Here are some of the latest health and medical news
developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Patient Says Full Face Transplant Feels Natural
At his first public appearance, the first U.S. recipient of a
full face transplant said it "feels natural."
Dallas Wiens, 25, received a new nose, lips, skin, muscle and
nerves during a 15-hour procedure in March. The resident of Fort
Worth, Texas had suffered severe facial injuries in November 2008
when he hit a power line while painting a church, the
Associated Press reported.
In his appearance Monday at Brigham and Women's Hospital in
Boston, Wiens said the first thing his young daughter told him
after the transplant was "Daddy, you're so handsome."
Wiens was left blind as a result of his accident and the
transplant did not restore his sight, the
AP reported.
His operation was paid for by the U.S. military, which wants to
find ways to help soldiers who suffer major facial wounds. The
Department of Defense gave Brigham and Women's a $3.4 million
research grant for five face transplants.
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Shortage of Generic ADHD Drug Continues
Companies that make a generic form of the attention-deficient
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug Adderall XR say they don't know
when a U.S.-wide shortage of the drug will end.
Many adult patients and parents of children with ADHD have been
going from pharmacy to pharmacy trying to find the generic version,
called mixed amphetamine salts,
ABC News reported.
The scarcity of the drug is due to supply problems and U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration restrictions on the supply of
amphetamines, according to companies that make the drug. The DEA
denies any responsibility for the shortage.
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Health Care Law Battle Moves to Appeals Courts
A hearing Tuesday marks the start of a five-week stretch of
federal appellate hearings on the constitutionality of the new U.S.
health care law.
Tuesday's hearing involves the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Fourth Circuit considering two contradictory rulings made by lower
courts,
The New York Times reported.
In one case, a federal district judge in Richmond, Va. ruled
that Congress exceeded its authority by requiring nearly all
Americans to obtain health insurance. In the other case, a district
judge in Lynchburg, Va. upheld the insurance requirement.
The issue of the health law's constitutionality could end up in
the Supreme Court in the next term, which opens in October, and
those opposed and in favor of the new health care law each hope to
notch a series of victories in the Courts of Appeals.
"We want to win as many of these as we can," Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II of Virginia, a Republican, told The Times. "If we have nothing but wins all the way up to the Supreme Court, there is an element of momentum, I think, where the justices consider what has gone on before the case came to them."
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CPSC Warn Consumers About "metoo" Tabletop Feeding Chairs
Tens of thousands of clip-on tabletop feeding chairs for babies
and toddlers pose a fall hazard, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission says.
The agency said about a dozen children have been injured while
using certain versions of the "metoo" chairs imported by
phil&teds USA Inc. of Colorado, the
Associated Press reported.
Metal clamps used to attach the chairs to table tops can easily
come loose, causing the chair to detach from the table. Also, a
child's fingers or hands can be pinched or crushed if they're
caught between the clamp and a metal bar on the front of the chair
if it partially detaches from the table, the CPSC warned.
The chairs were sold online and at stores such as Target and
Toys R Us.
The CPSC said phil&teds refused to agree to a national
recall that was acceptable to the agency and that replacement kits
being offered by the company will not solve the safety issue, the
AP reported.