Watch out for these two antidepressants. Some want Paxil and Zoloft banned for causing the most serious birth defects that newborns can have. Neither drug has received enough publicity to make sure that newly pregnant women, or those thinking of having a baby, are aware of their impacts on developing fetuses. And that can lead to the tragedy of a severe birth defect, or defects, for a newborn and its parents.

The Mayo Clinic’s website says that clinically depressed women who stop taking these drugs during pregnancy may neglect their own health. That could hurt the fetus too. But its website does not endorse the drugs. Rather, the federal government urges extreme caution when it comes to taking these drugs during pregnancy.

In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) strengthened its warning about Paxil, citing new studies proving that women who took that drug during the first three months of pregnancy were 1.5 to 2 times more likely to have a baby with serious heart defects compared to women who took other anti-depressants or those who took none. In 2009, the FDA issued an even stronger warning citing cases in which newborns died within hours of being born due to serious birth defects of the lungs caused by Paxil.

Zoloft can cause holes in the heart, partially developed hearts, malformation of the heart’s valves, PPHN (a condition in which the lungs do not get enough oxygen), spina bifida (a condition in which the spine does not close), cleft palates and intestines or other organs that stick out of the navel, called omphaceles.

Why won’t carmakers put bells in cars to alert parents they are forgetting children in car seats in the back seat? Automakers say it’s not that easy. Watchdog groups disagree. They cite bells that sound when doors are ajar, lights are left on or seat belts are unbuckled. So why, safety advocates wonder, can’t carmakers build cars with bells that go off when parents forget kids in the back seat?
So far this year, at least 41 children have baked to death in cars when parents forgot them strapped into car seats designed to protect them. There is a device that could have warned them. It was invented in 2001. It alerts drivers a minute after a child is locked in the car. So far, no automakers have plans to install it in their cars. Meanwhile, most are going full speed ahead in the drive to put touch screen computers in dashboards and provide email in cars in response to consumers’ demands. A spokesman for GM says it is trying to find a solution to the hot car deaths. But it says it has yet to come up with anything that works. Some safety groups like Consumer Federation of America and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety are pushing for federal legislation that would mandate the alarms.

A possible link between cell phones and brain cancer is back in the news. Recent articles in several national newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, have discussed it, making September 2009 expert testimony before a congressional committee in Washington D.C. even more relevant. The experts who testified before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee said new studies involving human subjects show that “heavy cell users of 10 years or more have developed brain tumors on the sides of their heads” where they most often hold the phones. Older studies had debunked the idea. But the most recent epidemiological studies do show an effect.

Don’t hang up on this issue. Kids are literally growing up with cell phones stuck to their heads, talking to friends at every opportunity if they are not tweeting or texting. Cell phones emit a low level radioactivity, meaning we all need to stay connected on the truth of their hazards.

Doesn’t look like it, these days. Anyone using Yaz or Yasmin for birth control or any other reason had best check this out: More than 1,000 lawsuits now claim that the drugs have life-threatening side effects, including blood clots in deep veins, strokes, heart attacks and gallbladder disease.  The April 19, 2010 issue of The Los Angeles Times had an in-depth story about charges against the drugs. Suspicion centers on drospirenone, a synthetic progestin that some studies say is causing the danger. They show that it has a six-fold greater risk of blood clots even in healthy young women. Other studies say it poses no greater risk.

Meanwhile, Bayer HealthCare had to change its advertising campaign for the drugs after the Food and Drug Administration charged it with overstating the drugs’ beneficial effect on premenstrual dysphoric disorder (severe depression, anxiety, headaches and other symptoms) while downplaying its risks. More studies that focus on its risks are underway. Public Citizen, a Washington, D.C. based non-profit watchdog, has the drug on its Do Not Take list.

Video teaches kids safety with fantasy chicken

Call your kids. Have a good laugh together around the computer watching a new Safe Kids USA video that will help them avoid accidents. Or email them the link to the video so they can watch it with their friends and email the link to others:  CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO

The video features a “stunt chicken” and a teen rock star.  You won’t forget it. Neither will your kids or their friends. And that’s the important part. Preventable accidents kill more kids in the United States than disease. Find out more about keeping your youngsters safe at Safe Kids USA. It targets four main risk areas for kids and teaches you how to avoid them. Some may surprise you.

Never heard the term, you say? It’s pretty common among EMS personnel, lifeguards and child activists when they talk about the small, lifeless bodies they see every summer lying by swimming pools or on beaches. That’s why so many dread the season. And so many work hard to make parents and caregivers understand the awful truth: A child can drown in 20 seconds or less.

