More blood pressure drugs may have shortages after recalls: FDA
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Additional shortages of blood pressure drugs in the United States are possible following recent recalls related to traces of a probable carcinogen found in some versions a particular class of hypertension medicines, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday.
The drugs, including valsartan, belong to a class of widely-used...
FDA: Another blood pressure drug, irbesartan, recalled over cancer-causing impurity
A drug company on Friday announced the recall of eight more lots of irbesartan blood pressure medication after testing revealed the drugs contained trace amounts of a carcinogen.
Prinston Pharmaceuticals recalled one lot of irbesartan tablets and seven lots of irbesartan HCTZ tablets. The medication contained unacceptable levels of the probable carcinogen nitrosodiethylamine, or NDEA,...
Medtronic recalls 157,000 dual-chamber pacemakers
Medtronic PLC published an urgent medical device recall Thursday for nearly 157,000 dual-chamber pacemakers sold worldwide, after discovering a glitch that can cause some devices programmed in certain modes to temporarily lose their ability to pace the heart
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Sacklers Directed Efforts to Mislead Public About OxyContin, New Documents Indicate
Members of the Sackler family, which owns the company that makes OxyContin, directed years of efforts to mislead doctors and patients about the dangers of the powerful opioid painkiller, a court filing citing previously undisclosed documents contends.
When evidence of growing abuse of the drug became clear in the early 2000s, one of them, Richard...
Americans more likely to die of opioid overdose than car crash, council report says
For the first time, Americans' odds of dying from an accidental opioid overdose are higher than from a motor vehicle crash, a data analysis found.
Injury Facts, an analysis from the nonprofit group National Safety Council, found the lifetime odds of dying by an accidental opioid overdose were 1 in 96, and the odds of...
F.D.A. Says It Will Resume Inspections of Some High-Risk Foods
Food safety inspectors furloughed during the federal government shutdown will be returning to work beginning Tuesday — but still without pay — so that the Food and Drug Administration can begin to resume inspections of some high-risk foods at manufacturing and other processing plants, the agency’s commissioner said on Monday.
Food inspections — about 160...
FDA shifting funds to drug safety amid government shutdown
The Food and Drug Administration is shifting funds during the government shutdown to prioritize drug safety surveillance over pre-market drug review work, the agency’s commissioner has announced
“We’re making decisions across our portfolio to focus #FDA resources to key consumer protection functions. One action we’ll be taking is to re-allocate user fee money from certain...
FDA issues warning after a dozen people get sick from stem cell treatments
A dozen patients in three states were hospitalized with serious bacterial infections after receiving injections of umbilical cord blood that purportedly contained stem cells, according to federal and state health officials.
The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that it had issued a warning to San Diego-based Genetech Inc., the company that manufactured the treatment...
Certain Antibiotics Tied to Deadly Heart Vessel Tears: FDA
FRIDAY, Dec. 21, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Patients should avoid a class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones due to an increased risk of heart vessel tears associated with their use, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned.
"These tears, called aortic dissections, or ruptures of an aortic aneurysm can lead to dangerous bleeding or even death,"...
FDA warns stem-cell company linked to E. coli infections
The Food and Drug Administration, signaling stepped-up concerns about unapproved stem-cell treatments, on Thursday warned a California manufacturer about marketing “dangerous” products linked to serious infections in several patients.
The agency sent the warning letter to San Diego-based Genetech Inc., which sold cellular treatments derived from umbilical cord blood to Liveyon LLC, a distributor based...
