Company recalls walnuts sold in Southern California

(CNN) -- A California company is voluntarily recalling 60 packages of walnuts sold only in southern California because they may be contaminated with salmonella.

The product being recalled is: El Guapo Nuez Entera / Shelled Walnuts sold in 1-ounce packages, UPC 4498933144, date code 5527. The code date is embossed on the front of the package under the El Guapo banner.

The company, Mojave Food Corporation, said it is recalling the product because they were informed by the walnut supplier of the salmonella concern.

No illnesses have been reported.

Consumers are asked to destroy the product, and contact the Mojave customer service number at 1-800-995-8906, ext. 114, for a replacement or reimbursement.

Salmonella infections are caused by bacteria and if necessary can be treated with antibiotics, although some strains have become resistant to these drugs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

Most people infected will develop diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps within a few days of infection, and their illness can last up to a week.

Most recover without any treatment, but some may suffer dehydration and in severe cases require hospitalization.

The youngest and oldest patients and chronically ill people with compromised immune systems are at highest risk for severe complications, according to the National Institutes of Health.

New Alzheimer's clues?

 

Preliminary research on Alzheimer's disease suggests a protein that accumulates in the brain at very high levels in Alzheimer's patients is not being overproduced, it's just not being cleared efficiently from the brain.

The study, published in Science, measured beta-amyloid levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of twelve 74-year old patients with late-onset Alzheimer's and twelve without. Researchers looked at how fast beta-amyloid was produced and how quickly it cleared the brain.

"These findings may help point us toward better diagnostic tests and effective therapies," said study author Dr. Randall Bateman. "The next question is what is causing the decreased clearance rate."

Researchers say the study is significant because it's the first to measure beta-amyloid production and clearance–long thought to be an underlying cause of the disease–and could lead to an easier test–possibly a blood test–that will measure the protein early enough to detect Alzheimer's before symptoms begin.

"Abnormal protein deposits within the brain are a hallmark not only of Alzheimer's disease, but of many neurological disorders," said Roderick Corriveau, a program director at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at the National Institutes of Health. "With knowledge about how these proteins accumulate, we may be able to slow that process and reduce the damage to the brain."

"For years scientists believed that it was the overproduction of beta-amyloid that led to its accumulation in the brain," said Marcelle Morrison-Bogorad, director of the Division of Neuroscience at the NIA. "These new findings shift the emphasis to clearance of beta-amyloid. This may lead to development of a diagnostic test as well as identification of new therapeutic targets."

More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia in the elderly. According to the Alzheimer's Association's Dr. Ralph Nixon, Vice Chair, Medical & Scientific Advisory Council,  this research adds human validation to the puzzle of how amyloid beta accumulates in the brain. "It is the first data of this kind in a human," and, as such, provides key preliminary validation to studies in animal models, which are incomplete and often give conflicting information."

Post by: Saundra Young - CNN Medical Senior Producer Filed under: Alzheimer's

WikiLeaks cable: Pfizer hired investigators to dig dirt on Nigerian AG

 

Pfizer says and allegation made in a cable given to WikiLeaks is preposterous.

CNN) -- In April 2009, U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer reached a financial agreement with a state government in Nigeria on lawsuits brought over an antibiotic that had been given to children during an outbreak of meningitis.

But a U.S. diplomatic cable quotes a Pfizer executive in Nigeria as saying the company also hired investigators to dig for evidence of corruption on the part of the then-attorney general in an effort to get him to drop a similar lawsuit at the federal level. The company has said the allegation is preposterous.

The cable, obtained by WikiLeaks, was published in the Guardian newspaper in London Thursday. The antibiotic Trovan was given to children in Kano state in 1996 as part of a clinical study during a meningitis outbreak. The Nigerian government said the drug caused deaths and deformities among children, and had been used without approval from Nigerian regulatory agencies. Pfizer maintained that the trial was conducted with the approval of the Nigerian government and consent of the participants' parents or guardians, and was consistent with Nigerian laws.

The company official named in the leaked cable is Enrico Liggeri, Pfizer's country manager in Nigeria. The redacted cable says: "According to Liggeri, Pfizer had hired investigators to uncover corruption links to Federal Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa to expose him and put pressure on him to drop the federal cases. He said Pfizer's investigators were passing this information to local media."

Several articles were subsequently published in the Nigerian press detailing Aondoakaa's "alleged" corruption ties. The cable continues: "Liggeri contended that Pfizer had much more damaging information on Aondoakaa and that Aondoakaa's cronies were pressuring him to drop the suit for fear of further negative articles."

Aondoakaa left office in February this year. He is quoted in the Guardian as saying; "I was not aware of Pfizer looking into my past. For them to have done that is a very serious thing."

Aaondoakaa has not been convicted of corruption charges, but in an unrelated case a Nigerian federal court in June declared him unfit to hold public office. CNN was unable to reach him immediately for comment.

Pfizer reacted to the Guardian article with a statement late Thursday that said, "Although Pfizer has not seen any documents from the U.S. embassy in Nigeria regarding the federal government cases, any notion that the Company hired investigators in connection to the former Attorney General is simply preposterous."

In its statement Pfizer also said, "The Trovan cases brought by both the federal government of Nigeria and Kano State were resolved in 2009 by mutual agreement. Pfizer negotiated the settlement with the federal government of Nigeria in good faith and its conduct in reaching that agreement was proper." In the case of Kano state, the agreement amounted to $75 million. The size of the federal settlement was not disclosed.

A spokesman for the company would not comment on whether Enrico Liggeri was still with Pfizer, but a LinkedIn profile describes him as the country manager for Pfizer. CNN was not immediately able to contact Liggeri.

According to the cable, Liggeri had asserted that the federal lawsuits "were wholly political in nature because the NGO Doctors Without Borders administered Trovan to other children during the 1996 meningitis epidemic and the Nigerian government has taken no action" against them. Doctors Without Borders has denied using Trovan. Liggeri is also quoted as saying that the suit had a "chilling effect" on international pharmaceutical companies.

The cable also says that "Pfizer underscored that the Nigerian representatives wanted lump sum checks and that Pfizer is concerned with potential transparency issues."