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Unrelated 'next of kin' may lead to legal confusion

By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) – When hospitalized patients list nonrelatives as next of kin, state laws might interfere with those patients’ wishes – and a new study suggests the situation isn’t rare. In Connecticut, where researchers looked at medical charts of nearly 110,000 hospitalized veterans, eight percent had specified someone other than a close family member as next of kin – in conflict with the state’s “default surrogate consent”

Hospira gets FDA warning letter for Italian facility

(Reuters) – Hospira Inc, which agreed in February to be acquired by Pfizer Inc, said it received a warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration related to its manufacturing facility in Liscate, Italy. The letter, received on April 1, does not restrict the production or shipment of Hospira’s pharmaceutical products from the facility, the company said on Tuesday. (http://1.usa.gov/1Pg9wst) (Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj

U.S. FDA staff: Swedish Match snus proposal raises questions

(Reuters) – A preliminary review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration raised “concerns” as to whether Swedish Match AB’s proposed change to warnings on its snus smokeless tobacco products adequately reflect the health risk. The review released on Tuesday also raised questions as to whether the positive impact of snus on smoking rates in Sweden would also be seen in the United States if the agency grants the company’s