Did you buy Airborne?

Did you buy Airborne? I know I did. I thought is was supposed to prevent colds. I guess I am a sucker! I got this email from the Bureau of Consumer Protection with the Federal Trade Commission.

Here’s great news for consumers who bought Airborne, that tablet “created by a school teacher” advertised to prevent and treat colds. We hope you can spread the word to your readers that due to lawsuits alleging deceptive advertising, refunds are available for consumer who bought Airborne. But they have to act now because the deadline for the $30 million refund program is September 15, 2008.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, just settled a lawsuit with the company that sold Airborne. The FTC charged that they made deceptive claims that the product would reduce the severity or duration of colds. According to the FTC, there is no credible evidence that the product provided any tangible benefit for people who are exposed to germs in crowded places.

To settle the FTC’s case and a separate class action lawsuit, the company has agreed to refund up to $30 million to consumers who bought the product. Your readers can file an easy online refund claim at www.airbornehealthsettlement.com. For more information about the FTC’s lawsuit, visit http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/08/airborne.shtm.

For up to six purchases, consumers do not need to file proofs of purchase to get their money back. But they do have to request a refund by the September 15th deadline.

You can count me in on this one. I still have some old Airborne bottles in the medicine cabinet, but no receipts. So I will be claiming the six bottles I can without a receipt.

I talked to Nat Wood with the FTC today briefly and he said the Airborne bottles retail for between 6-9 dollars. So consumers can expect to get back anywhere from $6.00 to $81.00 depending on how much they spent. Wood said, "It effects a lot of people. We regularly do this(get consumers their money back for faulty products), but this is a particularly well known product so it is a big deal." If you happen to have receipts showing you bought more than six bottles, you can get back your total purchase!

I know this product was advertised on Oprah and she talked about it. I wonder what her thoughts are on this ruling. Did you buy into the Airborne craze?

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Methodist Medical Center's new online healthcare program, MyMethodist eHealth, is a proud sponsor of this blog post. MyMethodist eHealth is the secure link to your doctor's office that lets you request appointments, order prescription refills, update your personal health record, and more. Sign up for MyMethodist eHealth here.

Parents Respond to Refusing Vaccinations

In light of our discussion last week on vaccine safety, you might find these responses from parents on MSNBC: interesting. I will post a few so you can get the idea. It is amazing to hear so many reasons why parents decide to do one thing or another. There is a good reason why you never hear parenting is easy!

"As a mother of an autistic child, I've certainly had my concerns about inoculations," writes Evelyn Gonzalez, who's from Boston. "However, I'm even more concerned about parents sending children to public places and schools knowing how easily disease is spread, when they haven't been given their vaccines."

"I did not chose to vaccinate my children. They are grown and have had very little illness their entire lives. I feel this is due to their not receiving injections of chemicals into their bodies. The few times they were sick we used natural remedies with excellent results.I reached the decision not to vaccinate through careful research. I am very happy I did this."
— Dolores Lewis, Scottsdale, Ariz.

"I chose not to vaccinate my children after one child developed a severe reaction to the vaccination. Also, I believe we are inviting a destruction to our immune system by disallowing it to fight the natural childhood diseases that come along."
— Mark, Humansville, Mo.

"I am a mother of 4 children ages 11, 7 and 5 year old twins. My 7 year old was a normally developing child who talked and interacted with other children. However, after receiving his 15 month vaccinations he stopped talking and became very withdrawn. That was 6 years ago and he has yet to regain his speech although we have spent thousands of dollars on speech, occupational, and ABA therapy. I have chosen not to complete the vaccinations for my twins because I don't want to risk having to go through what I have been through with my son all over again. Many of us who choose not to vaccinate are not totally opposed to vaccinations and the benefits they can provide, but rather we are just asking for a safer vaccination schedule and safer vaccines. I hope that one day it will be possible to protect our children from disease without the fear of a life long disability like Autism. I choose not to vaccinate my twins because if they got chicken pox, measles, or even pertussis it would not be nearly as devastating as Autism has been for our son or our family."
— Lori Elliott, Amboy, Ind.

"I am a pediatrician and vaccinated my daughter at the earliest permissible moment. If there were verifiable more serious side effects I would never have taken a chance on my precious angel. Unfortunately bad things happen. Children develop autism, seizures, retardation and even cancer. These occur with and without vaccination at a predictable rate. There is ZERO verifiable scientific data linking vaccines and more serious permanent side effects. Parents naturally want answers when their own child is afflicted in any way,and since vaccines are given mostly to children they are blamed irrationally. Avoiding vaccines for nonsensical, conspiracy theorist reasons are putting all children at unnecessary risk and lead to VERIFIABLE life-threatening illnesses."
— Glen Ogden, M.D., Dallas

