FDA – News Stories About FDA - Page 18

In Case of
2 Cancer Drug
Shortages, Relief

Feb 21, 2012 11:38 AM CST

In Case of 2 Cancer Drug Shortages, Relief

FDA OKs imports of doxorubicin, methotrexate substitutes

(Newser) - Though the FDA cautions that "we're not out of the woods," it today announced that dangerous shortages of two cancer drugs are being addressed. Stores of the drugs in question—doxorubicin and methotrexate—became dangerously low after the company that made them closed its Ohio manufacturing facility...

FDA to Probe
Inhalable Caffeine

Feb 19, 2012 5:21 PM CST

FDA to Probe Inhalable Caffeine

Senator Shcarles Schumer questions whether it's safe for kids

(Newser) - New York Sen. Charles Schumer isn't convinced inhalable caffeine is a good thing—at least not for kids, the AP reports. He has helped prod the FDA into investigating chapstick-sized caffeine inhalers called Aeroshots. The senator says his concern was prompted by incidents last year when students guzzled too...

First Diet Drug in 13 Years? FDA to Start Review

Feb 17, 2012 1:32 PM CST

First Diet Drug in 13 Years? FDA to Start Review

Qnexa will be reviewed by the agency next week

(Newser) - If the FDA gives its blessing, a drug named Qnexa could become a very big deal. A preliminary review begins next week on the pill, which could become the first diet drug approved in 13 years, reports the New York Times . It's nowhere near a sure thing: Two years...

J&J Hawked
FDA-Banned
Hip Replacement
Overseas

Feb 15, 2012 1:14 PM CST

J&J Hawked FDA-Banned Hip Replacement Overseas

Product deemed unsafe was still sold overseas, derivative sold in US

(Newser) - Johnson & Johnson continued to sell an ill-designed artificial hip overseas even after the FDA deemed it unsafe—and used a regulatory loophole to sell a related model with the same design issue in the US, the New York Times reports. The FDA sent Johnson & Johnson a non-approval letter...

FDA Whistleblowers:
Our Email Was Monitored

Jan 30, 2012 7:31 AM CST

FDA Whistleblowers: Our Email Was Monitored

Group of employees files lawsuit

(Newser) - A group of FDA scientists and doctors says that their personal emails were monitored by the agency after they acted as whistleblowers, and that the information gleaned from the surveillance led to their harassment or dismissal. The employees had complained internally, beginning in 2007, about approved or soon-to-be-approved cancer-screening devices...

Pot-Based
Drug Poised
for FDA OK

Jan 23, 2012 4:14 AM CST

Pot-Based Drug Poised for FDA OK

Sativex for cancer pain already in advanced clinical trials

(Newser) - A company developing a marijuana-based mouth spray for cancer pain is hoping for FDA approval by next year. British firm GW Pharma is already carrying out advanced clinical trials for Sativex, the first pharmaceutical developed from raw marijuana, reports AP . Sativex contains marijuana components delta 9-THC and cannabidiol, and has...

Food and Drug Administration Fines American Red Cross for $9.6M

Feds Hit Red Cross
With $9.6M Fine

Jan 16, 2012 7:36 PM CST

Feds Hit Red Cross With $9.6M Fine

FDA sites badly trained staff, poor record-keeping

(Newser) - The feds have slapped the American Red Cross with a $9.6 million fine for careless blood management practices, MSNBC reports. The FDA uncovered no actual harm to blood recipients, but expressed concern over poorly trained staff and slipshod record-keeping: We "cannot definitively say there was never any danger...

FDA Stops All Imports
of Orange Juice

Jan 11, 2012 2:55 PM CST

FDA Stops All Imports of Orange Juice

Feds will test for fungicide

(Newser) - Orange juice may be a little scarce (and a lot more expensive) in coming days: The FDA has stopped imports from all countries after traces of a fungicide turned up in samples from Brazil, reports Bloomberg . The agency will test for the chemical, called carbendazim, and destroy any batches with...

FDA: Fungicide Is in Your OJ

Jan 10, 2012 11:36 AM CST

FDA: Fungicide Is in Your OJ

An anonymous juice company alerted agency to problem

(Newser) - Nothing says "good morning!" quite like some fungicide in your OJ. Fungicide? That's what's in there, as per the FDA itself. In a letter sent to the entire juice industry yesterday, the FDA revealed that an anonymous juice company last month detected low levels of carbendazim...

FDA Dinged French
Implants Maker in 2000

Dec 27, 2011 9:48 AM CST

FDA Dinged French Implants Maker in 2000

Called out 'adulterated' implants

(Newser) - Interpol wants to arrest Poly Implant Protheses' founder , and a Dutch company that bought its implants is now cautioning women ... how could things get uglier for PIP? Maybe by way of the revelation that US health authorities expressed worry about PIP in May ... of the year 2000. That's nearly...

