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NewsyType » Products http://www.newsytype.com Hot Topic News and Commentary Mon, 12 Mar 2012 23:47:22 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Off label promotion of Vioxx costs Merck almost $1 billion in fines http://www.newsytype.com/13665-vioxx-merck/ http://www.newsytype.com/13665-vioxx-merck/#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:30:56 +0000 bryanh http://www.newsytype.com/?p=13665 Unsubstantiated claims about revoked drug Part of the function of the Food and Drug Administration is to keep food and drug producers from making false claims about their products unless it has been proven a basis in fact exists for the claims a company makes about its products. That doesn't always stop drug producers from pushing medications for uses they haven't been approved for. Merck, one of the largest global pharmaceutical companies, recently settled criminal and civil charges brought by the Justice Department, according to Reuters, for illegally marketing the company's drug Vioxx for rheumatoid arthritis when the drug wasn't approved for that use. The company agreed to pay $950 million in fines and penalties, including $321.6 million in criminal fines and $648.4 million in civil settlements. The drug was revoked from the market in 2004 when Vioxx began causing heart trouble in patients taking the drug.

Drug was approved before revocation

An investigation into Merck's off-label marketing of Vioxx has been going on for several years. The company alerted shareholders of a pending $950 million charge in October of 2010. According to CBS, Merck first got FDA approval to sell Vioxx, or rofecoxib, as a painkiller in 1999. However, Merck marketed the drug to physicians as being useful for rheumatoid arthritis from 1999 to 2001, when the FDA warned the company to stop doing so. Vioxx was approved for marketing as a drug for RA in 2002. The drug was pulled from the market two years later, when it was found to double the risk of heart attack in patients who were taking it. Merck was also found to have made false statements to physicians and Medicare about the safety of Vioxx. The company has paid $4.85 billion out in lawsuits over the harmful effects of Vioxx. The company has also entered into an agreement with the Office of the Inspector General, according to Forbes, to allow federal authorities access to the company to ensure compliance.

Off label use common

Doctors, according to the Los Angeles Times, can prescribe whatever medications they deem appropriate. However, under the Food and Drug Cosmetic Act, according to USA Today, drug companies can't legally market drugs for conditions the drug hasn't been clinically proven to treat. Plenty of medications are found to work for other things. For instance, according to WebMD, anti-psychotic medication bupropion is sold as both the well known anti-depressant Wellbutrin and as Zyban, a smoking cessation aid.

Sources

Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/22/us-doj-merck-idUSTRE7AL2C120111122 CBS: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-57329816/merck-ordered-to-pay-$950m-fo-vioxx-case/ Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryhusten/2011/11/22/merck-pleads-guilty-and-pays-950-million-for-illegal-promotion-of-vioxx/ Los Angeles Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/07/opinion/la-ed-drugs-20111107 USA Today: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/11/merck-pleads-guilty-pays-950m-over-vioxx-marketing/1 WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/bupropion-hydrochloride-zyban-for-quitting-smoking ]]> http://www.newsytype.com/13665-vioxx-merck/feed/ 0 McDonald’s McRib sandwich returns to face the heat http://www.newsytype.com/13370-mcrib-faces-heat/ http://www.newsytype.com/13370-mcrib-faces-heat/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2011 22:37:51 +0000 bryanh http://www.newsytype.com/?p=13370 Inhumane treatment alleged The complaint says that the farm uses inhumane practices in the treatment of its animals. It alleges, among other things, that pigs are castrated without the use of painkillers and that they are confined in tiny "gestation crates." This is all contrary to the farm's Internet publicity video, "Taking the Mystery out of Pork Production." Paul Shapiro, a director at the Humane Society, said:

"They make outlandish claims: that their pigs live in ideal living conditions, that every need of the animals is met. It's hard to imagine that a pig crammed into a cage where she's unable to turn around for months on end would consider that to be ideal."