"I'm the mother of six children ranging in age from 32 years to 16 years of age. Parenting is a hard job for many reasons, but mostly because every decision that we make for them will impact their lives some how.Everyone of my children (4 boys and & 2 girls) have received all the required vaccinations and those that are recommended for college students.Protecting my children is very important to me and I feel that this is one way to keep them safe from the fate of so many children in the years before immunizations were developed. Just like any part of parenting you have to weigh the good against the bad. Do I let them get a drivers licence? Should they go out after the prom? What college is best? Every day is a decision with an impact to it so when ever you make a decision to keep your children healthy , it's a good day."
— Joanne Anderson, Honesdale, Pa.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Methodist Medical Center's new online healthcare program, MyMethodist eHealth, is a proud sponsor of this blog post. MyMethodist eHealth is the secure link to your doctor's office that lets you request appointments, order prescription refills, update your personal health record, and more. Sign up for MyMethodist eHealth here.

Measles cases on the rise

The local paper where I live posted a story by the Associated Press that says measles cases are on the rise. A NewsAnchorMom.com reader pointed to this article as to why she would not delay or refuse to give her child immunization shots.

Here's the story on the Journal Star's website:

The number of measles cases in the U.S. is at its highest level since 1997, and nearly half of those involve children whose parents rejected vaccination, government health officials reported Thursday. The number of cases is still small, just 131, but that's just for the first seven months of the year and doctors are troubled by the trend.

There were only 42 cases for all of last year. "We're seeing a lot more spread. That is concerning to us," said Dr. Jane Seward, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pediatricians are frustrated, saying they are having to spend more time convincing parents the shot is safe. "This year, we certainly have had parents asking more questions," said Dr. Ari Brown, an Austin, Texas, physician who is a spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The CDC's review found that a number of cases involved home-schooled children not required to have the vaccines. Measles, best known for a red skin rash, is a potentially deadly, highly infectious virus that spreads through contact with a sneezing, coughing, infected person.

It is no longer endemic to the United States, but every year some Americans pick it up while traveling abroad and bring it home. Measles epidemics have exploded in Israel, Switzerland and some other countries. But high U.S. childhood vaccination rates have prevented major outbreaks here. In a typical year, only one outbreak occurs in the United States, infecting perhaps 10 to 20 people.

So far this year through July 30 the country has seen seven outbreaks, including one in Illinois with 30 cases, said Seward, deputy director of the CDC's Division of Viral Diseases. None of the 131 patients died, but 15 were hospitalized.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Methodist Medical Center's new online healthcare program, MyMethodist eHealth, is a proud sponsor of this blog post. MyMethodist eHealth is the secure link to your doctor's office that lets you request appointments, order prescription refills, update your personal health record, and more. Sign up for MyMethodist eHealth here.

Women having fewer babies

From TIME/CNN:

In the last 30 years, the number of women age 40 to 44 with no children has doubled, from 10 percent to 20 percent. And those who are mothers have an average of 1.9 children each, more than one child fewer than women of the same age in 1976.

I was talking with a friend today about how big she pictures her family. Most of my friends have two or three kids and several plan on having four. But this survey shows exactly the opposite pattern! However, I do have at least one friend who did not have a child until she turned 40.

I am curious to know, how many kids do you have and how many do you want?

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Methodist Medical Center's new online healthcare program, MyMethodist eHealth, is a proud sponsor of this blog post. MyMethodist eHealth is the secure link to your doctor's office that lets you request appointments, order prescription refills, update your personal health record, and more. Sign up for MyMethodist eHealth here.

FDA Declares Bisphenol A Safe

I must say I am surprised by the FDA's findings. Canada has banned Bisphenol A, Wal-Mart no longer sells baby bottles that contain the chemical and several states are involved in lawsuits over it. Here's one scientist who's research found the chemical harmful.

Some people say banning Bisphenol A would hurt companies and lead to fewer products. But if there's even a slight chance it is toxic, I think most parents would lean toward keeping it out kid's products.

According to the Consumerist: The FDA has revisited its earlier studies and reaffirmed that "the trace amounts of Bisphenol A that leach out of food containers are not a threat to infants or adults."

Studies have shown the biggest danger with Bisphenol A leaking into your food is if you heat the product. That's why many parents are only buying BPA free baby bottles and staying away from plastic when heating food in the microwave. Now the FDA says not to worry about it. It's probably too late for that!

Now the question is, did the harmful effects of Bisphenol A get blown out of proportion or is the government protecting companies that would suffer if the chemical were banned?

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Methodist Medical Center's new online healthcare program, MyMethodist eHealth, is a proud sponsor of this blog post. MyMethodist eHealth is the secure link to your doctor's office that lets you request appointments, order prescription refills, update your personal health record, and more. Sign up for MyMethodist eHealth here.