Abuse Experts
Tremble Over
Powerful New
Painkillers

Dec 26, 2011 3:50 PM CST

Abuse Experts Tremble Over Powerful New Painkillers

Drugs with hydrocodone may cause more addiction

(Newser) - A more powerful version of America's second-most abused medicine is likely headed for a doctor's office near you, the AP reports. Four companies are in the patient-testing phase of painkillers that will be up to 10 times more effective than Vicodin thanks to a highly addictive ingredient called...

Obama Backs
Morning-After
Pill Limits

Dec 9, 2011 2:50 AM CST

Obama Backs Morning-After Pill Limits

Calls for 'common sense' about over-the-counter drugs

(Newser) - President Obama supports Kathleen Sebelius' unusual decision to overrule an FDA move to make the morning-after pill easier for younger girls to buy , he said yesterday. Obama said he "did not get involved in the process," but endorsed the health secretary's rejection of the agency's effort...

FDA to Rule
on BPA Ban
by March

Dec 8, 2011 1:57 PM CST

FDA to Rule on BPA Ban by March

Agency agrees to deadline as part of lawsuit settlement

(Newser) - The FDA will finally make a firm decision about whether to ban BPA by March 31, thanks to a lawsuit settlement. The Natural Resources Defense Council called on the agency to ban the controversial chemical in 2008, but the FDA didn't take action within the time required by law;...

Feds: No Morning-After Pill
for Young Teens Without Rx

Dec 7, 2011 1:17 PM CST

Feds: No Morning-After Pill for Young Teens Without Rx

Health chief overrules FDA, forbids over-the-counter sales to girls

(Newser) - The federal government is split on the "morning after pill," with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today overruling the FDA's decision to make Plan B available to even young teenagers without a prescription. The drug's maker requested the change in February, and though FDA...

Drink Up! FDA OKs
Hangover Pill

Dec 6, 2011 8:15 AM CST

Drink Up! FDA OKs Hangover Pill

Blowfish contains a mix of aspirin, caffeine, and a stomach-calming agent

(Newser) - Who needs Santa when you have the FDA? The government agency handed boozy partygoers everywhere a big holiday gift: It recently OK'd a hangover pill called Blowfish. The over-the-counter tablets, designed to be taken upon waking, Alka Seltzer-style, contain some not-too-foreign ingredients: 1,000 milligrams of aspirin, 120 milligrams...

Consumer Reports Warns
of Arsenic in Fruit Juices

Nov 30, 2011 6:20 PM CST

Consumer Reports Warns of Arsenic in Fruit Juices

It wants FDA to tighten standards

(Newser) - Apple juice and grape juice have levels of arsenic that could raise kids' risk of cancer, according to an investigation by Consumer Reports . The study of 88 samples of fruit juice bought in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut found that 10% had arsenic levels that exceeded standards set for...

FDA Drops
Approval of
Avastin for
Breast Cancer

Nov 18, 2011 11:22 AM CST

FDA Drops Approval of Avastin for Breast Cancer

Drug lacks benefits, but side effects are 'life-threatening': commissioner

(Newser) - The Food and Drug Administration has reversed its approval of Avastin as a treatment for breast cancer, long the subject of controversy. The agency’s commissioner said the drug didn't help patients but could hurt them, the New York Times reports. “This was a difficult decision,” says...

E-Cigs Work,
But Have
Smoking Foes
Burning

E-Cigs Work, But Have Smoking Foes Burning

They can help smokers quit, but anti-smoking groups still want ban

(Newser) - A recent experiment in Italy found that electronic cigarettes can help even hard-core smokers quit, boosting hopes that e-cigarettes could be a much better tool than more traditional products like nicotine patches and gum. So why are government officials and anti-smoking groups working to ban the device, which delivers a...

Judge Blocks Gruesome Cigarette Labels

Nov 7, 2011 2:21 PM CST

Judge Blocks Gruesome Cigarette Labels

Big Tobacco was likely to win First Amendment complaint

(Newser) - Wheeze out a sigh of relief, smokers of America: You won't have to look at a blackened lung or rotting teeth when you buy a pack of smokes next year after all. US District Judge Richard Leon blocked the new labels today, ruling that tobacco companies were likely to...

FDA Finds
Soiled Equipment
at Cantaloupe Farm

Oct 19, 2011 5:32 PM CDT

FDA Finds Soiled Equipment at Cantaloupe Farm

It could explain how listeria outbreak started at Colorado facility

(Newser) - Federal health inspectors discovered listeria inside the packing facility of the Colorado farm that shipped out lethal cantaloupes , killing 25 people so far, reports USA Today . FDA officials also found several sanitation problems, including dirty and contaminated equipment that could explain how listeria spread to the fruit.