News Archives
FDA scientist Dr. David Graham, the lead author of a huge study on Avandia involving over 227,571 Medicare patients from 2006-2009, says the popular Type-2 diabetes mediation Avandia should be banned due to a high risk of heart problems, stroke, and deaths. As many as 100,000 injuries and deaths have been linked to Avandia since its release in...
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the pharmaceutical industry spends nearly three times as much on advertising to health care professionals as they do advertising to consumers. The FDA's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications announced yesterday the implementation of the "Bad Ad Program" which is part of a wider...
The Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action Team announced yesterday that drug giant Astrazeneca will pay $520 million to settle a civil settlement to resolve allegations that it illegally marketed and promoted the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel (a drug targeted for...
Zocor (simvastatin) is a prescription medication that has been used by millions of Americans to help lower high cholesterol and prevent cardiovascular disease. On March 19, 2010, the FDA released a public Safety Announcement regarding increased safety risks for patients who take the 80 milligram dose of Zocor (the highest approved dosage of...
U.S. Senate Committee Says GlaxoSmithKline Knew of Avandia Problems Years Before Made Public
On Saturday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance released a scathing report criticizing GlaxoSmithKline's drug Avandia and the FDA's role in protecting patients involved in an ongoing clinical trial over the Type-2 diabetes drug. The Senate report was developed over the last two years following a study published in the New England Journal of...
FDA Issues Alert on Weight-Loss Drug Meridia
On January 21, 2010 the FDA issued a warning to healthcare professionals regarding the weight-loss drug Meridia (Abbott Laboratories). The warning comes after a review of additional data from a trial known as SCOUT showed an increased risk of heart attack and stroke among patients taking Meridia who have a history of cardiovascular disease....
Troubling AP Report says Chinese manufacturers are substituting dangerous levels of cadmium in place of lead in toys.
A disturbing Associated Press report revealed some Chinese manufacturers have been substituting cadmium in place of lead to meet U.S. regulations now in place against lead in toys. Yesterday, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission opened a formal investigation into Chinese-made children's jewelry that lab tests showed was laden with the heavy...
New Rules for Mandatory Recall Notices Approved by U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
New rules were unanimously approved by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Monday that will make certain types of product information required on all mandatory recall notices. The following types of information will now be required in an effort to increase recall effectiveness by better helping consumers identify products subject to...
A new study published in the January 2010 Archives of Internal Medicine (Yong Chen, M.D., University of Massachusetts Medical School) indicates that nearly 30% of nursing home residents from across the United States were prescribed antipsychotic drugs and nearly one-third of these persons had no medical need for the drugs. The study is concerning...
The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor, and the Treasury announced that patients' genetic health information will have greater protections under new regulations issued earlier this week. Under Title I of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) and the new interim final regulations, group health plans and...
