Health Highlights: July 29, 2007
Mar. 23 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments,compiled by editors of HealthDay:
VP Cheney's Heart Monitoring Device Replaced
Vice President Dick Cheney's heart monitoring device was replaced Saturday with a similar, updated model.
The New York Times reports the minor surgery to implant the cardioverter-defibrillator that monitors and corrects Cheney's heart rhythm, was conducted without incident.
The vice president was sedated for the Saturday morning procedure, the Times reports, and he walked out of the George Washington University Hospital clinic at midday and returned home. The device "was successfully replaced without complication," the newspaper quotes Cheney spokeswoman Megan E. McGinn, as saying.
The device was implanted in 2001 and acts as both a pacemaker and defibrillator to shock the heart back into normal rhythm. The wires that run from the device into the heart were not replaced, the Times reported.
McGinn said Friday the need to replace the aging battery had been determined at a physical examination in June. She said the vice president, 66, was scheduled to have the procedure at George Washington University Hospital, located a few blocks from the White House.
At last month's checkup, Cheney also had a stress test, which found nothing unexpected, the Associated Press said.
Cheney has a history of cardiovascular problems, including a clot in his left leg discovered in March; a weak spot in an artery called an aneurism that was surgically repaired in 2005; four prior heart attacks; and quadruple bypass surgery, the wire service said.
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NIH Division Director Under Investigation in Ethics Inquiry
A director of one of the divisions of the National Institutes of Health spent more than triple the amount allocated for his laboratory and continued to hire out his services as an expert on asbestos despite an ethics policy recommending against doing so, Congressional investigators have found, the New York Times reports.
Toro dealers and other retailers, including Home Depot, Lowes, Target and K-Mart, sold the product for about $32, the CPSC said.
For information about getting a replacement, contact Toro at 888-279-3191.
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Products Recalled for Botulism Risk Still Available
Cans of recalled chili, stew, hash, and other products are still being sold across the United States, despite the possibility they could be contaminated with deadly bacteria, the Associated Press reported Friday.