McDonald's emailed a statement in its defense to the International Business Times:

"McDonald's has been a long-time supporter of alternatives to gestation stalls, and we will continue to support the efforts of Smithfield Foods and all of our suppliers to phase them out."

In 2007, Smithfield Farms announced it would begin to phase out gestation crates. Except, according to the Humane Society's allegations, that has not happened.

Undercover investigation

The Humane Society of the United States says that it conducted an undercover investigation of Smithfield Farms last year. That investigation allegedly found over 1,000 female pigs stuffed into gestation crates, inside of which they could not even turn around, for nearly their entire lives. The timeline for an SEC investigation has not yet been announced. Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Michigan, Ohio and Oregon have all passed laws to phase out the use of gestation crates.

History of McRib

The sandwich made its first appearance in 1981. It was developed by the same man who came up with the chicken nugget, Executive Chef Rene Arend. The sandwich did not fare well in its initial run and was discontinued in 1985. However, in the intervening years, the McRib has developed a sizable following of nostalgic devotees and has since become a seasonal favorite.

Sole food

But according to an article in the Huffington Post, the Smithfield Farm pigs are not the only objectionable ingredient in a McRib. The article claims that the buns used for the sandwich contain a chemical called azodicarbonamide. It is a bleaching agent that is often used in making foam plastics, like the kind used in the manufacture of some shoe soles and in yoga mats. Azodicarbonamide has been banned as a food additive in Australia and Europe, where it is classified as a “respiratory sensitizer,” which could potentially cause asthma.

Sources

Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/04/mcrib-lawsuit-humane-society-smithfield-farms_n_1075992.html?1320416650 San Francisco Chronicle: http://blog.sfgate.com/hleon/2011/11/04/the-mcrib-sandwich-and-a-yoga-mat-what-do-they-have-in-common/ InternationalBusiness Times: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/243790/20111104/mcrib-tied-humane-society-sec-complaint-mcdonald.htm]]> http://www.newsytype.com/13370-mcrib-faces-heat/feed/ 0 Half of booster seats unsafe says insurance group http://www.newsytype.com/12723-booster-seats-unsafe/ http://www.newsytype.com/12723-booster-seats-unsafe/#comments Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:36:28 +0000 bryanh http://www.newsytype.com/?p=12723 Designers did not buckle down to ensure proper belt fit Many parents put their children in booster seats until around age eight and a fair number of states mandate it. However, a leading car safety research group asserts many of them are lacking. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, according to USA Today, recently released its annual survey of children's car booster seats. The IIHS rates booster seats on how well the seat belt fits upon placing a child into the booster seat. If the seat belt needs to be adjusted to fit properly when a typical four- to eight-year-old is placed in the seat, it gets a lower grade. The IIHS gave 41 of the 83 seats it tested a "check-fit" rating, meaning that the seat belt needs adjustment once the child is in the seat. Of the remaining seats tested, 31 were given a "good bet" or "best bet" rating, which the IIHS recommends parents buy.

Cost not a factor

According to ABC, the IIHS issued a "best bet" or "good bet" rating to only 21 seats last year, so the industry seems to be improving. Intricacy and expense of the seat were not found to be factors. A booster seat can consist of little more than a plastic frame and foam pad, similar to stadium chairs that adults take to sporting events. Several of those received "Best Bet" ratings, including the BubbleBum seat. The BubbleBum is inflatable and retails for $40. Another "Best Bet" seat with a similar design, according to the Wall Street Journal, is the Harmony Youth Booster Seat. It retails for $14. The IIHS found that six models caused the seat belt to fit so poorly that the organization doesn't recommend anyone buy them. The Case, Generations 65, Express and Sightseer seats by Evenflo and the All-In-One and Alpha Omega Elite booster seats by SafetyFirst were all panned by the IIHS for making belting in a child properly all but impossible. However, other SafetyFirst and Evenflo booster seats were "Best Bets."

