The chemical Vinyl Chloride has been historically known to create a number of health problems for decades even before it was known to cause angiosarcoma. The federal government was aware of the risk of Vinyl Chloride and had regulated workers to only be exposed to 500 ppm (part per million) a day. Because Angiosarcoma takes decades to fully develop, the initial studies of vinyl chloride were observing more obvious conditions like liver disease and degenerative bone disorders. In the late 1960’s the connection between Vinyl Chloride and Angiosarcoma presented itself as B.F. Goodrich workers were exposed to above average rates of the chemical. These workers had much higher rates of developing liver angiosarcoma. More studies were conducted after this initial discovery because it seemed strange that such a large number of workers in one plant could suffer from such a rare disease by coincidence.
Scientists have struggled to pinpoint the exact methods by which vinyl chloride causes liver angiosarcoma, but most thought that it was inhaled first, and then transferred into the bloodstream where the liver attempts to filter it. When the liver fails to filter the chemical, it causes serious mutations to the liver cells, resulting in angiosarcoma. Like the B.G. Goodrich cases, numerous more cases were seen in the hairdressing industry. It was later learned that these beauty shop workers used aerosol cans that have vinyl chloride acting as a propellant for the spray. As a result, the government revised the original protective measures to limit vinyl chloride to one ppm per day.
Duragesic Pain Patch Recall
Last year on April 5th, 2004 Janssen Pharmaceutical Products announced that it was recalling several of their popular Duragesic pain control patches because of a major flaw that caused leakage of the active chemical fetanyl. One edge of the patch leaked fetanyl into the bloodstream, which is a chemical 100 times more potent than conventional morphine. Fetanyl is mostly used to combat the acute and debilitating pain that comes along with many forms of cancer. This recall affected almost 2.2 million patches and about 20% of those patches were still in active use.
Breast Augmentation - Cosmetic Surgery
The breast augmentation procedure is becoming more and more popular. There are three approaches to this procedure and your surgeon will help you decide which technique is best for you.
Texas Family Law – Child Support
Texas is very precise on the guidelines of family law when it comes to child support. Most statues for child support place consideration on the income of the obligated parents capping it at $6,000 a month. Based on the amount of income, the number of children and the situation of the divorce, the parent is obligated to pay a minimum of 20% of their net resources to the parent with the possession of the child. In addition, the child must have health care and the payor must also provide this if it’s not available through their employer. These obligations must be paid until the child turns 18 years old, or graduates from high school.
