Current Events

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prices for two dosages of the blood pressure drug valsartan rose more than any other drug in the United States in September, following a recall of much of the drug’s supply.

Chinese pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturer Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceuticals recalled valsartan from consumers in the United States in July after finding traces of a probable carcinogen.

According to the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC) survey for last month, prices for 160 milligram and 80 milligram tablets of the drug more than doubled last month from August rates.

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Yet another salmonella outbreak has sickened 92 cases in 29 states, the Centers for Disease Control announced Wednesday afternoon.

That’s the bad news. Now, for the worse news: Its origin might be widespread in that dietary basic — chicken.

The CDC says the 14th salmonella outbreak of 2018 traces to “raw chicken products from a variety of sources” being contaminated with salmonella, specifically salmonella infantis.

But, the CDC says, “A single, common supplier of raw chicken products or of live chickens has not been identified.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Commerce Committee’s Republican chairman and ranking Democrat said on Wednesday they had asked top U.S. executives at Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) and Kia Motors Corp (000270.KS) to testify at a Nov.
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration made two moves to address the cybersecurity of medical devices this week. On Tuesday, the agency announced increased coordination with the Department of Homeland Security on the matter, and today it released new guidelines for premarket submissions of medical devices.

“As innovation in medical devices advances and more devices are connected to hospital networks or to other devices, ensuring that devices are adequately protected against cyber intrusions is paramount to protecting patients,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.
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WASHINGTON — Over vehement objections by drug companies, the Trump administration proposed on Monday a new federal regulation that would require them to disclose the list prices of prescription drugs in their television advertisements.

The proposal sets the stage for a battle with the pharmaceutical industry, which said the requirement would be a form of “compelled speech” in violation of the First Amendment.

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The U.S. Supreme Court rejected appeals from Sherwin-Williams Co. and Conagra Brands Inc., leaving intact a ruling that requires them to pay more than $400 million for lead-paint remediation in California.

The rebuff, issued without comment Monday, is a blow to business groups, which had called for high court review in the hope of derailing other suits over climate change, opioid addiction and gun violence.

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(Reuters Health) - Potentially harmful pharmaceuticals not listed on product labels were found in more than 700 over-the-counter dietary supplements, researchers report.

The pharmaceuticals, which were found in so-called natural products, were most likely to appear in supplements marketed as weight loss aids, muscle builders and male libido enhancers, according to the report published in JAMA Network Open.

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WASHINGTON -- The Center for Auto Safety on Friday renewed calls for Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors America to recall almost 3 million crossovers and sedans for potential noncollision fire risk.

The center wants the automakers to recall all 2011-14 Kia Sorrento, Kia Optima, Hyundai Sonata and Hyundai Santa Fe models, as well as all 2010-15 Kia Souls.

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Faced with a proliferation of new electronic cigarettes and a sharp rise in teen vaping, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday sent letters to 21 electronic cigarette manufacturers seeking information to assess whether the products are being marketed illegally.

An FDA rule banned the sale of new e-cigarette products after August 2016 without regulatory approval. In September, Reuters reported that startups and big tobacco firms launched more than a dozen new high-nicotine e-cigarette products mimicking the popular Juul devices after the FDA imposed the deadline reut.rs/2PwFgOX.

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The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning this week to an e-cigarette company that it says sold vaping e-liquid products containing the active ingredients in erectile dysfunction drugs Cialis and Viagra.

The FDA gave China-based HelloCig Electronic Technology Co. 15 days to address concerns that some of its products were "unapproved new drugs" being sold in the United States, the agency said.

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Pfizer Inc has been sued by 10 people alleging the company and its subsidiaries failed to warn of the risk of severe brain damage from its anti-seizure medication Dilantin.

The plaintiffs in their Wednesday lawsuit in New York Supreme Court alleged Pfizer and its subsidiaries Parke-Davis, Pharmacia and Warner–Lambert have been aware of the risk of a motor function disease known as cerebellar atrophy since at least 2009 but only updated its U.S. warning label in 2016.

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