Precious cargo

Studies have shown, according to USA Today, that putting a child in a booster seat can reduce the chance of injuries in a crash by up to 45 percent compared to just seat belts. States that require children up to age eight to be in booster seats recorded up to 17 percent fewer fatalities or serious injuries among children in car crashes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, according to ABC, asserts that car seats, including infant car seats, reduce child fatalities by 54 percent in car crashes. Children age three to six and eight to 14 are more likely to be killed in a car crash than by any other cause.

Sources

USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/story/2011-10-13/booster-seats/50747988/1 ABC: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/booster-seats-offer-boost/story?id=14724233 Wall Street Journal: http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2011/10/13/insurance-institute-rates-child-booster-seats/?mod=google_news_blog ABC: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/child-safety-car-seats/story?id=8867880]]> http://www.newsytype.com/12723-booster-seats-unsafe/feed/ 0 DC comics caught between Amazon and Barnes & Noble http://www.newsytype.com/12565-dc-comics-amazon-barnes-noble/ http://www.newsytype.com/12565-dc-comics-amazon-barnes-noble/#comments Fri, 07 Oct 2011 23:10:24 +0000 bryanh http://www.newsytype.com/?p=12565 The logistics of book distribution The distribution of books used to be simple Publishers sent books to stores, where customers purchased them. Now, book distribution encompasses chain stores, independent stores, large digital distributors, online sales and independent digital distribution. DC Comics has been using mostly traditional, non-digital distribution methods.

DC Comics signs Amazon deal

As a part of the Kindle Fire release, several DC titles were included in the list of Amazon-exclusive digital books. These digital comic books are expected to be big sellers and include such titles as "The Dark Knight." Upon being informed that DC Digital titles would be distributed only through Amazon, Barnes & Noble pulled all DC titles off shelves at the company's stores. Now they can only be purchased through special orders.

"We will not stock physical books in our stores if we are not offered the available digital format," chief merchant Jaime Carey said in a statement. "To sell and promote the physical book in our store showrooms and not have the ebook available for sale would undermine our promise to Barnes & Noble customers to make available any book, anywhere, anytime."

DC Comics left without a major distributor

Now that Barnes & Noble has pulled all DC Comics off the shelves, the comic book publisher has been left with no major retailer carrying its titles in physical stores. As one of the two biggest comics publishers, this carries implications not only for DC comics but for all authors and publishers. Digital downloads have surpassed print book sales in many metrics. Print books carry expensive overhead, while digital sales are significantly less expensive to produce. While this removes many of the barriers to entry for authors and publishers, it leaves a small margin for distributors, which tends to squeeze out smaller distributors.

Sources

Forbes.com: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnyegriffiths/2011/10/07/has-batman-fired-the-first-shots-in-a-platform-war-dc-comics-barnes-and-noble-and-amazon/ Forbes.com: http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/07/technology/kindle_dc_comics/?npt=NP1"> Bleeding Cool: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/10/07/barnes-noble-pulls-watchmen-sandman-and-100-dc-graphic-novels-from-their-shelves-over-amazon-kindle-fire-deal/ L.A. Times: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/10/dc-graphic-novels-to-be-pulled-from-barnes-noble-in-digital-spat.html]]> http://www.newsytype.com/12565-dc-comics-amazon-barnes-noble/feed/ 0 Ben and Jerry’s Schweddy Balls peeves parents http://www.newsytype.com/11683-ben-and-jerrys-schweddy-balls/ http://www.newsytype.com/11683-ben-and-jerrys-schweddy-balls/#comments Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:54:09 +0000 bryanh http://www.newsytype.com/?p=11683 Group of parents not laughing Ben & Jerry's, the company known for eccentric but delicious ice cream flavors, has created controversy with a new flavor. The frozen confection is called "Schweddy Balls," named for a "Saturday Night Live" sketch that aired, according to SNLtranscripts.jt.org, on Dec. 12, 1998. The episode featured a recurring sketch called "The Delicious Dish," which featured then-cast members Molly Shannon and Ana Gasteyer, along with whomever was hosting the show that night. In the "Schewddy Balls" sketch, that night's host Alec Baldwin appears as a man named Pete Schweddy, who sells flavored dough balls around Christmas. Hot-buttered rum balls is a traditional holiday dessert. Baldwin, Shannon and Gasteyer go on to talk about his "Schweddy balls." Numerous testicle-related innuendos follow. That, according to "Today," is why a group called One Million Moms is calling for Ben & Jerry's treat to be boycotted.