Vaccine Safety

I have had numerous moms write in to this website with concerns over vaccines. The American Academy of Pediatrics has strongly stated vaccines are generally safe for kids. Here's an email I just got:

"I saw this and it was interesting and raises some concerns. I am not one of those mother's that is dead set against vaccines and do vaccinate my kids ... but I was ill informed about the financial aspect of it. I thought you may find it interesting as well."

Here's the story on CBS:

They're some of the most trusted voices in the defense of vaccine safety: the American Academy of Pediatrics, Every Child By Two, and pediatrician Dr. Paul Offit. But CBS News has found these three have something more in common - strong financial ties to the industry whose products they promote and defend.

The vaccine industry gives millions to the Academy of Pediatrics for conferences, grants, medical education classes and even helped build their headquarters. The totals are kept secret, but public documents reveal bits and pieces. A $342,000 payment from Wyeth, maker of the pneumococcal vaccine - which makes $2 billion a year in sales.

A $433,000 contribution from Merck, the same year the academy endorsed Merck's HPV vaccine - which made $1.5 billion a year in sales. Another top donor: Sanofi Aventis, maker of 17 vaccines and a new five-in-one combo shot just added to the childhood vaccine schedule last month. Every Child By Two, a group that promotes early immunization for all children, admits the group takes money from the vaccine industry, too - but wouldn't tell us how much.

A spokesman told CBS News: "There are simply no conflicts to be unearthed." But guess who's listed as the group's treasurers? Officials from Wyeth and a paid advisor to big pharmaceutical clients. Then there's Paul Offit, perhaps the most widely-quoted defender of vaccine safety. He's gone so far as to say babies can tolerate "10,000 vaccines at once." This is how Offit described himself in a previous interview: "I'm the chief of infectious disease at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a professor of pediatrics at Penn's medical school," he said.

Offit was not willing to be interviewed on this subject but like others in this CBS News investigation, he has strong industry ties. In fact, he's a vaccine industry insider. Offit holds in a $1.5 million dollar research chair at Children's Hospital, funded by Merck. He holds the patent on an anti-diarrhea vaccine he developed with Merck, Rotateq, which has prevented thousands of hospitalizations. And future royalties for the vaccine were just sold for $182 million cash. Dr. Offit's share of vaccine profits? Unknown.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Methodist Medical Center's new online healthcare program, MyMethodist eHealth, is a proud sponsor of this blog post. MyMethodist eHealth is the secure link to your doctor's office that lets you request appointments, order prescription refills, update your personal health record, and more. Sign up for MyMethodist eHealth here.

Impact of Moving on Kids

I am sad to say I am moving right now, but I am also excited about a new adventure. No, I am not leaving the area, just moving a few miles up the street. Still, it is difficult for me. I will really miss seeing my neighbor's everyday. They are terrific! Counselor and Psychologist Dr. Lori Russell Chapin from Bradley University says the way I am feeling is normal and I shouldn't hide it from my kids. I know my almost five-year-old is devastated. He has told me several times he likes the new house, but he doesn't want to move. "Momma, can we just keep this house too?" he said. It breaks my heart. I am sure I will be in tears most of the day!

Dr. Russell-Chapin gave me some great tips for preparing my little one for the big move. I do think they will help!

1. Ask your child how he/she feels about moving. "Most kids and adults will go through the process of grief and loss because the house and neighborhood are something you've become attached to," she said.
2. Let the child be part of the moving process. Russell-Chapin said, "Let them see the new house before you buy it. Maybe even show them two houses and let them sort of pick. Let them pick their new room and let them help pack some boxes."
3. Use attachment by finding a transitional object or two. "If you have a transitional object like a security blanket, a certain picture your child likes, a plant that you can take from your old home to the new one use that. Maybe you can take a picture of their favorite room and put it in their new room. If they have a favorite piece of wallpaper or rocks from the old house, bring them to the new house. That's how we help our kids go from one transition to another," she said.
4. Set-up a play date with old friends before you move out, but still work to meet new ones.
5. Create a ritual. Say goodbye to your old house and welcome your new house. You might even want to have a cake or little party for both events. "We are going to go by and talk about all the fun times at the house, even the sad ones. You need to create a new normal. Continue doing the old traditions and then make new traditions," said Russell-Chapin.

Dr. Russell-Chapin says even though moving is hard, you are teaching your kids a good life lesson. She said, "They need to learn how to deal with change and this is a good step. When we moved, I made sure the one thing they had was their beds were made at the new house. The children's rooms I worked on first. I started there the first night. You want them to feel good."

That is my plan! I hope to have the kids rooms ready before we go to sleep tonight! How did your kids react when you moved? Do you have any more tips for us

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Methodist Medical Center's new online healthcare program, MyMethodist eHealth, is a proud sponsor of this blog post. MyMethodist eHealth is the secure link to your doctor's office that lets you request appointments, order prescription refills, update your personal health record, and more. Sign up for MyMethodist eHealth here.