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Study: Most Herbal Supplements Contaminated

Crackdown unlikely to make it into food safety bill

(Newser) - Herbal supplements are often contaminated with pesticides and heavy metals, and sellers are prone to making illegal claims about their health benefits, a congressional study has found. Almost all 40 dietary supplements tested had trace amounts of contaminants like lead and mercury, and 16 of the samples contained pesticide residues...

Walgreens to Wait on Cheap Genetic Tests


 Walgreens to 
 Wait on Cheap 
 Genetic Tests 
YIELDS TO FDA

Walgreens to Wait on Cheap Genetic Tests

FDA: No proof kits are safe, effective

(Newser) - Drugstore giant Walgreen Co. will hold off selling over-the-counter genetic tests. The company announced Tuesday that the kits would be on shelves this month, but reversed the decision after a stiff response from regulators. "These kits have not been proven safe, effective, or accurate," an FDA rep said....

FDA Approves Vaccine for Prostate Cancer

Provenge is first immunotherapy to gain approval

(Newser) - A first-of-a-kind prostate cancer treatment that uses the body's immune system to fight the disease received federal approval today, offering an important alternative to more taxing treatments like chemotherapy. Dendreon Corp.'s Provenge vaccine trains the immune system to fight tumors. It's called a "vaccine" even though it treats...

FDA Probes 'Hormone Disrupter' in Soap, Toothpaste

Studies in animals point to risk

(Newser) - The Food and Drug Administration is taking a closer look at an antibacterial found in soap and toothpaste. Animal studies of the substance, triclosan, suggest it may alter hormone regulation or help develop resistance to antibiotics, Reuters notes. "There are many troubling questions about triclosan's effectiveness and potentially harmful...

FDA Urged to Take On Food Fraud
FDA Urged to Take On Food Fraud 

FDA Urged to Take On Food Fraud

That snapper you're eating probably isn't snapper

(Newser) - Mislabeling and diluting of foodstuffs has reached epidemic levels during the economic downturn and the FDA isn't doing enough to combat the problem, industry groups say. Experts believe at least 5% of the American food is supply is mislabeled and say regulators should step up efforts to stop instances of...

Dem Senators: Lift Ban on Gay Blood Donors

John Kerry leads group urging FDA to end 'discriminatory' policy

(Newser) - John Kerry and 17 other Senate Democrats are calling on the FDA to end the 27-year-old ban on blood donations by gay men. The policy barring any man who has had sex with another man since 1977 dates to the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. It “was once considered...

Harmful Bacteria Found in Hand Sanitizers

FDA issues warning on two Puerto Rican brands

(Newser) - The FDA has issued a warning on two Puerto Rican brands of hand sanitizer that are liable to coat your hands in dangerous bacteria instead of sanitizing them. Bee-Shield Hand Sanitizer and MD Quality Hand Sanitizer, made in Puerto Rico and sold only there, have high levels of Burkholderia cepacia....

Food Recall Growing Over Salmonella-Tainted Additive

Flavor enhancer used in thousands of products

(Newser) - The Food and Drug Administration is recalling a flavor enhancer included in thousands of food products out of fears it's contaminated with salmonella. So far, four companies have recalled products with the flavoring—USA Today lists them here —but the number could grow. Hydrolyzed vegetable protein, or HVP, is...

Feds Further Link Avandia to Heart Risk

FDA, Senate reports lambaste GlaxoSmithKline, want to yank drug

(Newser) - Some 800 people every month suffer heart attacks or heart failure because of the diabetes medication Avandia, according to government reports obtained by the New York Times . Under fire since 2007, the GlaxoSmithKline drug was linked to 304 deaths in the final quarter of last year and hundreds of thousands...

FDA: Don't Stick Burning Candles In Your Ears

FDA issues alert, launches crackdown on ear candles

(Newser) - Putting a paraffin or beeswax-soaked tube in your ear and lighting it is a bad idea despite what the makers of ear candles may tell you, the FDA warns. The candles—sold as treatments for ear wax buildup, sinus problems, and headaches—can be hazardous and the FDA believes there...