Not the first flavor under fire

One Million Moms also took umbrage at Ben & Jerry's "Hubby Hubby" flavor in 2009, according to the Daily Mail. "Hubby Hubby" was a re-packaged label of the "Chubby Hubby" flavor, celebrating the legalization of gay marriage in Vermont. In 2006, Ben & Jerry's "Black and Tan" flavor, according to the Guardian, spurred protests in Ireland and the flavor was pulled. The ice cream was flavored similarly to the "Black and Tan," a cocktail made by mixing dark and light beers. The "Black and Tans" was the nickname of an auxiliary English police force in Ireland that carried out brutal attacks on Irish civilians during the 1920s.

Controversial company

One of the first protests against Ben & Jerry's was in 1999, when Vermonters protested Ben & Jerry's selling itself to Unilever, according to the New York Times. Ben & Jerry's is also known for political advocacy, often of a liberal stripe. A rival company started in 2003, according to MSNBC, called the Star Spangled Ice Cream Company, offering ice cream flavors like "Smaller GoverMINT," "Cherry Falwell" and "Gun Nut." According to Wikipedia, its no longer in business. Environmental groups have also taken aim at the company. According to the Washington Post, Ben & Jerry's took the "All Natural" tag off its labels when ingredients were found to be anything but. According to an Associated Press article on OrganicConsumers.org, Ben & Jerry's was found in 2006 to be sourcing eggs from a farm that didn't conform to cruelty-free standards. Dieticians don't condone Ben & Jerry's, either. According to the Ben & Jerry's website, a four-ounce serving of "Schweddy Balls" packs 270 calories. There are four servings per pint. "Chubby Hubby" lives up to its title, with 340 calories per four ounce serving.

Sources

Today: http://bites.today.com/_news/2011/09/21/7876625-parents-call-for-boycott-of-ben-jerrys-schweddy-balls-flavor SNL Transcripts: http://snltranscripts.jt.org/98/98idish.phtml Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2035144/Moms-horror-Ben--Jerrys-Schweddy-Balls--outrageous-ice-cream-coming-store-near-you.html The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/apr/19/ireland New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/22/us/vermonters-would-keep-lid-on-ben-jerry-s-pint.html?scp=7&sq=Ben%20&%20Jerry%27s&st=cse MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11205169/ns/us_news/t/take-ben-jerry/#.Tno1M2WP-_0 Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/27/AR2010092704053.html OrganicConsumers.org:http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_2592.cfm Ben & Jerry's flavors: http://www.benjerry.com/flavors/our-flavors/ Wikipedia on Chef Aid:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chef_Aid Wikipedia on Star Spangled Ice Cream Co.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Spangled_Ice_Cream ]]> http://www.newsytype.com/11683-ben-and-jerrys-schweddy-balls/feed/ 0 Touchscreen Windows 8 Metro OS will challenge iPad http://www.newsytype.com/11295-touchscreen-windows-8-metro-os/ http://www.newsytype.com/11295-touchscreen-windows-8-metro-os/#comments Tue, 13 Sep 2011 20:46:29 +0000 bryanh http://www.newsytype.com/?p=11295 Windows 8: Excitement tempered by migration fatigue Microsoft Windows division president Steven Sinofsky told the audience that this isn't your father's Windows.

"Things are pretty different from 1995, the last time Windows went through a pretty significant evolution," Sinofsky said. "Everything that was great about Windows 7? We took that and made it even better in Windows 8."

