The Reuters news service is reporting that a once-used practice of giving antibiotics to some women at risk of premature birth may have increased the odds their children will develop cerebral palsy and other problems.

The report references a  study published in the journal Lancet, which looked at women at risk of premature labor who had no signs of infection. Doctors now recommend antibiotics only for women whose waters have broken prematurely or have an obvious infection.

The findings reaffirm that doctors should not use antibiotics for premature labor when the mother’s water is intact and if there is no infection, said researchers at the University of Leicester who commissioned the study.

One startling finding, for women whose water did not break and who got two popular antibiotics together, the chance their children would develop cerebral palsy nearly tripled.

While it was known children born prematurely are more prone to functional problems later in life, the link to cerebral palsy was unexpected.

Back in February, the United States Supreme Court dealt a hefty blow to citizen protection to seek compensation after being injured by a defective medical device. In this landmark case, our highest court ruled against Charles Riegel, the victim of a defective balloon catheter used during his angioplasty procedure. Though Riegel was seriously injured at the negligent hands of Medtronic, the court found that Federal regulations overruled state law, rather than the two working in tandem as it had been before.

The repercussions of this decision have yet to take their full effect. As Public Citizen lawyer Allison Zieve noted, “The possibility of being held liable for injuries their products cause creates an invaluable incentive for manufacturers to make their products as safe as they can, to revise labels… and to remove unsafe products from the market.”

Luckily, the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen is working to remedy this gaping hole in consumer protection. With the support of Representatives Henry Waxman and Frank Palone, and Senators Ted Kennedy and Patrick Leahy, they are trying to push through the Medical Device Safety Act of 2008. This new legislation would nullify the implications of the Supreme Court ruling, and give power back to the injured.

Negative reports keep flooding in regarding Merk & Co. Inc.’s popular vaccine, Gardasil. Gardasil was approved two years ago by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent the spread of human papillomavirus, a virus that is known to cause cervical cancer in a small percentage of the women and girls who contact it.

According to the FDA, Gardasil has been the subject of about 8,000 “adverse event” reports since the drug went on the market. Complaints range from nausea to paralysis and a total of 15 reported deaths. Approximately 16 million American girls and women have been given Gardasil, which has in general been widely supported by schools and other institutions, especially here in Texas.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention contends that none of the reported deaths were due to the receipt of Gardasil, but continues to investigate the negative reports.