Students were rewarded for their creative writing skills at Brantwood Childrens Home this summer. The main goal of the contest was for the children to learn about themselves and to get them geared up for the up and coming school year.

Winners of the Brantwood Childrens Home summer writing contest along with board member Tom Methivin

On Friday, June 27th, the United States Supreme Court issued an order rejecting all further appeals of the $20,709,000 pollution verdict entered against the Continental Carbon plant in Phenix City, Alabama, and against its parent company, China Synthetic Rubber Corporation of Taiwan.

Starting this month, officials from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) will begin recruiting participants for the East Metro Perfluorochemical (PFC) Biomonitoring Study. The study will directly measure the amount of the PFCs in 200 participants who live in the east metro area, where the drinking water has been found to contain the chemicals.

Merck & Co. will start cutting checks for former users of its withdrawn painkiller Vioxx next month after announcing Thursday that it will fund a $4.85 billion settlement expected to resolve roughly 50,000 lawsuits.

Department of Veterans Affairs watchdogs have concluded that the department failed to alert veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder in a timely manner to the dangers posed by a drug it was prescribing, VA officials acknowledged Wednesday under sharp questioning from lawmakers.

The city of Columbus was awarded $3.4 million Tuesday for its share of punitive damages in its lawsuit against a Phenix City plant. The city of Columbus, local boat dealer John Tharpe and south Columbus resident Owen Ditchfield won their suit against Continental Carbon in 2004. They had said their homes, businesses and buildings had been damaged by carbon black dust emitted from the plant.

Continuing concern about possible contamination from chemicals produced at 3M's Cottage Grove facility has state health officials seeking volunteers for a study of perfluorochemical levels in residents near the plant and several landfills.

Why should doctors be concerned about preemption? In stripping patients of their right to seek redress through due process of law, preemption of common-law tort actions is not only unjust but will also result in the reduced safety of drugs and medical devices for the American people. Preemption will undermine the confidence that doctors and patients have in the safety of drugs and devices. If injured patients are unable to seek legal redress from manufacturers of defective products, they may instead turn elsewhere.

More than 59,000 people have registered claims against drugmaker Merck & Co. for injury from painkiller Vioxx, and administrators have enough records to review about 9,100 of those claims.