Despite the excitement the Windows 8 reveal generated at the conference, industry sources predict that it will be difficult for Windows 8 to gain traction in the market once it hits in Fall 2012. This is because many companies have only just upgraded to Windows 7. Rumblings that Windows 8 is merely improving features already existent in the previous OS don't help the battle against “migration fatigue.”

"We ... expect most companies to skip it," said Gartner technical research firm vice president Michael Silver to FoxNews.com. "To the extent that the market expects companies to adopt Windows 8 in large numbers, it may be disappointed."

Imagining the next PC

Sinofsky trumped up the new Windows 8 graphic user interface that Microsoft is calling “Metro.”

"We're going to re-imagine Windows," Sinofsky said. "All the way up to a brand new user interface."

Metro will reportedly feature a touch screen interface over the top of Windows 8. Metro is intended to work on any device with a touch screen, and tablets will likely represent the primary market by sales volume. Quick, intuitive access to applications, a lock screen that provides useful information to the user and more should make Windows 8 a popular departure for Microsoft, said Sinofsky. Plus, the memory requirements for the new OS are lower than its predecessors and Windows 8 has been shown to function properly on both Intel and AMD chipsets.

"The minute you use a touch device with Windows 8, I promise you'll go back to your computer and you'll be hitting the screen," he said.

Sinofsky noted that in response to what will surely be many tablets running Windows 8 Metro, Microsoft will open an app store that will carry both mobile apps and versions of many classic Windows 32-bit programs.

On building Windows 8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p92QfWOw88I

Sources

Ars Technica: http://bit.ly/rr6kFY Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/01/microsoft-unveils-windows-8-tablet-prototypes/ Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/09/13/microsoft-unveils-windows-8-targets-apples-ipad/]]> http://www.newsytype.com/11295-touchscreen-windows-8-metro-os/feed/ 0 Publishers and authors still up in arms over e-book royalties http://www.newsytype.com/10276-e-book-royalties/ http://www.newsytype.com/10276-e-book-royalties/#comments Wed, 17 Aug 2011 22:13:36 +0000 bryanh http://www.newsytype.com/?p=10276 Authors get better deal from Amazon Last year, according to The Guardian, book publishers and authors won a key concession from Amazon.com. In January of 2010, Amazon announced that it would offer authors up to 70 percent of the proceeds of the sale and download of certain e-books, minus the cost of transferring the data. The standard royalty for e-books will still apply for some, which is about half that. Amazon was afraid of being beaten out Apple, which was rumored to offer a 70/30 split for developers that sold Apps through the Apple App Store. However, Amazon is only offering the 70/30 deal on books that cost less than $10, are priced 20 percent below the normal cost of the book and authors can't offer the book to any other e-book service for less.

Royalties benefit biggest sellers

However, Amazon's offer also only applies to authors and publishers based in the United States who only sell their book in countries where they have rights to do so. Authors in the United Kingdom, according to the Guardian, only receive up to 25 percent of the royalties from publishers on sales of e-books. That extends the entire life-span of the copyright. According to Teleread, a number of publishing companies in the U.S. and the U.K. are trying to get e-book sellers like Amazon and Apple to agree to an "escalator" system, where authors receive a greater share as their books sell more copies. That would certainly bode well for authors who sell a lot of books. According to Forbes, only 275 adult e-book titles and 83 younger-than adult titles sold more than 10,000 copies in 2010. However, some authors are cutting out the middleman and selling their e-books directly. John Locke, according to The Telegraph, sold more than 1 million e-books on Amazon without a publisher by pricing his books at 99 cents per copy. That isn't the John Locke whose writings inspired the American Revolution; his books are free on Gutenberg.

Royalties from Apple rotten

Apple, along with five of the "big six" publishers, are currently being sued in a class action suit for price fixing on e-books, according to PCPro. Simon and Schuster, Hatchett, Macmillan, HarperCollins and Penguin, along with Apple, are accused in the suit of collaborating together to raise prices of e-books through Apple, according to Wired. The idea, allegedly, would be to get publishers to stop offering books to Amazon, because they would get a bigger cut from Apple. Amazon's introductory price used to be $9.99 for new fiction and non-fiction titles from major publishers. Prices on Amazon have risen.

