Category Archives: Public Health
FDA Safety Announcement May Bring New Avandia Lawsuits
I got an email from the FDA alerting me to new warnings about the usage of Avandia. Apparently, the FDA has not decided to withdraw Avandia, but is severely restricting who may use it: FDA will require that GSK develop a restricted access program for Avandia under a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS. [...]
Secret payments to doctors put patient lives at risk
A big part of what I do for a living is investigate the safety of drugs and medical devices. That means I spend time reading studies about the safety of a specific drug. One of the things I look at is the author of the study. If the author of the study discloses that he [...]
New Bill Would Force Retailers To Notify Consumers of Recalls
If you’re like me, you have a couple of “frequent shopper” cards in your wallet that give you discounts at the grocery stores you frequent. You probably already know that those frequent shopper cards enable retailers to track every purchase you make. And you probably already know that retailers get notified by the FDA when [...]
Dr. Steve Nissen Pushes For More Scrutiny Of Diabetes Drugs
Living legend Dr. Steve Nissen wants the FDA to pay more attention to the cardiovascular risks of diabetes drugs in the future: ORLANDO — Should new diabetes drugs submitted to the FDA have a higher bar for cardiovascular safety than other drugs was the focus of a debate here between Steve E. Nissen, MD, and [...]
Premium Edge Cat Food Recalled
If you have a furry little friend who eats Premium Edge cat food, you’ll want to read this: On September 23, Diamond Pet Foods issued a voluntary recall for Premium Edge Finicky Adult Cat and Premium Edge Hairball cat because they have the potential to produce Thiamine Deficiency. Today’s announcement provides additional information from the [...]
More on the link between Meridia and cardiovascular events
As always, consult your doctor before you even think about taking yourself off a drug. WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The Food and Drug Administration Friday said it was conducting a safety review of the weight-loss drug Meridia, which is made by Abbott Laboratories (ABT). The FDA siad it was reviewing preliminary data from a recent study [...]
New Warning for Users of Meridia
This is fresh from the FDA. If you’re using Meridia (Sibutramine) you may want to bring this up with your doctor: FDA notified healthcare professionals and patients that it is reviewing preliminary data from a recent study suggesting that patients using sibutramine have a higher number of cardiovascular events (heart attack, stroke, resuscitated cardiac arrest, [...]
New Information About Drugs Used In Shoulder Pain Pumps
One area I haven’t written much about yet is the association of chrondrolysis with drugs used in certain shoulder pain pumps. Here’s some fresh information on that topic from the FDA: FDA notified healthcare professionals of 35 reports of chondrolysis (necrosis and destruction of cartilage) in patients given continuous intra-articular infusions of local anesthetics with [...]
Some Lots of Vicks Sinex Nasal Spray Recalled
If you have any Sinex Nasal Spray, you should check to make sure it’s not one of the recalled bottles: Procter & Gamble and FDA notified consumers of a voluntary recall of three lots of Vicks Sinex Nasal Spray in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. The bacteria B. cepacia was found in [...]
Do you take Plavix and Prevacid? Then read this warning.
Fresh from the FDA a few minutes ago… [Posted 11/17/2009] FDA notified healthcare professionals of new safety information concerning an interaction between clopidogrel (Plavix), an anti-clotting medication, and omeprazole (Prilosec/Prilosec OTC), a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) used to reduce stomach acid. New data show that when clopidogrel and omeprazole are taken together, the effectiveness of [...]
