Medications

SAN DIEGO -- The apparent shark bites found on the body of a surfer came from an attack after the 42-year-old man had drowned, the San Diego County medical examiner ruled late Friday. Brandon Beaver died while on a surfing outing off Pacific Beach. His body was discovered floating offshore early Thursday. Medical examiner investigators who responded to a call from San Diego lifeguards had reached a tentative conclusion that the bites came in a "post-mortem" attack. But a final ruling was delayed until a more detailed examination could take take place Friday.

One of the brothers behind the 1-800-GET-THIN ad campaign for weight-loss surgery faces the possible revocation of his medical license in a misconduct case filed by state regulators. The Medical Board of California accused Michael Omidi of "repeated acts of negligence" in treating two women, one who sought corrective breast surgery and a second who sought weight-loss surgery. The board alleged that Omidi provided "substandard care" in the treatment of the first woman and that his staff gave "inaccurate or misleading information" about the second woman's health, saying she had sleep apnea even though she had not been previously diagnosed with the disorder.

OAKLAND - The chief of the embattled Oakland Police Department abruptly announced a medical retirement Wednesday, hours before a team of consultants - among them former Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton - was scheduled to lay out a sweeping crime reduction plan for the state's most violent city. Chief Howard Jordan's announcement came one week after a compliance director appointed by a federal judge to oversee significant areas of department operations issued a scathing report that was critical of management.

The California Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld the right of cities to ban  medical marijuana  dispensaries. Although voters or the Legislature may decide to adopt "a different approach" in the future, nothing in the current laws restricts the right of local governments to declare dispensaries a nuisance that must be prohibited, the court said. Join us at 9 a.m. as we discuss the court's ruling and what it means for California medicinal users with Times reporter Maura Dolan.

Some talented humans can fold their tongues into a three-leaf clover, but some bats accomplish an even greater feat: Hair-like structures on their tongue tips stand to attention when they lap up nectar, allowing them to collect more. This "nectar mop," described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could become a useful model for future medical devices, researchers said. Scientists have seen many methods of nectar collection. Butterflies suck liquid with a straw-like proboscis, and hummingbirds have forked tongues that help them 'grab' droplets during feeding.

The California Supreme Court's unanimous ruling Monday that cities could ban medical marijuana dispensaries highlights how far some cities (such as, oh, Los Angeles ) have drifted from Proposition 215 , the 1996 ballot initiative that decriminalized the possession and cultivation of cannabis for medicinal use -- as well as the gulf between what Proposition 215 did and what Californians think it did. The court upheld cities' power to outlaw dispensaries within their borders, observing that the proposition makes no mention of such entities.

The Food and Drug Administration is warning physicians that women who suffer migraine headaches and are pregnant or may become pregnant should not use the drugs valproate or valproic acid to prevent the severe headaches, in light of new evidence showing those taking the drugs during pregnancy have children with lower IQ scores than women who do not take them. That warning represents a strengthening of a boxed warning that already appears on these prescription medications, which are used to control epileptic seizures, to treat bipolar disorder, and to prevent and relieve migraine headaches.

For more than two decades, Wanda Remo has battled one illness after another. Asthma, chronic lung disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, depression, chronic pain, strokes. Specialists treat her lungs, her heart and her joints. Her litany of ailments brought her to emergency rooms six times last year, between numerous additional visits to a federally subsidized health clinic in South Los Angeles. "You are one of the million-dollar patients," her doctor, Derrick Butler, tells the 57-year-old as she leans on her walker during one appointment.

While USC conducted a nationwide search for a dean for its school of medicine, Dr. Stephen J. Ryan stepped in as interim dean in 1991, expecting to serve for six months. He held the job a record 13 years. During his tenure as dean, it became known as the Keck School of Medicine of USC after the W.M. Keck Foundation donated $110 million to the institution, then the largest gift ever given to a medical school. Ryan was credited with raising the school's national profile, getting state-of-the-art facilities built, and expanding the level and quality of sponsored research.