Sources

The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/jan/20/amazon-ebook-royalty-deal Teleread: http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/uk-agents-pressing-for-ebook-royalty-escalators/ The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8706797/E-books-threaten-livelihoods-of-aspiring-writers.html The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jul/12/ebooks-publishing-deals-fair Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnfarrell/2011/04/26/ebook-evolutions-publishers/ PCPro: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/369232/apple-sued-over-ebook-price-fixing Wired: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/08/999-ebooks-lawsuit/ ]]> http://www.newsytype.com/10276-e-book-royalties/feed/ 0 Purina recalls cat food for possible salmonella contamination http://www.newsytype.com/8345-cat-food-recall/ http://www.newsytype.com/8345-cat-food-recall/#comments Tue, 28 Jun 2011 22:58:52 +0000 bryanh http://www.newsytype.com/?p=8345 Distributed to Oregon, Colorado and Idaho Nestle Purina PetCare Co. is voluntarily recalling the pet food, it says, as a precautionary measure. According to the company's website, the questionable bags were distributed in error last February to a small group of customers only in Oregon, Colorado and Idaho. The company warns, however, that the product may have been distributed from there to other states. At this time, according to the Food and Drug Administration, there have been no known incidents of illnesses in humans or pets.

Only the following bags apply

Only the bags with both the "Best By" date and production code numbers shown below are subject to the recall:

Cat Chow Naturals Dry Cat Food - 6.3 lb. -- Aug. 2012 -- 10331083 13 Friskies Grillers Blend Dry Cat Food -- 3.15 lb. -- Aug. 2012 -- 10381083 06 Friskies Grillers Blend Dry Cat Food -- 16 lb. -- Aug. 2012 -- 10381083 06

The "Best By" and production code are found near the bottom on the back of the bag. Consumers who have purchased these bags are strongly urged to dispose of them.

Symptoms of salmonella

Salmonella can cause infections to the pets eating the product and to the humans handling the food or the animals. The infection can possibly be life-threatening, especially to the elderly, the young and those with weakened immune systems. Even healthy people can develop symptoms such as vomiting, fever, abdominal cramping, nausea and diarrhea. On rare occasions, more severe symptoms may result. These symptoms may include endocarditis (an inflammation of the inside lining of the heart chambers and heart valves), arterial infections, muscle pain, eye irritation, arthritis and urinary tract problems. Pets with the disease may have a decreased appetite, abdominal pains and fever. Lethargy, bloody diarrhea and vomiting may follow if the infection is left untreated. Some pets my be infected and otherwise appear healthy. They could become carriers of the disease.

Contact information

If there are any questions regarding the recall, or infection is suspected, please call the Nestle Purina PetCare Office of Consumer Affairs at 1-800-982-6559.

Sources

Walletpop: http://www.walletpop.com/category/consumer-ally/ Pet Connection: http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2011/06/27/nestle-purina-recalls-dry-cat-food-for-salmonella/ Nestle Purina: http://www.nestlepurina.com/2011_NestlePurinaRecallsLimitedNum]]> http://www.newsytype.com/8345-cat-food-recall/feed/ 0 Two New England towns looking to ban melatonin brownies http://www.newsytype.com/6240-melatonin-brownies/ http://www.newsytype.com/6240-melatonin-brownies/#comments Tue, 17 May 2011 17:03:14 +0000 bryanh http://www.newsytype.com/?p=6240 Ban on sleep hormone laced treats discussed after hospitalizations The mayors of two towns in Massachusetts are trying to have a product known as Lazy Cakes banned because they think the treats are being irresponsibly marketed to children, according to Reuters. Lazy Cakes are brownies that contain a dose of melatonin, the hormone manufactured by the body that causes drowsiness. A purple cartoon character called Lazy Larry adorns the packaging, making it look like an acceptable treat to give children who are having trouble sleeping. However, the bars may contain more melatonin than children should be given. Reports of hospitalizations and the amount of melatonin in the treats are causing concern. Lazy Cakes contain 8 milligrams of melatonin, nearly 27 times the 0.3 milligrams recommended for children, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Designer downers

