Spread of oral cancer
One out of every three was rejected during medical tests for recruitment into the army last month for having visible symptoms of oral cancer. Medical officers of the Army’s Medical Test Board rejected about 1,000 out of 3,350 candidates during 12-day recruitment tests held at Kanpur last month, the Hindustan Times reported. A doctor on the board told the newspaper that a majority of those rejected appeared to be addicted to gutkha and had oral diseases in their mouth.
Oral cancer can be detected with a four-finger test in the mouth for oral sub mucous fibrosis. The presence of white spot called leukoplakia, red spots called erythroplakia and brown spots called malinoplakia are also indicators of oral cancer and grounds enough for rejection in army recruitment.
The army board doctors said that the large number of candidates rejected highlighted the alarming rate at which oral cancer was spreading among the youth.
$110 million lawsuit
A Missouri court ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay more than $110 million to a woman in Virginia who says that she developed ovarian cancer from decades of using of the company’s talc-based feminine hygiene products, Reuters reported. The lawsuit is one of 2,400 against the company for not adequately warning consumers about the cancer risks of talc-based products including the popular Johnson’s Baby Powder. The verdict last week was the largest so far.
Virginia resident Lois Slemp was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012. She has been undergoing chemotherapy after her ovarian cancer returned and spread to her liver. Slemp claimed she developed cancer after four decades of using Johnson & Johnson’s talc-containing products. The jury found that Johnson & Johnson was 99% at fault while its talc supplier Imerys was one percent at fault. The jury awarded $5.4 million in compensatory damages and punitive damages of $105 million against Johnson & Johnson and $50,000 against Imerys.
Tughlakabad gas leak
A gas leak on Saturday morning at Tughlakabad in Delhi sent 475 students and a few teachers from two government schools to hospital when they fell sick after inhaling the fumes. Some reported symptoms like nausea while some lost consciousness.
Tughlakabad residents reported smelling something pungent , feeling their eyes sting and start coughing, according to the Indian Express.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast District) Romil Baniya said that the fumes came from chemicals kept in drums at a container depot in the area. The substance was imported from China and was meant for industrial use. Nuclear Biological and Chemical Disposal Teams emptied bags of sand on the spot where the chemical had leaked and doused it with water, said officials.
But Saturday’s leak may not have been the first chemical leak in the area. The Indian Express reported that two days earlier, a small quantity of chloro methylpyridine leaked from a drum at the depot and affected some truck drivers and workers but no one fell seriously ill.