2/8/14 Health News: Court Fight Over GM Crops - Less Raw Milk Drinkers - Labs Give Patients Results - Faucets Putting Patients at Risk

Farmers Face Off in Court Over GM Crop

It's being billed as a David v Goliath struggle between a lone organic farmer and the growing global influence of genetically modified foods.

On Monday, almost four years after West Australian organic farmer Steve Marsh says his neighbour's GM crop infected his organic farm, he will have his day in court, with the West Australian Supreme Court set to host the world's first court case on GM foods. Continue Reading

VERMONT REPORT FINDS FEWER RAW MILK DRINKERS THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT

Consumer demand for raw milk may not be as large as many have thought, according to a first-of-its-kind state profile of raw milk sales. The just-released “Rural Vermont’s 2013-2014 Raw Milk Report to the Legislature” says that state dairies selling unpasteurized milk had 1,940 “unique customers.” That amounts to fewer than 1 percent of Vermont’s...Continue Reading

Are Hospital Faucets Putting Patients at Risk?

Water taps in hospitals are full of bacteria, increasing the risk of infection in immunocompromised patients, according to a new study published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. Researchers monitored bacterial growth in cold and hot water samples at two tertiary care hospitals over the course of a year, from faucets used for hand washing, surgical washing and cleaning of medical equipment. Study authors, led by Maria Luisa Cristinia, Ph.D., then compared the samples taken from faucets with aerators to those from deeper in the plumbing system. The total microbial load of the water samples was as much as 10 times greater with aerators than after sterilization, with opportunistic microorganisms like Legionella and Acinetobacter much more common at the faucet level than deeper in the system. Continue Reading

New Rule Allows Patients to get Test Results Directly From Labs, Without Doctors’ Clearance

Patients may obtain their test results directly from the laboratory that produced them, without having to go through their doctors first, under regulations announced by the Obama administration. The rule is part of a broader effort by the administration to give Americans more control over their health care. It supersedes state law and will have particular significance in 13 states that forbid labs from releasing test results directly to patients. Source: Continue Reading

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