Though far removed from the trendy downers of yesteryear like Valium, Vesparax or Quaaludes, melatonin-infused treats and other products are a growing industry. Similar products to Lazy Cakes such as Kush Cakes and Lulla Pies, according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer, are available in stores like Walgreens and 7-Eleven nationwide. There is also a sleep aid soft drink, called "Drank," which has melatonin, Valerian root and rose hips. The Food and Drug Administration does not regulate these melatonin infused treats because they are marketed as supplements rather than medicine. Adults are recommended to ingest 1 to 3 milligrams at most per day, and 0.1 to 0.3 milligrams is recommended for children. Many of the brownies and other snacks contain 8 milligrams of melatonin, according to the New York Times.

Melatonin naturally occurs

Melatonin, according to WebMD, is produced by the pineal gland, a rice-grain-sized endocrine gland located near the center of the brain. Because it is already made by the body, it is safe for long and short term use. However, there have been "hangover" like symptoms after heavy use. The drug was previously in vogue with travelers as a miracle drug that could get people to sleep on red-eye flights and prevent jet lag, but a new generation of teens who are sleeping less may be turning to melatonin as a way to compensate for a lack of sleep. Many teenagers sleep less than they should, according to NPR, as their hormonal systems are changing and melatonin production may be thrown off. Taking the over-counter the version of the hormone is more attractive to many people because its natural, unlike Ambien or Lunestra. Melatonin is also cheaper.

Sources

Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/16/us-brownies-ban-idUSTRE74F7EF20110516 Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-lazy-cakes-20110516,0,1321135.story Seattle Post Intelligencer: http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2011/05/17/no-officer-theyre-just-melatonin-laced-brownies/ New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/us/15lazycakes.html?_r=3&hp WebMD: http://www.npr.org/2011/05/16/136275658/late-to-bed-early-to-rise-makes-a-teen-sleepy NPR: http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/tc/melatonin-overview]]> http://www.newsytype.com/6240-melatonin-brownies/feed/ 0 Cisco shuts down Flip video camera division http://www.newsytype.com/5423-cisco-flip-video/ http://www.newsytype.com/5423-cisco-flip-video/#comments Tue, 12 Apr 2011 20:00:17 +0000 bryanh http://www.newsytype.com/?p=5423 Production of Flip camera to end The Flip camera first went on sale in late 2007. The small, handheld camera was one of the first video camera products that was easy to use and priced for the general consumer. In just two years, the camera sold more than 2 million products, and it is still the top-selling camcorder on Amazon. Despite its popularity, Cisco plans on phasing out the Flip camera by year's end.

Cisco 'refocusing' efforts

In the last few years, Cisco has been expanding business efforts to include consumer products. In a memo sent to the company last week, Cisco's CEO expressed concern that the company had "lost its focus by trying to attack too many businesses." In order to refocus, the company plans on shuttering its entire consumer products division. This includes the Flip video camera, the Linksys Wireless Home Audio system and the Flipshare system. Instead, the company will be reinvesting in network products.

Alternatives to the Flip

The Flip camera was one of the first consumer-level simple-to-use video cameras, but competition is being cited as one of the reasons Cisco plans on shutting down Pure Digital. Kodak, Sony and other optics companies have their own versions of stripped-down, small video cameras. Many smartphones now also have the capability of taking video of a similar quality to the Flip. There are some who consider smartphones direct competitors to the Flip camera. There is a large market of people who do not have smartphones who use the Flip or similar products. The surprising part of this story is not that Cisco is ending its association with Pure Digital but that the company will be shuttered, rather than sold.

Source

New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/technology/13flip.html]]> http://www.newsytype.com/5423-cisco-flip-video/feed/ 0