How is that possible? The physiology is simple. People who are drowning hold their breath as long as they can. Then, they automatically breathe in. Water surges into the lungs and stomach, diluting the blood. The blood imbalance causes the heart to stop. The entire process takes 12 to 20 seconds from start to finish. First, there’s panic and a struggle to return to the surface followed by a period of calmness when the body lies limp in the water. Then, water is swallowed. There’s a terminal gasp. The victim falls unconscious and dies.
It’s a scenario that Attorney Jim Adler, a former lifeguard and water safety instructor, dreads. Adler, a member of the Joint City County Commission On Children in Houston and Safe Kids Coalitions in Houston and San Antonio is replacing some of his regularly scheduled TV commercials in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio this summer with a public service announcement about drowning to make sure that parents know the “cold, hard truth” to save their little ones from one of the quickest killers around.

Ever heard of a booster seat? They are life savers for kids who are too old for car seats but not old enough for seat belts. The National Transportation Safety Board says 3,500 child passengers between the ages of 4 and 8 died in traffic accidents between 1998 and 2007. The NTSB says about half of the children were not restrained. Most of the rest were wearing seat belts. Seat belts are not designed for young children who have outgrown car seats. A seat belt can choke a child or cause abdominal injuries during a crash. Booster seats position the belts correctly across a young child’s body. Forty-three states and the District of Columbia require booster seats for child passengers who have outgrown car seats. Twenty-one of these states mandate booster seats for children through age 7. The NTSB is urging Texas and six other states without booster seat laws to pass them soon. Other states that lack such laws include Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Ohio and South Dakota. Pediatricians are behind the push for a booster seat law in Texas during the state’s legislative session that is currently underway. A similar effort failed to win enough votes during Texas 2007 legislative session.
Safe Kids USA, a national safety organization with coalitions in major Texas cities and other cities across the United States, holds free booster and car seat clinics with national experts who train parents and care givers in the proper installation of car seats and booster seats. While car seats can be expensive, booster seats cost about $15.

We all love to cool off in a swimming pool when temperatures reach torrid levels. Floating along on our backs, we watch clouds and enjoy the sounds of summer as others splash in the water nearby. These idyllic scenes turn to horror when a child is sucked up against a powerful swimming pool drain by the hundreds of pounds of pressure that these drains can exert. The suction has disemboweled children, leaving them dead, paralyzed or scarred for life with welts on their abdomens shaped like the drain.
The 7-year old granddaughter of former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker was disemboweled in a pool in 2002. There was nothing emergency room doctors could do to save her life. A federal law now mandates covers for these drains for all pools with public access, including hotels, apartments and residential communities. But enforcement is spotty.
A CNN report in January 2009 revealed that the Consumer Product Safety Commission, a small federal agency, is relying on state health and safety departments to enforce the law. But states have differing enforcement standards. Many pool operators say they have not had enough time to comply with the law and others say they are unable to obtain the drains. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the CPSC says pool owners will be liable if children are hurt in their pools despite difficulties in obtaining drain covers.

Santas are always serious about safety. So here are some extra tips from Texas Children’s Hospital and the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission to help them out.

Five toys can land kids in the emergency room quicker than any others: 1) Scooters and riding toys! They can be deadly without a helmet that is sized to fit. 2) Toys with small parts can be swallowed, causing choking. 3) Un-inflated balloons, or pieces of balloons that have burst, can choke and even suffocate small children. 4) The magnets that are often found inside small toy parts can stick together in the intestines causing another life-threatening condition. 5) Chargers and adapters can burn small children. They should not be given to small children without adult supervision.

The Texas Hammer, a new grandfather, urges you to contact Safe Kids Greater Houston for even more info about keeping kids safe over the holidays at www.safekidsgreaterhouston.org. It’s part of Texas Children’s Hospital. Jim S. Adler& Associates is a member of Safe Kids Greater Houston, an organization devoted to protecting children.

It’s simple: Not everybody hears about recalled products even when they get a lot of publicity. So it’s worth bringing up two recent recalls because you and your children need protection from products that can kill babies or – and this isn’t much of a stretch – burn the house down. We’re talking about cribs and laptops, believe it or not.

• The Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled more than one and a half million Delta Enterprise Drop Side Cribs in October after they “trapped and suffocated” two eight month-old babies. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the cribs have two lethal defects: missing safety pegs and spring peg failure.
• One hundred thousand Sony laptop batteries were recalled in October after 40 incidents of overheating.  Users reported smoke and flames. Twenty-one cases involved damage to property. Minor burns were involved in other instances. Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba and Dell are involved in the recall. In 2006, Sony recalled almost 10 million laptop batteries for fear they could catch fire.