FDA: This Halloween, Drop the Black Licorice

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Published on
October 31, 2011

Image removed.Food Safety: Don't eat too much black licorice as a Halloween treat, the FDA warns consumers. Its sweetening compound glycyrrhizin, made from licorice root, can cause your potassium levels to dip, Sora Song reports for Time's Healthland blog.

Preventive Health: Employers are trying many kinds of sticks and carrots to get their workers to stop smoking and lose weight, hopefully saving on health insurance costs, but employees aren't showing signs of improvement, Jilian Mincer reports for Reuters Health.

Malpractice: A California girl whose limbs had to be amputated after delayed emergency treatment will receive a $10 million malpractice settlement,

Drug Shortages: President Barack Obama on Monday signed an executive order for the Food and Drug Administration to identify and reduce shortages of vital medications amid recent shortages of lifesaving drugs like chemotherapy agents.  Gardiner Harris offers context in the New York Times.

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Photo credit: J.D. Hancock via Flickr