Banned From Using 'Light,' Big Tobacco Turns to Colors

Critics say 'Marlboro Gold' no better than 'Marlboro Light,' and sneakier

(Newser) - The tobacco industry has to remove words like “light” on its cigarette packaging come June, but what they plan to do instead—use colors—has health advocates just as piqued. “They’re circumventing the law,” a professor tells the New York Times of moves like Philip Morris’...

In Wake of Radiation ODs, CT Scans Get New Rules

New scanners will be preset, older ones will be retrofitted

(Newser) - CT scans will come with new safeguards ordered by the FDA yesterday, following accidental radiation overdoses last year at hospitals in California and Alabama. The agency is also looking at software fixes for existing equipment to reduce the possibility of unsafe dosage, reports the the Los Angeles Times , and encouraging...

FDA: Tylenol Maker Delayed Recall of Tainted Drugs

Regulator issues warning letter over moldy-smelling OTC products

(Newser) - The maker of Tylenol waited more than a year to recall products it knew were chemically tainted, the FDA alleged in a warning letter to the company today. The agency says McNeil Consumer Healthcare Products, a division of Johnson & Johnson, learned in 2008 that some batches of Tylenol, Motrin,...

Calls Brew for Labeling Sneaky Caffeine
 Calls Brew for 
 Labeling Sneaky Caffeine 
Ice Cream Keeping You Up?

Calls Brew for Labeling Sneaky Caffeine

Lack of info makes it tough to reduce consumption

(Newser) - The popularity of ice creams, yogurts, and even jelly beans with high caffeine levels is causing experts to call for labels listing how much a product contains. Manufacturers aren't currently required to disclose caffeine levels, and advocates for stricter labeling say this makes it difficult for people to cut back...

Probe of Radiation ODs Spreads to 4 Sites

Agency suspects brainb scan problem could be nationwide

(Newser) - The FDA has widened a probe into radiation overdoses received during brain scans to include four hospitals, and now suspects the problem could be nationwide. Three hospitals in Los Angeles County and one in Alabama are being investigated after patients received up to eight times the normal amount of radiation...

Vaccine Tested to Prevent E. Coli-Tainted Beef

Cattle vaccine could curb strain of deadly bacteria

(Newser) - New vaccines are being tested that could make tainted beef scandals a thing of the past. The vaccines—currently undergoing large-scale trials after decades of bureaucratic delays—make cattle immune to the strain of E.Coli that kills dozens and sickens thousands of Americans every year. Scientists believe the combination...

The Tuna on Your Plate May Be Endangered

(Newser) - You might suspect a sushi restaurant that doesn’t specify what sort of tuna you’re eating of trying to pawn off an inferior species. Not so. Researchers using novel DNA barcoding technology found that though nearly a third of tuna sold in 31 US restaurants was the prized—and...

Blindness Cure Could Be 1st Human Stem Cell Trial

Biotech firm aims to reverse macular degeneration

(Newser) - The first-ever clinical trials of stem cell treatment of humans could be under way early next year if a Massachusetts biotech firm wins FDA approval. Advanced Cell Technology yesterday applied for a license to use embryonic stem cells left over from IVF treatment, to aid people suffering from a rare...

FDA Demands Safety Data on Energy Drinks With Alcohol

Companies have 30 days to comply

(Newser) - The FDA has taken action against companies that make alcoholic energy drinks, giving the firms 30 days to provide evidence to support their claim that caffeine and booze are a safe combination. A group of concerned scientists have said there is no evidence to support the claim that the drinks...

Clove Cigarettes Banned: Enter Clove 'Small Cigars'

FDA, importer disagree over definition of a cigarette

(Newser) - For one California importer of smokes, an awful lot has come to rest on the precise definition of a cigar. After a ban on clove cigarettes went into effect last month, Kretek International slyly began importing Djarum-brand clove “small cigars." They're quite similar to Djarum’s clove cigarettes,...

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