FDA & Prescription Drugs

• Eli Lilly Will Pay Utah 24 Million to Settle Zyprexa Suit

  Bret Hanna | November 11, 2009 6:17 PM | 2 CommentsSalt Lake City, UT

  Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff announced today that the state has settled a 4-year-long battle with Eli Lilly over its marketing unapproved uses, so-called off-label uses, of its...

• FDA Alerts Doctors to New Suicide Warnings for Epilepsy Drugs

  Bret Hanna | May 08, 2009 11:07 AM | 1 CommentSalt Lake City, UT

  The Boston Herald reports that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting doctors that there is an increased risk of suicidal tendencies associated with anti-seizure medications. Such drugs...

• Local Infectious Disease Specialist Supports Recommendation of Gardasil for Boys

  Bret Hanna | September 14, 2009 11:15 PM | 0 CommentsSalt Lake City, UT

  On September 9th, a Food and Drug Administration committee issued a recommendation that the Gardasil vaccine manufactured by Merck be given to males between the ages of 9 and 26 to prevent genital...

• Death By Prescription Drugs - Be Careful

  Bret Hanna | June 17, 2009 6:00 AM | 0 CommentsSalt Lake City, UT

  Natural News, relying on data from the CDC, reported that prescription drug deaths shot up 68 percent in a five year period. Statistics show that for the reporting period, prescription drug deaths...

• Deadly Heparin? Drug Investigated in Two Deaths

  Bret Hanna | May 14, 2009 11:43 PM | 0 CommentsSalt Lake City, UT

  A hospital in Delaware and the Federal Drug Administration are investigating two deaths and other complications that may be related to the use of the anti-coagulant heparin according to a report in...

• Over the Counter Drugs Bad for Children Under Age 2

  Amy Schauers | January 17, 2008 9:24 AM | 0 CommentsSalt Lake City, UT

  The FDA is issuing a parental warning today. It warns parents to avoid over the counter cold medicine for children under the age of two. They say that these drugs may be harmful and cause serious and potentially life threatening side effects. The concern is that parents may purchase over the counter cold medications for their older children and then give them to their toddlers.Ganley cited...

• Children's Vaccine Recall

  Amy Schauers | December 13, 2007 8:39 PM | 0 CommentsSalt Lake City, UT

  Merck announced today that they are voluntarily recalling one million vaccines that are normally given to children under age five. Merck is pulling 11 lots of PedvaxHIB and two lots of COMVAX. PedvaxHIB is a vaccine that protects against infection with haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), the bacteria that causes meningitis, pneumonia, and blood stream infections. The COMVAX vaccine protects...

• Heartburn Drugs Do Not Pose Risk

  Amy Schauers | December 10, 2007 4:14 PM | 0 CommentsSalt Lake City, UT

  In May, the pharmaceutical company that makes Prilosec and Nexium, gave the FDA findings from small preliminary trials. During the trials, some cardiac "events" were seen showing a possibility that long-term use of Prilosec and Nexium could increase the risk of heart attack, heart failure and heart-related sudden death, the FDA said at the time.Due to these findings, AstraZeneca, maker of the...

• Diabetes Drug Actos Looking to Rival Avandia

  Amy Schauers | November 15, 2007 5:31 PM | 0 CommentsSalt Lake City, UT

  Just days after the FDA hit the diabetes drug Avandia with new safety warnings the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline PLC, makers of Avandia, decided to take out full-page ads to run in 60 newspapers and in several magazines. The main messages is as follows: "If you have type 2 diabetes, Actos has been shown to lower blood sugar without increasing your risk of having a heart attack or...

• Diabetes Drug Avandia May Cause Heart Attack

  Amy Schauers | November 14, 2007 3:08 PM | 0 CommentsSalt Lake City, UT

  On Wednesday, November 13, 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration made public that they will require the diabetes drug Avandia to carry a "black box" warning saying that the drug could cause chest pain or heart attacks. The company will begin trial comparing Avandia to other rival drugs and placebo to see if the risk is unique to Avandia.FDA's Dr. Janet Woodcock told reporters that they...