Did you know it can take decades for important medical innovations to be widely adopted by the healthcare community?

According to the National Academy of Sciences, medical errors, many of them at least partly caused by fatigue among doctors, account for nearly 100,000 deaths a year - that is more than from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer and AIDS combined.

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The results of a new study conducted by the Temple University School of Medicine conclude that fat cells in obese people are "sicker" than fat cells in lean people. The researched applied the simple definition of sickness: when something doesn’t work correctly, it is sick. The fat cells in obese people are not working right, and are by the simple definition, sick.

The Temple University School of Medicine study is the first to show that not all fat cells are alike. Fat cells in obese people are often stressed and inflamed, and they produce chemicals that interfere with the body’s ability to process and utilize insulin. As such, many obese people become insulin resistant, one of the early stages in the development of diabetes. In addition, the research suggests that the malfunctioning fat cells strengthen the already strong bond between obesity and the high risk of developing chronic life-threatening diseases (such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease).

According to a new study published in the British Medical Journal, UK researchers have found that all antipsychotic drugs used in psychosis treatment are associated with an increased risk of stroke. The study also found that people who suffer from dementia and use antipsychotic drugs have double the risk of stroke when compared to those who do not suffer from dementia.

According to Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lily, six patients who were prescribed the type 2 diabetes drug Byetta reportedly have died from pancreatitis. The Food and Drug Administration reported the Byetta patient deaths and will now strengthen its warnings about serious pancreatitis problems linked to the drug.

Byetta was approved by the FDA in 2005 for the treatment of type 2 or adult onset diabetes in patients whose diabetes was not well-controlled on other oral medication. The medication is injected subcutaneously twice per day using a pre-filled pen device and began being widely used after its approval, in part because it promoted weight loss, in contrast to insulin and many other diabetes medications. Byetta can improve blood sugar control and can be and has been combined with other diabetes drugs.

In the past several weeks, manufacturers have started shipping flu vaccines and expect to supply a record 143 million doses to the U.S.

Flu shots are being shipped earlier than usual this year to ensure that an adequate supply is in the hands of doctors, clinics and other providers by the end of October.

Approximately 115,000 personalized pacifiers sold by It's My Binky have been recalled because they pose a choking hazard to babies. Although no injuries have been reported, the pacifier button, ring handle and shield can detach and potentially choke infants.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today that one jalapeno pepper sample is a positive genetic match with the Salmonella Saintpaul strain causing the current Salmonella outbreak.

The positive sample was obtained during an FDA inspection at a produce distribution center in McAllen, Texas. The pepper was grown on a farm in Mexico, however, that does not mean that the pepper was contaminated in Mexico.

The Food and Drug Administration has proposed replacing a 30-year-old system for classifying prescription medications in order to provide women with far more detailed information about a medication’s risks and benefits during pregnancy and breast-feeding. Should the proposal be approved, new prescription drug labels would list the potential risks and benefits for both the mother and the fetus when taking the medication and how those risks might change during pregnancy. The new labels will help women become better informed about their prescription drugs, and doctors will be better able to counsel patients about using prescription drugs.

Memory loss can have devastating effects on an individual’s quality of life. But according to the results of a new Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study, having an active social life may slow memory loss among the elderly. Researchers who conducted the study set out to test whether memory loss might be associated with social connectedness and found evidence that being socially active may increase feelings of self-worth and emotional validation that could end up helping maintain memory.