried before laying out the electronic surgical equipment. Otherwise, the vapors can ignite, causing a sudden flash fire.

The article brings up the recent case of Janice McCall, a 65 year old woman who sustained fatal injuries from a surgical fire in a hospital in Illinois. She was badly burned before operating room staff could put out the fire; no one else was injured. Ms. McCall was rushed to another hospital in Tennessee with severe burns and died six days later.

• Out of 370 residents who answered questions about medical errors, 39 percent admitted that they had made at least one major medical error. • There was also a connection between these medical errors and tiredness. The researchers found that for every single point increase in fatigue, the resident's chances of making a medical error increased by 14 percent. • Also, for every single point increase in the sleepiness score, the chances of making an error increased by 10 percent. • Besides sleepiness and fatigue, medical errors were also more frequently seen in doctors suffering from depression, or experiencing burnout symptoms.

Clearly, a doctor's quality of life is directly related to how he/she will care for patients. Every year approximately 100,000 people die from "preventable medical errors" in the U.S.

Nursing homes often assure people that the psychiatric patients and patients with criminal backgrounds are kept separated from the elderly and "infirm", but...

this does not always prevent the nursing home residents from coming to harm. There have been reports of elderly residents being attacked, injured, or raped by some of the mentally ill residents or those who are convicted felons.

Kreisman also says that the methods used to "identify residents with a criminal history tend to be faulty." Background checks are often performed after the resident has been admitted. These checks seldom identify all kinds of crime and often make the felon look less dangerous than they actually are.

A perfect example of this dilemma is Maplewood Care, where in one instance a 78 year-old was allegedly punched in the face by another resident after that same resident allegedly struck and bruised a 75 year-old patient. Obviously there had not been appropriate monitoring and assessment after the first incident to prevent the recurrence of this nursing home abuse. Among Maplewood Care's roughly 200 residents there are 15 convicted felons, and over 40% of the population has a diagnosis of mental illness.

These new reports are extremely disturbing for those of us who are making decisions about placement of our loved ones in Illinois nursing homes. Nursing homes can be a necessary step for elderly residents who are no longer able to provide for themselves. But placing elderly people with medical needs in an environment where they are more at risk for being harmed is not the answer.

$43 billion each year in property damage, lost wages, medical bills and fatalities.

The Washington Post cited these statistics:

Cellphone users are up to four times more likely to be in a traffic accident, and the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis estimated in 2003 that their use was a factor in 6 percent of accidents. That translated to 636,000 crashes resulting in 12,000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths.

Truck drivers are at far greater risk when they reach for their phones, according to a recent study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. They are at almost six times greater risk when dialing and 23 times greater when texting.

In 2003 there were roughly 240,000 accidents and 940 fatalities from cell phone use while driving. This is clearly a problem on the rise.

Both drugs contain drospirenone, which can be dangerous when taken daily.

Drospirenone can cause severe heart problems by increasing blood potassium levels. Patients have also suffered from strokes, cardiac arrhythmias, and gallbladder disease. Some women have even died from health problems resulting from Yaz and Yasmin.

Several lawsuits have been filed against Bayer, the maker of the drug, for failing to give adequate warnings and for "misleading the public." The lawsuits are trying to hold Bayer responsible for not doing enough research and testing prior to making it available to the public. The lawsuits also include

failing to recall the drug once it became apparent that it was dangerous, and for vehemently marketing the drug without properly warning of potential side effects.

James Sanderson was stopped behind two vehicles in a left hand turning lane, a logging truck was directly in front of him. He was then rear-ended by another log truck that was speeding. The collision forced Sanderson's van forward into the first log truck. A log came through the windshield and caused a "traumatic head injury" to Sanderson.

The case was brought to trial and the plaintiff was able to prove that Gary Fruge's, driver of the second truck, speeding and faulty brakes were the causes of the fatal accident.

Apparently proving that the trucking company had failed to properly maintain their vehicle, the jury fined both Fruge and the company for whom he was driving. The lawyer for the Sanderson family produced experts who testified that Fruge was traveling well in excess of the posted 50mph speed limit.
The Sandersons' attorney argued that Fruge had about one thousand feet in which to bring his truck to a full stop. From the evidence, experts testified that the truck must have been travelling around 65-75mph for Fruge to have applied the brakes and still strike the victim’s van with sufficient force to cause the resulting damage and fatal injuries. Experts showed that if Fruge been going 45mph, he would have been able to stop within 360 feet after first application of the truck's brakes.

The jury agreed and ruled Gary Fruge and the Gorum Trucking company responsible for Sanderson's death. His surviving widow and three children were awarded a $3.5 million settlement in July of this year.

GlaxoSmithKline, which manufactures Alli, the OTC version of this drug, insists "there is no evidence that Alli causes liver damage". The company went on to indicate the people who are overweight or obese are predisposed to liver problems.

The FDA released a statement saying that there is no "definite association" between Orlistat and liver injury, but the data is being reviewed.

A warning about the increased tendencies has been present on antidepressant medications since 2005. Psychiatrists have complained that the "black box" warning scared people away from taking the type of medication and have even suggested that the FDA remove the warning...

based on the significant decline in people seeking treatment for depression. However, this recent study by the FDA, which looked at 372 clinical trials from eight different drug makers involving over 100,000 individuals, confirmed the increase risk of suicide in those under 25 taking these type of medications

This article suggests that the warnings really are necessary.

Before the black box warnings were imposed by the FDA in 2005, primary care physicians were prescribing this type of medication to children and young adults going through what can only be described as "teenage angst". There typically was no diagnosis of depression, much less any formal testing to address whether the young adult or child was indeed depressed. Several weeks later, these young, vibrant souls, with many promising years ahead, were found dead as a result of self inflicted injury.

Some people may say they can’t prevent gun-related homicides involving kids, but there is an area that needs real attention. Deaths from family-owned firearms. Fact: American kids under 15 years old are 11 times more likely to commit suicide using a gun, and nine times more likely to die from a firearm accident than children in those other industrialized countries.

The article goes on to remind people to unload their guns and lock them up when not in use.

Gun owners are the first line of defense against the senseless tragedies we read about in the news every day.